Battle of the Multiverse

[HayesAJones]

Crigan and Jackie had to move quickly to keep up with the brisk pace of the taller, longer-striding varuls, practically assuming a light jog, the cool night air rushing past them and the tall, dark pines of their guides' sanctuary dancing by to the right, animated by the wind. They were soon granted relief however. Ahead of them, the ears of Elda, Erica, and Ingolf perked. A few seconds later, more gunfire, this volley notably louder, echoed across the starry sky. The varuls slowed, as if affected by the distant shots. Only a swift sidestep from Ingold stopped Crigan from crashing into him.

"<Whoever they found still lives,>" Elda said, ears still held high, excitedly drumming the butt of her spear into the earth. Her voice was lighter than usual. Hopeful. "<They must be formidable. Most do not survive the first shots.>"

Besides her, Erica, voice and head lower, gave a wary grunt. "<Or they found more.>"

"<We must hurry either way,>" Elda decided, and the varuls resumed at an even faster pace.

_____________________

A heavy, hairy arm fell over both Molly and Demmy.

"I babysit both of you," the reddish varul chuckled, though his eyes no longer had the same twinkle. "So we hurry now. Yes?"

"Will not be long," Jorunn said, her small, beastly eyes angled up, towards the heavens. "Before moon crosses next star."

Sven smiled. "Twenty minutes."

_____________________

"Aw, he's dead?" Dea said, more surprised than saddened. She slumped back in her seat. "Too bad. I kinda liked him. And Persy did it?"

The superhuman laid her hand on the table and gave it a careful rap, drumming her fingers on its surface. She wished Persephone had told her that. They were supposed to be honest with each other. She would probably get some technical excuse about the exclusion of truths not being lies; Persephone seemed lawyerish like that. Hopefully she could at least make fun of her for it.

"Okay, so, like... half of those names were just nonsense to me, but who are the, 'Guardians of the Multiverse?'" Dea continued after a moment's contemplation. "Did they graduate past Rocket and Groot? Are they allowed to pull rank on Gamera? Or is that just a name they farted out for themselves? "

[Demon Lord Gira]

Demmy had been about to ask what Jorunn was on about, when Sven's correction clicked with her. "Alright. Then let us hurry."

Molly nodded. While she did enjoy being in the outdoors, in a place like this... not so much, especially one so alien to her.

----

"Then yes, we will hurry." Crigan gave chase after the Varuls. He had to admit, they were fast for their size... but that was fitting for wolf like beings. It almost reminded him of-

There was a scent in the air, one that Crigan recognized in a heartbeat. It was human, yet not human at the same time. No... that was impossible! There was no way...

His form shifted into his divine frame, Crigan kept pace with the Varuls. It had to be a mistake, a trick, a coincidence... there was no way...

No way SHE could be here, of all places...

__________________________

With the mist dissipated, Minos landed upon her feet with a grace that betrayed her power. Her eyes shifted over to the still rolling in pain Tyralus, and for a moment, she considered just putting the embarrassment out of his misery, but decided against it. Tyralus could wait for later.

She reached her hands out, and both of her scythes returned to her grip. She had failed to land a truly fatal blow on the beast, and there was no doubt in her mind it had retreated to lick its wounds... and alert its master to her presence. The element of surprise was long lost regardless, especially with such an oversized partners as hers bellowing up a storm over paper cuts. She closed her eyes, and the energies of the land filled her senses. Deep below, she sensed several powers conflicting against another native, and at the palace, Immanuel's life energy with others she did not recognize.

But there were two in particular, on the path to the latter, that especially caught her attention...

With her options weighed, and possible locations of the price she needed weighed in her mind, she carved a message upon a large rock, then hurled it over toward Tyralus, before she took off toward the source of the nearest conflict, and by extension the Palace...

"GURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! I'M BLEEDING! WHY DOES IT HURT SO MU-OWWWWWWWWWWWW!" The rock struck Tyralus on the head, and the screaming giant was distracted from his pain. He looked, and saw the beast was nowhere to be seen, and Minos was gone as well. Well... Clearly it had been frightened off by his bellows!

The giant reptile grabbed the tiny rock between his claws and held it close to his eyes to read. "Search the mire down below.," he read.

Tyralus's eyes narrowed. The chances of the Dragon Ball being in some dearth swamp were low... but perhaps that was the intention of whomever had hidden it on this planet. It would be far too obvious for the Ruler of this place to hold it in her castle, but in some forsaken mire, a place no one would dare tread or desire to be in... Perhaps there. If Minos was correct on this...

"Immortality and an all you can eat buffet, just for me!" The demonic giant cackled as he began to lumber off toward the swamp, his pain all but forgotten to him...

_________________________

With every fiber in her body, Thrud flung her arm forward, and the divine weapon blasted from her hand. "BURN IN HELL, MULEK!"

The draconic fiend had no time to dodge the strike, as her own momentum and the speed of the strike were simply too great. Nor could she take it head on, as that would have no doubt lead to her demise. Instead.. she chose to deflect it, with her full might.

The hellfire from her scythe flared before her, and a six layered barrier of fire bloomed before her as the divine strike impacted it. Mulek's own momentum stopped as she held up her hand to empower the barrier, yet the first layer cracked and shattered, then the second layer. The air shuddered and flames warped and lashed out across the icy tundra as Mulek put all of her power into stopping Thrud's attack.

The third layer shattered, and then the fourth and fifth. Her hand and arm began to tear, yet Mulek refused to give in. Not now, and not ever! Lady Cercil's honor, their quest to stop Tengri and Persephone, that abomination that lay beyond the fabric of reality... She wouldn't give in, ever!

The barrier finally gave in, and a plume of smoke and flames engulfed the area. For a moment, Thrud let out a giggle. "What a disgrace, a demon masquerading as an ange-"

She saw movement from the cloud. Her eyes shot up, and there was Mulek, body bleeding and burned, but the fiery determination on her face had never left, and she descended down like a great eagle, her flaming scythe primed.

It was too fast for Thrud to counter. Even as she tried to raise her scepter, her empowered weapon, to defend herself, the scythe cut down the right shoulder in a single clean strike. The scepter clattered to the ground with the hand that still held it, and Thrud screamed. Muscle, bone, tendon, armor, Mulek had cleaved through it all as if it were tissue paper, and now the demon stood at eye level with Thrud, even as the angel could do nothing but scream, a wordless primal sound that escaped the Valkyrie's mouth that sounded for miles in every direction, until a tap from the end of Mulek's scythe pushed her onto her back.

"Who's the disgrace?" The demon hissed. She kept the scythe leveled at Thrud's neck. "What's wrong, can't fight with your left arm? Did I sever your primary arm? Or are you just not good enough to fight with one? Now we're on even footing, Thrud."

The screaming from Thrud began to die out, and the Vaklyrie began to cry as the realization of her situation finally hit her. "W-why? I was.. always better..."

"You're not even worth killing, just a bootlicker for the biggest bitch in the room." Mulek stepped back. The hellfire from the scythe engulfed her, and her black winged angelic disguise was reformed. No one was to ever see her as she truly was, no one ever. "You did eclipse me, once. When we fought in the Angelic High, you were my superior in combat. You were born to battle, and I was just a wretched castaway, nursed by the closest thing to a mother I ever knew. Back then, I stood no chance, but times changed past you, Thrud. I've served Lady Cercil ever since that day and have done nothing to train and better myself. Even when I lost my arm, I refused to let that stop me. I've been on the front lines fighting for Cercil no matter what. You on the other hand, it's easy to see what you've been doing."

"S-shut up! SHUT UP!"

"When Sasriel perished in the downfall of the Angelic High, you turned your ass around and went running for shelter. You've been on the run all your life, finding someone else to hide behind without Sasriel to be a yes man to. You finally ended up here, in this dumpsterfire of a planet, serving a queen you can keep being a yes man to, and never having to worry about intruders , and you got complacent and lazy."

"Don't you... DON'T YOU...!" Thrud grabbed her scepter, yet the grip her left hand had on it was loose, and she struggled to keep in even somewhat level. Mulek simply shook her head, and turned to walk away.

"Don't even bother, Thrud. Like I said before, you are the height of angelic stupidity even no-."

She sensed it, something WRONG. Everything around her suddenly felt so... So HEAVY, so oppressive. It was as if the weight of the world had been hoisted upon her. Her breathing accelerated, and her eyes widened. The scythe in her hands fell to the ground with a clatter.

No more than twenty meters before her, twin scythes on either side of her, and white mask staring down at her with a predatory gaze, was a living nightmare, a monster that silenced even Thrud by her mere presence.

"M-MINOS?!"

_________________________________________

Karzahni let out a sigh of relief as he saw Hercules's body guards appointed for him. Perhaps he could be safe here after all..

Though, what if Persephone were to come looking for him? NAAAH, that would never happen! He was still of vacation, even if it had gone completely belly up and turned into a nightmare. She could live without him, easy.

_________________________________________

Any surprise Hevar had at Korraz's display of strength was overwhelmed by the horrid stench of the room beyond.

"Good lord, what is this odor? It's worse than when the Gyu Onis don't bathe for weeks. And what is tha-"

"Don't touch the brown stuff..." Tenkarus warned. She moved in with Yzazil, and had a hand up to her nose. "It's the remains of this creature's meals, like a pellet an owl spits up from stuff it couldn't digest."

".. EWWWWWW." Hevar winced as she scooted away from any brown splotches. "That's revolting."

"Sadly, it still isn't the most grotesque thing I've seen in my life..." Tenkarus sighed. "Worse, this seems fresh, very fresh. This thing is still alive and likely hungry, so be careful."

_______________________________________________

Nichelle could only silently nod in response. Her mind was as far from the room as it could be, she simply stared down at the ground.

"Yes.." She quietly said...

Yet, she failed to notice a tiny crippled fae drop down next to her from a rift...

__________________________________________

Heather's screams filled the empty world of Makai. It was too much for her, as the tiny fae went limp in Drillgore's grip, her senses and conscious overwhelmed by the pain.

Drillgore, however, would get no further than that. A beam of light flashed through his arm, piercing the flesh and metal that was there, and in the brief moment his grip on Heather was gone, the girl fell into a portal that just as quickly closed.

"Servants of Persephone... Servants of Tengri... I do indeed know of where the girl called Molly is." The voice of the Ruler of Makai boomed around them. Before Shaytin and Drillgore, a flaming rift materialized, one in the shape of an infernal eye. From it emerged Cercil, the Archangel's eyes burning daggers into Drillgore's unholy visage and Shaytin's mockery of the Yakuza form. The scepter in her hand glowed and transformed into a towering lance as long as she was tall, and her six purple wings stretched out to their full length. "Yet to dare tresspass upon this sacred realm, and threaten Lucifer's heir with a hostage... You will wish you had perished by the Ninja's hands instead of by mine."

She held no illusions as to the power of these fiends. Shaytin was clearly a Yakuza, even one as decrepit and decayed as her would be more than a match for Cercil in her prime, and Drillgore... wrongness radiated from this one's being. She would have to bring every last bit of power she had to stop these two, and in her current state...That was a tall order to bear.

But she, the Ruler of Makai, empowered by the energies of this sacred realm, would show them just how mighty Lucifer's Elite truly was!

The ground beneath Shaytin and Drillgore's feet begna to bubble and hiss, beofre a plume of hellfire spiraled up to consume them. At the same time, several rifts opened around the two, and superheated plasma, brought in straight from the core of a star, poured out to consume them as well!

____________________

At last, she was finished. Persephone stood back to take careful note of her hard work. A moat three meters wide and nine meters deep now surrounded the edges of her throne room, and fifteen torches casted their golden hues from the walls. The throne room had never looked more imposing or regal to Persephone than it did now, yet at the same time... humble. No golden throne or ornaments, no grand space... just a small stone throne room and a moat.

She nodded at her handiwork. If only Tenkarus were here to see this. She'd be falling over dumbstruck at her amazing new moat!

The smile on her face slowly withered away. Ten...Tenkarus... Why did she... have to remember her now? She had all but forgotten about her, so... why now? She was dead, dead with the rest of the Celestials....

"Persy!" Alabaster's voice reached into her ear. Persephone tapped the earpiece.

"What is it, you stupid jester? Did you already botch up what I need you to do?"

"Oh, heavens no! All I did was set up an audience with Nyx for you. She's waiting for you in a 'hanger bay', so to speak. Lilith can warp you there."

Persephone rubbed the ridge of her nose. She HAD given Lilith, Belfrit and Alabaster the choice of handling this as they saw fit, and at least she could put on a better front than just a warmonger...Yet she also had the suspicion Alabaster wasn't telling her everything...Still, an opportunity for leverage against the Ninjas was all but gift wrapped for her.

"Very well... Lilith, send me over." She said, as she was warped away.

From her blood bath, Alabaster sunk deeper into the tub. It felt kinda bad to not be the one to talk to this Nyx... but then, that was for Persy to deal with. Still, perhaps it would be better to watch it herself.

She rose from her blood bath and stepped out of the tub. The blood that dripped from her hand hardened around her and reformed into her skeletal dress attire, before she too warped after Persy...

---------------

In the hanger, Persephone emerged, as did Alabaster behind her. If Persephone was surprised to see Alabaster arrive with her, she made no indication of such. Perhaps more surprising was the lack of guards with her. There were no Gyu Oni guards that had accompanied her, just herself and the Advisor. Perhaps this was a foolish misstep, to walk in with so little on the defensive in case the worst happened...

or perhaps, as she looked around at the taller people and machinery in the hanger with a curious gaze, her blue dress covered over with a rich red cape lined with fur she had picked out while she had been doing her internal decorations, perhaps there simply was no trust in having such guards around, and she truly felt more secure just with herself...

Alabaster smiled. Whatever floated young Persy's boat, she supposed. To see that even being reduced in age to when she was but a child, no older than eleven in appearance, had not reverted her mental state to that point. No, that would have been fun to witness, this Lord of Sheol reduced to a timid whimpering child clutching behind her leg, but the juxtaposition of this little girl, her own voice back to the higher tone she had yet still filled with determination and confidence, acting as she did when she was an adult twice her stature... It was simply too amusing for Alabaster to go the full way with. This kind of juxtaposition would only make this sequence of events that much more interesting to witness...

Though, perhaps she SHOULD remove the cape from her and replace that dress with an even larger, more ornate doll dress...

[Godzilla165]

Daeva shook her head in denial to the statements Booled had made. Although Dante had indeed alluded to the Heart possibly having either been corrupted, or such not being the real Heart to begin with, she simply could not bring herself to conclude that her brother would allow for himself to be controlled. He would never betray those he cares about most, nor would he turn his back on the multiverse as both a whole, and a singularity. Whatever it was that made an attempt on Nichelle's life outside of Drillgore, it must have been something else entirely; it had to be.

