TFF Rising: Halloween Havoc

[Legendary Legacy]

OoC: Whew, think I went a bit overboard on this one...
---------

"They've made it in." a woman spoke.

"Already?" another asked.

A male voice grumbled. "Damn set-backs. We haven't even started on this one yet!"

"I'll take care of it," the first woman said.

"You'd better. I'm not giving up a specimen like this just because everyone around me is incompetent!"

Not giving a reply beyond an icy glare, the woman vanished.
---------

"Hmm, not as lively in here as I thought it would be," LL commented, sending another electrical charge into the body of a small Heartless.

"Maybe Boss Girl no think we make it this far?" Shampoo inquired, smashing a zombie into paste with her bonbori.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Xaosite said, shooting dice after infinite dice at a large hollow that stood before the doorway to the stairs. "Chances are we've yet to run into the most dangerous of the enemies yet. We'll be moving from quantity to quality here."

Tohno and Mihoshi, with their guns blazing, laid waste to the last group of undead just in time to witness the Hollow guard crumble to dust.

"Let's keep going," the demi-god commanded. "The more enemies we take out ourselves, the simpler it'll be for the others once they catch up to us."

As the group hurried to the door, LL suddenly froze.

"Leaving so quickly? But I was just about to serve tea."

The mockery master's eyes opened in shock. It can't be...

Turning as a group, the five looked across the dark room, where once was nothing but a few lifeless yaoists now floated-

"Hey look," Mihoshi gasped. "There are two LL-san's!"

And she was close. For the man that floated in front of them looked like a carbon-copy of LL, with the small contrasts of not wearing glasses and smiling a truly deceitful, not at all insane smile.

"X-Xellos-sama?" LL stammered, falling to one knee without a second thought.

Xaosite felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. This was not looking hopeful.

"What are you doing here, Master?" LL continued, looking baffled and just a little terrifed.

Xellos chuckled pleasantly. "Still calling me that after all this time, are you, LL-san?"

"Of course, Xellos-sama."

"Lovely! But to answer your question, well..."

"Sore wa himitsu desu?"

"Oh, you just know me far to well, LL-san!" Happy grin.

"I assume you're here to stop us, right?" Xaosite asked, feeling his fingers tighten around a pair of dice. "Are you with the Yaoists?"

Xellos scratched his cheek idly. "Well yes, in a matter of speaking, I am indeed here with the Yaoists, just like you are."

LL's head was a mess, and it was only the sight of Shampoo raising her sword coupled with the sound of guns being drawn that brought him to his senses before things got ugly.

"Don't!" he shouted to his teammates. "You can't fight him!"

Everyone stared at him with looks of varied emotion.

"Look man," Xaosite said calmly. "I realize that you basically worship this guy the way I hope to have many people worship me one day, but you have to face facts: The guy's our enemy here. We don't have any choice but to fight him."

LL's jaw clenched. "I know that...but..." But that wasn't the problem. The real problem was that LL was dead certain that if they did fight Xellos, even all five of them at once, that they wouldn't stand a chance. Not against the fourth most powerful Mazoku still in existance; the one who could kill thousands with a simple wave of his finger...

Xaosite put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, you don't have to fight him. Let me keep him busy and you can go on ahead."

LL closed his eyes. Question: What would Xellos-sama do in a situation like this? Besides run away, that is?

......

He shrugged the hand off and stood up, forcing a grin back to his face. "I have a better idea. I'll challenge him, one-on-one, and you guys go ahead."

Xellos quirked an eyebrow at the suggestion.

Xaosite blinked. "Are...you nuts?"

"Shampoo no let you do such stupid thing!"

LL brushed past the Amazon girl and walked up to his idol. "Here's what I propose, Xellos-sama. A game between you and I. If I beat you, then you have to side with us in the fight against the Yaoists."

Xellos wagged his finger. "I'm afraid that's not up to us, LL-san. I was given orders to side with them. I can't just switch sides and go against Ju-oh-sama, you know?"

LL didn't falter. "All right then, how about...if I win, then you stay on the Yaoist's side, but you're not allowed to help them in any way? That means no fighting for them, no giving them important information about us, no doing anything that will hinder us in our mission. Alright?"

The Trickster Priest grew thoughtful. "That would be...acceptable," he said with a grin. "Of course, if I win, then I'm going to kill your friends behind you, then all of your allies below us, and then I'll drop you bound and gagged at the feet of Grandmaster-san."

"I accept."

"Hey! Don't just make decisions like that by yourself!" Xaosite shouted.

"And if your friends interfere, the deal is off," Xellos concluded. LL looked back at their worried faces, then nodded. "Alrighty then. What's your game? Checkers? Hide and seek? Red Light Green Light?"

LL's grin nearly split his face. "Staring contest."

A cliche breeze blew through the room as everyone paused in complete silence.

"You mean like...with our eyes open?" Xellos asked.

LL nodded again.

"...Sounds like fun!"

The two lookalikes sat themselves onto the floor while the rest of the group watched on. Slowly, the two opened their eyes, staring firmly into each other, one looking very determined, the other looking wickedly amused.

"Girls?" Xaosite whispered, not wanting to distract LL from his contest.

"Yes masterrr?" Tohno asked.

"Start praying."

And they did, praying as hard as they could to whichever deity they held sacred. They prayed for a full minute, eyes squeezed shut in concentration, when Mihoshi let out a yelp of pain.

"What's wrong, Mihoshi?"

"My arm stings!" she explained, as she pulled her sleeve up a little. "Huh? That's strange, I don't remember ever getting a butterfly tattoo on my arm."

The others examined said 'tattoo' when Xaosite noticed a flicker of movement at the corner of his eye. "Look out!" Pushing the bronze-skinned girl out of the way, he flung a pair of dice forward, deflecting Soifon's second attempted strike his his DITE.

 

[Xaosite]

"You know, that wasn't at all hospitable. In fact, you down right pissed me off." Xaosite said with a frown, the cracks running through his body pulsing a deep red for a moment. "Tohno, Mihoshi, would you stand back a bit? I call dibs on Captain Bitchninja here."

"You are that eager to die? Suzumebachi's Nigeki Kessatsu means certain death for my opponents. And with my speed, you won't even have a chance to defend yourself." Soifon stated, her stance ready to strike.

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen. We're going to be playing by my rules here. And the first rule, is to roll for initiative." With that said, Xaosite pulled a golden d20 and a jade one out of his bag, tossing the jade one to a confused Soifon, who caught and stared at it as if she expected it to explode. Which she had.

Tossing his die forward, it came up a 16. Soifon, her eyes wide as her body moved of it's own accord, rolled her die and got a 5.

"Ah, I have the initiative. My turn."

"WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS! I'll... I'll..." She shouted, and attempted to charge forward and strike Xaosite, only to find herself unable to do so. She was not paralyzed, and was fully mobile. Yet, she could not move from that spot. It was as if... her body would not obey her command to attack. "What, what have you DONE?"

"Done? I haven't done anything. That's why you can't move. It's not your turn yet." Xaosite grinned, the pieces of his body flipping about far more often and far more quickly than before. "Weren't you paying attention? We're doing this by my rules."

"Now then... Who once was found, but now is lost, could see, but now is blind! With those words spoken, a shadow rose out from the ground, and flew forward into Soifon's eyes. She clutched her eyes, but to no avail. She had been blinded.

Xaosite's turn over, Soifon found herself able to take action once more. However, unable to see, she found herself at a serious disadvantage. Concentrating on her memores before her blindness, as well as her hearing, she shot forward to where she believed Xaosite to be, striking with Suzumebachi. Her memories and hearing were true, and she felt the satisfactory pressure of a blow struck, as well as his cry of pain and the cry of despair from the two women watching.

"Damn, and you even have the spring attack feat! No attack of opportunity for me." Xaosite grimaced, idly rubbing the homonka Soifon's strike had left on his shoulder. "Well, I can take care of that! The grasp of time, take a firm hold! Slow my enemies, hold them tight!" Pulling a plastic packet out of his bag, he tore it open and allowed the contents, a drop of molasses, to drop to the ground. The image of a clock superimposed over Soifon, and she found herself moving at a sluggish pace.

She turned, and tried to charge forward to attack once more. However, her slowed movements gave him the chance to attack before she could strike, and was barely able to deflect his attack to take minimal damage. This time, he was not standing where she thought, and her attack missed. His next attack was far more effective, leaving a massive gash along her arm and badly injuring her.

Soifon was in trouble, and she knew it. Unable to see her opponent and robbed of her speed, her combat abilities were seriously impaired. She was desperate, and so...

"Shunko!" Concentrating her energies, she let out the most powerful blast she was capable of in the direction of her enemy. Xaosite, his eyes wide, brought his arms up and formed a wall of dice in front of himself as the wave of energy washed over him. After the blast subsided, there was nothing left there.

