Battle of the Multiverse

[Corzak The Mighty]

It did not take long for Crigan and Immanuel to reach the headquarters of the KAA. The structure was absolutely massive - like a great spire leering over the coastline of the city. The building seemed to spiral to impossible heights, scraping the clouds above in the heavens. The fighters puleld in to what looked to be some sort of landing bay atop the building, their pilots moving out to take their leave. Landing in the landing bay alongside the fighters, Immanuel pulled his wings back into his body, leaving himself appearing merely as a robed man.

At the other end of the hangar was a woman, roughly in her late twenties to early thirties with eerily pale skin. She wore a military uniform, decorated in many awards. She wore her jet black hair up in a bun on the top of her head. The woman approached Crigan and Immanuel.

"You two must be who helped save the city," the woman said. "I'm Nyx." She stuck out her hand for a handshake. "Good to meet you in person."

Immanuel reached out a hand to shake the woman's. "It is good to meet you as well. Quite young for such a role in leadership, are you not?"

The woman chuckled in reply. "Yeah. I was pretty fuckin' good at my job as a pilot before this gig. Got me promoted and some awards as a result."

She turned to Crigan, before sticking out her hand to him. "You must be Crigan. Good to meet you as well."
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Tengri prepared to unleash a blast of devastating wind and flame toward Ubel, but he was denied by the blast of Abadon. Tengri growled in irritation and pain. The machine had stolen his opportunity to test his might. He turned to Korraz. Perhaps he could still test this weapon out on the giant...

But things quickly took a turn in the opposite direction.

Massive earthquakes shook the planet, as massive amounts of air were displaced, conjuring up winds stronger than even the mightiest tornado. An eruption of heat exploded outwards, forcing Tengri to use his powers to deflect the eruption away from himself. Following this was a great debris cloud, akin to a pyroclastic flow. Tengri continued to use both his own powers over fire and metal and the sword's powers to protect himself from the massive blast that had resulted.

When the debris cloud faded, Tengri was awestruck at what had happened. The very world had been split in twine! It was something the King of Kings had only dreamed of seeing. Such power was unrivaled in the world he heralded from; even the Machine of Unmaking was incapable of such devastation.

But Tengri had little time to prepare for what came next: a massive dragon, forged in flames as hot as the sun, emerged from the great rift between the planet's halves Sutekh had formed! He watched as the colossal beast unleashed a powerful flare of heat towards Sutekh.

No! Tengri could not allow this to happen! Not so soon!

With a roar, Tengri channeled the immense power of Hellsbane into himself, his body's orifices pouring out light at an uncomfortable rate, before he pointed the sword towards the pillar of heat and plasma. As the beam sliced its way towards Sutekh, Dante would be disappointed to see some of the heat being pulled away from his beam, and being siphoned into Hellsbane, creating a glowing aura of white-hot flame around Tengri and his steed!

[Godzilla165]

The heads of the dragon locked onto Tengri; their eyes burned with malice. He would pay dearly for his rude interruption. After a bellow that stretched across the entire world, Dante prepared to bathe the King of Kings in eternal hellfire. That is, until a giant hammer flew in and smacked Tengri in the back of his head, throwing both he and his steed off course.

“Hey, blue balls!” Evron called from behind, he and Ubel having returned to keep Tengri from interfering, and to retrieve Hellsbane. The cocky ninja pointed his sword at the metal being, “Didn’t your parents ever teach you it’s not right to steal?” He taunted.

“I already said that one.” Ubel remarked before recalling his hammer.

“Yeah? Well, I just said it again, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it, my friend.” Evron retorted and turned to Dante, throwing up a hand. “We’ll handle Tengri, Em, you kick Suketh’s ass!”

Dante looked on, his draconian eyes appearing to understand what his brothers were implying. Then, his heads all gave nods of agreement, and the colossal dragon turned to focus its attention back on Suketh. The Inferno Hydra wasted no time in preparing another blast, but this time, it also ascended into the sky as it hurtled towards the Osiran. It looked like a fiery mushroom cloud rising higher and higher, and the sound was just as similar.

Evron focused on Tengri once more and smirked. “Ya know what, Ubie?” He asked.

Ubel shot him a quick glance, “No, what?”

“I’m feeling a bit overkill right now.” Evron returned his serrated katana to its sheathe on his back, and then held his hands down to both sides. Then, two twin, black handles appeared in the ninja’s palms, spinning slightly above until Evron grabbed ahold. Once he did, razor sharp blades of light sprouted forth, and the Neutron sabers were born. They were at least 10 feet long, created from millions of little neutrons darting through space, and were as wide as a sedan.

The heat emanating from the yellowish white blades distorted the air around them, and the gravity near by was turned into, “negative gravity”, repelling any objects nearby. Evron exhaled a heavy breath as the Neutron sabers started eating away at his energy, albeit at slower rate compared to Hellsbane. The ninja only utilized them when it was necessary, and now was as good a time as any. Evron threateningly pointed one at Tengri.

“So, are we gonna stand around and talk about our feelings, or...”

Without warning, Evron charged Tengri at full speed. “Are you going to show me what you’ve got, you son of a bitch!” He roared, and swung a fierce attack at the sapphire being.