She went on to side with the new arrival levitating in her vision, while also still respecting Booled's own viewpoints. Daeva turned to the latter and folded her arms. "I just don't believe that Dante would ever turn his back on us, I won't. Whether by choice or from an outside source, Em wouldn't do that, he would die a million times over first." Daeva turned her back to the two ghosts and emitted a deep sigh, one that was large enough to have visibly caused a shift in her shoulders. "That being said, I am a little worried about how this all will affect that thing, that... Darkness that's locked away inside of Dante. I've personally never seen it myself, but from what Ubel and Silvermane have told me, it makes even the biggest, baddest, and scariest demons in Hell look almost tame in comparison... And we fought in a war against those jerks to save reality." Daeva shook her head before turning to face the rainbow spirit in particular.

"The demon isn't something that should ever, EVER be messed with, or set free. It feeds off of negativity and hate, so, let's make sure we keep things the exact opposite, yeah?" The ninja looked down to check the invisible watch on her wrist, "Shoot! That reminds me, I've gotta go and get back to Jake and Dana, and their cute friend. Ugh, they're probably so bored, that it’s becoming detrimental to their health." Daeva rested one hand on her hip, and shot a thumb over her shoulder. "Come on, I've gotta go check on Dante and talk to him for a sec, and then we're off again. No rest for a ninja... Even though I really, reeaaally miss my bed... My sweet, soft bed." Daeva groaned as she turned and set off to look for Dante.

______________________________

Aphrodite giggled at Evoex and shook her head. “No, sweetheart, you don’t smell, don’t worry. But, a good bath is always relaxing, right?” She replied, before turning to Cthlee and the others. “Why don’t you three head go and get cleaned up while I find Nichelle something else to wear. I’ll have the beds turned back and ready to go when you’re done.”

Flashing them a warm smile, Aphrodite went and got to work, first heading into the closet on a pursuit for Nichelle’s new clothes.

______________________________



The stroke of keys, the fluttering of notes, the melodic hum of a harmonious wail. The moonlight spilled into the room from the now open shades, and casted a brilliant pale glow that sparkled the various metals and gems interlaced all throughout. Dante’s black hair gleamed, his form glowed as he played the sliver baby grand piano sat off the very left of their room. His fingers glided and flowed across each and every key, meticulously hitting note after note with near obsessive precision.

It was almost unconscious, as though Dante was not thinking, just simply doing. His eyes were shut, his ears were tuned only to the music he was playing, and he simply lived in this moment. He let emotions pour onto the keys, cascading over them like water. The more he played, the more at ease his mind became, yet it was like picking away at a mountain with a knife. Dante had been in many wars, the ninjas as a group had been; but it seemed as though this one was the hardest yet. Not only in terms of opposition, but also in the sheer loss of life... A loss that had knocked down the doors of the Yakuza. Dante knew good and well how some of his allies and friends might have felt about utilizing the Dragon balls for their apparent abilities, and he both understood and respected their mindset. But, for the sake of those unfairly lost, for the sake of he himself and his siblings as the Guardians, and for the sake of his own family members who were taken... The Dragon balls were necessary.

One final keystroke was hit, and Dante withdrew his hands, set them in his lap, and sat there quietly. With his eyes still closed, he took a breath and relaxed as best he could.

“You know you could’ve come and sat beside me, you didn’t have to just stand there the whole time.” He said to the individual leaned against the doorframe.

Daeva smiled and went to sit next to him. “I was just listening, that’s all. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard you play anything.” She replied.

“Where’s the time anymore?” Dante sighed as he pressed lightly on a minor key, sounding a tinny sharp note.

“I hear ya.” Daeva scooched in beside him and rested her head on his shoulder, “How’s it looking up top? What are you feeling like?”

Dante had a slow head shake for an answer. “Lost, confused... Don’t know what to do, where to turn, even though I’m supposed to know.”

“This wasn’t your fault, Em,” Daeva raised to stare at him, “it wasn’t.”

Dante stared back at her, silent for a moment, but then he looked away. “Do you remember when we went on our very first mission together?” Dante snickered, “We were both so young and naive, we really shouldn’t have even gone and done it. But, you were so excited to finally go and do some good, to make a real change, however small. So, we did, you and I went and took on a village overrun by bandits, just the two of us. Everything was going pretty well at first, surprisingly, you know? We were handling things just fine, the locals were cheering us on, and we were really about to save these people’s lives... Until it happened...” Dante stared off into space, his voice growing heavier.

“One bandit managed to slip past me, I wasn’t paying attention, and he headed straight for you. You hadn’t mastered your speed yet, and this was the first time you had seen any combat so, you just didn’t know. The bandit, he... I can still remember the blade just missing your heart... All of the blood...” Dante looked sadly at his sister, “I thought I had gotten you killed, Peri... I thought-”

“But you didn’t,” Daeva stopped him, resting her hand on his shoulder, “that wasn’t your fault either, Dante. I mean, like you said, we were both young, and I was begging you to take me. Really, if that was anyone’s fault, it was mine.” She reached up to pinch his cheek, “And, you never left my side for a second when I was recovering; you, Evron, Ubel... You guys stayed right there with me the whole time. And even when I did get better, you were always right there, no matter what.”

Dante shut his eyes, before reopening them slowly. “Daeva, my job, my duty as both a leader, and a guardian, is to protect those closest to me first... To make sure that everyone is okay, safe... And I failed. I failed our people, I failed Mom... I failed-”

Suddenly, Daeva reared up, drew her hand back, and slapped Dante across the face with enough force to slightly shake the bedroom. The Ninja Prime was deathly silent, so taken aback that he could only stare at her in shock. His left cheek was burning red, and while it had not hurt, he definitely felt it.

“Da... Daeva...” Dante sputtered.

She profusely shook her head from side to side. “I’m sorry, Dante, but what I’m seeing here right now isn’t the strong, resilient, and optimistic big brother that I know and love and look up to... And I want him back, I want you back, the you before all the crap that happened tonight... Happened.

Dante remained silent as Daeva continued laying into him. The latter pointed out the window, “The things that happened out there were NOT your fault, Em, so stop acting like they are, alright? You’re an amazing leader, an awesome protector, a wonderful boyfriend to the love of your life, who is worried sick about you right now... And an even better brother to me, to Ubel, and to Evron.” Daeva firmly declared and grabbed his hand to squeeze it tight. “Our people love you, they look up to you, they’re inspired by you, and most of all... They have faith in you, we all do.”

Before long, Daeva socked him in the arm and stared him in the eyes. “You’re a freaking Ninja Prime, dude, so start acting like one again! I don’t like being an adult, being an adult sucks! So, you get out there, talk to our people, let them know that everything is gonna be okay, and then we kick some major ass and wish everyone back! That’s your daily dose of Daeva advice, and it doesn’t come cheap!”

Dante massaged his blushed cheek, and stared intently at Daeva. “Man... I almost forgot how hard you hit. Did you really have to hit me that hard?” He unconsciously grinned.

“Well, you were being a giant mope! I was sick of it, give me regular Dante back!” Daeva exclaimed, folding her arms in a huff.

With a little laugh, Dante wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her tight. “Well, he’s back now, I think you knocked him back into place.” He then rose from the piano stool, standing tall and confident once more. “You’re right, Peri, it’s about time I quit feeling sorry for myself; our people, and the entire multiverse needs us now more than ever.”

Daeva grinned big, standing to go in and hug him with as much force as he could bear, which was a lot. “That’s more like it. Some creepy, pervy, scummy snake isn’t going to cloud up our judgement, not anymore, right?”

Dante nodded, “Right.”

“Good. Hey, do you want me to stay and help out with anything? Big or small, it doesn’t matter.”

“No, no things should be okay here for now. I’ve got a lot of work to do all over the kingdom, and they’re things that I personally need to handle. You go and link back up with Jake and find that Dragon ball.” Dante replied.

With a nod, Daeva went in for one last hug before her departure. “I love you, big bro, no matter what.” She declared and pointed a finger in his face. “No more mopey Dante, ever again, promise?”

Dante smiled and chuckled, “I love you too, and I promise.”

“Okay... Cause if he comes back... WaPSSH!” Daeva did a slapping motion with her right hand, while she opened a portal with her left. With that, the youngest ninja waved goodbye, and turned to hop inside the vortex. Not a second later, her head popped back out. “Oh, and I almost forgot: Keep an eye on Cthlee, the floaty ghosts said that he’s pretty depressed.”

“Then that’ll be the first thing I do: Cheer him up. Now, goodbye, Periii.” Dante waved her goodbye, and her head disappeared into the portal with it closing soon after. With Dante now left to himself again, he turned and headed out of the room with reinvigoration and a powerful spark to find Cthlee and Aphrodite. And yet, the demon itself knew that when they saw Drillgore again...

______________________________

On the other side of the portal, Daeva jumped out and found herself along the pathway leading to where Jake, Dana, and 21 apparently still were. Wasting no time, she appeared about a yard away from the table the three of them were sat to, and threw up a greeting hand.

“Hey, you guys bored out of your minds yet? Sorry I took so long, it’s just... A lot happened at home, and I mean a LOT.” She sighed and plopped down in one of the seats, throwing her head backwards over the rest. “I am mentally drained like you wouldn’t believe.” Daeva cracked open one eye to peer over at 21, noting her big, round glasses. “I like your frames.” She complimented.

____________________________

“Immanuel, no, wait!” Ubel tried to yell out to him, but it was too late, the former had already gone.

“Ahh dammit!” Evron cursed. “Ubel, on me!” The two ninjas trailed after Immanuel to help him face down the black mist. They got on either side of the light god and stood their ground, whilst praying for Immanuel to be right.

“You’d better be right about this, Immanuel...” Evron muttered, “Because if not...”

“We’re so screwed.” Ubel finished. As the cloud edged ever nearer, Ubel grit his teeth and called to Evron. “Uh, Evron, if this is really it, I just... I just want to say-”

“Please don’t tell me you used my toothbrush to clean the toilets!” Evron yelled.

“Wait, what?! No! No, that’s disgusting, who would ever do something like that?!”

“Uhh, no one, no one, I... Look, never mind, alright! Just tell me what you were gonna say!”

Ubel looked at the incoming storm; it was nearly upon them now. “We don’t have time, it’s coming!”

“Okay... I’m trusting you, Immanuel! If we die, that’s going to really suck!” Evron exclaimed as the mist was inches away...

[EdGojira]

Android 21 recoiled. Not only because of Daeva's sudden return but the compliment given to her. 21 looked away and tried to behave in a manner which passed as formal. "Nice... hair."

Jake studied Daeva. Something deeper was going on here. He was able to see it in her body language. She probably needed some form of rest. "How about you take a nap?"

"You'll probably need it if you're going to hear what I did," Dana added. This had dual meanings, such as what she heard about the Legendary Beast and also the fact that their following quest would technically take place concurrently with whatever the hell Daeva went through. Dana studied her closely. Fuck, this girl was absolutely going through the same kind of tension as she was. "I mean that sincerely."
___________
Covering his eyes, Nonce saw the predicament that he was in. He pressed a button on his utility belt and the room became dark enough to bear. Blimey. More meat to beat.

A blade appeared from each of Nonce's wrists igniting into a glowing pink. They slid down into his hands, the small pirate launched himself at the manifestation, chopping apart several tendrils before kicking himself back.

He dis several elaborate spins at such speeds as to leave trails of light in the darkness of the chamber before assuming a battle-ready stance. "Think you've got what it takes? COME AT ME!"
_________
Gou and Ten'ren braced themselves, covering their faces as the wind tunnel sucked them toward the Jotun's maw. Ten'ren bore their fangs. This looked to be the end.

Most stereotyped pirates as cowards. Bandits who couldn't face the woes of the world and instead went for the easy route of looting and pillaging those weaker than them. While it was true that there were real slimeballs in their ranks---for one, Ten'ren hadn't seen that Nonce fucker and they knew the little bastard was stronger than that---but Ten'ren wasn't one of them. Nor was D'ear or any of the other Ogrens which joined Hercules's ranks.

Ten'ren still remembered the flames reflected across the amber eye in those seconds before their village made the last stand.

Ten'ren had met personally the Behemoth. This thing, it was a small fry. Nothing about its horrors could compare.

Thus, the pirate fired several bolts into the creature's maw, filling its throat full of fire. Ten'ren knew, however, that the fight was fruitless.

"FU-SION! GO!"

Ten'ren's form jolted as pain entered their body. They looked behind at Gou. Gou's arms had begun merging with Ten'ren's form. "But... it's too risky."

"So what? We're dying anyway."

"I guess it's time to go..."

"Blaze of glory! Gou finished.

The two glowed a purple hue, turning translucent in a brief flash before emerging as a new individual, one of a hardened bumpy purple shell and long flowing mane. Still, the new being was in pain...

"We were too weak, Gou."

Hraesvelgr's maw was now around them. Any longer and they would be swallowed whole...

Go'ren searched their pockets, finding the supplements and swallowing them all. The being felt their heart rate speed up, hammering harder and harder against their chest. Beating so hard as to place them on death's door. Go'ren blacked out.

The spotlight shined gold upon them. The entity's eyes scanned around them, seeing that they were in a space of infinite black. Still, the ground glittered like waves. A hooded figure rode by carrying a dragon in their boat.

To the entity, staring at the realm felt like staring at all past regrets. It was as if the weight of all friends and family was suddenly weighing down on them, pulling them underwater. They didn't hold their breath because there was no more breath to hold. Instead, they welcomed the distorted golden light on them. The opportunity for them to play a part in the Jotun's defeat, sullied. The darkness took hold. Oblivion awaited.

"Momma take this badge off me...

"I can't use it anymore...

"It's getting to dark, too dark to see..."

"Seems like we died together, Gou," Go'ren spoke, seeing the spotlight grow dimmer and dimmer and the shape of a ram's horn appear more and more clear. "But then, why aren't we separated?"

The voice of Hercules suddenly appeared. It reverberated through the vision. It felt as if a massive sword had cut the weight off of them. "Dead men tell no tales, or so they say. Tell yours."

An ever-glowing paw struck Hraesvelgr in the mouth, launching Go'ren away from the creature. Forming a crater in the chamber, the revived entity bared their fangs. Go'ren had grown to the size of Hraesvelgr, horns now poking from behind their gleaning mane as dark eyes under spiked brow glared at Hraesvelgr. "Ragnarok, Meggido, Nidhoggr, Godzilla. Names that mean something. Time to make mine mean something too."

