The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

Super Chaos Sonic · March 1, 2016

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Prologous [[What Time, What Place]]

"No, I don't think we will."

Nero knew he shouldn't have let his guard down, but he did anyway. He and the Avatar seemed to just end this with chatting...but it sadly wasn't the case. After he spoke to the Avatar, he was suddenly stabbed by the specter. He backed away, holding his wound as he felt it bleeding refusely.

"After this, we won't be seeing each other again"

"H-Heh...guess this teaches me not to let my...g-guard down..." Nero said slowly, as within his hand materialized Divine Remnant. "C-Curaga..." Suddenly a small green aura enveloped the wound as he began to cast the healing spell on it. He knew it wouldn't exactly heal it completely, but the bleeding would stop. "And here...I thought we were actually getting to know each other." he smirked slightly as within his left hand materialized the X-Blade.

"Guess this just means, it's just me and you...one on one." Nero said as he swung his Keyblades around him for a moment, before smirking. "Aeroga..."

BGM

Suddenly around Nero there appeared a furious sphere of wind surrounding him as he rushed towards the Avatar. Divine Remnant suddenly had it's blade part become engulfed in flames, whilst the X-Blade was covered in electricity. "Alright...LET'S GO!!" Nero yelled as he started slashing at the Avatar, striking at him with his fiery and electric Keyblades as well as his defensive Aeroga shield damaged the Avatar as well.

"That's only the start!" the Keyblade master smirked as he jumped back and swung his Keyblades around before they seemed to become a blade of energy as he pointed them at the Avatar. "Twin Blade Charge..." He then rushed towards the Avatar yet again, but as he got towards the specter's front, he vanished from sight. Suddenly the being would feel his back being struck at as Nero made an "X" slash from the Blade Charged weapons...getting a possible critical hit and knocking the being back some.

Maeriberii Haan · March 1, 2016

Koishi

Personaloguous

"Stupid girl, don't you realize you are nearing the end game?"

"That has little to do with the fact that you're hurting now!" Koishi yelled. She knew she couldn't really help the being before her. She knew little about healing others, and healing wouldn't work with creature of such nature anyway. Not to mention, the being itself didn't seem to like her attempt to try helping it. It's supposed to be her enemy, right? The Avatar of Prologuous - the being guarding Origin. Everyone, including her, had fought against it for a while, and now he's there, hurting. Yukari would just laugh and dismiss her stupidity if she showed any sort of care towards the creature. And the Avatar would soon probably attack her anyway. It's just...

But...

"I can't just leave with you being like this! You look like someone that's at the edge of their life just by hearing those ticking noise. Your time is coming to a close...but it's just...you don't even have to die for me to proceed, right? You're not even evil. I know it, I know it from looking! I can't see your heart, but I am sure that you're not even evil! I'm...I...I'm sick of seeing deaths happening like this.

I don't know who you are. I don't know what are you. But...you...that scream of fear earlier...you will be alright, right? No no no no...no!"

Sweat ran through Koishi's body. She was getting too hysterical again. No, there's little reason for her to take care of the Avatar now. She didn't want it to get hurt, or to scream like what had happened before again. But that's unrealistic. She couldn't do anything about it. And she might even still need to push forward by battling it. It hurts, but it's not the time to be like that. Yukari would be mad. Big sis would be mad. She would be disappointed if that happens.

"...I'm sorry. I think I'm letting my feelings run too wild again, so I'm really really sorry about it.

Just...this is the end. I don't think there's any way for both of us to get to the end without anyone getting hurt. I don't...let's not waste time again, then? This time, let's...let's end this! I want to move forward! I want to meet Yukari again! And...I definitely want to be with sis again! They're waiting for me, I'm very sure that's the case. Does anyone wait for you too, Avatar? If so...and if you're here to prevent me to move forward...

Please try stopping me with all your might. I can't disappoint the people that matters to me, and I can't disappoint you and this entire pathway...so I'll use my entire might here too!"

No turning back. After the burst of unrestrained emotions had finished from overflowing, Koishi set herself up for the upcoming confrontation. Would the Avatar even see her as being serious? It would probably only see her as a child. It wouldn't be wrong though if it thought about her like that. She's too childish for her own good. Yet, she still wished deep inside that the Avatar would see how serious she was. This Koishi was different from the one that entered the pathways ages ago.

Reimu

Personaloguoous

"Try to survive long enough to win!"

"You're going to start with a survival spell?" Reimu said half in surprise and half in annoyance. Survival spells were a big pain in the butt for her, and she didn't really look forward to face them again at times like this. Though the Avatar didn't probably play with the Spell Card rules anyway. That would mean he's just going to try killing her outright.

That would be less of a pain.

The Avatar glided through the air with its scythe on the ready. Ready to reap her, more like. That didn't sound that fun. Reimu prepared her amulets, and prepared herself for the impact. The shrine maiden constructed a decoy copy of herself using the amulets, then shifted away from her position using a slit she could open after she constructed a double-bounded barrier in front of the decoy. As she quickly shifted away from her position, Reimu continued to think. She's skeptical about the strength of the barrier against the Avatar. The decoy would be her best bet in calculating how easily would it be able to break that barrier.

Her head's getting lighter. Perhaps she shouldn't use her shifting ability too much.

Kazuya

Personaloguous

"Prove your conviction and will. Prove you can take Origin from me. It's as simple as that"

"Well, alright. Perhaps that's to be expected."

It's going to be Babel all over again, huh?

"Would it require combat? In that case, should you go first, or should I go first?"

Yukari

Personaloguous

"...Okay then."

Even with her saying those words, Yukari didn't move an inch as the scythe grew and grew before being swung at her direction. As if she's a sitting duck, the scythe cleaved through her effortlessly, splitting her into two unequal halves. However, no blood dripped to the floor. And both halves of Yukari merely sighed at the sight. Rather than bones and flesh and organs, what could be seen from the slashed part was simply an endless void filled with eyes.

"Splitter: All-purpose Divider."

Both halves of Yukari disappeared, before reappearing some distance away from the Avatar, catching her breath. She realized that her reaction time was still not as good as before, and she wouldn't be able to do the same trick again reliably enough. She was merely hoping that she could properly gauge the Avatar's close combat capability by using the trick of using her gaps to "split" her body apart in the nick of time, but that one was way too close than what she hoped for. If it's not for the Avatar's attack being even slower, she wouldn't be able to use it in the right time, and she would really be dead by now.

"sheet...I need to figure out something soon."

Love of Ghibli · March 2, 2016

Butler

Personalogous

"Because if you are, then you would be very wrong. A cheap shot like that isn't even NEARLY enough to kill me!"

Butler turned around and looked at the skeletal remains that lingered with the blood eyes. If he was less professional he would have betrayed his feelings with a smirk. However he turned around to simply face this Avatar before him.

I don't think it is very fair to call that a cheap shot. I was pretty sure than I announced some form of ill intent towards you before I initiated. But if you are going to take me with a modicum of seriousness then it is only fair that I reply in kind. Especially now that I have almost all the information I need to break out of this individual dimension you have created for me.

Butler moved his hands and the swarm of Rukh moved along the Kishin's will. This is a rough equivalent of a technique that doesn't use Rukh but rather takes them away. Gyokuen referred to this as her God, so for honor I will name this technique, Al Thamen! The Rukh took to the skies and took the shape of three massive tentacle creatures and they attacked the Avatar. Inside the bind of their tentacles they would proceed to distort, crush and the lifeforce of anything in its path till it found Rukh. However if Butler's suspicions were correct the Avatar doesn't have Rukh so it should be a cycle of perpetual torment. If this works and everyone else is doing what they should be doing he'll be able to break out of this prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dorian

Personalogous

"Are you quite finished?"

Well I thought it was a good effort Dorian said with a slightly disappointed sigh. Dorian then fired aimed his hands and pulled back like a boy. I can't hold the 7th sense for long so let's make these count then. He fired a flaming arrow at the humanoid and while the arrow seemed small it broke off into infinitely smaller arrows that fired around the Avatar. These arrows kept breaking off until they became not visible to the human eye. Seconds later a series of concussive and massive explosions erupted trying to blanket the Avatar with their force. Hmmm a series of mini-sunspots should do something. Dorian thought/hoped to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ragnarok

Personalogous

The moment Ragnarok waited for had finally arrived. The Avatar revealed his black blood which caused an immediate squeal from the based weapon. Oh you think you know me don't you! At that moment Ragnarok simply popped like a bubble and it looked as if he broke into thousands of other bubbles. Soon some of those bubble grew miniature bat wings and transformed into tiny Ragnarok faces. Come on big man! What else you got! Screech Resonance! KIIYYYYAAAAAA All of the mini bubble bats let out a deafening screech that was meant to shatter all in its radius.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhadamanthys

Personalogous

"What do YOU even know about what is happening? Do you not understand the gravity of this? The Pathways just trembled, because something beyond Prologuous is attempting to DESTROY THEM! It is trying to collapse the three, and then possibly Prologuous as well. It is trying to destroy everything up until the Door you colossal idiot!"

Still meditating Rhadamanthys did not break his concentration. You just admitted to not caring and we were the only things interesting to come along. You demeanor lead me to suggest that you are content with your role in existence. Is this simply not the next step for you. I remember quite clear, your feelings on how someone stronger than you was going to come along and you would give them the Origin. What does it matter if the Pathways or any of this gets destroyed? You already foretold this exact instance. Rhadamanthys concluded as he found himself trying to look deep within the inner reaches of his cosmos to arrive at an answer he may have truly gotten while on the paths.

Phantom Roxas · March 2, 2016

~The Pathway to Death - Hallway C~
[Death C9] - Eria, Gagagigo, Arthur, Erebos, and Emiya

The Counter Guardian that had once united the Corps stood before Eria, Arthur, and Gagagigo. Even Erebos was quiet, keeping his distance from the man in red, who held his hands at his side, his eyes closed, and his voice carrying a mournful sigh. ”Look at me, Eria. I represent a crossroads for you. First you see me as Megiddo. The entity who enslaved you, calling you his ‘l’Cie’. A tool for eliminating alternatives. And yet, it’s still to your benefit, he said. You could be the best ‘you’ that you could be. And yet, you’re afraid of that.”

”It wouldn’t be an improvement! He called me… he called me a recipe! That’s not an improvement. That’s just turning me… turning me into a piece of something else I wouldn’t even know. If there’s another ‘me’ out there, then I’d like her to live a happy life.”

Emiya nodded in the direction of Erebos, who returned the nod, leapt into the air, and kicked forward at Gagagigo. However, Gagagigo caught Erebos’ foot in his hand, and threw him aside. Erebos caught himself, his body adjusting to an upright position in midair, and he charged back at Gagagigo. The two continued blows, and although Eria tried to step in, gathering water, Emiya stepped in, slashing his sword through the water. ”And what about your own happiness? Why do you think I brought you to this war? If there are other versions of you out there, I could have easily invited them instead. But even then, if I visited your world, why would have wasted my time with you? Any of your fellow Charmers could have suited me. Perhaps I could have gone to the next step and enlisted Lady Doriado instead. I could have invited one of your parents. Both Rahz and Aqueria would have been valuable assets to the Counter Corps. But instead, I chose you, all for a simple purpose.” He pointed towards Gagagigo, watching as Gagagigo and Erebos still fought, punching and kicking, without a clear sign of an upper hand. ”Isamy had enlisted Kozaky. From that ridiculous monstrosity of metal and wood to your closest friend, Kozaky had brought ample support for the Divine. Kozaky is long dead, yet you’ve thought so little of him. However, I cannot blame you for that. Tenuous though it may be, Protheus still encouraged the following of Dorian, who in turn maintains the loyalty of his Butler. I fear that Dorian may be right. You only bring misfortune to those you intend to save.”

Absorbed in his own words, Emiya paid no attention as Eria slapped her hand across Emiya’s face. ”You’re no different from Ophelia.”

”…Pardon?”

”Kairi and I were jerked around by you two! Sora and Gagagigo were used. LERNA and Kozaky changed them, and Isamy took advantage of that! So you and Ophelia just brought in people. You thought we could redeem them, and we did. But is that all you think I’m good for?”

”I gave you an opportunity to save your friend!”

”And I’m happy about that! That’s what you were asking me, wasn’t it? I’m honored that I could join the Counter Corps. No matter what comes of this war, I want to believe that Gagagigo and I can go back home, and we could see our friends again.”

”Yet you sound ungrateful for it.”

”Did our happiness ever matter to you? Arturia said that you doom our universe to oblivion. The moment you brought me into this war, you doomed my friends. My family. My mother and father.”

”I did not doom your friends. I gave you a chance to save one. If anything, you should blame Arthur for what befell your friends. You once said you would kill ‘that Artur’. Such a remarkable change, then, that you would now lie in bed with him.”

”Leave me out of this!” Arthur stepped in, Keyblade at the ready, but Emiya held up another blade. With a blade in each hand, the Counter Guardian stood between Arthur and Eria. ”Eria, what I did was… crap. More than anything, in my time with the Divine, I don’t regret anything more than that.”

Emiya chuckled. ”And why do you regret it so much? Are you ashamed because you realize it was the wrong thing to do in the first place, or is it so hard to gaze upon the woman you’re attracted to as long as you cannot make amends for what you’ve done? Do not think me to believe that you are entirely altruistic, Arthur. Remember why I allowed you into the Counter Corps. You nearly died trying to cling to the last shred of control you had over her friends. It was not your strength then that was of value to me. MachGaogamon was the one who sought redemption. You were just too afraid to die alone, and even a Digimon as powerful as him is useless without his partner.”

Eria stared in horror Arthur. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. He seemed genuinely guilty. She tried to remember, thinking back to their first meeting, but all she could recall was her brain scrambled by Frankram’s technology dressing her up in a bunny outfit. It was humiliating, but the shame that outfit brought her seemed so long ago, so unimportant next to what was happening now. He had been sorry. Arthur was a hero. He proved that when he defeated the Madara. ”Arthur… were you really that desperate to control them in the Shadow Realm? Even until the end?”

Arthur bit his lip, shaking his head. ”Eria, please. I don’t want…”

”Arthur!” Eria’s eyes began to water. Her voice was stern, and Emiya smiled, stepping back to let her step closer. Arthur took steps back, but Eria caught up to him. ”I thought you had realized it was wrong. Did you… did you really have to nearly die to realize… to see that controlling my friends was wrong?”

”Did you really think that just talking to your father would be enough for the Pathways?” Emiya asked Arthur. ”Megiddo was here for Eria, but me? I represent you both. I represent all of you who fight for the Counter Corps. I could not stop LERNA, but all of you made it even farther. It was the two of you who forged a love that conquered the Madara. Was that love based on a lie?”