Ubel threw out a hand, “Wait, Evron, hold on a sec!” Ubel shouted a fruitless plea. With a frustrated groan, he also charged forward, but from the left side, hoping to attack one of Tengri’s exposed flanks.

[Beast Blood]

All the way below the fighting, a ways away from the feet of the giant flaming dragon, Korraz coughed smoke out of her nose as she staggered out of the lava and rivers of molten rock around her and collapsed to a knee, helped by Hod as he towed her by one of her sleeves. As the metal pieces adorning her were heating up and partially melting to slag, she deemed it wise to remove Doris out from her pocket with a claw and settle her on a piece of concrete safe from the lava. Inviting the black bird on one hand, she conjured an electromagnetic barrier around Doris to protect her from the heat and rubble tumbling about.

The giant was injured, but her indomitable mind was intact, as she clenched her fists at her sides and approached Tengri...

[Monster X]

The Inferno Hydra was almost upon Sutekh, it’s blazing form making the Osiran look like nothing in comparison. It’s mouths were agape, a second away from unleashing burning death. It was a sight that would have made most beings simply give up their lives out of pure terror. With the Destroyer however, it only fuelled his desire to see this thing dead. He stood his ground and looked the burning monster dead in the eye, his body protected from the intense heat by his mental energy.

In a flash all three of the Inferno Hydra’s heads were encased in glowing bubbles of energy. Dante had no time to stop his own attack before the Hydra was engulfed in a tremendous explosion. The force of the blast destroyed each of the Hydra’s heads and would have sent it hurtling to the ground; had not another powerful force took hold of it. The will of Sutekh.

Dante quickly recovered from the redirected assault, his anger intensifying as he readied to shack of the Destroyer’s hold. Yet as the Hydra’s head began to reform he noticed something was wrong. The area around him was bathed in omni-directional green light. He tore his eyes away from Sutekh and looked from side to side. In each direction were energy spheres of varying sizes. Some were only as big as his head while a few where almost a quarter of the size of the Inferno Hydra itself. The Ninja Prime looked around trying to find some gap in their formation but found that he was fully surrounded. He eyes then when back to Sutekh, who himself was now surrounded by the sphere.

“Turn to dust!”

All at once, each of the spheres fired high intensity beams at the Hydra. The blazing embodiment of Dante’s rage was assaulted in all sides instantaneously. The omni-directional attack was not merely a display of provision however, but also deadly function. The instance beams tunnelled their way into the Inferno Hydra’s form, drilling deep and deeper towards the form of Dante.

[Demon Lord Gira]

Crigan accepted the handshake with a firm grip. She definitely had that air of authority around her, not too different from the king he knew. Just seeing her in person, the God of Death knew this was someone he could trust, someone who could make the hard calls and do whatever was necessary for the betterment of everyone.

"A pleasure to meet you, Nyx. And despite your youth, you are as decorated as many soldiers I've fought alongside in days long past. I wish such a meeting was under better terms than the current situation."

______________________

Doris had been left in the dark while in Korraz's pocket. Aside from being thrown around and feeling unusually warm, the events that had been transpiring in the outside world had been lost to her, until when she had been removed. Suddenly, seeing the devastated state of what had once been the city, and great chasm that divided the planet, she wanted nothing more than to go back into Korraz's pocket.

"Hell... Hell fucking shit." She muttered. "Menya nikogda ne uchili delat' dela s etim der'mom."

How in the Earth Mother's name were they to stop this?

______________________________

Before either Evron or Ubel could reach Tengri, twin plumes of ash and magma struck into them, and sent the Ninja duo tumbling through the air. The source was Abadon, steam rolling from its open wounds and eyes locked upon the Ninjas. Its feet were dipped into the molten liquid that poured from the mortally wounded planet, and the liquid was sucked into the body of the cyborg. Twin holes opened upon its back, and began to glow a sickening red hue...

Only for a pair of blades to sink into the back of the cyborg's head. "You want me. Come and get me." Nichelle's body channeled the kinetic energy and blasted it into the back of Abadon's head. The cyborg abomination was sent forward and crashed face first into the magma. The holes on its back fired, and concentrated beams of heat over 3 million degrees C fired out and carved up the ground where they sailed, only to explode in the distance.

The cyborg reached its hand over its back, and grabbed the clone before she could hop away. With a frenzied roar, it smashed Nichelle into the magma, sending a plume of molten material flying in every direction...

[Godzilla165]

Immediately, Dante dissipated the Inferno Hydra in an explosion of burning embers, so he could be both a much smaller target and significantly more agile. He saw the beams hurtling towards him at a blinding speed; the Ninja prime needed to act and think fast, or risk being vaporized. Quickly, with a flash of his eyes, Dante created a short range portal just inches below him, and teleported through. The beams passed harmlessly through the swirling green void as it vanished into thin air.

Just then, another portal appeared right behind Suketh. Dante exploded forth from it, held out a splayed hand, and, in just a few seconds, unleashed his Ki Wave at a level that torched the atmosphere. The golden beam plowed in the direction of the ancient entity, increasing in intensity by the second.

Evron and Ubel crashed through the air from the sucker punch of ash, but managed to both slow their momentum down enough in order to not slam into the Earth. Glaring frustratingly at Abadon, the ninja duo soon became a trio as Daeva appeared in the middle of them.