Go'ren struck the bird with a fist burning with might.
_________
"Boss," Urs-Minor said. "Looks like we found where the magic happened."

"No gooey monsters, I'm guessing?" responded Hercules.

"None so far. Just a bunch of tubes and dead things.'

Hercules eyed a corpse at the corner of his eye. "Yeah. Seems like a staple here. You don't happen to see a Dragon Ball, do you?"

"Not just yet."

Hercules cursed. Seems like the idea of tracking the creature down to its source had been one that didn't work out. He was happy he had these guys with him so he didn't waste any time. "Just keep looking."

"Will do," Urs-Minor said as they ended the chat. They turned to their counterpart. "What do you reckon we should do?"

"Follow the wires."

Urs-Minor nodded. The two metallic entities walked toward the broken terminal and merged themselves into the wall, following the wires until they sensed a new room. From there, they unmelded and began to search once again. Urs-Minor looked over their shoulder, catching their larger companion doing the same. They didn't like this, not one bit.
__________
Meanwhile, Hercules read through the logs of the experiment's failure, making small bits of commentary along the way. He never liked the way Sheekh wrote. It was always so dry like they had an anchor shoved in their ass and were left hanging in the sun. He searched for small clues, anything that he could use to narrow down exactly where exactly they were keeping the Dragon Ball.

This Assimilator-1 gene stood out to the pirate. Obviously, this was a total failure but perhaps he could be clued in on where kept were their... precious things... through using this gene. He opened up another chat. "Where were you guys at, exactly?"

"Uh, Growth Lab, room number B11."

"Thanks," Hercules said. He approached a door and looked at the number. He stood back and pondered how the Sheekh tended to arrange their buildings. This meant that he would somehow need to make his way all the way across. Luckily, they weren't strangers to hallways. Hercules placed his round gadget on the door and watched it slide open slightly. He rolled his eyes and shimmied through.

He squinted in the dark. Sure, he could take off his shades but what if some moron happened to see him? Then, what would he do? Apologize to them? As if that would work...

He instead stuck to running his hand along the wall, waiting for the next flash of light so he could memorize the floor plan. He found another door and opened it.
_______
Neil frowned heavily, his hard brow raised in fright. Looks like he wasn't the first person completely terrified by this place. Still... maybe he could use this to his advantage.

As he put the new boots on, he looked over his shoulder nervously. He felt guilty doing this... but he was a pirate, right? That made this okay, right? Right?

He began putting some armor over his torso. Sure, this is okay. Just fine. Hercules would be proud. Fuck. Something was going to jump out at him, wasn't it?

[MinorBone Good]

O'nugulao was brought down into the dark hallways of Quatheral's lab, the minimal lighting barley helping. They've wondered what was the need of creating such a big place only for it to go to waste? They knew of the dangerous creature, yes. But why so big? They continued to float down the halls, eventually coming across the point of interest. The broken hallway, with something seemingly tearing it's way into it. Most strange. They investigated closer. Same source of origin as in the forest, at least by the creator of these rifts. They could not sense the offending figure. He reached out to Quatheral.

"Something tore it's way into these chambers. No sign of this Drillgore you speak of. I can confirm this is the same signature from the one that first opened up. I think they took Drillgore because they know of his past, whatever that may be."

Quatheral's once calm voice was lost once upon hearing that Drillgore was completely gone. "W-WHAT!? That... That shouldn't be possible! There is no way someone could know of him! He was only seen on this planet! Who could come in!?"

"I do not know, Mother. Should I permanently seal this off now?"

Quatheral sighed. "Y-Yes... Seal it. After this, no one will be able to get in. I have shielded the barriers so that no other creatures can barge their way onto this world."

O'nugulao turned back around and floated down the hallways once more. Their body glowing a bright blue to light to light the way back to the surface...
__________________________

Cthelee looked over at his friends solemnly. Everything was going wrong. Why did he decide to go on this journey. He was never good in these kind of scenarios. If only Quatheral was there with him. He felt so alone despite being with people he knew and cared for. He shuddered, feeling another wave of ungodly cold sweeping through him. He hurried over towards the bathroom, just trying to get this whole night over with. He looked down at his bloodied form one last time, raising a wing up to his once missing eye. He let out a prolonged sigh and stepped in.

His mouth flaps opened up, his tongues reaching out to turn on the knob for hot water. He watched as the water start to rise to the top of the tub and let out another sigh. He looked down at the many blood splotches on his feathers. Tears swelled up in his eyes again. Fiotto's green blood and Howo's colorful blood.. He whimpered out loud, stepping into the boiling hot water. He began to lower himself further in the admittedly small tub for his size, when a thought crept into his head. Howo's blood.. It was still on him! He could bring some of his blood coated feathers to Quatheral and she can resurrect her! A moment of levitay washed over Cthelee. This was still going to be slightly painful however.

He rose from the tub, and using his tubes, began to pluck each bloody feather from his body. It was slightly painful process, but nothing he couldn't handle. He managed to take out around 50 feathers off his body. A bit noticeable, but nothing that should be too bad. He'll regrow them in the future. He placed the feathers beside the tub. He really didn't want to let the others know what he'd had in mind except for his Quatheral friends. They would probably want to bombard Quatheral with reviving people from Yakuza. Everything that happened today was his mistake... He just didn't want to be a pest to anyone even more. He sat back down in the tub, and tried to enjoy it the best he could...
.................

Outside of Cthelee's temporary bathroom, Evoex was the only one not go into a bathroom immediately like Cthelee and Fiotto had. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if he actually needed a bath in the first place. He already was some sort of glitched being, with no sense of cleanliness or dirty. Although he did feel a bit strange after Drillgore attacked him. Like, something was lodged in there. Who knows? Maybe it just might be another new glitch within his body. He was possibly going to mention was Aphrodite, but it didn't seem worth bringing up as poor Nichelle seemed to be in a much more dire state. Ah well. It was probably nothing.

Cthelee soon came out from his bath, his feathers now a cleaned up from the mess from earlier. He had concealed the plucked feathers inside his neck flaps. It was sort of cramped, but it would have to do for now. The bath itself was nice, but he still felt cold. Not in the way that it was actually cold. But it felt like it was coming from inside... He couldn't really quite describe it. He looked over at Aphrodite and gave her a smile. She truly was a nice person. It was strange how similar she was to Quatheral. Maybe the two of them could meet up and discuss....

He shook his head, messing up his hair a bit. Not likely. Especially now. Probably never at this point. Howo and Ishome were gone. And if she knew that these Yakuza failed to protect them along with himself, she would not be very happy. He would have to think about it. He would have lots of time to reflect. Not like he was sleeping anyway. He may never sleep again.
________________

"Your bond with your sibling is very admirable, Daeva. I respect your opinion. Maybe I myself can learn from you."

"'Dawwwww, don't say that! You're perfect the way you are!"

Boore floated up towards Booled and hugged the tip of her tail. The frown faced ghost looked down at their younger sibling and patter her on their head.
_____________________

As the flames consumed the two evil beings, Shayatin found themselves suddenly being surrounded by black and white flesh. Drillgore's skin started to transform into some sort of strange metal that gleamed a bright white, absorbing the plasma and fire into his body. A red glow quickly enveloped Shayatin's body, and they soon found themselves away from the ungodly heat that Cercil tried to inflict on them. Noticing that his ally was safe, he looked at Cercil with a grin.

So it was going to be the hard way.

Drillgore's now metal body began to growing in size, almost becoming twice the size of Cercil! His lower tendrils started to transform in to legs and feet, tipped with sharp claws. His arms started grow longer as well, and gained a hunched appearance. By the end of the transformation, Drillgore looked more like a giant metal wolf-like creature with a drill arm. Standing on his hind legs, Drillgore started to run towards Cercil, intending to impale her with his drill!

[Corzak The Mighty]

Owlzarus chuckled at Dea's musings. "Unfortunately, these are unaffiliated with both the entities from the Marvel universe and the atlantean superweapon known as Gamera. You would perhaps recognize them more by their common names - the ninjas. Their names are Dante, Ubel, Evron, and Daeva. It was a title given to them after the War in Heaven, where they defeated the legions of Hell alongside several other pantheons."
___________________________________________
Gigantis watched as the ninjas and the god of light both turned around to race into the mist. Were they insane?! They had just seen what it was capable of... why would this be the logical solution?! They were going to get him killed! Gigantis struggled in the grasp of Evron, trying to wriggle free, but the ninja was simply too much for the reptilian to handle. Gigantis braced himself and closed his eyes, fearing the worst. He didn't want to die in this shithole of a dimension!...

Immanuel stood firm as the wall of ash swirled toward them. "Brace yourselves. We do not know what lays on the other side of this."

Soon enough, the crawling cloud of swirling dust washed over them, and all went dark as the roaring bellow of the cloud engulfed them...

That is, until the cloud passed.

The darkness soon turned to light, first as a tiny sliver cutting through the biting torrent of dust and debris, before the sliver grew to a ray and soon filled the entirety of their vision with light. As the last of the ashen cloud dissipated, the group soon found themselves within a massive chamber, seemingly hollowed out of ash and dust to appear like a strange cathedral. They stood upon a large circular platform that had no obvious entrance or exit, with a singular bridge crafted of a similar style to the rest of the room. The other end of the bridge, and much of the rest of the room was shrouded in a cloud of ash, similar to the one before.

After a few moments, Gigantis opened his eyes, before touching his body. "I-I'm alive?! I'M ALIVE!"

"It appears so," Immanuel replied, before he examined his surroundings. "But now the question is... where are we?"

"You are in a place you do not belong, noble Immanuel," a voice soon spoke out within the assembled group's head.

The wall of ash on the other end of the bridge soon parted and dissipated much like the illusion from before. The outline of a massive humanoid, easily over 30 feet tall, became visible through the cloud. The shape of an equally massive throne became visible, along with the outline of many bones that seemed to adorn the structure. As the ash dissipated further, the humanoid soon was revealed to be a woman of sorts. Her body was clad in an ebony robe, with a thick fur lining around the neck. The right side of her body was that of a pallid, sickly woman, with pale skin, pitch black eyes, and long flowing white hair that reached her lap. Her left side was that of a half-burnt corpse, with sinews and bone visible beneath the charred flesh. A strange heat seemed to radiate off her left side, slightly distorting the giant's surroundings.

Gigantis backed up a bit at the sight of the giant woman, clutching his sword's hilt tightly in fear. Was this who he thought it was? Was this the ruler of this place?

"You must be Hel," Immanuel said with a bow. "It is good to meet you in the flesh."

"Spare me your pleasantries," Hel replied venomously, her ebony eyes glaring with chilling intensity. "You have brought untold danger to my land. The pirate Hercules has sent his crew deep into the roots of Yggdrasil and have disturbed Hraesvelgr in their pursuit of you, and the God of Wrath has come to my kingdom in search of new quarry. Speak quickly if any of you value your lives."

"We have come in search of a powerful artifact," Immanuel stated calmly, though he made sure to keep an eye on Gigantis. "A dragonball has found itself within this world of ice and snow. We seek this object in order to undo the damage caused to the multiverse's fabric by Tengri and to save those destroyed in the conflict with Sutekh."

"The multiverse's problems are not my problems," Hel stated coldly. "The multiverse has been destroying itself since the dawn of time, when the core first sprouted the roots of Yggdrasil. Surely you remember this, Immanuel. And I would hope that Tiamat's playthings are wise to this truth of reality as well." Hel shot a dismissive glance at Ubel and Evron, before continuing. "And the lives of those claimed by Sutekh and his ilk are not yours to claim. They are the Core's playthings now, to be utilized as it sees fit. To suggest otherwise would be a worse sin than that of Nidhoggr's greed."

"Are not the branches of Yggdrasil your home as well?" Immanuel replied. "Should the multiverse crumble, so too shall the great tree."

"Then let it crumble," Hel grumbled, ebony eyes glaring vehemently at Immanuel. "It is filled with ungrateful souls who do not value life. Perhaps it would be better for it to fade away once more. It would be a more merciful fate than its current one."
----
"What?!" was all Hraesvelgr managed to caw out before Go'ren's burning fist struck him square in the face! A resounding BOOM! filled the chamber, creating waves in the quagmire below and shaking the wall of bones. Hraesvelgr screeched in pain as he was sent rocketing backwards, smashing apart a root before slamming full force into the opposite wall, sending a cascade of bones down into the primordial ooze below. The avian's beak displayed an obvious crack, and a stream of blood dripped from the creature's face.

Peeling himself free from the wall, Hraesvelgr kicked up another destructive torrent of wind, filling the chamber with a whirlwind of biting gusts, buffeting the Other, Beetle, and Xarm while keeping Go'ren briefly checked by its power. Eyes filled with fury, the Jotunn loosed a powerful cry and beat its wings, before sending a destructive torrent of wind towards his new, giant foe, hoping it will be enough to knock the fused entity off-balance...
----
The tendrils that Nonce sliced writhed around on the earth, spewing out an inky black fluid before going completely limp. Despite this, however, more tendrils emerged, one of which clobbered the robotic being with a powerful swipe of its bone-studded exterior, knocking Nonce off balance and into the waiting grip of another!...
___________________________________________
"Truly abhorrent," Yzazil replied to Hevar. "But it gives us an idea of what this monstrosity is capable of."

Yzazil continued forward down the hallway, keeping his sword readied as he examined his surroundings. Much of this structure was still intact, though a few of the walls seemed to have been damaged by bursts of intense heat, along with incredible blunt force. Bits of clothing and armor lay scattered about the interior of the structure, along with more of the brownish-black fluid regurgitated by the beast that lay within this halls. A three doors lay on either side of the hallway, each of them warped or damaged in some capacity, both from within and without.

Eventually, the group came upon a large sealed off room. A digital sign flickered next to it that read "Central Servers."

"Perhaps this will give us information on where to look for the Dragonball?" Yzazil suggested, before he sliced the door open and stepped inside...
----
The twin entities slithered through the damaged wiring passage, before soon emerging into a massive lit chamber. Inside were dozens of computer monitors, along with a massive central sever sitting in the middle of the room. The walls were surprisingly pristine in here, and still smelled like freshly opened plastic. Along with this, dozens of computers still flickered with their monitors on, each of them seemingly in stand-by mode.

