Never one, without the other. (MSG for Inv.)

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Always too late
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No matter what everything seemed to fall apart around him. Maybe it was Matt acting as if he were someone else or Luke not talking things out, instead lashing and walking away like he always did.  The words came out in flows that made no sense to him, all coming together in a blur that threw his senses out of whack. This all had to be some kind of nightmare, but he was looking at the culmination of something that had brewing for a while he guessed. It took the end of the world for them to fall apart as well, a preamble to the end of everything. His own composure should have just been an additional part of that. Even now he found breathing to be a chore, though the concept wasn’t something he really brewed on. The Black Beast, himself but a murderer and those two now. Was there anything that they or he could do?

Stronger people would have said this was the time that he had to be strong but was that possible? A small portion of him said yes, but the rest screamed no with every fiber of his being. A shout against a whisper, something that should have made the answer obvious but that was not the case. He knew he couldn’t just leave things as they were, as that would have been stupid by many metrics despite how understandable it might have been. Lately he hadn’t been the most understandable of people, alongside those that he cared for despite their own flaws. Everyone here was flawed it seemed, and he was just languishing within his own.  He looked over the things attached to himself, frowning slightly at how not well equipped he was to do it.  A few of his stupid gadgets and things that might not make Batman look twice at him.

”It’s like i’m just pissing in the wind. I talk and no one seems to listen to me until I decide to go on a suicide mission. I don’t really know what’s wrong with you Matt or Humanity or whoever the hell you are but I remember when you said we were like brothers. I took that seriously, regardless of what my feelings were or are now. I’ve been here for you and Luke as long as I can remember but if you don’t give me something, I can’t help you. All I can do is watch the two people that I love falling apart and they won’t tell me anything. Instead they snap at each other like little purse dogs. This isn’t me trying to tell you what to do or how to do things. Just….enough of this pushing me away and  whatever else is going on. There’s a reason I didn’t stop associating with you when I found out you killed people, and it’s not because I want to sleep with you.” His eyes were beginning to irritate him, the tears were a damn annoyance.  

Not like he was crying loudly or anything like that. That would have just annoyed everyone even more. ”I believe in you. That’s always been and it will never change. He wiped the bridge of his nose. ”Enough about that, we have someones ass to kick don’t we?” He didn’t look to the mad man that joined the fray but instead they had more important things. He hefted the bat within his hand and glared at Humanity. ”So fill me in on what we’re doing?” Luke might not be here but he had to support Matt nonetheless. That was what he was doing anyhow, right? Anything to take his attention from the evil him blasting people from the skies.
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Chaos rings
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His fist felt the impact of metal against it and the warden descending towards the ground with a resounding boom. It felt good to see him collide with the ground, even if that would do nothing at all. It would take more than that with all of the power that he was throwing around. The problem however was not Amory but the purple blur moving through space. It wasn’t something he could keep tracking,  until they stopped and brought him down to the ground. No,that couldn’t be who he thought it was. He didn’t even think about all the squirrely antics.  His expression that of pure shock mixed with what looked to be..horror? Not even the blow to his stomach was something that registered as pain, beyond the fact he was colliding with the ground which created a great crater.  This was a disaster and there was no undoing it.

Porting away from the warden of power after colliding with him, he appeared on the ground not far from the King as he called himself. "You...but...how?" He sputtered, looking even paler than before if that was possible.  Amory was one thing but this was another issue entirely. Something he didn’t think too far ahead about, enough so that he was considering just letting the restrictions go now. "Like an awkward pubescent boner you just pop up when no one wants you." He growled, looking to Amory who only cared about conflict. Stopping him at all costs without an idea the true threat within their midsts and likely not caring about that threat either. How could an ancient being be so foolish like this? He had to wonder but that didn’t matter anymore. Their race, all of them were nothing more than cosmic mistakes and the cosmos would replace those that he dealt with. Even he who represented unmitigated power like this.

He didn’t fight the grip this time, letting the force of the night sky itself slam into him at full force. A universes worth of cosmic force, like the hammer of god meant to smite him. Yet no good came to strike him down, only the light of the stars and their energy. Supernovas composed of an infinite beauty wasted for the purposes of Amory, and yet they were nothing. Slamming into his body, suffusing through each infernal cell as he felt the energy course through him.

Forever hungering.

"You fool. Did you think every star within this universe would harm me? My presence is like that of The Big Bang. When you were just a figment, a gleam within the eyes of reality the thing within me existed. Hungering and waiting." Blackness rippled from his form and he slammed forth the destructive essence into Amory. More powerful than before, though he had to contain himself enough not to rip the reality around him asunder. Create a pocket around the warden and let them be affected only. "Besides, someone is here who supersedes you and whatever threat I might have." He turned to The King, who likely only grew stronger by the second. "I doubt i’m your favorite. I doubt you can even have positive emotions. So can you kindly fuck off? Maybe to the reality where people actually want you around?"
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A rebel of love
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Amor didn’t know what he was expecting from Amory. The Warden of Power was never a reasonable person, even now when he had the chance to follow a plan and he managed to ruin everything. He had the feeling that someone would be angry, though who that was unknown. All he knew was that he was having a smoke with someone, drawing the carcinogenic substance into his lungs crafted through shapeshifting and blowing it out his nostrils like that of a dragon. ”Definitely needed this.” He sighed, looking up to the fighting going on, though the purple blur was...an interesting. Though it didn’t become more interesting until of course ripped open shirts and his mind trying to figure out what had gone on. ”That...was a thing that happened.” He said with a smirk, looking Oliver over before returning attention back to the battle which was going terribly.

”Shit...I think I need to clean this up. I’m...sure we’ll talk again. I’ll get a phone, then you can call it or whatever.” Like that he was gone, already producing the dark pink bow within his hand and drawing back a few arrows within his fingers. A few handlers had found themselves struck, dying and subsequently being corrupted by the trauma. Lost to their base instincts like he had once been and the sympathy he felt was overwhelming.  Still his mind went to Aurelius, the only person in the wardens he had...well deeper feelings for but that was neither here nor there. Without wasting time he let off a few shots, banishing as many corrupted wardens as he could to the Shroud. He was sure that he could get one or two of them. This had to work somehow, though he didn’t really feel too confident within that idea.

Once he took note of Aurelius, he quickly relocated to him with weapon still drawn. ”Just so you know, I hated this plan.” He noted, letting of a hail of shots at a couple handlers harrying him.
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What must be done
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”Wardens. That reminds me why I don’t have any of them.”  The librarian hipster hybrid noted, watching the knight in purple float through the air and shaking his head in a disappointed fashion. So much was going on now. Instead of following the plan, The Traveler was having an all out brawl with them as well as someone else. Well, not a brawl with them but he could feel that would be the case soon. He approached Lucius Alba and Nicholas Flamel, still a small amount of good humor reflected within his indigo eyes. ”Your  rune should work.” He looked back over to Lucas and Ryan, offering a comforting smile. It hadn’t been long since he last saw the two but it was good to see the young Alba hadn’t been harmed by whatever was planned for him. Looking over the elderly man and the dictator, he pursed his lips.

”His Dragonball Z showdown is ripping the reality itself apart. I swear no one has any understanding of how to do things around here.  I think I need to talk to someone else right now.” For them he was gone but for someone else he was there. That being a certain Archon who was watching things fall apart as well.  It didn’t take words to see that things were falling apart, though he had to wonder how his presence would be received. Did that really matter now that things were so close to coming apart at the seams? A good question, but his shouts to others to to pray was a good sign.

So he breathed in, letting his essence which held a small hold within this world to begin with to flow. Spreading outwards through the veins of those pockets. In and out. Wrapping around the fraying seams, knitting together the parts that threatened to break open. It was lucky he supposed that this place was so...well connected to him to begin with. ”You looked like you could use a little help. Thought I might offer it.” He twirled the cane within his hand, dark wood blurring before connecting with the ground once again. ”Need any more help dad?” He seemed to ignore the slapping, blood and ritual circles for the time being.

Know when to fold...
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   That’s when the truth came out. Humanity wasn’t sure if he was saying things correctly, or if people were simply misunderstanding. It was likely something of both ends. But he knew that he had some fault in it because even Pat seemed to be stressed about the whole deal. He felt so numb that he was actually shocked. He wanted to feel something, but he knew that by this point there was so little of a man left in there. Something like this would truly kill him. He looked at this objectively. He tried to do what he always said to do and remove his emotions. It was so easy to do that...when it wasn’t these two.

   Drifter does not care. This was confusing because he wanted to know things...but when he was told them then Humanity was shut down as seeking pity. That was never Humanity’s intention. He was simply explaining why this fight was important for him. He was explaining so now that could conclude that there was a reason. But they didn’t want a reason. They wanted THEIR reason, their answer. Thoughts about Drifter arose that Humanity quickly slaughtered. They were not objective, they were not a fact. They did not matter. He didn’t want to confuse Luke, he just wanted Luke to understand him. Luke couldn’t seem to wrap his head around his means though, or that there was a serious breakdown somewhere. He nodded as Drifter turned to walk away.

   He said it was okay to work with people. But then he seemed to have lost Luke anyway. The part that really killed him inside was the fact that he couldn’t let that bother him. Patrick even had his own things to say. They were still conveying that these people didn’t understand what he was saying, but it was still easier to receive. Especially when he realized that it was true enough. Patrick was still there. Drifter had been there, even if he wasn’t now. But he needed to focus on the plan ahead.

   “Yeah...Thank you. I'm just...Later. So Williams is a killer. He won’t stop for anything. He’s got technology far more advanced than anything you’ve seen...and I know that you’ve seen some shit. Your Psychotic-Doppelganger already cleared out a way for me. I was going to go in and take this guy on alone. But...there’s a good chance I’d die. So I’ve got another plan….”


The Vigilantes
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Khaos had seen the Chaos ensure, X and Martial had already regrouped, meanwhile Khaos had gone to get some of the more expendable players off of the field. He was shocked to see that Citizen Zero wasn’t anywhere to be found, however. Frantically, he began to look about, finally finding his friend walking up to the place Humanity had been. He saw Humanity’s posture and knew exactly what Cam was off to do. He sighed, he wanted to help. But it was Humanity or a bunch of innocent people. The choice was always clear.


Consequences are eternal
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   The older man smiled slightly as he felt the hug. He felt a surge of joy as he reached up and returned the embrace, patting their back before releasing them. Of course it was Death, so he continued to hug, even when Consequences let go. Consequences chuckled, remembering his awkward uncle before he cleared his throat. Ren had a good question, even one that he wouldn’t blame him for asking. The last time they saw each other, he bashed his head in with a rock. His stomach began to twitch, threatening to upheave something.

   “I am trying to balance this universe before someone else does. That means there are plenty of people to save and some people that need to be handled. I made a vow to never devour another being in it’s entirety again. But this warden….I’ll need to eat something from it. Slow it down. Every strike it takes against The Black Beast is only fuel...it’s like someone trying to hit me and I just keep eating what they throw.” Consequences said as he looked around, frantically trying to scope out the battlefield as best as he could.

   “Every action has a consequence. I need to focus on the Warden of Power. The consequence will be The Dark Traveler engages The King. The Warden of Power means well, but the road to Home….” Consequences sighed as he ran a hand through his hair,. Looking paranoid as he watched The laughing King slowly walk towards the ensuing battle. The King was a threat to be sure, But The Black Beast wanted to destroy everything, and it’s weaknesses were not as abundant. Despite it being the lesser of two evils. Who would have thought he’d have to reason that out. The one destroying the universe was the lesser evil.  

The Black Beast has fragments of it’s power anchoring it to this world. If you can find them, they can be used to harm The Black Beast by supercharging them. We need to act quickly though. There’s something else that’s trying to break through as a consequence of the heavy presence of The Void. When it arrived, They won’t be far behind. Once they’re here...there’s nothing anyone can do.” His rant seemed to be centered around generalized objectives. He could engaged the Warden of power, and hope for the best.

   Closing his eyes he vanished from sight, only to appear before The Warden of Power. Opening his mouth and placing a hand on the being’s shoulder, it’s fingers sunk into the Warden and it began bleeding power as pieces of it began to dematerialize and get sucked into the man’s mouth, their eyes a blood red color as they seethed with several different kinds of cosmic energy. Consequernces hadn’t fed in such a long time that it was able to pull in energy quite quickly, like a vacuum. Unfortunately it wasn’t able to lessen Amory’s damage to the planet, but it managed to take a nice proverbial bite out of them.

   “With power comes great responsibility. Abuse or neglect of such responsibility, has Consequences.” He said as he stepped back, breathing out a purple mist as he took his cane in hand.
  The laughing King smiled as it looked, seeing the entirety of the scene and giving little more than a manic giggle. He stepped towards The Dark Traveler and hummed a jaunty little tune as he seemed to dance and click his heels together.

   “Pfft. You'd miss me. Oh hey, Do you remember that time it was the three of us? Before the Imperceptibility thing. You probably don’t remember that Phase. I do...I’m so blessed that the last part of Luke is his memory-and it’s all mine! Well that and his skull. I turned that into a wine glass so I could sit in my throne and twirl my drinks in it. Good memories. I mean pffft. I killed him in the most literal way, might as well honor him somehow. No one even remembers him. Although, did your meeting with him here jog that at all? I’m curious. I need to know how to kill a douchebag that’s an even bigger asshole than you.” The King was just rambling on as he seemed to dance, allowing The Dark Traveler to recompose themselves or do whatever they needed to do. Apparently this Consequences guy was going to take on the Warden of Power? That was a tall order for a random being like that. Meanwhile The King literally just danced closer, like a goddamn lunatic.

Poking The Beast
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   Archon smiled as he looked to see a so distant and yet somehow so familiar face. His eyes wanted to well up, but instead there was but a rumble. The earth had shaken and now Reality seemed to be a little more stabilized. He let out a breath and nodded, appraising the seams that others couldn’t tell. Well the few who knew what to look for, or had the extra sight to see it were in better shape, of course.

   “Si. Something is actually cutting off my connection to The Archon Energy. The First can’t be found. Any chance you got insight on what’s blocking me?” He asked, desperate for an answer. Sustaining realities was what he did. Protecting them and their inhabitants. To get the proverbial cockblock right now was something that couldn’t coincidence. He recalled the last time he had seen this version of his son, a cringing feeling taking in. His vessel had died in that world so long ago, it was almost embarrassing to say that he rarely thought of this version of his son. They were much stronger and well adjusted than the others of their kind. But here he was, basically treating them as if they were their own race of people.

   “I miss ya buddy….maybe do something about the hipster thing. That was more His thing...” He said with a chuckle, thinking that the Silus might understand, unless he had completely forgotten.

    “Alright! Everyone around here please. Hi, yes. Hello. Thank you so much for coming out here. We’re so happy to have you. Yes. Yes, great to see you all. Glad that we had such a great turnout here tonight.” Ares finished the circle and clapped his hands. He cleared his throat and snapped fingers to all of the people gathered. He seemed like he was making a speech at a charity or something as he began to look about, a small smile and what seemed to be a genuine happiness for everyone being there.

   “Ok so. Archon is gonna summon The Good Sister. Orpheus is going to turn on his AMATURE device. Not an insult, that’s it’s actual name. Then he’s going to hope it works. You’ll all overpower her and channel a metric fuck-ton of energy into her and that SHOULD wound The Black Beast via proxy. I am going to go away for a bit, as I have very little combat capabilities. I am a totally average guy with a nice face. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all so much. God bless. Satan loves you. Buddah guide your soul.” he said as he looked to Archon his eyes flashing for a moment as he seemed to sigh, exhausted and perhaps even maliciously inclined before walking away. Archon looked back for his son, as if to warn him...but he was already ahead of the game.

   “Zachriel, Archangel! FIND HIM! We need to be ready in case this doesn’t work!” The Minister shouted, they both seemed to understand. The smaller one, Archangel ran off to search, though the other one slowly turned and walked lazily.

   Archon snapped his fingers and the circles burned, pulling someone to that space specifically.



The End of His Chapter
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     Orpheus knew that there was no chance that they’d be able to use this device to destroy The Black Beast in time. It just wasn’t going to happen. Even with a stable reality. Speaking of, however the second The Author saw the man slap his cane down and would begin with assisting Archon. The Author couldn’t help but smile as he saw the trademarked eyes and the dorky apparel.

   “Every version of me is just a day-saver isn’t it?” He asked, though Orpheus just scoffed and gave him a swat on the back of the head. He giggled a little as he stepped back. He looked over to The King of Fools, his hair standing up on end as his mind flashed. He remembered all the realms he dreamed of. All the world's he lived through in his dreams. He recalled all his friends, but the one he missed most? His own world. The world that he could never go back to, because of HIM. Even if the place itself was there, The King of Fools took his world away from him a long time ago.