“Looks like robo girl didn’t like the idea of sitting on the sidelines.” Evron scoffed as they watched Nichelle do battle with Abadon.

“Who can blame her? The world she and billions of others called home... It’s completely gone at this point.” Daeva responded.

“Yeah, you guys know I don’t like payback or anything, but these guys are gonna pay for this.” Ubel stated angrily.

“Damn straight,” Evron agreed, “look, me and Daeva will go and help Nichelle. You go get your fancy sword back from Tengri.”

“Think you can handle tin man by yourself?” Daeva playfully taunted.

Ubel rested his hammer along his shoulder, “Tengri hasn’t seen me angry yet... Now, he’s about to.” He jeered, before flying off to face the Hellsbane thief.

Turning from the swiftly shrinking form of Ubel, Evron went to look at Daeva, “So, you ready to-” He found emptiness where Daeva used to be, and instead saw her already slamming into Abadon with a pair of Hyper tornadoes.

“Dammit, now I know how Ubel feels”. Evron mumbled. With that, he sped away to meet her. Closing in on the cyborg abomination, Evron brought a Neutron saber above his head, and forcefully slammed it down upon the giant’s head.

[Corzak The Mighty]

"Me too," Nyx replied solemnly to Crigan. "But, at least things did not go as badly as they could have, eh?"

Nyx let out a grim chuckle. "Anyways, we should get down to business. So what exactly am I up against here?"

"We do not know that yet," Immanuel stated, arms crossed. "All we know is that, whatever orchestrated this anomaly, it is very powerful and able to perceive multiple realities at once. It is something with power that rivals even the mightiest of gods."

Nyx shrugged. "Eh, I've heard that story before. Back when I was younger, we - well, that's a story for another day, but my point is, fighting extradimensional super monsters isn't something exactly new to the KAA. Catch my drift?"

"Indeed I do. But I fear that whatever planned this is more than a mere beast. It can think, and plot, and strategize."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tengri grumbled in an annoyed manner as Abadon interfered with his battle with the two ninjas. How many times would his battles be interrupted? Had these ignorant peasants no respect for one so obviously superior to them?

Tengri turned back towards the direction Ubel had been sent flying, and had barely enough time to react to Ubel's strike! Raising Hellsbane. Tengri intercepted the blow, using the flat side of the blade to block the ferocious blow from Soul Ravager, the impact creating a blinding flash of divine light to erupt around the two warriors. Snarling, Tengri used the strength of a dozen gods to push Ubel away.

"So you return to challenge the King of Kings?" Tengri boomed, Hellsbane crackling with energy. "Very well. I will make sure this blade bows only to me!"

With that, Tengri zoomed forward towards Ubel, a sonic boom following in his wake. Tengri's iron steed lowered its head, preparing to slam into Ubel full force. Tengri, meanwhile, prepared to lash out with a passing slash of Hellsbane, channeling an aura of white-hot solar heat over the cutting edge of the blade to slay his foe...

[Godzilla165]

Ubel brought Soul Ravager high over his head and summoned a lost spirit trapped within the weapon. He absolutely hated doing this, deeming it disrespectful to the dead, but the ninja needed an edge in this fight, however small. Inky black energies snaked around the broad side of the hammer, orbiting around as it began to take shape. Ubel brought the weapon down, plowing the hot air, and, soon after, he found himself mounted atop a ghostly black Minotaur with blood red eyes. The undead creature set its bloodthirsty sights upon Tengri and his own steed, ash billowing from its nose and abyss of a mouth. Ubel pointed Soul Ravager foward, "GO!" He roared, and the horned beast immediately acknowledged. The Minotaur squatted down on its forelimbs and raced forward with all its might, the gallops it produced sounded like heavy gunshots ringing in the air.

As they neared the King of Kings, Ubel quickly overcharged his eyes, forcing them to glow brighter and brighter until... FOOM! A searingly bright solar flare struck Tengri in the eyes and filled his vision with white. Wanting to take full advantage of this window, Ubel stood on the back of his dark beast, and launched himself at his enemy. As the two steeds collided head first into each other, Ubel tackled Tengri straight off his and headed to ground level. The ninja slammed his blinded face with a flurry of heavy punches, before rearing, planting a foot squarely into Tengri's chest, and pushed off him. Then, Ubel brought his hands together, with one sitting atop the other, and drew them in close to his side. In an instant, raging, violet torrents of negative energy raced to gather within his open palms. As more and more it was drawn in, so too did the growing ball of the stuff become bigger and bigger. Building and building it up until the sphere of negative energy was about the size of a car, Ubel decided that was plenty, and, with a roar, launched the Piercing Void straight at Tengri. It raced towards him at super sonic speed, the makeshit black hole drawing in and shredding anything and everything in its path.

[Monster X]

The golden energy struck it’s target in an explosion of blinding brilliance. It was like a small supernova.

Illuminated in the light of the explosion was the form of the Kandyman as he leapt across the ever widening gap between the two halves of the planet. It was dangerous, bright yellow magma was bursting out all across the sundered area, but he had to. He had to reach Dea and Tengri. They were vital to the master’s plans and he would be held responsible if anything happened to them. Even with his enhanced strength he only just managed to clear the gap and not unscathed. His body was starting to melt from the intense heat. He’s internal diagnostics were all in the red, but he had to complete his mission.

