Battle of the Multiverse

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MinorBone Good
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by MinorBone Good »

Mitsif raised her free hand scratched her chin. She certainly came across three large furry beasts hadn't she? Multiple pranks already started to go through her mind. Tying their fur into knots could be funny. Or painting the furs a purplealish purple could work as well. Oh! Wait wait! Shaving them would be funny too! Mitsif couldn't help but let out a soft giggle as the sight of these beings furless was quite amusing for sure.

She was kicked out of these thoughts though as a strong scent was blood was starting to fill the room. Mitsif swung her large neck downwards, looking over at Korraz at a better angle. Yeesh! What happened to HER!? ...Maybe she shoudln't prank her. At least for now. Mitsif's eyes widened when she say the canine looking creature suddenly portal a way into.. somewhere else and stuck her head. in. Huh. Wouldn't be the strangest thing she's seen so far. She accidently wandered into one of Tengri's personal rooms while trying to find a way out of this stupid place. And yeesh, she did not like the photos she saw while in there.

She let out a little giggle when she saw another arm from the portal beast waved back at her. Sure it was strange, but why not just vibe with it for a bit? She was snapped out though as a loud crack from Korraz came though. Mitsif winced, her body shaking a bit. That had to be one of the worst things she's ever heard besides Slwoo's screams from the forest. She looked over at Korraz again, her face softening a bit. Poor thing.

Mitsif stood still for a moment, before reminding herself of something! She had to have something to at least ease this poor thing's pain a bit. Right in front of Korraz, Mitsif stuck her entire head into her belly, looking into her own pocket universe for something to help. Papers, useless yard, yadda yadda more useless junk annnd, WAIT! Her eyes scanned back to a large roll of bandages that she "borrowed" from Golah. Oh well. At least she's finally putting them to use!

She soon stuck her own hands into her own stomach and grabbed hold of it. With ease she was able to pull out a large dark blue roll of gauze, along with her head. Mitsif floated up to Korraz and began wrapping Korraz in the dark blue bandages in an effort to stop the bleeding.
--------------

Drillgore looked over at his new opponent as he was snatched out. How annoying. At least it wasn't the white canine he was facing off beforehand. Drillgore's permanent smile lowered a tiny bit looking over at his prey. Drillgore's back suddenly busted open like a rotten fruit gusher, a metallic drill spinning out. If they were going to crush him, he would simply make a way out. The drill surged forward, piercing through Glaxion's palm as if it was nothing more than tree bark.

Drillgore's body started to freeze up a bit on the outside. It was almost amusing that this beast thought that would get rid of him so easily. As Glaxion was weekend, Drillgore quickly liquified his body, slipping through like water. Drillgore's upper half reformed once most of his body was out of Glaxion's icy grasp, her cold body reminding him of his time with Dea. Such annoying times. Spider-like legs extended out from the back of his body, clattering against the wall behind him.

With a grunt, Glaxion was able to push through the pain, and slammed her hand against the wall along with Drillgore. He laughed out, two more spider-like appendages extending out of his neck. The two arms pinches the top of his head, digging into his own flesh like a pimple, and began peeling his own flesh off, revealing a wrinkly white worm with several teeth jutting out from the sides of it's skin.

It suddenly jumped out of it's own skin, traveling overhead Glaxion and splattering on the floor behind her. As she turned around, she saw the small white worm began to grow outwards. 6 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet. 30 feet. 45 feet. Arms and legs started to grow, sharp black claws extending outwards. They dug hard into the metal floor, leaving marks. A hideous cackle came from the beast, the head ballooning outwards towards Glaxion, a red crooked smile and eyes soon appearing on the front. The shapeshifting Drillgore grew bulker, and less like a worm, looking more like a Allosaurus with multiple limbs. Not long after, two long gangly drill arms shot out from the waist, already spinning.

"While l appreciate that you have an apatite for the hunt, I'm afraid that I'm no easy catch. The skin around Drillgore's neck parted, revealing rows of teeth and smirked at Glaxion. "But you're surely welcome to try.
________________________________

As soon as Tenkarus burst through, the whole of Drillgore's TARDIS shook. Alarms started to blare. Drillgore stopped in his tracks. He turned his head around. Several tendrils extending out of his body and slamming against the walls. He already started to move back, his tendrils pounding against the walls as he used his momentum to go back even faster to where he left Hayden. It was obvious. He tried to break out... Or something broke in. This was no coincidence. And as he speeded closer he felt an unfamiliar presence. Oh dear, seems like a punishment would be in order.

In both of Hayden's and Tenkarus's minds they could hear the familiar voice of Dante's, but it was slightly off. "Now nowww. What doe we HAVE in HEEEREEEE?"" His voice stretched, slowing down a bit as if it was on an old tape recorder.

Within just two seconds, they could her the slamming of Drillgore quickly coming down the hallway, to just outside the door. A tendril suddenly pierced through the door, narrowling missing Hayden by a few inches. The door started to creak as Drillgore's claws started to peel it open. His red glowing eyes staring direcly at the two as several tendrils snaked their way through the doorway and speeded towards them. He spoke again, this time in Daeva's voice. "HAAAYYYDEEEEEN!! I'M GOING TO RIP OPEN YOUR SKULL AND LET YOUR BRAINS LEAK OUT IF YOU DON'T STAAAAAAAYYYY~ HAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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HayesAJones
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by HayesAJones »

Fray's head followed Demmy as she flew towards the Machine on Unmaking. She did not know much about the machine or how it operated, but she could tell it had touched her twin. In a way, it had touched her now, as what remained in Bug lived within her. Its power was that of entropy, a natural part of a universe's life cycle, but the machine's was deeply wrong. Too intense. It was death without the life. Shadow without light. If the demon planned to destroy it, she could be reduced to nothing as well.

Fray would not allow that. She knew not the demon, but she was Molly's friend. The friend of Daeva's friend. That made her precious.

The shapeshifter's horned head shot forward atop an ever-stretching neck. As Demmy fired her eye bolts, the snake-like neck circled around her, ready to reel her back, open a rift, whatever was necessary to prevent more death. If the demon was ready to sacrifice everything for others, then Fray would do the same.

_____________________

Alex chuckles a bit. "I've... had a lot of practice worrying. Being stranded on an alien planet for a few years was... w- well, it was a learning experience."

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EdGojira
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by EdGojira »

Titanomachy PT. 1.

Godzilla tugged furiously as he was pulled by the viny tendrils toward the water, but to no avail. The ground, even with its extreme durability, was simply too soft for the strength of the creature which tugged at him and his impenetrable hide. He toppled over onto his back, his rigid spines carving massive canyons through the black ground. Massive glowing towers collapsed around him.

The tendrils took him into the shimmering sea. He snorted. Such a foolish move. He was the ruler of the seas. Anyone who tried to challenge him there was in for an uphill battle. He prepared himself to teleport away from the tendrils and come up behind his opponent. Yet, his attempts failed.

This sea wasn't his domain. Somehow, neutral territory.

It didn't take long for Godzilla to come up with an explanation. Hercules. It was that damned pirate, as always. Whatever he did, his lackey was able to make an entire dimension specified to keep him contained. It was as he had always thought would happen.

……….

Hercules liked to place himself outside the Olympians, but that was delusion. Since the dawn of the multiverse, there were always sinners leading to other sinners. Always thinking themselves above each other but they were all blood born.

The beginning of the multiverse itself was an end. The twilight of the last cycle gave birth to the Core, Seed, whatever it is. From the twilight came Nox, or Nyx. Not the human, but something that Godzilla himself couldn't quite comprehend. Much as he gathered, she was the dark, the night, the chaos. Where there is no light, that is Nyx. Floating within the dark, as the tree took root and branches came forth the concept of a sky came over a boiling ball of magma. There came forth Nyx's sibling, Uranus. The personification of the sky.

And amongst those came the the First Ancestral Race. By all means, they could be considered gods. Some still remained in the World Tree, but they were brought down by their hubris. Godzilla couldn't comprehend why, but they thought that they should make more of themselves. It wasn't enough to create art, to keep one another company. They wanted more. So, when the multiverse was forming around them they planted seeds. Two seeds for each habitable world. Both would hold spears, a sort of backup if the formula failed.

That formula? Merging the life on the planet into one. Becoming a supreme being as their individuality went away with a simple pop. The planets would bleed, distort. The converted forms of the life on the planet served as amniotic fluid, gestating the embryo of a future god.

Nox tried to warn them, to manifest more things like this could lead to conflict in the long run. But it was not enough.

The results… were unpredictable. The manifestation of the branch of the World Tree merged with the new god, giving birth to Gaia. A representation of a planet which can hold life. Some would call her the goddess of Earth, but that is thinking much too small. She was a manifestation of a branch of the world tree, higher in power than the First Ancestral Race, and was brought to life by force. Copies upon copies of her would be born through the sheer endless might of the tree's growth, but here he was referring to Hercules's direct ancestor.

Gaia could bring life alone and only did so passingly until she found herself with Uranus. As the cosmos shaped, realms upon realms with their own representative gods were born. Gaia didn't like their company. She wanted power and so through her different worlds on her branch, she and Uranus brought forth the Titans. Uranus himself was greedy and power hungry, however, and subjugated Gaia. He knew eventually she would strike back, so he consumed their children one by one with the exception of those hidden inside one of Gaia's branches.

These were the first race of giants. The Hundred-Handed, the Primal Cyclopes, and the Titans. They fought back and struck down Uranus's core, butchering him allowing his blood to fill countless seas and leaving only small segments of him behind. Amnesiac, only able to remember his bond with Gaia. It would become the duty of an unfortunate soul to keep him from reuniting with her.

The Titans managed to make a rule worse than that of their mother. She didn't want much to do with life and violently rejected the seeds of it on her favorite worlds. But the Titans wanted someone to control, so they lulled her to sleep and settled on a little planet called Earth. One teeming with life.

With life established on their planet, they exploited it for labor, food and profit. They even bound their siblings, the other races of giants and threw them into the domain of Tartarus---an entity of pain, barrenness and despair. This limited the time of the Titans, but not enough.

When Cronus too became worried about his spawn beating him, he consumed them too. But they had a one-up. Their mother helped them release the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed. Cronus's hours were numbered from there.

Which led then to the rule of Jupiter and the rest of the Olympians. To say their treatment of the mortals was scarcely better was an understatement. It wasn't as if the humans were much better than them, though. The gods were lazy and hateful and the humans were their kin. They clubbed each other, beheaded one another, led each other into gas chambers and harnessed nuclear power.

As if humanity wasn't bad enough on its own, the gods weren't totally gone. Their machinations, interfering with the mortal world brought forth literal monsters well before the humans created their own.

The Titanomachy wasn't over. The Olympians still couldn't control the raging storm that was Typhon, the brother of the Titans. The Olympians even played right into Gaia's hands.
Before Typhon was fully reined in, the Earth was mostly monster free. The gods made sure that it didn't stay that way for long.

Medusa was a pious woman, dedicated to her guardian goddess Minerva whom helped keep Typhon at bay alongside the others. She would tend to the temple and go to wind down beside the sea. There she would sometimes fall asleep. There, she met Godzilla's predecessor, Neptune. It was not a pleasant experience.

Minerva was a disgusting, spiteful goddess. She blamed Medusa for what happened to her. The best thing Hercules ever did was track her down and murder her. Medusa didn't live to see Minerva receive justice, however. She was thrown out of society for her "sin", forced to live as a Gorgon whom nobody could lay an eye on without turning to stone. Then, she was hunted down and murdered in an alleged hero's quest. It was only then the children that she carried, born of Neptune, managed to evacuate themselves out of her limp corpse. Pegasus, and Chrysaor---the Golden Sword.

The Golden Sword was buried by history, but his exploits never ended. He fathered the Mother of Monsters Echidna. Her union with Typhon brought about the birth of thousans of monsters. Even after the Giants were defeated, their older brother destroyed, their legacy still lived on. Their grandnieces and grandnephews continued to be at large. The monsters were destroyed too. But it wasn't until after they got their final say.

Chrysaor wasn't gone. And Jupiter had made a dire miscalculation on his treatment of his son, Hercules. The Grandfather of Monsters found himself a very, very dear friend.

……….

Godzilla knew the Titanomachy wasn't over the minute he realized that the son of Medusa wasn't gone. That that the son of Jupiter had a chip on his shoulder. The will to burn it to the ground was there. And they had gotten ahold of Potara earrings.
_____________________
The Other watched the sky. He could feel it from here… his nephews and niece. It was their power, all rolled into one. He didn't know how, but he had his theories. It was quite odd the way their mother vanished so long ago. He doubted Tiamat would abandon them, especially to their father. He didn't know how much Tiamat knew it, but he didn't like Marice much and he doubted she did either. In fact, when he was greeted by Daeva his words just spilled out. He was in disbelief that she would be so calm about leaving her to that monster. He told her everything back then. Now, her brothers would know that too.

The Other had said to Daeva first, "I was trying to kill him, foolish as that already was... foolish as it proved to be. I was hopelessly outmatched. I spent countless nights trying to find some way to do it. I learned sorcery. I dabbled in the occult, shrouded by the evil of your father. The gods of Nexus pointed me to a world. They said that I would find something that could stop him there. I thought there, there would be salvation..."

Then proceeded his account of the faithful encounter with a radioactive monster. All of it…
___________________________

The Other: An Origin

Daichi pushed the manhole cover free. The breeze off a car passing overhead whipped through his mask. Gently came wilted petals of a cherry blossom drifting downward. This was the place.

He moved without disturbing the petals nor the next car. He was a phantom. It was as if he'd never been there. Despite this, he was ever so slightly close to being hit by the car. He could have done better. But, to use his full power would have been a mistake. Even in this distant world, there could have been eyes watching.

Once in the alleyway, he hopped and kicked the side of a building. He did so until he stood atop a tower. He ran across its edge masked by the neon. He leaped to the next, climbing with such grace as to not disturb the lanterns hanging below. He walked to the edge and stared over the locale.

It had a certain level of familiarity to him. His current guise and this place's legendary assassins...

It was clear that the time period he had arrived in was one where they were all dead and gone. The working class of this town spent their days in an office more than they did farming. A trio of girls underneath an awning shook a vending machine attempting to get back money they had lost.

If this quaint settlement's development had him impressed, seeing the metropolis of Tokyo would undoubtedly knock him to the floor. Now wasn't the time to admire civilization. This one's very development was at stake.

Clasping his hands together and sitting down, Daichi summoned several spectral duplicates of himself. Upon closing his eyes, he could see through theirs as they fanned out across the town analysing every detail in search for clues as to the weapon's location.

One weaved through a neighborhood, phasing through into homes and zipping through their contents. Unlikely as it would be, he had to cover all the ground. However, something gave him pause. He caught a glimpse of a family huddling together in terror. Had he been discovered?

At once, his duplicates stood around and searched for signs. None were discovered. Yet, he could see a wave of concern wash across the denizens of the town. He focused his mind, scanning countrywide for what could possibly be the cause.

"This is Tokyo. Once a city of thirteen million people. What has happened here was caused by a force which up until a few days ago was entirely beyond the scope of Man's imagination. Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world. There were once many people here who could've told of what they saw... now there are only---"

A disaster? One which struck millions? The ninja found his concentration broken completely by a sudden feeling of concern. Waking up from his meditation, he noticed that he was already chewing away at his lip. He stood and paced. Something, something unknown had torn apart the city. And it couldn't have been him. Sadistic as the evil one was, he wouldn't destroy a city... not without making Daichi watch. This was something new... but a worldwide threat nonetheless.

He could risk entering government buildings to access their files despite a lack of familiarity with the technology, but it seemed evident to him that the simplest and quickest route would be to interact with the locals.

Daichi leaped to a perch below before nimbly kicking off, in the process shrouding himself in the image of a traveler from the region. He examined his image in a puddle below---No flaws. Once that was through, he quickly scanned the area and found a tea shop. Stepping in, he came across a sight most expected. A patron was complaining about the news, not wanting to see it anymore. They were causing quite the ruckus. Chameleon he was, Daichi spoke the native tongue fluently: "What's going on?"

The cashier replied, "It's nothing. He's just tense. With what happened to Tokyo."

"They know what hit it?"

"Where've you been? It's a giant monster."

"I thought that was… a digital effect."

"I wish."

"I have family in Tokyo," the patron said, barely keeping themselves composed. "And friends. Or, had them."

Daichi bowed his head in sympathy. He didn't wish to come across as too extravagant. Coming from a place of tragedy, this was easy. "At least the military will deal with it."

"They tried. Thing, like, molted several times. Even those missiles that drill into bunkers couldn't do a thing."

Daichi sat back in a chair. What form of infernal creature could have manifested here, in all places? If it wasn't Marise it had to have been some other conquerer, some extra dimensional thing or something extraterrestrial. "Where is it now?"

"Can we talk about something else already?"

"I apologise," said Daichi. He ordered a drink and talked to the patron before he left the establishment. Outside he gazed contemplatively at the Eastern sky.

More information had come in through the television as he spoke. The beast---Godzilla---was currently 108 meters tall, lizardlike in appearance despite initially sharing some common elements with sea animals. Somehow, it managed to intercept a nuclear bomb with its own stream of thermonuclear breath, which it had also used to aid in slicing apart and burning down Tokyo. It was currently heading eastward with a strong possibility it would target a nearby city.

He wrestled with himself over what to do. He came here with a mission. That mission was one he stewed over for ages, watching the children be treated in ways that he couldn't imagine. Those four, they had potential to do wonderful things. With their father's vice grip, only sorrow would take hold. Dante had the potential to unleash one of the most destructive things in all of existence but, he theorized, tame it. The boy was an inspiring presence, one whom he had taken notes from, but the shadow of his father loomed over them all.