As the duo prepared to investigate further, they heard the door getting sliced open, along with footsteps coming inside.
----
As Hercules opened the door, he was greeted with desiccated, long-dead remains of a sheekh that had died leaning up against it. The corpse was in surprisingly good shape, but had obviously been rotting here for a long time, perhaps as long as two weeks. The figure looked to be some sort of scientist, as they were still clad in their laboratory coat and had a pair of goggles covering their eyes. The inside of the room had a couple other corpses, two of which looked like they had been partially eaten. This room was quite large and roomy, with a large machine sparking golden energy sealed behind an opaque glass wall. The room had a table in it, with a visibly bloody scalpel sitting on it, along with a strange lever-like device hooked up to the central machine. A computer terminal sat on the far wall, with a screen that said "Project Vulcan" along its top, along with a dozen other documents.

Hercules moved in the investigate the terminal.

[border]PROJECT VULCAN

Project Vulcan came to light with the destruction of Factory Planet Thanatos at the hands of Space Anomaly 1. After dozens of projects failed to capture or destroy Space Anomaly 1, Project Vulcan began in part due to increasing concerns over Space Anomalies 2 thru 5 and Space Anomaly 1 becoming more active. We have decided to harness the power of Space Anomaly 15 to attempt to discover a way to capture of destroy such threats to Sheekhatan. A special device will be hooked up to Space Anomaly 15 with the intention of channeling its reality-warping powers into a matter-reshaping device. Experiments will be conducted on a daily basis, investigating the power output of the machine, and to test if it is more effective as a weapon or a trapping device.[/border]
----
As Neil collected the supplies from within the closet, he suddenly heard a voice from outside the door that seemed to echo down the hall outside.

"Hello?" the voice inquired, clearly frightened. "I-is anyone else out there? Hello?"
___________________________________________
Shayatin had prepared to intercept the blasts with tendrils growing from her back, but Drillgore had taken the initiative before her and absorbed them into himself. Impressive! This creature was more effective than she had originally assumed. He would make an excellent ally in both this conflict and the conflicts to come.

Shayatin's eyes turned to Cercil. So she preferred to use flames it seemed, and seemed to focus much on utilizing range... then perhaps it would be wise to assail the angel from close, rather then to rely on her ki powers. Shayatin watched as Drillgore charged Cercil recklessly. A risky choice on his part, but it nonetheless gave Shayatin an important opening.

Vanishing into a cloud of inky black mist, Shayatin suddenly appeared behind Cercil, weapons in hand, before she lashed out with a destructive flurry of blows, each strike aimed at the joints of the angel's wings! If the angel could not move, she would fall much more easily... and she would be hard pressed to defend herself from such a vicious two-pronged attack...
___________________________________________
Tengri's travels had not gone as smoothly as he had intended. Reaching the world Jake had found himself on was proving to be quite the adventure. As Tengri's ship traveled through slipspace, he found himself locked in battle with a monstrous, interstellar fish known as a "Gamma Shark", along with its numerous progeny. Though it was not, Tengri's mind, a suitable threat to require the Machine of Unmaking, slaying the beast and her brood proved to be quite the challenge, eating up much of his time.

Now, he just hoped his quarry had not slipped through his grasp.

Emerging from slipspace, Tengri's flagship scanned its surroundings for signs of Jake.

"Sire, our signal has become scattered due to damage from the battle with the Gamma Shark," one of the osiran servitor machines said.

"Damnable fiend... continue searching!" Tengri bellowed angrily, slamming his fist upon his throne's arm rest. "He cannot be far from here!"
___________________________________________
Negotiations had long come to a close between Kandyman and the strange world he had visited. At the cost of sending soldiers to aid in their conquest of the multiverse, the shadowy overlord received a cut of Tengri's territory, along with some of the deceased Osiran's technology - a fair trade if you asked him. At the behest of the shadowy dictator, Kandyman sent dozens of transport ships to gather his army of shadowy fiends, primitive robots, and icy beasts to prepare for the coming storm.

"Is there anything else you ask of me, my lord?" The frost-armored warrior from before asked to his master.

"No," the tyrant replied, armed crossed. "Only that you join this "Tengri" in conquest. You will be the forerunner general of my legions. Bring pride to my empire and bring destruction to our foes, Monarch of Frost."

"Of course." The Monarch of Frost bowed, before marching to join his ice monsters in the coming storm. The shadowy tyrant turned towards Kandyman with a proud look on his face.

"Is there anything else you ask of me?"

"My master, Tengri, asks that he knows all your ultimate weapons, so they may used to their fullest potential in the conflicts ahead."

The tyrant smiled. "Of course. Follow me."
___________________________________________
A short while after Alabaster emerged alongside Persephone, Nyx emerged from her office, escorted by an entourage of soldiers. The young woman seemed regal, even in her supposed defeat at the hands of both her own people and Alabaster. As she approached the two, she gave Persephone a confused aside glance. Were they bringing children into negotiations now? That seemed a bit odd... but Nyx was quick to dispel it. Maybe this was an alien race that happened to look like human children. She couldn't be sure at this point.

"Welcome to Earth," Nyx said curtly, though with a sense of nervousness as well. "Follow me to my office so we can begin the official ceremony."

Nyx turned around, and prepared to walk towards her office. She glanced to the soldiers at either side ofh er, giving them a nod. The soldiers merely gave her a nod back. The plan had been set in motion.

[Godzilla165]

"Way ahead of both of you," Daeva yawned, "the first thing I'm doing when get back on the ship is knock myself out for a couple hours. Well, after I hear about what Dana's thing is, right, Dan Dan?" She offered Dana a wink before being stricken with another long yawn. "Y'know, normally I sleep for like, a full day after we get done fighting a war. But this time? Ugh, I might not wake up for two freaking days!"

Daeva then shot a long glance over at 21, her tired mind having finally registered the compliment that the latter gifted her. It was an awkward and haphazard one, but it was cute. The ninja smiled and flipped a part of it with her hand, causing for it bounce and flow, before settling into place along her back. "Thanks, it looks like a lot to have to manage, but it's actually pretty easy. Just one or two goes with a comb, and boom." She nestled further into her chair and gazed down at the surface of the table, with her smile slowly fading. "One of the uh, one the little girls in the kingdom, she and I would do each other's hair sometimes. It wasn't that often, just sometimes... But, every time, it felt special, you know? It felt like... That was our time, our little moment together, and we use to laugh so much about nothing at all. She and I both knew that it never took long at all to do my hair, but we would comb and play with it for what seemed like hours... Just so those moments would a last a little longer. Those pink eyes of hers, they were always so bright and happy..."

Feeling a tear fall from her chin brought Daeva back to reality; she hadn't realized that she had been crying. She quickly wiped the rest free with the back of her hand and rose from the table. "Sorry, it's been kind of a long day, and it's only gonna get longer if we don't find those Dragon balls soon." Daeva said before shooting a thumb over her shoulder. "If you guys need me, I'll be on the ship." With that, she teleported away to try and get some rest before her group set off again.

___________________________________________

Evron sneered, "Hmph, if we weren't trying to save the whole multiverse right now, I'd show her what a 'plaything' is." He mentally jeered.

"Let's just stick to the plan, Evron; don't let her get to you. We'll get the Dragon ball and be out of here in no time." Ubel responded before setting his gaze onto the looming Hel. And then, in as diplomatic a tone as he could possibly manage, he began his case:

"Forgive my inherent bluntness, your majesty, but I do not believe you are taking this situation as seriously as it requires you to be." He calmly stated. "If we are not able to find all of the Dragon balls soon, preferably before Tengri wreaks more havoc on the fabric of space and time itself, then the multiverse as a whole will soon become unstable to the point of collapsing. This is not just simply about saving those whose souls were unfairly taken, but the future for all that currently exists, and will eventually exist, is at stake. This will affect every single corner of the multiverse, weakening it enough for forces like Tengri, and the one named Persephone, to walk right in and take control of all of it. A task you may currently deem impossible, yes, but with whatever power or tool that Tengri currently wields will make such a trial significantly easier for him to accomplish. And, he will spread his influence across the entire multiverse, which means that, soon enough, he will come for your weakened realm and use that opportunity to take control of both it, and you. Unless, he just flat out kills you instead, your majesty."

Ubel's tone was not harsh nor venomous or disrespectful towards the Queen of Niflehiem, it was purely calm, collected, yet matter-of-fact. Though, he took a mental breath after he was finished. "Jeez, I've never sounded so freaking professional in my entire life." He said.

Soon, Evron backed Ubel up, albeit less gentle than his younger brother. "Yeah, and you can try to sit here and act like you don't care about what happens to reality, or even to your own realm... But we all know how much of a boldfaced lie that is. You wouldn't just give up the domain that you have a firm, seemingly unbreakable hold over that easily; you tyrants never do." Evron smirked underneath his helmet, "Unless, that is, you would honestly be fine with having a new, blue and bald master to rule over you... And I just seriously don't think you'd be okay being, and pardon my crudeness, 'your majesty'... Someone's bitch."

“Please, Queen Hel, we just need to look for the Dragon ball. Once we find, we’ll leave your realm in peace and never come back. We could even help to get the others that are here out as well.” Ubel offered.

___________________________________________

After several minutes of hard searching, Aphrodite emerged from the closet with one outfit for Nichelle to wear for the night. In her hands were a plain white shirt with the Yakuza crest printed in the middle, some black gym shorts with a single white stripe running down the hips, and a pair of black socks for Nichelle to keep her feet warm.

“Whew, that was A LOT harder than I thought before I went in there; there are just so many options!” Aphrodite declared as she set the outfit down on the middle bed. She rested her hands firmly on her hips and studied her roommates. “How’s everyone doing so far, you guys okay?”

For the most part, they seemed like they were, if only still shaken up from earlier. That was completely understandable, but the one whom Aphrodite was concerned the most for was Cthelee; the poor thing looked absolutely broken down, even if he tried his best to hide it. It broke the goddess’s heart seeing such a sweet individual so grief stricken, and she refused to sleep until she made him feel better. As Aphrodite started to say something to him, however, three knocks sounded from the bedroom door.

“You guys hang out while I see who it is, yeah?” She said and went to answer it. When she opened the door, her heart did a fluttering flip once she laid eyes upon the Ninja Prime standing in the doorway. “Hiii,” she responded in a gasp and hugged Dante tight, “are you okay? How are you feeling, babe? Wha-” Aphrodite looked on in surprise at the red handprint on Dante’s check, reaching out to lay a gentle hand on it.

“What happened here? Who did this?”

Dante took her hand and kissed it. “It’s nothing, honey, honest, I’m okay, I’m doing a little better now. Daeva, she,” Dante pointed to his face, “knocked some sense into me.”

He looked up from her to glance towards Nichelle and co. for a moment, and then found her eyes again. “How is everyone? How are you?”

“I’m fine, a little tired, but I’ll manage.” Aphrodite replied. Before she mentioned the others, she subtly motioned towards the outside hallway where they could talk more. With a nod, Dante went out first, while Aphrodite turned around and said, “Hang tight, guys, I’ll be right back. Nichelle, you go on and get washed up so you can get some sleep.”

With that, she shut the door behind her and Dante, and turned to face him. It wasn’t long before they were entwined in an intimate kiss that saw their bodies pressed against each other, arms wrapped assuredly around their waists. It was them in that moment, just them and no one else. No wars, no chaos, no death... Only this one moment they were sharing together. It sent shivers down Aphrodite’s spine, and electricity through Dante’s whole body.

Eventually, they pulled away and Dante kissed the suppleness of her forehead. His green eyes found her hazel ones, and they both absolutely melted.

“I love you.” The goddess declared.

“I love you.” The ninja confirmed.

“Babe, I’m worried about Cthelee, he’s been so down and depressed after what happened, and he had every right to be sad about it, but...” Aphrodite glanced back at the door and sighed. “I’m worried about him, that’s all.”

“Yeah, Daeva mentioned that to me too. That’s why I came over here, to check on you and him. We’ve gotta cheer him up somehow, let his soul find some peace.” Dante agreed.

“What are we going to do?”

Dante mused on the issue for a few moments. There had to have been something they could do, something to make Cthelee perhaps not forget about everything that’s happened, but hopefully replace those negative feelings with joyful ones. It was then that Dante’s eyes glowed brightly.

“I think I know just the thing.”

He and Aphrodite entered back in the room, and while the latter went to check in with the others, Dante gave them all a warm smile and headed over to Cthelee. The Ninja Prime went and sat down beside him for a moment until he enacted his, “make Cthelee feel better”, plan.

“Heyyy, how’re you holding up, buddy?” He gently inquired. “You know, a little birdie tells me that you’ve been feeling a little down lately? Well, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather too, and you know what always cheers me up? Come on, I’ll show you.”

Dante rose from the bed, stood in front of the Quatheral, and turned to kneel down. He pointed for Cthelee to hop on his back. “Come on, let’s go for a ride, just you and me, yeah? I promise I won’t go fast, cross my heart.”

[Beast Blood]

It had been like poking a hornet’s nest.

The appearance of the swarms of ships above Bjornskar incited a strong reaction from the powerful creatures that called this frozen world home. Gigantic bear beasts swatted the flying vessels with their clawed paws, using their elemental abilities to worsen the already-present blizzard currently raging all around Bjornskar, raising the waves of the cold seas to engulf their enemies, and overthrowing the snowy earth and boulders up to smash them out of the skies. Nature spirits united, it was the world itself revolting.

The pilots thought themselves protected from the primal weaponry of the furred warriors below, the iron and steel blades and spears seemingly unable to pass through their ships’ plating… until some of them did. The enchanted weapons of the Undead warriors shambling in the snow below - for even they cared about their home, albeit in a different way than the living - were feared for their ability to achieve feats no normal weapon would. They sliced not only through the body, but also through the spirit. And there was nothing these horrible weapons could not carve through, the cold runes etched along their handles and blades portents of their otherworldly abilities. Terrible cold enveloped the armored hulls, simply snuffing out the flames of their engines as they were left to plummet in the snows and seas of Bjornskar. Some of them were unfortunate enough to wind up helplessly tumbling down the perilous mountains and fjords of the world. Those that fell in the coniferous forests were made short work of by the ferocious predators, their plating bashed and mauled by claw, fang and horn.

A series of ships that so far had avoided the wrath of the massive mammals traveled at low speeds in the snowy skies, beneath the swirling auroras lightning the snow-filled clouds of Bjornskar. With ever crash of lightning from the thundering peaks famous for their constant storms, the crew could catch a glimpse of another giant creature, though this one was not entirely covered in fur like most of the behemoths they had come across. It was a dragon, sweeping massive volumes of air and snow with its wing beats. At its sides were two smaller dragons. The dragon in the center snorted, its scales and numerous icy crystals upon its back glinting with the lightning and auroras as it glared with mint-tinted eyes at the invaders...