Meanwhile in the sky above, Sutekh hovered exactly where he had been before. The attack had been powerful, but still not enough to penetrate his psychic defences. The Destroyer, for his part was growing tired of this game, he had to kill Dante now! Then a thought hit the Osiran, a thought so obvious that he almost laughed out loud. Why was he even playing this game?! Still with his back to Dante, Sutekh began to focus his mind towards a more effective method of dealing with his enemy.

The ninja was in a defensive stance, ready to counter whatever the Osiran was going to throw at him next, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his head. No sooner had it happened then his vision became unfocused and his body felt... heavy. He shook his head to try and get rid of the strange feeling, when he felt a hot wetness trickle down his nose and across his mouth and chin. He slowly reached up to his face, his tired mind not fully comprehending. He touched the wetness, then brought his fingers up to his eyes. He saw... red...?

Dante was suffering an aneurysm, Sutekh had attacked the blood vessels of his brain. No longer able to control his ki, he began to fall out of the sky. But the Osiran was no finished with him yet however, no he had to be shore Dante was totally destroyed. Once again taking hold of the Ninja Prime with his will, Sutekh pulled him back up into the sky. Dante’s body hung limply in his grasp, the blood from his nose dripping down onto the battlefield below. It was a true scene of Armageddon. The broken warrior, the dark god and a dying planet bleeding, out below them.

The Destroyer brought his foe up to him, so close that he could reach out and touch him. Which was the plan. Sutekh lifted up his right hand, which beginning to glow with lethal energy.

“Dante of the Yakuza, I grant to you Sutekh’s gift of death.”

[Godzilla165]

Spinning like a hypersonic boomerang, Daeva's Swift Redemption struck Suketh's hand, forcing it to release Dante. The latter fell slowly towards the ground, the blood running from his nose leaving a little red trail in the sky. He didn't fall far before Daeva swooped in and caught him in her arms. She instinctively rushed in immediately after she felt Dante's energy drop like a rock. Although, by doing so, however, she left Evron and Nichelle to fight Abadon on their own. Daeva quickly landed in an area that was about a mile or two away from all the fighting, ripped off her helmet, and cradled Dante in her arms. Her face was stricken with worry as she placed two fingers to his neck, and soon felt a teeny sense of relief when she felt a pulse.

"Dante? Dante, please... Wake up, Dante. Em, wake up!" Daeva pleaded, gently shaking the former. She didn't get a response, but she desperately kept trying, stubbornly refusing to give up. "Come on, Dante, speak to me, say something... Anything! Dan-" Daeva stopped, her eyes stayed locked onto her brother's unconscious form. She felt herself start to hyperventilate, but tried her very best to remain as calm as she could right now.

"Daeva? Daeva, what's wrong, what happened? Your levels are through the roof, and I can't get a bead on Dante." Evron called to her psychically.

"I don't know, I just... Suketh had him, and now he's unconscious and not responding, I-"

"What?!" Evron gasped.

"Daeva, what do you mean he's not responding? What happened to him?!" Ubel questioned.

Daeva clutched at her head in growing stress, "I don't know, he's barely breathing and blood is running from his nose and he won't answer me!" She snapped. "I don't know what to do, you guys, I'm getting worried. He has a pulse, but he's not responding to anything I say!"

She heard an angry growl in her mind from Evron.

"Goddammit!" He swore whilst dodging an attack from Abadon, "Alright, we need to end this damn fight, blow this hellhole, and get Dante back home, now! Ubel, you'd better have gotten your sword back by now!"

"I'm working on it!" Ubel spat.

"Shit, man! Okay, Ubel, hurry the hell up and get that damn weapon back! Daeva, we'll be finished up and headed to you soon, alright?"

Daeva didn't respond at first, her gaze was fixated on Dante's still form, blood still draining from his nose even with her trying to keep it away with her hand.

"Daeva!" Evron called out again.

Daeva shook her head as her brain processed Evron's words, "I-I hear you, I'll see you guys in a bit." She murmured before cutting the psychic link. With that now out of the way, she focused her full attention onto Dante, cradling his head in her arms. "Come on, Em, wake up, please wake up." She whispered, planting a kiss upon his forehead.

[Demon Lord Gira]

Crigan closed his eyes. This was all true. Whoever their opposition was, they clearly knew what they were doing. And with this kind of power... He shuddered to think what kind of being they were up against. This wasn't Persephone work, since she lacked the resources and power to cause such a large scale assault. But if not her, then who?

"Cercil might know who it is." Crigan told Immanuel. "I'll contact her anyways to let her know of the current situation, and to see if she has any leads."

________________________________

If Evron had expected Abadon to be an easy opponent, the ninja was gravely mistaken.

Even as he dodged and weaved from the blows that came from the cyborg, Abadon refused to relent. The swings came faster and more precise, as if...

As if it was learning and adapting to its opponent.

A massive clawed hand stabbed down into Evron's back and smashed him into the magma. The jagged claws pierced into the Ninja's flesh, and the abomination grinned, ready to sever the spine of the arrogant deity.

