Battle of the Multiverse

[HayesAJones]

The angel's plan worked initially. The quick, snaking pillar of holy fire trapped the fiend, biting into it again and again, taking fur, skin, flesh, and even layers of bone as it returned over and over to feed, to satiate the right hand of Cercil's bloodlust. The instant the smoke rising off its charred body fully enveloped it though, it vanished, and Mulek felt hot breath on her neck.

"Provide me some modicum of entertainment," the angel heard her own voice mock, spine-tinglingly close to her left ear.

Then her own voice split into a demonic cackle as the weight of the peerless freak bared down on her with both claws and teethed unsheathed, intent on tearing into the angel like a cat pouncing on a bird...!

_____________________

As the battle raged on, a second, much smaller group- just two individuals- emerged from the towering rift: a short woman in arid-climate clothing and a tall, robotic humanoid coated in sweets that resembled a gumball machine. The woman threw up her hands when she saw the carnage.

"Cairne, what the hell?" she cried aloud to no one in particular. "We we just suppose to talk!"

Despite her protests, her trained eyes worked quick to break down the situation. While the clash between the army and the giant, artificial human, and ninjas seemed like chaos, she saw it differently, as a machine with many moving parts; a dynamic stage with numerous players, each on their own trajectories. Right now, each of those trajectories- the ones that mattered, anyway- curved around or avoided Dante entirely.

Dea smiled. She hadn't given Tengri enough credit. He had set things up perfectly for her.

Maybe she'd offer him a second drink.

"Have fun, Tom Servo," she smirked to the Kandyman. "I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Alighieri."

Approaching the eldest and leader of the ninjas at a casual stroll, the demigod set her sights on the group of Mal'akh rushing him. Her eyes narrowed, and she breathed in. She strained her vocal cords to deepen her voice.

And when she spoke, it was thunder.

"Hey."

Though the word shocked the world like a bomb, it was not shouted. Dea was not even raising her voice. If anything, she was speaking rather quietly. That would not spare the Mal'akh. Caught in the destructive vibrations of the woman's voice, the ape-men disintegrated, unraveling into threads of muscle and tissue and skin, as well as a fine mist of blood.

When the scarlet cloud settled, Dea was grinning at Dante. "Let's talk."

[Beast Blood]

Tengri watched on with glee as each and every fighter was countered. However, the corner of his eyes caught a most interesting, if perhaps displeasing, sight: the sheet of ice meant to crush the Colossian being brutishly tugged and pulled, not with waterbending or with any sort of elemental ability, but with sheer might alone.

With growing amusement, the god observed as the Borskall blacksmith dug her feet's claws into the street and brought the enormous piece of ice down upon his minions with enough force to shatter the earth and topple the nearby structures to dust, crushing the furry warriors beneath. Water pipes from beneath the street spat their content like gargoyles in reverse. However, his amusement diminished when he witnessed the Borskall blacksmith retrieve the icy bludgeon from its grounded position and spin around, building enough momentum to throw the gigantic object towards him!

[Godzilla165]

Ubel and Evron shot into the sky, easily escaping the fast growing sinkhole. The latter smirked, “Cheeky bastard, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Ubel murmured.

With a humph, Evron cracked his neck, brought his hands up to the pit of his chest, and performed a series of lightning quick hand signs to conjure up some reinforcements for the heroes. In seconds, a total of 40 exact copies of Evron lined up next to he and Ubel. Together, they set their sights upon the Mal’akh as Evron himself disappeared amongst the crowd.

“Hey, dickheads!” One shouted.

“You can regenerate all you want, but we’ve got a little surprise for ya!” Another exclaimed.

One doppelgänger turned and slapped Ubel on the shoulder, “Watch and learn, little bro, these things are about to wish they were dead.” As such, the army of Evrons charged at the simian beasts, swarming collective groups of them with unrelenting aggression. Soon enough, hundreds were being vaporized left and right as Ki Surges were unleashed to and fro, which inadvertently tore through the already ravaged city as a result.

Ubel watched on and groaned to himself. “Great, just when I thought one Evron was annoying enough as is.” Ubel soon followed suit, but instead of launching himself at the Mal’akh, he raised Soul Ravager up above his head, and merely allowed himself to drop from the sky. As he neared closer and closer to the earth, Ubel infused the great hammer with some energy of his own, and with a brief shout, the ninja slammed it down dead center on whatever soldiers were below. The titanic blow sent the Mal’akh flying every which way as far as the eye could see, and hurled an ear piercing shockwave off into the far distance.

On the other side of the city, Dante and Daeva had been flourishing in eviscerating Tengri’s forces, with the latter turning many into mist whilst still pulling his punches. The heat from Dante’s blades were enough to atomize the Mal’akh they cleaved through, while Daeva blitzed through dozens of them in the fraction of a second. The two of them used various telepathic cues and signals to remain in sync, making for an efficient and devastating combo.