Yet, to simply ignore Godzilla would mean to damn this planet. To forgo the needs of these people just for his quest was wrong. Though it was true that his specialty was in espionage he surely could destroy this creature without any effort. Then, he would return to his mission. He could save this planet and he could save his niece and nephews, no compromise.

Daichi readied himself as he turned in the direction of the city. His body eased itself before priming all essential muscles. He then leaped into the air, leaving only a faint trail of light in the immediate area from which he jumped. This single leap was enough to take him entirely outside of the town. From there, he took through the hills. The gentle roll of the mountain and the trunks of the trees barely registered. A lake was as if it were completely solid. One would think he would lose his sense of direction and they’d be wrong. His destination was met in next to no time.

Daichi stood at the bottom of a towering mountain, staring up to the peak then back at the others. Yes, this would do. Here he would be able to spot a creature of such an immense size. With several gentle leaps, he stood on a rocky outcropping just below the clouds. Gentle fog clung to the Yakuza, soothing his skin as he crouched down in waiting. Across from him was a waterfall pouring into a river, shining a rainbow upon the misty landscape. A place of true beauty. It was as if it were the realm of a god.

As that thought crossed Daichi’s mind, he heard a low rumble. A vibration gently nudged his feet, immediately putting the ninja on guard. He scanned the valley for evidence. And immediately, he found it.

The water in the river swelled with the mass of some unseen thing, breeched then by first one charred spire and then two others. They were followed by the rest, arranged in three rows. Water rolled off two rows of fangs and down the nose leading up to two eyes… eyes which were marred with confusion. The creature was on all fours, looking at both of its brawny arms and then at the ground. Its eyes traced its reflection. With no other warning, a beam erupted from its unhinged jaws. The immediate valley shuddered with the force. All around the creature, the hills began to collapse in a cloud of dust and steam. It roared defiantly. So loud, in fact, that Daichi had no other choice but to cover his ears.

The crumbling mountain sides were taken as challengers to Godzilla. It thrashed its tail in a wide circle, digging massive trenches as the sheer force caused the other side to collapse. Its breath struck the mountain beside Daichi, tunneling straight through it before it dragged it toward the hill.

This thing was going to level the whole mountain range! Yet, there wasn't malice. Not yet at least. It was simply confused. Lashing out at a world it couldn't comprehend. Daichi felt a twinge of sympathy as he leaped in to stop the path of the beam. Holding out his hand, he fired a ray larger than his entire body which stopped Godzilla’s right in its tracks before pushing itself into the beast’s maw. With an explosion, teeth flew around the valley as gorpetos. But, even before Daichi could think that his job was done a gutteral hiss escaped from the carnage. As the smoke cleared, Daichi gazed upon Godzilla now looking again at the ground. This time, at a sheet of glass created from its fiery tantrum. It tilted its head and watched itself move its hands and neck. It flared its gills curiously.

Daichi floated down to its large scaly shoulder. He stepped away from what was quite apparent to be a fresh keloid scar. He watched the creature’s reflection alongside it.

It was just now becoming aware. He swallowed as he soaked this in. Millions of people were killed… because it just existed. Godzilla just so happened to be there. No malice. This hit Daichi harder than he had imagined it could. He was used to evil. He was used to Marise. This was different. It was an infant and a catastrophe wrapped into one. As it studied itself, it read its features and the immediate area. Perhaps if there was a mind forming it would cease the destruction?

He crouched and attempted to communicate with the creature psychically. Its mind was… there. The problem was, it didn't seem to like that he was inside it. Its head echoed with the sounds of screams. Overwhelming, incoherent. But one thing managed to come out:

"You… you hurt me."

It turned its head in the direction from which Daichi’s blast had come. Shit. How did it know where the attack came from. How did it know it was from him? With a heave, it shot its blazingly blue beam toward the mountain. Daichi threw himself in front of the blast, cancelling it out with his own. The creature’s expression seemed to change slightly. It threw more of itself into the blast. It was as if holding back a concentrated five megaton warhead. Fine, if it was going to attempt to destroy everything with nuclear power he would return that many times fold.

He unleashed a blast just above that of the humans’ most powerful nuclear bomb.

It quickly overpowered Godzilla’s attack and washed over the beast with fiery intensity. Despite the attack’s power, it did little to damage the surroundings and, as it turned out, Godzilla. Daichi sat suspended in the air, studying the monster. No creature on this planet should have been able to withstand such an attack. Yet, now he looked upon the thing who had defied the odds. Whatever the attack had done, it was so miniscule as to be not mentioned at all and had already been undone within seconds.

He sighed. There was some part of Daichi that wished the monster would survive that attack. An irrational part of him. Now that his wish had come true, he realized that it meant this thing was an even greater threat than he had imagined. As Godzilla charged up again, Daichi unleashed a blast straight into the creature’s midsection. It had just about enough time to let out a screech before exploding into a golden blaze. All that remained were bones. Its skull trapped in an eternal howl as its arm grasped at its belly. Daichi turned away from the sight, but the sound of the bones cracking apart were reminiscent of a landslide. It was done.

Or so it seemed.

Daichi reclined against the one mountain which remained standing as he looked upon the corpse. Staring at it caused so many questions to form in his mind. How could something like this come to be in a world like this? It was true that not only from his recent travels that giant beasts were not uncommon. Even ones as powerful as this one, so long as the conditions were met. This world didn't seem to have such means. The environment was all wrong. Unless…

It was a child of Tiamat. The thought filled him with guilt. He hadn't seen her birth anything like this, it was true. Still, myths and legends had a certain portrayal of her. The name was associated with the bringing of dragons with poison blood, not unlike the creature before him. That made Godzilla, in some roundabout way, family.

He was supposed to guide the children of Tiamat. Be an anchor in the dark. He knew she was disappointed in him already. All this strange behavior. All this leaving randomly. He always struggled with it, every time: was this the right direction? Should he have at least told Tiamat? She once felt for him as her own brother. That had vanished more with every mission. He told himself every time that he was saving them in a roundabout way. Marise couldn’t know, so the information must be kept to himself and the grim things whose trails he followed. But now, there was something presented to him that if true, would truly make him a failure.

You’ve always been a failure, Daichi. Just the other. Neither the greatest protector, nor their true father. They looked to you less. And now, even lesser. You best just get off the face of this planet, or the multiverse at large.

No. They needed him. He needed them. They had to be the best they could be. So did he. The best Daichi was the one who would kill Marise and bring peace to the family. Nothing had changed. He had a mission.

As Daichi rose, becoming ready to leave to the town and find the weapon once more, he could hear the loud chopping of air, and several large military choppers appeared in the area. They stopped in the air, seeming to observe the monster. Daichi observed them in turn, fading into the underbrush. He was quick to realize that they had come from not the direction of a military base, but from the same direction he had. If these were hidden there, he found it now very likely that the weapon he sought was under military custody. Daichi cursed. He didn’t want to get involved with the natives’ defensive forces but now it seemed likely that even with his stealth he would have to engage. Especially given he had flared his powers too much as is, so he would need to suppress himself even further than when he first arrived.

One of the choppers readied itself to land in a relatively flat clearing below. Daichi took this opportunity by edging down the hillside. The trees were his domain. He scurried along the branches, leaping to to from gently. By the time he got down, several soldiers had fanned out and were taking pictures and speculating about how things had gone down.

“Think he melted down, somehow?”

A soldier held up a geiger counter. “Nope, no radiation at all over here.”

“Yeah, because this place is the only one untouched.”

“You’d think if he exploded this whole area would be a crater. How come this hill is still here?”

“Think something ate him?”

A soldier shuddered. “Please don’t get that idea in my head. Still freaked out about that puppet thing at base.”

One of the soldiers seemed exasperated by the situation. Daichi was mildly put off by the casual manner in which they were speaking. It clashed very hard with what he knew other humans to be like. It was almost as if this were something they were curious about and the tragedy of Tokyo didn’t phase them. More bizarre was despite the choppers bearing the mark of the Japanese Defense Force, the soldiers did not.

“That’s Eve. Give some respect to the first lady.”

“Yeah, right. Give my respects to some mutant who gets her name from a death cult.”

“Godzilla died for your sins.”

Their odd behavior made Daichi less remorseful about snatching the quietest one into the bushes. Even though Daichi had a hold on the man and his mouth covered, the soldier managed to free themselves enough to attempt to stab him in the throat. Faster than the man could see, his attack was stopped. Daichi tapped him on the shoulder, knocking him unconscious. Daichi quickly placed a teleportation badge on the man, setting the timer to four hours before he’d be brought back to the chopper. He removed the man’s communications gear and assumed his form, walking out and pretending to take pictures until being called back.

“Shinji. Time to go back to base.”

Daichi responded appropriately and returned to the chopper. The others were still speculating about what could have been done to Godzilla. Daichi imitated their tone, “Perhaps, something from space?”

“Looks like Shinji has a sense of humor after all,” one said.

“We’ve had enough crazy things from space already.”

So, it would seem that they had contact with the world beyond. Looking at their technology, what they saw was either not hostile or unintelligent and weak. That being the case, Daichi silently bemoaned what was certainly a horrible fate for the off world creature. Humans were inherently hostile. Several Earths he had come across were defiled, left to ruin by war---often nuclear in nature.

Life did happen to be fairly resilient, however. In cases of climate change, he witnessed futures where things like lizards, rodents, cockroaches and even the occasional squid evolved to fill interesting ecological niches. Most creatures were more pleasant than the humans that they replaced. But during nuclear apocalypses, life never came back. The thought brought him back to Godzilla. He had some suspicions that humans were the root cause of the issue but at least he now gave them extra time to get better.

It took roughly 10 minutes to arrive at the town. He watched it float by through his window. Flying at this rate was a surreal experience for a being like him. To not use his power to move and simply do what felt like a gentle drift inside a container... he always preferred vehicular flight to his own. Hopefully once Marise was done for, he could then meet up with the dragon that the gods were keeping away.

Something resembling a large garage door slid out of the way, revealing a large cavern within a hillside. The choppers entered one by one before it closed once again and he was told to get a move on. He did so, but not without first taking in the environment. One never knew when it would be useful.

The cavern was tall enough for a 30 meter creature to enter and was supported by metal beams. held up by large pillars. Within a pillar to the side was the elevator which he used to get downstairs, following the soldiers.

In contrast to the floor above, the one Daichi found himself one was blank and sterile. Blinding flourescent lights ignited a smooth white tile floor. Along the hallway’s white walls were steel doors. In some cases, there were windows which offered glances into the rooms. He spotted a decent school-grade chemistry lab and across from it a lab featuring petri dishes and an assortment of live animals. Some didn’t seem to be of a species he recognized, but he was far from an expert on Earth biology. A soldier tapped him on the shoulder.

“Forget where the computer lab is or what? We don’t have time for you to clown around.”

Daichi quickly spotted the computer lab and wordlessly moved toward it. He could hear the soldier say as he entered:

“What a freak.”

In the room, several soldiers and people in lab coats sat in front of monitors logging data. He watched the judgmental human sit in place and remove a small memory card from his camera. Daichi fiddled with the camera before finding the exact location of the memory card. Upon removing it, he began to utter an enchantment. Something at the back of his mind told him not to be acquiring the information this way. He had hastily learned this process some years ago, realizing that he would likely need to mingle with primitive technology in order to increase his skills at espionage. Still, this tech was so backwater that even his knowledge could not work. His hesitancy quickly faded and he inserted the card into the computer.

It was as if he had entered a massive series of caves and canals, all coming toward him and bombarding him with information. The Yakuza was almost overwhelmed by the process. They tugged away at his inner being, the data stream pulling him each way and digging itself into him. He attempted to refrain from using ki---and in the process melt down the entire Earth information grid---but it became enough that he had to fight it back. He stepped firm, sending his power in a wave. However, in such a spiritual form he only succeeded in scattering himself further.

That wasn’t the only problem, either. The data on the card which he had ridden on had been corrupt. It had now invaded him even further than the overwhelming might of the world wide web. He had to use an enchantment to reaffirm himself. But, in doing so he would permanently corrupt himself. Damn it Daichi, just follow your instincts.

With a fading chant, he felt all of himself come back together. He looked at his astral form. Things, many strange things floated through as images across his spirit. Facts, arguments, philosophies, names, they all popped into his head as intrusive thoughts. Waves of pain struck him along with images of Godzilla’s skull, mixing themselves with the memories of the creature’s final moments and making them stronger. But, now that he had strengthened himself, he could isolate himself from most of the larger stream. He would come to realize later, he had brought into himself a duplicate of the planet’s information.

Daichi shambled his way through the tunnels. Even here, there was a large amount of data. The first few dozen things he found were either useless or things logging the dissection of an alien creature and containment protocol for a highly adaptable cambrian living fossil. Eventually, however, he found the information he was looking for. The weapon: a glowing lance of seemingly pure light, with energy unfathomable to the humans. And exactly what he needed to put an end to the reign of terror. It was a floor below, held in a lab. All he needed to do was take it.

Daichi’s soul reentered his body. When it did, the room was empty and many of the chairs were spilled over. Everything was left ajar. His body had been lying on the floor. Whatever had happened had made the humans get moving had justified them leaving him unconscious.

A shiver went down his spine when he heard a familiar roar and the walls of the facility rumbled.

“Is he here already?” said a soldier.

“Impossible,” a scientist said. “Godzilla has never moved that fast before.”

“Yeah, and since when has something come back from just a skull?”

They didn’t have any more time before vaporizing, followed by a wall of fire. Daichi flew back, crashing through a meter’s worth of solid steel. He blinked the blur out of his vision before vomiting profusely. If it hadn’t been for his slight spike in power, he would have been vaporized alongside the humans. He allowed himself to heave up blood before making his armor reappear. The ball of fire had turned the hillside into molten rock. Journeying to the edge, he could see that everything for many kilometers had been turned into a single smoldering crater. In the epicenter, rock floated into the sky as vapor before sending a rain of lava down onto the surrounding spaces. There was no plant life left to burn. And no town with people to see.

Then it came again: the roar. Louder, angrier. Daichi realized soon that an attack was coming for him. With the sound of thunder multiplied threefold, Daichi dove below to grab the weapon. He whirled around in time for the lance to block the atomic beam. To any mortal, the light would be blinding, but Daichi watched the attack look as if it were swirling into the lance. Once it was done, Daichi couldn’t help but grin. Yes, this will do, but he wouldn’t waste it on this monster. No, that would give it away. And so would using his power too extensively. He would have to end this quickly.

Daichi strapped the lance to his back, trading places with his own personal spear. Then, he channeled his power into a massive leap which took him kilometers in Godzilla’s direction. Weapon out, he spotted the creature. It was standing where he had left it. He stopped in midair. “Do you understand what you have done?”

A blank eye rolled upward in his direction. Half formed lips curled up in fury. A combination of a hiss and a groan escaped from the creature’s throat accompanied by the sound of loud thumping from the exposed side of its ribcage. Glistening scales crawled over muscle covered in a thin white film. Daichi could just make out the forms of humans melting into his massive heart, their spirits moaning in his head before vanishing. Then, it was only Godzilla’s voice. He could feel the creature’s pain through this brief moment. Godzilla’s jawbone---held onto a fully formed neck by a series of muscles and tendons---broke apart, reshaping itself and becoming larger. The flesh could barely keep up, leaving the jaw barely hanging. That was enough for Godzilla. Once again, it sent a torrent of energy toward Daichi.

Daichi swerved out of the way, processing the heat thrown from the attack. That energy output… it was the same as the attack which had incinerated Godzilla. Daichi growled and hurled himself toward Godzilla, spear jutting out in a massive surge of energy. At the last second, Daichi drew his sword. Together, they dug clear through the monster’s skull and vital organs and chopped his skeleton apart.

Once the pillar of light disappeared, Daichi stood alone. No signs were left of the monster. He sat on the glass ground of the obsidian wasteland.

Truth be told, he was shellshocked. That he had to use so much effort the first time was unthinkable but to use this much a second time? It was beyond the imagination. And now the web now invading his mind, that was saying something.

Yet he still felt reassured. This thing definitely wasn’t one of Tiamat’s. It was some folly of man. He thought to himself, this would make an interesting tale. Likely not popular in the other Earths’ eastern countries nor this one, but people did love a dragon story. A fable about not allowing industry and war to overcome your humanity. Then, it came back to him:

Millions of people were dead because of this thing. He could be happy to be rid of it, but now was not to be cheerful. Not to mention, Marise could be watching at this very moment.

A sense of dread overwhelmed him.

You’re being silly, Daichi. Just suppress your power and Marise will never know. Now that you have the weapon, you can simply disguise it as your own and obliterate him. This was just an aside. It’s not even the monster you’re worried about.

That thought would come to haunt him. Godzilla wasn't gone. Godzilla was coming back that very second. And he wouldn't stop coming back. He had made himself the target not of Marise, but of something else. Gods, they always did lead to the birth of monsters...
______________
The situation was dire. Before their very eyes, Raspaganje was claiming victory. The ritual was still missing its key components. Things were going far faster than La'tomer had anticipated. He wouldn't be able to assemble the gods, only what we have here.

Dana dropped to her knees. It was strange now that she would do so to anyone from the outside. She should have been catatonic as far back as Noon Harvest. He couldn't help but pry back into her mind back then, his world could only heal a fractured mind through knowing its intricacies. He was sure her magic was going to contain the Behemoth and Jake, but there was a more urgent issue now. It was ironic, the unnatural way in which she reincarnated was simultaneously the thing that could save them all and the thing which held her back.