An electrical surge forced it back, and Abadon howled as lightning arcs raced up its arm. This time, its body was better adapted and didn't rupture as much, though there were still bursts of oil and flesh. Korraz planted her arms into the ground, and jagged arcs of lightning spiraled up from beneath Abadon. The cyborg howled as it was lifted into the air, and Nichelle, who had been caught within its other arm, was let go. The titan was sent hundreds of meters up, more and more bolts striking into its body...

And then, they stopped hurting it.

Instead, the bolts began to be absorbed into the creature's hull. Its arms and body glowed a vibrant hot red, and steam and lightning crackled across. Korraz stopped her assault, and the titan plummeted back down toward the ruined earth. Steam blasted down from beneath it, and slowed the titan's descent so it landed with a soft thud.

Off to the side, Nichelle caught her breath. There had to be a way past this thing's energy absorption, but how?

Perhaps, just hitting it really hard would do?

She launched from her spot and stabbed her blades into the back knee of the abomination. Kinetic blasts fired from the blades and the knee shattered against a type of energy it couldn't easily absorb. Yet, her rewards were gifted as molten hot steam blasted into her face and boiled her alive, as Korraz tried to move in with a strike of her own. Evron came in from the side, yet both were greeted two massive claws bearing down upon them. Korraz caught the one aimed at her and braced, the ground cracked and heaved beneath her, but the one aimed at Evron crackled with lightning, ten billion volts of it, as it stabbed toward him...

[Corzak The Mighty]

"Very well," Immanuel said with a nod of his head. "Get in contact with her. I may know of someone as well who would be able to help us track down this threat."

"Okay, now you're just speaking in tongues to me," Nyx said, scratching her chin. "Who the fuck is Cercil?"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
As Tengri's iron steed and the fiendish Minotaur of the underworld dueled in the sky, the battle between Ubel and Tengri raged. The King of Kings growled in pain, his sapphire-hued blood scattering into the raging zephyr that surrounded both him and Ubel. Impossible... this WORM had drawn blood from him?! The King of Kings?! Supreme lord of Maritus, destroyer of the Kami?!

As the makeshift black hole ripped itself towards Tengri, swallowing the various types of debris that now circled around in the air, the Master of the Alrisen braced himself and mentally reached into the sword's vast pool of power, searching for something that would be able to help him escape this dire situation.

Within the blade, he felt a power call to him. It was a cool energy, like the touch of ice upon the skin. It made Tengri's skin crawl, but it filled him with satisfaction, feeling that such an immense power crawled within this exquisitely crafted blade.

"I call upon the powers of Hecate," Tengri boomed, "to dispel this darkness before me!"

Pulling one hand away from the sword, Tengri thrust his hand forward, as a wave of crawling darkness slithered through the air to intercept the swirling sphere of crushing gravity. As the two magics intersected, they canceled each other out, before both vanished back into the nothingness from whence they came.

Snagging the air using his empowered control over storms, Tengri suddenly shot back towards Ubel with shocking speed, appearing through the shroud of dispelled mana and negative energy. Managing to catch the ninja off-guard with such a bold maneuver, Tengri launched a counterattack against Ubel, lashing out with a strike of Hellsbane. Ubel raised Soul Ravager to intercept the blow, but the impact was too immense; empowered with the strength of a dozen gods and his own innate powers, Tengri slammed the blade into Soul Ravager with enough force to send Ubel rocketing through the air, and into the debris of a building!

Choosing to maintain his distance, Tengri reached into the sword's pool of power, this time coming upon a refreshing feeling of grass and the smell of good harvest.

"I call upon the power of Demeter," tengri boomed, "to entrap my enemy with the crushing embrace of nature's wrath!"

Suddenly, hundreds of massive roots and vines erupted from the deep bowels of the earth, before they moved in to try and entangle Ubel!

[HayesAJones]

The ground besides Daeva and Dante erupted, sending rubble and dust high into the air. The shock waves from the explosion made the earth beneath the siblings quiver, as if trying to shake them away, tear them away from their brief moment of solitude.

"I told you to leave, blondie," a nasally voice sounded from the mushroom-shaped dust cloud. As it began to settle, thinning so that light could pierce it, Dea stood before them, hands on her hips, magnificent robe left in shambles, and her right leg naked.

"You lost," the demigod told the ninja plainly. "Get out of here before you die too. What Ponyboy did to him, he can do to the rest of you too. You get that, right? It's over."

The dark-haired woman's stare, hard and stern, softened as she gave a tiny sigh. "Look... losing a sibling sucks. But you'll get over it. I did. You guy all live a long time, right? That will make it easier. Or at least feel shorter. Find somewhere to wait it out. Or travel. Whatever. Just scram."

[Monster X]

Sutekh had not retaliated to Daeva’s assault. He didn’t even bother to track her and Dante’s whereabouts. All the occupied his mind was his right hand. It was bleeding. He had been so sure of his victory that he had let down his guard. Just enough to allow the Swift Redemption, when hurled with Daeva’s godly strength, the piece his protective barrier and slash his hand. If his defences had been totally dropped he’d have lost most of his hand.