“I can give it a try, but this is going to kill us if it’s not right. So maybe back up.” The Author didn’t listen as he took out his book and turned it to the latest page. He gave a small smile as he looked to The Dark Traveler and The King out the window. He stepped up and walked over, seeing Humanity and Pat off in the distance, devising something. His heart sank as he realized that Humanity hadn’t gone to the church. The Wardens attack interrupted The Author’s narrative. It happened every so often. Lucius called them Wild-Cards. The Author called them inconsistencies. Everyone generally called it “Oh fuck!”. The narrative that he dreamed of last night was Humanity finishing his battle with Williams and then, after surviving he would go to the Church to meet up with this universe version of himself. The conversation lead to a revelation and then when Eros and Psyche arrived, they would be outmatched by the fact that both Yamm’s vessel and Eros themselves were both balanced individuals. Throw that in with the fact The King of Fools was going to arrive, and the Black Beast...and The other beast.

“It was always going to be chaos...But that didn’t matter.” He said with a chuckle, knowing full well how the story would have ended. The Black Beast’s vessel escaped. Humanity was on the correct path to redemption, understanding hsi shortcomings and mending himself inside. The King of Fools would be obliterated and Eros and Psyche would retreat to their home. The one they had. He looked up at Pat and Humanity in their devising state. He shook his head and pushed his mouth to the side a little. Part of him wanted to cry...but he didn’t see any possible way. He flipped the page and took out his quill. His eyes seemed to turn a pinkish color as he shook his head, eyes flickering up to Humanity, then THe King of Fools.

“I’m sorry… I tired….” was all he could whisper as he swallowed, feeling like he was literally choking upon his failure. He looked to the top of the page where he titled his latest chapter.

"So there's this idea—a simple one, really. It's certainly not some great mathematical breakthrough, or some proof validating our mortality. No, nothing so awe inspiring. It's plain old cause and effect, and it is for this reason so few truly take enough interest to fully understand it," Lucius said, his voice calm and soft as he addressed the students of Oxford. They had been his peers not long ago, but the young, brilliant scientist had so rapidly surpassed them that he was now the one at the front of the room, giving the lecture. He walked with a creative grace, and yet at the same time, every move seemed planned—methodical. This man—this great intellectual of the day, and New York's scientific golden boy—was both a engineer and an artist. His voice commanded the room, bringing utter silence, and his presence demanded all eyes.

"You see, the universe is just an endless cycle of millions of actions and reactions. We scientists know this. That is one of the reasons why we strive for knowledge. The more information we have on the consequences of various actions, the more we can predict. So, it makes sense that most of us have given up on free will. After all, how can anyone truly have a choice if every action is determined by the last? If it's all just a chain of events, each following rigidly and logically after another, how could we be anything more than another link? In this hard deterministic view of the world, personal agency is but an illusion. The universe is an automation—simply going through preset motions." Lucius paused, stepping over to the chalkboard. The room remained quiet as he wrote out complex mathematics. Few could even tell what the equations meant, and fewer still grasped exactly what Lucius was getting at.

"I still very much have this mindset. I'm an empiricist, after all. Why would humans be the one thing to rebel against a seemingly clockwork universe? It doesn't make any sense. We aren't divinely gifted the ability to defy the laws of physics. Free will, alluring a concept as it is, has no basis in fact....... Or, so many of us believe." Lucius turned back to the class, moving his gaze from student to student, addressing them individually as he spoke.

"No, we are not the one and only, spiritually ordained things in the universe that can change it. But, as Heisenberg so correctly pointed out, physics aren't as certain as they seem. He observed that no matter how much information we gathered, how many tests we performed, and how oh so sure we were about the way things operated, there would always be an element of uncertainty. You can never know, one hundred percent of the time, what the result of a reaction will be, where an electron will jump, or how really anything will behave. You can be pretty sure. You could make an educated guess, and be right almost always...... But it is the times you wouldn't be that are of interest." Lucius grabbed a metal sphere from his desk. A trinket, really. It showed no signs of being anything special.

"So, what does this mean? Well, it means that yes, the universe is rigid. Everything is determined by what happened before it. Everything is bound to fate..... Except for an incredibly small fraction of everything that exists. These are the rebels of the universe—the Wild Cards. Sometimes, an atom decides to come apart when it isn't supposed to, an electron decides it doesn't want to do it's job and jumps ship, and a sphere resists the effects of general relativity," Lucius said, his final sentence punctuated by the sphere disappearing from the air after he threw it, then appearing back at his desk. Having been the first time the students had seen such a display, they all stood and cheered. Lucius was not finished, however, and put his hands out to calm them.

"Everything seems to work according to a system—it's all methodical, and we scientists strive to be the same. But, I believe that it is in the randomness of the universe—the chaos in the order—that true personal agency and discovery is to be found. If this uncertainty, this rebellion against the natural way of things, can be manipulated, there is no telling what we can do.... Have a thought on that, and decide which you'd rather be. Thank you." Lucius turned his back on the class. Cheering erupted again. It was no wonder this man had been called the Scientist of the Century. He was on track to become a visionary. He was going to change everything......

But then he changed.



Flamel had come up with a plan. It was a good one, to be sure, but Lucius still felt the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that it wouldn't be enough. Even if they got rid of The Wardens, the situation seemed hopeless. Their strategy hadn't even gotten off the ground due to all the unforeseen events taking place, and now they were barely holding onto the universe as it fell apart.

Lucius was in his own head as he walked with his children and Nick. The alchemist was using his stone to draw the salt rune as they moved. Red heard many things as he passed the various people that were there. Cries for help, evil monologues coming from corrupted Wardens, and pleas for death. Lucius had to more than once shield himself and the others from attacks lobbed their way, but did not engage beyond that. He had to stay on track. He had to figure this out.

The genius' mind raced. This was wrong. He knew it. There was no way this was supposed to happen. For all the times fate had saved him, how could it lead to death in the rubble of a fight between an angry Warden, a mysterious Traveler, and a.....King? As he walked his sensors had picked up a conversation mentioning consequences and a King fighting the Beast. Was that the third figure fighting it out in the center of all this? It must have been. Just another variable. Just another thing that frustrated his great mind. He never felt so clueless.

Have you cracked Agent Daniels' files yet? That watch can't be THAT secure.

It's Agency tech, Lucius. It isn't exactly a walk in the park. But yes, I have it now. What exactly are you looking for?

Everything......

Lucius' lenses flickered visibly. The terabytes of data the Forensics Director had was more than Lucius could have ever hoped for. His mind somehow kept up with the barrage, absorbing the information as quick as it was given. It was all very, very interesting. There was enough information here to make a strong offensive against practically any high profile meta in the world. It was almost appalling how much they knew. But, despite all this potentially useful information, Lucius' mind zeroed in on one specific conversation, taking place only a small while ago.

The King of Fools was named “Subject:Event.” According to Tarot's reading The Visionary, Lucius, has something to do with the conversion of The Martyr’s actions into creating this King of Fools. We cannot rush the capture, or elimination of Lucius Alba so readily. If it were to alter this reading in anyway then it would be disastrous.

The words from Williams echoed in Lucius' head. It only took an instant of thought, and he knew what he had to do.

The path forward was set, including his part in it. He would do something that would bring this King of Fools to being. He was in the universe's cruel trap once again, made to be it's pawn in a larger game. Him simply being here, acting his life out, was helping to progress this Armageddon to it's eventual sad ending. Even if he wasn't important in this King's creation, Lucius now understood that he had to change the story. Things were headed to disaster. The Author did not indicate that, but he never did. The little devil could have been hiding all sorts of terrible things in that book of his. He had to be at this point. How on Earth could this current course of action lead anywhere but ruin? The deck was obviously stacked against them, and fate was bent on all manner of atrocities happening.

Well, it was time for a Wild Card.

Lucius stopped mid-stride, pausing to look at the Horizon. He took his mask off, smiling as he looked on. The musk had cleared some, revealing a brilliant sunlight in the distance that illuminated the Dictator in gold. Lucas and Flamel stopped, looking back at him.

"Dad.....What's wrong?" Lucas asked, obviously worried as tears started to form in Lucius' eyes. They rolled down his chin, and he finally looked back at his sons, smiling despite his crying.

"It's a beautiful day to die, don't you think?" Lucius said. Flamel and Lucas looked shocked, confused, and worried. They didn't like how he was acting.

"Lucius..... We don't have time for this. We have to write this rune. We can't give up now! You of all people know that!" Flamel said, stopping his writing. The old man was in a rush, trying with all his might to save the world he loved. It's why Lucius respected him so much.

"I'm not giving up, Nick. I'm giving you all a chance. I'm taking a piece off the board. Maybe it will look more favorable after that," Lucius said. Lucas ran up to his father, grabbing him tightly and starting to cry. It wasn't hard to infer what Lucius was suggesting.

"No! Don't you even think about it! Why!? I don't understand!" Lucas said, pulling on his father's robes, as if that would make him stay. Lucius gently caressed the boy's head with a gauntlet clad hand, turning his face to his so he could make eye contact.

"You will someday. All you need to know now is that my part to play in this story is finished. There's already a Villain, a Hero, and..... A Visionary," Lucius said, referencing Humanity, then looking to first Ryan, then Lucas. He unsheathed Cora Zen, then gave it to his son. Lucas could barely hold it as he sobbed.

"Don't do it Lucius! I know what you're thinking, but there is no telling if this action will make the outcome any more favorable, wildcard or not! You could be......You could be dying for nothing!" Flamel said, yelling in desperation at the younger man. He knew it was fruitless though. Lucius knew the odds, and he had made up his mind.

"I'm only making things worse. If this act has even a slight chance of changing fate for the better, than I have to try. It's the only way." Lucius looked to his sons once again, his eyes even more watery than before.

".....I....I spent so much time looking for my legacy. Spent so much time trying to make things that would change the future. But, I realize now, that you were my greatest creations. You are my legacy...... And I couldn't be happier with what I'm leaving behind," Lucius hugged Lucas one last time, gesturing for Ryan to come to him as well. Flamel could only watch as this all transpired.

"Daddy! Don't...don't do this to me! I'm not strong enough!" Lucas pleaded, trying to make his father stay one last time.

Activate Protocol............ Requiem.

This has a 47 percent chance of actually changing anything in the timeline, according to my calculations.....And a 17 percent chance of being beneficial

I've gambled on less before.... Now do it before I change my mind.

The red energy in Lucius' body was inflamed, flowing from him and into the core of his suit. The red light enveloped him, and after only a few short moments, it started to tear him apart, atom by atom, as his suit's core whirled.

"You're wrong. You are strong enough. More than me...... Which is why I'm so glad I can do this for you now...." Lucius said, reaching out to touch Lucas. The Red energy poured into the boy, but it did not hurt him. It instead eat at all the cells that were of Lucius Alba. His father was disintegrating, and so too was the Synthesis inside him. The protocol was told to cause the energy to obliterate Lucius' cells, and that included the ones that comprised the thing that had given his son so much pain for so long.

"I love you, my sons..... Be better than I was." Lucius was turning to dust. Actually, less than that. The energy destroyed all traces of him. With his words, his body, his energy, and the thing he had long ago put in his son were gone. Lucas fell to his knees, screaming.

Lucius had finally taken the advice of an old friend: He walked off the board.

__________________


Kakabiel looked through his book, trying to find something, anything, that could help them stop this. He had managed to find a rune that would protect him from the one Flamel was about to banish all the Wardens with, but other than that, he had turned up empty handed of anything useful in stopping this. Whenever he found a lead, it just went dry. Every path forward seemed set towards the same tragic end. There was no room for mitigation here. They'd lose the universe to the Black Beast, to the destruction caused by this battle, to the King, or to what now loomed over them in the void. It was all but unavoidable. It wasn't something the Knowledge Warden wanted to believe. The world he had protected for so long was going up in flames....

That is, until the story changed.

The pages of his book suddenly went blank. Completely, utterly blank. His eyes widened in disbelief as he rapidly fanned through them all. There was nothing. But then, almost as suddenly as they had gone, the words returned. They scrambled around the page, changing rapidly. It was as if the entirety of knowledge had reorganized itself. Like every action leading up to this point had been shocked out of it's railroaded, predestined conclusions. Something had happened.

"What have you done?"

__________________


Having a shield as your Warden Weapon had it's perks. Aurelius had manged to shield himself from the Black Beast's attacks, but it had certainly battered him. Not only that, but now the brothers and sisters beside him had become enemies. A trio of them had taken it upon themselves to start to beat the shit out of him. These were his former friends, and now they knocked him around like he was a piece of meat. A very stubborn and feisty piece of meat, yes, but one none the less. He was losing, basically.

Thankfully, Love Boi arrived just in time.

The Elder took out the three Handler's that had been pestering him with ease. Three arrows, three banishments. Either they had been taken off guard by the sudden arrival of Amor, or Asy was just craftier than most lesser Wardens. Regardless, they went done easy in comparison.

"Um, thanks for that. And yeah, I did too.... But, Amory sorta has the council under his thumb," Aurelius said, tossing his shield to clothesline a former Warden, then using his dominion to flick him aside with a well thrown car.

"So what do we do? This is out of my league.... Probably even yours. I'm no quitter, but we need a plan, at the very least."

__________________


Ren listened intently to Consequences. Death...barely listened. He was far too busy looking at all the glorious explosions and high stakes battles going on around him. If Ren had just said that this was basically thirty action movies at once, he'd have come a lot sooner.

Cam went off to eat Amory, sucking in pieces of the guy rapidly. The Warden of Power was of course rapidly regenerating, but it was an inconvenience to say the least. It actually hurt, combined with the power of the Dark Traveler hitting him head on. Amory lashed out at Consequences, snapping his fingers and causing the air around him to combust with untold force.

"You know not what you do. I'm stopping this leech from taking our reality. Standing in my way will have it's own........consequences," Amory said, snapping his fingers again to perform the same oxygen combusting move.

Ren was watching this unfold, unsure how to intervene. They had the power of Death on their side now, but how were they going to utilize it? They needed a pl- Oh, wait, Death ran off. So much for that.

"You've gotta be kidding me...."

__________________


Death strolled through the chaos as if it were a Summer morning. He looked to each conflict with great interest, cocking his head to the side at most. The lengths all beings, not just humans, went to in order to kill each other truly was fascinating to him. So, it only stood to reason that he wouldn't bother with the chump change. He wanted to see what was going on with the DBZ fight.

Death approached, tapping the King on the shoulder.

"Hi there. Nice to meet you. Thanks. Don't mind the face........ Anyway, catch me up. I hate coming into the theater halfway through, you know?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world needs a tailor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She had felt it the moment it happened. Small tears and seams within the fabric around him, threatening to come apart any second to leave those relying on it at the mercy of the nothing beyond. A great nothing between the many worlds that consumed all unfortunate enough to be trapped within its maw. Each trip through this nothing was a new experience, leaving her more at awe with how fragile a world was when you really prodded at them. The Weaver didn’t like the sensation, her since she had felt it with her own world countless eons ago. The Black Beast was among them and there was nothing that they could do to really stop it, not when she had the feeling that someone had some kind of plan. There had to be a reason for so many people meeting together at once,  ”Things have grown exceptionally dire Hyperion.” She noted, looking to Michael who had an equally dire looking expression.

Wardens clashed with he Black Beast and the world around them suffered, though the man that joined him was madness incarnate. She could tell by just looking at how the world around seemed to react to him. Could it be a hesitance to be near such unrestrained chaos or something else entirely? Either way she couldn’t afford to look at them. ”Don’t have to tell me that. Between the child kidnapping and a reenactment of Battle of Gods right here I don’t know what we should be expecting.” He admitted, arms crossed over his chest.

”I had thought we had time, that your father would be able to form something that would help but we seem to be running short on time.  I might have to do something more drastic.” Well that didn’t sound ominous at all.

”Drastic? Honestly not liking the sound of whatever you would call drastic.” Even he didn’t sound too happy with the concept, almost defensive in that gruff way.  They walked on the fringes of the conflict, following what she said was a large out pour of...something energy. He didn’t pay too much attention to the exacts of what that was but it sounded pretty important. Instead they tried to skirt the edges of the battle, avoiding the stray fire that what remaining handlers remained and one or two even turned their attention towards them.

What was with all of this chaos?

”These wardens are making things worse. They squabble among themselves due to flawed design and now they’re going to….no this is not my problem. Let their elders deal with it.” What seemed like a massive lance was hurled towards them, though all she did was wave a hand as the weapon went through a portal before stabbing through the warden that had aimed for them. Likely shocked by his own weapon suddenly impaling him through the chest. ”Now come my friend, we have to find your father right?” Well that wasn’t too harrd considering things hadn’t moved too far from where he last saw him, and she seemed to have detected some strange anomaly there too.  There she walked upon a few people talking and performing what she assumed was important things going on.