However, this was because Xaoside had teleported behind Soifon as the shunko broke through his barrier of dice. Singed, but otherwise unharmed, he struck her in the back of the head with a staff made from dice, knocking her unconscious with a resounding crack as he critically hit. After she fell, Suzumebachi reverted back, and the homonka on Xaosite and Mihoshi faded away.

He then took a moment to casually brush a bit of dust off of his shoulder. At least, he was about to, when he crashed to the ground as Tohno and Mihoshi glomped onto him at high speed.

Shampoo watched this, commenting, "They have good technique."

 

[Legendary Legacy]

12 years ago...

A nine year old boy ran desperately through a forest, a pack of four large wolves in hot pursuit. The boy never figured out how he had gotten seperated from his family (though if he were to venture a guess, his asshole older brothers probably had something to do with it) or why the hell there were wolves wandering around in this area in the first place, all he did know was that he was about ten seconds away from becoming a main course.

As the pack leader's jaws were millimeters away from clamping down on his body, he felt a strange pulling sensation, like his body was being stretched out, and the next second the feeling was gone and he found himself standing on a branch of a tree.

"Quite the dangerous place to be playing, isn't it?"

Turning to the voice, he saw a young man floating in the air before him. "W-who are you?" LL asked. "How did you do...whatever you just did?"

The man brought his grinning face closer to LL's own. "Xellos, the Trickster Priest. And I'm afraid that...is a secret." Then he disappeared, leaving LL to stare into the space he had previously been.

"Xellos...? What a cool guy!" Smiling to himself, he brought his attention back to climbing out of the tree...when he realized that the particular branch he was standing on was very VERY high up, as well as being the only real sturdy branch on the entire tree.

And he was still there six hours later when his family finally tracked him down.
----------

Now...

After four straight minutes of not blinking at all, LL's eyes were burning like Hell. He thought this contest would have been a sure thing. The way Xellos-sama ALWAYS kept his eyes closed, he had figured that it would be a major struggle for him to keep them open for a long period of time. But there he sat, looking as calm and collective as he had when they'd started.

But he wouldn't give up now. This could be his one chance to prove himself, and show Xellos that he was worthy.

Ever since that first day twelve years ago, he'd done everything he could think of to make Xellos-sama notice him and accept him as an apprentice. He'd followed him, along with Lina Inverse and the rest of her group, relentlessly from city to city, trying to learn more about the mysterious priest from the shadows, as coming out and asking him would only result in another 'Sore wa himitsu desu'.

It bordered on an obsession after a while. He began dressing like him, acting like him, smiling like him (kinda), even mastered the art of teleportation and obtained a rare set of Demon Blood Talismans to prepare him for spell training when Xellos eventually accepted him.

"I saw your work out there earlier," Xellos commented conversationally. "I noticed you almost matched my record for number of kills in a single battle. Impressive."

LL was so shocked by the unexpected praise that he nearly blinked, but stopped himself midway. "T-thank you, Xellos-sama!" The two were vaguely aware of another battle going on about twenty yards away from them, but obviously couldn't tear their eyes away to watch.

"You're definitely no Lina-san by any stretch of the imagination," the Mazoku continued. "But perhaps you would make a decent underling for me after all."

This time LL had to use every last ounce of willpower in his body to keep from blinking in shock. "You would...you really mean that?"

"...No," Xellos replied, his features turning cold very quickly. "I'd like to tell you that you have great potential to be a Mazoku, boy. But the fact of the matter is that you're just far too caring for it."

That succeeded in keeping his eyes wide, and they, like the rest of his body, went numb. "B-but...I-I'm learning! I'm getting really good at being deceitful, I've doublecrossed a lot of people and tricked them into doing things for me over the last few years-"

"I want you to kill that Chinese girl that's been watching us over there."

A chill ran up the boy's spine. "...Kill...Shampoo?"

"And there you have it," Xellos said with a frown. "If you were my underling right now you would be dead for even daring to question me about a command that I've given you. If you had hesitated for even a fraction of a second before killing her, you would still be dead because I will tolerate nothing but absolute loyalty and obedience. That is the requirment for being a Mazoku. Compassion and love hold no place in our lives, only ruthlessness and evil. And no matter how well you impersonate my image, that is what you will always lack."

The words felt like a knife in LL's body. The staring contest forgotten, he lowered his head, but stopped when he saw Xellos close his eyes and calmly stand up. "You make a fine Trickster, boy, but you know nothing about being a true Mazoku, and you will never be my 'apprentice'. I just came here to tell you that. Now maybe you can stop fooling yourself." As he walked away, he looked back over his shoulder, grinning once again. "Oh, and good luck with defending your city." Then he vanished.

LL didn't move for what felt like a really long time, staring through glass eyes at the spot where the man he had admired for years had just disappeared. Footsteps behind him signaled the approach of someone. He didn't really care who.

"Airen?" Shampoo asked, lowering herself down next to him with a look of concern on her face.

"What happened, LL?" Xaosite asked from behind him. "Did you win?"

LL chuckled bitterly at the question. In a manner of speaking he had, but he sure as hell didn't feel like a winner.

 

[Xaosite]

Shampoo moved to embrace LL, but stopped when Xaosite held his hand up. Turning to LL, he placed a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of consolation.

"It's rather interesting, don't you think? That he would come to stop us, but would settle down and have a staring contest as opposed to, say, simply wiping us off the map. That would have been much simpler, wouldn't you say?" He said, though he wasn't looking at LL while he spoke.

"It's also funny the way he turned you down. 'Too caring to be a Mazoku?' 'You aren't completely ruthless and evil?' I'd take those as compliments, myself."

LL looked back at Xaosite, some tears collecting at the sides of his eyes. "But, I could never be his apprentice. I... failed him."

"Failed him? I don't claim to know him as well as you do, but I seriously doubt you did or said anything that disappointed him. After all, what you did was not kill Shampoo the very instant he said so. I think if you had, you'd have needed to look away from him, and he would have considered it your loss in the staring contest."

"What do you mean?"

"Think back to what he said. You couldn't be a Mazoku. You aren't Lina. That was it. He was still impressed with you. I think... this was his way of testing you. And, I think you passed. If you hadn't, you'd be dead now."

"Is... do you... really?"

"I can't claim for certain. You know him better than I do. Give it some thought. Besides, would losing Shampoo really be what you want?" Letting go, Xaosite stepped back and gestured for Shampoo to continue. She knelt down and embraced LL from behind, wrapping him in a soft, comforting hug.

Walking away to give the two some alone time, he headed back over to where Tohno and Mihoshi were keeping watch over a bound and gagged Soifon. Kneeling down, he tugged the gag off of her face.

"You utter bastard! I will never talk! I will never give in, no matter what pain you give me!" She snarled, her face the very picture of defiance.

"Oh? I feel insulted, that you think I would sink to something so crass at that! No no, what I have in mind is something even worse than pain." He said, sinister grin spreading across his face. Reaching into his dice bag, he pulled out a small puff of wool, and spoke a magical word. The wool vanished.

"What sort of fool do you take me for? I won't be intimidated by simple parlor tricks! I will... will..." Her defiant tone and look gave way to one of confusion, then of distress. Squirming in place as best she could, she twitched her face in increasingly despreate spasms. "I, I, I... My nose! It, it itches!"

"Did you know that itching is worse than pain? It's true, think about it. When you itch, you scratch it to feel better. But normally, scratching hurts, doesn't it? But when compared to the itching sensation, it feels like relief. It's so satisfying, isn't it?" He said, idly reaching up to scratch his own nose.

Soifon writhed in place, but to no avail, as she was unable to reach her nose. Finally, staring up at Xaosite, her expression a mixture of loathing and pleading, she said "Very well! I shall tell you! Just, just please!" A tear running down her cheek. He reached forward, and screached, and immediately she went limp, unable to contain her sigh of relief.

"Know this, bastard. I will make you face a reckoning for this indignity!"

"That's just great, pumpkin. Now, one moment please." Reaching up, he cupped his hand in the air. Intoning a magical spell, a silvery d20 formed in the air, then shone a glaring light into Soifon's face. "Don't think you can lie, by the way. This spell prevents just that."

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

There was a lot of panting, and sounds of shoe leather on concrete, as David and Kasumi climbed a huge spiral staircase. They went round and round and round, higher and higher and higher, occasionally pausing to get their breath back. For a few moments David vanished out of Kasumi's sight, before returning, washed and scrubbed with a relieved expression on his face, wearing clean clothes.

'That's a relief. I wouldn't have liked to show anything improper to Miss Tendo...' he considered.

 

[Zenithos]

Present time, slightly lower down the Yaoist spire...a beautifully decorated room with a vaulted ceiling held up by many pillars. A very high, prominent throne hovered up at one end with at least a hundred or so floating steps of crystal leading up to it. Indeed, crystal seemed to be the room's main feature...as if the entire room had grown out of one single block of crystal.