Who was he kidding? It wasn't only her that would save them all…

He addressed the others, "I… have been a lackluster god. I suppose it's second nature for a god of sleep to be that way. My arrogance isn't."

A dust storm formed around him. He began, bit by bit, to merge into it as it grew exponentially more large in size, in a few seconds becoming the size of a gas giant. "So don't take this as me acting like the boss or some nonsense like that. I don't even know if this is going to work…"

A small dust devil swallowed Dana. Unfortunately for her, he would need to pull a full rest on her to heal her. There was someone she was fighting for, even if they had passed on to the other side. To bring back her drive, she would have to heal… and feel her memories of an eternity over again.

And he, the Sandman, would have to see if a being ancient as two multiverse needed to sleep.

"I'll buy you guys time. Hercules is coming to you. Say your prayers, little ones…"

"Something's coming, cackled the Legendary Beast. Jake could feel the thing's mirth at the idea that the Sandman was being upstaged.

"If anybody was going to surprise me," Jake grinned, "it was going to be them."

A new challenger came to Raspaganje. Something which seemed to be able to hurt him.

"But for how long?"

"Long enough, we just found ourselves a key ingredient. We just need to get Dana ready to go."

I do hope that they see our time together in the afterlife again, the Legendary Beast bragged. It would seem… I saved you."

Jake really hoped that the person whom Raspaganje was sealed in didn't have to listen to him speak. Still, it was an interesting insight to Dana's psyche.

And goddamnit she had to be reincarnated the worst way possible.
_________
The Afterlife

The canopy of the evergrowing trees set beams of light through to the waterfall adjacent to Dana. She let her face be washed with the cool mist, waving her hand toward the rainbow that appeared. Her eyes moved down the creek to a spot completely shrouded in shadow. The ridged fins of an amphibious creature disrupted the black water, sending a chill up her spine.

She was twice the creature's size and its scent sent a subtle message to her brain: prey. Yet, its site unsettled her. She inhaled deeply and eased herself into the water. If she was feeling afraid, she had to face it head on. The pool underneath the waterfall was surprisingly deep. She had to keep herself afloat in the waters. Waving her powerful tail, she moved toward the shadowy part of the creek. First, she progressed slowly. Then she gained confidence. But it was soon completely lost.

This just didn't feel quite right. Even with her experiencing fear looking at the surface, it didn't feel like she was facing any phobias by swimming in the dark water. She swam over to the bank and rose out of the water until it was ankle deep. That was when a shiver overtook her.

She looked down. For a second, it didn't feel right that she had feet. Once the feeling had went away, she still felt a sense of unease.

It had been like this since her larval stage. One of her first memories was of her being plucked out of the water and put into a tank away from most of the others. The communal figures who took care of the children said that suddenly, she started panicking and attempted to leave the water despite not yet losing her gills. The only thing that kept her calm was a brightly lit tank. There were others there, one whose colors she became quite familiar with as the years gone by.

It was only once she reached adolescence that she could put her finger on why this fear existed. "Fear" being the best word for it, because the sight and sensation of dark water recalled to her a cavernous landscape filled with fog and icy water. This world visited her in her dreams. It wasn't just a dream, though. It was a memory. She remembered thinking to herself, I can't remember that… it didn't happen. It couldn't happen.

Dana was taken out of her reminiscing by a sound in the distance. It was fairly common to encounter wildlife out here. The sight of it always happened to put her at ease so she turned her head to look. But in the distance was not any animal. It was another dragon. One she recognized. It didn't take long for them to also notice her. She met eyes with her friend Kenzie, who had been staring up the trunk of a tree.

The two gazed into each other's eyes for some time. Even from this distance, there was something telling Dana that. A certain… magnetism could be felt. It was as if those amber eyes were right across from her, using the windows to have a little glimpse into her soul. There was a warmth to it that fought evenly with an icy dread.

"Having a dip?" Kenzie said.

"Yup," replied Dana. Suddenly, she realized, it was as if they had spent a much longer time together than they already had. Dana could recall a set of plains next to a creek, its water running low under the beating of Nexus's stars. A few trees sat in the plain, right across from a granite cliff. In the memory, she could see herself crouching down to plant a sapling. Above her the distant sound of thunder.

This, this didn't scare her. She was looking into somebody else's memories but it wasn't running contrary to her sense of security. No, it was like a friend telling her a story.

Kenzie smiled and turned away. "See you back in civilization."

"Wanna have a swim with me?"

"How about we go by the Shipwrecks tomorrow instead? Just the two of us?"

It took Dana some time to register what Kenzie meant by that request. Once she did, she became slightly flustered. Everyone had always insisted that the way she and Kenzie would simply get along was because of love. Dana had always seen it as more complicated than that. Nothing was holding them back from simply getting together, especially given the gods' tendency to just not pay attention. With genetic engineering, they could even have their own batch of eggs together... So, what kept them from simply being together? It was like the biggest mystery amongst the village, when one of them was going to ask the other out.
Dana was hoping that she would have gotten to ask Kenzie. But now, whatever was blocking them had gone away and she was the one being asked out.

Her being flustered didn't last long, however. She pumped her fists into the air joyfully and said, "It's a date!"

It was only after Kenzie left that Dana wondered: why tomorrow, and not today? Daylight hadn't started to fade yet. If Kenzie thought that Dana liked her water dark, then it would have been tonight.

She supposed that she was overthinking it. Kenzie was a socially conscious girl. She had other commitments, no doubt. And could definitely tell what Dana was doing here. No question in Dana's mind, Kenzie even knew that Dana would regularly do this.

Dana whirled her finger through the water. Fear took her once again, but she again powered through.

Dana did this until her body was so exhausted from the stress, she had to go back home and fall asleep. That night, her dreams were memories. Of the afterlife.

The light reflected off a planetary ring drifted into the opening in the wall, shaped vaguely like an arrowhead. It cast across a bed and into the floor below, where the mangled corpse of a dragon lay. Its eyes remained open even as its neck had been twisted completely around, spine holding the head on like a thread.

No fear was in her head, no, it was instead a passing curiosity. "Wonder who this poor soul was?"

Her thoughts and words were just one thing. Odd, how she found that novel. It didn't seem too strange to her that her words were more like disorganized wind-like howls and chitters.

The dragon did look familiar to her, she just couldn't quite put a finger on it. Whoever it was, she hoped that the people who knew her would know and find peace. That wasn't her concern now. The rain was calling to her from outside.

"Oh, how I love the rain."

From another room, she could hear a frightened voice. "Is anyone there?"

She couldn't find herself to care much for their plight either. She moved across the limestone brick floor to the doorway. Down the tower which she was located, a set of stairs lacking any railing spiraled down into inky darkness. Droplets of rain fell down through the roof, despite its being too solid to do so. She held out her hand---or rather what used to be a hand---to feel the raindrops caress her fingers. Alas, there were no fingers. Poking from beneath her tattered grey cloak was something like a black mist. It was strange, but nothing of her concern.

She followed the stairs down toward the black below. On occasion, she would be able to gaze outside through an opening in the wall. The first time, she saw a heavy bog. Mist rolled over stagnant water into which large roots clawed ferociously. At its border was a plain, yellow plants wilting against the mud. This came across to her as normal, a bit familiar. That changed when she looked out another hole in the wall and saw a landscape of high peaks and heavy snow. In another, all she saw was fire. Despite their tumultuous weather, neither seemed to breach past the outer layer of the castle's tower.

As she went down, these portals became less common and ultimately vanished. She joined the darkness in full. Only listening closely to the sound of the rain hitting the ground below beckoned her downward. It simply didn't seem quite right for her to stay there.

The rain was calling to her. She needed to look at it.

As she neared the bottom of the steps, she was greeted by another being. Its clothes looked to have been shredded by some predatory thing, leaving only a floating upper body. A plain white mask covered a literal ear to ear grin. She felt an aversion to it, but it wasn't focused on her. It said in a voice that was both a whisper and a shout:

"Serena, I'm on the fifteenth step."

It was nothing of her concern.

The sound of rain had become louder. Its icy clattering hitting soft ground, filling her sense of sound with what was reminiscent of static. She made her way down to the sound but when she got there, there was nothing but stone flooring. Instead, the rain had become distant once again. Around her, she could see things like the one on the fifteenth step. They were floating toward her.

"You cannot escape this place."

"Madness is your destiny."

"Welcome to your tomb."

"You'll be one of us."

The feeling of aversion returned. She attempted to listen for the sound of the rain, but their voices were beginning to drown it out. She headed down a grand hallway toward a pointed archway, the direction she thought she could hear the rain coming from.

She lost sight of the things as she breached further into the castle's onyx light but the the dread didn't go away. Over her wispy shoulder, she checked. She did so again and again. It was only once she caught a glance of one in the distance, waiting to climb the stairs.

She reached the grand archway and entered the room. Stretched before her was a long table lined with golden chairs. Huge tattered curtains covered windows into the cold outside, framed by defaced statues of centaur-like beings. Despite it having been broken down the middle, there were things sitting there. Those masked things. And the thing that had broken the table was another dragon.

The things were making sounds reminiscent of rain. Up close, it was clearly just static.

They all turned their heads to look at her, laughing and taunting. She hurried away from them, but the space distorted around her. The table never ended. More and more masked entities rose up to greet her. The ones who didn't taunt her sobbed, voices poisoned entirely with despair. Their tears hit the ground, creating the sound of rain.

This was how it was going to be. Forever, stuck in this dining hall. Feeling that she was being feasted upon but never seeing who was doing it.

The sound of soft jazz is what disrupted her despair. She turned to look and beside her was a tunnel, at the end of which appeared to be lights. The tunnel was made of a different type of brick than the castle. They were small, a reddish grey and rippled like waves. This sight was odd. But the oddity was nothing of her concern.

She swerved into the tunnel and as she did so she could see the concrete floor was filled with rain puddles, small wavelets forming in them from drops appearing out of the ceiling.

The tunnel branched out into many different ones. She once again saw the icy realm, but now could smell the decay. She could smell sulfur from another. One tunnel was pure concrete and smelled of diesel and gasoline. One of the entities she hadn't been aware had followed her moved ahead of her and went down into the concrete tunnel.

"Why don't I want to go there?"

She expected somebody to answer, but nothing did. Things on this path caught her attention. One tunnel wasn't so much a tunnel, but an opening to a cracked asphalt road lined by dirt and shrubs beneath a cloudy full moon sky. Another was a tunnel that opened to a road along a cliff, moons in the sky casting blue light onto treetops.

Though the branching tunnels were numerous and some seemed to be attempts to tempt her into entering the same realms as seen before, none truly told her that she should go down them. The soul was called by music and rain. Her head bobbed slightly to the sound of soft rock and roll.

It came as a surprise when the tunnel ended not where music could be produced, but rather a large train station. Hundreds of torchlit brick queues held entities who all looked just like her: semi-transparent floating robes, hoods shadowing faces with vacant white eyes. The room was alight with the sounds of howls and chitters. A long black train skidded into place beside her. She felt no temptation to join any of the lines to the train. Something said to her that it was for another time.

Instead, she found a set of stairs at the end of the room. Its large black maw beckoned to her with the sounds of music and rain. She moved there, nonchalantly. Drops of rain fell strongly from the top. She could hear at the bottom not rain hitting soft ground, but rain hitting water.

Her cloak's tail met black water. With a shiver, she followed it. Finally into an open sky.

It was like she was standing inside a vast valley. Barely peeking over the distant edge were white peaks. 400 meters overhead was a bridge made of brick and asphalt coming from the hillside that the tunnel had come. Fog rolled from every corner of the vast lake. There were no waves besides those caused by phantom rain and vehicles plunging from the bridge overhead, sinking out of sight despite the water appearing shallow.

She spent what might well have been decades standing, staring at the fog's milky horizon and the unfortunate souls who were consumed by the waters. It gave her enough time for what had happened to sink in. The escape she had made was so narrow but she didn't even know why she ran or what she had been running from. Her mind was as much of a haze as the sticky cold clouds which hugged her.

She was lost in her own thoughts, never realizing the ungodly noise that she was producing. There was nobody else to hear her. Just her and eternity inside the fog, seeing nothing and hearing nothing new outside of the occasional ethereal roar.

So lost in her thoughts, ignorant of the sound she was making, the spirit didn't even realize why what happened next transpired.

From the inky abyss rose a pale green shape. Most guises of worldly knowledge had been sapped away by the cavern, but if they hadn't she would have recognized it as a boat. One that was so large as to be impossible. Its bow breached the water not with a splash, but with a gentle ripple. For a moment, she wondered if she was not looking at the thing which produced the echoing roars. Once enough of it was shown, something told her that was not what it was.

The boat was decayed beyond any reasonable ability to float. Yet in the 1,000 meters from bow to stern it did. All along its sides were coats of algae and the hollowed husks of underwater animals. Sails stretched like wings of a drowned bat, pushed along by howls of despair as if the spirits the ship held produced the wind their speech sounded so akin to. Through the craggy gash in the opening of the ship's bow, she could see the shapes of many types of things. Their limbs attempted to pull them out, but to no avail.

Memories of her time before the afterlife trickled in. She felt compelled to look at her hand. Its shape and color had changed. Osteoderms lined her fingers, dessicated barnacles burrowed into her skin and talons.

But as soon as this was observed, it faded away. The bells of the immense ship still rang, but she could now see that below her feet there was concrete. A barren sidewalk in the abyssal waters. If it hadn't been for the reminder by the phantom vessel, she would have never been snapped into this reality.

So, she walked along this pathway. The lantern lights of the vessel appeared as stars in the fog, always at a distance. Following her.

She found herself an outcropping of cement jutting from the water. On it, a simple bench and a railing. She drifted over and sat on the bench, not a single thought in her mind. From the murk also appeared other spirits, which sat down beside her. She felt as if she should recognize them, but no memories could come. They had been eaten.

It seemed now, somehow, she could feel that emptiness and not be at peace with it anymore. The rain circled around her and her companions, its pitter patter against the vast water droning against the sound of her wails. She could feel agony now, despair. The rain tried to soften her temper, to put her at peace. Every time she looked to her sides, though, she saw faces. Those faces, the ones from times past, who she could associate emotions with slowly bled her out.

She didn't realize she was talking. Neither did the other shades beside her. No, she simply said what was on her mind. That was, until there was no mind left. "It's just drifting… place to place… storm to storm. I'm a piece of driftwood. I drift. I drift away. Drift away… Drift away…. Drift away… Drift away… Drift away. Drift away. Drift away. Drift away. Drift away. Drift away. Driftaway. Driftaway…"


Dana awoke in her bunk. She ran her hands down her body and slapped herself in the face. She had a body. She stretched out her arm and for a horrifying moment she saw a transparent limb dressed in a cloak. She hyperventilated, clawing away at her aching chest. Before she knew it she was on her floor before she by chance looked at her arms. It was normal.

She inhaled deeply and then exhaled. She craned her head and covered her eyes, pinching her nose. She felt like she had lived eons that night yet she didn't feel like going back to sleep. Instead she just sat still for an hour, her mind catching up to what she'd witnessed.

This was her past. In some crazy way, it was. All those years wondering what was going on, it was her subconscious wanting to say something about the afterlife. Not just want, Dana on some unconscious level wanted to scream it. Then her mind moved back to Kenzie. Kenzie had shared with her part of her past. One that couldn't have possibly been hers… unless it was the same as what Dana had been through.

Dana rose from her bunk and looked at her wall. The fronds of a plant crawling along slightly covered the time and date, but it was unmistakable. She had slept until the next night. Part of this relieved her. She hadn't woken up a thousand years into the future. Sure, she'd slept for a long time but she hadn't outlived Kenzie or anything.

Kenzie. Fuck. When Kenzie shared, this must have been her last ditch effort to let it out. She felt that need crawling through her skin to just let it out. Her subconscious was like two arms underneath her skin, pulling her which way from things that stimulated her memories but toward someone just so she could let it out. Dana felt sick. That someone could go through something like that, someone who she cared about so deeply. They sat together so many times. Shared foods, shared jokes, shared anecdotes. Yet this was still peeling at her. She took a chance by doing whatever she did with Dana.

That date now had so much more meaning. Dana got herself ready. She put on her best jewelry and took a brush to draw designs onto her scales. Then she found her best hooded sweatshirt. As she examined herself in the mirror, she felt that something was off. Hmm… probably no hooded garments. Instead she wore a long, high collared suit.

She stepped out into the night. There was a light rainstorm clinging to the top of the trees, soaking the bridges and structures of her forested city. They left a nice shine. The amber light shining across the needly canvas and the fresh smell of flowers soaked with rain made her feel at ease. Even with the echoes of the rain from the afterlife drumming in her mind, this felt right. There must have been more to the afterlife that she'd yet to experience. To feel this at home.

Dana whistled a jazzy tune as she stamped through the rain, heading over to Kenzie's quarters. Before she got there, she picked up a top hat from a nearby stand. She wasn't sure but something about it felt right.

When she approached the door, Kenzie had already opened the door. She had highlighted her large eyes with black eyeliner and put on a sleeveless full body garment, bracelets lining up all along the indents between her gauntlet-like arms.

Kenzie examined Dana and grinned. "Feeling better?"

Dana nodded.

"Heard you whistling jazz. Remember him yet?"

"Not really."

"He's a real pick up," Kenzie said. "But right now, how about that be us?"

They strided through the rain together, fingers locked together. Dana whistled the sound of a saxophone, while Kenzie hummed the drums. Then passing by their friend Jules practically made her spit out her drink. "You guys are out on a date?"