”Cutting you off? I didn’t believe there were many who could actually do that.  Possibly me but I know i’m not doing it,” He seemed to adjust his tie before smirking at the statement about his dress, motioning with a hand and his clothes changing to something even more formal. A dense hoodie over the neckline of a t-shirt and slightly baggy jeans, though his hair remained in that short cut.  ”I was expecting to see you around here but it’s always good to see you Weaver.” He paused turning to the red haired woman,

”Well I hadn’t expected to see you here at all. When was the last time we saw each other? When your daughter staged her little rebellion?” The two seemed as if they knew one another, though it was hard to tell from when that was. When actually anyway. That was when Ares began speaking,  talking as if they were at a charity banquet instead of in the middle of a dangerous battle for the fate of the world itself . Well, at the very least someone was trying to do something even if it sounded like they took nothing seriously. That was until the plan was unloaded on them, including how they planned to chase back or even kill The Black Beast. It sounded like a difficult process they were going to be going through but Michael just nodded along with every single word given to them as they spoke.  Until finally he had said his piece, ending it with a joke and an overly malicious glare at Archon before making their leave.

”That guy just screams don’t trust me.” Michael noted, as someone else shouted for people to follow him and Archon snapped. There was a sudden reaction in the world around them and then someone joined them. Dressed in black trimmed armor adorning what looked to be a female figure with a blade attached to their hip. Mask portraying what could best be described as a horrific visage with eyes glaring back at the two of them. ”And there she is.” He muttered, feeling the malicious energy practically pouring from the entity known as The Good Sister. Not so good now it would seem.

”You...” She hissed through the mask, seeming to glare at Archon specifically before turning to the older Silus who seemed to draw an equal amount of ire. If looks could kill they all would definitely be dead. ”Extending your reach I see. First you believe your own world saved so you can reach beyond. If you believe that this alone would be enough, i’m afraid you plans won’t help you like you believe. ” Even now she seemed to confident but that would last. The Weaver seemed to be staring at the woman they summoned seemed to reach for her weapon and yet with a jerk of the wrist strands appeared, wrapping around her wrists and ankles.  Digging into flesh and cloth as she was forced to stay still.

”No, this madness ends now.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The death of hope
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More and more people appeared within the fray itself. First Amory, now his worst nightmare and then Consequences being as strange as ever.  He was protecting himself from the warden but the strange man in red was just trying to devour him, consuming sections of his armor and those sections rapidly regenerating. That was when he said it. That man in his manic laughing and swaying said something that for just a moment jogged his memory. Of Luke, not the one he knew from his time but the one he met crying within his van, alone as ever. The Luke he couldn’t help, and the one he knew he couldn’t. Not as the monster he was. That was when it hit him, this person wearing his face and using his voice had kill their best friend.

Murdered him.

All rational seemed to have gone out, leaving only one thing that The Black Beast could relate to. An emotion that it supported more than anything else within this chaotic universe. "How dare you," He growled through clenched teeth, this unbearable bile welling up within him. "How dare you wear that face, speak with that tongue and how dare you brag about that. You’re fucking dead. I don’t care if I have to destroy everything in my path so long as you are one of those things." His eyes were no longer simply black pits, seeming to weep a thick black fluid.  Canines sharpening and  the shadows rising around him agitating until they seemed to form bristling fur that hugged his less and lss definable form. Death was unimportant, that being until he noted the vessel he was in.

""You don’t belong here. With a snap the death vessel was ported across the span of the battlefield itself while he stared down The King. Murder and so much more within his eyes as the essence surrounding him tried to reach for the world beneath them but it always stopped a few inches away. The Warden of power was unimportant, something that he could ignore and faster than perhaps...well anyone could see save for perhaps the king he was gone. Thick claw that he knew would at the very least scratch him aimed for their throat, all the power he could put behind them meant to gouge it out as the guise of a beast quickly began to overtake his body.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never too late
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amor looked to Aurelius with a worried glance, releasing a wave of healing without even thinking about it. What he didn’t recover from naturally would close up with the elders aid, while watching what Handlers remained cause chaos thanks to that Beast fellow. It was obvious he was above lesser wardens, maybe even the elders as well. Was there anything that they could hope to do against it now that Kakbiel and Amory had managed to change whatever plan they had going. ”Who would’ve thought that the warden of power had all the power there?” He grumbled, all too tired of the malevolent speeches that some of the fallen wardens were giving within their madness. He didn’t really give them, just ranting about what was his and how they would never take it. To think he would have to fight his brethren once again was more than he really wanted to take.

”I don’t know if there’s much that we can do. If anyone does it would be Kakabiel, if he isn’t telling us to attack anymore Black Beasts in the area.” His eyes scanned over the battlefield, until he thought he caught sight of the elder warden. ”I’m jumping us.” he grabbed onto the warden of will, not really caring as he flung aside a handler with dominion and they were gone. Standing beside the knowledge warden with an intense expression.  Who best to ask than the one with all of the knowledge? ”What do we do? Everything’s falling apart and...well Amory is probably going to blow up the planet.” Right now he didn’t sugarcoat his words, instead letting him know what he truly thought.

”I don’t give a damn what any of the others think about me. All I know is we need all Elders to stop these handlers before they corrupt all of us and doom the whole damn universe! ”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The nose still knows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shael didn’t know what was happening but he had one mission which he was going to succeed at. Crawling around on all fours while trying to find his uncle, though he knew that likely made him feel old. So he never called him that. Silus was a strange exception, more likely to be called brother than anything else though he just called him Silus. A part of their family that even Fera had nothing really negative to say about. It didn’t take too long for him to catch the scent of cherry blossoms and he followed that until he found a church, or some kind of large building that was vaguely church-like.

He didn’t like churches much, with their strict dislike for him sniffing people and occasionally calling him too gay. Which was apparently a thing, even though he didn’t even call himself that. Whether Pup and Jack was following him he didn’t know, but as he crawled through the door he felt as if he had finally found who he was looking for. Maybe a little too late but he didn’t work by meta times.  ”Silus!” He called out in cheery fashion. ”M...Humanity wanted me to find you,  told me to sniff you out and here I am.  He...didn’t tell me what to do with that once I found you but here I am?” he looked like a confused puppy almost before shaking his head.  

”I think he needs you for somethin?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All things must die
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ryan didn’t know what was happening around him. Lucas had been saved from the mad agents plans but that didn’t seem to be the end of things. Strange people clashing among themselves around them and others fighting as well. Even his mind found it difficult to actually figure out what was going on. One of his dads was looking over him, that was when he realized that a few of his brothers were around as well, mostly Aaron, Jason and  Rob. All of them standing around him more protective than they were before. Seemingly having hidden away until the scare with Lucas earlier. He didn’t know where his uncles were anymore, though not too long after things had settled down he was told that Oliver was going to be okay. That much alone was enough to make him feel a modicum of relief at the matter. Losing anyone else would have been...well too much even for him.  

All in all his mind was lost to whatever thought came that way, occasionally looking to the family gathered around him with a level of fierce protectiveness that he had not  felt in...his entire life really. The energy burned through him still, even beginning to grow more intense with the passing moments. Light blue sparks occasionally rising from his form, but proving to be no real threat. ”Woah little guy, what’s goin on?” The tallest of his family questioned, this calm looking dirty blonde with a pleasant smile. His fingers were a strong, calming presence on his shoulder despite how angry he felt. At this point he didn’t even know why he felt this way.

”I’m fine, I just need some time.” He stated, stepping away from him and keeping close to Lucas. Though that might have been the worst idea ever really. Considering what came next. That beingtheir father acting strangely, speaking of death and days that were good for dying.

He did.

The speech came, words that were meant to be a farewell but they rung hollow. Things meant to make him feel better about himself, not for the children left to pick up the pieces. Did anyone really ever care about others than themselves? He felt he ground crack underneath him, fragments of earth levitating around him. ”Not a hard thing to do.” He stated, glaring where the man that disintegrated stood. His knuckles were clenched tightly, knuckles now pale as milk. He turned away from them, feeling that cooling numbness within him. Not anger, not even sadness. Something within him destroyed that and he was fine with it. He had cried for Isalia, and whatever was within him didn’t want to cry for that either.

Consequences aren’t easy to swallow...
-------------------------------------------------------

   So many he had devoured. So many lives he cut short just because he was pawn, playing out the part of The Fool. When his judgement came, it was swift. It was without mercy and it was a judgement that he would never even have wished upon Brother Night, had he known what it would do. Used to be a slave, but then he was a conqueror. He used to be conqueror but now he was a shell. Empty and hollow.

   He did not regret for a moment. Not a single action. Not his grand betrayal of the fates. Not seeking out Brother Night, not devouring The Faceless piece by piece. Watching their will slowly fade away before The Collector...That name. He could remember the face, but the name was so far gone. It had been millenia. Where he was from, he recalled there being a moment in his life where there was a higher power that rescued them. A train with a conductor. That was where he met Lucius Alba, if he remembered correctly. But from that moment he spoke of wild-cards. He spoke of things one could not logically calculate. Things that ones could not possibly fathom due to the sheer chaotic chance.

   Lucius Alba taught him that. The meaning to be a Wild-Card. There was a reason his suit was in red. There was a reason he actively followed after The man in purple. The similarities did not end there, but it was all that he desired to remember. Even then, Lucius was a martyr. Ready to die for them, ready to bear the consequences of others for the sake of progress. Lucius was far more deserving of the title and power of Consequence than Cameron ever was. Lucius was a visionary, Cameron was a power-wielding child on a temper tantrum. His attention was drawn back form his slow devouring to that of the Warden snapping. Consequences foresaw what would happen and the mass casualties. His eyes began to turn a pale yellow, hardly visible against his white Sclera.

   “Disperse!” Consequences’ voice echoed, bellowing and the very concentration of power that would have ignited dispersed into the atmosphere. Consequences’ stomach churned, he despised having to use that ability, to rely on that piece of oblivion. His eyes faded to that of a normal color. He would NOT break his vow. He wouldn’t give his father the satisfaction of winning. He wouldn’t give Brother Night the satisfaction of being right, and he wouldn’t be tempted by power ever again.

   “The more you lash power at it the more it feeds upon it. Take it from one Sin-Eater to another. Your actions only power it, and it already holds more power than you! Stay to the plan!” Consequences yelled, his voice having a far less celestial and heavenly growl, his eyes turning a bright red to match his suit, his fangs beginning to grow a little. His eyes shifted around for Ren, looking to ensure that this monster was left unseen. “It’s obvious you’re not the Warden of Intelligence, otherwise you’d have unleashed all this power against those it’s linked. But you had to rely on your power, just like they all did. Their power gave them conviction, their power and their will were what mattered and nothing else. You Scourge! You’re just like them. But this is it. Your last chance to prove me wrong. Show me you’ve got more mind than the beast!” Even as an offer of goodwill and faith, he stopped his attempts to devour The Warden, hoping that somehow they would see an error, or at least a parallel between themselves and the others. Consequences already knew the outcome. The outcome was a direct consequence of the actions of those around him. Of his own choices even.  It came with the title.  But that didn’t stop him from hoping….

   Consequences’ eyes were drawn as he felt a shift, his eyes wide in horror as he turned and looked to Lucius, seeing him fade away. Without a second thought, he didn’t even care if the voices within taunted him for eternity, he had to stop that.

   “NO! STOP!” He commanded, but Lucius Alba was a wild-card. Somethings were truly beyond the control of others. Lucius turned to his dust, fading away with the last brilliant light of his energy faded. COnsequences began to hyperventilate his hands reaching up into his hair. The Consequences of that…

   He heard the manic laughter in the background as his breathing continued to work in a dyspneic and panicked way.



The Disciple and The Sister
-----------------------------------------
    “This does end here. But I’m afraid the Madness is just beginning.” The Disciple said as he approached, the mark of his fragment burning in the pit of the blackened eye socket. “I’m afraid that my Master will not be able to save us. Once again, the power driving The Mistress has obstructed things yet again. That power no longer has hold on me. I believe, as the living representations of faith...it’s only fitting that this does end here. Mistress.” He said as a Bo-staff seemed to manifest into his hand. His coat seemed to flow in the air as he hit the staff to the ground. In that instant two bubbles of power seemed to envelop the entire area. The one was Orpheus’ device, powering up. The other was a generated power from The Disciple’s staff.

“I’ll send you and your beast groveling back to The Void.” He growled, a rather inhuman anger seething through the bone teeth. The barrier he generated began to push everyone else away, Archon was left untouched, as was the elder god of the other universe. Archon motioned for the elder Silus to step away, knowing full well what Alexander was capable of planning. If he wanted to engaged The Mistress, there had to be a reason. One plan had already been derailed enough today.


The Avenging Angel
-----------------------------------
   Archon’s neck turned stiff and he felt the departure of one from this world. Trace elements of them lingering only as a ghost, a fleeting memory as it bounced place to place. His eyes closed as he realized exactly what this world had lost. He let out a sigh and shook his head. He turned back and looked to Diablo, nodding at them. Their mission was simple. They were to secure The King by any means necessary. The pale guy in black leather smirked and nodded, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose, while the exosuited Diablo flourished his cape.

Dramatic effect must have been a huge selling point for that guy as a villain.

   Archon whispered a word and in a moment he was suited up. The red shawl across him with the brightly colored prismatic mask of his existential armor. The blade manifested in hand, Imperius. Despite it’s lack of dominion over him, it was certainly one of the most formidable blades that he’d ever known throughout an entire omniverse. He turned and excused himself, putting his hand to his head and whispering words to Sean.

   “Sean, we need to focus on damage control. The Black Beast has fragments of itself placed here. Look for entities that it might have touched, or people that might have encountered it. I-I haven’t seen this before, but the creation process seems very similar to a book I read. Feel out The Good Sister’s aura now that she can’t escape or phase. Then hunt them down and mark them for death. Kill them all, without prejudice Even if I’m a fragment. This needs to end.” He said as he began to hunt down the first person he believed very well have something to do with the creation of a fragment.  



The Sound of Silu(n)s
------------------------------------------------------------

Silus sat at the church, looking up at the statues all around. The stained glass had been shimmering beautifully. It was calm and tranquil here. He was sitting here, not fighting. He was supporting in spirit but not in action. Truthfully Silus was waiting here to meet with someone, but he didn’t know how he knew that. It was strange, even for him. It didn’t make sense.  It almost felt as though he belonged here. Waiting for something to come, to happen.

   It didn’t matter the powers he felt at play, it didn’t matter what was happening. Nothing seemed to serious. He had no way of knowing that The Wardens had gone rogue. He just knew that the battle must have started. Things must have been going well. His optimism was a treacherous thing, especially in the face of tragedy. He heard the church doors open, looking over his shoulder to see a group of other children. His mouth curled to a smile as he saw Victor wave, then Shael coming up and talking to him. Jack and the one everyone called “Pup” was there too, hands buried in his jacket as he laughed and joked around about what they should do if the world was about to end.

   “Oh? Why does Humanity need me?” Silus asked. He knew who Humanity was, but he didn’t think that Humanity probably knew. That was something he tried to keep on the down-low. Of course when Shael almost slipped up he couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t sure that anyone here was actually in the dark about the identity, but it was good to be safe. Especially with people like Jack and Pup roaming around.

   “Well if he wants..I’m here. I’m just trying to get myself ready. I’m trying to reconnect with Yggdrasil. I haven’t needed it for so long...I was told it was just a crutch.” He said with a small laugh, as if he was seeing now that Ouroboros was probably not telling him the truth. He nodded his head and looked to Shael with a smile. “Also, when we get through this, we’re totally gonna hang out. I dunno where you’ve been, but I’ve got so much stuff you gotta get caught up on.” He said to Shael, then Victor plopped down next to Silus with a smile, leaning over and hugging his friend.

“Awe, look at the little people.” Jack said slightly mocking, trying to recover some of his personal confidence and “cool factor” after having just been embarrassed. Pup looked and tapped Shael.

“Hey. I’m a Pup and you’re a dog-kid. He’s a fox and Victor’s got the weird dog-boy ears. So what I’m hearing is….” He looked to Shael and then lunged into a tackle, plowing into Silus and Victor screaming “DOGPILE!” leaving Jack there to roll his eyes and shake his head. Silus was laughing as he groaned, the pile of Victor and Pup alone was enough, though the while gesture was something he didn’t fight at all. As far as he was concerned, he knew that this was one of the few time he got to have all of his friends together.