"You let them go, didn't you?" The Grand Master asked, looking somewhat disinterested as she noticed the Mazoku priest walk in in the large ornate crystal mirror she was standing before. She twirled a bit, admiring the effect of the light on her new dress, before stopping to face Xellos. "Why, pray tell?"

"Sore wa himitsu desu." The mazoku priest said, smiling his ever-enigmatic smile.

A smile played across the Grand Master's lips, and this was a very dangerous playground for something as innocent as a smile.

"You're playing hard to read again." The Grand Master said, turning back to her mirror. "I'm quite sure you already know my true intentions." There was a slight inflection at the end of her sentence, as if reaffirming a fact. But Xellos still managed to maintain his blissfully ignorant poker-face look. "Otherwise, why else would your 'God' send you to....'assist' me?" She chose and emphasized the word 'assist' carefully. It was always a cat and mouse game amongst these higher beings. More often than not, it was more about who was the cat and who was the mouse.

"If I knew of there being anything ulterior to your plans, I would have killed the boy there and then to prevent any complications. I let him go because I believed he wasn't a threat to the plans you have chosen to disclose to me." Xellos said, still smiling brightly.

"Well, Arcueid." The Grand Master chuckled. "It can't be helped. It seems as if we're all chasing after each other's tails."

"It's to be expected." Arcueid, who was leaning against one of the pillars in the room, shrugged. "We all have our own motives." She said, nodding at Xellos who smiled back at her. "Come now, Xellos, I admit I have ulterior motives. Why can't you?"

"I have been instructed to serve the Grand Master in fulfilling her objectives. That is all." Xellos continued on beaming.

"Oh well. That is no concern of mine. All I want is Zeni and Eterna." Arcueid said, stepping away from the pillar before pacing slowly around Xellos. "I'm curious though...what does Zelas Metallium...I'm sorry, I mean your 'God'." She corrected herself, noticing Xellos' benign smile direct itself towards her. "...what does your 'God' have to gain from this?"

"Sore wa...." Xellos began, before the crash of the opening doors interrupted him mid-sentence as 600 Kg of pure Spartan-II stepped heavily into the room.

"Master Chief?" Arcueid immediately stood to attention, the manna runes in her arm glowing as they prepared for any sudden action.

"Don't worry." The Grand Master smiled. "He's with us."

"What? Him?!" Arcueid asked, disbelievingly.

"They're here, as you asked." Master Chief said, locking a new plasma magazine into place.

"Is this true, Mistress Chief?" The Grand Master asked the second Spartan-II that had appeared in the room behind Master Chief.

"M'lady, they, the ones, have arrived." Mistress Chief confirmed, nodding briefly. "They are in the central chamber, though a few have entered the sacred sanctums. I believe there are a number trying to ascend the grand spiral too."

"Ah, yes....the ones..." The Grand Master smiled. "My little test earlier this evening has proven their identities." She said, licking her lips in excitement as she flipped open a huge ancient book that stood on a stand in the middle of the room. "Yes...as prophesised...the gathering, the ascension, everything!" She cried with excitement. "Finally, it will all come together! The Reckoning!"

"We had an understanding." The Master Chief prompted, taking a rather threatening step forwards as if to emphasize his words.

"Well, yes, off course. All that about wasting lives and spending lives and whatnot, right?" The Grand Master said irritably. "Well, I'll tell you where the key to the Ark is." She said as a smile suddenly flashed across her face. "It's a pity...I think you had grown rather fond of the boy too."

"...." The Master Chief remained stock still.

"The fire demon." The Grand Master said as the image of Legacy materialized on the crystal mirror behind her. "The one with the disgustingly hairy legs." She added. "But I want him alive."

"...very well." The Master Chief nodded curtly, before turning around to leave.

"Oh, and take Mistress Chief with you." The Grand Master added after Master Chief's retreating back. "I wouldn't want you to get... 'lost', now. The tower's a pretty confusing place."

The Master Chief didn't even pause as he continued on towards the doors. He knew very well the enormity of his actions tonight. But if he is 'spending lives', not 'wasting' them. Franklin Mendez would sigh, but he would understand.

How the yaoists had managed to reverse-engineer Forerunner technology from the halos they recovered eluded him. All he knows is that the yaoi and yuri cannon technology they now had was derived from said Forerunner technology. And now the 4chanites had the Ark in their grasp....all they needed was the index, the so called 'key to the Ark'. It was all he could do to beat the 4chanites to the index. And that search has now lead him to this....aiding in a war he didn't even understand...

"Well then, Zeni and Eterna are downstairs. Why don't you greet them?" The Grand Master said, nodding at Arcueid.

"You really don't need them anymore?" The True Ancestor asked as she prepared to leave.

"Oh, who needs them when I can make all the Crimson Moon Executioners I'd ever need?" The Grand Master said, waving her away as she strode up towards her throne.

"Satisfied?" A voice suddenly asked as a shadow detached itself from a nearby pillar.

"Ryoko Asakura..." The Grand Master smiled.

"My masters greatly appreciate the large amounts of data the invasion is generating." Ryoko said, pacing out into the open. "We greatly anticipate the explosion in data that would result from Suzumiya Haruhi realizing how far her beloved Kyon has gone down the road of yaoi."

"I trust you have done your part?" The Grand Master asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, yes, off course." Ryoko smiled a mischievous smile. "They buffer interfaces should react quite soon. It will be....most interesting....especially that girl, Len...I will enjoy watching the little wretch squirm..."

"Very good. Arturo, Sephiroth." The Grand Master snapped a finger. Two more shadows detached themselves from the shadows and bowed before the Grand Master. "Your performance earlier this evening was most pitiful. Especially yours, Sephiroth. I want those wretches brought in here, alive, on a silver platter, is that understood?" She asked, reaching into the depths of her dress. "And to make sure you don't fail me once more..." She said, taking out a little black box, causing Sephiroth's eyes to widen with what could only be excitement. "...I shall activate Reunion for you Sephiroth...."

OOC: Legacy, about the index and the ark, I just added those because I know your character was closest to Master Chief in the game. I was thinking that your character, being an ancient sealed demon, might have had the index sealed inside you by the Forerunners, them being an ancient race themselves. But it's your choice and if you don't want your character to bear the index, you can have it all be a hoax on the Grand Master's part to have Master Chief fight you.

 

[JiigarGhen]

As Janus strode through the mazelike hallways searching for whoever was animating all these zombies, a little voice began to sing.

"we're off to smite the wizards, the wonderful wizards of oz! because because because because they're defying the laws of god!"

Janus stopped immediately, gaze probing every corner of the room. There was no one and nothing there, and as far as he knew, very few beings could hide from his senses now...but then where had that voice come from?

"hey, what are you standing around for? i thought we were going to kill the necromancers?"

"What the?! Who said that?"

"it's me, dummy, the sword! let's go smite some wizard ass already. pleeeaassse???"

"Now I see why the Elders warned me about summoning this thing..."

 

[Mick]

Waking up I find myself still alone in the alleyway. Luckily none of the 'wrong' people had found me while I was passed out.

As such I tried to climb back up using the wall to balance myself, only to fall down holding my stomach in pain.

Looks like I better sit this one out. The others better get this damn mess over with soon. The faster it's over with, the quicker I can leave this sinkhole..

 

[knight_of_ni]

Epsilon seemed to be holding his own against the clones and the arrancar, though overwhelmed by their numbers the flames seemed to be more than enough to protect the buffer by his side. Of course, that didn't change the fact that he could not be in multiple locations.

"You seem to be in need of some assistance," Suzuka said as she approached, already beginning her attack on the short haired one, Loz, her wooden blade slashing through the air, fortunate that allies were not near-by for the slashes cut through any buildings the dragon passed by.

As Nikolaus transformed to his human state he chuckled and said quietly, "Well I suppose that will be your opponent, Suzuka. I guess I will take the one with the gun."

"What? Only you, in this form you are much weaker, and even then you are far too weak to face off against me, we are the chosen ones, we have mother's blessing." Yazoo stated, confidence oozing from his stance and speech. "Those golems and that floating monstrosity are...unknowns considering your reputation, but they will soon fall."

"Legion? The flesh golems?" Nikolaus laughed, while watching the form and grace of the assassin that battled against the weakest clone from the corner of his eye. "They are only a few of my creations. Most of my creations may try to kill me, but those that don't I improve upon until you get creatures of unimaginable power. I haven't even called out the blood golems yet, but enough talk! Have at you!"

With that Nikolaus drew his guns from the depths of his jacket, dodging to the side as Yazoo swung his gun around and fired. Nikolaus fired a single shot after rolling to the side, a shot that would have hit most in the head, but Yazoo dodged that.