"Sure are! See you later!"

They spent so much energy simply doing the sing-along that they practically slammed down into their seats inside their pod and had to catch their breath. Dana turned her head toward Kenzie. "Wonder what that song was?"

"No idea," Kenzie said.

"Who's the mystery guy anyway?"

"His name's Baron Samedi," Kenzie said. "A little kooky. One of those gods you'd expect to be regional but fuck if I know how that stuff works."

"Yeah," Dana said. Memories came to her. "Who knows? Afterlife can't seem to afford good rooms for the dead."

"There's apparently a minimum bleakness requirement in the afterlife."

"Yeah…"

Dana's head began to hang low. Memories of a dark steamboat filled her mind.

Kenzie hugged Dana. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you're not used to this yet."

"It's fine." Dana craned her neck, nuzzling Kenzie on the chin with her horn. "How do these memoriee work, anyway?"

"Far's I can tell," Kenzie said, "they'll just come. Doesn't mean you'll just randomly think of rain---okay, you do, but not the point. You get highlights most of the time."

"Like, going through a scary castle into the underworld?"

"Hm. I didn't have that, but you're on the money."

"What was yours like?"

"A long brick tunnel… branching out. Sounds that relaxed me called to me. A song."

"What song?"

Kenzie giggled nervously. "It's going to sound dumb… it was some kind of rock song."

"Like this one?" Dana asked as she pointed toward the speakers. She was confused as Kenzie took her hand and leaned her head against hers.

"It's the exact same one. Just... less jazzy."

The song was "Girl's Not Grey"

"What follows me as the whitest lace of light
Will swallow whole, just begs to be imbrued
What follows has led me to this place
Where I belong with all erased
What follows will swallow whole
What follows will swallow whole..."
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Corzak The Mighty »

The colossal despot watched as Demmy flashed across the void of space, through the roiling chaos, the entropic storm that had consumed the whole of the singularity. He watched as the monstrous form of Raspaganje himself emerged from beyond the veil of reality, from the hellish dimension known as the Timestream Abyss. His dim, souless eyes lit up with a child-like curiosity at the sights before him. To think a mere demon would show such courage in the face of absolute oblivion... he could hardly believe it had he not seen it for himself. Was she so eager to die? Or did she feel such action was a sacrifice worth making?

The Colossal Despot's eyes shifted towards Molly. "We'd better get out of here. When that thing collapses on itself, anything within range will find itself annihilated, as if struck by the bolts themselves." He briefly glanced back towards the Machine's fell glow, before he offered Molly a nod. "Best of luck to you!"

The Despot smirked, before he vanished in a swirl of shadow...
----
Nyx let out a pained groan at the words of Lae and Aseya, struggling against the weakness that had assailed her body. Her arms, once strong and firm, now shook uncontrollably from the assault that had been levied against her. Hands, once nimble and quick, were clutched tightly shut like a vice. Reaching with all her might, Nyx pressed the button to release the escape hatch, releasing her, Lae, and Aseya from the heavily damaged form of the Erebus.

Stumbling out onto the grassy earth beneath her, Nyx, breaths shallow and ragged, looked up upon the radiant sky above of the Ninja Homeworld. Tears still streamed down her face, her tears glimmering in the sun like irridescent gems. Her heart still ached... her head still swam in chaos from what had just unfolded... but she knew she was not done yet. She had no idea where she was, or how she had ended up here, but her first goal was to ensure the others were okay.

"L-lae! A-aseya!" Nyx called out, forcing herself shakily onto her feet. The woman shuffled awkwardly, one weakened step at a time, towards her machine's cockpit, examining the opening made. "A-are you two okay?"
----
Immanuel's eyes looked upwards toward the growing singularity as well, the chaos that had begun to engulf the entirety of the multiverse. Though all seemed lost, he could see, hidden in the crushing abyss, the light of the world: two challengers had entered into the fray to face Raspaganje head on: a ninja, one that glistened with all the power of creation, and an unknown hero, blessed with the power of the gods themselves. He could see others as well - the hero Jake, the god of sleep La'tomer, and the wise antiquarian Owlzarus had all come to aid in facing this unfathomable foe.

He looked to Mulek once more, before he allowed heavenly light to engulf him and the entirety of Hercules' ship. In a brilliant flash, where Immanuel once stood instead held a great winged sun, 6 wings of heavenly light rotating around a central star. The six wings bent towards Mulek, as her entire body suddenly became aglow with his divine power, filling her with the might of the God of Light himself.

"This is the fullest of my might," Immanuel spoke, his voice echoing across the tumultuous seascape, conjuring a powerful shield of light before the angel to deflect any harm. "Take it, and put an end to this evil!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Owlzarus' eyes widened in awe at the appearance of the new challenger, descending from the maw of the void and banishing the darkness of Wormwood. He could feel it... a wave of power unlike any other, one that was unmatched by all of reality. He watched as the being, this nascent sun, a Star of Hope birthed from the depths of despair, challenged the primordial malice of Raspaganje's fell light. He watched as their celestial rays challenged the corrupt glow of the Star of Calamity, a challenge Raspaganje would not be able to ignore.

This being... they emanated the sheer might of the Core of the Multiverse itself! But how... and when had this...

His eyes glanced above, his gaze staring into the great beyond of the singularity. He clutched his chest, as a warm feeling entered the librarian's heart, one he had not sensed in a long time. Had she truly returned? Had the mother of the guardians brought forth this moment, this savior to challenge the Star of Calamity? A smile appeared upon Owlzarus' face, as memories washed over him, of the days before Marise's madness, of the time where they had last spoken.

"Tiamat..."

His hope reinvigorated, Owlzarus raised up his hands, conuring a shimmering sigil beneath himself, La'tomer, Dana, and Jake, as hundreds upon thousands of sigils swirled about them, focusing themselves onto Dana and aiming themselves in the direction of Raspaganje.

"I'm at your side. Begin the ritual when you are ready," Owlzarus stated calmly.
----
THe celestial rays of Tenchi Orion sliced through the clouding of the Black God, his infernal contamination of the multiverse held at bay by the might of this new champion of truth and justice. The rays singed Raspaganje's opalescent scales with their purity, their righteous strength revealing the ugly truth beneath the Star of Calamity's eerily magnificent form. Once unearthly brilliance found itself peeled away, as charcoal black scales revealed themselves beneath. The Serpentine visage the Lord of Decay wore was scalded, peeled away as moss from stone, revealing the abominable, skull-like true face of Raspaganje. His body's brilliance became replaced with scales deadened and black as the night sky itself. Raspaganje's chest and eyes, once glowing with the false brilliance of heaven, now smoldered with the helllish flame of hatred that had long animated him. But even now, with his truth revealed, Raspaganje's form smoldered and erupted a hellish light, one that faced off with Tenshi Orion's own.

The Star of Calamity could hardly believe what was happening... to be challenged, nay, REPELLED by any force in this reality, or any other... it was an impossibility. He had become something beyond all life, all possibilities. All realities and dimensions were opened to him, to be bent to his will... the whole of reality would fear his might, as the last of their thoughts were consumed unto the endless silence of death! And yet these rays... this burn... it was all too familiar to him. He had not felt such pain in two cycles, not since his defeat so long ago...

Raspaganje's smoldering gaze narrowed with burning disdain. Tiamat. With a wave of his wings, Raspganje pushed back against Tenshi Orion's light, the two coming to a standoff within the singularity.

"So at long last, the truth of your mother has made itself shown," Raspaganje snarled, talons grasping the edges of space-time itself. "Yet idle hands should not act where they do not know. Still she hides behind you, her trusted servants. Her sword and shield for the whole of life. But for what reason? Does she fear the truth of oblivion? Or is there something more...?"

Raspaganje's jaws clacked, as his eyes locked onto Tenshi Orion themselves, peering into the essence of the four ninjas united as one. "Even now, you fight against me... even as I shatter the binds of destiny, and the whole of reality crumbles beneath me. Do you truly believe there is hope within my shadow?"

Tenshi Orion offered him no reply; instead, they merely adopted a stance, prepared to battle the Star of Calamity for the fate of the Multiverse. Raspaganje chuckled, his chest burning with the power of the Timestream Abyss.

"Even in the face of death itself, you will challenge me? Fools. you persist too long after you own defeat."

The great dragon flared open his wings and loosed a mighty roar. "Come then, warriors - have your resolution!"

Raspaganje's jaws filled with an ecliptic glow, one that seemingly snuffed out all light around it like a great black hole, before he loosed a destructive wave of energy towards the united guardians, one that quite literally rended reality apart!
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Godzilla165 »

Divinity incarnate stared down the roiling black mass of Raspaganje, now having been stripped of his unearned angelic beauty... With an apathetic scrutiny. How lowly did he, the usurper demon whom had cast his long shadow across every corner of space and time, now appeared. His threats rang hollow, so too did his defiant struggle. Tenchi considered him with a peaceful silence, an unbothered curiosity. So when Raspaganje initiated his assault, a crashing torrent of energy, the likes of which uprooted whole sections of reality from its sturdy base... Tenchi remained where they first stood, unmoved, unshaken. Blinking once, the deity turned their head left, and, reaching out with their hand to the side, ever so gently swooped it in a cupping motion to gather literal parts of time and space in their palm. The overseer of all looked upon this raw and tender, yet indescribably ancient zeal with wordless respect, a thoughtful resolve. The multiverse was Tenchi's crop to till, his land to protect, and the seeds planted within it. Raspaganje was a trespasser, and his influence could no longer continue.

As such, Tenchi intermixed the handful of reality with but a paltry amount of his energy, and extended their hand out in front of them. The tumultuous energy of the black devil collided with force that would have rendered solar systems nonexistent... And shattered into pieces like glass around Tenchi's outstretched hand. Wormwood's power, the will of Raspaganje, was completely and totally nullified by this new challenger, whom soundlessly floated in space, their golden eyes seeping into the very makeup that made his dark soul. Tenchi, with but a thought, created a small platform of energy beneath their feet to stand on. The warrior advanced towards Raspaganje, cutting through the middle of his destructive fury like a clinical knife with but a hand. As they walked, more footholds found solace underneath the guardian's feet; their march was relaxed and confident. Raspaganje's energy billowed uselessly around them into the ether of space, until, with a gentle sideward push, Tenchi dismantled the beam in its entirety and left the malevolent entity scrambling. Lowering their arm back down to their side, Tenchi Orion leaned back on their left heel before taking a slow yet calculated step forward using their right foot, and suddenly disappeared before Wormwood's eyes.

Though, it did not take long at all for Raspaganje to relocate his opponent, as the divine warrior instantly appeared right in front of his face at hyper speed. With a look of determination, Tenchi Orion utterly cracked their opponent's skeletal visage with a knee traveling at the same velocity. The force was enough to literally crack and splinter the singularity in which the deities fought, and flung Raspaganje end over end.
Last edited by Godzilla165 on Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Beast Blood »

Korraz took in deep breaths to compensate for her injured lung. While she had been taken aback by the odd voice Fray spoke with, the giant herself was no less uncanny to listen to, the combination of her injured lung and mangled throat making her already difficult-sounding breathing seem all the worse. Her breaths came in deep, ghastly, rattling wheezes, resonating in the damaged halls of the ship like the strangled gasps of a dying beast.

As she stood there, her thoughts drifted towards home, to her mate and cubs. Sirmaq... was he okay? How were the cubs doing in her absence? It was not the first time she had to leave them for a little while, but she nevertheless hoped they did not miss her too much. They could sometimes have trouble sleeping when they worried over their mother’s whereabouts - if she would at all come back to them. Sirmaq always reassured them she would, even though he himself could never be sure. It was not that he had no faith in her abilities. Her might was partly why he had chosen her as his mate. Rather, they simply kept in mind that it was possible she may come across threats beyond even her capabilities. It was something they had accepted before they even got together. Korraz was a warrior, but it did not mean she could not have a chance at raising a family; only that she may have to sometimes temporarily leave them behind to protect them from an outside threat. Her love for her family, after all, was one of the giant’s greatest driving forces. These injuries were nothing if it meant her mate and cubs could sleep peacefully at night.

She longed to hold them all in her arms again. Soon enough...

While the ever-inquisitive Borskall pondered, Mitsif moved in to offer her aid. Korraz stirred from her thoughts to glance towards her, watching as the smaller Quatheral took care of her injuries. The sight of this little stranger caring for her warmed the giant’s heart. The blacksmith thanked her with a deep nod, smirking with a blood-stained maw. She could breathe a little more easily now. These bandages were even of her favorite color, even if her blood painted them a different shade than intended.

She turned back towards Fray, only to see her neck stretch bizarrely. Korraz’s expression became one of intrigue again. It was one thing after another with this one, was it not?

---

“I will do more than try!”

No more warning came from Glaxion as the frigid fighter slammed both her hammer and ice-covered fist on either side of Drillgore’s dark visage, denting it inwards and spilling his essence with brutal efficiency. His head nearly popped like a grape, viciously crushed by the twin impacts and skewered and frosbitten by the ice covering Glaxion’s hand and hammer, dozens of tiny icicles driven into him.

As if of its own mind, a drill-tipped tendril rose up to defend its master, a rapid swipe knocking a few fangs from Glaxion’s maw.

“YOU THINK I NEED THESE TO STOMP YOU FLAT!?” Glaxion shouted rhetorically, through blood-stained teeth as her now missing ones hit the flooring of the ship off to her side. Bloody spittle came from her mouth alongside her words. “I do not!”

Mustering her waterbending powers, the horned-helmeted Borskall drenched Drillgore with water from sprinklers above, shifting the otherwise pleasant shower into a vicious spray of ice shards!
Last edited by Beast Blood on Tue Aug 02, 2022 10:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by MinorBone Good »

After making sure that Korraz was indeed all bandaged up, Mitsif chucked the remaining rolls of bandaged into her belly heart, casting it into her pocket dimension. In it goes! She suddenly cringed and raised a foot up a bit as she felt a sharp pain as the bandages clashed with something inside of her. She swung her head into her stomach to make sure that she hadn’t damaged anything. Thankfully, some things just fell over. She let out a giggled sigh. She probably should be a bit more careful. Ehhh, that’s work though.

She looked back at Korraz, who nodded at her in thanks. Mitsif quickly flashed her a thumbs up before she looked back at Fray. Strange it was. But she’s seen weirder back home. After all, how could she forget seeing Yasnoig turn themselves inside out so that their organs were showing. Yeesh, she didn’t need to remember that again!

Her thoughts then lead to two things. 1: Getting off this horrifically awful no good dull suffocating piece of garbage of a ship. 2: Getting back to pranking. She was already bored! Luckily for her, she stumbled upon two beings perfect to prank! Eheheheee. And since the really big fuzzy one was seeming to be okay now, it was perfect.

She bent down to the ground a bit and started to pace with her hands behind her back. Devious thoughts floated into her mind with such ease. Painting her fur a different color? Naaah she felt like she had done that too much. Air Horns might be good, but she wanted to get both the big one and the stretchy one with that one.

Mitsif paced for a couple more steps before coming up with a plan! Oh yes! Yes yesss! This one was going to be good! Her body started to lift off the ground, her legs soon started to dangle as she started to float upwards. She soon landed on Korraz’s shoulder and patted it. This will be a perfect spot to conduct her prankings.

The Quatheral misfit reached into her belly, searching for just the right item. Soon enough, she pulled out a long electric razor. She twirled it between her three-fingered hand and laughed. This one was a simple, but effective prank. Just start to shave a message into the fur! Within seconds she had already thought what to write. She tapped the bright green button, and the razor whirred to life.

Mitsif giggled loudly as she couldn’t help but laugh at the result of the prank. This was gonna be so-... Wait.

Mitsif brought her face closer to the razor that was now refusing to work. It appeared that the big one’s fur was too much to handle for the razor. Her eyes narrowed just a bit as she tried to pull the razor from Korraz’s fur.

Tug. Tug.

Nope. She was not strong enough to even pull it out. She tried tugging it out again, but it was to no avail. Mitsif shrugged. Ah well. It wasn’t a big deal. The razor wasn’t even hers anyway. She’ll just leave it for now. She floated up to Korraz’s head, placing a finger to her chin and pondered the substitute prank.
_______________________________

As the icicles rained down upon Drillgore, black blood began to trickle out of the wounds. Honestly, this was just pathetic. It felt more like a hundred little pokes rather than stabbing. Though, it seemed that the beast was able to control not only ice, but the water itself. Drillgore stood straight up, the right side of his face already fully regenerated. A black tendril rose up to the ceiling.

It snaked its way around the various sprinklers, before with a single strike all of them were taken out. Drillgore’s body let out an audible crack, the bones in his body forcibly being put back in place. Not long after, Drillgore’s evil visage smiled back at Glaxion, not a hint of change from before.

“Dear friend, I do find it ironic that you seem to be hot headed for a beast that controls frigid temperatures.” He said in an almost bored tone. Another swing from Glaxion caused Drillgore’s face to be impacted with Glaxion’s ice cold fists into the equally cold steel of the ship walls. Drillgore twisted his head to face Glaxion, and used his elongated neck to dodge out of Glaxion’s next punch.

With a sickening laugh, slammed his massive drill arm into the side of Glaxion’s face, knocking her a few steps back. Now would be a good time as any to disarm this creature. Several arms busted through Drillgore’s torso, grabbing hold of Glaxion’s arm that was carrying her trusty hammer.