“I guess I’ll go tell Humanity...Uhm. Could I maybe have some help with that? Trying to find that dude is not my strong suit.” Jack said as he started towards the door. Pup looked over to Shael, and Victor seemed to press his lips to a firm line, contemplating the request. “Preferably the kid with super spell or the investigative training….” Pup got up and brushed himself off.

“Yeah-yeah. Whatever. I’m, coming ya big baby. Shael, wanna come? Vic? Yea-nay?” He asked, looking to Silus whom just shook his head.

“I just wanna keep myself away for a little bit longer. I don’t wanna...kill this Beast but I think everyone wants me too. So I guess I’m just...trying to prepare. Somewhere I don’t think anyone else might be.” Silus explained with a chuckle, Pup nodded and waved as he turned around. Jack just kept the course. It was up to Shael where the other two went, but Silus kept himself firmly planted.



Didn’t I used to play Monster Hunter?
------------------------------------------------------------
   The King smiled as he watched The Dark Traveler’s eyes turn to the inky essence. He clicked his tongue and pointed to Humanity as he seemed to walk off into Williams’ portal alone, leaving Charlatan behind to watch him walk off. He chuckled a little.

   “That face looks familiar, doesn’t it?” He said, referencing the face that was witnessed from Matthew as The Dark Traveler had looked to him. The King chuckled a little as he turned to fsee Death whom had asked what was going on. The King actually began to reply to him rather rationally. “Well you see, I’m here to provoke little Pat here into attacking me so that The Black Beast will come and then when it fails to destroy me again It will see that there is only one true primal-” And just like that Death was teleported away, or the vessel was at least. The King of Fools seemed to grow a little pale at that, his head turning slightly as his smile faded.

   “I was talking to them….” He said as his lips seemed to twitch, a grave seriousness to his posture and attitude as he fixated upon The Dark Traveler. A claw shot out with impressive speeds, The King, rather than stepping back, stepped forward his suck smile twisting to his face as the claw tips punctured into his skin, digging into his flesh and letting a small amount of blood trickle through. Reaching up, The King gripped the claw and pulled it deeper into his neck his eyes seeming to spark to life for a moment as he wheezed out manic laughter. The beastial pressence began to consume The Traveler, and all The King did was giggle and chuckle, watching as the darkness took a furred form.

   “Now...why would you do that? My blood isn’t he most healthy.” He said as he stepped forward, hand clasping on The Black Beast as a fist drove out to smash the being in the abdomen, aiming to try and leak just enough of his power to force a separate of The Beast from it’s arm. There was no doubt to The King that it had some form of autologous regeneration. It’s mind began to jump, beginning to assess the situation and smiling as he reached the miraculous conclusion.  “Do you really think that somehow, this time...you’ll kill me? You’re but a beast. A mindless animal. Me? I’m a monster...” It’s attention wasn't on the seeping blood from it’s neck, it wasn’t taken by The Black Beast, it’s attention was taken as it turned to see Lucius disappearing in a shimmering and beautiful light. His mouth was agape as he watched. He turned to The Black Beast, his lips curling to a smile.

“LEAVE IT TO THE WILD CARD! HAHA! Chaos wins! Take that to your balance, to your hatred you sordid spawn of a blue-blooded REJECT!” He shouted to The Black Beast , he pulled the arm from his neck and took a large bite from the furred flesh and began to chew. “You might as well hurry up and touch down. My victory is assured. Do it….destroy it all. I’ll even stay right here….I won’t go anywhere. I won’t do anything.” He said as he held his arms out with his ear to ear grin.




The Inhumantion of Mr.Scratch
---------------------------------------------
     Orpheus activated his machine while The Author continued to write with his quill and ink. It wasn’t much to write to be truthful. He started with a small paragraph on Lucius, and talking about his vision, his accomplishments. He talked of his posterity and those he left behind. Including those whom were not his blood. Then he spoke of his sacrifice, and how his sacrifice would save this universe, how Lucius’ final act of defiance to the fates had ensure the birth of a dark messiah. A dark and horrible monster.

   The King of Fools was a man born of travesty after travesty. Someone whom all had forsaken and given up on. A man without power that refused to be beaten. Even by themselves. Someone who refused to believe they were just another victim, and that the world was without justice. A corrupted man of mercy and love that sunk into blood, death and depravity. Loss after loss. Loss of a lover, followed by the loss of a brother. A loss of a mother, and a loss of a child. The loss of Hope, which would beget the loss of a vow and the loss of a promise. Now as deceptive as those all sounded, they were all very transparent to someone such as The Author. Many of these were already suffered. A lover had been lost already, and now he had lost a brother. The loss of his mother had yet to be, and the loss of a child was still pending, which child was it? Was there anyway to be sure? The Author sighed. The loss of Hope, an umbrella loss that encompassed the loss of a promise and the loss of a vow. Two very powerful things, and both of them secured or lost in a single action.
   
   Lucius Alba was that hope. The Black King would not survive the wrath of one Humanity had trusted. The loss would shake the foundation of their trust. But Lucius Alba was the one hope he had to save the one he was vowed to be with, and the promise that vow carried. With the loss of Lucius Alba, both of these things were lost. A child, and a mother… while both of those were just previously mentioned, these two were specifically mentioned in contrast to the vague counterparts. These were people of his perspective. His child, His mother. These two were the last tethers that would be broken before The man lost his name, and scratched away the man who was before.

   “Silus! Lucius you have to save him!” Orpheus said as he walked into the back room, seeing the look on The Author’s face, feeling his own rage and revulsion taking hold of him. His claws sparked to light as Silus shook his head.

“He made his choice. You were destined to save them. So go save them. Lucius’ decision was his. What is left behind is not yours to wonder why....” The Author replied, Orpheus seemed to take half a step forward, stopping when he realized that it was merely grief that he was feeling. The loss of a part of himself. He looked out the window to see what he wasn’t expecting. A pillar to blackness opening and a rush of cold, frost covering the structures around.
   
   The Author looked out to the world behind. He looked up to the sky and let out a sigh, the heavy chill causing his breath to become visible. Silently he prayed, begging and asking for a saving grace, for something to happen, to make his predictions wrong. Lucius Alba would not likely return, but if he could make it so then he would. But even if he could...it was unlikely Lucius would respond to such things. He let out a sigh and put his pen to paper. He could not resurrect Lucius...but he could prepare for something else.



Never One....Without the Other
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    “Eros! I found something!” A rough voice shouted in the darkness. The emptinees. It echoed but there was an ever so soft voice that seemed to whisper a response.

   "Yes, dear Psyche. I see him." The voice was not a dreadful one, though it's soft nature seemed to give consistency to one's being. There were worfds exchanging between the two voices. They called "him" by name as they looked over him. By the time the being was even capable of responding, a small figure clad in what appeared to be a ritualistic cloak mask squatted down. The glowing eyes of the trademark color and the brown hair poking out from behind the armored headband was a clear indicator of whom this was. Over their shoulder was a looming, pale eyed beast, a hybrid of what looked to be a reptile and a canine, liquid in nature but still so solid and form. Even the most fearless trembled at it's sight, if not just for the apathetic and lack of essence behind it. It was unnatural and played to everything that the subconscious mind fears and rejects. A perfect counterpart to the small Eros.

    “It looks fun! Can I play with it?” THe beast seemed to salivate a gaseous fluid, that droppped form it's maw and then faded upwards into a vapor. The child tilted it's head as it began to poke as the essence, giving it form.

    "I don't know...Lucius? I should think you have something to say." The being "Eros" said as they opened their cloak and took a knee, their bow set to the ground as they seemded to try and lift the formed Lucius within the darkness.

__________________


"Come on my boy, lets get moving..... Or it will have been in vain," Nicolas Flamel said, holding the sobbing Lucas to him tightly. He was urging the boy to stand—to continue onward. Nick himself had water in his eyes. It was very difficult losing a friend such as Lucius, but it was even harder to see boys lose their father. One was a wreck, with true pain in his cries to the Heavens, and the other was cold—resentful at the universe, Lucius, and seemingly everything around him. Both were understandable. Both made sense to Flamel, and he had seen them countless times in those that had lost loved ones, but now was not the time.

Flamel saw a flurry of rubble, vehicles, and objects get thrown their way by a Handler. In an instant, he let Lucas go, and raised his cane. The crimson stone at the top glowed, stopping the objects, reshaping them. In seconds all the projectiles sent their way reformed into metal spikes, all turned towards the one that had thrown them initially. The spikes then shot at the Handler, and when each made contact, they exploded with the power of grenades. This onslaught was a powerful one, and Flamel added more to it still by turning the air around the Handler into various gases. He was not messing around. He wasn't going to lose anyone else.

When the explosions cleared, the Handler was gone. He had either been destroyed, or teleported somewhere else.

Flamel gritted his teeth, his face hardening. He grabbed Lucas by the scruff of the neck, pulling him to his feet and pushing him forward. The boy whimpered, but he walked on his own. Flamel wasn't going to give him any other choice.

"We have to move, son...... Unless we want to join your father," Flamel said. He walked with the boys once again, and Lucas said nothing. He hung his head low, silent as his mind raced. Flamel did pity him—he pitied them both, but they had to be soldiers now. He'd lost comrades in volleys, charges, trenches, and tanks. In all those times, Nicolas wanted to simply lay down and die, but he didn't. He pressed on, because even in the worst of times, there was always something worth fighting for.

The Father of Alchemy continued to write his circle. He was not as effective or quick at it without both Lucius and Ryan there to deflect blows for him, but he had renewed determination. He wasn't going to lose this. In a matter of ten minutes, the rune was completed. Nicolas' stone set aflame, and he lowered it to the circle.

"Hope that you have not damaged this endeavor too severely, Wardens! Banishment will be the least of your worries!" Nick said. He then lit the circle with his stone, and it rapidly turned into a glowing display of alchemical might. Energy shot from it and into the sky, sending a massive golden pulse outward over the entire battlefield. As if swept through the crowds, Handlers and Wardens disappeared.

In the center, Amory resisted. He screamed out in agony, and purple lightning lashed out at everything around him. Even still, with all his power, the rune was binding. He was going back to the Shroud.

The giant knight—The Warden of Power that had caused so much trouble—disappeared, leaving nothing but a gust of force to remember him.

__________________


Kakabiel let Amor talk, listening, but obviously more interested in his updated book than anything else. It wasn't that the Love Warden's concerns were not warranted, only that Kakabiel had done all he could without breaking the Laws of the Wardens. Eventually, he did turn his gaze to Aurelius and Amor, though. It was odd seeing the two together again, after all this time, but he wasn't going to question it right now. There were much more important things going on.

"Amor of Love, I do not think any less of you as a Warden, or an Elder for that matter, for falling into corruption. Had any of us been so injured, the same would have happened. It was natural...... As is your admiration for this one. I wish the others held the same view, rather than holding grudges, but alas, the ignorant are fickle folk," Kakabiel said, laying a hand on Amor's shoulder briefly. He had implied he didn't care about what happened before, but this was the first time he had explicitly stated it. Perhaps the situation was cause for honesty.

"But on the more pressing matter: Amory will not blow up the planet. All the Wardens, save myself, are going Home. I'm sorry you couldn't be a bigger part of this, but as Flamel said, we are a liability..........." Kakabiel closed his book and turned once he heard the cracking of lightning. He watched, unflinching, as the wave approached.

"And there it comes. Nicolas does such fine work, don't you think? .......Anyway, it's been an honor knowing you two, If I do not return to The Shroud. Farewell, my brothers," Kakabiel said. Once the wave hit, the rune on Kakabiel would protect him, but Aurelius and Amor, like all the other Wardens, would be banished.

Flamel had succeeded.

__________________


Suddenly, Death had been moved. He had no time to counter a displacement attack before it was done. He hadn't been expecting it, actually. Not to mention, he usually didn't need to worry about it. In Oblivion and it's main Earth, he could go wherever he liked, and nobody could stop him. Here, however, he was a tad more restricted. People could actually stop Death, as ironic as that is.

Regardless, he had been poofed to the other end of the battlefield most annoyingly. It's not like he couldn't get back in an instant, though. He took a step forward, and then turned into a black blur. Or, rather, a black blur to those with high level reaction time. To everyone else, he'd be invisible in the nano second it took him to return to the center of the battlefield. It looked like teleportation he was so fast.

"Oh, come on! Gotta let old Drifter join this Super God Vigilante Squad. You'd be nothin' without him!" Death said, brandishing his Scythe. He didn't really know which one of these two was the worse threat, but he did know he was here because Ren wanted some uber powerful motherfuckers shanked, and Death was happy to oblige.

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Augur of darkness
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As The Disciple appeared the strands seemed to lax around the woman, The Weaver stepping back as she watched the strange individual that had appeared with a pit for an eye.  ”So, your master is too weak to best mine. How amusing.” She purred, drawing the blade from its sheath. A translucent , thin blade that was almost invisible in appearance. Subtly gliding through the air as she seemed to take some manner of stance, eyes behind the mask narrowed as if locking onto him. Everyone around them seemed to be pushed away, save for  Archon and the strange purple eyed man now in a hoodie.

He seemed to step away from the conflict itself, not even needing to be told to while the two squared off against one another, likely fo fight but he didn’t know which. ”by the time i’m done with you, you’ll be begging for death.” The seething anger within her didn’t seem to be showing like the other, more serene despite the black aura that had begun to radiate from her body.  Replete with malice, hatred and an intense bloodlust.  ”You’ll be next.” Her eyes seemed to jump to Archon, before returning to The Disciple, that was when her weapon was swung.
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Magic in the air and it stinks
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Sean spent most of the time watching Zell either talk to people or things literally fall down around them. Something was happening, but he couldn’t fully comprehend what that was. The knowledge placed within his mind had nothing really that could help him, aside from the knowledge of Wardens who were more an annoyance than anything else.  He couldn’t help the sensation that he was not offering too much before or maybe even after The Black Beast problem they had all come together to deal with anyway.  There was plenty of cape swishing from unknown people before Zell turned to him and gave a few what sounded like orders. That was an order right? ”Hunt them down and kill them all without prejudice? Now that sounds like...an interesting order.  Alright, i’ll hunt down those whatevers” He nodded, watching him walk away while wondering what he should do.

With one last glance to the epic fight in the making, he walked away while pulling a small, blank piece of paper from his side bag. He muttered something under his breath, a spark of black arcing from a fingertip and blossoming across said paper. ”Let’s see if this works.” A rough estimate of the battlefield around him formed on the map, topographically accurate as far as he could tell. Two black dots formed on the map, followed by a massive blotch where he saw this Traveler trying to combat someone else. Didn’t know what that was about but it seemed like he had everything under control.  It was a little hard to find out who he was supposed to be rooting for, so he didn’t really root for anyone and instead walked off to where these marks were supposed to be while Mike seemed to wander off as well without the strange redhead.
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Madness rings
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Seeing Death in Luke’s form disappear, he was pleased though the damage done was nowhere close to what he had hoped to to. This should have taken off his head, but then again  this was not someone he could just kill with decapitation.  A force slammed into his stomach, throwing him back but leaving the arm with the one tat had struck him. It hurt. He hadn’t felt pain in a long time but this genuinely hurt in a way he couldn’t describe, but it didn’t really disable him.  Instead it pissed him off, even more than before but then again he didn’t really care about that. Pain was temporary but he felt that this hatred within him would burn for far longer than that.  He gripped the arm, leaking a brackish fluid assumed only to be blood but it was unknown really.  

"There’s no harm in trying. So long as you exist, I won’t stop trying until I destroy you." He spat, drawing energy to the stump and letting it pool there before a new arm began to rapidly grow from where one used to be. Human in shape but then again that was what his vessel was supposed to look like. "So just accept it. I’m going to destroy you, one way or the other." He sounded almost resolute now, but that could have just been misplaced confidence or madness itself.  Keeping his essence from consuming this world was a chore but he did it anyway. Things seemed to be going fine until that was death within the flesh of his friend returned, scythe in hand as if ready to fight.

"Don’t know what you think you’re doing here and in his body, but I would suggest leaving it before I make you." He growled at Death, seeming to turn his ire towards someone else as well now. Amory was banished but that didn’t matter, he was nothing in the long run to him really.
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The nose still knows part 2
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Shael listened to those talking around him, keeping that same dopey expression that he wore when listening to the people talk around him. They seemed to be getting along, which meant the kids were likely friends to Silus. He had the feeling he might have been waiting for Humanity, though for what reason he could not tell. Did they have something important to say to one another or was it more along the lines that one of them needed that meeting. He only really moved from where he was the moment a dogpi;le was called and he joined the other kids to pile onto Silus as if that would somehow improve whatever his mood was. Not like he seemed too unhappy with his life externally.  With that however he was told to help hunt down Humanity, something that he would likely have to do.