Then, out of nowhere, a massive pillar of pure fire exploded from the ground and shot into the sky. The two ninjas suddenly found themselves separated, with them not being able to see through the flames. “Daev-” Dante’s call was interrupted when he suddenly felt a rolling torrent of heavy energy slamming into him, via a simple call. The ninja Prime turned his head to the source of the mysterious power, and descended to meet its owner. When Dante landed, he immediately found himself face to face with a dark haired woman. At first, she looked like your typical human, from what Dante had seen of them so far on Earth. But, the latter could clearly tell that, no, this girl was different. She possessed power that honestly surprised Dante a bit, if for nothing more than her comparatively normal appearance.

The woman grinned at him, and then said, “Let’s talk”.

Dante raised an eyebrow; what could she possibly have wanted to talk about? Was she here with that strange attacker and his army of hairy beasts? Or, did she have ulterior motives in play? Obviously, there was really only one way to find out, and Dante finally relented in his silence.

“Alright then, let’s talk. You go first.” He said.

On the other side of the fire wall, Daeva found herself now alone, but she could still sense all of her siblings’ energy signatures. With a sigh of relief, Daeva then turned her attention to the slowly incoming form of the one whom started all this. By the time Tengri reached her position, Daeva was long gone, and the latter was left with a mocking afterimage. Soon enough, Tengri heard a whistle nearby, and turned to find Daeva waving atop a building.

“Hi, nice to meet you! You’re the guy did that flashy little entrance, and sent those gross, hairy things to attack this city, aren’t you? I guess, in that case, it’s terrible to meet you!” Daeva taunted. “My name’s Daeva, and let’s see: I love to dance, I reeeaally love taking photos of different things, I do this whole thing with my brothers for a living... Oh! And I just turned 18 million a couple days ago! Had a party and everything, it was a lot of fun. Can’t really hold my liquor yet, though.”

Daeva then held up Tengri’s staff that she now possessed in her hand, pointing at it with her other. “Nice staff, by the way. Really good craftsmanship from whoever made it.” The ninja peered around the hulking form of Tengri, noticing the giant sickle of frozen death careening towards him.

[Demon Lord Gira]

The only thing that saved Mulek was a point blank burst of hellfire from her scythe as she fell to the ground. The blast send the fiend sprawling backwards, and Mulek as well, though she managed to stop herself just in time in the middle of the air.

Gone was the arrogance and haughty nature of the angel. Now there was fear, an ancient bestial fear that seemed to have etched into the heart of the angel. This... This creature was a freak of nature, an abomination beyond her! This wasn't just some spec to smear across the ground, but a monstrosity that had to be killed here and now!

And the angel realized as the fiend recovered from its sprawl, she lacked the means or the firepower to kill it. Not like this. She needed to fall back, to retreat!

A blinding light shone from the head of the scythe, a light that Mulek hoped would give her enough time to escape as she prepared to open a rift and flee as far from this world as possible...

____________________________

Nichelle's sensors warned her of the gathering electricity within Tengri's weapon. Even as she had been cutting her way through the warlord's foes, doing everything in her power to keep them down no matter how often they came back up, she was keenly aware of the gathering energy.

So when the lance was thrust forward, and the bolt of lightning shot at her, she was ready.

With reaction times far beyond what a human would be capable of, the clone dove to the side. The bolt missed, but even a near miss still left its mark. The girl's flesh boiled and burned from the heat that passed by. She gritted her teeth as she caught herself. Thankfully, the blast had actually struck some of Tengri's own forces, and the beasts she had been fighting were reduced to ashes, a grim reminder of what might have happened to her if she had been caught.

"Diverting power into barrier and nanosteel blades." She muttered. Around her, the electromagnetic barrier Korraz had gifted her began to shimmer and thicken, before it reformed around her, becoming as if a translucent body suit for her. The only parts of her not covered were the blades that stuck from her hands, and the clone noticed Daeva was already facing the foe.

If the head was removed... then the army would surely perish.

In her way however were many of the towering beasts, and Nichelle charged them. Her blades skewered into their hides, and the heat and electricity within boiled their insides and cooked them alive. She cut through them, and moved to a third, impaling it with both of her blades before she hurled the creature right at Tengri, alongside the giant icicle sickle...

[Monster X]

The Kandyman surveyed the battle field with little idea of where to begin. It all looked fun but there were clearly a lot of beings here he was ill suited to dealing with outside his “kitchen”. He then caught sight of a human form practically dancing through the hordes of Mal’akh. His vision was then obscured as one of the beasts stepped in his way, so the Kandyman lashed out with sugary fist and turned it’s head to pulp. When the decapitated body fell out of the way, he saw his target more clearly. It was a girl with long black hair, who sang with electricity and steel.

Kandyman produced his most prised possession, a large coin given to him by his master. It was gold and adorned with the face of the Osiran. Masked on one side, unmasked on the other. He flicked it up into the air where it turned end over end as gravity took hold of it. He the snatched with his right hand and slammed it onto the top of his left. When he uncovered the coin, it was the unmasked face.