[HayesAJones]

Despite grinning cheerily to Demmy, clearly pleased he had been able to interpret so efficiently, Sven's reddish eyes did not miss the tense shiver that passed through Molly. He drew closer to her, his fur warm and soft as it tickled her.

"Noraage not so bad," he assured her, gravelly voice low, as if he was entrusting with her a secret. "You get used to it. Alex did. He can help you!"

A hairy elbow nudged her. "And if no have lover, maybe need one?"

Molly could practically hear the grin in his voice.

_____________________

After several minutes of leading the others at a determined jog, Elda called for a halt with a raised paw, grinding the heels of her boots into the cold earth. They had reached another strip mine, but this one was not unoccupied.

Or rather, it had not been.

The remains of dozens of robotic men littered the mine, broken wires unspooling over ledges and into wheeled carts, splintered shells and broken armor strewn among them.

Elda's wolf-like jaws gaped. "<What... did this?>"

_____________________

"Oh, you mean the beauty pageant winners," Dea said with start. "Virgil, Blondie, and, uh... the runner-ups. I forgot their names. Yeah, I know you just told me. So what's their deal anyway? Protecting the multiverse sounds pretty dumb. I mean, I tried looking after just one planet and I got-"

The woman's charcoal eyes flickered with turbulent emotion, and she sharply corrected herself mid-sentence.

"I got sick of it. And they wanna take care of everything ever? So... they go crazy yet, or were they always crazy?"

[Demon Lord Gira]

Molly nearly tripped over herself as she realized what Sven was saying.

"N-nonononono! I'm not interested in anyone! I'm not interested in being a couple with anyone, I swear! Having kids is... It's not something I'm really all that keen on."

"Unless you listened to Doris..." Demmy muttered under her breath. "Oh venerable Lifemother."

"I'm not some goddess!" Molly's face was as red as it could be, she grabbed Demmy's hand, yet her grip was largely ignored by the taller woman. "You know that! I just want a normal life.. Not whatever Doris fancies me as!"

"I know, I know." Demmy gently peeled Molly's grip off her arm, and moved to follow the varuls. Molly felt something brush up against her, yet when she looked back, she only saw a receding shadow, one that was linked to Demmy. "You'll get your normal life back when we're done with this. I promise you, you'll be living an ordinary life free of worry and harm."

__________________

Crigan stopped and looked upon the debris field. His eyes narrowed at the scene. Based on Elda's reaction, a scene like this was not the norm, so whatever had destroyed these machines... he had assumed perhaps it was her deity that had done this, but that seemed out of the question, again given her reaction.

There was also a scent in the air as well, the smell of smoke and burning metal...

"Whatever the cause, I doubt it's something you're familiar with." Crigan guessed.

Something else caught his attention. Near some of the rubble, were tracks. Some of them naturally belonged to the machines, but others seemed... smaller. Much smaller, like those of a child.

A child... had done this? Or something with the form of a child...

There were other tracks as well, that of a net that had clearly been dragged off... His eyes followed the net trail, before he stopped. His breath was short, and he shook.

The net was there, surrounded with debris, and within the net... was the one person Crigan had thought he would never see again.

"M...Mara...." He muttered, as he raced toward the unconscious body of the fox-like woman...

From behind a large rock, the destroyer of the machines carefully took note of the group that had arrived. It had been a real pain in the ass to deal with all these robots, but hey, a work out was a work out, and Vastrus wasn't complaining.

Especially not considering who it had dragged in. "Rangis... No, Crigan, no... Fuck he keeps changing his goddamn name! Stupid Death God, there we go." Vastrus muttered under his breath. "Oh, this is just the perfect thing for me... Wait..."

The God of Destruction reached into his now tattered and shredded cloak, and felt around his neck. No wonder his voice had sounded so off putting and cringing!

His voice modulator, it was destroyed in the battle! SHIT!

_________________________________

Mi... Minos... Why was... She here?!

Mulek tried to will her body to move, to do something ANYTHING, but her body had locked up in terror. She felt her blood chill as the masked fiend hopped down the rock she had been perched on and advanced toward her. Her twin scythes dragged behind her in the snow, and the flames from them burned away at the land itself.

She felt it, an overwhelming wave of fear and terror overtake her. It was just like with the dog like monster from before...

No, just like... back in the Angelic High...

"You... YOU!" Thrud's voice came from behind Mulek. Finally she managed to turn her head to see the Valkyrie rise to her feet, yet the same terror was evident in her eyes. Her left arm embraced the scepter as hard as she could, and with a frenzied scream, she lunged at the approaching Minos.

"PERISH, DOG OF THE DEVIL!"

The tip of the scepter never touched Minos. it was off to the side of her head by an inch, avoided by a mere tilt of the head, and both scythes cleaved through the air. Thrud's body dropped limp, and her head was caught before it touched the ground by Minos's own right arm, the scythe it had been holding dematerialized.

Thrud... Thrud was dead... and she was next.

The angel tried to move, but her body was locked in place by her own fear. She needed to run, run to Hel's palace, warn Immanuel and everyone there of the danger that was fast approaching...

But she couldn't.

Minos turned the head in her grip and stared at the frozen screaming visage of Thrud. She pressed her forehead against it, then let her lips part. Her tongue slithered out, purple and veiny, and wrapped around the head before it began to burrow into the back of the skull. Rich red blood flowed up the length of the tongue into Minos's mouth, and the eyes behind the pale white mask glowed an ever brighter golden hue.

Then, she withdrew her tongue, and tossed the head to the side.

Only then did Mulek's lungs finally manage to let out a shrill cry in fear, and Minos turned Mulek's way. Once more, she began to approach, and the angel's body refused to move to her will. All Mulek could do, was close her eyes, and embrace the inevitable. Even if she hadn't spent so much of her power fighting Thrud, to fight the Mad Beast was a pipe dream. A quick death was the most she could hope for...

It never came.

She felt nothing, no scythe bit plunging into her stomach, no claws ripping her guts apart, her skull not being shattered... nothing. Her eyes opened...

and Minos was standing within an inch of her face, the plain mask off, and both weapons primed and aimed at her neck.

It was too much for Mulek's heart to handle. The angel collapsed where she stood and fell into a heap in the snow. As her conscious faded away, she thought she saw Minos turn away, and a sound that seemed oddly like a laugh escape from her, as she tore open a rift and entered through it...


________________________

"If anywhere were as good a place to look, Central Servers would be it..." Hevar mused.

Tenkarus, however, was looking around carefully. "Our intruders are nearby..." She muttered, both feet pressed hard against the ground. "But I can't tell if the abomination itself is..."

"Because you can only tell by ground tremors?"

"Yes. With people, it's easy to figure, but this thing... sliding along the ground makes it harder to tell. Not as much vibration."

Hevar raised an eyebrow. "Sliding? What, is this some kind of slug?"

"Yes, but also no..." Was all Tenkarus muttered...

______________________________

"Tha... Thank you." Nichelle quietly muttered. She moved toward the showers, but as she did, she noticed something fall from her torn, burned clothes.

It was... the book that... Owlzarus had given her... It was in... Intact.

And next to it...

Nichelle's eyes lit up. The weight upon her heart was lessened, if only for a moment. "Heather? HEATHER?!" She reached down for the tiny fae that had lay broken beside her.

"God fucking damnit!" Heather snapped as she winced from the grip of the larger girl on her. "Yes, it's me, Yes, I'm alive, but my arm is damn broken and so are my fingers! Fucking hell goddamnit!"

Nichelle's eyes drifted down to the fae's arm, and sure enough, she was a torn and bloodied mess. "Drillgore... How did-"

"Real big angel woman warped me out..." Heather winced. "She saved me, and now... she's dealing with both of them in Makai... Shaytin and Drillgore. I thought they were friends of Demmy's, but they're even fucking worse! Now, can you please FIX MY FUCKING ARM, SOMEONE HERE?!"

Nichelle placed the wounded fae down on the book. So that was where Drillgore had gone... The angel that had been Miyoshi's host... she was in danger!

The weight in her heart returned. No... She... She couldn't. Drillgore would just...

But... what else could... would she...

_______________________________________

The archangel's eyes were focused entirely on Drillgore as he barreled toward her. Shaytin's strike from behind was an effective pinching maneuver, one the archangel realized at the last moment.

Right as both Drillgore's strike and Shaytin's own were to land, she vanished, and Drillgore's drill caught the full brunt of Shaytin's attacks. Metal was warped, and the drill itself pierced through Shaytin's fell body on the side.

The ground beneath both Drillgore and Shaytin erupted as jagged rocks flew into the pair. Drillgore's metallic hide was scratched by the sharpened rock spears, but Shaytin's body was not so durable, as she was cut through repeatedly.

Above their heads, was the archangel. In her free hand , a sphere materialized and dropped down upon the pair below, before it glistened and expanded outward in an eruption of divine energy, one that threatened to consume the two...

In this realm, in Makai, Cercil was God. These two lacked the surprise element that Miyoshi had, and this time, Cercil wasn't going to take any risks. They would perish by her hands...

_________________________________________

Alabaster smirked behind her mask. Her eyes darted from Nyx to the guards present. So it was a trap, one this little girl seemed so evident in springing... But did Persy know of it?

If she did, she gave no indication, a wise move perhaps, or simply obliviousness on the Ruler of Sheol's part. "She reminds me... of someone I knew." Persy muttered.

"Oh? An old friend? An old.. lover?"

"None of your business, Alabaster. Just... don't break anything, or cause a scene, please." With a heavy sigh, the Ruler of Sheol made her way into the office, with Alabaster behind her.

"Nyx Ombrage, child of Charles Ombrage, the great pilot of the KAA." Persephone said as she took a seat in the office. Alabaster remained standing, yet did her best to hide a smirk as she noticed that Persephone's feet failed to reach the ground from the chair she was seated in. "A pleasure to meet you in the flesh. I apologize for the rather abrupt announcement made over your world..." She gave a harsh glare over to Alabaster, who turned her head away. Oh right, she could read people's minds now thanks to Sutekh's powers... she had almost forgotten that.

"I am Persephone Auziras, the ruler of Sheol, a distant realm layed waste to by the Ninjas in their careless crusade against the nebulous concept of evil. Perhaps you think I am merely another alien threat here to lay waste to your world, when all I seek is the preservation and security of all life, in a world free of monsters and divine beings as threats to all mortal life. You must be intimately aware of such higher powers turning your life into a living nightmare even from a young age, correct? Monsters and abominations running free and terrorizing everyone, callous gods destroying civilizations and worlds on a whim... I seek to end all that. A threat no one will ever suffer, no child plucked from their home to be a vessel of a world ending calamity...a calamity like the Ninjas or Yzazil."

She looked carefully at Nyx. "Ignoring the over the top theatricality of my Advisor, would you care to listen to an old woman's story and her request, or is your mind already steeled as to your resolve?"

[Godzilla165]

“I’ll handle it.” Aphrodite offered and went over to tend to Heather. She looked over the tiny fae’s wounds like a fine toothed comb; Heather was beaten up pretty bad, but it was nothing the goddess couldn’t handle. Aphrodite held up her index finger for Heather to see.

“Hold still for me, yeah?” She said. Then, with the tenderness of a feather, she placed her finger upon Heather’s broken arm and infused it with her powerful healing energies. In no time, the displaced bones were mended and straightened, her fingers cracked and twisted back into place, and the bruising was erased.

Aphrodite removed her finger and studied the work, soon nodding in satisfaction. “You’ll be fine, just give it the rest of the night to fully heal before doing anything strenuous, but you’re all better now.” She assured with a smile.

Dante offered the fae a smile as well. “I’m relieved to see that you’re okay, Heather.” But, his smile soon faded as he rose from Cthelee. “But, that now leaves the matter of Cercil, she’s in trouble. If it had just been Drillgore, she could handle him by herself, but with Shayatin there...” Dante crossed his arms and tapped the point of his elbow, musing on the situation.

“What are you thinking?” Aphrodite asked him.

Dante looked at her, then at Heather and Nichelle, and then at the windows behind them. Finally, a little nod came as his decision had been made. “Cercil needs help defending her home. With Shayatin there, I’m not taking any chances about if she can do that on her own.”

“Okay, but...” Aphrodite went to him and took his hands. “Don’t let Drillgore get to you, okay? Don’t let him in, you’re better than him... Better than it.”

The guardian looked at her for a moment, before leaning to still a kiss as a response. “I won’t let him, I promise.” He said when he pulled away.

A worried smile instilled on Aphrodite’s face. “Be careful, honey.” She replied.

“Always, cupcake.” Dante assured. Then, he knelt to meet the round form of Cthelee, pursing his lips in disappointment. “Looks like we’ll have to do a rain check on our ride, buddy. But hey, listen, if you’re still up when I get back, and you’re up for it, we’ll go. How’s that sound? Until then, here...”

Dante held out a hand and conjured a beautiful, small music box in his palm. It was deep purple and gold, interlaced with little ruby triangles decorated across the body. On top was that of all four of the ninjas, depicted frolicking in a green field, and behind them, smiling while a picnic basket, was Tiamat. Dante extended his hand as an offer for Cthelee to take it.

“My Mom gave me this music box a looong time ago when I was a kid, having made it herself, can you believe that? Anyway, see this little crank here on the left side?” Dante pointed to it with his pinkie. Sure enough, a golden crank was there to greet them. “When you turn it five times, this lid will open, and inside it’ll play a nice song and tell a beautiful story to boot. I won’t spoil it for ya.” He winked.

Handing Cthelee the music box, Dante got back to his feet and in a brilliant flash of gold, summoned his armor onto his person. When he then reached out to make a portal to Makai, he turned his head in the direction of Nichelle. “I’ll be back soon.” He assured her, and sent a portal out into one of the large windows.

“Be careful, sweetie.” Aphrodite again urged.

“I will, love you.” As such, Dante flew into the rift and closed in once he was through. He only hoped that Cercil was managing well enough.

****************************

On the other side, the Ninja Prime found himself floating in the realm of Makai. It was vast, incredibly vast, with the horizon seemingly eternal. Yet as easy as if could have been for him to sightsee, Dante focused on the task at hand. A huge collection of energy being thrown out got his attention, and he turned in the direction from which it came.

Dante narrowed his eyes, “There.” He stated, and zoomed off to engage the intruders.