”Look for him? I can do that.” He nodded, looking to the other kids he had walked here with before turning back to Silus. ”I’ll find him. Shouldn’t be too hard. Then we can hang out after...we fight the weird beast thing.” He hmmmed, shifting into the shape of a wolf before seemingly motioning with his head for the others to follow , nuzzling a nose against Silus’ cheek before walking off.
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When all is lost, and daylight ends
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His eyes looked over the space where his father once stood multiple times. Ryan didn’t know what to do really, and it didn’t matter/ Once again someone had made the decision and another life lost.  It would have been so hilarious if he weren’t feeling so bitter about the fact. Of course he was thinking about something, a spiteful and cowardly thing maybe. Turning to Flamel, his eyes narrowed at the decrepit old man before he seemed to walk away. Lucas clung to him, crying his eyes out. Where were his own tears to shed? All spent most likely, though he didn’t want to waste the words to say that. Chaos was happening around them, people fighting and he assumed even dying considering the carnage.  If the handlers took note of him, there was no idea really but they didn’t seem to go after him. Instead fighting among themselves and being taken down by those who had enough of their nonsense.

Well, they were fighting until the great pulse and all of them being sent away in a flash. ”What am I going to do? What van I even do?” He thought to himself, brpws furrowing and mind working over the impossible situation around him. This was a bit out of his control, nothing that he could really do anything about.  At the very least it felt that way and he didn’t like it.  It was then that he felt someone looking over him, turning to see a man leaning on a strange colored cane.

"What do we have here?"

Red Dead Redemption
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   Lucius would have his way with his words. He would make his request and these two beings would just stare at him. Well the smaller one would stare at him, the larger wolfish beast would look between Lucius and the smaller entity, as if waiting for his previous request to be granted. There was a silence in the Void as the two were left at a standstill. Lucius staring down the one named Eros. Eros eventually shook his head, though whose request he was denying seemed to be uncertain.

   “A world out of balance. Yet you would make request of where your soul goes next? You would ask that we protect your children, to whom we owe nothing?” At this point the voice probably sounded a little more familiar to Lucius as the eyes shifted and began to glow. “All things that live-

   “Meet us!” The creature snarled, snapping it’s jaws as it seemed to approach Lucius. A snap of the fingers from Eros caused the large creature to grumble as it sat back in place.

   “You abandoned your children. You abandoned your country. You can claim it was a sacrifice, and that may have been your intent. But you surrendered the right to make such requests. When you made your sacrifice, it was the sacrifice of many. You can twist your silver tongue all you wish, but you could only succeed in fooling yourself...” Eros said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at the area off to the side of Lucius. The wolf creature began to salivate a ghastly blue hue as it’s eyes began to glow and it began cackling like a hyena.

”The whole universe Eros?! The creature asked, the more it moved the more it seemed to resemble a dragon. Eros stopped and looked to Lucius and shook his head.

“All things return here eventually. Then we give them new life once more. I will keep you here, Lucius, in this great empty until I return from cleaning away the universe you have left behind. When I return you will have a choice. The Arrow, or The Fang. Then you will be placed in the reality that was destined next. Then….you will find your way home. ” Eros said in more of a whisper as he approached, his indigo eyes peering through the mask he wore as he looked then to Psyche the creature looked upon the entirety of that universe. It seemed to be laughing hysterically, jumping up and down on it’s claws and paws.

”The beast is there! HE is there! The Lying Darkness is there! This one should be easy!!” It sneered as it’s large tail swished through the void, eyes narrowing like it was about to pounce. It’s confidence was almost inspiring.

   “And if it is not?” Eros asked, almost absently as he looked to the creature, which seemed to let out a very pleased growl, a warped and unnatural smile appearing on it’s maw.

   “More fun!” It said as it’s laugh seemed to become darker and more sinister than before. It took off charging towards the reality. Eros looked to Lucius and the small boy’s eyes narrowed.

   “Think of what you’ve done. Your actions and their consequences. You’ll have nothing else to do. Nothing else, not even The One, can reach you here. Time has little meaning. It may be seconds before we return, it may feel like a millennia. It’s hard to say. Get comfortable… No one can save you now. Yet I do not worry, for this is not your end.” Eros said as he seemed to fade away, leaving Lucius in The Heart of The Void, alone.
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The Lying Darkness
------------------------------
     “My Master could easily best yours. Unfortunately, The Mad-God had arrived, and the world is out of balance.” The Disciple explained for a moment as his staff seemed to spin around the woman lashed out with her sword, it would not make contact with his staff, but phase through. He anticipated this, but he believed that Blood Tithe’s field would have worked upon the weapon as well. The Black Beast seemed to genuinely draw power from the destructive power of atrophy. The Disciple moved fluidly and was able to strafe the blow save for a gash in his arm, but when his staff went to make contact he was eagerly awaiting the mistress’ revelation that while her weapon could phase, she was quite stuck on the material plane.

“My master is no longer here to save us. He’s here to destroy us. All of us. Unless we can restore balance, by removing you!” He stated with a growl, a battle cry. Archon was already gone, however.

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Family Matters
------------------------------

   A small young man with dark hair stood playing with the chain that linked from his belt to his pants pocket. Jingling the little chain he stood out in the open, an interception for that bitch of a mother. The markings on his skin moved, like a living darkness had tattooed itself upon him. He looked up as he saw her coming. A small smile made it to his face, a smirk as he felt the chance for revenge arising. The small Ti’tian flipped a coin into the air, then let it roll down his fingers, catching it with a minor feat of dexterity. He then flipped the coin again and let it drop to the ground, about equal distance from him as it was from his mother.

   “Well well. The bitch is back. Of course, on the losing side as always. Gotta say though. I was relieved to learn that It wasn’t anything personal when you disowned me. Turns out you’re a treacherous bitch to everyone.” He said with a short smirk as he buried his hands into his black hoodie. He knew that he had very little chance of defeating his mother, she was essentially the Ti’tian goddess of war. But if he could even slice her arm, if he could get one good blow on the bitch, he’d be happy. If he could buy his friend five minutes, that was all he could hope for. He didn’t know how much this “Patron” was going to help him, if he was even going to be empowered at all like his mother was. He had to try none the less.
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Get out Alive!
------------------------------

   The Plan was laid out. They knew all they were going to do. But Humanity needed to do this. He had to fight, otherwise then everything he was truly was gone. He had to fight for this. He had to lay his demons to rest so that he could move on. Even if that means putting his angel to rest. He needed to be done with it. He needed to be done with all of it. Either way, after tonight he would be done with this nonsense.

   He turned the hallway and walked past all the dropped Agency bodies, no one had truly been killed. Save for the entire base. He had to confess that Dark Traveler got shit done. Of course they were a threat to everyone and everything, but he wasn’t exactly privy to everything yet. Probably better off that way. As he reached the end of the hallway he opened the door to see Williams standing there. He had his crystalline glass in hand and took a sip of was was probably some expensive brandy.

   “Humanity. Or should I call you Matthew? Maybe Azrael? I can’t tell. You’re changing names almost as much as that Charlatan kid.” Jameson asked for a moment. His approach to this was a little different than with most of his encounters.

   “Look, the world is kind of ending here. Can you finish that brandy, say a prayer or whatever and we can get this going. On a tight schedule and I either need to die, or I need to get back out there to help. Let’s just skip the whole taunting phase. Please.”

   “Straight to business then. I’m not planning to kill you, by the way. Too invested in what you could become. It’s a sight to watch.”

   “Okay, no more talking.” Humanity said with a groan as he pulled out his gun and began to shoot off every round he could find. The bullets would vaporize as they hit William's suit, though Williams made active attempts to run and evade, flipping over the table and hiding behind it. Humanity pulled out Sacrimony, charging it up as he waited to unleash it upon the shield that the suit seemed to emit. Jameson’s jacked charged out one side and Humanity was a bit too trigger happy. It didn’t take long to notice that Jameson unloaded four shots into the bulky EMP gun. With the gun ruined, Humanity threw it at Jameson, utilizing it as a distraction as he fired his grappler to the area behind Jameson. With tug he launched his entire body up and plowed right into the Agency Director.
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The Martyr, The Visionary, The King, The Symbol, Death and The Four Swords
------------------------------

   The King of Fools chuckled as he heard The Black Beast’s vessel speak, stating that he was going to destroy him, so he might as well accept it. This kid still had no idea who he was dealing with. The King of Fools stepped forward and with a single step he managed to push off the ground and leave a small crater. He almost appeared behind The Black Beast as his hand pushed as a powerful fist, trying to pierce through it’s abdomen. Just as The King went to make a connection, however he saw Death stroll up with some impressive speed itself. The King of Fools stopped and then returned to his original position, eye twitching a little as it looked from Dark Traveler to Death.

   “Well now this is just damn ridiculous. I’m going to erase you both.” The King said as he stepped forward to shoulder-check The Dark Traveler. He turned to kick Death incarnate, only to watch Consequence arrive in the knick of time and take the brunt of the hit, a loud cracking in his ribs, despite his durable nature. “Oh look, Their little lackey. I might as well get rid of you too...” He said though he had to leap back as he watched Archon jump from behind them and dive into the scene, Imperium being waved around like it was the biggest dick in the room.

   “This ends now!” He yelled as his entire body began to glow and the ground began to rumble. It wouldn’t be long befofre The Dark Traveler was here too. The King of Fools rushed past Archon and gave Consequence a punch to the gut, though the red-suited man’s hand came up and all five fingers were placed on The King’s throat. He let out a small roar, as if he exerted a lot of force or pressure, then leaving the King looking with a crooked eyebrow and a look of confusion.

   “Did you just try to use Death’s Touch on me?” He asked very plainly, leaving Consequence to let out a little whine.

   “Fuck...” was all Consequence had to say in return before The King kicked him. Consequence rolled on the ground a little before standing up. His blood seemed to run down his arm, forming a fractured weapon of sorts, it appeared to be a bladed weapon, a pole with a hooked end, it appeared to be as if the weapon had broken. “Death, come here!” He shouted, he needed to give him a run-down on exactly what he knew about this King of Fools guy.

   Meanwhile, Archon turned to slash, and The Dark Traveler was likely not far behind. The King caught Imperium with his hand and then pushed it away, stepping back and quickly locating the dark version of his brother.

Lucius couldn't help but smile as the dots connected in his mind. He knew who this was, and that made the boy's words all the more off-putting. This being had the nerve to lecture him, after he had lost so much? Lucius wouldn't have it.

"It was worth a shot," Lucius said with a shrug. He began to slowly walk, as he did when he was doing his academic talks. He was gearing up for quite the speech, obviously.

"Dismiss my words as nothing more than linguistic maneuvers if you feel like it; It won't take away from the truth of them. I don't care who you are, or what power you have, your condescension means little. You want to shame me for leaving everything behind--to put me in time out to 'think about my actions' as if I am a boy that's acted up, yet in the same breath you refuse to protect children, because you 'owe them nothing.' Forgive me for not taking the moral judgements of sociopathic death keepers seriously," Lucius said, looking at Eros dead in the eyes. Lucius looked at him the same way he did the other one when something was said that he disagreed with.

"Besides, I'm just following your advice. 'Stop being a puppet, stop being a pawn. Walk off the chessboard.' When I give up my will to fate, I'm a puppet, yet when I buck it, I'm somehow doing something wrong? I don't think so. I made the right choice. I've been prevented from passing all this time, and now, for whatever reason ordained, it has been allowed to happen. That has to mean something," Lucius said. When Eros told him to get comfortable, Lucius sat down, relaxed.

"I usually expect more from you, Silus. But, it seems Nicolas Flamel was right. Gods, Wardens, and beings beyond are all the same: Nothing but a bunch of disconnected elites, passing judgment from their Ivory Towers without even so much as a brief moment of introspection. There is no care for the individual souls of the world, only for broad, vague, and abstract ideas such as balance, holiness, and sin. You only intervene in the horror of the universe when it threatens to destroy the meaningless concepts you adore, or when it meets some arbitrary prerequisite. Where were you along the way to imbalance? Where were all the Gods, or whatever you wish to call them, when every reprehensible thing that's happened in our world took place? Apparently with backsides firmly planted in thrones of false moral superiority. Mortals fight in the trenches of a despicable world their entire existence, all while the beings capable of doing anything about it insist that we, being capable of free will, are on our own....... Right up until the evil creeps up to their doorstep.

"But you don't owe us anything, right? You can tell everyone else what they're beholden to, all while skirting responsibility for anything beyond your own ends.

"The truth is, none of you care about maximizing what is truly good in existence, you just want to fulfill your narrow 'purpose,' or force people to act according to your vision. You're all indifferent tyrants, basically. Sinners by your own rules. Don't act like you care about me abandoning anything. Your kind has done that to humanity since the beginning of our time " Lucius said, now laying back onto the ground of this empty void. He laughed as he stared into the abyss.

"I expected more of a brimstone and fire type punishment, but that's alright. Giving a super intellect untold amounts of time to create new machinations is even better..... Now run along, my dear boy. I hope you're better at restoring the natural order than you are at talking down to me," Lucius said. He anticipated some kind of mute effect, or just ignorance, but if Eros chose not to listen, that would just reinforce his point. Lucius' smile remained as he began his time in the void, content with his decision, and certain it would create a future where his sons could come into their own, his movement could prosper, and the world could be strengthened.

You don't get anything that's better without sacrificing everything that's unworthy of it, and for the time being, that included Lucius himself, as well as many still on the ground. What remained after all the corruption was stripped away would no doubt be a desert, but that desolation would allow for something greater to be built.

__________________


Flamel's eyes twitched to the man looking at Ryan. Sure, he was just recovering from an all around terrible struggle over some uninvited guests, but that didn't mean he didn't have some fire left in him. His stare was razor sharp. He stepped in front of Ryan, cane in hand.

"What we have here is a boy who has a Godfather about......two unnecessarily stressful moments away from breaking his no killing rule. Identify yourself, and your interest in Ryan, or have your head turned into a solid block of iron," Nicolas said, irritable and with malice in his voice. He was getting really tired of people just dropping in for no rampant reason.

__________________


Death saw Consequences, Archon, The Dark Traveler, and The King all engage, all while he just stood there like he didn't know what to do. Sure, he had just jumped in and brandished his weapon like he was ready to do something, but now that he was actually here? He had no clue whether to reap only the King, only the Traveler, both of them, neither of them, or just everyone. He watched and even started whistling as people traded blows, standing up stiff and with aimlessness in his eyes.

Fortunately, Consequences called him over. That at the very least gave him an action to fulfill. He approached his nephew, looking at him with an expecting expression.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Augur of darkness
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”It is the prerogative of the weak to boast.” She replied, blade showing its true power and phasing through his weapon.  A display that no weapon or armor could protect them from her weapon. That however didn’t stop her from realizing the next thing, that somehow her form had been forced...well to be physical.  Instead of phasing through her, it managed to slam into her forearm with the crack of bone. A low growl rattled from her throat, taking a few steps back from The Disciple and glaring from beyond the mask.  It wasn’t broken beyond repair but she felt it for sure, maybe the bone itself was cracked at worst.

”You were so sure your master would bring you salvation but now all they bring is destruction. How does it feel to be betrayed by ones own master? You blame me but this world was off balance long before we arrived. ” She was laughing, keeping the tip of her weapon pointed towards the other. ”however i’ll deliver you unto death before your master can complete his betrayal.” In one motion she was a blur, stepping forward with a number of slices from her weapon. Not meant to cut muscle, skin or even vessels but the very nerves that controlled his limbs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family matters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even without her needing to act the chaos around them had begun to form. The Black Beast or one they claimed to be it had begun to move, though that mattered little within the end. This world was doomed no matter how hard the forces arrayed against it was brought and she knew what needed be done. That was when they appeared before her, a youth tattooed with writhing ink upon his skin. ”Almost fitting that we meet again at the end of the world. ” Something within her had drawn Sheiara to a point, likely to the beasts precious priestess though for what reason she didn’t know. Seeing her son stand before her, all too ready to fight was an interesting sensation. Did he believe he could take her or was this some manner of stalling tactic? Filicide had never been her kind of thing but there seemed to be little room here for any compassion.

”Fascinating that you would lecture me on loyalty. So my son, who do you owe your loyalty to now? Who owns you?” She drew the wicked curved blades attached to her sides, eyes narrowed on the young Ti’taen settled before her. ”Who will you die for? As for me, I am true to the same person i’ve always been. Myself. ” Despite her calm demeanor she was all too ready to pounce should the opportunity came. ”Now you stand at a precipice. You have your chance. Walk away, leave this world for another. One where you can live whatever life you would like. Free of whatever holds you down, ” A twirl of her weapon, pointing the tip to where it would line up with his throat.