His choice made, the Kandyman tucked his coin away then used his new legs to propel himself into the sky. As he flew through the air, a panel in the sugary robot's chest opened and he stuck his thick fingers inside. When he passed over Nichelle’s head he dropped what looked like brightly coloured sweets. As they connected with the clones barrier they began to expand in multi-coloured blobs. The homicidal robot then turned and leapt at Nichelle as soon as his feet touched the ground. When he was close enough, the Kandyman punched with all his strength. His fist connected with one of the candy blobs, which insulated him from the intense heat of the barrier, but did little to to full kinetic energy of the blow as it struck.

[EdGojira]

As it turned out, the source was not particularly hard to find. As Dana and company entered the shanty shack, Kenzie had the clever idea of using magic. Her eyes flashed in color and she pointed in its direction.

It was a weedy little alien in a mech suit and a floppy hat featuring an anchor.

"Who should talk to it?" Dana asked.

"Someone inconspicuous." Jules said.

There was a pause. Dana lightly tapped Jackie on the back, sending him lurching forward and toward the alien. "Did I do that?"

Jackie frowned. The alien is somehow the least conspicuous? Jackie described the alien and asked, "Have you seen anyone like that?"

"Tis a vague description. Might as well ask me if I've seen a dragon today."

"Okay, fine." Jackie said. Dana, Jules and Kenzie were having a drink. He found it odd how the species was immune to every toxin, yet their livers still had a jolly time with alcohol. He leaned in and whispered. "Can you take us to the Underground?"

The alien leaned in closer. "You didn't need to near gimme a kiss to ask."

And just like that, they were lead to a small shuttle into which they were packed like sardines. The pilot asked, "So what are you exactly?"

"We're witches—"

Jules elbowed Kenzie.

"Three blasphemers and their familiar. You'll blend right in."

The beach and trees gave way to the reflective smooth overlaying of roads leading into an iridescent city of hues purple, pink and black. They weren't going there, exactly. They took a route under. One that weaved through the roots and trunks of trees eons old, through brambles of thorny vines each three meters wide. Where they arrived, the majesty of the city bled through the top in rays.

Most of the Underground was made of the same material as the city. It simply took on a new light hidden away. The Underground, ever stuck in a place between hidden and not. There were stretches of concrete stretching from above visible. Even on Nexus, they liked to play a little loose with the gods' requests.

The group stuck close together. This place constantly shifted where its locales were, as Jackie found out himself when he went to the alien office but found it to be a club instead.

"Too ugly," the bouncer said. They snatched Jackie up by his shirt and casually threw him out.

Dana attempted to use the ocular power that Kenzie did, only to end up invading a poor couple's privacy with her seeing through vision. She rubbed her eyes and huddled up to Kenzie, who found the place they were looking for instantly.

"You've got to teach me that one."

"Will do," Kenzie winked.

The group proceeded toward the place. They had not gotten the name of the alien they had encountered, which would make finding it difficult through conventional means. "Looks like we are going to need to Drift," Jules said.

"Uh, who's going to do that?" Jackie said. He vaguely remembered something that sounded like that, which involved synching two minds together.

"You can do it on your own," Jules placed her immense paws on his shoulders. She raised a finger to his head and smiled. "It might turn your brains to jelly, though."

Jackie wiped a drop of blood from his temple.

"Sorry."

"It takes two," Kenzie said. She put her arm around Dana's shoulder. "I say me and Dana. We're super compatible."

"That won't work, my girl" Jules said. "You got knocked out first. You didn't see the alien."

"Then the little guy would work," Kenzie said. "He can probably remember him better because they look alike."

Jules shrugged.

"That's racist."

Dana guided him away and toward their destination. The building was a blank box, restroom in the back but filled with small boxes resembling lockers but with screens and flashing purple lights. Jackie went toward one of these, but Dana shook her head and pointed toward a row of beds. Between every two beds was one of the computers, with a cable sticking out of them and sitting on the bed. Jackie observed that these looked dirty.

Dana eyed Jackie nervously before she approached the nearest one and laid down. Jackie followed suit. Kenzie came to Dana's side and closed metal braces around her wrists, ankles and tail. Jackie was small enough that one around his waist meant for a tail sufficed as they were both buckled in.

Dana looked over to Jackie as the cables were stuck to their heads. "See you past the Drift."

She then stared at the ceiling. Son of a—

And then their minds were being bridged.
_________
Someone who so happened to be watching the skies that dark early morning would see a streak of blue light appear from outer space. It would then find its place at the outskirts of the city.

The pilot searched its vehicle for any valuables. They drew a large, fat object—something fragrant but toxic rolled into paper. "Dragons and their poison. I've still got the scars from their hydrochloric acid sprinkler."

And in a flash of blue light, the pilot's innards were splattered over the inside of its vehicle. Chunks rained down inside the Underground, a fine mist of orange blood showering a stoic draconic face.

[HayesAJones]

"Great," the woman grinned, mischief shining bright in her dark eyes. "'Cause I've gotta ask: what's with the name? Were your parents just big fans of classic poetry? Or hack and slash games maybe?"