It was true, Yazoo had Nikolaus outclassed in speed and strength, but Nikolaus had several advantages, one being that he had already positioned his pawns for the others to use, even if he died access to the golems and his more horrid creations, like the regenerators would still remain. The other was that Nikolaus loved to fight dirty, he was a lone wolf, which outside of the romanticized definition of such, meant that he was a cheap bastard who would use every advantage he could get. Unfortunately, today he was drawing blanks as to how he would go about defeating his opponent; high explosives on a single person sounds a little extreme, right?

"Truly, today is a crappy day to die, wouldn't you agree?" Fire, dodge, roll, reload.

"What?" Fire, cast spell, fire.

"Well, I mean the sun isn't even out. There is a giant kirby in the sky, and well, is that your mom giving out..." Fire, fire, roll, stand, stare into the distance.

"What, where's mother?" Run, look around, fall backwards.

Lowering his guns, Nikolaus could only feel disgust at using such a stupid trick, granted he hadn't meant for that to happen. He really wanted to say something about his mom that would get him pissed off; which in of itself is stupid. But the dumbass had to go and leave himself open like that. "I wonder how Suzuka is.... and that looks painful." Nikolaus felt some guilt at not feeling any guilt at the sight of Loz's body, he idly wondered if this was a paradox.

Looking back and seeing that Epsilon was indeed doing much better against the two opponents, and he promptly decided that doing any more would only serve to anger the agent. He was protecting what he considered family; and there is a reason mother bears are considered so frightening, he believed that there was a connection between the two somewhere, but couldn't quite place it.

"Well, we might as well go bug the vampires, see if they can go five seconds without trying to kill eachother." Nikolaus mused as he began to walk away from the fight.

"He has far too relaxed a mood during battle, that will surely be his downfall." Suzuka said under her breath, before walking after him.

(OoC: sorry if you had plans for the battle Epsilon. I hope I didn't mess anything that you had planned up.)

 

[Legacy|iB]

After a long burst of fire, Legacy had finally gotten in.

Here he was - the Grand Spire.

He look around. He was rather...disappointed. For something that was meant to be so big and intimidating, Legacy sure as hell didn't feel scared or even shaken.

"If these jokers want impressive, I ought to bring 'em to the 'Dome during the playoffs. Nineteen thousand screaming fans in red jerseys beats the hell out of this a few times over."

With that, Legacy slowly along through where he had entered from. Truth be said, he had absolutely no idea where he was going. The building might not have been as bad as what he was expecting, but it was still pretty damn big.

With that being said, Legacy simply moved along, slowly skating through the hallways, hoping to find his way...somewhere.

Eventually, the hockey player came across a bizarre apparatus. It was a long terminal with a glowing yellow circle in the middle. As he stopped by it, it suddenly flashed, and opened up.

"What the...?"

"Greetings."

Legacy looked rather blankly at the glowing symbols in the circle in front of him.

"Uh...hello?"

"Yes? Ah yes, I know you."

Legacy punched the side of the terminal, his fist bursting into flames.

"Well I don't know you! What's going on?! Who're you?!"

"..."

"If you don't answer, I'm going to hit you again..." Legacy growled.

The symbols flashed once more. "Very well, I'll tell you who I am. I am Mendicant Bias, and this is what I have done."

The symbols flashed along, telling a story of betrayal, defeat, and pondering. Legacy had no idea where it was going. But, it had something to do with the Ark, Halo, and the Forerunners, and how Mendicant Bias betrayed them.

"...okay?"

"You are a curious specimen. You have no recollection of your past? You have no memories of your former being?"

Legacy pondered it for a second.

"I don't know. I remember a few things, but I remember was the '89 Stanley Cup the most."

"..."

Legacy very nearly hit the terminal and the...thing...that was talking to him once again.

"Oh, come on! Calgary won the Cup that year!"

"So it is true. Your sealing has removed your memories, but your obsession with fire still remains."

Staring blankly at the terminal, Legacy felt lost. Sealing...memories...did it have something to do with that seal he saw on himself a while back?

Moments before he burst into flame and found that he could very well control them?

"Okay, I'm lost and very confused." Legacy finally said. "Please explain, NOW."

"There is no time, but I will aid you."

A panel opened up right next to the terminal. Inside was...a hockey stick?

Legacy picked it up, and felt it. It was perfectly balanced, its flex was good, and it felt strong and solid. Giving it a feel, he wondered if this was it - THE perfect hockey stick?

"It is constructed from matter similar to your being. It will not shatter or break in your hands, and it may mix with your form if you need it to. Use it to protect what you have been trusted with, fire demon."

...wait, what? Fire demon? Legacy stared at the terminal, confused, yet again.

"My makers wished to for the Index to be safeguarded through ignorance when they sealed it in you - a convenient container for both an ancient force and for their own misdeeds. But through ignorance, you will likely be misled, so through truth, you will be given a chance."

Legacy listened intently. This Mendicant Bias sounded like he was onto something.

"At your core lies the key to both safety and ruin. You will be sought out by allies and enemies - perhaps all playing the role of each other - but it is your decision and responsibility. I failed mine so long ago through incapacity, but you shall succeed on the worth of decision."

With that, the terminal powered down. Legacy looked at it, still confused.

What did Mendicant Bias mean? Was he...special? Was there something important that needed to be guarded...by him?

But Legacy wasn't even a goaltender.

That was the wrong way to say it. Legacy wasn't sure how, but he took the words to heart. He needed to be careful. Something big was going to happen, and he needed to do his part - his real part.

Legacy skated along down the hallway, new hockey stick in hand, ready to face whatever was going to come his way.

He had then arrived at a large, open room. It was large - possibly as big as a hockey rink. As he entered, groups of Yaoi marionettes arrived.

"Surrender, under the orders of the Grand Master and the Master and Mistress Chief!"

Master Chief? Was he on their side now? Legacy didn't feel betrayed, but he had a feeling he'd have to face Spartan and the female version soon.

"Let me think about that for a moment...NO."

"Are you foolish, demon? The Grand Master Fangirl will spare your life, if you choose to surrender. All sides may benefit from your surrender, even the Master Chief, or your friends!"

Legacy felt a fire burn inside him. It was similar to what he had felt before, but it was growing this time.

"You know, I've been hearing a lot about this 'Grand Master Fangirl' for so long, so I think I'm going to pay her a visit, but not before I clean up the garbage here."

The marionettes readied their weapons.

"Do not kill him! The Master and Mistress Chief, and the Grand Master require him alive. Reroute as many of our available forces here, unless they are engaging the others."

The others? Everybody else, they must be close by. Legacy needed to find them, and maybe help them in getting to the Grand Master.

But, all in due time. He needed to do something else first.

He felt his physical form burn away. In it's place was...fire. In front of the marionettes stood a human sized living flame, shaped just like Legacy was just moments ago - complete with his equipment - only in fire. His hockey stick was on fire, but showed no signs of burning down to ashes, and the flaming 'C' on his jersey was flaming for real.

A small burst of fire shot up in front of the hockey player/fire demon, and compressed, leaving behind a steaming black hockey puck. Before the marionettes could figure out what to do, Legacy charged. The puck was on his fiery stick, while long, hot flames trailed his body as he skated towards the marionettes.

"GAME TIME!"

OOC: No problem, Zeni, I like the idea and I'll go with it. I guess with this post, I've likely just done my DBZ-esque power-up bit. I certainly hope that I'm not too overpowered now, however.

 

[zerohour]

By the time Byakuya's blade met his, Zero was changed. His trenchcoat had been replaced with a dark cloak, covering his entire body. Even his face was concealed by a smooth, black mask. In his right hand,a blade of pure nothingness stood, holding off Byakuya's Zanpakto.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura!" Byakuya snarled, his blade dissolving into hundreds of deadly shards, before converging on his enemy.

"Not enough." Zero spoke, dodging his initial attack. "In this form, I'm much fastr than your zanpakto."

"Destructive Art 6: White Lightening." Byakuya responded by blasting Zero, who managed to endure the attack.

"Impressive. If Nel wasn't handling your partner, I might be in trouble, but it seems even in her weakened state, she can handle a Vice Captain." handle might have been a bad choice of words, as Hinamori seemed all but screwed against the former Espada.itable

His opponent didn't reply, simply renewing his attack. Zero responded, and the area was soon saturated with their residual energy, a testament to their destructive battle. They separated for another lull, and Zero chuckled.

"Byakuya, you don't understand the Darkness, do you?"

"What are you saying?"

"Unlike Light, Darkness consumes and absorbs its enemies. Instead of simply destroying you, my abilities allow me to absorb and integrate your powers."

He proved the truth of his statement by firing several kido Byakuya had used earlier, though the demonstration failed to phase hie foe.

"As impressive as that was, your defeat is inevitable. A Captain's power comes from his zanpakto."

"How right you are..."

Byakuya's eyes widened in shock, as Zero took a familiar stance.