”Or you can die here. Confident within the fact that all of your loyalty and the life you lived up to now amounted to nothing.  All that you’ve accomplished will be swallowed up by death and then by nothingness.” Should he turn away she would not stop him but Sheiara had the feeling her son would not. He was seemingly confident that he could take her on, which meant something was changed. If he stayed however, she knew that there was no mercy she could afford.

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Ancient ties
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The smiled to Flamel, cordial almost despite the obvious threat. ”Flamel, ever the one to be in the center of everything. Still it hurts you wouldn’t recognize an old friend. Though I have to wonder how many times you turn my head to iron before you get the picture.  ” His tone sounded almost offended by the slight but his attention turned back to the young man. ”I had been hoping to see the young heir of Vlad in person, so brimming with magical potential but it took a convergence of gods to happen. Hello young one, my name is Isaiah. An old friend of your godfather it would seem.” His attention swapped between Flamel and Ryan, keeping that strangely affable persona.

”I’m surprised the amount of mana here. I guess even the ley itself is aware how dangerous The Black Beast is. My interest was to help him realize his potential though I suppose keeping this world in one piece is a fine secondary.”

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God in fire
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For a millisecond he lost track of The King, them appearing behind him with the transparent attempt to run him through with a barehand. The only thing that seemed to stop him was death squaring up, scythe in hand and all too ready to end whatever he swung at. It was strange, seeing his friend decked out with a weapon meant to slay gods. That was when his adversary grumbled and slammed a shoulder into him, launching him through what he assumed was a wall. It didn’t hurt, not the wall anyway but the shoulder itself stung like a bitch. Pain resonated through his ribs and ripped from clenched teeth a cough. Nothing was actually damaged but it galvanized him to action, drawing from the essence coursing through him to rush forward.

At once he was gone, slipping through whatever dimension he used to teleport in a flash of black smoke, moving almost in unison with one who had been meaning to destroy him not so long ago.  Then with all the speed allowed to him he swung, a blade blade appearing within hand and gliding through the air as of nothing existed between. The idea had been to cut his eyes, maybe leave but a second of blindness as he then would twirl around with the aim to remove his head all in one fluid motion.

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Requiem to an end
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Sometimes all it took was a bad feeling to get the idea that something was coming. Despite how much he wanted to watch The Traveler battle The Mad God or The Mad priestess battle with The Disciple, he had to see what was coming. Despite knowing what was coming there was something within him that just did not like the feeling.  Hands buried into the pockets of his hoodie, looking to the sky slowed within time and the spaces beyond outer space itself.  Something was coming, all too familiar and something that tugged at his very essence.  It wasn’t good and he had no means to prepare for the strange coming much like he did for his shadow. It lingered even more dangerously than that cloud over this world, something trying to break through the shroud around it. While The Traveler could breach, what remained of his wild power could not.

”Well dad, looks like you’re in for an uphill battle.” He muttered to himself, the cane he once supported his weight on sparking with energy. ”would be rude if I didn’t offer a hand wouldn’t it?”

Eros and Psyche had walked away for a good distance. Eros stopped for a moment and turned to look over his shoulder at Lucius. The poor Intellectual was not going have enough time to create and fathom new machinations beyond a few moments. Time was meaningless here.

“You are correct. I do not owe you anything. YetI fought for them. For you. It’s time to end this. You will sit here and contemplate the nature of your existence. Just as Consequence before you, The Lych before him. You will likely try to think of ways to escape, or perhaps ways to wreak vengeance. That is irrelevant. Your narrow mind and inability to see the scope of what has to happen, and what I try to avoid is…. understandable. You do not believe in free will yet you believe yourself some all-important wild card. In truth you are some self-absorbed egotistical genius trying to scrape a meaning and purpose for himself. Just as this Silus is a child who tries to find meaning in helping others. That the one you called Silus had hope for you to be better. Perhaps he saw something in you, something that even I do not see. It doesn’t matter now. You’ve left Lucas, Ryan, Hector and Silus, and everyone else alone. Why? To prevent one you call your child from becoming a villain? To bring about the fruition of a greater plan that you’ve devised? Or was this truly a reckless abandon of hope? To spare the world from devastation? It does. Not. Matter. The only thing you’ve done here, is the only thing you’ve ever done. You’ve thrown a fit, taking the opportunity to spit your venom at me, despite everything the one who embodies me has wished, hoped and loved you for. You don’t even see your own faults, yet you stand as if you are able to criticize my views, where I come from and what I am for. I have a duty, and I will do it. It does not mean I have been absent. Your proverbial strings were cut because you were meant to be so much more, yet you’ve done nothing so far but squandered it, and you wouldn’t let anyone help you...even if they wanted to.” Eros thought to himself, though to think for him within this place was the same to vocalize. There was a pain, a seething anger that he felt within Psyche rising.

Psyche knew that Lucius spoke very accurately about him, but to say these things of Eros whom was the only reason their paltry existence continued. That was enough. Psyche turned and lunged itself a great distance in a single leap, before an arrow of pure light hit in the Void just before Lucius. The creature stopped, it’s ears folded back and it growled, turning and returning to Eros. Eros shook it’s head to Psyche

“Why?”

“He does not understand. He still sees the world as out to get him, out to prove itself against him and he it. He has no fear of the end, nor should he. He’s lived his whole life a broken man, waiting for his existence to come to this point. He has had his time. Now...it is yours.”

”Eros...yes. So. Who's next?” Eros asked his voice fading as they walked away, Lucius completely ignored form that point forward.

“...Everyone.”



------------------------------
A tithe of Blood and Bone
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The Lych began to search and identify his way around the battlefield, his very essence in its purest form pulling the lost souls from the air and empowering him even farther than he ever had been before. The Lych had turned to see that there was Flamel, on the move to try and get his Godchildren away form the chaos. The Lych’s eyes leered as he realized a small boy standing up from the carnage of where The failed Agent had met his demise. The Lych leered when he realized this soul was not amongst the ones he had collected, his ire rising. But he had no time to delay. He silently floated as a ghost.

”Unfortunately. My rule is quite the opposite.” The Lych said as his curved blade swiped the cane, he phased through the air and positioned himself between Flamel and this person. ”Get out of here! Now!” The Lych yelled, a chorus of souls and monstrous yells echoing his voice as the air itself shook, he turned to face this being with an intent look. As if that weren’t enough a bright spark of red energy appeared with the sound of a thousand chirping birds A loud impact as dust was thrown about form impact and glowing red eyes leered from a hood.


“His potential will be reached in due time. Not this time.” The Lych warned the being as there were a lack of any discernible expression from beneath the hood.


“Let’s go!” He ushered Flamel and the boys to get a move on, not giving anyone or anything the time of day. They had no time to pretend that there were allies on this battlefield anymore. Only family….



------------------------------
Three of Four Swords Aligned, The Time is Nigh
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“You can’t use the scythe on him.” Consequences pulled Death closer and looked down to his hand, a small very, very dim flash of energy and a black liquid seeming to pull from Consequences’ hand gave form to an object. The pole formed was amazingly familiar and as it began to branch off it was revealing a very familiar intricacy and curve. But something was wrong, the dim light contrasted bright and the curve barely formed at all before it seemed to reveal only a small snag of a blade. It had been shattered, it looked more like a glorified fire poker than an actual weapon of reaping.

”Imperium, Shy-Guy’s blade, The Death Touch, Everything Aaron and I could get out hands on...Nothing. But this doesn’t seem like the same person I know. He’s not laughing enough, and he doesn’t have the one miscolored eye. Which means it’s not the same one who broke...” He looked down to his weapon, it vanished into darkness before he sighed. He had tried so hard, he had thought that was the answer.

”Hey. Hi. Yeah. Excuse me. Hello!” A friendly voice called out. The King moved enough to avoid any major damages to his eyes, but he ended up with a blade barely piercing his skin before he gripped the weapon and it began to crack in his hand. He smiled at The Traveler, pleased with the lack of progress the united front had given him. There was a familiar face in a black leather coat and black jeans that took a knee next to Death and Consequences. He slid his sunglasses down and pointed. “So I’m no genius. But Wouldn’t it make sense to not make a chaotic fight while fighting a being that grows stronger because of chaos? His power is just gonna scale up and up. It’s a losing fight really. You should all just give up.” He gave a genuine smirk and an encouraging nod as he patted Consequence on the shoulder.

Archon used Imperium and made a strike at the other side of The King’s neck, it had just as much give as The Dark Traveler’s did. Then there was a third blade to come into the mix. A small figure with a curved blade, a dragon handle and the ornate, unmistakable power that slid through The King’s stomach like it was paper. A smaller young man in a white hood, feathered cape and a very angry look with two different colored eyes had arrived to assist. The King looked down to the smaller being, his hand removing from The Dark Traveler’s blade and going to the dagger, hand wrapping around it as it began to burn hot, the King’s skin sizzling. Consequence looked to Death and then to the newcomer. They actually had a chance.The King seemed to struggle with pushing the knife from his stomach, and the blade of The Dark Traveler and Archon both sunk into his skin a little more, his durability seeming to wear out.

“This is for every soul you drug into the darkness with you.” Archon said as he tried to make a sawing motion, trying to cut deeper. He heard his son ask if he needed help.

“I could use some help, yeah. Ehehe...” The King said with a raspy laugh.


------------------------------
If I die before I wake...
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His mother would continue to talk, as she always had. Imparting her own views of wisdom to her son as he felt a lump in the back of this throat. Growing up this was the only time he ever truly felt fear. When he knew that his mother’s judgement and discipline was at hand. Part of him believed in what he always had. But he knew better know. Desperately he wished to be ignorant again, to fall for the lies so easily. He removed his hand from his pocket and withdrew a small tow, a dual of small wheels with a small metal bar between the two and a string wrapped around his finger. Dropping the device and a slight flick of the wrist it came back up, returning to his hand, as the blade was pointed at his throat.

“Eh. What a drag. See part of me deep down always wanted to think that you did what you did outta some sick and twisted sense of love. ‘Cuz being beings of death and all that are basically asking for a tough time. But nah. Here we are.” he said still playing with his little device as it moved up and down. “Not sure if I could call it Loyalty though. Met some cool kids ya know. Different beliefs, different values. The one is the nicest kid, he physically makes me ill. But then there’s the other, and man he’s a real riot, but uh...he’s sort of Yamm’s vessel. If I had any loyalty at all in this world. It’s to those two. They didn’t give up on me, and they taught me quite a bit. I even learned a secret from Yamm...Wanna hear it? I’m kinda itching to tell someone since. Uh. Well, I could die here in a few seconds. It’s kinda exciting. Don’t want the hype to end here.”

The Ti’tian smiled and arched an eyebrow. Right now, at this moment in time he was in fact stalling, but he spoke the truth.

------------------------------
A Disciple of One...
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The Disciple smirked as he felt the bone crack upon impact he spun with a flourish as he moved to defend himself. She spoke to him of how it felt to be betrayed, and tried to get his faith to waiver. He only chuckled at her, finding humor in the situation. She was quite right, the world was quite out of balance before she arrived. He did not actually blame her for this, he blames her for bringing it to an end. He watched as she moved. The emblem within his eye turned purple and began to glow as he stepped backwards, his staff coming up and intercepting the first strike at the point of impact. The the next and the next. He had the combat prowess to keep up, but he was not perfect. As he blocked the final blow, the Good Sister let out a yell as she slid her blade horizontally and took passed his last two fingers. The Disciple growled as he staggered back, tucking the staff under his arm and looking to the fingers that were hanging limp.

Without my index and middle finger… Was that intentional or did she just get lucky? The Disciple’s eye narrowed as he observed the woman. He had a small smile behind the mask as he realized that he was effectively placed at half his dexterity and power with his most proficient weapon.

“I blame you for bringing The Beast here. I blame you for keeping Yamm’s physical avatar trapped at the bottom of the ocean and experimenting upon his blood. I blame you for a great many things. You were contributing to the problem long before you were ever a follower of that false idol. You’re wrong...however. This is not a betrayal. This is Judgement. I shudder to think what will happen when he delivers his promises in full...” The Disciple said as he used his ring finger, pinky finger and thumb, twisting and breaking the polearm into two lesser sized poles. He placed the smaller rod in his good hand and twitched his fingers as best as he could with the wounded hand.

“I can only imagine the horror your life has been. The suffering you’ve endured. I am truly sorry that we had not found you before The Beast had. I’m truly sorry my Master had not reached The Beast before it became what it is. Just remember, that I will not give up on you. Even when the dust settles and my skull is beneath your foot...or we’ve both been torn asunder to nothing but giblets.” he said as he moved forward, his intention not what it seemed as he started with a high-strike, dashing down with a somersault and whipping the weapon to try and hit her in the back of the knees.


------------------------------
The Wages of Sin...
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Williams crashed to the floor as he pushed the smaller person off, a knee driving to their kidney as his combat knife slipped out of his sleeve, burying itself into Humanity’s grappler. Humanity’s elbow connected with the Director’s throat, but with the afforded shield helped lessen the blow. Williams’ gripped the mask and pulled up before pushing the back of Humanity’s head towards the ground, a loud thump and a shooting pain going through Matthew’s skull.

A hiked knee, and a knife of his own, the wrist blade releasing as it pushed into the shield, cutting at the Director’s tie. The shielding seemed to be penetrated and the blade sliced at the man’s arm. Humanity rolled, pushing off his leg and rolling free as he bounced to his feet, only to see a foot connect to the armor over his kneecaps. The armor’s hunge seemed to dent in, refusing to allow Humanity up from a kneeling position. A kick to the head was not ideal, but it was an opportunity. It allowed Humanity to use the force against him as leverage to get distance while he stripped the knee armor, throwing himself with the kick and quickly stripping the gar over his knee.

The Director was taking his time that was for certain as an area of crimson red formed around a cut in his white shirt. He stomped on his heel and his shoe produced a highly folded titanium alloy with a poisoned blade. Humanity watched, looking to his knees, knowing full well wherever the knees went the foot had to follow. Williams proved to be quite the athlete as he spun into a roundhouse kick, then transitioned into some kick-boxing jiu jitsu….bullshit basically that through Humanity through a loop, he dove back and off to the side, reaching to his back and withdrawing a small folded piece of equipment. A jerk of the wrist and the two sides flung out, revealing his signature bow and arrow. The first arrow already loaded. Williams’ eyes remained focused with an intimidating and focused look. Matthew drew the bow back and waited for his opportunity to use this special arrow...

Lucius smirked in satisfaction. It seemed he was even able to provoke beings such as these. How..... Disappointing. The dictator, or rather, former dictator, begun to laugh, mocking the actions of the primordial entities.

"Hahahahahahaha! This is too good! One of you lashes out at me because he doesn't like what I'm saying, and the other dismisses me as purely selfish, even after I have died for my cause. All too human of you. Is this all there is? Temperamental violence and personal attacks this high? Dismissing opposition as ignorant, and unable to understand? Seems it's the same all the way up. Want to know why I gave up on the idea of God? Because every single one I ever met wasn't really Him. Everything that has the essential aspects of conscious Being are fickle, naive creatures, incapable of such heights. Ignore me if you'd like. That's just another tactic of petty little mortals. You prove my point," Lucius said, in one last fiery outburst as the two left. It was true. It could have been a millennium before they returned, or seconds, but it didn't matter. Things would unfold as they would, no matter the fate of Lucius Alba.  

__________________


Of blood and sweat
Of rage and fear
Calls for help that no one can hear

Of pain and suffering
Of hopes and dreams
The tears flow out in streams

Of sickness and health
Of war and peace
These trials never cease

Of defeat and victory
Of pride and despair
Drop your guard? You wouldn't dare

Of passion and apathy
Of love and loss
Endure it all as you carry your cross

Of wisdom and wonder
Of meaning and will
There Is light to be found still

Of beauty and purpose
Of life and death
There Is reason to draw breath

Of good and evil
Of heaven and hell
If you stand with virtue when none goes well
What you can do not one can tell

"Not to interrupt the little thing you got going here but....... What exactly are you doing?"

The sensible thing when you're possessed by an entity.

"And that is?"

Um, duh. I'm trying to take control. I could do a lot better job with your powers than you could, that's for sure.

......What? You? Control me? With what? Poetry? I'm a Child of Creation, and the Death Incarnate. There's only one way to do that, and I'm not sure someone like you is capable of it.

Really? Watch me.

Get real kid. You're broken. The only thing you're good for at this point is being a meat suit for something that can actually do something about all of this chaos. You've been overcome by it you're whole life.

Sure. I've got my problems. I've been to hell and back. I've lost faith in this world. Lost faith in reason. Lost faith in truth. I've given up on love, and I have no hope. I have nothing left.

That's the spirit! No point in fighting, then. Just let me fix it. You can just relax, fam.