With a laugh, the stranger suddenly pulled her hands from her pockets and gestured wildly. "Wait, wait! Tell me you're actually the guy who wrote the Divine Comedy! Please tell me that!"

Retiring one of her waving hands, the woman plucked a jug from her fluttering robe.

"That'd be hilarious," she remarked before taking a quick sip.

_____________________

The fiend, its pristine coat now stained heavily by soot and blood, flinched at the light, shielding its huge, singular eye with both hands.

Privately though, masked by both the brilliant flash and the shadows cast by its heavy hands, it smirked...

[Demon Lord Gira]

The sudden candy blob expanding against her barrier caught Nichelle off guard. She hadn't expected an attack of this kind to be thrown at her, let alone one that seemed to care little for the dynamics of her barrier. The Kandyman's offense was even more surprising, as the kinetic force strained and cracked the barrier. Though she herself was safe from the actual hit, she was still pushed back from the blow, more than she expected, and had she not braced herself, would have been sent tumbling head over heels.

So this person hit as hard as Mara... or even harder. Good, then he would be the perfect measuring stick for her partially restored form.

As the Kandyman readied for another punch, the barrier dropped in the area of Nichelle's eyes, and a pair of burning beams shot through and struck the machine square in the chest. They blasted him back and sent him hurtling through the sky, into several of Tengri's beasts. The barrier recovered her eyes, and Nichelle refocused her power into her barrier. The blob attacked began to overheat and bubble, swelling in size before it erupted, several molten globs flying back out into the horde, and one at where the Kandyman had landed...


_________________

With the rift opened, Mulek wasted no time in fleeing into its dark insides. Yet, as she fled, she could have sworn she saw a smirk on the fiend's face.

She closed the rift at once. She was back in Makai now, the great crystal palace visible in the distance, and herself on a small floating rock several miles away. She collapsed onto her hand and knees, the scythe dropped to the ground, and she panted.

What... What on earth WAS that thing? Every bit of power she threw at it, every attack she had, everything at her disposal... it had shrugged off and laughed at. No, it had MOCKED her and taunted her, with her words, with her voice!

This scythe... This gift from Cercil, itself a gift from Lucifer, no better than an average blade against that monster! The greatest weapon ever used by an archangel... useless!

She curled up onto her side, and fit her thumb into her mouth. Tears began to well in her eyes, and she rocked back and forth. She couldn't face Cercil, not like this, not having been so humiliated so soon into her task. She'd be deemed a failure, a weakling, a nobody. Craefr would be vindicated in his assessment of her... a chronic miserable failure.

"I'm not weak... I'm not weak... I'm not weak..."

[Godzilla165]

“You’ll have to forgive me, I’m not from this part of town.” Dante remarked. He couldn’t quite get a bead on this strange woman yet, but he didn’t need to search her soul to see the clear mischief in her eyes. For now though, Dante would play along with her little game.

“Yo, Em, just checking in, how are things going on your side?” Evron called out psychically.

“So far so good, Daeva and I got separated, but she’s fine. Oh, and it looks like I just met a new friend.” Dante responded, keeping his eyes locked on Dea.

“Can’t wait to meet them,” Evron mused, “me and Ubel are finishing up on our side, so we’ll be headed that way in a few.”

“Okay, see you guys in a little bit.” Dante cut the psychic link and locked eyes with Dea. “Pretty nifty move you pulled on those soldiers back there; you’ve got some power, I’ll give you that.” Dante then reached up, removed his helmet, and held it under his arm. “Who are you?” He inquired.

[Corzak The Mighty]

"Wait wait wait," Nyx replied over the speakers. "So you're telling me there's MORE of those things?"

"Untold numbers," Immanuel stated solemnly. "Whatever fiend commanded them conjured them across dozens of other worlds. As my companion here has said, not all were as lucky as yours."

The voice over the speakers cursed under her breath, before she continued. "Well, that's... harrowing to put it lightly. We'll need to prepare a plan of action to deal with that ASAP. I'd rather this planet not get its shit kicked in by interdimensional space zombies. We've had our fill of weird space monsters by now."

"If you so wish, we could advice you on your next course of action," Immanuel offered.

"Hmmm.... maybe. But only if your buddy's okay with it."
_____________________________________
Tengri's eyes narrowed on the form of Daeva twirling around his polearm. How had she managed to wrench it from his grasp? The King of King's control of metal normally meant such a feat would be impossible... no matter. Perhaps he had merely let his guard down. He figured he might as well entertain the ninja for a few moments, unaware of the solidified ice hurtling toward him.

"An honor to meet you, Master Daeva," Tengri stated with faux admiration. "Perhaps talking is one of your favorite past times as well?"