[MinorBone Good]

Cthelee watched as Aphrodite investigated the knocking at the door, opening it up to reveal it was Dante. It seemed like he was doing much better than before. He'd wish he could recover quickly like the Ninja Prime could. He lost so many lives from Drillgore's attack, and he was able to have a genuine smile. Meanwhile he only lost two of friends, and he could even barley motivate himself to even walk. He sighed out loud. He continued to watch the two converse with each other and Aphrodite embracing Dante with a hug. Cthelee could have sworn he felt his heart shrink up and wither away once he witnessed that. He would've loved to have a hug from Howo at the moment. He really would have. Cthelee started to feel himself start to cry again. Why couldn't he just handle himself? He lowered his head down towards the bed he was nearby and began to sob into it.

He only raised his head once he heard Aphrodite speak again, announcing that she would be coming back momentarily. He heard the door close behind them. Getting back on his shaky feet, he decided to spring a part of his plan into action. He unraveled the side of his mouth that the feathers we in, and lifted up the blankets on the bed. He stuffed the bloody feathers underneath the covers and shivered. He just felt so cold recently. At least the bath helped out momentarily. He breathed out deeply, and covered the feathers back up with the blanket. He walked over to Evoex, and spoke up to the glitchy being.

[border]"HELLO CTHELEE! ARE YOU OKAY? YOU HAVE WATER COMING OUT OF YOUR EYES STILL."[/border]

Cthelee slightly nodded. He spoke about his new plan to Evoex, who decided to go along with his little plan.

[border]"ALRIGHTY. I WILL HELP. I WON'T SAY ANYTHING TO THE NINJAS! ...OR TEXT"[/border]

A small smile formed on his face for a brief moment. He turned to go back to his new bed, but was interrupted by loud noise of the door opening, which caused his heart to jump at the unexpected sound. He rushed over towards the bed and sat on top of it. Cthelee was surprised to see Dante to be coming to him first. Really? Him out of everyone here? Dante must have been looking for answers for info about Drillgore. Why else would he come to a pitiful creature like he was?

Cthelee looked even more surprised as Dante started to speak with him. Although he was speaking in a sort of condescending tone almost, at least he felt like it in his current state, Cthelee appreciated the words Dante was speaking. Apparently there were talking birds in this world too, at least from Dante's words. That made him feel a tiny bit better. Cthelee was still curious on why Dante was so nice all of the sudden. Maybe he actually did need Cthelee for some alternative reason.

As Dante leaned down and pointed at his back, this lead to more confusion from Cthelee. He told Cthelee to ride him. This was... new to Cthelee. Usually he would be the one to carry everyone on his back. With a bit of hesitation, he started to move his leg up over his shoulder. But Cthelee's leg slipped once he heard the shouting of someone nearby, almost causing him to fall off the bed. He didn't hear much of the conversation, but he did pick up a few words. One of them being Drillgore. Cthelee's body immediately recoiled out of fear, clinging onto the bed just to hold onto something. He swore he saw blood too. He tried to stop himself this time. He really did. But the tears started flood out once more.

Cthelee started to tune out of the conversation the people were having, anxiety starting to overflow his head. Was Drillgore back? What did he want this time? Oh god... He probably wanted to take Fiotto back. He knew he should've just stayed on the ground like he belonged! Why did he ever fight back! He... He... He just wanted to go home. He just wished he'd never went on this journey anymore. Why did he ever think he and his friends could do anything about this threat. He was about as useful as a sock to these ninjas. His panicking thoughts were interrupted by the form of Dante starting to speak to him again.

Wait, so Dante was going? Did Drillgore have to ruin every moment of Cthelee's useless life? Cthelee was thankful for Dante's option though. Maybe it would have made him happy for a short while. He didn't really know what would make him feel happy again unless he was able to bring back Howo and Ishome... Ishome... There wasn't a way to get him back.. He failed Quatheral... He wasn't even 20 years old. Why did he have to disappoint everyone?

He tried to shake the depressing thoughts out of his head, and instead focused on brilliantly designed music box in front of him. It was just beautiful to look at. Cthelee's eyes widened a bit as Dante pointed out the feature of the music box. What caught his attention the most however was the 4 ninjas on top, with Tiamat. Strange. Quatheral almost looked exactly like that at some point. It brought even more tears to Cthelee's already pink eyes. He wasn't quite sure if they were happy or sad ones. He took the music box with his wings, and looked at the crank. Make it go around 5 times, and a story will be told to him.

He did a singular nod at Dante, and witnessed him and Aphrodite tell each other how much they loved each other. More tears fell down his strange face. He really missed Howo...

When Dante left, he looked back down at the music box. Was this really going to make him feel better? He'd really hoped so. He shuffled over to the corner of the large room and slid down the wall to sit down. His mouth opened up, and using one of his tube tongue, he turned the music box crank 5 times and awaited to see what the story would tell...
____________________________________________

Strange. Drillgore was not expecting an immediate teleportation so quickly. And the evasive maneuver caused him to tear into one of his allies on accident.

”My apologizes, Shaytin."

It would seem his simple strategy of simply running towards his opponent would not work. He figured of course. But this simple attack would lead Cercil into thinking he was just a simple brute. Now is where he would let loose his power and surprise his foe. That is, until they showed back up. He looked down upon his drill. Battered, but it seemed his regenerative effects were already doing it's work, as they started to reshape his drill into near-perfect condition.

The abomination felt the ground beneath him begin to shift, and watched as spears fruitlessly attacked his hide. It looked like his ally however, was not doing as well as he was. He leaned over her, placing his metal hand on her back momentarily. Just from that touch alone, Shaytin's wounds started to quickly heal up, not as fast as Drillgore's however.

Drillgore looked upwards to Cercil and grinned up at her. As she threw the sphere of light towards them, she began to hear a tune. The damned 6 beat tune that Drillgore loved. He wanted to see her suffer now. Maybe even worse than what he did to Heather. As the divine energy began to expand outwards, Drillgore's mouth opened impossibly wide, reaching down towards the chest. He wrapped his long jaws around the divine light, and began to eat it. The light in his body quickly began to diminish, corrupting the sphere just from touching it! A metal tendril reached out from his back as he was devouring the light, quickly wrapping around her metal ankle, dragging her down towards the ground.

"My new friend, all we wanted to figure out the location of the being. It's such a shame you have to be so hostile.

While talking to the archangel however, he felt a new energy reading coming straight for them. It felt... It felt similar to Shaytin, but different. More fresh? Yes. More fresh than Shaytin. His polite voice entering her head.

"I'm sensing an energy reading coming for us that similar to yours. ETA in 15 seconds. It's a strong one, Shaytin."

[Corzak The Mighty]

Owlzarus was keen to pick up on the intent behind Dea's words. Indeed, he had seen her past in a few of his previous readings; such a tragic life for what could have been a good soul.

"In a sense, they were made to endure their roles as guardians," Owlzarus replied calmly to Dea. "They were once but normal members of their species, but Tiamat forged them to be more than that, capable of feats mortals cannot comprehend. But it is not merely through their creation that they can endure such a daunting and stressful task. They can be reckless and bullheaded at times, yes, but they hold tight to their ideals for a better future. I believe that this is what keeps them going forward; no matter the trials and tribulations, they won't let go of their belief that there can always be a better world."

The wizened being looked into Dea's eyes, as if scanning something within her. "I know that the stress you endured in your world as protector before you... 'got sick of it'.... was difficult. It was unfair for them to treat you as they did, and it was unjust for them to disallow you to receive the help you needed."

Images flashed within Owlzarus' mind of events that had not yet passed. Images of conversations Dea would have with both her current allies, and with current enemies. Of battles that had not been waged yet, but were likely to come to pass. The avian creature's eyes softened, as if to show a smile his face could not express. His vision soon filled with much grimmer imagery, of those where Dea does not speak to them, and all ends in ruin. Despite these dark visions, Owlzarus maintained his friendly expression.

"But I think the future holds much promise for you. We are reaching a crossroads of destinies. It will merely be your choice which path you will take."
_____________________________________________________
Hel's ebony eyes fell upon Ubel and Evron, scanning them with a mixture of disdain and curiosity as they spoke. The ninjas had quite the way to prattle on, didn't they? Though their words were quite intriguing about this "Tengri", his weapon, and the threat he posed to reality; it was disconcerting to heart one being's machine was capable of causing the cosmic quake. Suddenly, Hel's eyes narrowed at the mention of Persephone.

"The queen of Sheol has played her hand then? Hmph. I had figured she would prefer to stay hidden in her corner of the world like she always had."

"You know of Persephone?" Immanuel inquired, tilting his head in surprise.

"Yes," Hel stated firmly. "Her war to eliminate the gods in her world has been something that caught the attention of my kin, the Jotunn, long ago. We have watched her with caution and apprehension."

"Then you know of the danger she presents. Please, if not for the danger Tengri's weapon presents, allow us to find the dragonball to prevent whatever Persephone is planning." Immanuel offered her a courteous bow. "Please. I humbly ask this of you."

Before Hel could answer, a swirl of darkness suddenly appeared within Hel's throne room, as the battered and bruised form of a monstrous hound with the head of a deformed boar emerged, dripping with inky black blood. Gigantis immediately went on edge, keeping his sword readied, but the hound seemed to pay him no heed.

"Garmr!" Hel said in shock, reaching down to pet the hound's back to soothe him. "Who did this to you, my lovely?"

"My lady," Garmr wheezed out, his gravelly voice clearly in pain, "I am sorry, but I was not strong enough to face the newest intruders alone. The large one was easily distracted; he seemed a coward. But the smaller of the two... she fought ferociously! I could barely land a hit on her!"

"Who were they, my lovely?" Hel said, scratching the back of Garmr's ears as ash poured from her hand, helping seal up the many wounds on Garmr's body.

"I did not recognize the smaller one, but I believe the larger one was Tyralus," Garmr huffed out, before curling himself up at the foot of Hel's throne. "The smaller one wore a mask, and wielded twin scythes. And her feet... they were like hawk claws made of iron..."

Hel's gaze seemed to soften at Garmr's pain, before an epiphany hit her. "Tyralus? Here? That means - "

"Persephone knows we're here," Immanuel replied. "And from that description, she has sent Minos, her second in command, to fight us."

"W-what does any of that mean?" Gigantis stammered out. "Should I be afraid?"

"Very," Hel said, gripping her throne's arm rests tightly, eliciting a panicked yelp from Gigantis. She looked back to the group assembled before her. Her expression, though still cold, seemed to gain a sympathetic edge.

"Hraesvelgr took the dragonball with him into his den near the roots of Yggdrasil," Hel sighed in weary acceptance. "I believe that is why Hercules' pirates have gone down there. There is a cavern you may enter that leads into the root system, or you can risk traveling down through the canyon of Yggdrasil's roots, where the souls of those claimed by Nidhoggr lie."
_____________________________________________________
Seizing the opportunity Drillgore's consumption of the divine energy brought, along with Drillgore's grapple of Cercil's ankle, Shayatin ripped herself free the spikes, leaving bits of her body behind that quickly began to reassemble themselves. Dashing into position by Cercil, Shayatin extended 6 tendrils from her body and unleashed a powerful, focused blast of corrupted ki, sending the Archangel slamming into the earth in a plume of shadowy energy.

Before the former Yakuza could press her assault, she too picked up the energy signature Drillgore spoke of. Her gaze immediately narrowed. She recognized this one all too well - it was Tiamat's favorite, after all. She was not so quick to forgive the one who had lead the charge against her master.

"It is Dante," Shayatin said with a vitriol uncharacteristic to her normally aloof demeanor. She looked to Drillgore. "Do what you wish to the angel. Dante is mine."

With that, Shayatin vanished in a cloud of inky black mist, before she jetted towards Dante's location...
----
As Dante zoomed in to confront the intruders to Cercil's realm, he was suddenly blindsided by an ebony shape, sending him hurtling into the remains of Miyoshi's fell tree, sending shards of wood scattering through the air and kicking up a plume a dust. As Dante prepared to recover, Shayatin landed on the ground next to him, and lashed out with a dual strike of her hooked sword and mace, aiming the mace for his head and the hooked blade for his gut....
_____________________________________________________
Nyx listened to this 'Persephone's' story about her crusade against the divine and her wish for a peaceful world. She wasn't entirely wrong about some stuff; after all, a large part of her life had been shaped by that space monster from all those years ago. And she certainly didn't trust the Yakuza to exactly play safe with her world, especially after learning the destruction Dante had inadvertently caused.

But at the same time, she knew something weird was up with these two. They seemed.... wrong. And the burning pain in her chest - something that only ever really happened when in the presence of something truly dark and spooky - was flaring up really badly with the two of them in her room. Nyx sighed. It would be interesting to hear what this 'Alabaster' and 'Persephone' were planning to do once they strung her up in a kangaroo court...

"Sure, I'll entertain your request," Nyx replied calmly. "So what's your sob story, ms. Persephone?"
_____________________________________________________
The ships that had crash landed, whether by nature's wrath or the fury of its inhabitants, soon cracked open, both from brute force of those who lived there and by their own volition. Out from the damaged machines, dozens of massive ape-like creatures, each roughly 20 feet tall or more, marched with bloodlust in their eyes, each armored in a strange regenerative metal and wielding massive pikes a head or more taller than them.

A collective roar rung out from the monstrosities, as they clashed with the forces of nature and undeath. Pikes pierced into the hides of even the toughest creature, some of which proved fatal, while the smaller creatures were swept aside with massive arcing blows from the monstrous Mal'akh. Those that were felled were savagely consumed by the Mal'akh in a feeding frenzy, leaving naught but bones in their wake.
----
Quickly spotting the enormous dragon and its smaller cohorts, the ships quickly began to take evasive maneuvers, attempting to move to the sides of the massive beasts. While strafing to the sides of the massive dragon, several pyramid-shaped missiles fired out, aiming to strike the dragons in their wings to try and keep them grounded...
----
Watching the battle unfold from above, Scaroth glared in disappointment. These filthy beasts thought they could withstand the might of Sutekh? They certainly put up a good fight for simple barbarians, he'd give them that. Normally he would unleash some Artron energy assault to wipe this wretched planet's life out, but something about their tenacity intrigued him. The whole world was like some sort of symbiotic ecosystem...

Very interesting.

"Send in more ships," Scaroth said. "I want to test this world's potential a bit more."

[HayesAJones]

Sven looked at Molly with apparent confusion, his ears flapping and tail twitching curiously.

"Some say you a god?" the varul asked. "Why say kids?"

Jorunn's tail swiped at him from ahead. "Huan ear auf goimlua kynbauttuanuam."

Sven blinked, then laughed. "Right! Right! Forgot you maor. You can have kids."

_____________________

Without consulting each other, acting as a holistic entity, the varuls parted ways, Elda flanking Crigan while Ingolf and Erica waved for Jackie to follow them. The dark, cloaked varul quickly honed in on and knelt next to the child-sized tracks, and Erica drew her bow to cover him. Ingolf ran a claw across the soil, trying to judge its give and power to hold an impression.