You're just missing one thing....... I have nothing to lose, so I don't fear Death. Whether I exist or not is irrelevant. I'm just going to do what I'm going to do, not caring about the outcome. You don't have power over me—not anymore.

You.....You just wanted to save your friend! You just feared me! I felt it before you let me in!

That was then, this is now. I let stuff go pretty quick.

.........Prick.

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Dancing madness
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Each movement reminded her that the arm was injured, though not enough to cripple her ability to fight. One strike had managed to land and it already crippled his combat skills to a small degree. This wasn’t an assured advantage, though anything was better than nothing. This man was more of a threat than she would consciously give credit for. Muscles tensed within her arm, causing pressure and pain within her injured limb.  ”I’ve no need for your false pity. You look down upon me from a pedestal of false superiority. ” She reached up, sliding the mask off as it faded into nothingness.  Releasing a few strands of red hair that flowed within a wind that did not exist. Her lips were curled into a disdainful snarl, eyes alight with malicious darkness.

”They have done more for me than your master has ever done.” In an instant she moved to react against the attack made her against her, all too ready to react to the initial blow before the true attack made its mark. Hitting the back of her knee and nearly forcing the woman to fall forward before changing weight onto her other leg and lashing out with a spiral of slashes from her weapon. A means to force him away from her body before using a free arm to push her back a few feet. Malice now radiating from her in a palpable sensation, enough so that it likely could cause a lesser man to drop dead from shock.   ”first I will smash you into oblivion and then this world shall join the many my master has consumed.  You will not know nothingness but a fate far too good for something like you.”

All at once a pulse erupted from her. Pale blue in color that spread outwards and encompassed both of them,  though nothing seemed to happen to The Disciple as that was not the intention of the maneuver. ”Now, dance little disciple. Let’ see if you can play my game.” Her step forward was faster than before, though he would find that any moves backwards would be equally swifter than before. The strike itself was meant to slice through flesh, meaning that only dodging would work unless he wanted to be cut.
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Clash of titans
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Was she feeling conflicted?

Sheiara had never thought that was possible but this was not the first time that she had faced down a child hoping to rebel against her.  Did they truly believe they knew better than her?”I thought I had taught you better than this. These people will only leave you once you become inconvenient, and in the end they’ll only weaken you. I’ve seen the extents of this Yamm and they’re nothing special. If you’ll stand in my way,” Then she was gone, not simply teleportation but a feat of short distance speed with weapon already in motion. ”then you die should already.” The weapon cut through the air,  a good step to his right with the aim to slice through his neck. He should have been able to defend himself, she expected that much.
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Gods in fire
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The Traveler ground his teeth, trying to force the blade further through the dense skin of the king. Despite the effort he was putting into the strike this amounted to nothing more than a little blood even when the unknown third party drove their knife into his stomach. What the hell was going on here? His eyes widened, watching his weapon begin to sink even further as if that had somehow weakened him. ”Twist that knife into that son’of’abitch!” He roared, putting all the strength available into trying to cut further. If they managed to meet in the middle with Archon that meant they could sever the head and not even The King could brush off being decapitated.

Could he?

Something within him said something. This whisper that seemed to grow loud enough that it temporarily drowned out thought. He was wasting his time but what did that meant. Gritting his teeth, he continued towards the head cutting off goal.
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Not today
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
”I know what potential you’d have them reach, though that of a corpse wouldn’t be as good.” He smiled,  holding up the staff within his hand between the two of them. Something about this man being so composed was odd, even when being faced against death itself.  Even when faced with the darker portrait of Lucius Alba. ”still, I won’t fight you here. I have other matters to attend to for now.” His eyes flickered to the scythe pressed between him and those running away with a smirk.  There would be time later.

With a wave of his hand and words muttered under his breath he was gone.
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Dark and Light collide
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through the dark void lightning flashed. Casting a light that for a moment seemed to fill it completely and cause the writhing darkness around their arena to shrink for but a moment. Nyx leapt back, feeling the dark barrier before her fading away much like ash. An annoyed frown present on her lips before flicking her wrist and lashing out with the dark construct with in her hand. Smashing through a few fragments of charred arena instead of the young god that had been within her sights only a second ago. ”Not as weak as you were the last time we clashed, huh little brother?” Nyx mused, raising her weapon now whole to deflect the blade meant to strike at her neck, kicking Cas back a good few meters.

Both looked worse for wear, though Cas had a few more deep looking gashes bleeding a glowing golden ichor. ”If you’re trying to distract me, it won’t work.” He growled in return, swinging his weapon and releasing a wave of gold flames. Washing over the shattered battle ground and the goddess who was gone by its fading.

That was because she was behind him, ramming her weapon through his back. Now slick with blood and pain blossoming through his body from the injury now having been punched through him. This was actually the chance he needed, grasping onto the weapon now lodged within his body and swinging his fist around. Colliding with a face and bringing with it the crunch of bone. Her body being throw into a floating fragment of earth, causing it to shatter. Ripping it from his side, Cas applied as much fire as he could until the injury burned closed.

It still hurt however.

He knew that whatever powers she was using was hurting him and even when he managed to heal himself somewhat the pain remained. Everything about this was not looking good; especially when she rose from the plume of dust with nothing more than a crooked nose. ”That hurt a little,” She spat a glob of black blood infused spittle, scrunching her nose back into place.  ”you’re wasting your time. This world was doomed before you even came to it and something tells me you have no reason to even remain there. Father came to bring you home or did you not hear?”

”You’re lying! I know how you work,” He spat, vision having begun to grow a little blurry. ”i’m here for a reason and it’s to stop The Black Beast.” Despite how weak he felt, he managed to stand resolute, fire burning within his eyes.

”That would be you. So full of love for everything to see that existence doesn’t care for you. Your martyr complex will only get you hurt or gods forbid killed. I’d been hoping to break you of this delusion but i’m starting to believe that is impossible.” For a moment she disappeared, that being until he felt the boot slam into his face, followed by the ground coming to greet him. ”What keeps you here? It can’t be because you feel some kind of satisfaction there. In our world the people loved you but here it’s quite the opposite.  You’re just the next bleeding heart trying to save worthless, transient beings.  If you don’t stop you’ll only end up being burned.”

A kick lifted him from the ground and through the air. Something collided with his body, followed by another and another until he landed against. An arm draping over the edge of something while he tried to take in a few breaths.

”I’d thought you would learn on your own but it’s time to see reality for what it is.”

"Shaddup asshole, you’re the only reason we’re in this mess!" Azrael shouted back to The Dark Traveler with a slight smile as the blade plunged even deeper. Imperium didn’t alide much more, though his neck had not given way as The Traveler’s blade found its home in him. He reached over and kept his grip upon The Traveler’s blade. From the endless void a tall man with a purple mask arrived, both eyes indigo in color with a third eye, blood red and black sclera to match the black leather jacket and grey-fur that adorned his costume. A glowing blade seemed to stab into The King’s back, the blade vanishing at the point of impact on one side and appearing on the other, the small rift seeming to appear on the exit wound, the nonexistence seeming to crack into the King’s skin, spreading like electrical scarring. He had four blades dug in him now. Zell’s Azrael’s, The Blade of The Beast and The Shyguy’s blade.

”N-not feeling so good Mr.Stark. Ehehe.” The King said to Zell before starting to wheeze another chuckle in there before he let out another roar in pain as he felt a jagged weapon to pierce into his sin. Old Man Consequences had struck again, the broken scythe of death, the Broken scythe had joined in the assault, leaving The King to be connected with the final piece to the puzzle.

“It’s over, you son of a bitch! Balance can be restored!” Consequences began to speak before he heard a chuckle. Pure laughter broke out as The King’s eyes began to glow their two separate colors. An invisible force shoved every person in the oncoming vicinity back, leaving the blades to burn hot to the touch, forcing the wielders to release. Even if they managed to keep the blades, pieces of them fragmented off and remained stuck within The King.

“The Imperium of One, The Quill of Azrael, The Blade of The Beast, The Void’s Whisper and The Blade of the Broken God.” He smiled as he felt the wounds sealing up, the power coursing through his veins for only a moment as he held out his hand. It seemed as though the wounds had shifted, moving over his body and formulating into his very hand until there was a disgusting spurt of blood, an unhoy and festering growth appeared on his hand, contorting his arm and the skin flaying form his arms as blood rained out. The skeletal structure of his arm fell to the ground as the sinew and flesh began to weave and form like sentient tentacles that had taken a life of their own. The King just laughed as he watched, his arm forming and discoloration as blood and bone fell to the ground, the remainder of his flesh formulating a pitch black weapon as streaming blood became adorning crystals. There, inside the newly appearing wound of where the man’s arm had once been, was a new weapon entirely. With shaking breath and manic giggles The King took the Weapon and began to laugh.

The moment was short lived as he gripped the blade and heard an explosion. He looked over to see a horrific tear in the sky as a large black creature of draconic and canine design seemed to expand itself throughout the side, two large looming ghostlight eyes dancing before a growl, the size shrinking to be like that of what one might have expected of the cartoonishly large direwolves. The scene itself looked as if the world had been a picture and someone had sliced through it, stepping through, and all that was behind them was darkness and a lingering sensation of stillness. A much smaller being arrived as well. The small being reached back and seemed to pull on the edge of the rift, the rift tearing even more so before the strand of the torn reality broke off into his hand and began curving at the ends. With the other hand he reached up to pet the beast and with a swift motion ended up plucking what could only be described as a strand of the large wolf. With a swift motion the strand fixated between the torn reality made bow.

The King looked horrified for a moment before he yelled. He reached out and held the weapon before it vanished from his hand in the flash of a darker purple streak. The King began to pant and giggle as he watched the two arrive. Archon looked back to see the sight and he forced himself to swallow, fighting off the feeling of suffocation. Consequences sat to the ground and put his hands into his hair, letting out a drawn out sigh. He shook his head, not releasing them as he pulled, trying to alleviate his stress through pain.

“I’m so sorry.” A small voice said from behind them all. The King seemed to acknowledge this voice, turning and ignoring all others as he turned to see The Author standing there with a small smile and tears in his eyes as he held his book in hand. He chuckled a little. The King’s silver hair turned grey and then suddenly black, with only a few strands of grey hidden within. His old features softened and appeared to be much more youthful. The off colored eyes changed to the far more normal kinds before he let out a shaking breath. Not scottish accent, just a wince of pain. “I-I tried so hard to save you….I’m sorry.”

“S...Silus?” The voice sounded far more normal, Azrael was in shock as he watched what appeared to have been a monster turn into an older version of himself in a heartbeat. Drifter, had he been able to see, would have seen The King of Fools transform into none other than his broken minded friend. The King stumbled for a moment before he felt a sharp pain through his back. A mortal pierced through the heart by a black blade. His last trembling breath as a tear and a smile. “...Thank you….”

Azrael stood up and began to turn around, feeling a sudden surge his eyes began to glow bright blue and he looked over, the eyes matching that of the wolf. He heard the whispers of the Primordial in his mind. He began to search around, knowing full well whom he needed to save. But he was conflicted. He scrambled to his feet and picked up the weapon he called his quill, noting that the blade was missing only one of the adorning feather pieces. It was a functional weapon all the same. He took the weapon and charged away from the frey, headed to a dark and ominous sky. He had to ensure Cas survived.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Eros, look! It’s him. It’s me! Running! Running...should I...chase them all?” The wolf asked his voice echoing and reverberating. It began to drool the same ghostly light as was visible in it’s eyes before it felt itself reigned in by the will of the one it called Eros.

“No. Not yet. They have not made their choice.” Eros said as the whispers of his words echoed to only the chosen. There were those that were not meant to be alive. Those that were, by their nature, an offense to the very balance of the universe in which they resided. It was these people that heard the whispered words of Eros.

Your time has come. You have lived your course, and perhaps then some more. But now you are given a choice. Your time has come. Will you go peacefully? Eros’ Arrow...or will you struggle and face Psyche’s Fang?

It was a simple question, but there were resounding and conflicted thoughts to all whom had heard it. Many heard nothing at all, many people not worthy of mention had heard this question. They began responding belligerently. Then there were those that were beyond the control. There was one thing very certain. Those that heard this, would surly face their end this night. (Do not have your character hear this unless you intend for them to die. If they plan to somehow outdo death this is not the time for them to try it.)

Austyn froze in place as he looked around, seeing his two brothers and swallowing hard. He cleared his throat. What in the Hell!? he asked. The one whom had possessed him remained silent, though Austyn could feel it deep within his bones. He knew that the voice he heard had not spoken to him, but he was an unfortunate wall,m a barrier. A shield for this spirit that had been marked for Death. “You’ve been given a chance to go peacefully. TAKE IT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” He shouted out loud as his eyes began to water, his hands in his hair pulling as he tried to force his will upon the spirit. His eyes shined back to the color of his possession even brighter than ever.

"Who are they to ask this? This is not the end. Come, bring me your fangs little dog. I’ll make quite a necklace of them." The angry spirit said with a smile as he looked to Psyche, Austyn’s fate sealed by proxy of the spirit’s resistance.

Through the crowd and the chaos, Pup had begun yelling out for The Hound. He pulled everyone together and tried to get his friends out of the way and prevent them from being trampled by the soldiers that were all running about to begin weaponizing the systems. The Pup heard his friend’s voice and he looked about calling out until he saw The Hound come into sight, dropped to his knees and he looked over the child a hand pushing hair out of his face and inspecting for any marks or wounds.

“Listen to me. Did you hear anything? Any voices that weren’t really there? A warning or an option?” The Hound asked, sounding quite desperate for a moment as he began checking the Boy. Pup had never seen such concern in the man’s eyes. He was instantly worreied, his mind wracked with curiosity. Why so many questions all at once? He shook his head left to right. Then he saw them, the figures in the distance, and he knew immediately. He shook his head left and right as he felt his eyes well up, biting his lower lip. “Listen. You get as far away from here as you can, do you understand me? You’re going to meet up with Humanity and tell him everything that’s going to happen. Got it?” The Hound ordered, but Pup dove forward and latched his arms around the man, almost refusing to let go. The Hound let out a sigh as he began to rub the boy’s back, patting the black leather jacket as he tried to separate himself.

“Get him off me, please. Kid it’s alright. It’s gonna be okay.” He assured him as he tried to have Shael and Jack pull him off. It took Jack quite some time to get started, but even Victor began to pull at Pup, and hopefully Shael would help peel him away. As they watched this, Victor let out a yelp as he began to struggle and maneuver around, black ichor rising up from the ground and pulling him back into the binding shadow of a man wearing broken masks, laughing hysterically. It looked eerily like the same substance that The Hound himself had been fused with, his heart aching as he began to allow his arms to become the same substance.

“So sorry boys, but I have an agenda to keep and a Mad God to reunite with his beloved child. Bwahahah” The laughter was entirely too manic and outrageous to be sane, the being began to slide through the battlefield, the child bound up in his own sentient shadow, like a cocoon of darkness, death and no parents.

The chaos was much thinner in the outer regions as Orpheus stopped dead in his tracks, quite abruptly next to Flamel as he turned and looked over his shoulder. He saw in the distance the one figure as well as the other. He knew exactly what he had heard. He recalled what The Author had said. He knew already what was to happen next. “Flamel….”

“I know that I am no friend to you, but I know the friend you were to Lucius and I know that there were differences, but thank you. For the both of us.” He said before moving to Lucas and Ryan before kneeling and opening his arms and trying to pull in the two children. “I don’t deserve the right to call such boys my children...but just know that even though I’m not worthy of it, I forever strive to be.” He knew that the modulator had failed for a moment and his sadness had seeped through. It wasn’t meant to be this way. He was supposed to die here, not Lucius. He was to die right here, right now defying Eros and Psyche, Lucas was to go on with Ryan and Flamel and find the place he had made for them. They were going to learn and grow and they were going to unite and defy Lucius. They were going to take Rise by storm and ultimately the world. In one fell swoop it may have been made all for naught. All of Orpheus hard work in preparing for them...the entire place he had made. But truly it wouldn’t matter, now would it? He would be long gone...

“Lucas. It will lead you home. Keep it. Follow it. I love you. I couldn’t be prouder of the young man you’ve become. Ryan is counting on you.” He whispered. He then leaned over to Ryan and sighed. “Embracing life means accepting Death, not when it comes charging to you, but when it comes to greet you as an old friend. You are going to be such a force of good in this world.” Orpheus said as he leaned back to address them both again.