As he spoke, The polearm in Daeva's hands faded into fine shards of metal, before it reforged itself in Tengri's hands. "My weapons are my own design. I create them from - "

Suddenly, Tengri sensed a sudden change in the air pressure behind him. Glancing behind him, Tengri immediately noticed the massive hunk of ice, along with the mangled remains of one of his Mal'akh soldiers, flying towards him at high speeds. Quickly turning around, Tengri thrust a hand forward and, just as the hunk of ice would have impacted him, the iceberg was split down the middle, before dissipating into two massive puddles of water around Tengri's steed's feet. As the Mal'akh's corpse approached him, he used the water to form a razor-thin whip, before he cleaved the creature's body in twine, causing its viscera to splatter across the ground around Tengri.

He then turned his attention back to Daeva. "Now... Where was I?"
_________________________________________________________________
Behind Evron and Ubel, a monstrous roar, like the screech of cracking metal, echoed through the town. Emerging from the sinkhole behind them, a monstrous shape, easily over 200 feet tall, emerged, forged from what appeared to be metal from pipes, electrical wires, and miscellaneous other objects made of metal. The towering construct appeared akin to a nightmarish statue, its face twisted into what could only be called a scream of agony. With another roar, the monster of metal unleashed a torrent of metal flechettes that filled the entire block, the creature taking no heed for its Mal'akh "allies" that, had their flesh not been destructive of normal metals, would have been shredded to bits...

[Godzilla165]

The second Tengri turned around, Daeva was gone, completely disappeared into thin air.

“You were about to tell me how you made that fancy staff of yours, remember?” Daeva stated whilst faux checking her nails, but now she was behind Tengri. “Or, did you already forget?” She remarked, now in front of him. “Do you have like, a short term memory or something? Because that happens to me too sometimes, you know. I’ll just be sitting there talking, and going on and on and on about something, and then I’ll just completely forget what I was talking about! Isn’t that crazy? It’s crazy, right?”

Then, before the King of King's very eyes, Daeva was suddenly now floating beside him and had an arm leaned on his shoulder; she didn’t even appear to have moved. Her afterimage was still presently in front of him, and shot Tengri a wink before slowly fading away.

“You know...” Daeva began, twirling the blade end of her sword around like a spinning top on her pointer finger. “You were preetty slow to respond to that attack a second ago.” She glanced at him, “Are you always that slow, or are you just having an off day? There’s no shame in that, I have them too sometimes, you know.”



Ubel and the armory of Evrons faced down the metal giant looming before them, their weapons clenched. Then, the collective group of ninja were thrown off guard when the thing hurled a swarm of jagged, razor sharp pieces of metal their way. Ubel, Evron, and the majority of his clones scattered out of the way. However, some weren't fast enough, and the flechette bludgeoned the clones' comparatively soft and fragile forms. They exploded into clouds of smoke, and nothing was left.

The ninjas landed several yards away from the monstrosity and dusted themselves off.

“Well, looks like we’re gonna be a bit late to the party, Ubie.” The real Evron mused.

Ubel gave a single nod, “Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“Fine by me, this is the most fun I’ve had in the few minutes that I’ve been alive!” One clone exclaimed.

“Hell yeah. So what’s the play, boss?” Another asked.

Evron took a few seconds to scan around the giant, and noticed all of the various gaps and cracks throughout its body. That would be their target. “Alright, listen up: We’re gonna aim for those gaps in that thing’s armor; those are its weak spots, got it?” Evron then received an enthusiastic shot of acknowledgement from his shadow creations. He turned to Ubel, “Ubie, you’re gonna give us fire support, sound good?”

Ubel nodded, “Loud and clear, Ruby Red, let’s take this thing down.”

“You heard the man, let’s kick this thing’s ass!” A clone shouted and charged at the metal monstrosity, with Evron and all the others in toe.

Ubel stayed back to use this opportunity in order to prepare an enormous Ki Eruption, one that was surely deal some good damage to that steel hodgepodge. Both of his hands glowed brightly with violet energy that poured from his palms, and literally started to drip onto the tarmac like molten lava. As the energy increased in power, the entire area shook violently, the ground groaned and cracked in several places, windows of distant buildings shattered, and cars were upturned. Then, Ubel forcefully slammed his hands into the earth.

Then, without warning, the area surrounding the monster exploded into several towering pillars of molten hot Ki that traveled for miles into the sky, before crashing back down directly onto the beast. The heat was equivalent of two volcanic eruptions, enveloping Ubel and Evron’s side of the city in a wall of it. The city as a whole violently shook, a sensation more powerful than any of the earthquakes that occurred in the planet’s entire history. A few of Evron’s doppelgängers were shaken loose from the creature and smashed into the ground. They got up, shook themselves off, and glared at Ubel.

“Hey, watch it!”

“We’re fragile!” They barked.

Ubel held up his hands whilst smirking underneath his mask, “Sorry, sorry, I got a bit carried away.”

When they finally left in a huff, the larger ninja snickered to himself, resummoned his hammer, and shot off to rejoin the fight.

[HayesAJones]

"Name's Dèng Dea. You can call me Dea," the smirking woman answered. After taking another sip from the archaic-looking, painted clay jug she had produced from her person, she leaned back, letting her weight rest on the twisted remains of a sports car at about thigh level. Despite more or less sitting on jagged edges and sharp points of metal, she seemed unfazed. Unlike Dante, she also seemed entirely relaxed. Her coal-like eyes bounced about the battlefield, never quite settling on the ninja, though they returned to him often.