Any other time the Osiran would have shrugged this off as a mere oversite, or at most have been infuriated by the event. But Dante had brought his true fear to the for, and with it his true wrath. Yet till now it had all been held in check by his what was left of his reason. On a subconscious level he had held back his full his destructive power, focusing solely on killing Dante. It was in this state of mind that Daeva had hurt him. That had been terrible mistake.

Sutekh’s power flared once again, his aura magnifying in size tenfold. Then they all felt the pull. It started with a change in the wind, which started blowing towards the Destroyer. That wind quickly magnified to hurricane force levels. Then the storm clouds returned, filling the sky in a violent spinning mass who’s eye was over Sutekh. Soon earth, water, debris and even the magma from the slit planet all began gravitating towards the Osiran, were they all fused together in demented masses that orbited his power. The two have of the planet began to vibrate, even more violently then they had after being sundered. Sutekh’s aura grew ever brighter, so bright that it hurt to look at, as he redheaded his power Destroy all that threatened him.

The melted form of the Kandyman planted his feet and tried to resist the pull of his master’s will. Were where they? Then he spoted the form Tengri and made his way over to him as quickly as he could.

[Godzilla165]

Evron laid there in the magma, both in pain from the stab wounds that’d been inflicted to him, and his strength starting to wear thin. With an agitated groan, he slowly pushed himself off the ground, steam and molten hot liquid dripping from his armor, and stared up at Abadon. Getting rid of the Neutron sabers, Evron replaced them with his trusty katana resting on his back, and readied for another round.

“Tough nut to crack, I’ll give him that.” He said. Then, just as he was about to charge, Evron felt the ground beneath him shake even more violently than it already had done previously. The ninja fell to his butt from the intense forces at play, and looked around him to notice the magma, the dirt, debris, and anything and everything else being drawn upward towards the sky. Following the massive trail, Evron immediately spotted the source and had to look away due to the pain from the blinding light.

Suketh was at it again, and Evron felt a surge of destructive power that he’d never experienced before. The sky turned orange as the world shook more and more violently by the second. Evron quickly got back to his feet, launched into the air, avoiding the massive paw baring down on him, and looked to where Korraz and Nichelle were.

“Hey, robot girl, mountain lady, come on, we’ve gotta go NOW!” He screamed. But, seeing that they both were struggling, Evron decided to go back in and try to keep Abadon at bay. He sped forward, and, with a roar, hurled his blade into one of the beast’s eyes.

______________

Ubel dusted himself off and rose to his full height. He leered up at the blue form of Tengri straight above, gritting his teeth in growing frustration. Before he could fly to intercept his enemy, Ubel was caught off guard by the hundreds of vines and roots erupting from the earth, and viciously lashed out to entangle him. Dozens of them wrapped around his legs, while more ensnared his arms, waist, and especially his neck. Ubel yelled in both anger and growing pain from the surprisingly powerful vines putting the squeeze on his limbs. The pressure they dealt was huge and unrelenting; Ubel felt himself starting to blackout as the vines threatened to crush his windpipe. He had to think of something fast, before...

That was it! Ubel had been an idiot this whole time, allowing for anger and frustration to come between his relationship with reason. He managed to crane his head up high enough to look at Tengri, and shot him a strained smile.

“You... May be able to control the Hellsbane through force... But, at the end of the day... It only answers to me!” He shouted and splayed a hand wide. “HELLSBANE!”

The call had been made, and the divine blade could not help but to answer. Although Tengri had a tight grip around it, such was still no match for the sheer desire that Hellsbane wielded to answer its name, and one true master. With a boom of thunder, the jewel like sword erupted out of Tengri’s hands and hurled itself down towards Ubel. Approaching supersonic velocity, the force that Hellsbane carried behind it when it collided with Ubel’s hand, was enough to destroy the punishing vines that had him at their mercy.

The ninja felt the familiar shock and sting of the mythical weapon lance up his arm and through his entire body. His energy may have been getting sucked away, but Ubel was glad the Hellsbane was back where it rightfully belonged. He looked at Tengri, resting the blade on his shoulder. “Neat trick, huh?” He mused, “Now, let’s really get this party started!”

Before Ubel could erupt towards the King of Kings, he too felt the earth beneath him rattle and shimmy like a colossal giant awakening from sleep. He saw the different elements being drawn upward, he could feel the immense power at work, and he saw the source of it.

“This isn’t good...” He murmured to himself. He looked at Tengri, then at the chaos unfolding before both of them, and decided that the best course of action was to live to fight another day. “Hey, Tengri, thanks for giving my sword back, I appreciate it! Let’s do this again soon, yeah?” Ubel stated, before making Hellsbane disappear in a bolt of lightning, recalling his fallen hammer, and blasting away. First things first, he needed to go find Daeva and Dante.

______________

Daeva’s eyes never found Dea, only focusing on her brother still. She slowly and gently stood to her feet with the latter in her arms, the billowing hot winds blowing both of their hair to and fro.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Daeva spoke, her voice now devoid of any sense of energy or sass she had earlier. “My brothers, my family, are my life. They are what keep me going every single day, and are what make doing what we do a little easier. I won’t leave him, not ever.”