"<It is dusty from the excavation. These are new. Small and like a human's too. Only a god could do this, so which of such shape and stature remain? Forsoj, Ormastung, and Kviker are all slain, so->"

"Albiofer," Erica grunted in answer. "<The halfling.>"

Ingolf stroked his chin, pinching the fur there into a neat triangle. "<Combat in the open is unlike him though. And we have seen so many strangers lately. We must consider an outsider did this. Someone like these two.>"

Meanwhile, clutching the hilt of her long knife tight, Elda loomed over Crigan. "<You know her?>"

_____________________

Dea peeled her thin lips apart. Her eyes cleared and sharpened to glare at Owlzarus.

"Don't you play head doctor with me," she growled. "My choice? Don't make me laugh. Everything's the same. Maybe what happened to me wasn't happened to these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles yet, but it will. It's just what people do. It's how thinking brains are broken."

The superhuman woman stood, kicking her chair away. "If you wanna be helpful, how about giving me some required reading? Like who half the people you mentioned are. Kinda sick of new faces dropping in constantly. Space samurai first, since everyone seems to have a crush on them."

[Godzilla165]

“Hercules, the hell is he doing here?” Evron inquired.

“I don’t know, but we have to get down to that den before he does anything stupid, like kill Hraesvelgr.” Ubel declared.

“More important than that, we need to find that ball before Persephone’s attack dogs get to it first.” Evron turned to Hel. “What’s the fastest route of the two to take?
_____________________

Aphrodite came and sat down beside Cthelee, bringing her knees close to her chest. She smiled innocently at him and awaited anxiously for the music box to do its thing. She had seen the story multiple times already, but it was always a joy to experience it. There was a soft click, before the lid slowly opened...



The story begins with a beautiful woman, blonde and petite with periwinkle blue eyes. Her grace was unchallenged, her life full of the greatest riches and exquisite amenities known in the multiverse... And yet, she was unhappy. A dark cloud hung over her head as she sat with her face buried in her knees, and she was crying. Because while she had everything, she also had nothing at all. She was lonely, lost and confused, and depressed beyond comprehension. She had no one, nothing to fill her soul with the priceless happiness that she so desired. Her riches, while pretty, were fleeting, hollow, meaningless. They were just things to look at, objects to touch and wear, yet none of was fulfilling, none of it gave her true happiness. Her life was a hollow shell with no warmth to envelop it.

But one day, a miracle happened. The multiverse granted the sad, lonely woman relief of her turmoil, and blessed her with what she truly desired. It was not jewelry, it wasn’t clothes, money, nor power... And the multiverse finally listened. The woman looked up through her tears to see four individuals approaching her, and she stood to meet them. At first, she was nervous, if not a little bit apprehensive; why would she be granted what she truly wanted now on a whim?

Over time, though, the crying woman saw that these individuals had brought a sense of warmth and love into her life that she had never felt prior. She grew to love each and every one of them equally, and they all loved her so, so much. They granted the crying woman with the gift that she always wanted this whole time. Not money, not riches, nor clothes, no... She wanted a family. And now, she did. That rain cloud went away back to its own family high in the sky, and left the woman and her new family with eternal sunshine. From then on, they danced, sang, laughed, and played like there was no tomorrow, and they all loved each other very much.

The End.

The lid of the music box slowly closed and sat neatly in Cthelee’s wings. Aphrodite looked as though she could just melt from how adorable that was, and she wrapped an arm around her feathered friend.

“I think Dante wants you to keep it, I know by that look he had in his eye.” Aphrodite said. “He didn’t say this, but I know that he was thinking about it, because I am too... But I think this music box is meant to be an encompassing symbol, for wherever you go, whatever challenges might come your way, whatever loved ones you may lose... You will always have family to love and support you, no matter what.”

Aphrodite looked into Cthelee’s eyes, “I want you to know something: you will always have people who love you, no matter what. I do, Dante does, Evoex, Fiotto, Daeva, Ubel, Evron... We all love you, Cthelee, and that’s a fact. So, just know that whenever you’re either back home with your people, or you’re here with us... You’ve got family all around you, and you matter to every single one of us.”

____________________

When the strike came down, Dante casually grabbed both of Shayatin’s wrists and halted the entirety of her momentum dead. Then, he spun along the ground, aimed his legs right at her own, and swept them out from under her. As Shayatin fell, Dante used her momentum against her to right himself back up. But before she hit the dirt, Dante pulled her back up using one of her arms, spun her around to face him, and kicked the fallen Yakuza squarely in the chest. The blow wasn’t all that powerful, yet it sent Shayatin rocketing off to the other end of Makai, with her form not even a visible tiny speck at this point. Dante remained where he was and merely stared after where she went, seeing that she hadn’t yet landed.

The Ninja Prime eventually took his eyes off Shayatin to gaze in the direction of where Cercil was. “Cercil, just wanted to let you that I’m here if you need me, yeah? I’ll take care of Shayatin, let’s show these two the exit.” He mentally called to the archangel. With that, Dante closed the link and teleported off in pursuit of his opponent.

He wound up appearing right behind her, floating soundlessly in the air while he waited for her to reach him. When Shayatin’s flying form approached, Dante extended a hand and completely stopped her using only the tips of his fingers. With a slight downward shove, Dante sent her careening towards the earth, where she plowed harshly into the ground. Makai rumbled and groaned as dust and bedrock were hurled far and wide. The lord of Yakuza descended to a spot that was a few yards away from the crash sight, studying Shayatin curiously through the dust cloud.

“Shayatin, as I live and breathe.” He calmly greeted. “I’m sure I already know the answer to this by now, seeing as I’ve tried several times before... But you don’t have to do this, you no longer have to wield this burning hatred and vengeance in your heart. It’s not too late, come home and we can help you.”

Dante’s brow furrowed slightly, “But if not...” He got into a fighting stance, one very similar to Wing Chun; he didn’t even bother to conjure any weapons. He wanted to see if her skill had improved at all since they last fought.

“Let’s begin.”

[Demon Lord Gira]

Molly shook her head. "One of my... well, one of my friends, she... she always said I was a goddess to her, and kept referring to me as such, when I'm not. My mother's a nurse, and my father was a school teacher for young children. My family tree's never been anyone of importance-"

"Maybe not in the traditional sense, but everyone had a role that was vital and irreplacable." Demmy stopped her. The demon looked her friend in the eyes with her own. "Just because they didn't do something outstanding or worthy of being noted in history doesn't mean what they did wasn't of importance. If not for what they do, then to those closest to them. It's what family and friends are for, and Doris... well, she understood how important you were to her, even if she took it to extreme levels..."

Molly couldn't help but nod. Demmy was right. Everyone was important in some way, even if it wasn't apparent at first. Were someone to die, others would be sad for their loss, and it would affect others as well. She couldn't bear to see such a sight, not of such pain and loss...

Especially after what Miyoshi had done. People like that, who thrived on the misery of others, of their suffering and anguish... The Dragonballs would be used to ensure such people could never exist! No evil, no murder, no pain... just happiness, a peaceful existence where there were no worries...

A thought came to her mind. IF they could even be used in such a way...

Even though her world had turned upside down when she was young, she still remembered some of the shows she had watched, and Dragonball was one of those. She had watched the show with a religious zeal when she had been a child, from the start of Son Goku's adventures with Bulma up to the destruction of the Shadow Dragons in GT. She had almost all but forgotten about the show over the past several years, yet with the news they were hunting down those very same Dragon Balls for real...

Weren't there... limitations on them?

"You okay, Molly? You seem to be in thought about something..." Demmy's voice snapped her from her mindset.

"Yes... A lot of things, really, but it's not important for now."

_____________________________________________

The God of Death bent low in his human form and removed the net from the body of the woman. He held her close and carried her in his arms like a bride carried by her groom.

"I know of her, yes. She is my wife, a person I held dear to me when I thought she was lost to forces beyond me... But to see her again..."

He placed his head against hers, and gently nodded. "She is Mara..."

Yet, as he said this, he knew deep down things were not as joyous as he had hoped. The animal features upon her meant only one thing... This Mara... was still possessed by an evil spirit, the very one that had destroyed his entire life...and she was still a servant of Persephone.

"We need to act fast." He abruptly said. "There's a third party present, and though I'm not aware of the specific members, they are here for the same thing I seek, and are not so benevolent as I."
_____________________________________

Above Hel's head, a rift tore open, and from it a body was flung through. The corpse landed upon Hel's head, and nearly knocked her to the ground.

It was Thrud's headless corpse, and the head itself followed shortly thereafter, one eye gouged out and a hole dug through the back of the skull.

The rift closed, and through the mist that surrounded Evron, Immanuel, Gigantis, Ubel, Garmr and Hel, a low hiss reverberated across the halls of the castle. A hiss accompanied by the sound of claws that dragged across the icy floor, and metal rending through the walls.

All of this came with a sense of dread, a supernatural aura of fear and terror that began to bear down upon the Ninja duo and Gigantis, a feeling that clearly was not of their own creation, but an external force that tried to suppress their own subconscious. Someone, or something, was drawing near...

__________________________________________________

"WHAT THE?!-"

The sight of Drillgore having swallowed up the sphere of destruction so casually had caught Cercil so off guard she didn't realize Drillgore was attacking her until she felt the tendril wrap around her leg. Despite her six wings attempting to keep her airborne, Drillgore overpowered her and the angel crashed to the ground below.

What... What WAS this thing?

She rose from where she landed, her eyes twitched with an irritated anger. "She's with the dogs out on a walk." The archangel spat, as her wings began to glow once more. Searing beams of light fired out from them and struck into Drillgore and severed the tendril. The fiend was blasted backwards head over heels, and Cercil made sure to pry what remained of the tendril off and throw it away.

She too sensed Dante's presence. So help had indeed come... What a blessing. Thank the Creator. "Message noted. And yes, let's."

"And you'll be there as well, as dog food for them!" She flew toward Drillgore, her scepter in hand having turned into a long jagged spear, and aimed to spear the strange being from the head down and melt him where he stood...

______________________________________________

Persephone's right eye narrowed ever so slightly at Nyx's words. A sob story? That was rather rude...

"When i was a child, I was raised in a place that may as well have been heaven. My people were said to be perfected humans, without flaw and within sin, and guarded by the deity that uplifted us. My world was a city that spanned across the globe, from one horizon to past the other, and it was beautiful."

Behind her, Alabaster's smile grew ever so slightly larger. All that was missing was for Persephone to flat out show Nyx what the Celestial World was like as an illusion... Oh yes, it was indeed a beautiful place, but such a BORING beautiful place.

"My father was the King, a wise ruler who oversaw the land and its people. They respected him, and he respected them. I had an older sister, and.." She hesitated, her lips wavered for a moment, before she swallowed. "a friend I would hold close to and cherish despite her boorish mannerisms. We would play every day, get into trouble, and learn from it. Life was good, for a supposed perfect race."

Persephone's eyes darkened, and her gaze looked past Nyx, out the office window, as if off into space itself. "But our existence was a lie, a lie shed by the murderous rampage of the prior ruler, and whose sins haunted us long after. Our guardian deity, who was supposed to protect us, forsook us. He abandoned us, and left us to perish before a calamity that overtook our planet."

She held out her right hand, and energies formed within it. They took on form, that of a great shroud, a blanket of darkness, from within were sixteen fiery spheres, eyes filled with malice and hatred. Alabaster's own eyes glistened as she observed the shrouded being.

"We were defenseless, despite all of our advanced weaponry, despite everything we had. My people were slaughtered by the End of All and its spawn. We prayed to our god to save us as our world ended... but he never answered, he never came. Other gods came to save us, but they were powerless to do so. By the time they sealed the Titan of Wrath away, everything around me was dead. I was the sole survivor, a child helpless and terrified of the dark icy world she was in. The gods had failed us or willingly left us to die."

The form faded away, and Persephone took a deep sigh. "What I desire, is for that to never happen again. No child would ever feel the fear of their world crashing down upon them, no mother the loss of their family torn away, no father of their daughter turned into a vessel of darkness. What I seek, is a dream that cannot happen so long as gods such as the Ninjas or your dear Uncle Yzzy exist, gods who can wipe a world barren of life with but a thought.You hold Yzazil dear, but with the demise of the gods, and of all possible threats to mortal life, a better existence can come forth. I have lost my childhood home to a monster, and my kingdom to the Ninja's careless actions, and if you agree to side with me, I can ensure that will not happen to you or your people, a people freed of the imperfections of the flesh, robbed of the desire to harm their fellow brother, elevated to true perfection, not the false claims of my people's guardian deity..."

[MinorBone Good]

Cthelee listened to the story from the music box intently. It seemed like the women with the picnic basket was the Ninja's mother. Her voice reminded him of home. Of Quatheral when in her human form that she was in for a bit. It was so bizarre. Their mother's wishes seemed very much like Quatheral's own. Maybe the Multiverse had some sort of weird repeating pattern maybe? At least, that's his best explanation on why the two would be similar. The Multiverse always did seem have a strange set of luck. Too bad luck normally wasn't on his side.

As the story concluded, Cthelee began to cry again. Although this time, it was ones of joy and beauty. The Ninjas were so lucky to have this lady. As Aphrodite wrapped an arm around him, he nearly jumped out of her grasp. He was not expecting for Aphrodite to do that! Cthelee was usually alone when he was this upset. The only one that really comforted him was Howo and Quatheral. So to be reassured by this stranger that he hasn't even truly known for more than a day. It was... Welcomed.

However, Cthelee's eyes widened at the mention of him keeping the music box. He appreciated the gesture, he really did. But it just didn't feel right. Especially this contained the voice of their dead parent. He carefully set down the music box on the ground, and wrapped both of his wings around Aphrodite tightly. She was right. People did care about him! It was just so hard to focus on it with all that's happened recently. He'd knew people did care about him...
___________________________

"Oh but my darling, it wouldn't be the first time I would have maimed a dog today."

Drillgore's body began to melt not only from the heat, but from his own will. If she wanted to melt him, then very well. The metal soon turned into a strange combination of black flesh and sludge. As she was mere inches from impaling him, the sickening flesh wrapped around Cercil and pulled her face first into the muck.

"I'm afraid you're going to have try than that to stop me. I may have to remove all your limbs so you can complete the mechanical look your going for."