Glaxion attempted to free herself, but was instead pulled to the ground by the arms. The crooked Quatheral’s drill arm swung down again, but Glaxion was quick enough to stop the attack by catching it! While she was busy though, Several of Drillgore’s hands clawed into her right wrist, loosening her grip on her hammer just a bit. Still it wasn’t enough though, she was gripping onto it with all her might. Very well then. Drillgore’s multiple hands grabbed onto Glaxion’s, forcibly starting to bend her digits backwards, almost to the point of breaking them.

This was all Drillgore needed, as he was able to yank her precious weapon away from her! Within seconds, Drillgore’s arms wrapped around the weapon’s handle. All of Drillgore’s arms melded together into one giant one, using the hammer as a base. Much like Drillgore’s right arm, now he had a gigantic hammer on the other arm. He slammed his new arm against the ground as intimidation.

Two new arms grew underneath his current ones, looking similar to a Borskall’s. Drillgore’s drill arm suddenly spinned rapidly, making Glaxion lose her grip on it. It tore into her arm easily, but was able to roll out of it and get back on her feet. Drillgore stared back at her with that same, evil grin.

His head lowered slightly. There were no words spoken. In those brief 7 seconds, the two just stared at each other. Drillgore was quick to put an end to silence however, as he stampeded forward! Glaxion was able to block the first two strikes, but due to Drillgore’s multiple limbs, he was able to land several hits in, as well as knocking Glaxion across the face with the hammer arm.

A horrible crack rang throughout her ears. Luckily, her skull seemed fine. However, the helmet she was wearing did not share the same luck. It was now cracked, and was on the brink of completely breaking. Drillgore charged forward again, drilling into her belly! As Glaxion roared out in pain, Drillgore pulled his left arm back, before swinging it back forward, striking Glaxion in her neck.

Glaxion was sent flying down the hallway, leaking blood from her torso like a garden hose. She saw the red eyes and smile grow closer again, and the sound of a hundred footsteps sprint at her!
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Giratina93 »

Demmy had not expected for the shadowy lupine form to wrap around her and reel her back, but her work was already done. The eye bolts crashed and flew through the sky and struck into the Machine of Unmaking, right through the weak points that unbenownst to her had been formed by Korraz and Hutistrend. The metal of the Machine glowed and warped as its own energies began to violently erupt within itself, and as Fray reeled Demmy back away, the machine imploded upon itself, and the destructive energies that had been tearing the very fabric of reality apart began to surge out in a final expanding maelstrom.

"Demmy!" Molly shouted as Fray flew back in with the demon in her coils. "I thought I was going to lose you! I mean..."

The demon lord sighed. "I kinda was going to block all this destructive die energy coming for us, but now... Hang on tight ladies, I'm getting us off this doomed rock!"

Demmy's mouth unleashed a vortex of energy that struck into the metallic hull of the ship, and a worm hole was opened up, one that lead back to safety, to the Ninja Homeworld. Fray wrapped herself around Molly as well, and Korraz wrapped her arms around Fray and around Mitsif as she lumbered through the wormhole with everyone in tow...

Yet the wormhole didn't fade away. Instead, the energies of the destroyed Machine of Unmaking clashed and whirled around it, sending violent strikes of fell energy spinning and whirling in all directions while also empowering the wormhole. One such bolt surged through the battle between Glaxion and Drillgore, and struck through the mass of arms that held Glaxion's hammer, freeing the Borskall's weapon from its thief. The hammer tumbled across the ground, and into the hands of its rightful owner, before she and her weapon were lifted off of the ground and into the wormhole...

_______________________

From within Hercules's ship, Karzahni could only watch in amazement at the spectacle that covered the sky. Never in his long life would he have imagined witnessing a battle of this magnitude. He had heard of the End of All's fell conquest of Heaven, and of the fight to seal the primordial evil away during its attack on the Celestial homeworld, but to actually witness with his own eyes something of this scale...

He held a clawed hand close to his chest. He had lived through many cataclysms and atrocities in his life, through many events few would ever be lucky to survive. He had outlived the rest of his kin, outlived more than half of all who had tried to take the throne of Sheol for themselves, even the very gods who held dominion over aspects of his world. And now, with the arrival of this shining star, this supreme Ninja that shed away the false glimmer of Raspaganje and radiated as a true star of the heavens, he would survive this as well. He prayed, a notion not unfamiliar for Karzahni, but instead of to his long sealed father, to instead Orion himself, to succeed and to vanquish this foe. It was ironic, to pray to one that looked so much like a human, the very thing he despised so much, but for Karzahni, even that was better than oblivion.

Unknownst to Karzahni, an old acquaintance of his was likewise watching the events in the sky unfold from his current goblin form. Tyralus smirked at the scene high above him. There would be a Sheol for him to rule over when this was all finished, and he would avoid the same lethal mistakes that had plagued Persephone. The throne and this kingdom would be his, and he would do his best to avoid drawing the ire of so many powerful allies of humanity. His Gyu Oni troops would be upset they wouldn't get to freely eat humans for a time, but it was a small price to pay. Once this was all water washed under the bridge, it was back to business, and this time there would be no Minos or Persephone or anyone else who could take him on. But for that to even be a thing, this Orion had to succeed against Raspaganje, so he too offered his prayers, as alien as it was for him to do so, up to the fusion Ninja...

"That's right Ninjas... pave the way for my success. Rid me of the only thing standing in the way of what is rightfully mine!"

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

Mulek felt Immanuel's power flow through her. The black winged angel, the disguised mockery of an angel, looked back to the God of Light. The holy energies had a side effect she had not expected, for her angelic form melted away, and her true demonic form was revealed. Seven eyes looked firmly at Immanuel, and her black scaly wings beat.

"Yes. The time has come... Thank you."

With a beat of her wings, Mulek ascended into the sky. It was just what she had asked for, Raspaganje's full attention was upon the form of the fusion Ninja. This was her only chance, her best chance to ensure Raspaganje was defeated for good.

Mulek's one arm extended out to the side and above her, and her draconic tail wrapped around her legs. Her wings extended to their fullest length, and she lifted her head up to the heavens. This was the exact pose Sariel had taken, and now, to repeat the same words he had. She could only hope she had enough time.

"Oh Creator, I am but a wretched being, a vessel who has failed to do what you have asked. I am not one of your children, but I was adopted into your fold and raised among those who were. Oh Creator, blessed is your works. I have seen your mighty works eroded and faded away with sin. I myself am sin. I am but evil, but I wish to do good. The time of birth has come, the birth of a new me, the death of the old me. Let my body become a seal for those who destroy your works..."

As Mulek began the chant, her nether body began to glow, from her diadem of horns to her clawed feet. Her blackened scales shone with a hue magnified even beyond what Immanuel's power offered to her. So it began, the process to seal the ancient evil away...

____________________________

Risel let out a small smile form on her face as Mara's face blushed red. "I- I um... Alex, tha-"

Mara's words were cut short as not one but two wormholes opened up around them. Through one came through the form of Korraz with Demmy, Molly, and Fray in her arms, and Glaxion right behind, and from the other, came Nyx with her two fey companions, and the form of Cercil along with them and Nichelle, and for a moment Mara's heart froze in her throat at the sight of Minos alongside Cercil, but then came someone else, and the fear and confusion on Mara's face melted away and she threw herself onto her husband.

"CRIGAN! YOU... YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Crigan, who had not been expecting Mara to jump him in that moment, offered no resistance but instead accepted his wife's hug. "I promised you I would come back. I needed help, a lot of help, but... I am back."

Off to the side, Lae and Aseya groaned as they tried to right themselves. "I'm fine. I thought we were almost dead there but I am glad we came out okay." Lae grumbled. Aseya hugged him tight and spun around him.

"We're alive! We're all alive and fine! Thank you everyone! Thank you, big angel lady!"

Cercil gave a soft nod, but before she could say anything a final figure flew out of the second wormhole. It was someone neither she or especially Crigan ever expected to see again, and despite the massive opened wound on her head, it did little to hold back the Goddess of the Earth.

"BROTHER!" Lavidana grabbed onto Crigan tight, and nearly ripped him from Mara's hands. "It's actually you! It was a nightmare, not being myself-"

"L-la-Lavidana?!" Crigan could only stammer in confusion. "I... How... I saw Persepho... How are..."

"A nightmare, brother. An actual nightmare, but it's now over!"

"I... I have so many questions..." Was all Mara and Risel said in unison.

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

Drillgore's attempts to burst through the door were met with metallic spikes skewering through the door and into his face and skewered through his tendrils, and the metal of the hallway he was in bending to Tenkarus's will as she clenched her fist tight and began to compact the metal into as tight a sphere around Drillgore as she could. She wanted to crush this hideous freak of nature abomination so damn badly, make it regret even existing and making her sick to her stomach, but Tenkarus knew she had to prioritize getting Hayden out of here first and foremost.

"As if, you ugly freakazoid. Go haunt someone else's nightmares or go back to the dumpster you were born in!"

She quickly turned and began to help Hayden out of the room and back toward safety. "Gull, can you take him and get him out? I'll kill this asshole or slow him down."

____________________________________

The Supreme God let a feral smirk spread across her face. Was this all this bitch had to say? She was the Goddess of Love, that was one of her primary components. Of course she knew what love was. Even if no one ever truly loved her, she would force all of mortal kind to accept her love if they wished to be spared of the dark times ahead. A new world order, and this self proclaimed Goddess of Love had no place in it. She arched her arm back, and a blade of light formed over her hand. She prepared to run Aphordite through as she grabbed her with her other hand, to gouge her eyes out first and then carve her skull open any way she saw fit...

Then came the light, a light so brilliant so all encompassing Aram winced at the sight of it. "Who... Who dares to outshi-"

She shopped. She felt it, a power and weight unlike any she had ever felt before. This was beyond the Creator, this was beyond Salavance, beyond any thing she could even compare it to, even greater than Raspaganje. The light came from one who opposed the Star of Calamity, a being who was the combined life force of the Ninja Prime and his siblings, and yet somehow far greater than even all of them combined.

Aram felt her teeth grind together in her mouth and she tasted copper. She was the Supreme God, SHE was the brightest star in creation, SHE was to be the one who stood above all others! And these Ninjas dared to outshine her?! They dared to... eclipse her...

Rational thought broke through Aram's murderous frenzied mind and cut off her heart's sole burning desire to charge in and gut the fusion Ninja where he stood. Rational thought that only truly came into being as she witnessed Raspaganje be stripped of his divine form and sent hurtling head over heels from the fusion Ninja. This was a power that truly eclipsed her in every way, and whereas before she could have been satisfied if Raspaganje was defeated and the heroes left in a weakened exhausted state, now that option was robbed from her. She realized in that moment she would not win a fight against this fusion Ninja, and if she were to succeed... She would have to be smart about it.

"Lucky you, you get to live for now." Aram hissed in Aphrodite's ear, as she swung her blade arm and opened up a rift. With Aphrodite in hand, she walked through and the rift closed, leaving Piccolo behind as a sole witness...

The other end of the rift was a desolate landscape, the shattered remains of what had once apparently been a neighborhood now floating aimlessly in space, the fragments of a destroyed Earth. There was just enough atmosphere present to breath, and so Aram tossed Aphrodite's body to the ground, and formed several light bands that constricted around her arms and legs and neck and bound her to the ground.

"You've been elevated from carcass to hostage." Aram chuckled, more to herself than to Aphrodite as she took a seat on a charred bench which groaned under her weight. "And... perhaps also to torture victim. Anything to pass the time by while I wait for everything to fall into place."

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


It was such a beautiful sight for her. The flames that burned through what had once been Titania's personal grove, the ash that billowed high into the air, humans and dragons working together to scour and wipe out every last trace of the fey as a people all as part of her design, it was simply beautiful for Chang'e to witness. Her second great endeavor was a resounding success, and with the sabotage of the Eternal Fountain that the dragons prized for themselves, the destabilization of everything Jinengus and her gods had strove to foster was well underway.

Of course, it had not all been without complications. At first, Chang'e had simply stolen the fountain away and handed it off to a group of people who lived deep underground, but within a few months it had been recovered by those sent by the fey and returned back to the dragons. This was something Chang'e would not let stand, so she snuck into the fountain past all of its guards and defiled it and vandalized it. The properties blessed from the blood of Zuldes that flowed through the fountain were forever ruined by her machinations, and this time before the blame was thrown to one another, she had made sure to twist the minds of both the human and dragon leaders into turning against the fey and wiping them off of existence. The group who had retrieved the fountain in the first place had been nowhere to be found, so they were lucky to escape Chang'es ire, but in this moment, as she watched the fey races be hunted down and torn apart, that thought was far removed from her mind. This was what Father had asked of her, and she had succeeded. There was no turning back now, and with Salavance having already crippled the gods, and Father having layed waste to the heavens and the angels, everything was falling into place... She leaned back against the branch of the tree she rested in, and crossed her arms over her chest as she tilted her head to the side. She scratched the chin of the rat that rested on her left arm, and smiled.

There was one other reason she still remained in this area, and that was not just to observe the immaculate work she had done. Even the best plans were not foolproof, and there was always the risk of a god or angel or Death Knight trying to intervene. The current cacophony of chaos that gripped all corners of reality was orchestrated to prevent such from happening, but Chang'e was not willing to take any risks and simply rest on her laurels, even if that was what it appeared she was doing. No, if someone were to try and put a stop to this, she would be able to sink the knife into their back and remove them from the equation. No one was to interfere with this masterpiece she had crafted, and even if one of the gods were to try to fix this, they would have no clue what they were getting themselves into.

A flicker of light drew Chang'es attention and she made sure she was undetectable to all but the most attuned of senses. This area was blackened with dragon fire, there was no way any fey could still be alive. She carefully cast her gaze down toward the source, and saw it was a brilliant shining light that flickered and wavered. It was a strange being for Chang'e to witness, unlike any fey or power she had ever seen, but it was the energies she sensed from this entity that surprised her the most. Just being near it nearly overwhelmed her as she was bombarded with the divine power of the cosmos that she could sense from it. Not even Father held such power, nor did Jinengus the Creator. Just... What was this thing doing here?

The hovering light floated around the barren blackened ground, and as it moved, Chang'e saw that the earth healed around it. Ashen ground turned into flowers and green pastures, and the charred husks of insects and small animals began to twitch and move as life was restored to them. Chang'es eyes narrowed and she pressed the rat on her arm back into her body. This thing was here to ruin her schemes. But it didn't seem to notice she was there. Perhaps...

Without a sound, the invisible form of Chang'e twisted and slithered its way down the tree, each hand slowly dragging her down the trunk of the tree. The orb of light was still unaware of her presence, and it was so close, almost within range. She paused and froze on the trunk, and waited. She was far weaker than this thing was, and she would only have one shot at this. Otherwise, either it would flee or vaporize her on the spot, and neither was something Chang'e wanted to happen.

The orb stopped, as if sensing what was about to happen, but it was too late. In that moment Chang'e pounced and stabbed her nails deep into the hovering light. In that exact moment, the energies of the light began to flow into her, and Chang'e grinned. Perfectly executed. There was no escape, no chance at defense, simply absorption into herself the instant contact was made.

But it was more than power that Chang'e felt swell within herself. Her mind was bombarded by countless memories, strings of information and knowledge that was alien and foreign to her, of people and places she had never met before, of things she had no clue existed, of worlds and realities she could have only dreamed of. Everything the orb, the Heart of the Multiverse, had known, was now hers. So many things flooded her mind, she nearly collapsed where she stood once the Heart was fully absorbed into herself. Her body ached and groaned. It was not meant to handle such power. Her mind was not meant to handle such knowledge. But it did, and as she looked down at her hands, she laughed.

She had scored far better than a god or Death Knight. To think that the Heart of the Multiverse would sense what she was doing here and put a stop to her, only to be caught prey by her. She saw the Heart had already stopped several versions of her in other timelines, in varying stages of her plans, plans she had no clue of until now. She knew of everything, of more than everything.

She clenched her hands tight, and the divine powers of the Heart coursed through her. She was going to have some fun with these powers. So much fun indeed.


It had truly been a fun time for Chang'e when she had obtained the powers of the Heart of the Multiverse. So many things that had simply not been possible as she was prior were now within her grasp, and Chang'e had taken full opportunity not just to replicate what she had seen other versions of herself do across different timelines, but improve upon them. The downfall of the Celestials, the destruction of the dragons, the eternal turmoil that gripped Sheol thanks to a curse she had placed upon it, and the rise and empowerment of her own daughter Persephone all went as planned, and it culminated in the complete loss and death of all her enemies. She had won, where others of her had failed, but even that victory was not enough for her. Her new power made her lose sight of her original goal, and Chang'e took the opportunity to cross timelines and repeat the cycle all over again, though the Chang'e that was there was absorbed and taken into herself. This continued a cycle across many timelines, small deviations as Chang'e herself saw fit, and even a few times she let herself lose only to pull the rug from under Crigan's feet and rob him of any hope of peace and victory. And the Ninjas, the supposed caretakers and warriors of the Heart, were none the wiser as to what she was doing, as she was able to pull the wool over their eyes and make them blind to the true horrors she was committing. All of creation was wrapped around her fingertips, and no one could stop her.

But eventually, she became bored. She had seen almost everything, could recite every possible line Crigan could say to her or to Persephone word for word like a script. It simply never ended, and more troubling was the entire reason for her creation: To ensure Father's never ending rule and survival. Even when Chang'e had won, Father never made it with her, always perishing even after being unsealed, either crushed within Persephone's mind or killed by Crigan or slain by the angels during either the attack on Heaven or in the Celestial homeworld. Time and time again Chang'e would try to ensure Father's survival, that the End of All would be the one victorious with no threats, but each and every time failure was the only option. Some outside influence, some factor that she had overlooked always deprived her of her purpose, and even when it seemed like Father had won, that victory would be short lived as outside powers she had overlooked would band together and take him down forever. It never ended, and Chang'e could only take so much of it.