”Eria…”

”No excuses, Arthur. Why did you do it?”

”I saw how much they cared about each other! They weren’t monsters anymore. What they were had changed, but I saw that there were still people. Aussa, Wynn, and Hiita. I… did want them to save me, but I knew they were more than that. But when I got desperate, when I thought Isamy would kill me, I panicked. I thought more about them saving me than them being safe themselves.”

”Just imagine, Eria.” Megiddo was beside them this time, but Eria didn’t acknowledge him. ”In another world, perhaps they would be safe. Why waste your time on an indecisive coward who keeps making mistake after mistake? Anyone could be his friend, and they save his life to make that a possibility. But instead, he leaves them to die. The world you saw in the Infinite Tsukuyomi was a dream for Arthur to not abandon anyone. Perhaps that is the source of your misfortune. You promise to be the salvation for cowards who cannot help themselves. So cut them loose.”

”Eria, please!” Arthur reached out his hand to Eria, but it was shaking. Arthur’s own eyes began to tear up. ”Yes, that was true. I couldn’t help myself. But you and MirageGaogamon gave me strength! I survived because of MirageGaogamon, and then I met you. You’ve both been good to me. I’m glad you didn’t… cut me loose. I controlled your friends, but they stood by me. Because your friends were heroes. Back then, I thought only for myself.”

”And you still do!” Emiya said now. ”You talk about how your friends save you. Isamy told you to fight for yourself, and that is what you need to prove. So return the favor. If you think there is some worth to your life, the life given to you by your parents, your escorts, the woman you love, her friends, and that beast you think as your brother, then make use of it!”

”Eria,” Arthur said. ”My father told me something. He said that I might be able to prove myself. But I can’t know what I’m supposed to prove until I know the kind of man I am now. So I’m going to Truth next, to find out who I am. But I can’t do that without you.”

”Must you insist on sticking to your dependency issues? Do you have even the slightest idea of what fighting yourself is supposed to mean? You do nothing but throw yourself onto the shoulders of other people! You call it your own strength, but it’s embarrassing how you still think you can live with yourself when you just keep finding people to latch onto. You’re a parasite, Arthur. Stop confusing it with courage.”

”Shut the hell up! Eria… go to Truth with me. Whatever waits for us there, just give me a chance. Emiya is just trying to trick us-”

”Then tell me he’s lying.”

Arthur shook his head. ”I can’t do that. It’s just… let me show you that I'm better than this. That no matter what he says, I'm not the same idiot I was back then.”

”You’re just using her,” Emiya said. ”You regret what you’ve done, you want to become a better person. That is an admirable goal. Just as Megiddo thought for Eria, you will also improve yourself. But don’t let your feelings for Eria be an excuse. Do not test your morality by love. Love is reassuring, but does not cancel out what a miserable person you are.”

Erebos was flung over Emiya’s head, and crashed against the ground. Erebos stood up, his body melting into the shadows in the air, but Gagagigo grabbed Erebos by the throat, pulled him forward, and slammed his face onto the ground again. ”Mind if I add to this?” Gagagigo asked.

Emiya sighed. ”Why not? Isamy’s advice to fight for yourself has been ignored so far anyway…”

”Gagagigo, focus on Erebos!”

”What’s the use?” Erebos muttered. ”This is… humiliating to admit, but I’m nothing to you now. Gagagigo is already quite powerful, and you, Eria… I’m impressed. You’re not just a little girl anymore.”

”Erebos…” Emiya shot a glare. ”You cannot be serious. Should our roles not be reversed? Ordinarily, you would be wearing down their hope. That’s why you appeared to Eria when Butlerok and LERNA drove her to madness, after all.”

”And that probably wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t involved her in this war, Emiya!” Erebos turned to Gagagigo, laughing in satisfaction. ”Look at you. Emiya probably did a bit too well in his job. He brought Eria here to save you. Maybe not to bring you to the Counter Corps, but certainly so the Divine’s numbers would be limited. I had hoped you would stay in the darkness. To defeat a monster like me, you had to become the same kind of monster. But Eria brought you back. I’ve been nothing more than a trick of the mind throughout this war. Eria could have joined you on the Divine, as Butlerok’s puppet, but instead she made it through… just to save you. I want to puke. But, you’ve impressed me, Gagagigo. I’m ready. Emiya is here for all of you. He doesn’t care for me. I could go for as long as I’d like, stall for eternity.”

The whole of the corridor began to shake. Emiya’s eyes widened. Erebos took a deep breath. ”Then it’s time we finish this,” Gagagigo said. Closing his eyes and extending his fingers, Gagagigo ran his hand through Erebos’ chest, piercing his heart. The Invader of Darkness choked on his blood, but managed a smile. ”Don’t look so happy,” Gagagigo told him. ”Getting you out of my life is far more important than impressing you.” He let Erebos dropped to the floor, but once he did, cracks formed alongside the ground, dividing it.

”You’ve finished nothing,” Emiya said. A wind rushed into the corridor, blowing out all the candles. ”I’ve only just begun.” Arthur slashed his Keyblade, but Emiya blocked it with his left arm. The sleeve turned black, as red veins seeped over it, reaching towards his shoulder. ”I am the bone of my sword.” Eria shot streams of water, but Emiya summoned a new sword, the blade spiraled like a drill, piercing the water and scattering it past Eria. ”Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.”. The Leviathan recovered from Megiddo’s kick before, but met against a series of pink barriers surrounding Emiya. The Leviathan did not stop its attack, yet Emiya continued speaking. ”I have created over a thousand blades!”

Gagagigo almost took his own turn to attack Emiya, but the sound of a ticking clock caught his attention. A new voice joined in, empty, as it uttered nonsense words. hickory dickory dock

The cracks along the floor continued to spread, as sand began to come up from above it. Emiya’s uniform continued to blacken, more blood staining out across his body. He gazed up at the Pathway, seeing nothing and feeling nothing as his barrier endured, ”Unknown to Death…” He turned his eyes to Eria, then to Arthur. ”Nor known to Life.”

the mice ran up the clock

Emiya’s skin turned pale as he summoned more upon more blades. They flew through the barriers, Arthur casting a Reflect spell, Eria forming a shield of ice to halt the speed of the blade, giving her enough time to dodge, while the Leviathan flinched, the blades only grazing its body. The Leviathan chomped down, breaking through one of the barriers. But Emiya did not falter. ”Have withstood pain to create many weapons.”

Eria, Arthur, Gagagigo, and Leviathan all reeled back, preparing to double down on the assault.

the clock struck one

”Yet, those hands will never hold anything.”

and then there were none

”So as I pray…”

hickory

dickory

dock

………………………………………………………………

”UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"

The Pathway to Death was gone. All the darkness, the shadows, the cold stone, everything slipped away as the world changed. Now there was a wasteland littered with blades, stained in red veins. Gigantic gears rusted in a blood red sky. Emiya held himself high in the air, carrying the taint that corrupted him in the Shadow Realm, his hands outstretched, his head carrying disappointment as he surveyed the veterans of the Counter Corps beneath him. ”And here we are. Back where it all began, Eria. You dearest friend is back at your side. A shameful traitor to the Divine grasps for his ideals, and trusts you to help him. Sora survives the corruption of LERNA. His fiancée waits for him on the other side. Your score with Dorian remains unsettled. The Focus entrusted to you by Megiddo haunts your every step. Ophelia’s last resorts still control your fate as Protheus Maximus races to the Door of Origin! Now we finish this. So tell me: Did I make the right choice in bringing you to this war?”

Reinforce · March 6, 2016

Chandra

Pathway of Remembrance: B12

"Well, once we get back out of the origin, if you're still around, we can have that fight you want."

Chandra was smiling at that first bit as she replied, before starting to frown as Gemini continued to talk. Even so, she continued to keep the heat going, even now that the air was reaching much more comfortable temperatures, knowing that simply letting it fade would bring back the cold fast. Around them, the snow that had been lying on the ground was melted, turning back into water that had flowed into the lake.

"So that's what happened in Jace's past. doesn't really make me feel any better about telepathy, if he could do that sort of thing at 16. Though, do you enjoy doing this, finding every last secret of a person and dragging their past out to see them? I've never been back to my original plane since then, you know. Never seen the point really. I don't know it's name, I don't know where it is in relation to any other plane, and I don't even know what planes it's near. At best, it might be easily reached from Regatha, but even that's not certain. Besides, I enjoy wandering the multiverse, and if I ever want to return to a place I can call home, I have Keral Keep."

Darcy

What Place, What Time: Prologuous

Even as she was thrown back by the avatar, she set off another teleport. Vanishing from where she was, Darcy reappeared several metres to the side of where she'd been. Down below, the shadows that had hidden the avatar's form were mostly gone, and the witch could see a humanoid figure in it's place as he glared at her from his own position in the air. Darcy smirked at the avatar's outrage as she spoke.

"Really now, you can't tell me you weren't expecting something like that from me. I'm a witch and a villain, surprise attacks are simply part of my arsenal. Still, looks like that last one didn't do as well as I was hoping it to, you are still alive and conscious in spite of it."

Without another word, Darcy seemingly duplicated, leaving 10 images of her body standing in a circle around the avatar, while the real one flew up above it's head. All 10 images raised their hands simultaneously, purple spheres of energy appearing in front of them before shooting towards the avatar. All illusions, designed to distract while the real version above, still invisible, fired a cone of dark purple fire directly below at the avatar.

Ayame

What Place, What Time: Prologuous

Clicking her tongue in anger at the avatar's dismissal of her strike, Ayame jumped up just in time to avoid the spikes, wings opening and driving her further up into the air as she did. Below her, the avatar had been left with only an arm and a head, along with a new black spine that had unfurled from what was left of his torso, and extending bone structures coming from that. With a scowl now firmly fixed upon her face, her left hand pointed towards him, lightning dashing around her body as she prepared her next attack. With a thunderous crack, a large bolt of lightning flew from her hand, racing forward in an attempt to strike the avatar directly in it's head and upper torso.

Tesability Black · March 6, 2016

~??? - Path of Remembrance - Gemini's POV~

"Well, once we get back out of the origin, if you're still around, we can have that fight you want."

You'd miss your chance by then, Gemini thought to himself before he had continued on with his own words before finally finishing, allowing Chandra a chance to respond, glancing back towards Jace to keep an eye on him.

"One: The event that first caused his life to snowball actually happened at 13, when he wound up unintentionally taking control of one of the bullies messing with him to save his own life because one of their number tried to kill him," Gemini started off to say. "Two, I usually don't try to see the past and future of others, they instead come to me when they wish to. You can say that my awareness is always within the sea of time, seeing what's flowing to and fro within it. And unless it directly relates to something going on around me, I don't even bother trying to memorize it...and three, I have a question for you."

Gemini didn't get to ask his question when a blood-curdling scream ripped out of Jace's throat suddenly, despite the man's eyes remaining closed as he started to thrash about as if trying to fend off an unseen attacker, causing the demon to cover his ears for the moment and wince in pain.

"Please," Jace gasped once he stopped screaming, tears pouring down his face as if in a lot of pain. "You know I couldn't have stopped him. I tried! I did all I could, Tezzeret! Please, show some—" Another scream of pain ripped out of his throat as he started tossing about again, to which Gemini braced himself before removing his hands from his ears and placing them on the smaller man's chest to keep at least from accidentally throwing himself into something. "Please," he choked out again, now sounding much fainter than before. "I've—learned my lesson. I'll never—I won't fail you again. Please." A couple of moments later, Jace finally fell silent before he fell limp, as if his body had momentarily shut down from the overdose of pain.

"Might be a good thing I'm here instead of my counterpart. Neos would have tried to needle him for information on whom he was screaming about, then try to find someway to travel through the Eternities without his help to rip this Tezzeret a new a$$hole...among other things." Gemini shook his head for a moment, closing his eyes once he did before looking upon Jace once more. "That wasn't even a lost memory that the waters brought up to the surface, either."

Glancing back towards the lake behind them before focusing his attention on the mindmage. "If I allow him to truly remember the 16-plus years worth of memories he lost before and after the first planeswalk, especially so soon and quickly," Gemini muttered darkly, "that may cause the mental break that finally ends him. And Innistrad already threatens to do that in the future without aid." At the point, the hands the false human had earlier placed on Jace's chest and his red eyes began to glow with a dark-blue light...

...followed by Jace himself becoming suddenly surrounded with a yellow glow with blue spider-webbing through out the strange glow that seemed centered near the heart, despite a decent portion of the webbing also being near the mind. "I won't remove them, but I am making it so that the memories come back at a pace he would be able to process them instead of all of it at once. And as I was going to ask you, which do you consider worse?"

This was the point that Gemini lifted his head to look Chandra in the eyes, dark-blue glowing through the red of his eyes. "Knowing whom your parents are and seeing them die in front of your eyes...or not even being able to remember anything about your family, not even their name, their voices or their faces, nor even knowing if they're alive or not and not being able to find out because you don't know where they would be?" There was no amusement in his face or voice.

The Warden · March 15, 2016

[[What Time, What Place: Nero's Prologuous]]

The Avatar's cloak of shadow fluttered from the Aeroga shield, his body unmoving as he was slashed by the flames and lightning. His body burned and it spasmed from the shock, but he wasn't dreadfully harmed. All he did was idly turn his head as Nero went for his next assault. "Hmm...."

Counting under his breath, the very second the Keyblade Master appeared behind was the exact moment a second torso burst out of his back. Grabbing onto the blades with its clammy claws, the hideous Siamese twin shattered the shimmering energy, replacing it with shadowy tendrils that bound the young man to his weapons. The creepy clone grinned evilly, a long black tongue flailing about as the Avatar shifted his body forward. Swinging Nero back over to his front, the kid impacted the ground... hard. Not even given time for a reprieve, the tendrils yanked him back up, before tearing his weapons from his hand. Time slowed to a crawl as the clone returned to the Avatar's body, the X-Blade and Divine Remnant clattering to the ground as their master hung in the air, slowing rising upwards. Bracing himself, the Avatar spun about, using the momentum of the action to kick Nero square in the gut, launching him fifty feet away, his body impacting in a crater. The spectre was silent, so he could let his work speak for itself.

[[What Time, What Place: Koishi's Prologuous]]

"Please try stopping me with all your might. I can't disappoint the people that matters to me, and I can't disappoint you and this entire pathway...so I'll use my entire might here too!"

"I don't get you," the Avatar chuckled humourlessly, "as first you're all "let me help you", and now you're all "fight me". I don't get that, I really don't. But, it would be wrong of me to decline. So, as you insist" he grinned.