From where Drillgore was touching Cercil's skin, began a painful burning sensation!
________________________________

[border]PROJECT: INDUCTION
ENTRY: 2
SUBJECTS: 01, 02

What another splendid day! I followed through with my plan for Subject 02 from Entry 1. The reorganization of their organs was a mild success, even if some organs kept slipping out of their body. Nothing that hot glue can't fix. I also gave 02 some extra limbs so they could maneuver around better. No matter which way they moved, who could hear their bones shatter! They didn't want to move at first, to painful they said. All 02 needed was a little push in the right direction. New wonderful sounds were sounding off from 02 from their head tendrils. Well, back and head tendrils at the moment. There is something very intresting to note.

02's spawn have also taken the mishapen form like 02 had. I wonder how far I will be able to push the limit of 02's Toy Creator power. I will leave that later down the road. Can't do all the fun experiments in one go!

Now onto 01. They nearly broke out today, which was surprising to say the least. Looks like she has gotten a bit stronger since the last time we met back on Quatheral. As punishment, I started to replace her skin with flimsy paper. If only I was able to add visuals at the moment. I'd like to describe it as bright red meat slowly tearing it's way out of a wet colorful paper bag. It's always fun to see 01 immobile and making those hisses. Her insults faded as time dragged on. By the time I finished experimenting on 02, she was nothing more than meat on the ground.

I'm only focusing on 02 at the time due to his appearance. I've never seen them before, so I can't help myself! I just need to see what stored inside. Don't worry 01, I have something planned for ou in the near future!

LOG END[/border]

[Corzak The Mighty]

Owlzarus couldn't help but wince as his chair was kicked away by the superhuman. He had JUST finished seeing those repaired...

Moving his eyes back to Dea, he spoke. "You are too quick to dismiss alternatives to your beliefs, but that is understandable; it can be difficult to change. However, you are correct; it is not my place to pry into the inner machinations of your mind."

Owlzarus extends an avian hand into the air, before a series of tomes appeared in his grasp. The antiquarian flared the tomes out so Dea could see each of their covers. The first displayed four armored warriors standing in a diamond-like shape; the second, the image of a swirl of chaotic energies; the third, images of a draconian entity; the last, an image of a great, but ruined, city above the clouds.

"There, these should tell you what you wish to know," Owlzarus stated matter-of-factly. "The first will tell you of the ninjas and their mother. The second tells the story of Immanuel, Yzazil, and their world. The third tells the creation of Jake and his people. The fourth tells the story of Crigan and his tragic history."
_____________________________________
Hel's response to Evron is interrupted once more, this time by the arrival of this new entity. Gigantis immediately put his sword into an aggressive stance, though fear was evident in his reptilian eyes. Immanuel similarly readied his stave and spread his wings wide, conjuring another barricade around his allies. Garmr stirred quietly, his blank gaze looking into the mist as his back arched in anxiety. Then, the corpse of Thrud rolled down from above her, onto her lap, before falling to her feet in a bloody heap. Gigantis seemed genuinely frightened by this, while Immanuel merely lowered his gaze in sorrow at the loss of life.

"Thrud?!" Hel shouted out, as the valkyrie's corpse landed. Hel's ebony gaze narrowed into one of pure hate and anger, her blackened, cracked nails tearing ruts into her armrest. Her eyes looked to the others in a mixture of agony and fury. "The canyon through which Yggdrasil's roots burrow... that is your best bet."

A swirl of ash began to surround Hel's throne, her ebony eyes becoming more intense with each spiral. "Garmr."

"Yes, my queen?" The hound chimed in, perking to his feet shakily.

"Escort the four of them to the Dragonball. I shall do what I can to hold off this uninvited guest."

After an long pause, Garmr answered. "Yes, my queen."

"Are you sure about this?" Immanuel said to Hel. "Surely we could handle Minos together."

"Yeah! Maybe if we rush her all at once, she'll get overwhelmed!" Gigantis shouted with surprising confidence, considering his previous apprehension.

"This foe is a challenge for any one of you; to risk your lives here if the stakes are as high as you claim would be foolish," Hel said to the two of them. "Do not delay any longer. Go!"

Garmr conjured a swirl of shadow around the ninjas, Immanuel, and Gigantis, obscuring Hel from their sight. A long tunnel seemed to form, as a ray of light became visible at the end of it.

"Head through... it shall lead us to the canyon..." Garmr said wearily.
----
Within Hel's throne room, the ash storm intensified.

"Come forth, servant of Persephone," Hel growled. "Show me why you are so feared."
_____________________________________
Shayatin pushed herself to her feet, her body unnaturally contorting as she rose up from the crater Dante had left her in. The audible sound of bones snapping themselves into place filled the air, along with the sound of muscle and meat reforming to accommodate the changes.

"There is no home left for me to return to, Usurper King," Shayatin replied coldly. "Your victory assured that. You sacrificed the honorable dream of your father for the falsehood of the traitor, Tiamat. Our people were on the verge of greatness, and you destroyed it for a false peace."

Seeing that Dante had not conjured any weapons, Shayatin replied by entering her own stance - one akin to Muay Thai. "Prove to me you are a worthy heir to Marise's throne. Prove you are more than Tiamat's tool."

A swirl of corrupted, purple-hued ki surrounded Shayatin's hands and feet as she waited to see Dante make the first move...
_____________________________________
Nyx let out a quiet, bated breath as Persephone finished, clearly intrigued by her story.

"I feel for you, Persephone," Nyx replied. "I really do. We've had similar things happen here. A monster somewhat similar to yours landed here over 50 years ago now. It caused similarly untold destruction and death. It took the sacrifice of my father to defeat that monster before it could consume the entirety of Earth. And even disregarding that, one of the guardian monsters really did not like humans. She waged a decades-long war on us that only ended with her death. And even Uncle Yzzy, when he first came, was dangerous and intended to bring destruction with him."

Nyx sighed solemnly. "But it's not always as clear as that, Persephone. Yeah, sure, there's some asshole gods out there, but there's nuance, just like with people. If it weren't for two of our guardian deities, Kori Kahn and Maelstrom, we humans wouldn't be here. And if it weren't for those two and the one who wanted us dead, Titernia, that monster from beyond space and time would've gobbled up Earth like a kid eating potato chips. And if it weren't for the sacrifice of those three to aid Uncle Yzzy, there would be no Earth today. We'd all be the playthings of uncle Yzzy's traitorous servant."

Nyx eyed both Alabaster and Persephone. "This has been a great conversation, but I'm afraid this is where our negotiations end. Goodbye."

With a quick aside glance, Alabaster and Persephone were suddenly assailed with a volley of assault rifle rounds from all sides, as her guards laid into the two commanders....

[Godzilla165]

The ninja duo went in ahead of everyone else, but as they did, the image of Thrud's decapitated head wouldn't leave Ubel's mind. Did that mean...

"If Thrud was killed... Evron, do you think that Mulek-"

"Is alive and okay? Yeah, I do." Evron responded confidently. "Why would Persephone's foot soldier only make an example out of Thrud and not Mulek, if the latter was dead?”

Ubel glanced at him, unconvinced. He sighed, “I hope you’re right, and I wonder if her majesty will be alright with handling Persephone’s forces on her own.”

“Well,” Evron started as he scoured over an old archive he had linked to his visor from a database back home, “this old tomb documents the accounts of ancient humans that witnessed the kinds of things Hel is capable of. Apparent immortality, invulnerability, and incredible strength. In other words, I’m sure the ice queen will be fine.”

Evron patted his brother on the shoulder, “Let’s go find that Dragon ball, then we can worry about Mulek and Hel.” He looked to Hel’s loyal hellhound, “Garmr, you know this place better than any of us here do; lead the way.”

_____________________________________

At first, Aphrodite was a bit surprised with how much affection that Cthelee showed her, yet such didn’t last long in favor of a warm happiness that washed over her. She hugged him tightly back; she was just glad that he seemed to be feeling better now. The music box, although Cthelee hadn’t wished to keep it, looked to have done the trick. There was something about it that had an effect on anyone who experienced it; it made them happy, gave them hope. Aphrodite could only account Tiamat, or at the very least, the woman whom represented her inside the box, for that. She sounded like such a wonderful lady, and a kindred spirit to everyone. Aphrodite only wished she could have met her... Maybe someday.

She pulled away from Cthelee and used her thumbs to wipe away his tears. No more crying, no more sadness... At least for now. They were safe.

“Hey, listen, I’ve gotta go take care of some things around the kingdom for a bit, check in with our doctors and lend a hand with the injured. But, I won’t be gone long, and I’ll be within walking distance if you need me, alright?” The goddess assured Cthelee before she rose to her feet, and started the trek across the room to the exit door.

“Nichelle, Heather, you guys keep an eye on everyone while I’m gone, will you? I shouldn’t be long, but just stay close to here until I get back. We’re safe, but it’ll just be easier for me to keep track of everyone.” Aphrodite stated. “I’ll be back in a snap, promise.”

With that, Aphrodite floated to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and headed out to begin making her rounds.

_____________________________________

Two gods at war, one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, against the corrupted fiend of a time long ceased. Their standoff possessed the fragility of glass, where one move, one twitch of an eye, curl of a finger, or exhale of breath could set things off. Dante waited patiently for the right moment to reveal itself, having absolutely no problem with waiting all day if it came down to it. He noted how Shayatin decided to utilize some of her Ki to enhance her hands and feet. Interesting, for while doing such would indeed strengthen her overall strikes and blows, she would still be wasting energy, however small, in the long run. That could cost her, and Dante would not hesitate to take advantage of that fact.

Winds began to pick up, blowing dust and rocks around their feet. The air grew heavier, and in the distance, echoing sounds of thunder could be heard as a storm slowly approached from the east. The ominous dark clouds circulated in a conglomerate dance, almost as if to join in on the fight. And then it came, a flash of lightning lanced across the black sky, and the bell was rung.



Dante just about threw himself at Shayatin with so much speed and force, that it should have ripped his armor clean off. He aimed an open palmed strike right at her face, but Shayatin was ready for him. When they clashed, the force of it cratered the very ground from which they stood, and the earth roared in a titanic shockwave. Shayatin threw a punch that threw Dante’s attack off course, which caused him to narrowly miss her face by a fraction of an inch, and instead strike the air beside her head. Her punch was at the same time, dodged by the Ninja Prime, whom darted his own head to the left side to allow it to pass harmlessly by. Their glares intermingled and waged eternal war, before in the blink of an eye, the fight was on. Shayatin launched an utterly vicious assault upon Dante as they shot across the ground, fissuring it with ease. Her punches, kicks, and heavy knees were sharp, savage, and relentless; they would have absolutely shredded apart most other beings outside of a ninja, and few others. Yet, Dante, while on the defensive, dodged and parried every punch, kick, elbow, and flying knee that came his way. It was almost like a dance, one that flowed into the next movement with no energy needlessly wasted for the sake of it. And, although he was merely dodging and parrying her strikes, the latter was still indeed having an adverse affect on Shayatin; the trajectory of her limbs were being thrown off from the sheer force, causing for her to miss more than she would have otherwise.

It was then where Shayatin, by the most minute amount, overextended a punch and left herself wide open. Dante grabbed the hand that she dealt and twisted it at an unnatural angle to quickly disarm, and get it out of his way. He then followed up with a flurry of both open palm, and closed fisted blows that were swift, precise, but possessed a magnitude of raw power within. Shayatin tried to block with her good arm, but her opponent was too fast. Dante intentionally allowed a great deal of his strikes to be parried, so then he could come in with his other hand to punish Shayatin with a harsh slap to the face, before following up with a brutal knee to her exposed flank. Shayatin stepped backwards, planted her left leg in the dirt, and turned as if she were on a swivel to deliver a sharp roundhouse kick to the side of Dante’s face. Using the backside of his forearm, Dante blocked the attack and used his other hand to forcefully shove it to the side to throw Shayatin off balance. Finally, the guardian went in to deal five consecutive open handed blows to Shayatin’s chest, and twisted the hand that found itself on there last in a half circle motion. The blow forced a torrent of wind from her person, before sending her crashing hard onto her buttocks.

Dante stood a few feet away from her, staring down at her ghastly form with a mix of both empathy and disdain, as rain began to pour down. “Our father was a murderous psychopath that destroyed anything and anyone that stood in his way. He wanted complete and total control over every realm in the multiverse, and he wasn’t going to stop until every living thing yielded to his will. That doesn’t sound at all like a positive future to me.” He finally retorted.

[HayesAJones]

The group continuing towards the varuls' hidden home had plunged deep into the black, leafless woods by now. The towering trees, their etched bark darker than even the night sky behind them, blocked all moonlight that touched them, creating bands of pale blue and deepest back along the forest floor. The eyes of their animal-headed escorts flashed yellowish in the rays of light, then sank to pitch darkness when plunged into shadows, pulsing hypnotically above the heads of Molly and Demmy.

A huge, hairy hand reached down and ruffled the distracted woman's blonde hair.

"No worry!" Sven assured with a grin. "Almost there. Get food! Sleep long! You feel better then."

Randi nodded. "P- Probably be met soon by-"

"Stoioivaust," a sharp, loud, crystal clear voice announced, and with it the forest seemed to unzip, revealing a band of armed varuls lead by a female who bore no weapons. Instead, she spoke as if her voice was a weapon, its edge as honed as any axe's.

"Who are these strangers, Sven? Randi? Are they prisoners or allies?"

She spoke in English, assumably for the sake of strangers. She was small like Sven, perhaps even a few inches shorter, and had deep red fur like Elda, though her face bore a pale mask and her throat, paws, and tail tip were very dark. She wore a blue cloak over a long, purple dress and overdress, which practically fell to the ground, held up only by her tail, which curled up behind her like a cat's.

"Friends," Sven smiled, and it was a hard sort of smile that left no room for arguing semantics.

The varul woman sniffed, but did not object. Instead, she continued, "And for what purpose are these 'friends' here?"

Sven began a choppy explanation in English, but his knowledge of the language seemed to fail him, and he swapped over to his native tongue. As he spoke, several times faster now, Randi tilted nervously towards Molly and Demmy.

"T... That Sassa," she said quietly, glancing at the well-dressed varul. "In control when Mattuger away."

_____________________

"Wife?" Elda asked gruffly, as if she recognized the word, but needed to be reminded of its meaning.

Erica, bow still taut, leaned closer to the ginger warrior, whispering into her ear, which flicked at the stimulation. The varul blinked, and her glare softened. Her great head swayed back and forth, surveying the mine-turned-battlefield.

"<Then we will hurry. If this third party did this, we must leave them to Mattuger. Your wife, does she need medicine?>"

_____________________

Dea extended her arms. "Gimme! I'm one heck of a speed reader, I bet I can knock those things out quick."