She could have stopped trying at any time. She could have accepted that perhaps it was fate that ensured Father would never win despite her best efforts, that perhaps it was simply destined. But to do that would be to accept defeat outside of her control, despite her powers. And that was something Chang'e simply could not do. Everything was within her control, everything worked as she had planned it to, and as the Eye of Darkness that had shrouded and consumed most of the timelines of her multiverse, to never succeed at the simple task she had been made to ensure happened tore at her mind. She lost track of how many times she was driven by this sole desire despite having the power and the will to simply abandon it and use her newfound godhood for other purposes. She lost track of the timelines she had dragged Hutistrend into and continued to neglect and abuse her as a means to keep herself rational and in control, how many times she had watched Father perish again, and again, and again.

So it was, that now Chang'es plans were closer to fruition than they had ever been, and the scope of her plans never larger than now. While Raspaganje desired the complete elimination of all existence that was not himself, Chang'es scope was on a smaller scale, but just as cataclysmic. The elimination of all timelines and boundaries of the multiverse, so all of creation would be beneath Father's rule. There would be nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no possible outside force to stop her plans, to put an end to him prematurely. Every fabric of reality would be under his control, set up by her, once and forever. She was so close to her goal, she could nearly taste it.

And the seraphim angel and whisper demon who stood against her would not get in her way!

"It's always interruptions. First Adolphus... Then Daon... and now this. And my lovely prisoner has escaped as well. That just irritates the hell out of me... And two worthless nobodies have volunteered to be my punching bags!" The Heart of the Multiverse raised her arm into the sky, and behind her sixteen lights flashes and spewed forth bolts of eldritch purple lightning that twisted and burned through the sky toward Minerva and Hevar. The angel swung her scythe into the bolts of energy and to Chang'es surprise sent them flying far off course, and this moment of surprise was all Hevar needed as a bolt of necrotic properties fired from her hands and flew toward Chang'e...

But it never touched her. Before their eyes it seemed to vanish, only to reappear above Hevar's head and strike down toward her. It was only thanks to Hevar realizing her own attack was coming from above and jumping to the side just in time she was able to avoid it. Minerva charged forward and swung her scythe into the Heart, but even this was stopped by but a single nail raised up to counter the blow. Chang'e grinned, until she noticed divine energies surging down the angel's scythe toward her.

"That's not fai-"

The resulting explosion sent her tumbling back through the air. Chang'e coughed as she tried to locate where her foes had gone. She knew their names, she recognized their faces, but... They were nobodies. One was an angel who was dead long before anything relevant happened, and the other was a twisted warlock who was disturbingly close to her younger brother. Neither of them should be a threat to her, not compared to the Ninjas she had stomped, or to her own daughter Persephone...

So why was she on edge? Why didn't she just crush them and just-

A bolt of necrotic energy struck the back of her head, and Chang'e felt pain consume her skull. Her flesh began to melt and sizzle, pieces of bone melt away and drip to the ground below. A flash of obsidian was all the warning Chang'e had before the tip of Minerva's scythe dug into her stomach and out through her back. More energy poured through the scythe and erupted through Chang'es body, tearing apart at it from the inside out. The energy launched her off of the scythe, and into a forming ball of hellfire that engulfed her and set her ablaze. Chang'es entire body was screaming in agony, and with a hiss she swung her arm and dispelled the flames. Another scythe swing was aimed at her, and this time she was ready. She held her arm out right as it came in and the surface of her skin morphed into the same material as the scythe head. The scythe clanged off of her, and Minerva was caught stunned for a moment, a moment long enough for Chang'e to fling her arm down.

"GEMM!"

The air around Chang'e became heavy as the gravitational mass in the area skyrocketed. Minerva and Hevar crashed to the ground below, helpless before this empowered gravity, and were flattened on their faces and stomachs. One eye twitching, The Heart floated down to the ground, and all but oblivious to the blinding light of Orion and his fight with Raspaganje, walked toward the downed duo.

"Mother! Are you alright?"

"Mother, do you need of us?"

It was the Twins, just recovered from their own injuries. Chang'e casted a side glance over to them, and her building rage subsided if only for a moment. She shook her head. "I can handle this, you two. But I have something I need you to do. Prepare the rest of the Multiverse for the dawning time. Find other mes that still exist and tell them of what is coming. Tell them what they have to do to join with me. Tell them to bring their versions of Father as well, and elsewhere prepare those worlds for the great joining. This is the task I give to you, and I expect you to return victorious."

"It shall be done, Mother."

"You will be joined by other Mothers, Mother."

Both of them disappeared into a rift, and Chang'e turned her attention back to the still immobilized enemies. "Now... Where were we?"

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

Away from the battlefield, a witness to all occurring, was the embryonic form of the End of All. Sixteen eyes stared out from the womb it was within, and at first looked toward the fight its other half was engaged in. But something else drew its attention, something far more impressive. The rival it had sensed while it was within Persephone, the Star of Calamity in all of his power. He was a threat to its existence, to its plans, to everything it was. He was one so similar to it, and yet so different, and that enraged the End of All. Had it not been reduced to its current state, forced to regenerate into its prime...

Then, came a blinding light. Power unlike any the End of All had ever sensed even within Persephone. It was the Ninja, and the power that radiated from him, that overwhelmed Raspaganje... It was intoxicating. It was unable to look at anything else but this fusion Ninja. It had thought that its current power within Persephone was enough, but now it knew the truth. It could become so much stronger, so much mightier. Even in its prior state, it would not have stood a chance.

A plan began to form within the hate fueled mind of the End of All, and unbenownst to all on the battlefield and in the singularity, the expended energies that lay scattered began to be drawn toward the End of All. Energies from Aram's battle against Aphrodite, from the two who fought against its other half, from those who had just fled from Sheol, and especially from Raspaganje and the fusion Ninja... All of these spent energies were siphoned into the entity, and it bulged and swelled within its cocoon.
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Godzilla165
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Godzilla165 »

Aphrodite looked weary eyed around her derelict landscape, although her view was rather limited in her current predicament. She flexed her bruised arms to try and break free, splayed her bloodied fingers in an attempt to conjure any electricity. But, it was no avail; the goddess was too weakened to struggle for long in her binds. Aphrodite grimaced. To have allowed herself to be captured and held hostage like this was… Demeaning. She could have done more, should have done more to prevent this. Now, here she laid, in an unknown place, and at the mercy to a crazed murderer with a HUGE case of Dunning-Kruger. And worse yet, she had abandoned Piccolo; she could only pray that he made it out of this safely.

All she could do now was settle in, and hope or wait for someone to come to her aid. Aphrodite closed her eyes and sighed profusely through her nose. Shaking her head, she finally spoke.

“If you value your life at all, then let me go.” She said, opening her eyes to peer at her captor with a surprising look of genuine concern. “Please… For your own sake. The ninjas will come for you, and when they do, mercy will be last thing on their mind.”

Aphrodite pleaded with Aram, and glanced upward at the great singularity in the sky, the celestial guardian housed within. “That light you see? That power you feel? THAT is the Supreme God… Not you.” She turned her sore neck back to Aram,“That is who is coming for you, Aram, if you don’t start thinking rationally. Do you really think for a second they don’t know where we are?”

The love goddess stared at her captor with empathy, “You’ve lost… It’s over. Now let me go.”
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by HayesAJones »

"I... I do too," Alex said, eyes wide with surprise. He looked between the diminutive goddess clinging to Crigan and the towering, masked woman alongside Cercil. "I know them from Marlore. That's, uh... a place I was trapped in for a little bit, from before Noraage. Maybe... they know where my friends went. I just hope they're friendlier, like Tenkarus was... them uh, tall one helped kidnap me."

Fray, still wrapped around Demmy like a living lasso, contracted, her horned head unspooling from around the lanky demon and smashing back into her body. Giving it a quick shake to return it to its proper position, the shapeshifter looked up gratefully at Koko.

"Thanks... helped lots," she grunted to the wall of flesh and fur.

The reformed fiend then looked to Molly. "You are... safe now?"

_____________________

The great blonde varul nodded, unceremoniously scooping up Hayden and beginning to backtrack with him in her arms.

"Talk... English?" she asks, head tilted down at the young Yakuza. Her voice was heavy with wheezy. She needed to run more.

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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Corzak The Mighty »

The heavens shook beneath Raspaganje's mass as the Star of Calamity tumbled through the fabric of space and time, before coming to rest within the maw of the Timestream Abyss, a plume of cosmic power dispelling stars as if they were but leaves before a mighty gale. The fell entity's scales, cracked and battered from the blow, shimmered with an eldritch light, as beautiful as it was horrible to behold. Sapphire motes of energy escaped from within the monstrosity's body, spiraling around the Black God like will o wisps through a fetid swamp.

Raspaganje snarled as he recovered, eyes locked upon the form of Tenchi Orion. This power... he could not fathom it! How could one such as they be able to surpass his own might, the might of untold eons gathered as one?! No doubt this was trickery of the core, the blessing of Tiamat herself. The core's power far surpassed his own... the divinity he had long felt he had earned, gathered through sheer force of strength, had been stripped from him, leaving him to rely purely upon his own might. With a fearsome bellow, Raspaganje lashed out with a slash of his fell talons, wreathed in the hellfire of untold souls! Tenchi Orion's blinding speed surpassed Raspaganje's own brute force, however, as the Ninja Prime darted across the battlefield, blade in hand, cleaving a rut across the Black God's scales, causing wisps of energy to pour forth ever more!

The Black God snarled in pain, lashing out towards Tenchi Orion with a volley of blue-hued orbs of decay-infused energy, forcing the Ninja Prime to take evasive maneuvers! Nimble as they were, Tenchi Orion was forced into overdrive, as nearly the entirety of the singularity found itself engulfed in a pyre of Raspaganje's making! Seeing an opportunity to finally put an end to this meddlesome pest, Raspaganje's jaws filled with fell smoke, as a roiling cloud of fetid energy gathered around the Black God, sizzling with sparks of violet lightning! A infernal light appeared within Raspaganje's maw as he prepared to unleash a mighty exhalation upon the Ninja Prime!

But such an assault would not come to pass.

Sands began to surround Raspaganje's head, swirling around the Lord of Decay like a great whirlwind! Within the sands, Raspaganje could feel his mind falter, if only for a moment; dreams of the past rushed through his mind, tormenting him and obscuring the present; visions of his time facing the Order of the White Witch when he ruled earth; visions of his return and defeat hundreds of years later; Raspaganje's escape once more, and demise at the hands of the core; and now, of his time within the Timestream Abyss, gathering more and more power. Raspaganje snarled, shaking his head violently; did that fool La'tomer think this would be enough to stop him?!

Raspganje loosed a bellowing roar, dispelling the sands as quickly as they had arrived, but they had done their job; as the sands faded, the form of Tenchi Orion shot through the void of space, before piercing their way through one of Raspaganje's arms, striking with enough force to crack it, sending the bottom fragment of it scattering off into the Timestream Abyss! Raspaganje loosed a horrid bellow from the decisive blowstruck, sending wisps of eldritch power scattering across the cosmos! Before raspaganje could counterattack, a thunderous boom suddenly shook the singularity, as sparks of golden lightning sliced across reality, before vanishing as they had appeared. Raspaganje's eyes widened in horror as he watched the Machine of Unmaking - his key, the source of his victory, slowly fade from view unto nothing, destroying itself in a spectacular implosion!

"No... NO!" Raspaganje bellowed in anger. "This cannot be the end... this WILL not be the end! I am the Star of Calamity! I am eternal!"

As the Timestream Abyss' jaws seemed to begin to shut, swirling themselves into a stagnant state, the entire singularity suddenly became aglow with a violet and blue glow, as did Raspaganje himself. The Black God loosed a furious roar, as suddenly, untold numbers of wisps - azure motes of raw energy - began to fill the singularity and suffice Raspaganje's form. The wisps quickly began to assail all who stood against him, swallowing the light of Owlzarus, Jake, Dana, and la'tomer's ritual within Raspaganje shadow. The eruption of wisps halted even Tenchi Orion's assault, as the wisps engulfed him like the coils of a serpent, surrounding him in the roiling mass of untold lives collected by the Black God.

"Within me shall fade the potential of a billion trillion souls!" Raspaganje snarled, his jaws filling with the fell light of the collected unconscious of his victims. "And with them shall all of life, including you! Can you appreciate the tragedy, simpletons as you are?"

The hellish glow within Raspaganje's jaws became ever brighter, igniting with the flame two timelines' worth of hopes, dreams, and ambitions, reality beginning to warp once more into a spiraling maelstrom of entropy. The flames within Raspaganje's jaws and mingled with the blackened, sickly miasma of Rapsaganje's decay, as untold worlds, drawn to the darkened flame, were burned away by Rapsaganje's vitriol.

"If I am destined to fade, I shall not fade alone! The whole of the multiverse will burn in my pyre! And your 'victory' shall be but another stone upon the monument to the sins of short-sighted fools!"
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Godzilla165
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Godzilla165 »

Alpha et Omega. Il Guardiano ha parlato.
Wormwood, the calamitous star, may have believed himself to have slowed Tenchi Orion's righteous storm, but he was mistaken; the latter merely was buying their time. Within the whispered, darkened coils, Tenchi floated in serenity and uninfluenced focus. Their eyes were hidden from view behind softened lids, and with but a passing thought and an upward flick of their wrist, the serpentine binds were utterly shattered into fragments. Darkness became light, and all around Tenchi Orion, crowding them like millions of tiny stars, were the souls of all the lives stolen and molested by Raspaganje. There they remained, floating in ethereal space before the divine guardian, casting untold gazes of eternal gratitude upon the deity... For they were now free. As moments passed, many of the liberated souls started their long journey to the great beyond, where they could finally rest in peace for all eternity. More seconds elapsed, and within the span of a minute, all of the lives were gone, on their way to meet with the Core. Tenchi Orion was left there in the void, slowly and calmly building their energy this whole time; the task was clear.

White strands of hair billowed from both sides of Tenchi’s face, their glow flourishing in the cool depths. Eyes still shut, the Core’s steward raised one hand up in front of their chest in a vertical position, and gently closed every finger except for their pointer and middle finger. Tenchi then inhaled ever so slightly, released a small exhalation of breath… And created underneath themselves what could only be seen and described as a small galaxy. A swirling, circular, celestial mass of space dust, stars, and solar systems, hovered beneath Tenchi Orion’s feet. Thus, in a subconscious motion, the warrior drew even more energy from the cosmic disk; wispy blue tendrils by the millions ascended to intermix with Tenchi. Simultaneously, Owlzarus, Jake, Evoex, Dana, Mulek, Immanuel, and La'tomer would find themselves encircled in their own personal force field, protecting them for whatever was to potentially come next. Tenchi Orion continued to draw in more power from the galaxy below them, combining it with their already limitless pool. True Hellsbane gleamed in their other hand, as it too fed on the cosmic energy at hand.

As Raspaganje raved and ranted wildly, Tenchi didn’t ignore him, no… Instead they listened, and they listened well. All of his boasts, every word of his banal monologues, his hollow threats, his cruel undertones… All of them echoed through Tenchi Orion’s head as they picked each of them apart.

“Now, you shall bear witness to the breaking of the cycle... and MY RESURRECTION!”

“For three cycles of time I have waited for this moment... and now, it has arrived. The destined ruler of reality has returned. arrived.”

“But I am beyond strength. The breaking of the cycle shall only be the beginning. When the Machine of Unmaking's final din rings, all shall fade unto oblivion... and in its stead, only I shall remain. In place of war and strife, there shall be void... in place of the boom and bustle of life, there shall be the peaceful silence of death... what shall remain of this multiverse shall be a world without pain, without suffering... where for once, all may finally rest.”

I have seen through two cycles of time... both have ended identically. I fear the third is on the path to end much the same. And your brother has done nothing to stop this, only speak empty words and hide the truth from those most faithful to him.”

“Yes... I can see it, clear as day now... the coming of my victory. An eternal silence! An eternal death!”

Solitude is what shall await me in the end. An eternity of solitude, of stillness. Where life shall not blossom, and death cannot flourish. A world where nothing can be, for nothing ever was. The true peace that the guardians long saught, but could not achieve!

Poor little hero, laboring for fruits that bear no sustenance.You strive for peace, yet fight the one whom can bring about it?

“I am the Star of Calamity! I. Am. ETERNAL!”

So much noise, so much unfiltered pollution, yet in the end… It was all the same… And it needed to be silenced. At last, did Tenchi Orion’s eyes finally reveal themselves once more, and when they did, the voices were silenced… All of them. Those golden eyes gazed upon Raspaganje with silent disposition, and the Black God could feel it, could feel them. Just with their eyes, they broke him down piece by piece, every scale, every chunk of armor, every bit of flesh… All of it dismantled with but a mere stare. And, for the first time in a long time… Raspaganje was silent.

And to him, did Tenchi Orion finally respond… A silent phrase muttered not by their mouth, but with their eyes.

Such vitriolic nonsense.

Tenchi, without a hint of drama, exploded from their position, cascading into the singularity. There was no sound, no tension, no drama; it was as though the multiverse was watching with stifled silence. It was. Blitzing through space at hyper speed, the time it took for Tenchi Orion to meet the maelstrom of Wormwood’s making was nonexistent. The warrior deity carved their way into the storm with surgical precision, a glowing white arrow piercing through a black mass. The endless entropy was null and void on them, the darkness becoming rays of light from Tenchi’s influence. Their power turned the miasma into new stars, new systems… New life.