Disappearing from view, the Avatar had moved into the airspace before the great tree, before the great clock ticking away with maddening irregularity. The Avatar chuckled madly, his head in his hands as a dark aura flickered around him. Grinning with a glowing crescent smile, one shining red eye was lit beneath his hood. The aura intensified, and soon the air was filled with screaming. The Avatar was screaming as loudly as he could as it body went berserk, his cloak flattening as large crooked lines of shadowy burst out of his body. They filled the sky-space, twisting at irregular arrows as they tried a bizarre combination of attacking Koishi, while also trying to box her in.

[[What Time, What Place: Remiu's Prologuous]]

As the Avatar glided towards the decoy, another version of him split off, this one heading straight for where Reimu was hiding. The first version of the Avatar slashed through the decoy, before its body exploded, wiping both of them out. "Darkness Beckons, Echelons of Despair!"

It would feel as if the air was being crushed from her lungs, her perceptions failing as an oppressive darkness clouded her senses. She could not even witness the ground she stood upon. All she could see would be the Avatar coming for her, his scythe ready to take her life.

[[What Time, What Place: Kazuya's Prologuous]]

"I don't particularly care" the Avatar apathetically responded.

[[What Time, What Place: Yukari's Prologuous]]

"Errant Reunion, Guests of the End!"

Much to Yukari's shock, a large swarm of Avatars were flying at her. Their scythes at the ready, one sped ahead beyond her reaction, slicing at her. Nothing happened, no pain or injury. That Avatar had been an illusion. But if that were to be the case, then which was the real Avatar, or Avatars? Could she risk gambling on taking a hit or dodging? If she guessed wrong, she would quite quickly find herself on the receiving end of a corporeal scythe.

[[What Time, What Place: Butler's Prologuous]]

"Failsafe, Foolish Assumptions!"

Slapping the tendrils away, the beings made of Rukh shrieked loudly, their very beings burning away into hollow ashes. The Avatar's expression betrayed nothing as the attack ended before it could even truly begin. "If you think you can break the Möbius Exclusion, then you are as deluded as the notion that I have been taking you seriously" the Avatar uttered darkly.

With a wave of his hand, an intense amount of force burst forth, striking Butler hard in the chest and sending him sailing away. "Someone with borrowed powers is not worth taking seriously."

[[What Time, What Place: Dorian's Prologuous]]

"Careless Whisper."

The mini-sunspots faded away, all heat extinguished and the Avatar no worse for wear. Oddly, while he looked to be laughing, no sound was being made. It goaded the young spectre to try again, just to see if he could actually hurt the Avatar.

[[What Time, What Place: Ragnarok's Prologuous]]

"Careless Whisper."

The Scream Resonance just couldn't reach the Avatar. Though the air rippled, the space roughly five feet around the Avatar was not affected in the least. The spectre leered as glowing letters appeared for Ragnarok to see.

Soundwaves are useless in the vacuum Careless Whisper creates. You can scream at me until the end of time, but it will never reach me.

[[What Time, What Place: Rhadamanthys' Prologuous]]

"BECAUSE SOMEONE IS DESTROYING THE PATHWAYS! NOT ORIGIN, BUT SOMEONE ELSE! SOMEONE BEYOND PROLOGUOUS"

[[What Time, What Place: Darcy's Prologuous]]

With little resort the Avatar melted, his body smeared across the ground as the illusions missed. Bubbling up, the Avatar pool consumed all of the illusions, forming a shell that withstood the power of Darcy's attack. "Cheap tricks and illusions may be good enough for the Winx, but they will not suffice against one familiar with every trick in every book!"

[[What Time, What Place: Ayame's Prologuous]]

The Avatar held its hand up, his scythe forming in his hands. Leather bands coated the shaft of the weapon, and the blade took the brunt of the electrical strike. With a swing of the scythe, the attack was returned right back at her.

Super Chaos Sonic · March 15, 2016

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Prologous [[What Time, What Place]]

Nero was caught off guard by the second torso emerging from the Avatar's back. But he was even more surprised on how he was able to get his next move predicted. But nevertheless, the clone swung him like a rag-doll, even forcing him to drop his weapons and being hung up in the air by the tendrils. Thankfully the clone slowly returned to the Avatar...but he was far from finished.

Suddenly the Avatar began to spin him around, before using the momentum to kick him hard in the gut, launching him fifty feet away from him. Nero coughed up some as he made impact with the ground, a crater forming. A few moments of silence would be heard, until finally the Avatar watched as the Keyblade Master slowly made his exit from the crater.

BGM

"D-Damn..." Nero groaned, as he held his hands out, both of his weapons returning. "C-Curaga..." he mumbled as his wounds were healed well enough as he cracked his neck some. "Wasn't expecting the twin there. That...and you predicted my Blade Charge strike...gotta give you kudos on that." he said, only to be met with the Avatar's silence. "What? Tendril got your tongue? You were just talkative a few moments ago!" Just met with more silence.

"Fine then..." he nodded, as he swung his blades together again, rushing towards the Avatar again, swinging at the specter at an incredible speed. Then his blade's began to glow brightly with a light as he swung them at him, watching as energy blasts of light struck at him.

He then moved slightly to his left, keeping his stride in his movements as he struck at the specter with everything he had. "I won't lose. Not after what I've done to get here. Not after you helped reunite me with Divine Remnant." he said firmly, determination instilled in his voice. His barrage of attacks continued as he gave off his final slashes, jumping back before swinging his blades around him. "Thundaga...2X!!!" He shouted as he pointed both his X-Blade and Divine Remnant Keyblade in the air, watching as two bolts of lightning came down, merging into one larger one as the struck down upon the Avatar.

The Warden · March 15, 2016

[[What Time, What Place: Nero's Prologuous]]

The Final Darkness is Now

With little effort, the Avatar parried every last one of Nero's attacks using only his hand, matching the Keyblade Master easily in speed. "Thundaga...2X!!!"

Looking upwards, the bolt of lightning was coming so swiftly. Raising his hand to the sky, the Avatar caught it, the bolt contained in a sphere of lightning. Smiling at Nero, the Avatar infected the spell with his own power, before dropping it on the ground. The orb of energy sank into the ground, unleashing its energy through Prologuous. Enormous fissures rent the land apart, splitting everything into asymmetrical floating platforms. By sheer force of will, the part the Avatar stood upon floated high into the air, just so he could look down upon Nero with contempt.

Phantom Roxas · March 16, 2016

~Unlimited Blade Works~
[Death C9] - Eria, Gagagigo, & Arthur vs Emiya & Megiddo

Emiya's body began to shift again, an afterimage of himself vibrating back and forth beside him, until Megiddo stood in its place. Up in the air, both Emiya and Megiddo appeared. Rather than changing between each other, they were each separate, their eyes focused on Eria.

"You must admit," Megiddo told Emiya. "She's performed remarkably well so far, even as the deck remains stacked against her."

"Appropriate," Emiya scoffed. "Even if she's just another card."

That word again. Card, toy, doll, it didn't matter what they kept calling her. "Is that all I ever was to you, Emiya? Did you think that Gagagigo was 'just another card' like me?"

"Your only purpose was to remove Gagagigo from Kozaky's control." Emiya descended, but the moment his feet touched the ground, a light tremor shook across the wasteland. "Upon Isamy's arrival to your world, the goddess Ma'at disappeared. No doubt Isamy saw her as another part of her plan to open the Door to Origin. A judge of souls could be useful for an immortal witch attempting to trespass upon the laws of reality. In the process, she found Kozaky. I could hardly risk-" Emiya raised his sword to block a punch from Gagagigo. "Do you fear the truth?"

"Let me hear it from the real you," Gagagigo said. "I will not suffer any of your lies."

Emiya raised his hand, and three blades launched from the ground, stabbing Gagagigo across his right arm. Screaming in pain, he tried to swing with his tail, but Emiya jumped over it. "Yes, I suppose my words wouldn't have as much meaning to you as they should. I am but a construct of the Pathway, after all. I do not fault you for thinking that what I say is only to lead you astray. However, Eria at least seems to be considering there may be truth behind my words. Kozaky brought you here as one of his puppets, and I allowed Eria to cut your strings. You may believe that I - or rather, the Emiya who brought Eria here - only wished for that. However, was that not an act of kindness? I could have decided that you were to be slain, utterly destroyed like the Inpachi. But instead, I gave you a chance to redeem yourself. Instead, what do you do? Eria finds you, and you nearly crushed her."

"He wasn't in control then!" Eria protested. "That was still Kozaky. Gagagigo, you're the same friend I made when we were children. I know that, if you knew what was going on, you would never have hurt me like that."

"Should I just kill him for you?" Megiddo asked. "Emiya, you must have a lot you wish to say to her. That we are both here is a testament to how frightened she is. Eria, stop pretending that Gagagigo and Arthur are your friends. Gagagigo is no brother of yours. He lost himself trying to fight Erebos. How could you be certain that he won't lose himself again? And what of Arthur? Are you willing to let him become like Emiya and Arturia just to satisfy the lust you mistake for love?"

Emiya raised an eyebrow at Megiddo. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Before Megiddo could explain, it was Arthur who answered. "To do what needs to be done, isn't it? I could face my father now, but when I came here, I just wanted him dead. When I couldn't get that, I went back to the Digital World."

"You never went to Alexandra," Emiya said. "Nor did you seek out Neo or any of your friends who returned to the mortal world. You just ran away to a world where you were already a hero. Where you had already saved the world. Isamy stole Pandora's Box. In a way, you are fulfilling your quest, but at the cost of Samuel and Baxter. If you become a Counter Guardian, what then? Do you think you'll return to Camp Half-Blood, expecting the accolades you've attained to warrant forgiveness for being a coward? To protect yourself from the shame? For your brothers and sisters to admire you for making your father proud? I can see in your heart that you are truly ready to live a life beyond the Digital World, but why? Is it that you trust MirageGaogamon to protect the world through his own power, so you can simply leave it be as you spend your time traipsing through your world and Eria's? Aligning with the Throne of Heroes is not a means for courtship. You may not know what it truly is, but you at least understand that it's not that. You're just hoping that it will allow you a certain benefit." In the instant Arthur drew his Keyblade, it clashed against Emiya's sword. "I am not here to say your feelings are baseless. Although you are both young and impetuous, I can understand that there is a desire for companionship. But do not make the mistake of seeking to finish this war in such a way that you can continue romancing one another. If you are not prepared to risk everything, you cannot hope to win. That you may see this through to live with one another is not the option you should aspire for. You must prepare for the possibility that one of you may die. Both of you may have to sacrifice yourselves to give the others a chance at victory. But if you survive this, do not expect to see each other again. You can go home, grow old, and perhaps find new loves. There may even come a day when you look back on this as veterans of a war. But do not be so foolish, so arrogant as to believe that the Door of Origin should have to accommodate your infatuations!" Emiya knocked Arthur's Keyblade out of his hand, his own sword cutting against the edge of Arthur's arm. Arthur fell, but Emiya wasn't finished. Pointing his sword down, Emiya lunged to pierce Arthur's side. Just before he could draw blood, the blade went flying, and Emiya's hand was pulled back. Looking around, he saw Eria gathering water. "You're both quite determined to protect one another. Is that proof of your passion, or merely a sign that you've both lost yourselves in your mutual delusion?" Eria fired more waves of water, but Emiya summoned his barriers again. "You're both only fighting for each other! Neither of you can see the bigger picture. There is far more at stake here than you seem to reali-" A shadow loomed over Emiya. He turned around, but before he could call forth more blades, the Leviathan closed its mouth around the Counter Guardian, swallowing him whole. More blades launched from the ground, aiming towards Leviathan, but the beast surrounded itself with water, repelling them. It coiled around in the air, maintaining its own water shield.

"He’s quite helpful, isn’t he?” Megiddo asked Eria. "Perhaps a bit too helpful. Back then, when you and I were on the Pathway, you were holding back.”

"I won’t do that now,” Eria said. "I know you’re both here for a reason. But I can’t waste any more time here. Not when I still have something I can do.”

"In a way, that’s true. However, you should consider why Emiya and I both appeared.”

Eria paused. She still kept up her guard, but Megiddo didn’t seem to be making any sudden movements. She looked around, praying that a third enemy wasn’t waiting for her. Gagagigo was picking the blades out of his arm, and Arthur was lifting himself onto his left side. Megiddo’s silver arms grinded in their sockets, as if he was shrugging. Eria moved slowly, then hurried to Arthur’s side, coating his right arm in water. The wound started to close up, but Arthur was wincing. "I’m sorry, Arthur. Please hold on.”

”You’re fine,” Arthur assured her. Tears ran down from his eyes, and he put his hand at her knee. ”I… I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am.”

"Interesting,” Megiddo said. "Eria, you might be ‘fine’, but is he?”

"I didn’t ask you!” Eria shouted.

”Eria.” Arthur’s hand was cold. ”I’m sorry… for so much. You are so beautiful. But… what Dorian said. I mean, how long have we really known each other?”

”Long enough to believe that you’re not inadequate like he said. You’ve helped me. You left the Shadow Realm to help MachGaogamon. That’s not because you need him to be strong. He’s your friend. It’s simple as that.”

”Do you still hate me for what happened to your friends?”

Eria’s hand slipped. The water healing Arthur’s arm stopped. Arthur pulled his hand away from her leg, but Eria grabbed the hand. ”That’s not something I can just forgive. But after Lydia defeated LERNA… after Dorian and Butler changed me… so much madness and despair consumed me. My mind… I don’t really think it’s been my own. Not for a while. I went from Frankram’s cute little doll to Butler’s puppet. I’m done being just a tool for them. Frankram was just an idiot, but LERNA, Dorian, Butler, and Protheus, too, they all so… bitter. I know you want to set things right, so no matter how differently I wish things could have gone, as long as you’re with me, and you want to help my friends, I don’t care how much a part of me wants to hate you. I want you to be the hero you want to be. The kind of man that your friends, your family, can all be proud of.”

"And what about you, Eria?” Megiddo asked. "Dorian was well within his right to chastise you both for your inadequacies. When I said you were holding back, I simply meant that you were only using one hand. You were hoping to retrieve something, weren’t you? The card binding Obelisk the Tormentor. The staff I made for you by empowering the Millennium Rod that Dorian entrusted to you with Obelisk’s card. You hold the spirit of Slifer the Sky Dragon within you because it was the only way to survive against Solasiro’s own monster. Xansvita captured the Winged Dragon of Ra, whose power has been diminished, split among Sora and his friends. Yet you still rely on Slifer’s power. You knew that it would not be enough to defeat me. Isamy separated you from the staff and Obelisk. Just as she had said to Arthur and Gagagigo, she pushed you towards having to rely on your own power. But you cannot. That is why you are meant to rely on each other. Call it love. Treasure it as your strength. But you must accept that you are both weak without it. You need the power that Dorian and I offered you.”