"Scatter, Shadow Senbonzakura."

 

[JiigarGhen]

OOC: Niice...Awesome powerup, zero. Inspiration strikes!

At first, Janus had thought finding this necromancer would be hard, but then he realized something: All he really had to do was follow the tide of zombies back along where they had come from.

This was easier said than done, for he didn't want to use his more powerful magic for fear of destabilizing the matrix of spells binding the Azurewrath to him. Though, as he cleaved a path through the flow of shambling corpses, he wished he could risk losing the massive physical boosts the fusion gave him. The personality within the sword was just that annoying.

"eew, i don't like zombies. they always leave a bunch of blood and rotten guts on me. and they smell nasty..."

"Would you please just be silent and help me channel some energy through you! This will go far quicker that way!"

"fine...meanie. you're just a big bully."

Janus sighed, and then drew some of the purging magics he knew into his mind. Weaker spells like this one, especially if directed at the sword itself, posed no danger to the spell matrix, and it would allow the Azurewrath to literally disintegrate weak zombies like this by the dozens.

"Restless dead, may your spirits find eternal repose in the warm embrace of the Light! I call upon the power and glory of the heavens! Purge the Unliving!"

A burning golden light flared along the edge of Azurewrath, then filled in the patterns on the blade like dye. With a yell, Janus swung the enchanted blade.

With a noise that sounded like the air tearing, a massive wave of golden energy blasted down the corridor. When the smoke cleared, all that was left in the corridor was ashes. Behind where the zombies had been, however, was a intricately designed gilded door. The door swung open ever so slowly, revealing a massive figure cloaked in magenta robes.

"Oooh...what a treat! What a delicious treat! Not only is there finally someone to visit poor little Scarmiglione, it's an angel no less! Well then, angel, perish knowing your corpse will soon decimate those pitiful allies of yours!"

"You...you're the one tainting the earth of this realm with your foul magics...prepare yourself! I shall show you no mercy!"

 

[Xaosite]

As they made their way through the corridors of the tower, Tohno looked back the way they had come, conserned. "Is he rrreally going to be okay?" Gesturing back to a still despondant LL.

Xaosite nodded. "He still needs time to deal with what he's gone through. When he's ready to, he'll be back to his old self." Behind Xaosite's group of three LL and Shampoo trailed behind, with Shampoo doing her best to cheer up LL.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, that lady wasn't at all happy about giving us directions." Mihoshi asked. "Of courrrse Xaosite-sama is surrre! He even used a Zone Of Trrruth spell to make surrre she couln't lie!" Tohno snapped back.

"Besides, if she tried any funny business, I'll just give her the ol' magic eight-ball treatment!" Xaosite said brightly, holding up a clear crystal d20. Inside, the tiny figure of Soifon could be seen, shouting as loudly as her tiny lungs could manage as she employed a wide and creative variety of rude gestures at him. "Serrrves you rrright, defying Xaosite-sama like that!" Tohno smirked, only to recieve vitirolic commentary of her own.

Giving the d20 to Tohno, who pocketed it, Xaosite lead the group through the tower to his destination without incident. This section of the tower was dark and twisted, even more so than the rest. The walls had sections resembling people trapped within, or creatures without name, twisted into horrific shapes. Before them were some simple doors, with a massive lock. The door had an identifying plate on the front, naming it the 'Main Power Room'. Walking forward, Xaosite rapped his knuckes on the door to the tune of 'shave and a haircut, two bits', and the lock was undone and the doors swung open.

The chamber inside was huge. It was devoid of any kind of furniture or light source, save the column in the center. This column was huge, and glowed with a eerie light. It was also writhing, as if it were alive, it's form twisting and churning in all manner of unsettling ways. Fear rolled off of it in waves, as well as a feeling of filth and corruption. Shampoo clung tighter to LL, and Tohno and Mihoshi did the same with Xaosite, each on one side of him. The column in front of them grew a mouth, wide and full of broken teeth, and with a twisted voice spoke.

"dUuUmbmbLeDHooooorR IZ isSIIZ gHey!!1! TI iz CAnON!!one!1!"

"We've found it. This is what provided the main fuel for the yaoists' attack." Xaosite said, himself unaffected by the column's nature.

LL looked up, and asked "Wait, what do you mean? How is something like this a source of power to them?"

"Well, the long answer is pretty technical. The short answer is, by funneling their beliefs through this, they were able to harness it and create the massive plague of yaoi undead that was here earlier. However, it was never meant for this, and so has become incredibly corrupt." Xaosite answered. Reaching into his dice bag, he pulled out yet another die, but the sides were not labled with numbers. Instead, the sides were covered in symbols, such as an eye in a pentagram, a unicorn, a back gauntlet clutching a fistful of spiked arrows, a face set inside the sun, a left hand clutching an eye, and many more. Despite their tiny size, each symbol was intricately detailed.

"Stand back everyone, take cover, and get ready. This is going to be a big one." Behind him, a wall of dice formed, shielding his companions. Holding the die in his left hand, he clutched it in a fist, pointing it directly at the column. There was a bright flash, almost brighter than the sun, and a beam of multicolored light shot from his fist, in wave after wave of columns, slamming into the corrupted power source. Then, the entire tower shook as the column let out a horriffic scream, it howl echoing far and wide, even outside of the tower itself.

Then Xaosite raised his right hand, and fired a stream of dice into it. The tower began to shake even more violently than before, and the column let out a shockwave of darkness. When the wave hit Xaosite, it paused before eventually passing round him, unable to harm him. The others were kept safe behind the wall of dice.

Finally, the tremors stopped, and all that was left of the column was a single glowing light, freed of corruption. He walked forward, clutched it, and absorbed it into his body. The cracks in his body streamed out in bright light, then faded back down again. The wall of dice dissolved into nothingness, leaving the others to stare in awe and confusion. He said, in a voice undeniably divine,

Book 2, Verse 21:6 - And now, that power, that font of belief, is mine. I claim it in my name, by right of my godhood. With it's power, my divine rank has grown, and my power has advanced.

Then he gave one of the most feral, savage, satisfied grins any of them had ever seen. "Ding, motherfuckers."

LL just stared, his only comment a stunned "'Gratz."

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Far above where Xaosite and his associates were, David whistled softly, quite impressed by the sight of what he'd done. "Oi! Xaosite, up here!" he shouted down, trying to get their attention. Behind him, Kasumi looked at a strange metal locker that had appeared while David was watching events down below. Cautiously, she opened it, revealing a small cache of weapons.

 

[Legendary Legacy]

The group crowded around as Xaosite 'flexed' his new godly strength, feeling wave after wave of power flow from him.

"Wonderrrful, Xaosite-sama!" Tohno gushed. "You must have gone up at least ten levels!"

"Impressive," LL commented, walking around the demi-god to inspect him, temporarily forgetting his own depression. "But uh...what exactly did you just do?"

"Put simply, I purged the combined beliefs of the yaoists and then claimed it for myself." he explained. "Got myself a nice power boost and took away one of their major sources at the same time."

LL hummed softly. "Since you have their beliefs, does that mean they'll start worshipping you and following your words instead of the Grandmaster's?"

Xaosite laughed. "That would be nice, wouldn't it? But I'm pretty certain that it doesn't work that way."

"Guess things couldn't be quite that easy..."

"Oi Xaosite, up here!"

The group looked, finding a familiar figure standing at the top of a high stairway.

"That you, David?" Xaosite asked.

"Yeah, come on up! Coast is clear!"

Xaosite placed a hand on each of his assistant's shoulders and vanished, reappearing next to David. LL was about to follow suit with Shampoo when the girl pulled him closer.

"You fine now, Airen?"

LL drooped. "I've...been better." He forced a grin back to his face. "But hey, can't worry about little things like that now when we're so close to finishing everything here, right? Gotta keep pressing on and all that jazz."

Shampoo stared at him, then placed her hands on his face and pulled it down into a kiss. Unfortunately, it ended too quickly for LL to find his bearing to return the gesture.

"Shampoo think Trickster have good point. Airen too too good to be evil. Shampoo think you fine as are."

LL was still a bit frazzled from the unexpected display of affection, and couldn't find anything to say. The moment was further broken by a shout of, "You two coming?" from David.

With his old grin back in place, LL warped the two of them up to the group.

"What kept you?" David asked.

"Sore wa himitsu desu," the two purple-heads said in unison, causing everyone, LL included, to stare at Shampoo in surprise, who smirked back at them.

"Isn't she perfect?!" LL said, beaming happily while a few others sweatdropped.

"...Aaaanyway," Xaosite said. "Where are the others?"

David pointed downward. "Still below us, as far as I can tell. Have you guys found out anything yet?"

Xaosite produced the dice with the pint-sized Soifon shooting death-glares at them all from within. "She spilled quite a few beans to us. How about you?"

"Not a lot, although-"

"Um..."