Tenchi Orion’s form glowed ever brighter still as the Ninja Prime pointed True Hellsbane out beyond themselves, its glowingly energetic blue blade aimed right at Raspaganje’s dark heart. And, with nothing more than a whisper, Tenchi slammed into Wormwood with forces of which had never been felt before in the multiverse, not in this cycle, nor the last. This was the penultimate, the second most powerful attack in the deity’s vast arsenal: The Omega Technique, combined with a Soul Punch made especially for the black dragon. In a single picosecond, Raspaganje was dealt a devastating hand. 5 million hits slammed into his form before he could even begin to register the first, and his very soul was left tumbling, scrambling. Tenchi Orion buried into Raspaganje’s enormous chest, and pierced through the veil, bursting forth from the other side.

Hovering just above the ravaged draconian, they cast a blank stare upon him, before relinquishing their grip upon True Hellsbane and allowing it to dissipate into nothingness. Tenchi Orion turned their gaze towards their awaiting allies… And nodded once. It was time. With that, they willed their eyelids shut once more and awaited for the ritual to finally begin.


The Guardian had spoken.


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

“E-English? Yeah, yeah I can speak English, other languages too!” Hayden responded, and craned his head up to meet the varul’s eyes. He smiled appreciatively at her; it kind of felt good to be carried out like this, in a strange way.

“Thank you for saving me… Really, you have no idea how much I’m in your debt right now, miss… Uhh, sorry, what was your name again?”
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by MinorBone Good »

Evoex's head twisted in on itself before inflating back to normal. Well, 'normal' really wasn't normal, was it? Evoex tried to breathe in, but all that happened was another short freeze, locking himself in place. Several green boxes floated around him for a short moment before fading away. Evoex raised his broken tendril, watching his arm turn into a humanoid hand, before switching into a paw. What was even going on with him anymore?

Evoex's thoughts about his own cellular collapse was put on hold as he heard Raspaganje speak in a booming voice. Things.. Things we bigger than himself, he couldn't focus on his pain. He had to push through. To try and save the multiverse! He floated a bit upwards, his body pulsating. He looked around Raspaganje, and saw through the storm a white glow. And almost in a instant, he saw the bright light go towards Raspaganje. After what seemed like a couple of moments, he felt the white light of purity look at him, giving him some sort of cue.

Right... Right! He can probably do something! But what? What? What? What!? Evoex ran through multiple calculations in his head, before a familiar one returned to his mind. Yes! The one that Howo performed against that one plant being! If he could gain enough speed by falling through enough portals, he could theoretically speed through Rasapaganje's entire self! But surely one wouldn't be enough. And the solution to this equation was simply: more portals!

[Border]"ALRIGHTY, LET'S DO THIS!"[/Border]

He placed a portal above himself, then one just under him. Coiling his glitching body up, he speedily jumped down into the portal, falling through over and over again. He kept moving down and down until he was a purple and blue blur. Evoex felt himself start to physically stretch as well. After gaining enough momentum, Evoex conjured up his own text box once more, grabbing hold of it and placing it above his head.

[Border]"JUST. GO. BACK. HOME!!'[/Border]

A glitchy green portal opened up in front of Raspaganje, along with 10's of others. In the blink of an eye, Evoex emerged from the one at his belly. It didn't even take 1/4 of a second to completely burst through the other side of Raspaganje, parts of Evoex's corruption latching onto the Lord of Decay's insides from the new hole. But it didn't stop there. There was yet another portal behind him! And thus, Evoex made a new hole through Raspaganje again and again. It wasn't until around the 94th time that Evoex's textbox finally gave away. Evoex's body twitched, and looked down at Tengri. It suddenly phased next to Tenchi, proud of the work he'd done. He just wished it hadn't come down to this in the first place...
_____________________________

Through the metal sphere that was forced around Drillgore, a large dent quickly pressed out of it. With another loud bang, a large dent was made. "Ohh my dear. Now why did you do all that?" With a final crash, part of the sphere broke off, letting Drillgore to pass through like liquid. With a final jerk, he yanked his drill out and looked at the intruder. What an annoyance. Though, he was willing to trade a captive if that's what they were planning. The alarms continued to blare out within the space ship as Drillgore studied her for a few seconds.

Drillgore's lower tendrils suddenly grew out short narrow grey spikes. Drillgore's gangling stretched out, wrapping around Tenkarus like a twisted cobra ready to devour it's prey. He yanked his arm back, pulling her further into the twisted room, now with the screams of the malformed Ishome. Drillgore chuckled, slicing into her neck with the lower tendrils. He looked down at her, expecting to see the wounds, the horrified expression of a person in their last moments. Drillgore's empty eyes instead laid upon a pale neck, with no damage done.

No. He had been sure that he'd sliced into her! There was no way that she couldn't be cut! Well, there could have been, but what kind of annoyance was this!? He saw a smirk upon the lady. Pitiful, truly. Oh well, he'll find her weak point eventually. Drillgore lifted her up, chucking her at the pole holding Ishome it. With a loud CLANG the pole easily gave away, and the sound of the drill spinning soon accompanying it.

"Let's dance."
__________________________________

The Drillgore on the ship was confused. One moment, he was fighting yet another annoying furry beast, the next is was gone. What the..? Drillgore let out disgruntled sigh. How do these creatures keep escaping him. Oh well, he had better things to do anyway then waste his time on a animal that wouldn't die. He transformed back into his normal self, floating back towards the front of the ship. He had much work to set up if he wanted to get his plans going right away.
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by HayesAJones »

"Gull," the huge, blonde varul grunted. Her feet fell heavier now, and she tilted her great head back and forth as if searching for something.

"Suppose to take you back... do you know how to get back?"

The wolf-headed giant flicked her tail in irritation. Alex owed her after this, and she intended to make him pay. Traveling to and from other worlds was the realm of the gods, not her.

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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Beast Blood »

Korraz watched the odd display of Fray's shapeshifting with just as much befuddlement as she had the previous ones. She nodded her head in acknowledgment of her thanks, offering a gentle smirk alongside it. Slowly, she lowered her passengers to the ground so that they may stand on their own feet. The hulking Borskall had leaned down just in time, as Glaxion came bursting out of the portal with far more energy than the lumbering Korraz had. The warrior stomped out arms swinging, narrowly missing her fellow giant friend's neck by a few inches. The fur on the back of Korraz's neck ruffled in the wake of the hammer's furious flight over her. She looked up and reached out to seize the weapon as it came back towards her. Though the hammer was driven by great strength and momentum, Korraz's own monstrous strength stopped it cold, forcing Glaxion to quit blindly attacking and become aware of where she was.

"Oh, we are back," the horned warrior remarked. A smirk spread across her face. "And he is not."

The glacial giant laughed at the misfortune of her foe left on a doomed vessel. Korraz rolled her eyes. She was more amused with Glaxion's brutish attitude than with the fate of their foe itself. He was a devious little creature, with strange features that made him tricky to deal with. She rather expected him to survive this somehow.

With the sarcastic movement of her eyes, Korraz now found herself looking off to the side, where she noticed Gaiyan walking up to the group. The blacksmith smirked upon seeing her friend, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. Although the green giant looked tired after spending the entire day treating the wounded and the destruction wrought to the land, there would be no respite for her for a while still. Korraz could not help but feel a little guilty. Her stubborn focus on ending threats no matter the cost to her own well-being often made her reckless, gaining injuries she could have avoided. Ultimately, it was Gaiyan who paid the price for it, as she was the one who had to tend to her wounds in the end. There were no real consequences for Korraz herself; her arm was barely moveable, but she did not feel it, nor any of the wounds wracking her frame. Pain was a feeling her nerves did not comprehend anymore.

Gaiyan briefly examined Fray and Mitsif, out of both curiosity and the desire to see if they were injured. As they appeared fine, the healer returned her attention back to her friends. As usual, neither of her fellow Borskall seemed to care about their own wounds, but she noticed someone seemed to have bandaged the worst of Korraz’s injuries. Was this perhaps the doing of one of her new friends here?

“Well, I have accounted for all I could,” Gaiyan remarked. “Now it is your turn.”
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Giratina93 »

Molly let out a long sigh of relief. Grass, actual grass. And while it wasn't Earth, being back on the Ninja Homeworld was as good as she was going to get to being back in safe familiar lands. "Thank you for helping us, for making sure Demmy and I remained safe." She told Fray. She looked over at Korraz and at Glaxion. "And... Thank you as well for helping us. I... I cannot thank you enough."

Demmy's one good eye rolled. "Yeah... Thanks. No need for me to do anything too reckless to dispose of the Machine of Unmaking."

Off to the side, Crigan was at a loss for words. The small form that clung on tightly to him, there was no mistaking it as anything other than Lavidana, the Goddess of the Earth. This was his sister, but... There was no way she could possibly still be alive. He had seen her die to Persephone, it was a sight that haunted him in his rest, yet... Here she was, alive and well, head buried into his chest and clutched tight onto him. He saw she was bleeding from a hole in her head, and he worked to mend that, his deathly energies worked in reverse to undo the damage that was there. Yet before he could ask her anything else, the words of the demon, the one called Demmy, caught his attention. "You succeeded in destroying the Machine of Unmaking? Is... Is it and Tengri's threat no more?"

Demmy smirked over at the God of Death. "Naturally. The big girl over here put an end to that tin can herself.." She gestured over to Korraz, "And I destroyed the Machine of Unmaking. Drillgore was encountered there, but we have no clue if he perished or not, which I really hate."

"H-hopefully he's not alive..." Molly shuddered. "I can only hope..."

Mara cleared her throat. "I'm glad that all went well.. But Crigan, what happened on your end? You were rescued clearly, but... Erebus seems totaled and-"

"Persephone is no longer a problem." Crigan said, but there was no joy in his voice, no sound of hope. Instead, his voice was oddly quiet, and that confused Mara and the others, before Crigan continued, "No, she was never the real problem. She was being manipulated by someone who acted as her advisor, and now that evil has stepped forward and awoken the inner evil that Persephone held control within her. While I was rescued, we only barely managed to escape thanks to the intervention of Hevar and Minerva. Yzazil... Sacrificed himself to try and stop the evil within Persephone..."

Molly held her hands to her mouth, and Mara looked away in a look of pain. Cercil closed her eyes. "Yzazil..." She softly spoke.

"Minerva..." Demmy's one eye focused on Crigan and began to turn blood red. "She's alive?" She began to walk toward Crigan, but Molly was quick to grab her and keep her held back. "Where is she? I want to pay her a personal visit. An eye for an eye. Just to even the score and all that..."

"Demmy, please, please don't. We have more important things to address!"

"Your friend is right, old friend." Cercil's voice caused Demmy to stop in her tracks. The archangel's face was solemn, her eyes struggled to keep contact with Demmy's own. "Any desire for revenge you have against my sister will have to wait. She knew the evil that was awakening, the evil that woman represents, and threw herself at the enemy to allow us to escape. Were it not for her, none of us would likely be here speaking with you. Demogorgon, I am sorry for what she has done to you, but even now you cannot get your revenge."

Demmy looked away. "W-who the fuck is she even fighting, then? If it's not Persephone..."

"One who calls herself Chang'e." a male voice spoke out. It was Lae, the tiny pixie shaking his head. "A fiend who has taken many forms and many names, and one who I fear has experienced all of this many timelines if what I heard her say is to be believed. She holds the power of the Heart of the Multiverse, and is what Crigan says, the one who has controlled Persephone, altering her memories and her body. I watched her fight Persephone and the last of Sutekh's generals, and that power she has eclipses even the gods in their prime, even Titania when you had faced her as Miyoshi. If even the Archangel of War realized the fight was a losing one and only went to fight her to buy you time to escape, I am not surprised. That thing... is an abomination of all known logic. Surviving even Yzazil's sacrificial blow..."

Crigan's eyes narrowed. "Laeptus... I never would have imagined this is what you looked like under your suit of metal, but I'll ask you further questions later. Tengri might be defeated, but we cannot rest, not yet. Raspaganje's end is near, I can see the Ninjas above ensuring that, but..."

Cercil slowly nodded. They needed a plan, if their foe was someone with that kind of power. How were they to put an end to the corrupted Heart of the Multiverse? Minerva and Hevar had bought them time to plan and prepare, and she was not going to let this opportunity go to waste, not for the sister who idolized Lord Lucifer so much. Her gaze shifted over toward the silent Minos, who had said nothing and done nothing but stand and stare. Was she without purpose without the master she was bound to? And...

Her eyes widened. Where... Where was Mulek?

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

Tenkarus spat at Drillgore's face even as she was flung into the pole. She barely even felt it, and that was good for her. All those years training her body, subjecting herself to life threatening situation after life threatening situation, it had hardened her skin into something nearly impenetrable. She was probably even more indestructible than those giant walking fur carpets, but that was neither here or now to try and test that theory, especially given how much of a fucking creep this thing was!

"All too glad to oblige, ugly."

The metal within the room shook and shuddered at Tenkarus's command. The metal sphere Drillgore had escaped from melted down into liquid, then shot forward into the fiend's body as a sharpened javelin straight through his shoulder! The metallic javelin twisted back around and ran through the fiend, again and again, until he was run through five times. The metal then hardened, and began to constrict around him like a tightening straight jacket, ripping through his flesh and threatening to tear him apart. More metal in the room molded into a liquid form, and dozens of serrated discs formed from the fluid, all primed and aimed to slice through Drillgore.

"Maybe in your next life, come back as something less freakish!"

She closed her hand, and the dozens of metallic discs sliced through the air toward the restrained evil...

________________________________

The battle was drawing to a close. Mulek could see Raspaganje's end was nigh. Even with all of the powers of the space between space, of all of his knowledge and wisdom, and of all of his thralls, the ultimate power of the Ninjas was too much even for him. Victory against him was all but guaranteed, but only temporary victory. Raspaganje was immortal, a creature whose soul was split from the cycle of reincarnation and now was as fundamental a part of existence as concepts like death and life were. He would simply return back to the void space and await his power to be restored. Then the cycle would begin all over again, for another opportunity to break free and exact his revenge against reality itself.

Mulek would not allow for that. She, an angel who was no angel, would see to that.

"The time of coronation has come, oh Creator who has blessed the world! Let my sacrifice exalt your glory and purge away the evil that stains it. Let my unfitting vessel be that which contains that which offends your sight. Let your glory pierce the darkness and shine all with your light!"

The false angel's demonic body glowed ever brighter, and she held one hand forward. At first, it was just the particles of his essence from around the hole that Orion had punched through him, but slowly, Raspaganje's very being began to drift from him, and into Mulek's body. It hurt to take in, his very energies were hostile to her, they burned at her and she wanted to scream and stop it, but she refused to do so, even as her flesh blackened further and hardened.

The end for Raspaganje had come.

________________________

"And why would I let my bargaining chip go?"

The Supreme Goddess's hand crackled with electricity, and the light in her eyes shone bright. "I know full well I cannot handle them in a fight. But I cannot stand to live in a reality where they exist, gods that shine above me, above the one who has promised me full authority over the lives of mortals as the sole god. These Ninjas existing is a detriment to that... So no, you're not going anywhere."

A bolt of light struck into Aphrodite's thigh and pierced into it. "So, when they show up... You'll be the meat shield to keep me safe from their blows. They make any move, any at all, and your life is forfeit. If they want you back, they have to kill themselves. Only then will I let you go. The only way to truly fell the mightiest force in the cosmos... is with their only weakness. And even if they don't... That just buys me enough time for the true ace in the hole to reveal themselves."

Aram's smile grew more feral and deranged as she scratched her nails together. "They would come for me eventually. Thus is what fate ordains. But why not rush things and ensure I have everything stacked in my favor as possible?"

From the shadows of the destroyed landscape, dark rumblings reached Aphrodite's ears. Tall hulking fiends lumbered forward, their stomachs aglow with hellish flames. The largest of the bunch, horns in the shape of a pair of hair buns, towered over the restrained Aphrodite and stared at her with a hungry look.

"Or, if I were to let you go, you would be so weak that these Solamiths would easily tear you apart and eat you." Aram shrugged. "So, your choice. Stay my hostage, or become chow for these fat bastards."
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Beast Blood »

Since Korraz’s bleeding had been stabilized for the moment, Gaiyan chose to tend to Glaxion’s wounds first, as they would be the simplest and easiest to deal with before she would focus on the more complicated matters. Though begrudgingly, the warrior accepted the healer’s aid, grimacing more from the sting of having to rely on a healer than from that of her wounds themselves. Korraz watched from a short distance, leaned against the trunk of a tree sturdy enough to support her. She noticed Glaxion held onto her hammer with a grip that seemed unnecessarily tight. That normally only happened if she was upset about something, but while Korraz knew Glaxion deemed it demeaning to have to rely on others, she could not help but wonder if something had happened to her friend’s prized weapon in particular. Forstein was to Glaxion what Korraz’s mask was to her - a part of their identity, deeply disturbing them when tampered with.

It was always so fascinating to watch Gaiyan work.

The ways the healer mended and stitched flesh reminded her of a tailor or leatherworker. Sometimes it even made Korraz think of the ways she herself would repair broken metal. It was interesting to think about; how living matter could at times be so similar to the non-living.

The healer had learned to detach her emotions from her work, contrary to her very nature as someone with so much empathy for others. She had learned to subdue her strongest emotions out of sheer discipline. It was actually her who had taught Korraz how to do it, to calm her anxiety when it came; by focusing on something else. Her breathing. The sound of the wind. Its feel on her fur. As difficult as it could be to get her mind to stop obsessing over a single detail, it was also focusing on another seemingly pointless detail that helped her out of the distressing traps her mind occasionally caught itself in. Gaiyan, for herself, simply let habit take over, working off the mechanical memory imprinted into her mind from countless repetitions of the same techniques.