”And is that why you and Emiya are both here?” The brand on Eria’s hand glowed, and she doubled over. Arthur barely managed to stand, and tried to help up Eria, but Megiddo’s hand clawed around Arthur’s throat, forcing him down, and pushing him along the ground until the edge of one of the countless blades in the wasteland was mere inches from Arthur’s back. ”Leave him alone! You’re here for me, not him. That’s why Emiya is here, isn’t he? You’re only meant to fight me. You’re supposed to keep saying what Isamy tried to tell me, Arthur, and Gagagigo. That we should fight for ourselves, right? I’m you’re l’Cie. I have to face my other self sooner or later. So why not just have me face myself?”

Megiddo glanced at Eria. "Hmph. I thought I would shift, just as I had when Emiya and I could not distinguish your fears. Not that you’ve yet to realize what those fears are. To be honest, I would not have been able to answer such a question until you asked it. How is it that you can come to rely on the tools of your enemies, even become a tool yourself? Emiya wanted you to take care of Gagagigo. Dorian and Butler transform you into their clown. Ophelia brought you to Solasiro, and Solasiro brought you to me. You still have yet to truly save your friends, but the Madara could have spared you the pain of crossing these Pathways if you only gave in to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Time and again, you find yourself at the wrong end in this war. There’s always something bigger going on in this war than just you. So why fight? You won’t make a difference. When you defeat the Madara, you only allowed Protheus to take the Key for himself. Even when you win, Protheus is still several steps ahead of you. If all you can do is rely on my power, then even if you survive this war, you would still have me to deal with.”

”…That’s why I have to keep fighting, isn’t it”?

"What?”

”That’s why you’re both here! If Emiya didn’t think I have any reason to be here after saving Gagagigo, then you’re my reason! I’m here to fight.”

"Isn’t that even sadder, then? You have no purpose in this war, so you need another fight to give your role a meaning!”

”Then why show me anything? You chose me for a reason, Megiddo. You said it yourself, you could have chosen anyone back then to make your puppet. You needed me. If I was ‘just another card’ like you say I am, how important would I really have been to you? You say that like anyone could have been in my place. If Emiya was concerned with just getting rid of Gagagigo, and Arturia doomed our universes to oblivion, why bring me? If it made no difference if he lived or died, just that he couldn’t help Isamy, then why trust me? Because I could save him. And I saved Arthur too. Dorian and Butler may have been through a lot, but Arthur defeated Apocrypha through his power, just to save me. Sora was different then, but he managed to leave his faith in Arthur. Even if it was Dorian who trusted the Gods to me… I stood out to them. That has to mean something. Emiya brought me into this war because he saw that there was more to me than just Gagagigo’s friend. Ophelia sent Solasiro to fight me because she was afraid of me. You’re not my assurance that I’ll just survive this war. I am going to win it. Gagagigo, Arthur, MirageGaogamon… we’re going to be the ones to defeat Protheus.”

"You arrogant child… you think yourself so worthy of your gods? You are no savior, chosen by her betters to protect your universes! Arthur himself only sought to become a Counter Guardian for something as shallow as your love! Dorian was right… you know nothing of what you claim to be fighting for! You will never defeat Protheus. Emiya never should have saved Arthur and MirageGaogamon. They should have been lost with the Shadow Realm. Gagagigo should have joined your fellow Charmers in the Void. You never should have made it this far without them. How could you? When will it sink in that you all need to learn to fight your own battles?”

”Because I don’t have to!” As Eria declared her words, light exploded around everyone. The sky above Unlimited Blade Works was gone, and instead, they all found themselves inside a tent. The single, giant blade still stood, now in the center of the tent, the fabric seemingly metallic, gray and blue, and folding in. The word gestalt echoed through Eria’s mind, and Emiya appeared, having dropped to the floor of the base of the giant blade. ”This tent… is it supposed to be Leviathan?” A roar echoed throughout the tent, seemingly in approval of Eria’s question. ”This… is going to take some getting used to.”

"Even now,” Megiddo snarled. "You still rely on my power!”

Eria ascended into the air, as the form of Slifer appeared beneath her. Her lower body merged in with the blue jewel atop Slifer’s forehead, and the tent seemed to expand to accommodate Slifer’s body. ”Whatever powers you and Dorian gave me, I’ll take it into my own. Dorian wants me to be his clown? Then I’ll give him a whole circus.” Water poured in from the sides of the tent, splashing and spiraling. Arthur slowly moved away from the blades, and before he could call out to Eria as the water closed in on him, it shot straight up, leaving a circle of dry space for Arthur to stand in. The same happened to Gagagigo, though he dove straight into the water, swimming through it. ”But it’s more than just my enemies who give me strength. I’m proud to rely on my friends. That’s what all of you are afraid of, isn’t it? Emiya - the real Emiya - brought the Counter Corps together so we could work together to defeat Isamy. Even now, with Arturia, we need to stick together to stop Protheus. You’re pushing us apart so we won’t be able to do that. It’s because my friends have helped me make it this far that I’m going to help them make it even farther!” She held her hand up high, the brand shining bright. It transformed once more, branching out to form horns.

A blue rapier appeared in Eria’s hand. A guard wrapped around her hand, with teal fins on each side, and three golden points coming out from the front. "A Keyblade!” Megiddo gasped. "Impossible!”

"Not necessarily.” Emiya was hovering above the water. Dozens of blades appeared att of his side. "Why do you think I brought her to Unlimited Blade Works? So she could bring forth her own Keyblade.”

"We are supposed to test her, Emiya! She must make it through this Pathway by her own strength!”

"And so she has! I did not simply allow her to obtain the Keyblade. If Eria could not summon it on her own, then Kairi made a mistake in trusting her. However, she will need that Keyblade if she is to make it to the end. If she could not summon it now, then I suspected that she would never be able to. This Unlimited Blade Works is very much a part of the Pathway to Death.”

”Now I get,” Eria said. ”Do you see me now, Emiya? You’re here to show whether or not we’ve changed since we first went to the Shadow Realm. Megiddo is here in case I’ve not changed for the better. If I’m doomed to let myself be another tool for someone like Megiddo to use.”

Megiddo aimed his hand at Eria, but Gagagigo jumped out of the water, grabbing Megiddo’s leg, and throwing him down into the ocean. ”Is that why you talked about Kozaky controlling me? So Eria won’t end up like me?”

"Correct,” Emiya nodded. "Do not run headfirst into danger unless you are certain whether or not you will make it back out. That was the mistake you made, Gagagigo. Eria could hope to prove Dorian wrong, but to not understand that you would not have had so much power without him shows blindness. Taking your enemy’s power and making it truly your own is not something you should be grateful to your enemy for. Rather, you should be proud of yourself. After all, was that not how you defeated the Madara? You subjected him to his own Infinite Tsukuyomi. Take everything that will hold you down, and lift yourselves up! And to you, Arthur. You have walked upon so many crossroads in your life. I believe you have made the right choice with your father, but now you must choose again. Either accept your responsibilities to the Counter Corps and the multiverse, or make a decision for your love. I cannot help you with that. That is for the other Pathways to decide, and for you to control. When I allowed you both into the Counter Corps, your lives began to take a different path. Only before you joined me, Eria, did I think you were but another card. Arthur, as a former Divine, you showed yourself as a wanderer. I am here because I was the road to your futures that history itself may have never anticipated. If Gagagigo can vanquish Erebos, if Arthur can reconcile with his father, and Eria can escape the games of puppeteers, then I hope to see what futures you can make for yourselves.”

"She cannot escape!” Megiddo scattered the water with streams of Chaos. "Their futures can only end in tragedy!”

Emiya pointed his swords, as more of them fired from the ground. Even more cut through the tent, and the Leviathan screamed in pain. Emiya turned to face the giant blade, and the earth shook again, far more violently than before. Dust blew through the wind and water began to drain as pieces of rock rose to the air. "You’ll have the fight you wish, Megiddo. I may approve of their will, but I still must see how far it can carry them.”

Megiddo gathered all the Chaos he could muster until it surrounded the inside of the tent. As the giant blade raised higher and higher, Eria called out, ”Tidal Wave!”, and the tent seemed to unfold all at once. All the water in the area shot upwards, spiraling further, until even the gears in the sky of Unlimited Blade Works were caught in its path. The Chaos matched its spiral, while more of it began to move towards the blade. Megiddo and Emiya stood next to each other, each of their hands focused on the blade, which began to turn into it was pointing directly at Eria and Slifer.

"We only have one shot at this,” Megiddo reminded Emiya. "Don’t give her any chance to survive.”

Emiya laughed. "I would be disappointed if I did.”

Once the spiral of water had dwarfed both Slifer and the blade, Eria prepared Slifer to gather electricity in its mouths. She looked down at her hand, examining the Keyblade. Kairi, Sora, Roxas, Xion, Nero, and Arthur all had one. ”Protheus has the Key to the Door. I guess it’s only right that we all bring our own Keys as well. Thank you, everyone.” She caught Arthur, holding up a Reflect spell, and Gagagigo trying to run towards him. ”Arthur! Gagagigo! Get to… well, none of this is any safe. But I don’t want to hurt either of you with what I’m about to do.”

Once the blade had turned completely black, Emiya and Megiddo nodded at each other, and they each pressed their hands together. "THIS ENDS HERE!”

The blade shot like a bullet, and the Tidal Wave began to come down. Eria pointed her blade towards Emiya and Megiddo’s, and as soon as she felt the first drop of water touch her hair, she took a deep breath. ”FIRE!” Slifer coiled his body around, but the blade pierced Slifer’s body. As Eria manipulated the water to fall on Emiya and Megiddo, Slifer unleashed two Thunderforce Cannons directly at Megiddo and Emiya. They both called forth their respective barriers, but they destroyed as soon as they were formed. Slifer lowered his head, but kept his eyes on Emiya and Megiddo, who were still standing in the air, smoke and rain settling around them. Eria felt a shock throughout her whole body. She didn’t feel anything, but she knew it was because of the blade. ”Lord Slifer! I’m sorry. After this, You’ll get some rest. I just need You to do one more thing for me. I’m sorry for putting You through this, but… thank You.”

”I can feel this accursed blade doing… something. It must be the Chaos. But I was not going to miss with that. So, don’t worry, Eria. I’ll help you for as long as I can. Just make sure you’re ready for this.”

Eria tightened her hands around her Keyblade. ”I’m ready.” Slifer reeled his neck back, and Eria began to separate. She stepped out of the jewel, and kept her feet planted. Slifer bucked his head, and Eria was thrown across the air.

Emiya drew yet another blade, while Megiddo forged some of the Chaos into a blade for himself. "She’s bonded with Slifer quite closely,” Megiddo said.

”Not enough for that blade to have killed her,” Emiya corrected. ”The blade was meant to harm Slifer. Eria may have shared in his pain, but do not underestimate her.”

Eria was still in flight. She tried to keep her left hand on her chest, using her water abilities to offer some kind of healing. She felt something coursing from her right hand, as her Keyblade held a green glow. She was feeling the Cure spell flowing through her, but she was still flying, right towards Emiya and Megiddo. ”Come on come on come come on…”

Emiya and Megiddo had seen her coming. Now they were running right towards her. Eria summoned some water and ice, and a quick trail of ice and snow. Her foot was caught, and though she had planned for it, it still hurt. She tripped onto the ice trail, her body hitting snow. She expanded the trail into a ring of ice, but Emiya and Megiddo appeared on both sides of Eria. As their blades closed in, Eria spun her Keyblade around, cutting Emiya across his chest, while Megiddo’s sword struck her back, but Eria turned, forcing her Keyblade to stab Megiddo in his face.

Megiddo screamed, holding his face with one hand and reaching out to Eria with the other. "This… can’t be it.” Blue flames exploded all over his body. "Guess there’s… more to you… than I thought.” The flames spread, and Megiddo fell down. The flames continued burning, melting Megiddo’s body until he was nothing but ashes. Eria tried to catch her breath, but she could feel the ice beneath her cracking.

”You haven’t won yet.” Emiya thrust his sword, but the ice shattered before it could reach Eria. Emiya and Eria both fell down, but Eria tried to reach out to Slifer. She could barely move her head during the freefall, so she couldn’t see him. She felt something grab her, going back to the ground.

”Eria!” Arthur was calling out to Eria. Gagagigo had carried her, and he stood over Arthur and Eria. ”Are you okay? You’ve got a Keyblade, but then Slifer got hurt and I thought you might be get hurt too and then I saw some fire up there and I hoped it wasn’t you and Emiya’s still out there and-”

Eria grabbed Arthur’s hand. ”I’m… I’m okay. My neck feels like it can break any second now, but… I’m doing fine. We’ve just got to take care of Emiya.” She looked around, but she caught sight of Slifer. Traces of the Chaos swarmed around Slifer’s body, but as he roared, his body shone red, before disappearing completely. Red light wrapped around Eria, and Eria felt a tug on her chest. ”I’ll keep Your power safe, Lord Slifer.”

”What do we do about Emiya?” asked Gagagigo.

”I can answer that.” Emiya was standing on the same portion of stone as them. His mask was gone. He dragged his blade, and looked around Unlimited Blade Works. Red veins in the sky burst. Gears crashed to the ground, rain rusting them at an accelerated rate. Smoke filtered out around them, causing them all to cough, save for Emiya. ”It all depends on how long you can keep this up.”

Arthur and Eria put their Keyblades against each other. ”I’m still with you, Eria.”

Eria smiled. ”And I’m here with you.”

”…If the real me was here to see you now, perhaps he’d be proud of you. Proud of how, despite the tragedies that brought the Counter Corps together, you show how the Counter Corps may stay together. You should make Arturia proud as well. You both still have Truth and Remembrance remaining. Let this be my final wish. Eria. Arthur. Gagagigo. Whatever future you decide for yourselves, make sure that it’s a good one.” He knelt down, and held his sword to the ground. He nodded, and Unlimited Blade Works began to fade. The darkness, lit by the blue torches of the Pathway to the Death, returned. Emiya’s body regained the image of the noble Counter Guardian that first welcomed Eria to the Counter Corps. As he faded away, he left them his parting words. ”Thank you.”

Maeriberii Haan · March 17, 2016

Koishi

Personaloguous

"I don't get you, as first you're all "let me help you", and now you're all "fight me". I don't get that, I really don't. But, it would be wrong of me to decline.