"You can relax, pretty boy," she told told him with amusement. "I'm not gonna jump you. I really am just here to talk. So what are you guys? You all look human, but you definitely aren't. I would know, I've seen trillions of them. Some strong, but nothing like-"

She paused as several pillars of violet energy twisted tens of thousands of miles into the sky before plunging back down not far from them

"Nothing like that."

[Beast Blood]

The swarm of metallic arrows halted abruptly in mid-air, as if time itself had ceased to flow for them - they not only stopped, but reversed as well, the hail of dull metal floating backwards... as if drawn by a certain magnetic monster.

Towed towards the culprit’s extended hand by her command, the flechettes blasted through the air and stung into the joints and gaps throughout the metal monster’s body. Sparks fountained from the golem’s “wounds”, loud clanking and thumping sounding from where the flechettes were broken and bent as the golem attempted to move. Though many of them snapped and fell, just as many obstructed the titan’s mobility.

The construct bellowed and prepared to stamp the ninjas under its metallic paw when a sharp and sudden tug forced it backwards, its metallic mitt slapping the street a mere few inches apart from its intended targets. Its menacing roars grew louder still, rivaling the rumble of thunder above as it turned to face the new foe that was wrestling its tail.

With a fearsome lunge, the metal monstrosity prepared to bite the offending Korraz, but the Borskall caught its jaws and held them apart, stopping them from chomping her in half. Battling the construct’s strength with her own brutish might, she forced the jaws open farther and wider. Put under such severe strain, the displeased grin that was etched on the golem began to groan in protest as its construction twisted.

With one last push and a shower of sparks, the jaws of the titan were shoved past their breaking point.

Jaws jammed into place in an exceedingly awkward position, the makeshift monster groaned and shook its head in an effort to replace its dislocated maw, but Korraz would not allow it the luxury of regaining its ability to bite. Brawny hands catching the titanic thing on either side of its skull, the giant leaned back, hurling the construct in an arc off its feet and into the air as Korraz drove it face-first into the earth.

Feet kicking the skies furiously, the golem teetered and collapsed on its side with a titanic thud, but its head was still firmly stuck in the ground...

[Godzilla165]

“I could say the same for you, honestly.” Dante retorted. “You’re obviously not from around here, but you look like you are. I dunno, I just find that interesting.” Dante blew a stubborn strand of hair out of his face. “But to answer your original question, my siblings and I... We’re ninjas, members of this race called the Yakuza. Basically, we protect the multiverse from all kinds of nasty, evil things, like the guy my sister is talking to.” Dante said, pointing up.

Eventually, he found a cracked piece of wall to lean against, and used his finger to trace the various little indentations on his helmet. “We’ve been this doing for, pfft... Millions of years now, really. It’s funny, you see so many different examples of what war and evil looks like, but in the end, it’s all really the same thing, just on a different day.” Dante juggled the helmet between his hands like a ball. “But, it’s always worth it to know that a family out there can live without fear, because we don’t stop, you know?”

Dante turned to Dea, “So, I gave a little of our origin story, it would only be fair if you shared some of yours.”

[HayesAJones]

Dea crowed out a single, shrill laugh. "You guys are millions of years old? And here I thought I was old at tens of thousands!"

The dark-haired women threw her head back, taking a deep swig from the jug, which seemed to be running low now based on the sorrowful grimace she wore after tilting her chin back down. She wiped her mouth with a corner of her robe. Her smirk was back when it fell away.

"Me? I'm human. Just a strong one. Well, I'm being humble... I'm the strongest one. Least where I come from anyway. And my story was basically yours, just on a smaller scale. Just one planet. Earth. Not this one though, seeing as this one... you know, still has cities."

While her smile held firm, the woman's eyes darkened, the mischief falling away and leaving only cold, hard cynicism. "Hey... pretty boy... here's some advice: those people you're helping? They won't stay grateful forever. The job doesn't work like that. If all those, 'nasty, evil' things keep coming, they'll start asking why. They'll start blaming you. Most will say you're not working hard enough, even if you're already overworked and falling apart. A few will say you're directly to blame. Conspiracies and all that. There won't be many of those, but... trust me, they're the loudest. And if you do get rid of all the nasties, well... there's still one threat left. The threat so big it took out all the rest: you."

Dea took a slow, tiny sip from her jug. "If they're not already scared of you, they will be. Believe me, I've seen it."

[Monster X]

None who stood on that battlefield could have said exactly when they noticed that something had changed or how they knew. It was not some grand realisation; rather it was a subtle change in the atmosphere. It was kin to that kind of change that occurs nature, when something great and terrible is on the prowl and all other life goes still in fear of what is to come next. For mammals, the hair on the back of their neck stands up, their skin breaks out in gooseflesh and they get that terrible sense that something is wrong. For all those great warriors who stood this battlefield it was made worse. They were all mighty, alpha predators of their respective domains. For them, true fear was like half forgotten dream.