Everyone turned to a few feet away where Kasumi was standing, looking slightly embarrassed. "Please excuse me for interrupting, but..." She gestured toward the open locker, and the small stack of obscure weaponry inside it. "Do you think these might be helpful?"

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Looking in, David grinned a frightening grin as he drew a long metal pipe out of the locker. "Bazooka. Sweeet..." he smirked, as he also pulled out a blaster pistol and stuffed it in his waistband.

"Um, why odd man hold big pipe?" Xian Pu asked, puzzled.

"This, my dear, is an M1A1 Bazooka anti-tank rocket launcher. Very useful for blowing down doors, so I'm told." David grinned, holding it on his shoulder. "Could someone help me load this thing, please?" he added, as he zeroed the sights with a gleeful cackle.

 

[Zenithos]

In the Central Chamber where the dragon had crashed in...

"Eterna...?" Zeni muttered under her breath as she gazed deeply into Eterna's emerald eyes.

"Yes, sister dearest....?" Eterna asked, grunting a little from exertion as she saw herself reflected in Zeni's similarly emerald green eyes.

"I...hate you..." Zeni said, tightening her choke hold a notch.

"I hate you too, sis. A LOT!" Eterna replied, tightening her grip around Zeni's neck.

"I hate you a lot more." Zeni said.

"I hate you more infinity." Eterna replied. "Hah, beat that!"

"Cheat..."

"Are you two done yet?" Arcueid asked, seemingly bored as she leaned against a convenient pillar.

"NO!" The twins shouted, doing their very best to look annoyed at the interruption, before going back to trying to kill each other.

"...look, I came all the way up here to this giant Kirby thing just to get my memories back." Arcueid said, slowly pacing towards the twins. "You two Crimson Mooners would have the key to unlocking all my memories that the True Ancestors had sealed away."

"LIKE WE CARE!" Zeni and Eterna shouted together yet again, before proceeding to shoving each other while still having their arms locked around each other's necks.

"It's a pity, really..." Arcueid sighed, as if she didn't realize the twins were ignoring her outright. "We're similar in almost every way, I, a weapon created by the True Ancestors, and you two, weapons created by the Crimson Moon. But the Crimson created the True Ancestors...and thus you two would have the key to unlocking the constructs that seal away my memories..."

"WE DON'T GIVE A FRICKIN' NICKLE ABOUT YOUR MEMORIES!" The twins screamed in exasperation as they began stepping on each other's feet.

"Fine..." Arcueid sighed. "So much for dramatics. I'll just help myself then." She shrugged, before striding towards the twins, the manna runes on her arm glowing as they started to gather energy. "By the way, Zeni, this is also for that little incident with the broken mirror and that fiendish Neko-arc..."

"Speak of the devil, it's Neko-arc!" Zeni suddenly shouted, doing her best to look up with Eterna's arms around her neck.

"Where?!" Arcueid and Eterna both followed Zeni's gaze in panic, their eyes searching frantically for the little furry ball of insanity.

"Psyche!" Zeni muttered under her breath as she used one of her feet to trip Eterna off her feet while taking advantage of Eterna's surprise to prise her arms off her neck.

"Crimson Moon Whirlwind!" Zeni shouted, grabbing Eterna by her ankles.

"Huh? Wha...AAAAAAAAAA!" Eterna screamed as Zeni spun around with Eterna's ankles in her hands, lifting her into a human centrifuge.

"Wait, what're you...." Arcueid managed before she got the wind blown out of her as Zeni helped Eterna discover another new use for the seemingly rather useless thing that was her head.

"You're going to feel that for a while, Arc. My sister's hard head is legendary." Zeni said as she caught her breath. "Your choke hold's improving, sis. You almost stopped me from breathing there." Zeni said, fixing her collar with her free hand as she looked back at her sister who was lying face down on the floor, her ankle still in Zeni's other hand. This elicited a groan from her.

"I'm happy you enjoyed that." Zeni said, skillfully interpreting Eterna's groan. "Now, we have more important matters to attend to." Zeni said cheerfully as she started running for the Grand Spiral Staircase with Eterna in tow.

"Ugh....w-wait..." Arcueid managed as she tried to pick herself up. "You..."

The rest of her sentence was cut off as her head made contact with the floor once more as a foot made contact with her upper back.

"Did you hear something, Sazuka?" Nikolaus asked his buffer interface.

"Aside from the anguished screams and the sound of cold steel ripping through flesh and bones and other general sonic by-products of death and destruction...?" Sazuka asked. "No, not really."

"Oh, well, it was just me then." Nikolaus shrugged, before turning back towards the Grand Spiral. "Let's get going. I think the twins went that way."

"Very well." Sazuka nodded, following after her master, taking care to step on the downed Arcueid as she did so.

 

[Unknown-common-827]

Finally, the damage from the parker fight had healed. When I heard wind blowing, but nothing being felt.

'What the hell are those people in normalcy-land up to THIS time?' I thought before beginning preparations to teleport back to the present and rejoin the squad.

However, out of the corner of my eye I saw him... unleashing a furious fireball at me, just before I deflected it.

"Figured I'd have to face the first turncoat...Dumbledore..." I stated before unleashing a lightning strike at him, which he dodged with minor difficulty.

"He is not the only turncoat here, I'm afraid," said a cold, bitter voice.

"I should've realized that you would show up as well, Gendo Ikari," I stated before launching a fireball which he took full on, thrown back into the depths of hell.

 

[zerohour]

Zero and Byakuya's battle was as beautiful as it was deadly. The two incarnations of Senbonzakura whirled through the air, forming a black and pink storm of death. In the eye of the storm, the two combatants fought, using spells and kido to annihilate their opponent. Their exchange seemed to go on for hours, neither gaining an advantage over the other, locked in a macabre of death.

"I've discovered your weakness, Zero."

"And what's that?" Zero asked tersely.

"While you can replicate my zanpakto's abilities, it has become obvious that you lack the training I've undergone. You're simply mimicking my techniques."

"So?"

"While shikai is normally usable almost instantaneously, bankai requires ten years of dedicated training in order to use it to its full potential."

"..."

"Ban...kai!"

Senbonzakura blossomed into its final form, its deadly blade overwhelming Zero's imitation. Somehow, Zero managed to fall back enough to avoid the most devastating portion of the attack, but it was clear he was at a disadvantage.

"While it is true I can't simply copy your training, I've got a few more options up my sleeve."

"Such as?"

"Did you know I ran into Ichigo earlier?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Even if you could mimic his zanpakto, I won't make the same mistake of underestimating it again."

"You're still underestyimating the Darkness, Kuchiki-chan."

Shadow Senbonzakura coalesced into its sealed form once again, and Zero grasped it, grinning.

"Ban...KAI!!!"

A blast of darkness his him from view, but it soon dissipated, revealing Zero's new weapon of choice.

"Getsuei no Kuro Hana."

"Black flower of the moon?" Byakuya asked skeptically, before seeing the weapon.

It was similar to Ichigo's Bankai, but the darkness of the blade seemed to draw in and devour the light. He almost relaxed his guard, before seeing thousands of dancing shard of darkness, creating an unworldly sense as Zero tested his new weapon.

"Nice, isn't it? Like i said, the Darkness can consume and imitate things, but that's not all it can do. I combined Ichigo's zangetsu with senbonzakura, and I got this. Do you like it?"

Byakuya simply stared.

"Well, I guess it's time to finish this... Watch carefully, because I can only do this once!"

The world seemed to stop, as Zero charged forward, his primary blade in hand, and the shards surrounding him as an honor guard. Desperately, Byakuya directed Senbonzakura Kageyoshi to attack his opponent, but Zero's own swarm of blades moved to counter. For an instant, Byakura almost relaxed, Zero's storm was a fraction the size of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, but it quickly turned to shock, as Zero' shards seemed to absorb his, and did nothing to slow his advance. Deprived of his weapon, Byakuya could only watch as the swarm moved forward, enveloping him in a destructive whirlwind. the cutting agony of the shards was suddenly interrupted, as Zero's main blade pierced his gut. With a wrenching sensation, Byakuya felt the blade rip through his body, and then, there was only numbness

Regular time resumed, and Byakuya collapsed, unconscious.

"You're lucky... I avoided your spine, and somebody will probably find you before you bleed to death." Zero said, smirking at his fallen adversary.

The battle over, Zero relaxed, and finally became aware of the wounds his body had taken in his final attack. Blood burst from his ruptured muscle structure, and he fell.

"Zero!" Nel screamed, leaving the now unconscious Hinamori behind.

"Heh... no worries Nel.... just overdid it a bit... I can't believe that Ichigo could move that fast for so long... I guess I'm just out of shape..."

"Are you going to be alright?!"

"I'll be fine. My body's already healing, but I don't think I'll be fighting anytime soon..."