So, as you insist"

The Avatar replied to her with a humorless chuckle, but seeing his wide, malicious grin, Koishi herself couldn't resist to grin back at the entity before her. Wasting no time after it finished its words, the Avatar reappeared before the great tree in a flash. The ticking of the clock there starting to be more and more deranged as the Avatar itself put up a deranged expression on its mug. Koishi watched him carefully. She had seen what it could do before, but no doubts that he would pull out a completely different feat from before.

And just like that, the entirety of the place itself screamed at her. It was loud and harrowing, and even the Avatar itself screamed too, following suit. The aura in the area became heavier and heavier as the Avatar initiated its assault. The figure before the tree was ravaged by wild imageries, and shadowy lines burst from its cloak. It moved around the place like a rabid dog, turning at weird angles before it started to aim at her direction. Koishi managed to dodge the first bout, but the crooked lines were more meant to box her in, it would seem. Getting hit would be fatal, that's not really something that should be doubted about.

Koishi couldn't get a read on the Avatar, pretty much the same as before, but at the very least she could have some form of way to predict from where the attacks would turn and hit her. Dodging accordingly, as the attack intensified her movements started to be more and more akin to a mad dance. Following some sort of invisible rhythm, Koishi moved around to dodge the darting black lines. Strictly using her instinct, her third eye closed in for a bit as she moved around and around, but by each step she took, she also moved closer and closer to the Avatar's position. Positioning herself in a clear position to take a shot at the entity, Koishi regained her consciousness just at the moment she declared her attack.

"Pardon me, but...

Recollection: Final Spark!"

An attack drawn from memory. Despite lacking in the actual ability to perform it, her third eye imposed the memory into the world to replicate the attack and its effect. As Koishi's mental functions weren't developed enough to actually fully utilize this ability to its limit, she only used it to recreate something that caught her fancy. And by that, she chose to recreate a devastating blast of light fired at the Avatar's direction, aiming to vaporize everything in its path.

Reimu

Personaloguous

"Darkness Beckons, Echelons of Despair!"

"Crap, he noticed me."

Reimu did not get to speak much once the realization hit her. The Avatar had already unleashed its attack on her. She could see that the Avatar was coming at her, yet, she was bound to her place, unable to move. Air left her lung, choking her. Her senses then was flooded by an incomprehensible void, and Reimu lost any way of comprehending the situation she was in. Her sight became dark, she couldn't hear anything. And even she couldn't feel the ground before her. She only knew that the Avatar was going to attack her at any moment. She didn't have much choice, otherwise she would be killed outright.

Fantasy...Nature!

Her right arm twitched. Had she could feel something now, she would perhaps feel an immense pain from the fake arm Yukari had planted there for her. But that shouldn't matter. Soon, her consciousness became light, and she let off any chains that bound her to this fictional world. Dragging her everything, she floated away from her position of being at the Avatar's mercy, away from his influence. However, she was unable to maintain it long enough to attack the Avatar with it, and as a result she returned properly to this world just twenty meters away from her previous position.

Her breath became heavier. The twitching right arm actually was painful now. She could still barely feel the ground before her, as if that using the cheating ability of hers made her left a part of her on the other world. But once more, it shouldn't matter. She could still fight, and she still feel quite healthy. The chrome orb would restore her strength soon. Her fear of that happening with the use of that technique was unfounded at best. What's left now is to attack the Avatar.

"Divine Arts: Omnidirectional Dragon-slaying Circle!"

Without wasting any beat as soon as she was conscious enough to perform the mental function necessary, Reimu declared her Spell Card, and slammed a talisman to the ground. A ritual circle formed right under the Avatar, and barriers formed at the edges of the circle creating a prison with another magic circle forming at the top of the prison. Reimu then proceeded to do a hand gesture, and the entirety of the prison's insides was bathed with light. Utilizing the magic reserves she had with the chrome orb, the light's intent was to purify everything inside to its purest form, atomizing them in other words.

Reimu took notes on how she should be more careful from now on.

Kazuya

Personaloguous

"I don't particularly care"

It was quite an apathetic response. Kazuya however, decided that he shouldn't really push himself to attack first. The opponent before him was different from all the other opponents he had faced. It would be a mistake to attack it blindly. There's something that he needed to make sure of first, after all.

"In that case, I guess you can go first."

Love of Ghibli · March 17, 2016

Butler

Personalogous

Butler looked on as the Avatar defeated Al Thamen with ease and Butler could only raise an eyebrow. As the Avatar then proceeded to knock him back he did a back flip and regained his composure. Hmph, that's a strange insult from someone who is living a borrowed existence. You exist outside the concept of an Origin you have no right to criticize on how beings who've actually lived lives choose to live it. Butler waved his hands and the Rukh began to swarm around him. He pointed upwards and the Rukh gathered into three massive pillars of light behind him. He clapped his hands and from them came armies of tiny bat like creatures with a surplus of eyes and they crackled with the aura of electricity. Butler was a little annoyed that his plan didn't bait out the technique that he had hoped it would, but at least he got to see how the Avatar would react.

Hmmm on to plan D then. He thought to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dorian
Personalogous

Dorian could only roll his eyes as his opponent whispered yet another nigh omnipotent counter to his attack. And I thought that was a good effort on my part. Dorian looked on as this Avatar seemed to laugh but there was no sound. Dorian stroked his chin cartoonishly for a second and chuckled. Oh no fire and no sound sooo no air. A literal vacuum of space now. That's pretty neat. He mouthed as he looked on at the Avatar. Hmmm let's try it again then. Dorian made another arrow and with that he aimed directly at the Avatar and fired with somewhat the same actions. This time the arrows fired causing sporadic explosions all throughout the area. He laughed as he looked on this time instead of the chemical reaction like fires that he used to use he was now causing nuclear reactions by forcing hydrogen atoms in the air to smash into each like an actual star which doesn't need any oxygen to "burn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ragnarok

Personalogous

Looking at the floating letters Ragnarok reformed but this time into his black dragon form. Screech Delta! He shouted (without any sound) as bits of Mad Blood floated from him and turned into what looked like funnels. They proceeded to unleash a barrage of blast at the Avatar that stood before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhadamanthys

Personalogous

Digging deep down into the inner reaches of his himself Rhadamanthys saw that there was a something lurking deep within him after all. Sad but it appears the old fat blasphemer had a an actual point. T'was weird to think that was now as strong as Lord Hades himself. But it was now time to discover how to use such power. Speaking of all powerful beings...

"BECAUSE SOMEONE IS DESTROYING THE PATHWAYS! NOT ORIGIN, BUT SOMEONE ELSE! SOMEONE BEYOND PROLOGUOUS"

Why does this frighten you? You clearly have immense power and it is your duty. If you have seen all connected to this Origin aspect then would it not be fair to assume that you would have seen this person before hand and with that being the case you would have known from a long time ago that you were already stronger that him? Rhadamanthys inquired.

Though I am reluctant to admit this I do know when others are my better and I can act accordingly. At the same time I would never surrender to a situation in the same manner that you have done. With that being said I simply ask that you release my comrades and I so we can prepare for the coming threat.

The Warden · March 17, 2016

[[Another Time, Another Place: Prologuous]]

Must Hang On!

Drip... drip... drip.... Black blood wept from the large gashes in the Avatar's form, each fragile drop falling to the tree below, evaporating into nothingness. The strain of keeping the Möbius Exclusion was beyond unbearable, but he had to hang on, he had to keep everyone isolated so he can deal with them separately. "AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

Another blood vessel blew, freeing another stream of glorious black ichor into the air. With a febrile snap, another of the spectre's wings snapped off, leaving him with only five. But he had to hang on, he had to endure for just a little while longer.... Damn it all the ticking was maddening.

[[What Time, What Place: Koishi's Prologuous]]

The screaming Avatar's torso ripped apart, revealing an enormous blood-shot eye. Within its dreadful pupil, a devastating blast of darkness erupting, equalling Koishi's own blast in power. Other eyes opened up around the much larger one, adding their own small blasts that started to push back the young girl's assault. And still the spectre screamed as the twisting arrows spiralled out of control, filling the air with no rhyme or reason as everything became a wall of twisted black.

[[What Time, What Place: Reimu's Prologuous]]

"Divine Arts: Omnidirectional Dragon-slaying Circle!"

Wait what? "OOOF!"

The Avatar slammed into the barrier, his assaulted frozen from the barrier. Did she mean to imprison him, that was foolhardy at best. But what was this attack, imprisoning him would be a fool's errand, he could just telepor- Oh.... The Avatar was bathed in light as the inside of the barrier exploded violently. Within the roiling caldera of smoke, a black hand touched the barrier, shattering it entirely. Clearing the smoke away, the Avatar floated, his robes ragged and barely clinging to his humanoid form. He coughed loudly, evacuating a plume of smoke that had been lodged in his chest. "This is proving too much. The strain is slowing my reactions down across the board. If I'm not careful, they may start doing enough damage to destroy an individual Avatar."

[[What Time, What Place: Kazuya's Prologuous]]

"As you wish" the Avatar shrugged, taking a few steps away from Kazuya.

Pivoting on his heel, a mystical blue tome appeared in his hand, numerous cards with blue-backings orbiting him. "HELEL!" he called, shattering one of the many cards.

Appearing behind the Avatar was a handsome angelic being. His holy cloth floated about, providing a convenient nudity filter.

.:Helel LV99:.

Repel Wind

Repel Dark

Repel Electricity

God's Hand

Morning Star

Salvation

Arm's Master

Spell Master

Pressing a finger to his forehead, a divine light appeared above Kazuya, the Morning Star spell about to fire and unleash its almighty power.

[[What Time, What Place: Butler's Prologuous]]

Hmph, that's a strange insult from someone who is living a borrowed existence. You exist outside the concept of an Origin you have no right to criticize on how beings who've actually lived lives choose to live it.

"A bit hypocritical when it comes from a man who feels he has the right to kill people, and keep their souls as trophies, is it not?" the Avatar retorted.

Those bats weren't a threat, he knew that. These attacks were pointless and reckless, not the sort of thing Butler would be producing at all. Tch, was he honestly trying to bait out Desperate Space? Does he have any idea as to the forces he is toying about with? It was almost tempting to let him try it, just to see how much of his ass it could bite him in. But, he needed to delay, not destroy. Destruction comes later. So, the Avatar felt predisposed towards unleashing a pulse, the rukh composing the bats burning away into ashes, the columns summoning them fracturing as if they were millennia old.

[[What Time, What Place: Dorian's Prologuous]]

Pure stars this time? Cute. Dropping the vacuum, the Avatar held his hand out, condensing all of the sunspots into one glowing sphere. Without a word he flew into the air, his sixth wing snapping off from the sudden movement as he stood above the tree. Holding the orb upwards, the very sky itself leaked into it, the rainbow ambience turning black as all of it condensed into the orb. Forming a black bow, the orb took the form of a single rainbow arrow. Drawing the obsidian strings back. the Avatar took aim at Dorian. "Fill'em with Daylight" he whisper, letting loose the arrow. It whizzed through the air, moving at the speed of light and aimed right for Dorian's heart.

[[What Time, What Place: Ragnarok's Prologuous]]

The vacuum increased, blocking every attack as it came. It was sad to think that he thought that merely trying the same attack only harder would work.

[[What Time, What Place: Rhadamanthys's Prologuous]]

"Annoying~" the Avatar grumbled, "annoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingannoyingANNOYING!"

A burst through the air echoed on that last one. "It's annoying that you're so calm when this is all happening. What's the point then? Why will you try to do anything if you're okay with the Pathways and Prologuous collapsing? Where is the honour and glory when the war becomes pointless, and every sacrifice is just in vain? It doesn't make sense to me! How can you be okay with dying a meaningless death?!"

Dad · March 17, 2016

Kenpachi; Prologous

As the energy bombarded Kenpachi, he leaped, only taking a burst of damage to the left side of his body. It would take more than a few Kido-esque energy blasts to slow him down. It occurred to Kenpachi now that the Avatar may have been taking him seriously. That was good. It meant that he could enjoy himself.

"You're an obstacle right!?" he said as he leaped forwards. With his Zanpaktou over his shoulder, he planted his feet squarely in front of the Avatar as he landed. He looked the Avatar in its face as he asked his own questions now. "Then who exactly are you standing in the way of? Us? Or Protheus!?" The Avatar could give his answer after Kenpachi finished. That was when he would be ready to listen. Pointing his blade at his opponent, he chanted Nozarashi's release cry.

"Drink, Nozarashi." And as his Zanpaktou took shape, Kenpachi asked one other question that would be more simple to answer.

"Gimme one reason why I shouldn't cut through you."

Space warped around his blade, as he swung it upwards in an arched motion, his reiatsu steadily rising as the battle commenced.

Killua; Prologous

"A very sensible answer Killua. I'm just an obstacle after all, and Protheus is who I wish to stop. It's not a matter of duty, but also what he intends to do. He CANNOT be allowed to access Origin, otherwise... he will be beyond death, and I can safely say he's been dodging that outcome for quite some time now" the Avatar nodded.

"He's been dodging death, huh?" Killua inquired. He nodded in response to the Avatar. "I've had a few bad guys like that in my universe as well," he added. "But what I've come to learn is, there's always a path to victory. No matter how difficult, no matter the obstacle, no matter the pain. There's a way to win. We just haven't found it yet. Though, with somebody--something?--like you on our side, we could beat this jerk.

Who or whatever he is, he can die. And we can figure it out. So what's stopping you from lending us a hand?"

Kratos; Prologous

He managed a smug smile. Everything had a reason. No matter how trivial. "First you attack us. Now you spare us. Is that what a guardian of this place does? What purpose do you serve? Who do you serve?"

Kratos remembered serving under the gods. There was always someone superior. That is, until he climbed up to the throne, and snatched it out of the corrupted hands of the gods. "What binds you to this place, and prevents your freedom, Avatar?"

Revy; Prologous

". . . those are the two possible outcomes of this War . . ."

Two possible outcomes. Perhaps that was true. And Revy didn't want to see the end of her world go into the hands of a self-absorbed slime ball who apparently had the power to turn this Door of Origin thing into sheer and utter terror. She wiped the tears from her eyes, as she finally stood up straight. Even if she made it out of the Avatar's separation spacial technique thingamajig, what was she supposed to do?

"And what about me? I got dragged into this sheet somehow, but I'm one of the only humans left on this ride. What am I supposed to do against comic book superheroes and bad guys?"

She didn't want to cling to hopelessness. But a lot of this seemed impossible to her.