Dea, Tengri, Daeva and Ubol were the first to realise what was going on, they sensed a presence they had only recently met before. But it was different now. It had been powerful, amazingly so, but this time the mask had been laid aside and it’s true nature revealed. It was, however, Dante who first saw him. His instincts drove his gaze skyward and directly at the floating form of Sutekh the Destroyer. He looked directly into the eyes of the Osiran. Those terrible, hypnotic, glowing eyes.

Then Dante felt his strength leave him. It was not through fear or weakness, but from the power that came from those eyes. It had invaded his body faster than his mind could react, cutting him off from his strength. Suddenly a terrible pressure gasped his body, which then plucked him off the ground like a child might pick a flower. As he was drawn towards the Destroyer, he regained enough control to turn his head. In doing so he saw his siblings. The thought of this... thing toying with his brothers and sister filled him with righteous fury. For a moment his strength returned and he tried to break loose from the power that held him... only to find it wouldn’t budge and inch. It was as Daeva and Ubol had described only far more powerful. This Sutekh was strong, very strong.

Naturally Dante wondered how such a being could have arrived here unnoticed. He would never have guessed that Sutekh had been on this world long before the battle had even started. Once he knew were his prey would be and his “allies” had marched out to battle, the Destroyer used Osiran Lodestone technology to travel into this realities pasted. There he had constructed a hidden stasis chamber, in which he had slept for centuries until the time was right to spring his trap.

“And so we finally met each other face to face, Dante of the Yakuza. I am Sutekh.”

…………………………………………………………

The Kandyman squealed in pain from the damage inflicted to his chest. Horrible yet sweet smoke billowed from where Nichelle had blasted him. How had this happened, master Sutekh had made him stronger then even before! That little bit...! The robot looked up just in time to see the blob of molten candy flying right at him. Driven by self preservation, he pushed himself away from the spot with all his strength and soon found himself violently crashed into a nearby building.

Once him momentum stopped, he lay in the rubble for a long moment as his systems ran a diagnostic check. Heavy damage to the outer layer of candy on his chest. Thankfully the attack hadn’t penetrated any of his vital systems but he couldn’t risk taking another hit of that nature. He’d have to think of another way of dealing with that bitch. He got his feet while his electronic brain devised a solution. The one it came to was much to his liking. He reached up to his still smouldering chest and the hatch, which still operated at 75% efficacy, opened.

A few seconds later, from out of the rubble where the Kandyman had landed, a small white ball of candy, dotted with little flex of colour, shot out like a cannon ball. The Kandyman erupted forth a moment later hot on it’s tail. Once it was over Nechelle’s location the ball suddenly expanded to the size of a house! When the candy robot caught up with his creation, he struck down on it with all his strength. The colossal jawbreaker lurched groundwards at terminal velocity and landed on Nichelle in an explosion of debris. But the psychotic machine was not done yet. He landed atop the giant ball of densely packed sugar and proceeded to rain down a barrage of blows on top of it, driving it deeper into the ground.

[Corzak The Mighty]

Already severely damaged by the ki blasts of the ninjas and damaged even further by the horrific assault from the furry giant, the iron construct folded in onto itself from the impact, its softened form melding inwards from the combination of heat and brute force. The massive earthquake caused by both the ninjas and the titan's impact from Korraz's ferocious suplex had left much of the area damaged and mangled, leaving a good portion of this once habitable town in ruin far beyond what even Tengri's typhoon had caused.

However, the behemoth was not so easily defeated. Using its softened form to its advantage, the monstrosity of metal folded itself backwards and warped into a monstrous shape akin to molten metal. Seeing Korraz first, the metallic fiend slithered across the broken earth like a great slug, scorching everything in its path, as it moved to envelop the Colossian like a wave...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tengri huffed and swatted at Daeva, encouraging her to give him space, though it seemed the Ninja's blazing speed allowed her to move a second before Tengri's hand was even close to his own shoulder.

"You are very annoying," the King of Kings said aloud, both to himself and Daeva. Just before Tengri planned to speak once more, however, he saw as Sutekh, the so-called "Destroyer", descended to the earth from high above the battlefield - presumably to speak with Dante himself. Tengri could not help but smile at this.

"It appears our time is running short, little one," Tengri boasted to Daeva, turning his attention back to her. "Shall we have but one dance before my master brings an end to this little game?"

The Master of the Alrisen pointed his polearm in the female ninja's direction, as his metal steed adopted a much more aggressive stance.

[Godzilla165]

Both Dante’s mind and body roared in pain from the pressure being dealt to him, but his lips didn’t move an inch, they couldn’t move. His eyes were fixated on the terrible visage of Suketh’s and nowhere else, the ninja Prime couldn’t budge them if he wanted to. Inside, the Heart was going haywire in distress; its guardian was in danger. Within Dante’s mind, he was trying to push back against Suketh’s enormous will, as the latter did so also. It was an unstoppable force versus an immovable object. He felt his siblings crying out in pain, and his anger started to boil over.