Daeva turned to Dea and gazed intently into the deity’s cold, uncaring eyes. “We all might be millions of years old, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re all each other has, and that losing one of my brothers... I couldn’t even imagine it.” Daeva peered sadly at Dante, “If you knew the kinds of things we’ve all been through together...”

As the ground beneath them started to roar and shake, Daeva gave Dea a final gaze, one of both empathy and pity for her entrapped emotions. “I’m so sorry about your sibling, Dea, I really am. Look, I don’t know what’s caused you to seal off your emotions from everyone else, or what made you join someone like Suketh, but... I dunno, I just hope you can find your heart again, that’s all.”

With that, Daeva had completely disappeared into thin air without having not even moved from her original position. With Dante in her arms, she flew to find Ubel and Evron.

[EdGojira]

The Drift ended. As Dana returned to consciousness, her eyes moved around the room. She could only make out shapes and thuds as her brain's function returned. Visions ever so clear flashed to her — ones of lanterns, a lake, a chasm. These visions disappeared with the return of her vision.

She had a crisp, clear vision of the destruction. She felt her heart jump. She attempted to raise her arms but was instantly met with a wall. She heard an explosion. She looked in its direction. All she could see through a hole in the wall: glimpses. She focused her strength on her restraints.

________
"Welcome to occupied space, forsaken one."

To describe how they had gotten there would be unsatisfactory. One second, Jake and the Sandman were seconds away from entering the atmosphere of Nexus. The next, they were standing outside. Jake's vehicle was situated fifty meters away.

Below Jake's feet was sand. He could hear ocean waves. Above him, a pillar of light pierced the sky. A voice boomed from it.

"It was wise of you two to not resist."

To Jake's left was a hole in the ground. One that seemed to fall for eternity. Black legs resembling those of a spider's itched around its edges. From the ocean, a vast tentacle segmented with bone rose and fell. Jake could see the faint image of a creature with feline eyes, a canine muzzle and reptilian head with a dozen limbs.

They were surrounded. This set up was one all too familiar. Jake was impressed the gods were proactive enough to do all of this, but not particularly surprised. "Knew it would mean more trouble."

"Why are you here?"

The Sandman observed the other gods. These were the kind that if seen in their true forms would probably reduce mortals to drooling heaps slapping each other and screaming "THAT'S MY HORSE!" They, however, had no problem appearing before Jake. "Are you asking him or me?"

"We'd like answers from both, invader."

The Sandman wasn't quite sure which one would attack him first. If The Other or the Wrath were here, he'd have felt less antsy. "I came here to bring him to my universe," he pointed at Jake. "A deadly Osiran has began an assault---"

He felt a force hit him in the face, knocking him over and into the sand. He rubbed the substance in his fingers. He didn't have blood, but he was sure something was knocked off of him.

"Don't get wordy, trespasser."

"I came to be sure that he had not harmed anyone on Nexus," Jake said.

"Tis not your role," the god said angrily. Jake's arms slammed tight against his sides.

"I'm... sorry." Jake said.

"Sounds to me like he is dedicated to the cause you gave him," the Sandman said. The force blasted him in the abdomen, cracking his torso. A sand-like substance poured onto the ground. The many-limbed god darted behind him and wrapped six of its arms around him, grabbing his staff and pressing it against his throat. The Sandman was having a real hard time not resisting.

[Demon Lord Gira]

Crigan nodded. "Will do."

He then turned to Nyx. "Cercil is a friend of mine, an archangel of my world. She holds higher dominion than a god like I, and she rules over what remains of the heavenly realm. She means well but... she can be rather tempermental when stressed."

All the while, Crigan reached out with his telepathy, to reach the distant form of the Goddess of Demonkind...

_____________________________

Evron's moment of warning was seized upon by the abomination. Abadon lunged at him, fangs glowing hot red from the magma and claws bared.

It was only thanks to Nichelle, who had moved upon the titan's back and drove both of her blades into it with a kinetic blast to accompany the strike that Abadon fell just short of the Yakuza, instead sending a wave of magma that washed over him.

Ubel's words were all but lost to the woman. Lost against the dying death throes of the planet, of the fact that billions had perished, that their foes were this strong...

And they were too weak to do anything about it!

She screamed, and her blades reached into the spinal cord of the cyborg. A kinetic burst rocked the titan, but something else began to happen as well. The energy from within it began to flood into her body. The red aura that had been gathering within Abadon now flowed into her. Her body grew hot, the air around it warbled and hissed. Her hair flared a crimson red, and she stabbed her blade into the titan again and again, each stronger than the last, each cut deeper than the last.

It was only when the earth shook that her bloodlust was cut short. That, and a call to her name from Doris, who stood beside Korraz, who had helped dragged Ubel to safety. "UNSTABLE THERE! MOVE!" She shouted at her.

The red hair gave way to her normal black, and her eyes back to only a tint or orange. She withdrew the blades from the downed cyborg and leaped for safety.

Abadon, still functional despite the severing of its spinal cord, leaped after her, but while Nichelle landed beside Doris safely, Korraz cut Abadon's jump short.