Yachiru; Prologous

"Do you love him?" the Avatar questioned. "And no, not platonically; as in, actual, sincere love."

Yachiru blushed, as she pondered her answer. She didn't think for too long, but she took her time. "Y-yeah. I s'pose I do," she said with a smile. "B-b-b-b-but there's nothing wrong with love! Everybody should have love!" she said proudly. "Even you, Blob-man. Isn't there someone you care about?"

Super Chaos Sonic · March 17, 2016

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Prologous [[What Time, What Place]]

Nero could honestly say he wasn't expecting what happened next. His Thundaga 2x was stopped and made into an energy orb that sunk into the ground, only to shatter the very ground beneath his feet. Fissures began to form as he watched where the Avatar stood rise above the others. His teeth began to grind against each other as he took a deep breath.

BGM

"Oh no you don't!!" Nero shouted as he moved back, before running and taking a huge leap across a fissure, stabbing his Keyblades into the side of the rising platform, as he started to slowly climb up it. "I will not give up...not while there's still breath in my lungs!!" he shouted as he kept climbing up the side of the platform. He finally made it towards the top as he flipped up, his Keyblades fading from the side of the platform only to reappear in his hands.

"Didn't think you of a runner, Avatar." he said, shaking his head slightly. "Guess it means whatever is going on out there...is really getting you freaked out." He exhaled slightly before swinging his blades in a cross formation, as an energy wave of light and darkness came the Avatar's way. "Figara!! Thundaga!! And...Blizzaga!!" Nero quickly cast the three spells as they flew towards the energy cross, ending up swirling around it as the attack made contact with the specter.

The Warden · March 18, 2016

[[What Time, What Place: Kenpachi's Prologuous]]

"Gimme one reason why I shouldn't cut through you."

There was no reply from the Avatar, it merely tilted its head as it burnt away into ash. With a generous slashing sound, a long cut was run along Kenpachi's back, the perpetrator the Avatar, wielding Shinjitsu. He flicked away the blood from his blade, using the sonido to appear a few feet away. "I think I'd rather give you a thousand reasons TO cut me. Come now Kenpachi... you can't have satisfaction if you don't give it your all" the spectre teased. "After all, if you're even allowing me the chance to strike you... then you aren't really trying."

[[What Time, What Place: Killua's Prologuous]]

The Avatar chuckled; as keen as the boy was, he was also hopelessly naive and optimistic. "You are aware that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is an ancient cliché right? There is little reason for me to not destroy you AND Protheus at the same time, it's just easier if the distractions are out of the way first. If you think the villains of your world are trouble, than they will have nothing on the man (in the loosest definition of the word) who has lived for millions of years, and has extinguished countless worlds. He had forgotten more than all the people of your world have ever learned. What makes you think you could even stand by me to face him? You would be a meat shield at best."

[[What Time, What Place: Kratos' Prologuous]]

"What binds you to this place, and prevents your freedom, Avatar?"

"That is something that you do not need to know" the Avatar rebuked defensively.

[[What Time, What Place: Revy's Prologuous]]

"And what about me? I got dragged into this sheet somehow, but I'm one of the only humans left on this ride. What am I supposed to do against comic book superheroes and bad guys?"

"Oi vei girl, I am NOT a counsellor, I'm sure you understand. Your problems are irrelevant to me even on the best of days. So what if you're human? You have funking guns! You can easily put a bullet into the head of the vast majority of "oh so special snowflakes" and they'll drop dead on the SPOT! So stop being such a little jabroni, and actually do stuff, alright? You're almost making me depressed with your bullshit."

[[What Time, What Place: Yachiru's Prologuous]]

"Amusing notion, me loving someone" the Avatar snickered. "That would require me to even locate my heart so I could love something."

[[What Time, What Place: Nero's Prologuous]]

"Refleza!"

All the attacks impacted on a blunt shimmering shield, negating the attacks. The absorbed energy bubbled over, releasing a shining version of the assault right back at Nero.

Love of Ghibli · March 19, 2016

Butler

Personalogous

"A bit hypocritical when it comes from a man who feels he has the right to kill people, and keep their souls as trophies, is it not?"

Butler smirked as he watched the Rukh inside the bats dissipate and the towers behind him shatter. Clearly the Avatar's interaction with the Rukh was as he thought. He is a being that doesn't have any. All beings should outside of digital ones should have some form of Rukh. It is proof that when they die they return to the life stream. However this creature does not have anything meaning that if he were to die then he would simply just cease to be...Annoying. Butler thought. So living creatures were not going to work on this thing then he would have to try something a little more magical. This could work...change of tactics. Butler thought as he started waving his hands.

I don't feel I have the right to kill people, I simply kill them. Sometimes it is obligation and sometimes it is in the defense of myself or others. Even now as you have stated I take souls for trophies, but I have fully accepted that I am the worst kind of monster for doing it. Butler clapped his hands and beneath the Avatar and magical array appeared. If we're being technical I do far worse than just kill now. With the Mad Blood I bring that person to the brink of Insanity and as their Rukh changes I push them further into depravity to where they have no choice but turn into former husk of the people they once were. Nevertheless I still don't have the "right" to do any of that. Life is precious. Like I said before if you actually lived a life you would probably not be so quick to assume things about other.

The magical array started to resonate and within seconds it turned into a massive tower of light that was supposed to delete the Avatar out of existence. Butler looked on as he simply watched as the tower form. Hmmm a rather crude kill spell but definitely one of my most destructive. He said out loud. Pity if I had Ragnarok attached I would have access to more refined forms of magic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dorian/Rhadamathys

Personalogous

Dorian snickered as he watched as the Avatar climb the tree and collect the destructive forces of his attack. Ha I knew that was going to work he thought to himself. However merely forcing the Avatar to change tactics while notable only provided more challenges that he would now have to face. Of which came this Harbringer of light that the Avatar somehow turned into. As the bow aimed at Dorian simply muttered "Copycat" as he aimed his own bow at the Avatar. Oh you can't be serious as he the Avatar fired his shot. Sadly enough Dorian was able to track its speed...it was just that it was traveling at the speed of light. It pierced his heart wholesale and he looked simply looked on shocked as he fell to the ground....

"It's annoying that you're so calm when this is all happening. What's the point then? Why will you try to do anything if you're okay with the Pathways and Prologuous collapsing? Where is the honour and glory when the war becomes pointless, and every sacrifice is just in vain? It doesn't make sense to me! How can you be okay with dying a meaningless death?!"

Rhadamanthys eyes shot open and he began to smirk and crack his neck. I don't think you can answer a question with another question. Are you simply dodging them because you do not have an answer. Rhadamanthys took to his feet and stood up from his meditation. I guess I will not do the same to you. First, you're basing your urgency on consequences that only you can understand. While I am grateful to the paths for granting me clarity I do not see why it matters wether or not they are destroyed. As for this place I once again turn you to your earlier words. You said something like this would happen, no? Why is it a problem now? Anyway that's a question.

Second, do not speak of honor and glory when you fight for neither. If you had, at any point in your life, you would see and hear the foolishness of those words. Finally,...Rhadamanthys eyes turn spectral for a second it is really out of place to talk to a Judge of the Underworld about death...

Meanwhile back in Dorian's little world as if on queue Dorian's body erupted into a tower of fire that turned into phoenix at its zenith.

...Like you stated I have fought the same war with Athena and her saints over and over for centuries, but the one thing that remains constant are the specters that serve Lord Hades!

Dorian appeared behind his Avatar fully decked out in his Surplice glowing bright red. Made you look he whispered as he then shouted CRUCIFIX ANKH! Dorian then covered Avatar's body in a massive pillar of fire that was then shaped into an Ankh.

Specters are immortal. As long as Lord Hades' cosmos fills us we cannot be killed. Dorian, for example, has been killed once on each pathway. I guess its only natural that you get a chance to kill him. Rhadmanthys flicked his wrist as he Surplice attached to himself. His cosmos roared and echoed even though he himself did not look like he was even trying. Originally I did not engage you in combat because the 1 on 1 duels I have had thus far have been with honorable warriors who know what it means to fight for a cause and for principle. You with all of your power do not even fight out of obligation you fight simply because you had nothing to do. You are not a warrior and now you run from the one chance to become one. However, it is rude for me to judge you for your life choices...well when you're living anyway. Instead if you insist on keeping me here and while everything is at stake as you put it then I guess I will have no choice but to force my way through. So now I guess I will actively combat you which will be a change of pace for both of us.

Rhadmanthys took a clapped his hands and lightning started to crackle around his own body. GREATEST CAAAAAUUUUTION!!!...with a force equivalent to a supernova Rhadamanthys expanded a destructive dome of energy that was constantly sending out pulses of energy to further damage the Avatar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ragnarok

Personalogous

The weapon was a little dumbfounded that his latest attack didn't work either. This was becoming vexing but he had to proceed somehow. Now the only thing was what to do. Invisible barriers that just suck things up and if he uses the Mad Blood he will simply suck it up again. He was racking his mind with what to do as then he heard a voice in the back of his head.

I grow tired of watching you flounder around this battle with your half baked strategies.

Ragnarok turned around and looked but he knew who this was. Wait is that you old baldy! HEEELLLPPPPP!!

This is is exactly why I hate brats. They are utterly helpless without proper tutelage.

Kick rocks I have to keep hitting that thing or we're all doomed. Ragnarok replied in stern. Fool you are in a vacuum if this is not magical then the enemy has sealed you in a domain of a completely explosive substance....What? Ragnarok said slightly dumbfounded. Ugh just do as a I say!

Ragnarok looked at the Avatar and changed his wings into four arms. Alright it might not be the real thing but I can at least do this! ZANKA NO TACHI! Calling forth the heat of the Captains bankai and not the actual form the Mad Blood and himself reached a temperature that rivaled the sun itself. Ragnarok then started to move his arms like a windmill at incredible oscillating speeds.

Intense heat, kinetic energy to excite the atoms, and a hydrogen. Captain Genryussai stated. Welcome to the poorest excuse of a nuclear explosion. It took a second but the weapon with its thermal core actually generated a massive explosion.

The Warden · March 19, 2016

[[What Time, What Place: Butler's Prologuous]]

The spell faded, and the Avatar was unharmed thanks to his anti-magic barrier. Lowering the barrier, he shook his head in disappointment. "A good try, but ultimately a faliure" the Avatar remarked, and then he exploded violently.

[[What Time, What Place: Rhadamanthys' Prologuous]]

The Avatar prepared to defend himself, but he didn't need to, since he exploded.

[[What Time, What Place: Ragnarok's Prologuous]]

Blah blah blah, the Avatar exploded.

[[What Time, What Place: Dorian's Prologuous]]

"Made you look" "Nooo...." "CRUCIFIX ANKH!"

The burning flames didn't so much damage the Avatar, but outright destroy that particular incarnation entirely. The effects of which resonated throughout all Prologi, except one.

[[Another Time, Another Place: Prologuous]]

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!"

The entirety of the Avatar's chest exploded, spraying his dark blood everywhere like a geyser. Another of his wings broke away, leaving him only with four, and with it, he no longer had the strength to maintain the Exclusion. His body faltered, his dark robes evaporating as his more humanoid appearance hung in the air, before he succumbed to the damage and collapsed amongst the branches of the trees. The Möbius symbol shattered, causing a tremendous shift across all Prologi. With a dreadful rumble, the Avatar of each place exploded violently, and that reality shattered, bringing everyone back to the original Prologuous. The Avatar groaned as a dark shell covered, protecting his weak body from the returning participants.

The Avatar

4/10

Maeriberii Haan · March 21, 2016

Yukari

Personaloguous

"Errant Reunion, Guests of the End!"

"E-eh?"

Without giving her much time to think about what she should do next, the Avatar had already figured out where Yukari was, and continued its assault on her by sending what looked like many copies of itself with their scythes ready. That was sudden enough for Yukari to not be able to escape, but she braced herself for the potential strikes...that apparently, didn't hurt her at all. That confused Yukari for a bit, but she didn't waste her time thinking about it. Instead, she immediately used her gaps to protect herself from the upcoming strikes. Perhaps these were all just a distraction, shadow bait clones, but she couldn't risk herself to know whether it's the case or not. But with the many Avatars all attacking her at once, she needed to take a gamble.since she's too preoccupied by these clones to attack, which would spell her doom if she couldn't get herself out of this situation. Letting go of the gaps, Yukari let herself be slashed by the Avatars' scythes. However, while it looked like she was torn apart, she actually used her gaps to separate her body on the area of impacts from the scythes, ad during the short moment before the Avatar would attack again, Yukari declared her spell.

"Ancient Arcanum: Danmaku Bounded F-"

Before she could do that, the world around her shattered.

Koishi

Personaloguous

"U-uwaaa?!"

Koishi couldn't hide her surprise when the Avatar opened an eye on its torso, and fired a similar, darker blast of light towards her direction, locking her beam into a stalemate for a moment. For a moment, Koishi wondered why it's as if the Avatar's copying her now. The stalemate didn't last long, however. The Avatar, being a lot more prepared and packing more heat than her, opened up even more eyes to strengthen its beam, pushing Koishi's own light back with sheer force. It's a losing battle, of course. Nevermind anything else, being a part of her Recollection, her attack is immutable from what she remembered, so the moment something stronger came forth, the attack would need to stop. She had no other choices, more or less.

"E-eeeee....eahh! Pariah's Philosophy!"

Closing her third eye to turn off her Final Spark, Koishi's presence faded away from sight, and gave her ample time to move the hell out of the way of the now matchless beam. The background was getting worrying again, but with her moving around in her unconscious state, she managed to dodge them reliably. She was getting somewhat slower though, and some of the attacks ended up being close calls. Nevertheless, Koishi pushed forward so she could reposition herself better following her instinct. Getting another shot at utilizing Recollection, Koishi opened her third eye.

"One more time, one more time! I'll take another chance!

Recollection: -"

But, before she could do it, the world around her shattered. What was it? At first there was nothing, but then Koishi realized that she was back to the area of before, but now everyone's with her. From how they looked, it seemed that each of them had fought their own battles too previously. She could see Reimu panting in the distance not far away from a blue-haired young man whose skin shifted from a rocky gray back to something normal. Looking at how Reimu had successfully got away from Yukari's world made Koishi smile. The satori could also see big sis too on the other side, looking quite tense as if she was preparing something, but also confused at the turn of events. She considered to rush towards her and fight on her side, but she then turned around to see that the Avatar, who was now clearly getting hurt badly, started to cover itself with a black shell. It was harrowing to see the being in such a state. But, if she didn't do anything now, she would disappoint it, and big sis and Yukari and the pathway and everyone else. No way she could do that. A new image flashed on her mind. Loading that vague memory as her sword, Koishi took aim.