Dante glared down Suketh, “If you lay so much as a finger on my siblings, help me... I will make damn sure your death isn’t pretty!” He roared.

****************************
Evron and Ubel stared upward at the form of Suketh, the former’s eyes narrowing. “So, that’s him...” Evron muttered.

Ubel nodded, “Yeah... Yeah, that’s him. That’s Suketh.”

Both of the ninjas’ eyes widened as they witnessed Dante being lifted effortlessly into the sky, his body completely locked in place.

“Come on, we’ve gotta help Dante out!” Evron exclaimed.

As they were about to charge at Suketh, Ubel and Evron received a “NO”, from Dante. They stopped and peered into the sky, surprise evident on their faces.

“Wait, what?! What do you mean no?!” Evron demanded.

“Em, what is-”

“Help... Daeva! I’ve got this, don’t worry!” Dante mentally shouted.

The two ninjas looked at each other, both confused. Evron shook his head wildly, “Dante, dude what the hell are you talking about?! We’re not just going to leave you with that bastard, no way!”

Dante growled in frustration, “JUST. GO! I’ll be fine!”

Ubel and Evron grew silent. They didn’t want to leave their brother behind, but...

“Damnit!” Evron swore and shot into the sky, headed towards Daeva.

Ubel stared after him, before taking a long look at the agonized form of Dante suspended in the air.

“You heard me, Ubel, GO!” Dante yelled again.

Not wishing to belay another direct order, Ubel hesitantly flew off and followed behind Evron.

***************************************
Daeva rested a hand on her hip and smirked, whilst resting her blade upon her other shoulder. “Looks like my little tactic worked out, for a little bit, at least.” She mused. “I figured I could get a rise out of you somehow, mystery man.”

Then, without warning, Daeva’s sword was now mere inches away from the side of Tengri’s head, the force of the bluff attack exploded behind him in a massive gust of wind. She narrowed her glowing blue eyes, “I just needed to find which buttons to push, and then...” She tapped his cheek with the blunt end of the blade, “You were like gravy in my hands. Is that what humans say? Gravy? I’ll have to ask Ubel later, anyway...”

Daeva was now back at her original position, and took on a stance of her own. Her eyes glanced up at Dante high above, and she felt a large sensation of angst hit her stomach. Daeva turned back to Tengri, and motioned with one hand for him to “come here”.

“Let’s see if you can touch me, weird blue man.” She taunted.

****************************************
As Dante continued his mental war with Suketh, the more he struggled, the more his power rose. The image of his siblings that Suketh showed to him, all of them in agonizing pain, crying out desperately for help... He couldn’t let that happen, he wouldn’t. Dante’s eyes slowly began to take on a bright shade of gold, his anger increasing as well.

“You heartless bastard, I won’t let you touch my family, I won’t let you touch anyone in the multiverse!”

As his power increased to battle back Suketh’s influence, the area around them for several miles on end began to tremble. Down in the city, buildings began to collapse, the ground fissured and splintered, and tons upon tons of rubble were lifted high in the air.

[Demon Lord Gira]

"I am fine with whatever is decided. It has been a long time since I have worked alongside humanity for the greater good, but one I've long welcomed." Crigan said. "Just because this current attack has been repelled, doesn't mean it is over by a long shot."

_________________________

Nichelle braced for impact as the ball struck down upon her. The ground around her cracked and heaved, and the barrier around her arms gave way from the impact, but she bore through it. Even as the Kandyman struck down on the sphere time and time again, fracturing the ground around her and creating a larger crater, she hung on. One leg wanted to give way, but she refused to give in. Each blow vibrated her bones, ached her muscles, and caused tears to form in her skin. What didn't help was the mental battle between the Destroyer and Dante; the vibrations and damage caused from the chaos only furthered her pain.

Yet, it was all energy she was absorbing into her. Kinetic energy she was about to dish back tenfold to the Kandyman.

For all but a second, she withdrew one of her blades and curled her right hand into a fist. Then, she punched back upward with all the kinetic energy she had stored, and the ball of sugar was sent hurtling upward, along with the Kandyman caught on the other side. With the ball flying through the air, the clone drew her blade back out, and fired a kinetic blast upward, to rupture the dense sugar sphere and hopefully send the Kandyman far, far away...

[Beast Blood]

A broad wave of molten earth crawled towards Korraz in a hellish flood, but strategy flashed across the giant's clever mind, her skill and knowledge as a blacksmith coming to her aid.

Lifting up her clawed foot, the Borskall stomped down with all her might. Like a meteorite impact, great fissures split the punished streets and structures around, many large enough to engulf the 10-feet warriors as they were consumed by the ground's gaping jaws.

Trajectory interrupted by the force of Korraz's colliding paw, the metal slug tumbled head-first into the jagged fissure, where water from cracked pipes began to flood. Splashed by the water of numerous broken pipes as gravity dunked it in the water, the rusted creation's movements slowed, its malleability drastically lowering as its body cooled...