“It’s not fair. It’s horrible, it’s pathetic and it’s monstrous. This horrid, beautiful world had no right to do this to you two. Please...just know that no matter what. You are loved...and that is truly the only thing that not even Death can take from you.” He said as he started to stand again. He took off his cloak and folded it over, revealing the sleek technological suit he wore, compounds of metal and rather ferocious features in a nice and compact form. He cleared his throat and shook his head. He dropped the cloak and lit his talons and fangs alight as he whispered a foreign word and vanished.

The Disciple’s battle began to reach it’s end as he was spliced through his cloth but his efforts were not in vain as his eye flashes before a runic marking appeared on his chest, allowing him to sink into the floor for a moment before reappearing behind her. A second and third, even a fourth replication of him arriving, each wielding a staff of a different element. One with hissing air that cut, the other with burning fire to scald, the next with an earthen rod for bludgeoning. The last wielded no weapon, but sat behind the rest with crossed legs and closed eyes.


There were a few whispers into the room, but before long Gravitas had arrived to Alpha, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay? People are saying they’re hearing voices asking them to die.” He asked, seeming genuinely worried. Lucius had disappeared from the face of the battleground, he did not wish to lose all his allies this night. In fact he had lost one of the few people whom ever cared to refer to him as a friend. Despite his anger towards Lucius, he respected and even cared for him. Even if it were not reciprocated. In his own way he cared for all whom were under the governance of Rise. Yet here they were without Lucius...not even a single speck of gravitational pressure to be detected. It was as if he had been erased from the known world. “Lucius is gone….” He sighed, actually unable to believe what had just said aloud.

Zeke had come around, Proarden arriving as well. Everyone whom had not seen him earlier that day stopped to look at him for a good while before finally prying their eyes away, he shifted uncomfortably as he looked to Alpha and Gravitas. Zeke seemed to hug the large sluggish horror show and trembled when he heard Lucius was gone. It was fair point to say that Lucius probably never cared much for Zeke, as he was not one of the the holy trinity children, but Zeke could respect the fact Lucius fought for him to have a future where he didn’t need to worry about things like The Agency.

“I heard once such voice. It spoke the truth. I do not belong here...I never have.” Proarden said as a single hand rubbed Zeke’s head. Gravitas looked in horror, dropping his hood and looking to the creature.

“That’s bullshit. Erm-It’s a lie, Proarden.” Gravitas said as he finally acknowledged Zeke’s presence. Zeke began to tremble as he put together what was being talked about. “You’re like a brother to me, and I refuse to let anyone take someone as kind and selfless as you away from this world. I lost Jared, I lost Lucius I’m not giving up anyone else. I will rip apart anyone who comes near us to shreds...I will surrounded us in black holes if I have to...” Gravitas said. He genuinely meant it. He wasn’t letting anyone else he remotely cared about.

“GYAH! A-Alpha! W-What are we gonna do!?” Zeke screeched for a moment as he looked around and about. Gravitas raised a hand and suddenly with a spark of purple electrical energy, there was a very thin luminescent membrane that formed around them.

“Alpha, Anyone you deem of importance needs to get to us! We’re getting out of here.” Gravitas said as he held himself still, his body glowing with the same outline as the membrane. Proarden looked about for a moment as he saw Inferno and Ink walking from what would have been the front lines in order to join with Gravitas and the others. Proarden looked to Zeke and then to Alpha, there was a slight glimmer in his eye as watched Gravitas.

All the while there stood a woman and her child. The Ti’tian goddess of war and battle and her offspring, the rejected son.

“You’ve sene his extents?” The young man asked as he dropped the yo-yo out of his hand towards the ground. The woman charged him. He only stood there and smiled as she closed the distance, weapon in motion. She gave a faux-strike towards the young man, before diving off to his left side slightly, the true blow about to land as she aimed for his throat. Suddenly there it was, a curved, scythe-like blade closing into her throat with enough speed for the two to feel time crawling. If she continued through with her attack, the curved blade would whip through her throat, and remover her head clean form her shoulders. Just as her blade would do to him. “You haven’t even scratched the surface of a single vessel. Let alone the concept.” He growled with a rather twisted smile as the traded blows would either end them both, or be forsaken in order for a proper evasion, ensuring both of their continued existences.

Investigation of where the blade had come from would give nothing. There was just a boy with a rather manic smile playing with his yo-yo. He smirked a little as his eyes seemed to shifted rapidly, locating and identifying several areas. He continued to go over and over the areas again, ensuring that his actual points and targets couldn’t be discerned by pure perception. He began to him as he dropped the yo-yo, again and again, calling it back to him smoothly as he watched his mother.

“You can’t even remember my name, can you? For all that talk about people tossing me aside when it’s convenient. It’s pretty clear that’s what you did to me. All the things you say others will you is all that you’ve ever done. Well don’t worry, I’ll help ya out. I’m gonna tell you my name, and I’m gonna tell you all the secret….then… someone’s gonna die.” He said as he dropped the yo-yo again. He smiled as he heard the voices of a younger child explaining to him the importance of restraint, of control. Then he heard an older voice, a human explaining the nature of balance within Life and Death, Existence and Nothingness. Harmony and Void. “My name is Lazeroth, and my secret? I’m the heir to the pyre of Prometheus. The Son of Chaos. Yamm’s secret? He’s not trying to come back to this reality. He’s been back for quite some time. Nope. He’s trying to break this reality.”

The Ti’tian boy smiled as the tattoos of darkness formed on his face, the living darkness crawling down from his black hair and formulating their dragon like feature, his hair turning a silver grey as the color bled onto his face. The darkness slithered under his shirt and the image of a what appeared to be a living dragon formed over his cheek, roaring and looking at the Ti’tian Goddess.

“Whadda ya know? I guess I do take after you. I’m just as unimpressed in my opponent as you are.” He said, with a slight echo to his voice. He let out a chuckle, goading his mother into attacking, having certain areas in mind. The point locations to attention as he kept one hand tucked in his pocket, the other leaving the yo-yo dropping and recalling to his grasp. Creativity was the limit, and Chaos was the patron of the creative heart.

There was a struggle inside Drifter's body. He'd experienced such a thing before, when that Insanity Warden invaded him. It was like fighting with yourself while being burned alive. Think of the thing you pushed yourself to achieve most in your life, multiply it by twenty, and add in some excruciating pain. The young man's eyes shifted rapidly in color, from black to pale grey. Back and forth control went, bones searing with pain the whole way. Death was strong, but he was not in Oblivion. This universe was much too far away for him to be at full strength. The strong will of the vigilante proved to be a worthy adversary.

Drifter's body fell to the ground. Luckily so many others were engaged in this battle with the King and The Traveler, otherwise this would have been a perfect opportunity to end him. He convulsed, holding his head as his mouth foamed. The agony was almost too much to bear. If the fight had lasted another second, he may have let go, but the Child of Creation relented.

Luke panted heavy breaths. His blonde hair still had the black streaks, and the scythe in his hand still hummed with power, but his eyes were undoubtedly those of his true self. He had won, at least for now. He had mastered Death. The being now wanted out more than anything, but Luke wouldn't let him. It was like what Drifter imagined it would feel like to be hooked up to a power grid. Untold energy surged through him, threatening to break free at any moment, but he kept it down.

"You..... You took control? H-how? Release him right now! Do you realize the damage you could do?!" Ren yelled, stepping toward Drifter with hostile purpose. The emo's hands surged with darkness, his Death Touch not held back one bit. This was his Patron after all—his Dad. He couldn't have some dumbass using that kind of power.

Drifter, for the first time in a good few hours, smiled. It was a sly smirk, noting apparent amusement and superiority. The vigilante made a simple gesture, and the shadows all around him reached out, grabbing Ren at lightning speed. Luke then held the teen inches from his face, entangling him in shadowy tendrils.

"Don't test me. I've had a really, really bad day. In case you haven't noticed, everyone has. You can have your precious entity back after I'm done fixing this. For now, you're going into time out," Drifter said, gesturing once again. He flung the boy a good thirty feet. Ren could only yell as he flew threw the air, but he was quickly silenced when he hit the side of a car at full speed, knocking him unconscious.

Drifter had to admit, this power felt good. He kept himself from embracing it too much, but he knew he wouldn't be able to much longer, especially considering the fact Death didn't exactly want to be trapped in his head right now. The vigilante had to act fast. Without a word, just as four mighty swords from other fighters stabbed into the King, Drifter lunged forward. He swung the scythe, and it met it's mark.

He was certain it would kill this.... Thing. He was certain. He knew the extent of the power Death wielded. This King should have been gone, wiped out. But no. He even seemed to get stronger. Wide eyed, Drifter stepped back, pulling his weapon out of the King's changing flesh. This was not good. Not good at all.

But, like many things today, things were not as they seemed. The situation almost instantly changed. A portal, or rather a tear, opened up. Two beings Drifter did not recognize emerged. No, he didn't know what they were, but judging by the reactions from the various people around him, it was bad.

On the bright side, The King faded...... Back to his friend. Not Humanity, but Matthew. Back when he was the idealistic one, before Luke somehow took the title of 'Most Hopeful' by default. He didn't know how it was possible. Hell, he didn't know how any of this was possible. But, he rolled with it.

Before Luke could say anything, though, Matt sped off.

"W-wait, hold on! What just happened? Where are you going, Matt?!" Luke protested, but it was no use. Matt was gone and the crowded fight had just got a lot more uncertain with the arrival of their new guests. Luke didn't pursue. He didn't have the time. He needed to contain Death long enough to end this. He could figure out what was going on with his friend later.

Luke cleared his throat, then shouted in the direction of the new arrivals.

"Hey! You two! Yeah, see, as much as we're just graciously welcoming new people into this supposedly impenetrable barrier of ours (by the way that's obviously bullshit, Archon), could you please just, for a second, explain who the fuck you are? There's already enough complicated plot lines intersecting right now. We're trying to save the world here. We don't need this shit," Drifter yelled, fully aware it was probably a stupid idea. That said, he was pretty much just stalling. Ideas on how to deal with new threats didn't just come instantly.

__________________


Flamel let out a sigh of relief as his old frenemy disappeared. He could handle that guy's antics if it were any other day, but this was not the time. The world was falling out from under them. First the Beast, then the Wardens, then this mysterious King individual, and now....... God only knew what now. If the world made it out unscathed it would be a miracle, let alone if everyone here survived.

Flamel was about to get a move on again. His plan was to get the boys to relative safety before rejoining the frey, but that was stopped by yet another event he had not foreseen. It wasn't all that different from when Lucius stopped them just a moment earlier. An inexplicable display of a man's final moments, out of nowhere. Blood Tithe spoke with a sadness in his voice. Flamel's brow furrowed in only the way such a stern man's could.

"Don't....D-don't you dare! They've already lost one father, don't-please, don't. I never got the chance to become your friend, no, Orpheus, but this is not about friendship anymore. You must stay here!" Flamel said. The old man had kept stoic as much as he could up until not, but his golden eyes couldn't help but produce a distinct watery glaze in this moment. These boys had lost their sister, their father, who knows how many other biological siblings in Alpha's Pride, and now Lucas would lose another person he loved, and Ryan the opportunity to get to know Lucius even after death. He couldn't imagine the pain. Even trying made his heart ache.

Lucas was a wreck. His hair had been reduced to a dirty and sweaty mop on his head, and his eyes were sunken into a pale, grief stricken face. He clung to Ryan, as if to keep him in this world with all his might, but as he listened to Orpheus, he fell to his knees. He didn't even have the energy to move towards the Blood Tithe. The boy just put his head in his hands, whimpering like a beaten dog. This was what it felt like to lose. This was what Lucius had described when he told his son the story of how their mother died. It was as if, as Red described, the universe was out to get him.

Lucas only looked up when the monster said his name. The child was barely recognizable. He was trembling as Blood went on, just as Lucius had, explaining why he had to leave them. He couldn't bring himself to speak—not fully. He only listened, sobbing as he shook his head, mumbling softly "no.." over and over again. He gripped the Sin Clone's longcoat tightly as soon as he had got close. His fists were like vice-grips, not wanting to let go. He tugged on it, pulling Orpheus down to the Earth with all his might, but it did nothing. Blood Tithe removed the coat, leaving it in the boy's hands.

The monster—no, the man—then said his final words. He disappeared in the next second, without a trace. Lucas was inconsolable. He crawled to Ryan, his brother, and curled up on his leg, weeping profusely into the younger boy's pant leg. How Ryan had remained strong through this he didn't know. Sure, he didn't have that great a relationship with Lucius or any relationship with Orpheus, but losing a father was still a hard blow after losing a sister, no matter the relationship. Lucas was glad to have him as a sibling, and as a friend.

"D-don't leave me Ryan. Please don't leave. I-I need your help..... I... I don't want to be alone,"
Lucas said softly as he cried, holding Ryan tightly. He'd never let go of him. He couldn't. There were so few left now. So few. They had to stick together.

Even Flamel couldn't just soldier on after this blow. He sighed, sitting down on the ground next to the boys. Perhaps they could wait this out, at least for a little bit.

__________________


To be honest, the triplet's plan of action didn't quite ever get off the ground. With so much happening, they had been busy fighting. Truth be told, they hadn't a clue where to start to find the required people to fix their lives. Eric would have been upset, but he had resigned himself to who he was long ago. Sure, it would have been great to be back with his brothers.... Mom, Dad. But, it seemed that life was not there's to have. All but confirming this was a voice in Eric's head.

"What.....what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

There was no way of knowing that multiple blades sinking into someone would cause a strange reaction within them. Flesh burnt and cracked as the mad king laughed his triumphant guffaw. A new weapon that quivered with an unknown malevolent energy  that resonated through his body. This could have been bad until he felt reality itself peel away and something break through in violent motions. His eyes opened wide, staring at the wolf and other form that had appeared as his fingers loosed from the blade itself and he skipped back. Events seemed to move from there while he watched and the man seemed to change from the monster to someone.

Someone memorable.

"Matt?" He said to himself eyes wide somewhat as the other Silus apologized for reasons he could not explain. A presence lurked within the back of his mind, watching everything happening before the man. It rose, like a wave over his consciousness until the darkness was all he knew. His pupils spilling out over his irises until The Dark Travelers eyes were nothing more than dark pits lit with subtle intelligence. His body stilled, watching the scene which had taken place before him and then he was gone. Blade striking through his heart, blood coating the weapon and sliding back towards the hilt not as dark.

"A little anticlimactic this is," He said, ripping the blade from his body and watching them fall like a sack of wheat. "still, can’t afford to take any chances. i’ve seen you recover from worse." Something about his body pulsated with a darkness, empty yet vast that was held back by the flesh of the vessel by a mere inch. He knelt over the body, turning them over with a soft almost sympathetic smile on his lips. "i’ll be sure you have your eternal sleep, just as you deserve." Darkness formed around his hand an undulating aura about it lashing out at the very around him.  Reality retreated from his very touch. So he reached to remove the very body from this world.

–

Hearing it was far different than seeing it happen. Alpha looked to Gravitas as if he had spoken in an ancient and unknown language. Lucius was dead? Hearing that the person he had called friend above anyone else outside of his family. ”So he is. No, haven’t heard any voices telling me to die.” He said, sounding defeated more than anything else. As if knowing that information was not something that would change anything in the end and even Zeke’s shrieks only mildly roused him from his stupor.

He knelt down, tousling Zeke’s hair and pulling him close. ”If we can get out of here, that’s what we’re doing. I don’t want to see anyone else die.” He sighed, letting his consciousness stretch out to the few people that he had brought. Oliver, if you can hear me come here immediately. We’re pulling out. His eyes watched over Proarden for a moment, wondering what was happening but overall didn’t really say anything to them. Let the creature do whatever it was that it wanted to do and he would do the same.

Zeke would be allowed to contact who he wanted through the hive mind before they left.

-
The blade collided with a scythe with a screech of metal as she skipped back with a faintly amused smirk. It seemed her son didn’t allow his skills to grow dull, even if it included being able to speak so much. ”This reality's breaking is of no consequence to me.” She breathed deeply, writhing black markings spreading out further and spreading out until her veins turned black against her pale flesh.

”I have no needs for gods, chaos or anything else. Tools one and all. Now, enough of our talk. Live or die, I won’t coddle you anymore.  Show me if you’re worth living further,” She squared up against the young man and so they clashed.

-

Ryan watched the man he had talked to before speak as if he were preparing to die much like his father. His eyes watched him listlessly, feeling nothing yet everything at the same time. His mind rationalized many things but he couldn’t really explained why this felt. This world was truly horrible, he had seen the terrible things that existed within history and death was never kind.  Energy bubbled through his blood, burning like fire. Cold fire. ”I won’t leave you Lucas,” He wrapped a small arm around his older brother, hugging what strength he could muster with his own child’s body.  With a soft motion of the hand, he lifted his brother enough to make it easier to move.

He looked to Flamel with a mildly curious expression. ”What are we doing now?”