"Vague Recollection..."

Would attacking the Avatar at this point be a good idea? No one would know until one try it. And if she wished to proceed, she had to break through it. Ten eyes opened around Koishi, as if she was utilizing Yukari's gaps. No, but this one's unrelated to her at all.

:"Brilliant Rapture: Ten Counts to Infinity!"

The next brightest light in her immediate memory. Recreating the image of what she saw into reality, the ten eyes shot a radiant light from each of them, converging at one point to create a blast even more powerful than the light Koishi stole from Gensokyo. The converging pillar was then fired at the Avatar. It was not a perfect recreation due to her not experiencing the attack firsthand, but that shouldn't be a problem.

That shouldn't be a problem at all.

Phantom Roxas · March 22, 2016

~The Pathway to Death - Hallway C~

Sora closed Kree’arra and Zilyana’s eyes. ”I promise you both. Once I have the staff and I’m at the Door, you’ll both make it home.” Sora and Xion held a moment of silence, before looking to where they expected Roxas to be. They wanted to give him another farewell, but once they found him, they saw a statue. It was Roxas, his body turned to stone, just as Xansvita had in the Periphery. His arm was severed, left as another piece of gray stone off in the distance.

”How could this have happened?” Xion asked.

Sora tried to reach out for Roxas, unable to believe it was him, but chips of stone from Roxas’ form began to peel off. ”We’ve still got some of Xansvita’s power. Maybe it’s because of Ra or Sliske, but… this might be all that’s left of us if we aren’t… careful.”

”Roxas…” Xion faced her back to Roxas. ”I’m sorry. We have to keep going. As long as we’re still in this, the Counter Corps has a chance, right?”

Sora nodded. Ra’s aura surrounded them, and it felt comforting, yet different. Like a warmth was taking them over, or a hand pushing against their backs. ”The power, though… Roxas gave some of it to us. So he’s still fighting at our side.”

Xion sniffled. ”You’re right. Let’s not him down. Roxas, Zilyana, Kree’arra helped us move on.”

”And we can thank them by making it to the next Path.”

Arthur could feel the burning floor against his feet as he ran to MachGaogamon’s side. ”MachGaogamon, please wake up!”

”Just give him time,” Eria told him. ”I don’t see Apocrypha anywhere, so he must have won.”

”But not if it will hurt him like this!” Arthur snapped, then immediately took a deep breath. ”I’m sorry, Eria. I shouldn’t be rushing him. And I shouldn’t have talked like that to you.”

”It’s fine,” Eria said. ”Once he’s up, we’ll go right to the next Path.”

”I’ll scout ahead,” Gagagigo offered.

”Just stay safe.” Before Eria could say anything, Arthur said it to Gagagigo.

Gagagigo stuttered, ”Thank you. I will.”

”Don’t worry about it.” MachGaogamon lifted his body up from the ground. Chaos stained his body, some of it dripping, but Arthur and Eria stepped away in time. MachGaogamon winced, but sighed in relief. ”I’m ready.”

”You’re not!” Arthur protested. ”What about Apocrypha’s Chaos? Are you hurt?”

”Of course. Every step I take feels like I’m setting a part of myself on fire. But I will bear it.” Arthur pointed his Keyblade to MachGaogamon, but MachGaogamon shook his head at the gesture. ”I’m sorry, Arthur, but that won’t work. I feel… nothing. No power commanding me to evolve. I’m stuck like this. I can feel it sapping away at me. Sooner or later, I think I’ll just be a regular Gaogamon.”

”That reminds me,” Gagagigo said. ”Could you explain that? Your different names… MachGaogamon, MirageGaogamon. I know who you are, but those little changes in your name just bother me.”

”I suppose one way to put it is to think of my kind, Digimon, changing the names as they grow older. Arthur’s ability to allow me to evolve plays with that a bit. Arthur, I will always be grateful for you allowing me to evolve, but one day… I would like to see myself be MirageGaogamon. Not simply have that as a form I can assume.”

”Of course,” Arthur nodded. ”When I go home, I want to be the most like myself I could be. So I hope you…”

”I understand,” MachGaogamon said. ”But we should go. I kept you all waiting long enough.”

”You didn’t,” Eria said. ”I’m sure you did great against Apocrypha.”

”As long as you still have plenty more of that strength to keep going, we’ll get through this.”

”Wait for us!”

The group looked at the sound of the voice, and it was Xion, with Sora following behind her. ”Sora! Xion!” Arthur ran up to join them, bringing them in for a hug, but Eria looked around.

”Where are-?”

”They…” Sora moved away from Arthur, walking to the front of the group. ”They didn’t make it. Zilyana and Kree’arra had their own enemies to fight, and we had to stop Xansvita. There’s no one on our trail, but Zilyana and Kree’arra… Roxas, too… they all died.” Eria, Arthur, Gagagigo, and MachGaogamon all felt a range from mourning and sympathy to sheer hate. Sora held up his hands, trying to keep their attention. ”We’ve seen enough of this already. Enough people have died in this war. Right now, the most we can do is find Kairi and get out of here.”

"Before you do,” another voiced jumped in. It was the Winged Dragon of Ra. "Eria. Although you’ve lost the power of Obelisk, you already hold the power of Slifer. I already already split my power among Sora, Xion, and Roxas, and split that power even further after Roxas… fell against Xansvita. I gave part of it to Sora and Xion, but I wish to give the last of my power to you, Eria.” A golden light surrounded Eria, her red robes changing to include golden trims at her hips, and flowing over her sleeves. Golden armbands formed around Eria, whose left and right eyes shifted between red and gold. ”Alas, I have split myself far too thin. Several times now, Xansvita has ruined me. But as long as my power remains, no matter how scattered, I can trust you all.”

Eria gathered the power of her gods in her hands. ”Thank You, Lord Ra. I swear that the faith You, and Lords Obelisk and Slifer placed in us was not a mistake.”

”I am sorry about what happened,” Gagagigo said. ”But all of us are together now. Let us press on!”

[Death A10] - Kairi

"Ah, of course, it's the maggot from before. First that, now this, you truly are daring to test my PATIENCE, aren't you? Or did you think your actions in the Skype Dimension would go unforgotten?"

"Considering the amount of knowledge that passes through my mind at any given time as well as the number of seizures my present puppeteer has had between then and now, I'd highly suggest giving a reminder of what you speak of."

Kairi couldn’t make any sense of what Protheus was saying, but all the hostility in his voice was definitely directed at a man dressed entirely in purple. As soon as a young blonde girl soon entered the fray, Protheus summoned a black laser to obliterate the purple man, with the girl about to be caught in the blast, but the laser simply vanished. In seconds, the laser appeared again, now firing back at Protheus.

“Protheus Maximus. The Omni that…perhaps had seen what lie beyond the conceptual wall known as the fourth wall…and another one, a man that speaks with the exact same text color as me. I didn’t think I’d be in such a fortunate condition to meet both of you at once in an occasion like this. However, while I’d like to distract you two with a monologue as our friend Protheus here had suggested earlier…bursting your bubble seems like would be a lot more interesting…and perhaps, this could burst your bubble too, odd man, unless this is your plan all along.

This Key of Origin…” The girl presented the orb she held in her hands to Protheus and the purple man, and blasted it to pieces. “Is a fake. A sloppily-made one, in fact. I do not have any reasons to lie to you about this. While you would attempt to kill me whether I lied or not, I could barely care about that. Perhaps the key you’ve been holding all these times is a fake all along, or if you don’t want that as your conclusion, feel free to tear this place apart to find it. Now…if you may, I shall take my leave…” The girl disappeared, taking the purple man with her.

Kairi tried to move around, keeping to the edge while avoiding getting closer to Protheus. He had to know she was there. Did he just not care? He wouldn’t just ignore her. Kairi prepared for anything, and made a beeline for a flight of stairs in the distance. As soon as she took her first steps, she felt something slip beneath her, like the stone collapsing. Most of where she stood felt stable, but it was still risky. Had Sora and the others made it? Protheus still had not turned to face her. Whoever that man was, he had some history with Protheus, and the girl knew about the Key. They were all definitely dangerous, but more importantly, they were dangerous to each other. As long as they could keep each other at bay, that was enough.

In the distance, she saw signs of two giant figures off in the distance. Gagagigo and MachGaogamon had left the hallway. Eria and Arthur were standing in their partners’ hands, while Sora and Xion were flying at the sides. ”Where is… oh no.” So many of them to be coming together at once, yet Roxas and the two general were nowhere to be seen. ”They’re probably in the other hallways. Right?”

Arthur was smiling as soon as they saw the exit in sight, but that stopped as soon as Protheus entered that sight. ”Watch out!” he shouted to MachGaogamon. "Understand that I have nothing against you, or any of your friends. This is only a necessity that I have to do if I am to ensure my own survival." After defeating the Madara, Protheus spout out that disgusting lie. Arthur had every reason to stand against Protheus. But seeing him now, he couldn’t do it. ”Protheus… everyone, don’t fight him. Sora, Xion, Eria… no matter how much power you guys had, don’t do it.”

”He’s right,” Sora agreed. ”We’re almost to the end, so don’t waste any time on him!”

”SORA!” That voice. Sora flew straight ahead. It was Kairi. He powered straight on, passing across lamp post in the area, gliding up the stairs, and landing on the steps, as he raced up, a dark stone tablet loomed overhead, but he didn’t care. As he made one last step, he embraced Kairi in his arms. ”Is Roxas…”

”Yeah…”

”Sora, I’m sorry. You all came together, but I was separated from you all. I should have been there.”

”You don’t have to apologize, Kairi. You’re here. That’s enough. And don’t worry, we’ll see Roxas again. I’m going to bring him back.”

”With the Door?”

”Exactly. But we really don’t have time to talk about this. We have to get away from Protheus.” The others were closing in, but Kairi and Sora were still suspicious of Protheus. ”Let’s get them through.” Sora and Kairi raised their Keyblades, and Fire and Thunder struck the ground between Protheus and everyone else. It was hardly anything for someone like him to be afraid of, but it would at least buy everyone a few seconds.

Xion, Eria, Arthur, Gagagigo, and MachGaogamon all ascended the stairs. MachGaogamon and Gagagigo knocked down a few steps under their weight, but everyone was standing at the top. Xion and Kairi hugged, but as soon as Eria approached, Kairi noticed what Eria was carrying. ”Eria? Is that a Keyblade?”

”Hmm? Oh! Yes. I got through the Pathway with the help of this. Thank you, Kairi.”

”I’m glad that you made it through,” Kairi smiled. ”All of you. But, we’ve still got two more Pathways to go. We should all go together, just like this one. So where do we go?”

”I picked last time,” Eria offered. ”I think Arthur should decide.”

MachGaogamon and Sora nodded in approval. Gagagigo shrugged, but nodded as well. Xion simply listened to the flow of the conversation. Arthur tensed up, and asked, ”Are you sure?”

”You asked me to go with you, Arthur. I know where you want to go. I just want to know if you’re sure.”

”I’m going to Truth. And… I want you to go with me, Eria. But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. None of you.”

”We have to go through all of the Pathways,” Sora reminded him. ”And we’re going to stick together. If you go to Truth, then I will too.”

Xion took a deep breath. ”Something bad might still happen. I’m scared of what might be on Truth. But after facing Xansvita, and with Roxas… gone, I think that might be the best place for me to go, too.”

Kairi said, ”I had to fight Sliske. He tried to trick me with shadows, and look my friend Naminé to mess me up. Kazuya and Ayame probably got away, but I’m only here because of Ophelia trying to trick me as well. I’m done with that. Truth sounds like a good chance to mix that up.”

”Apocrypha tried to make a fool of me,” MachGaogamon added. ”Like Kairi side, we don’t have to be pawns. Once I go home, I want to be certain that I would be a hero proud of what he’s done. That’s just what you want as well, isn’t it, Arthur?”

Gagagigo stood beside Eria. ”I’ve had enough shadows to deal with myself. I was Kozaky’s puppet. I was a desperate to fight Erebos. But now I want to see who I am. Plus, I trust your judgment, Arthur. If Eria’s going to stick with you, then so will I.”

Eria reached her hand out to Gagagigo, and took Arthur’s. ”Isamy tried to force you both to do something you can’t. Something you won’t. You’ve both told me something that I need to say to you. I’ll be with you both till the end of the line. And all the powers I have now won’t change who I am. Gagagigo, you’ve always been brother. And Arthur, I don’t care what Dorian says. Even if we haven’t known each other as long as… well, as long as I guess any ordinary couple would, we’ve already done alright together so far.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. ”Just alright?”

”Shut up,” Eria teased. ”Maybe we don’t know what love really is just yet. But I at least know that I want to figure it out with you. So, I’ll follow you to Truth.”

”And we’ll finish in Remembrance.” Arthur summoned his Keyblade. The cut across his arm still showed itself, his right sleeve completely destroyed. He stepped forward, approaching the dark stone tablet that towered above them. He stopped, not because he simply decided he wouldn’t move any further, but rather, he couldn’t.

‘Are you willing to embrace your fate’?

The question echoed into their minds. It wasn’t spoken, yet any thoughts they had were rendered completely silent against the voice. Arthur took a deep breath, and prepared his answer. ”I am. I know I’m not prepared for it, but I’ve spent too long knowing what my fate is. Between helping the Divine so I could get to the Door to jumping at the chance to defeat the Madara, I’ve been trying to change it. And a part of me believes that I still can. But when I do, I want to be absolutely certain that it’s for the right reasons. No more hiding. I know the future I want, but if fate has something else in mind for me? Then bring it on.” He punched against the monument, and crimson energy began to swirl around him, and his body began to fade away. ”I’ll be waiting for you guys.”

MachGaogamon went next. ”For so long, any sense of fate I had seemed to be depend upon Arthur. He and I stood against the Demon Lords, and though I wish we had never joined with Isamy, it was only a minor distraction. We saved one world before, and now it’s time that we save them all. And though a time will come when I have to truly say goodbye to Arthur, I think we’ll both know that the lives we would lead after that would be good ones. No matter how hard the journey might be, I’m looking forward to the destination.” The crimson energy swirled, and MachGaogamon was gone.

”My turn,” Gagagigo volunteered. ”Eria, I want you to hear this. The fact that I made it here would not have been possible without your help. Maybe I’m like MachGaogamon. We’re both chaperones to some cute kids figuring out love. But spending my childhood was the best thing I could have had. But being on the wrong side wasn’t just a distraction for me. I don’t think I ever would have gotten away from that, but now here I am. You’re still with me. I’m no one’s puppet anymore. Something like that can only be called fate, right? Because if it is… then I won’t just embrace it.” Crimson energy spun again, and Gagagigo held a fist up. ”I’m going to see how far it can carry me.”