---- --- ----
Sorry if I raped the Japanese language...

 

[Epsilon]

Although Loz and Yazoo were out of his hair, Kadaj and Genesis continued to annoy the hell out of the DITE agent. Even with his weapon mimicking the strongest and oldest fire based zanpakuto in existence, the heats didn't seem to have as strong an effect as he had hoped.

He should have figured they were packing materia to give resistance to flame. Perhaps it was time for a different strategy.

Epsilon willed his weapon to change back into its normal staff form before deflecting an attack from Kadaj's Souba. "...... she won't be coming to this world, you know."

"What would you know?" snarled the silver-haired youth.

Before he could go into some long-winded lecture about JENOVA, he heard his Len-chan shout something. "Kuchiyose!!"

'A summon technique?!'

"NYAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" An army of Neko-Arc Chaos midgets flew together to strike the stunned Kadaj and Genesis to the ground. In the middle of the pack was the infamous leader known as Neko-Arc.

"Nyah!! Let us dispense of those who would obstruct us to our milky salvation!! CHAARRGEEE, NYANYA!!!" The army practically continued pushing the two SOLDIERS all the way into the depths of the enemy stronghold. From what the alien could tell, it seemed to be a Central Chamber of some sorts.

Glory was the first to break the silence. "A strange technique..."

"Did I do well, onii-chan?" He looked down at the little girl and smiled while giving the top of her head an affectionate rub.

"You did very well. Now let's go help the others."

 

[Left Shoe]

[A few hours earlier]

KA-BLAM!

I woke with a start. My head was ringing, as if somebody had just fired a shotgun right next to my ear. Dazed, I staggered upright as the door suddenly swung inward, barely missing Solarman before slamming hard against the wall.

Wha ... ? Who is that again? ... Oh shit.

With less than a moment to think deliberately, I grabbed my apparent savior out of the path of a charging beast. I wondered where I recognized him from.

Where am I again? What's going on? I mused, still groggy from the serum.

The savior worked quickly to dispatch the beast, then began questioning me on who I was and what I was doing here.

I would have throttled him, because I wanted to know the answers to those questions myself. He should be telling me the answers. ... But somehow, through my semi-conscious state, I could hear myself answering all the savior's questions without as much as a pause. What the hell?!?! What am I doing?!

He then pointed me down the path which he had come from, and took off like a rocket.

Wait, wait, wait! I wanted to scream, what's your name?!
---

The world played out in slow motion. My body went through the motions, although I had naught but the most minimal control over it. Carefully slinging the still-unconscious being over my shoulder, I shuffled in the direction the savior had indicated.

Scooting carefuly around the corner, my fortune couldn't have been any worse, as I collided with a human female. At that point, the slight impact caused the loss of all my senses, and I collapsed in a heap over the woman, with Solarman's unconscious body covering her bosom and head.

As my hearing faded away last, I distinctly heard the beginning of an exorcism chant. Oh, damn it all ... I cursed to myself as I passed out.

 

[Xaosite]

"Hang on a sec, David. I've still got some chests full of treasure that I need to loot." With that, Xaosite proceeded to bust open box after box, locker after locker, in his search for loot. All together, he found...

40,858 GP.
29 rare works of hentai (Not Yaoi. I don't know why they had it. Maybe they were keeping it from everyone else?).
18 gemstones, worth about 1500 GP each.

There was also a large assortment of weapons and armor, but most of it held no interest to the group. There was, however, a set of magical armor, shield, and even a heavy mace, Tohno's chosen melee weapon, which she took and equipped.

"Sweet! Hey Tohno, Mihoshi, jackpot!" Xaosite cried out, as he began to pile the treasure into a bag of holding. David shook his head, asking in confusion, "Why would these random boxes and lockers contain this kind of treasure?" Xaosite shrugged and answered, "No one knows. It will forever remain a mystery."

"Well, now that we've covered this bit, shall we move on? The final boss awaits us." LL said, gesturing upwards.

"Indeed we shall! To glory, exp, and more loot!" Raising his fist in the air, Xaosite let out a shout, then lead the group out of the room and upwards, towards the Grandmaster fangirl's chamber.

"Hey, uh, Xaosite?" David and LL whispered out of the sides of their mouths, practically simultaniously, keeping their voices low so as to not be heard by the females of the group. "About the porn..."

"Worry not, for I am a kind, giving, and benevolent god. We'll sort those out later." He whispered back.

-------

As the group ran through the final corridors, various others who lead the resistance met up with them as they reached the doorway to the final boss room. Xaosite reached up and tapped the door.

ONCE YOU ENTER THIS ROOM, YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO RETURN OR SAVE YOUR GAME. ARE YOU READY TO ENTER?

He looked back, at the assorted group, all primed, ready, and wielding deadly weaponry. "Yeah, I think we're good."

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

David put his hand up. "Stand back; this is a psychological job, for a military man..." He dropped onto one knee and aimed the bazooka at the door. He smirked and said, "Knock, Knock."

With an unholy roar, an anti-tank rocket smashed into and exploded against the door, blowing it off its' hinges and making it fall inward with a crash. David slung the bazooka back over his shoulder, drew both handguns, and stepped forwards into the dust and smoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your partners, for the Grim Fandango." he said as he stood on top of the huge, fallen doors. It was about then that he noted that two yaoi jihadists were wriggling under the fallen door.

 

[Zenithos]

In the Grand Spiral Staircase....

"I think some of them are already upstairs....or rather, downstairs, since we're sort of getting close to where the spire is." Zeni said as she raced up the long flight of stairs. "What do you think, Eterna?" She asked, looking back her sister who was trailing behind her, face down on the stairs, with her ankle in Zeni's hand.

....there was only the sound of Eterna's head bumping on each and every step as they ascended....

"Huh? You're strangely quiet today." Zeni mused as she focused her attention back on climbing.

The spiral staircase seemed to ascend forever in the middle of what could only be described as a huge tower. There was a huge space between the spiral staircase and the walls of the tower around it (which seemed to be made up of book cases lined with rows upon rows of books) so should Zeni peer out from the edge of the staircase, there would be a sheer drop all the way back down to the grand chamber.

"ZENIIIIIIIII!" A voice screamed from below.

"Ah, she's caught up." Zeni sighed, as a huge rush of wind suddenly blew up from below. She let herself fall forwards freely off the spiral staircase as a huge ball of light blasted through a huge chunk of the stairs that Zeni had been standing on earlier.

"C'mon, sis, I can't carry you in mid-air." Zeni said, her eyes flashing red once more as she realeased just enough energy seals to manage flight. "What the...." She asked, as she noticed two figures race down the book-lined walls of the tower from above. "Sephi? Arturo? I thought we had beaten their asses back downstairs...."

"Umm....wakey-wakey, Sis....I'm going to need your help if I'm going to fight these guys..." Zeni said, as she flew around and rolled out of the way of two more shots from Arcueid which managed to blow up a few wall bookcases that were in Sephi and Arturo's path.

"Do it yourself..." Eterna muttered. "You seem to be doing fine, what with your crimson moon whirl-thingy or whatever. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? The apocalypse? So be it."

"Oh, shut up, sis." Zeni sighed, throwing two plasma balls back at Arcueid who deflected them into the walls of the tower as she continued on speeding towards the twins. Arturo and Sephi, meanwhile, had just emerged from the clouds of smoke and smouldering paper in their paths and were now trailing smoke and ash as they continued on speeding down towards them. "I'll just throw you at them and see what happens, right?"

"Ok, ok..." Eterna sighed, as she turned on her own flight-mode to dodge a rather well-aimed shot from Arcueid. "Like old times and whatnot and everything...."

"Yeah, try not to do the same thing you did back in Transylvania. Thanks to you, the phrase 'when shit hits the windmill' became widely used." Zeni said, pulling her vampiric double-blade out of thin air.

"I thought that was back in ancient Sumeria?" Eterna asked as her vampiric katana materialized with a broad sweep of one hand.

"No, I'm sure it was Transylvania. The ancient Sumerians didn't have windmills for shit to hit." Zeni said, as Sephiroth launched himself off the wall of the tower straight at her. She recoiled slightly at the impact of his blade on hers before they began to trade blows in mid-air, sparks flying in every direction as cold steel clashed upon 100%-grade-A-insane-vampire-black-steel.

"Either that or it was Albuquerque. Most things happen in Albuquerque." Eterna said, as she deflected a few shots from Arcueid with her katana, causing more sections of the tower to explode in a ball of smoke and smouldering paper.

"Albuquerque...I didn't want to remember Albuquerque...thanks a lot, sis." Zeni muttered, as Arturo joined the fray.

"Huh? Wha...ZENI! NEKO-ARC!" Eterna shouted as she whirled with her katana, sending Arturo flying back through the staircase and into the wall of books opposite.

"What? That's my trick. I'm not going to fall for..." Zeni started, seemingly rather annoyed at the half-assed attempt.