Korraz looked up to the tree she rested against. Such a magnificent tree. It much resembled the great oaks from her home, though this one was smaller. Still, it was a mighty, healthy specimen, and Korraz was glad she had been able to help preserve its life. She noted the presence of a bird building a nest within its boughs. She also noticed that the bird had scruffy feathers surrounding a wound which appeared to have recently been cleaned - no doubt the work of Gaiyan. This must have been a refugee from the earlier fires. Upon closer inspection, Korraz realized she recognized this little bird. Several days before, she had picked up eggs from its nest to protect them from invading creatures, then entrusted them to the care of a resident here. She wanted to get up and see if she could fetch them to bring them back to their nest, but Gaiyan had told her not to move. The giant frowned. Then a thought hit her.

Even in her concentrated state as she cleaned a cut in Glaxion’s hide, the healer noticed the giant muscling to her feet in the corner of her eye.

“Korraz, friend, did I not tell you not to leave the...” Gaiyan realized the loophole before she even finished her sentence. Korraz further emphasized it by showing her she had, indeed, not left her blanket behind. Gaiyan had told her not to leave the blanket, but she had unfortunately neglected to specify she could not walk around with the blanket either. Despite this technical disobedience, Gaiyan chuckled, and chose to let her stubborn friend deal with whatever it was she wanted - according to her hand signs, it would not take too long anyhow.

The thorn-pelted giant was so focused on her work that she barely noticed the Borskall smith coming back. In the corner of her eye, she saw her reach up into the tree she previously leaned against. Almost immediately, a series of angry chirps chimed from its boughs, as a surprised Korraz brought up her paws to protect her face from whatever was attacking her. Gaiyan did not even see it at first; a tiny bird, an angry little thing, flying at her furry friend like a beaked arrow. Korraz took the harmless beating without offense - after all, she would probably be acting exactly the same if a stranger trifled with her cubs. If anything, she respected its devotion, unhesitatingly fighting a creature much larger than itself to protect its young. Finally, Hod warned the bird away with a croak, while his master sat back down to wait for Gaiyan.

As Glaxion grumbled in reply to Gaiyan telling her to stay put so as to not aggravate her wounds - and making sure the request was clear this time - the healer turned her attention to Korraz.

Soon, joining Mitsif’s bandages were Gaiyan’s own, as she cleaned the open wounds and stitched closed the larger ones. Korraz’s right shoulder was Hod’s favored perch, but since Gaiyan needed some space, she had grown a gnarled root from the ground for the raven to sit on.

Perhaps after tending to her, her friend could catch a break for a little while. But if Gaiyan would not think of herself, then Korraz would do it for her. However, with her arm bound as her friend worked on it, she could not sign to her, and spelling out a message on her fingers could be a little clunky. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her writing tablet. She did not use it much, but it did have its utility, so she kept it around. She scribbled onto it and gently nudged it towards her friend. Putting down a tool onto Korraz’s belly to pick up another, Gaiyan glanced down to the tablet to read what her friend wrote.

“How was my day?” she read aloud, somewhat surprised by the question. “Ah... well, I made sure every wounded was accounted for and did my best to ease their pain, including your little friend here,” she motioned towards the little bird in its nest.

Korraz nodded, but she wanted to hear a little more. She scrubbed her writing with the back of her hand and rephrased the question. Gaiyan looked at it again.

“Oh,” she smirked, cleaning off some blood from the tool she had picked back up from her friend’s belly - leaving an imprint of it in her fur. “No need to trouble yourself with how I am doing. It has been a long day, but a fulfilling one. I will rest when it will be right for me to do so.”

She finally looked away from her work towards Korraz. When they had first met, the healer had found herself unable to hold her gaze for more than a moment at a time - the pain and tragedies etched into them unbearable for her sense of empathy. But with time, the horror in her friend’s eyes began to take less space than the wisdom and calm curiosity they held, inviting the healer to talk to her. Korraz somehow made it so easy for Gaiyan to open up to her. The healer would say more to her than she would to anyone else, not only due to her trust in Korraz, but also because it felt good to speak openly before someone who would not interrupt her. Perhaps some of it was similar to how certain people who were uncomfortable with Korraz’s condition often monologued out loud to themselves in her presence, seemingly feeling the need to break the somewhat awkward silences the giant Borskall could do nothing to alleviate. Some did not converse with her because they were under the impression that they were merely speaking to her and not with her. This was not so for Gaiyan. She knew Korraz to be a gentle and caring figure. She was a great confidant. She truly listened. She was merely subtle about it. The keen eye would know she was listening. A slight furrow of her brow. Her eyes calmly detailing the speaker, watching for their own reactions to what they were saying. She calmly listened, fully taking in the words, and only then offered what advice she could. Even if Korraz could speak, Gaiyan was convinced she would still act much the same.

“Really, I am fine,” Gaiyan assured her honestly. Finally convinced, Korraz smirked back to her and nodded.

---

The great red aurora of large body and twisted antlers reached up with its huge arms, latching massive, ethereal paws around Raspaganje’s horns, unmatchable strength locking him in place before Tenchi Orion’s full fury!
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Godzilla165 »

All that Aram managed from her prisoner was a dull and pained grunt. Her body, now in a state of trauma, had both ironically and thankfully nullified the nerves that would have otherwise been raging. Aphrodite could still feel the burning sting from the bolt jammed in her thigh, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it likely would have been had she not been so weakened. A blessing and a curse. Her attention was drawn to the enormous war beasts, named Solamiths by Aram, that now loomed high over her; their great size cast overwhelming shadows even in the pocket of space they all currently inhabited.

Aphrodite grimaced while struggling to keep her eyes focused on the Solamiths. This was bad. For as much as she knew that, one way or another, the ninjas would come and save her, the question now… Was when? They were busy preventing reality from being ripped apart piece by piece; how long would Aram wait for them to show up, and would the crazed god grow impatient before they did so? Aphrodite could only hope to the gods that she could stall long enough for someone to find her, be it the ninjas or anyone else.

She managed a feeble smirk as response to her captor. “I’ll take my chances with your giant friends here.” She remarked dryly. “You’re making a grave mistake thinking you’ll gain any leverage with me. The ninjas will end you before you can even think to barter a deal.”

With another grunt, Aphrodite attempted to adjust her leg with the bolt sticking out of it, trying to get the blood circulating. “There’s no scenario here where you win, Aram. Either die here in no man’s land, or have a lick of sense and flee while you still can.”

The girl is correct… The fate you have falsely ordained will not come to pass, not now, or ever.”

A voice… A woman’s voice, washed over the decrepit scape like a tidal wave. Aphrodite was taken aback; who… Who was that? Suddenly, a white boot was stood next to her downed head, drawing Aphrodite’s eyes from it, upwards to the being whom wore them. A royal blue cloak, lined with emerald green jewelry like sections covering the sleeves and chest area, shrouded the woman’s petite and svelte body. Her hands, having been crossed in front of herself up until now, slowly reached up to grab the sides of her hood covering her face.

So what will it be, usurper?” The woman asked as she removed her hood, allowing for her shoulder length blonde hair to flow freely. Her blue eyes read and broke down Aram’s entirety in just a few moments, her lips in a neutral and relaxed position. “Shall you at last recover a sliver of sense and flee with your tail tucked between yourself, or… Will you defiantly remain where you stand, and attempt to maintain the disillusioned control that you believe yourself of having?

Aphrodite couldn’t believe her eyes, enough to which a tiny part of herself truly believed that she was seeing things; that the pain and suffering of her worn body had finally affected her mind. Her logic and reason quickly cast such a thought away, making her see the truth of what was happening. Her lungs nearly expelled all the air they could physically hold from how hard she sighed, relieved, amazed, and shocked all at once.

“Ti… Tiamat… Queen Tiamat.” Aphrodite uttered in nigh a whisper.

But Tiamat still heard her all the same, and she gifted the goddess of love a gentle smile. Finally, someone had come for her. Finally… Aphrodite could rest.

Tiamat would take it from here.
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Corzak The Mighty »

Seeing the two fae were okay, Nyx dusted herself off, tears still thick in her eyes and mingling with the debris from the mangled Erebus. Her heart was still heavy from the horror that had just occurred, but she knew that now was not the time to mourn, not with so much on the line. That monster in the sky, along with that trickster bitch Chang'e and her vassal, still needed to be dealt with. The fate of earth, quite literally, hung in the balance, and any misstep could lead to the annihilation of humanity as she knew it. As long as Nyx was still alive, she had an obligation to protect them and make sure such a horrid fate did not befall them.

Stepping over towards where the others had gathered, Nyx offered the others a quick nod of respect, before she spoke. "That big glowing asshole in the sky seems to be losing his battle at this point." She gestures up towards the swirling chaos above. Even as the light of Wormwood slowly began to fade, it seemed to flare with an unnatural life, burning with the ghostly flames of something unknown to Nyx. Nevertheless, she looked back towards Crigan and the others. "We can't let Chang'e get away again, not after all the shit she's put us through. Not after... not after Uncle Yzzy's sacrifice. No doubt she's fled to somewhere she feels is safe, where she can plan and recuperate for her next steps. Do you have any ideas where she might have gone?"
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Ambition's End

Raspaganje's flames scoured the singularity in which he had resided, seeking to incinerate all that stood in his way. But the flames of his anger, his desperation, his hatred, fierce as they were, every they struggled against the might of the heroes who had been assembled before him. The light of Tenchi Orion held the blaze of untold souls called from beyond the veil, as his mightiest assault, struck through the heart of the monstrous beast, fragmenting his form like that of stone beneath a mallet. The Black God's roar shook the singularity, his pain mingling with his frustration and vitriol, watching as his works crumbled before him. Even the stars themselves fought against him, as he beheld Tenchi's divine light, blessed with the fullest powers of the core themselves, give birth to new worlds and stars in direct defiance to his infernal will.

Raspaganje's body was further fractured by the assault of Evoex, unleashing his glitching pulse of might right through the core of his body! Holes punched into the Star of Calamity's frame, revealing a swirl of damned souls within his body that writhed and twisted in eternal agony. As Evoex's assault came to a close, both he and Tenchi could hear the cries of anguish and despair of those imprisoned by Raspaganje's power, lashing out indiscriminately in the throes of the agony - a death knell of their infernal deity, emblematic of the unspeakable horror they have no doubt endured. But even now, as Raspaganje's crumbled before them, the Black God refused to die on their terms.

The flames of despair swirled within Raspaganje, before they began to gather within the Star of Calamity's jaws. Space began to distort, and time seemed to dilate and warp once more. But as the Black God channeled his fullest might in anticipation of finishing what begun, a great antlered form reached through the veil, burly paws and rippling fur grasping Wormwood's spiraling, broken horns in their grasp, as the form of Ristaang revealed itself, wrestling the monstrous visage of the Star of Calamity! Raspaganje roared once more, attempting to wrench his head free from the mighty goddess' grasp, she delivered a hammering blow to the side of Raspaganje's head, furthering fragmenting his stony scales, sending shards of the Black God scattering through the void!

As this ferocious raged on, the forms of Owlzarus, Jake, Dana, and La'tomer worked tirelessly to complete the ritual. Channeling their fullest power into the magical circle conjured by Owlzarus, they opened a rift to the ocean planet far above Hercules, where the battle between his crew and Godzilla raged. The Cruel King of the Bloody Sea's ire was not something they could risk provoking, even now, but it was only an infinitesimal portion of his energy they sought to complete the spell, for the fate of all the multiverse. Thankfully, it was but a moment that they needed to expose themselves; the latent energy of the Cruel King, mingled without of his destructive energy breath and the radiant power of Tenchi Orion was more than enough to begin the ritual in full. The spell circle lit up with immense power, glowing a brilliant orange in the process. Owlzarus' eyes opened wide, becoming a pool of primordial energy. The doom of Wormwood was nigh!

Space twisted and distorted around Raspaganje, filling the singularity with an unspeakable light and power! Tendrils of orange, mingled with that of the chi of Jake and Dana, the sands of La'tomer, the radioactive fire of Godzilla, and the divine light of Tenchi Orion themselves, lanced through the singularity, dispelling the azure flames of Raspaganje and banishing the restless souls back to the abyss they had been dredged up from. The swirl of binding magic manifested itself into brilliant chains, lancing themselves all across the singularity and binding Raspaganje's limbs, sending waves of antimagic across the abominable entity's onyx form.

The pulses of energy rippled across Raspaganje's body, as the light within Raspaganje's body visibly began to dim and flash! Bluish flames, licked with the blackened corruption of Raspaganje, began to coalesce in the center of the singularity, writhing and screaming as if the mass of power itself was still alive. Raspaganje roared in panicked defiance, struggling against the bindings, but even now, even with all of his power, it was useless before the ritual's magic! Even with the might of three cycles of time, with the souls of untold victims before him, it was no match for the power of the binding ritual!

With a final defiant roar, Raspaganje's sapphire light faded within his form, the flames and blackened magic forming into a mass of entropic energy within the void of space. Raspaganje's fragmented body stood within the void, frozen in time like a great monolith, empty and devoid of life. But such mass and power without its source maintaining it could not remain for long; the monstrous frame of Raspaganje began to crumble as a hill before an earthquake, or a sandbar beneath a tidal wave. The onyx scales of Raspaganje cracked and splintered, disintegrating into a fine dust and fading into the nothingness that surrounded it. Talons, wings, and spines fell as easily as dust before wind, and soon, even Raspaganje's visage vanished, disappearing unto the nothingness from where he had spawned.

But even still, the heart, the soul, the every essence of the Black God remained behind, acting as a destructive reminder of him within the singularity. What could be done to stop such a thing? There had been none who had stepped forward to accept the responsibility, to bear the mantle upon their shoulders, to burden themselves for all eternity with the malice of the Black God.

Or so it seemed.

A light shot through the singularity, as angelic hands grasped the eldritch pearl of power and pulled into the veil beyond the singularity. As the darkness of Raspaganje was dispelled, the noble soul of had accepted the responsibility, unspoken and ignoble in origin but honorable and pious in their heart, revealed themselves, their fiendish form revealed from the holy touch of Immanuel earlier: Mulek. The fullest might of Raspaganje's power, split from his body, was soon absorbed into the angel's body, runes adorning her body as the mass was sealed within her, causing much of her body to become blackened and deformed from its might. But even as Wormwood's evil powers entered into her, corrupting and distorting her form, Mulek held on to herself, resisting its destructive influence, if only for the moment, thanks to the efforts of her allies.

As the last of Raspaganje's foul influence began to fade, the singularity slowly beginning to withdraw into itself with its master no more, the foul voice of the Black God echoed across the singularity one last time - a plea from the fading consciousness of the Star of Calamity.

"And so I return from whence I came," Raspaganje's voice boomed, resigned to its fate. "From nothing I was born, and from nothing I shall return. And so destiny has been restored - this cycle will end, and all you love and cherish shall fade to be reborn anew, and begin the cycle of suffering once more."

Raspaganje paused, as if briefly contemplating what to say in his final moments of consciousness. "Answer me but one question: why do you fight? What is your purpose? Destiny's chains had so nearly been shattered, the damnation of rebirth ended, but here you stand in defiance, in defense of the very chains that will be your undoing. To cling so desperately to what will ultimately fade is meaningless. The cycle of time has no favorites; only those outside it may withstand its crushing wheels. So I reiterate: why salvage what is finite, purposeless?"
Last edited by Corzak The Mighty on Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MDK wrote:I wish my movies about dinosaurs brought back to life with mosquitos in amber for a theme park were realistic.
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Clash of Gods (Shin Gojira vs Legendary Godzilla story, completed)

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Godzilla165
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Re: Battle of the Multiverse

Post by Godzilla165 »

The obsidian devil was no more. At last, at long last, after three cycles of anguish and turmoil, three realities of imminent destruction… The House of Raspaganje had finally crumbled, never to rebuilt again. Yet in his final moments, the calamitous star proposed a question to those in attendance to his funeral. It was a simple one, but a question that possessed a gravity and nuance of which could lend itself to a myriad of different interpretations, and different ways to answer it. Reality was fickle, life even more so. For Raspaganje to ask such a question meant that he had been lost from the beginning, a corrupted essence that had nothing and ultimately meant nothing.

Hence, for Tenchi Orion, the question was a moot one coming from the jaws of he. They offered merely solace to the lost souls they weren’t able to save from Raspaganje’s wrath. And to the latter, the god of reality offered to him the same answer they’d used for the entirety of their conflict: silence. Tenchi Orion floated there in the singularity, arms crossed, and eyes gently closed as they awaited for Wormwood’s presence to at last be nullified. His power posed a threat no longer, which allowed the divine being to focus their attention elsewhere, spreading their gaze across every corner of the multiverse. Thankfully, Aphrodite was in the best hands possible now; Tiamat was there at her aid, freeing up another potential concern.

All that was left now were the immediate priorities, beings of power that still posed a threat to multiple facets of reality. Persephone, and the latent powers of “father” trapped within her still needed dealing with, as too did the false Heart, Chang’e. Neither could escape the gaze of Tenchi Orion; their duty not yet complete. And so, as Raspaganje slowly faded into eternal obscurity, Tenchi, with a nod, closed the singularity. The domain of Wormwood was sealed away, leaving only the light of the guardian ninja to facilitate the multiverse.

They would join their allies who were currently present soon enough, but for now, Tenchi waited. Soon… Raspaganje would be but a memory.
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