The Beast had grabbed a chunk of molten rock as large as her own torso and hoisted it over her head. When Abadon came within range, she smashed it down upon the larger cybrog's head. The blow floored the abomination, blood splurted out of opened wounds and sparks flew in every direction. The sound of bone cracking could be heard for miles, and as Abadon hit the ground, the earth cracked beneath it. The ground gave way under the cyborg, and Abadon fell down the opened fissure, a final hellish scream echoed from the cyborg before it vanished into the destabilized core of the planet...

"T-thank you Korraz..." Nichelle panted. "And THank you, Doris... and you too, Ubel."

Korraz scooped the girls up into her pocket once more. They would be safer here than outside. Indeed, the gravitational pull from Sutekh was getting stronger by the moment.

But how to escape this dying world and what was to come?

______________________________

The feed cut out, and silence was all that came from Persephone and Lilith. Not a word came from either of them, as their eyes were glued upon the static that ran across the screen. No one dared say anything, no one even dared to breath.

Finally, after what felt to be an eternity, Lilith's chair fell backwards and the Satori fell from it. "Auuugh!" She screamed, as she hit the back of her head on the marble flooring. She shakily rose to her feet and looked over at her Lord and Master. "P-Persephone?"

"Lilith, the data from the probes and Abadon. Send them to Laeptus, and both of you get to work on analyzing how powerful our new ally and his enemies are."

Persephone began to walk away. Each step was fast, almost too fast for Lilith to stop. But she caught up and grabbed Persephone by the shoulder. "W-wait! T-that kind of power, I cannot possi-"

"Do not tell me you cannot. You MUST, and you WILL." Persephone's voice dropped to a low hiss, and her pupils narrowed into slits. She brushed Lilith's arm off of her. "Never would I have expected us to be players on a stage so unfitted, with powers so beyond us. Any advantage we can get, any weakness we can find, delve into and prepare for Mara, Tyralus, Belfrit, and work to get Minos recovered as fast as possible. I thought I would afford to give Minos a natural recovery period, as she deserves that much after her fight with Malcania, but I'm afraid a long rest is out of the question for her. Oh, and Lilith."

Persephone's voice returned to a softer, gentler tone and her eyes returned to normal. "That girl, the one who was trying to talk with those gods? Invite her over. It looks like she could use some actual company."

Lilith nodded, and with that Persephone turned and left. Hopefully, the surviving probes would return with more information Lilith could make use of, but right now, she needed to focus on her important matters.

And that included a visit to their new esteemed guest.

______________________

Next to the abandoned Dea, a rift tore open, a clear exit for her off the dying planet...

[HayesAJones]

Dea, annoyed at yet another conversation cut short, flicked narrowed eyes at the rift.

"Fine," she grunted after a moment. She turned to step into it. "At least Ponyboy isn't leaving me to die here."

Shoving her hands into her pocket and hunching her back, the demigod stalked into the portal...

[Godzilla165]

Evron turned to Ubel, “Ubie, I don’t have enough energy to make a portal long enough back home, can you do it?”

The larger ninja nodded, “Yeah, I think I’ve got enough to, but where are Daeva and Dante? We’re not leaving without them.”

Just as soon after Ubel said that, Daeva descended from the sky, still carrying Dante’s limp form. The eyes of the other two widened in shock as they immediately rushed to their brother’s aid.

“Em?! Dante, Dante wake up! Come on, bro, get up!” Ubel pleaded.

“Dante, come on you son of a bitch, say something! Dan...” Evron stopped to check his vitals, scanning through the readings his visor was giving him. “Dammit, he’s suffered an aneurysm, a pretty big one too; he’s out cold.”

“Well, come on, what are we waiting for?! We’ve gotta get Dante home ASAP!” Daeva exclaimed.

“Ubel, the portal!” Evron said.

Swiftly obliging, Ubel used a hand to slice a skinny tear in the fabric of space, before grabbing ahold of it with both hands, and tearing it open into a much bigger area to fit through. He quickly ushered Daeva in first, then Evron, and finally, he looked towards Nichelle and the others.

“Nichelle, Korraz, Doris, let’s go! Don’t think we’re leaving you guys behind, hurry!” He shouted.

[Demon Lord Gira]

Korraz wasted no time. With Nichelle and Doris by her side, and Stormcrow on her shoulder, she ran into the rift at a speed which seemed unusual for her build.

Nichelle, head out of the pocket, gave one last look at the world she had come to know as home for the past several years of her life. The world Doris and Molly had called home their entire lives, the world billions had called home... now destroyed by Sutekh's lust for power.

It was gone, nothing but a molten hellscape on its last limbs. And that was the last Nichelle saw of it before Korraz continued further into the rift....

____________________________

Where Dea came out of was not where Sutekh and his forces had been before. Instead, she found herself before a throne room, one lit only by the candles and torches that hung from the walls. Behind them were tapestries of strange and unusual creatures, dragons with many eyes, serpents with many heads, a great hulking reptilian monstrosity, and of a six winged seraphim bathed in light. This last tapestry was behind the obsidian throne, a throne that was empty.

"Good afternoon." A voice came from behind Dea. Persephone walked up to her side. The corners of her eyes were covered in wrinkles, and her silver hair was unkept and splayed. She was still in her night gown, and barefoot as well. "If I had known I would be receiving a guest so soon after my request to fetch you, I would have gotten dressed sooner. Still, it's better to have someone unprofessional to talk to than no one else at all."