"Hah! That one's not going to work on me twice!" Arcueid smirked.

"No! Zeni! It's Neko-Arc. No, it's an army of Neko-Arcs!" Eterna shouted more desperately.

"Huh?" Zeni looked away from her sword fight with Sephiroth for a moment to look down. Four clouds of dust were rushing up towards them, a trail of flying books left in their wake. Behind them was an even bigger cloud of dust and flying books.

"Loz? Kadaj? Yahzoo? Genesis?" Zeni muttered to herself. "What are they running fro....noooooo...."

"I don't know about you Zeni, but I don't have any cat-nip or milk on me!" Eterna shouted, leaping from one side of the tower to another as she escaped upwards.

"N-N-NEKO!" Arcueid shrieked, her eyes widening in terror as the Neko-Arc Army came ever closer.

"Catnip....my Kingdom for Catnip..." Zeni muttered to herself.

"Zeni, I was thinking of what I should give you for a present....what about..despair...?" Sephiroth laughed sadistically from above.

"That line...." Zeni looked up and sure enough, a huge chunk of the staircase, neatly cleaved with a well-sharpened katana, was tumbling down towards her. "....now that's just cliche....pathetically and sadly cliche..." Zeni sighed, as she prepared her blade.

 

[Zenithos]

Lower down the Grand Spiral....

As ZeroÆs consciousness slowly drifted back into place, a few sparks of coherent thought slowly made their way through his mind. Firstly, he was resting against something...soft...as his sense of gravitation slowly made itself apparent, he realized that whatever it was, it was slightly vertical. Ok...so he was leaning forwards on something soft, rather.

His kinetic senses kicked in right after, bringing his attention to the fact that he was moving. Well, rather haphazardly....and rather fast too. The soft surface he was leaning against was bobbing up and down rather erratically.....ok....

Then the bits of his mind responsible for pain slowly decided it wanted attention and thus the pain came. Ouch....that doesn't feel good. It felt as if every muscle in his body had gone bust. Oh....they did go bust, he realized as his memory functions gently reactivated itself.

Well...it can't get any worse, right? Might as well open the damn eyes and see what's going on. Or so Zero thought.

He opened a pair of bleary eyes and cautioned a glance...down....

"....that can't be right..." Zero mumbled to himself. "I'm in the middle of some gigantic tube, the end of which I can't see....and I'm spinning upwards...."

"Zero, you're awake!" A voice said, relief apparent in every syllable.

"Oh, yeah, or at least, I think I am..." Zero said. "Is that you, Nel? Oh, you're carrying me....sort of up....up what, exactly?"

"Don't worry, Zero, I'll get you to the end of this. Everyone is going up so we might as well go up too." Nel said, leaping up 10 steps at a time up the spiral staircase.

"Oh...right...." Zero sighed, flopping his head back down on Nel's back. Well, he couldn't fight anymore. So why worry? Que sera sera, right?

The flailing form of Nikolaus and Sazuka fell down past his range of vision.

Que sera sera indeed. "I wonder why those two fe...." Zero began, before his recently recovered sense of gravity registered a sudden tumble in what was supposed to be 'up'....or rather, as the sharp drop in his stomach told him, he and Nel suddenly started plunging 'down'.

"Ummm...Zero....suddenly, there's a lack of stairs and an abundance of air..." Nel observed as they plunged after Nikolaus and Sazuka.

"Ah...very good observation, Nel." Zero said. "It appears somebody smashed that bit of the spiral staircase."

"Would it be ok to start screaming now?" Nel asked.

"Before that....Is that Mick, Motoko, Locke, Janus, and Twinblade?" Zero asked, watching said individuals pause on their ascension up the spiral staircase to follow Zero and Nel's descent with their eyes.

"....it is." Nel nodded in agreement. "Should we warn them?"

"DON'T GO ON! NO MORE STAIRS!" Zero shouted.

"What did he say?" Twin Blade asked.

"Do go on, no more chairs?" Motoko asked, looking at the others in case she heard wrong.

"Well, I think that's just his way of saying we should go on without him. He's weird that way, but he's good at heart." Mick said. "So let's keep on going, for his sake, and ours."

"....Why did he and Nikolaus fall, though?" Janus asked, as they resumed climbing as fast as their feet could take them.

"There must be some sort of guardian guarding a pass on the spiral staircase or something. It's just another cliche element. I'm surprised they didn't manage to take care of it." Twin Blade shrugged.

"Anyhow, just keep your eyes peeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Shit hits the windmill indeed..." Zeni muttered, as she sliced through the huge chunk of staircase, splitting it into two parts that fell past either side of her as she continued flying upwards.

Just as she expected, Sephiroth emerged from the cloud of smoke above her, katana primed to skewer her.

"Oh please, I'm not Aeris..." Zeni sighed as she spun her blade around and knocked Sephiroth's thrust out of the way before slashing him with the other end of her blade, sending him flying into the upper end of the intact staircase into which he crashed in a billow of dust and smoke.

"DYNAMIC ENTRYYYYYYYYY!" A voice shouted from below. "YAOI YOUUUUUTH!"

"...noooo..." Zeni facepalmed.

"THE GREAT TOAD HERMIT WHOSE BURNING PASSIONS ALONE CAN REDUCE HIS ENEMIES TO ASH, THE ONE AND ONLY JIRAIYA!!!!" Another shout of passion from below.

"...I hate this world..." Zeni muttered, pulling her palm down her face and sighing.

"Watch out, Zeni!" Eterna shouted from above. Zeni's eyes flashed blue as she went into mental over-clock just in time to notice a cero flash zoom straight towards her. She executed a quick mid-air barrel roll, barely managing to dodge the cero which went on to blasting a huge section of the wall below her.

"I almost forgot about you...." Zeni muttered, looking up at a smirking Arturo who was executing a rapid succession of sonidos straight towards Zeni. A quick glance backwards brought Zeni's attention to the fact that the Neko-arc army had caught up with her and had formed a solid mobile ring of Neko-Arcs on the tower walls around her.

...it was only a matter of time...and she knew she didn't have said time...

"Cero." Arturo said calmly, sending a rapid succession of cero flashes in Zeni's general direction.

The salvo of cero flashes was closely packed and continuous, almost machine-shotgun like. She didn't like having to use this technique but dodging was out of the question and she doubted deflection would do any good. "....Crimson Moon, I give you a bloodbath....BLOOD FORTRESS!" Zeni shouted, raising a palm towards the oncoming cero barrage.

Red veins coursed out through the air out of a cut that formed in her palm, forming a protective red barrier off which the cero flashes bounced off straight into the Neko-Arc army around them, exploding upon contact and obscuring the walls of the tower in clouds of dust and smouldering paper.

"They're not going to like that...." Zeni muttered, wincing as she focused as hard as she could to keep the Blood Fortress up. The technique drained her own vampiric blood. Though she could regenerate it, the rate of usage far outpaced the rate of regeneration and she knew that the technique could literally kill her from blood loss.

The roar of several motorbikes filled the hollow tube of the tower as three identical bronze-green motorbikes shot out of the smoke and dust formed by the cero blasts and drew level with Zeni. "Oh great....Sephi's mini-mes...on their utterly mis-proportioned moss-green motorbikes...." Zeni looked around behind her, expecting the worst...

Yep...thank you, Murphy...

"It's been a while, Zeni, why don't we play some more?" Sephiroth smiled as he flew up to meet her.

"FEEL MY BURNING YAOI SPIRIT OF YOUUUUUUUUTH!" A man with your typical good-guy-bob-haircut-thick-eyebrows-supercombo shouted, running up the wall of the tower.

On the wall opposite him was...

"THE RAGING SPIRIT OF THE YAOI TOAD HERMIT WHOSE CHARISMATIC STAIR COULD QUEL THE TEARS OF BABIES, JIRAIYA!" And yes, he had his giant toad with him, Zeni noticed.

As the Neko-Arc army emerged from the smoke and dust around her, leaping straight for her, with Yahzoo, Loz, Kadaj, and Genesis mixing in with them, and Arturo from above and Sephiroth, Gai Maito, and Jiraiya from below...

...her Blood Fortress chose then and there to give out from lack of blood....

Zeni could only shut her eyes and brace herself for the impending overkill. She was weak from lack of blood...no way her regeneration could produce enough in time....she had to drink some....blood....blood....BLOOD....

She felt it. The cold steel against the heat of her flesh within...pain shot up her spine and saturated her mind. More cold steel from below....from everywhere....

Before the red sheen took over her vision, she barely managed to register something rising quickly upwards from below....

Nikolaus, Locke, Mick, Motoko, Zero, Nel, TB, Janus.....onboard a burning phoenix...

'Oh....they're alive...that's good....I don't have anything left...to...worry...about...' She thought, before her consciousness gave away.