As soon as Gagagigo faded, Eria stepped up. She brushed off some tears, and spoke to the tablet. ”After that… I can’t just say no, can I? Knowing my luck, the moment I tell you I’m ready, someone is going to come around and make me regret it. But I won’t give up. I might just be kidding myself, but there has to be a light at the end of the tunnel, right? That’s how the stories my mother always told me went. Of witches and wizards who used their magic to help people. The warlocks who were just a blight to the world, and Protheus is one of the biggest blights of them all. Fate is always going to bring out the monsters. But I refuse to believe that there can be a fate that won’t leave room for a happy ending. The Madara let us have them, but those weren’t real. A happy ending isn’t real unless we can make it ourselves. And I’ll be damned if Protheus or Megiddo or anyone else gets in the way of that!”

The crimson energy consumed Eria, leaving Xion to approach the tablet. ”So many of them just accepting fate like that. Ven and Roxas did that, and… I wouldn’t think that’s any fair. I don’t want to embrace my fate. But I’m more worried about having everything they’ve died for be for nothing than what might happen to me. This all happened because of LERNA and Protheus. But everyone on these Pathways is here in spite of LERNA. We’re all part of something bigger, the Counter Corps. As long as that can make it to the Door, Protheus will never have what he wants!”

After Xion was gone, only Sora and Kairi remained. ”I’m happy that I came here,” Kairi said. ”Ophelia was really determined to fight you, Sora, but in the end, I made it. Whatever is happening to our home, our universe, it’s not fair for us to be the last ones. But if fate let me be the one to save you, then there’s no way this can all end in failure. If there’s even the smallest chance that we’ll survive, then I’ll take it.”

Sora stood beside Kairi, and the two closed in, kissing and holding each other. ”I love you, Kairi,” Sora said. ”That’s how you saved me. Ophelia tried to put us through so much fighting, and we have to keep it up. But once we go home… once we’re finally safe from all of this, will you marry me?”

”The last time you asked me that feels like so long ago, and I’m even more certain now of what I said then. Yes, Sora, I will marry you. I love you, and I always will.” The crimson energy danced around Sora and Kairi. Time felt like it was slowing down, and with the certainty that Protheus was beyond them, Sora and Kairi vanished. The stairway was silent, and the dark stone tablet was satisfied, as the seven heroes escaped the Pathway to Death.

[The Pathway to Truth]

The White Room only offered a brief reprieve of light before everyone entered the Pathway to Truth. Once more they were surrounded by a darkness all too familiar from the Pathway to Death. Their feet clicked against the wooden floors, everyone seeing no other way but forward. Wood, wood, more wood, but at last, their feet finally touched grass. Light, real sunlight, dazzled their eyes, shocking them out from seeing so much darkness. A warm wind breezed by, and cherry blossom trees sprouted all over, like a forest inviting them to stay.

Clouds loomed overhead, and Eria wanted to decide what shapes they formed. The land looked like a paradise they been longing for. Arthur allowed himself to fall face first into the grass. Eria laid down beside him, and Sora and Kairi with one another. Xion dropped very clumsily, while MachGaogamon knelt down, breathing in the fresh air the Pathway offered. Only Gagagigo had stopped for a moment to think that this perfect land was almost too perfect, when childish giggling echoed at the back of his hear.

”Did you hear something?” Gagagigo asked with a start.

MachGaogamon nodded contentedly. ”Yes, the kids are so happy. Relax, Gagagigo. This is the perfect place to rest.”

Too perfect…

Ending Location: Truth A2

Love of Ghibli · March 22, 2016

Team Dorian: Prologous

As everyone's respective personal world's shattered the team fell back into the original space and looked at each other. They were slightly wondering did everyone survive but they all knew Dorian died once. Embarrassing. They were having conversations with their eyes and Dorian was just rolling his all inside his head. Nevertheless they had seemed to have done some form of significant damage to the Avatar.

As Butler took a deep inhale he realized that he was actually Butlerok once again. Ragnarok shot out his back gasping for air and shouting out in elation. YAAAAASSSS! I'm whole again! Ragnarok exclaimed. I must say that I agree for once. I do feel more whole. Now we have to kill that thing for putting me through all of that.

Was it that bad parasite? I think you should be honored to have had you own personal duel. You haven't had anything remotely similar since this whole journey down the paths started. Rhadamanthys quickly followed up with slight sarcasm.

Well yeah that was nice, but still he tried sucking me up again.

Why does that matter? Isn't that a short cut to what we are trying to accomplish anyway. Dorian said pretty matter-of-factish.

Really, you got words, you were the only one to take an L out of the four of us so I would calm all the way down. Ragnarok quickly retorted. Dorian looked away as he wondered for a second how he could have possibly known about that failure. Then he realized that his brains recovery speed is partially due to some enhancements in the Mad Blood. Which in itself was somewhat funny because that is partially due to his own works.

Anywho...Dorian replied. What do we do now? It looks like it took a beating holding all of those fights at once. Is the part where we move in and press advantage.

No Rhadamanthys added. Up until now the Avatar hasn't truly engaged anyone in combat. By the looks of some of these other combatants he has helped them level up as it were.

Yes, I do remember him saying something about him being the final test a way to make sure if people were really sure or not.

Well if that is the case then why didn't we pass it after the first ask? Ragnarok added sternly and now even more annoyed.

Because our test was moot. Dorian said and Ragnarok looked over. If I was a teacher and I had to give a test to twenty people, even if I knew for sure that 4 would pass without effort I would still give the test. There is no point to send everyone away and leave us here with his true form. Think of it as a form of busy work while everyone else takes their test.

In addition to that you have to understand the four of us are past the point of self confident where it is borderline arrogance. The pathways are for ones self actualization and realization. For us, where there wasn't even a prevalent issue. it would be foolish to ask "Are we sure?" Butler further explained. Dorian and Rhadamanthys nodded.

With the walls slowly closing in on the Avatar we should wait and at least see what kind of mood it is in. It might be willing to bargain.

That's quite new of you to suggest Dorian said to Rhadamanthys' rather uncharacteristic answer.

A piece of me feels sorry for him/it. Some would relish the chance to over take the warriors dilemma, but he feels neither positive or negative emotions about it. He will just be destroyed by it. Its sad really.

Super Chaos Sonic · March 24, 2016

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Prologous [[What Time, What Place]]

"Refleza!"

Nero was surprised that the Avatar countered his attack like this, as he swung his Keyblades in his hands, watching the attack flying back towards him. "Alright then...REFLEGA!!!" he shouted as an energy bubble shielded the warrior from the attack, an explosion emanating from the contact. He watched as the smoke cleared and he faced off against the Avatar once more.

"Well...seems now we're getting somewhere..." he chuckled, only to pause his strides in what happened next.

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!"

He braced himself, both his blades disappearing from his hands as he watched the Avatar ending up almost being destroyed in a sense. The reality he had brought forth began to shatter into pieces around them as he watched things of the actual Prologous returning into view.

However, now he saw the true Avatar hiding away in a dark shell. He was injured, VERY injured and Nero could tell it. What happened...? he thought, before seeing the individuals from before beginning their own assault...well, the only one was Koishi. He himself, didn't know if striking at the Avatar was such a good plan. On the other hand, this specter was the one who struck at them at the same time and tried his very best to stop them.

But at the same time...he brought Nero back together with Divine Remnant. Could it be that, like himself now, he was comprised of both light and darkness...but chose to remain in darkness? These questions, Nero had no answer to. But he knew, he needed to figure out something soon.

The Warden · March 30, 2016

[[Another Time, Another Place: Prologuous]]

Rippling like dark water, Koishi's attack sank into the dark shell. Bubbling and churning, the dark shell ate it all up, and then it was gone. Returning to stillness, a bloodshot eye opened up, firing out a wad of black. It closed and faded back into the shell as the black wad splat on the ground somewhere near Koishi. Looking much like a wad of chewed up gum, it shuddered horrifically, before turning into a shadow copy of Koishi. The shadow grinned eerily, pure white and undefined teeth showing in its impossibly wide smile. "Chihihihiiiii" it giggled creepily.

It would appear that this is a new style of the Avatar's defence system, creating shadows of those who attack it. (Nai is free to operate the Koishi shadow.)

Countdown: 14 turns

Shell's HP: 90/100

.:Shadow Koishi:.

HP: 1000/1000

Attack: 500

Defence: 500

Speed: 1000

Maeriberii Haan · March 31, 2016

Koishi and Yukari

Prologuous

The attack Koishi performed proved to be ineffective against the black shell. It wobbled slightly, but the brunt of the attack was absorbed completely by it, and as the dust settled, the shell was almost unscathed. Koishi scratched her head a bit in confusion, before turning around towards Yukari to ask about what should she do now. But before she could do anything else, a change happened in the shell. A bloodshot eye opened, and it fired a black mess of black towards Koishi. She tried to dodge it, but soon realized that it was not actually aimed towards her as it landed somewhere close to her. It looked quite disgusting, and Koishi took several steps backwards to make a distance from the splat on the ground. But then, it shuddered.

"Chihihihiiiii"

A hollow laugh could be heard moments before Koishi realized that she had been imprisoned in a sphere of tentacles. Just outside of it, a shadowed copy of Koishi had emerged from the puddle, continuing to giggle with an unnaturally wide grin as she trapped the real Koishi with her tentacles. And then, just seconds later, her arms jolted and what followed was the sphere that she just made around Koishi shrinking rapidly, with the intent of crushing whatever was trapped inside in that instant.

"This is annoying...seems like the Avatar has even more tricks up his sleeve than expected."

The shadow Koishi's grin turned into a scowl momentarily when she realized that the sphere she crushed ended up being devoid of pasted body parts or blood, and turned around to see Koishi hiding behind Yukari as a gap closed behind them. Enraged that she missed her designated prey, the shadow Koishi summoned many tentacles to surround the two, in hope of goring and tearing them to pieces. In response, Yukari simply raised her hand up into the air, and gaps soon formed and swallowed the tentacles before abruptly crashing, cutting the tentacles between time and place. Soon, even the shadowed Koishi's body ended up being swallowed; her limbs and head was obscured by the purple portals that had emerged by sudden.

"It is for our best interest to not waste our time in dealing with distractions like that. Dealing with the Avatar as fast as possible is more important."

After saying that to Koishi, Yukari lowered her hand, and the portals swallowing parts of the shadowed Koishi crashed, cutting her body apart. Koishi looked at how her shadow copy was mutilated before her with a pained expression, but decided to steel herself and shift her attention elsewhere. She had been at the end of the same torment once, and while she somehow managed to survive, the sight was still quite something to be feared. Even then, even if she didn't wish for that to happen to anyone else, she knew that it was necessary, so she shouldn't give her objection to Yukari.

"Now now...let's try it one more time. Koishi, can you focus your mind enough to fire off another Final Spark or the attack you stole from the Avatar again? If so, prepare the attack and wait for my cue.

Understood?"

"Aye aye, big sis!"

Yukari looked at Koishi with a confused look with how Koishi had just referred her as, but decided to pay it not much mind for now. The pain on her chest still persisted, but it had gotten considerably better now. Yet, something still felt wrong. Perhaps that something was related to why Koishi referred her like that? A possibility, but Yukari felt that it was not a good time to wallow in it. Yukari looked at the Avatar's shell, and started to focus herself. As the guardian of the Door of Origin, its very nature was already opposite of Yukari's ability, so even if she tried her best to manipulate his boundaries even at the height of her power, it would be impossible. However, as she realized during the battle so far with what all that she had attempted to do to it, she realized that there was still something she could still mess around with. The Avatar, mighty as he, was still tied to some form of the concept of "space". As barely definable as it was here in this place, it was a decent enough loophole that Yukari could exploit. Whether it would be successful or not was another thing entirely.

Focusing her mind on projecting the Avatar's current presence into the 3D plane that they were in right now, Yukari then managed to establish and acknowledge the boundaries of the Avatar relative to the space it was in now. With a clearly defined boundary, Yukari then let herself separate the concept further and further into smaller pieces. Inch by inch, millimeters by millimeters, even perhaps atom by atom if such concept applied to the Avatar, Yukari continued to map the boundaries of smaller and smaller parts of the Avatar relative to its surrounding and other parts, until such thing would be too much for her to handle. With the conceptual boundary defined, with the "gap" between each "atoms", each "grain", each "chunk" of the Avatar established, Yukari then simply manifested her physical gaps in between each of them.

"Let's see if this works...

Splitter: Accelerated Universal Disassembler!" With the declaration of her spell, Yukari crashed every single one of the established boundaries that composed the shell's and everything in it, severing any connection each parts had with each other. An attack that would be too impractical to use in an actual battle, but it was something that was meant to be capable of disassemble everything into its very base components. The momentary blinding light caused by the crashing gaps made it hard for Yukari to see whether it even worked against the Avatar or not, but with no other moments to spare, she raised her hand into the air to give Koishi the necessary signal.

"Koishi, now!"

"Yay! Once again, I'm sorry...but...!

Recollection: Final Spark!"

Wasting no time, Koishi fired the gigantic laser she had been preparing towards the Avatar's direction. Whether it worked or not, that part should be worried about later.

"My hat is my friend, it helps me relax~"

Tentacles emerged from the scattered and mutilated shadow Koishi, and soon each of those tentacles connected with each other and pulled the body back together in almost an instant. Looking annoyed at first, its wide grin soon returned as it realized that its hat was not harmed by Yukari's action earlier, and it started to move around in joy while giggling continuously. It seemed to have lost its interest in attacking its original self though, and with that worryingly short attention span, she decided to try murdering someone else instead. Her eyes immediately was locked into the sight of a young man. She could see it: the traces of light and darkness within his heart. He should be pretty fun to play around with! From her chest, a bloodshot eye emerged, and stared at the shadow Koishi's target.

"Mister Nero! Let's play and have some fun! Maybe we can go fishing?

You'll serve as the bait though! Fishes love fresh baits after all! I can even use your weapon as the fishing rod! You're soooo kind!"

Not even itself really know about what did it mean by those words, but that was the decision it had made. Locking in at her new playmate, the shadow Koishi rushed towards him at a blindingly fast speed, while tentacles emerged from thin air all around the young man in an attempt to gore him. Starting with the usual tricks before something bigger is fun, isn't it?

.:Shadow Koishi:.

HP: 950/1000

Attack: 500

Defence: 500

Speed: 1000

Kōsuke Ueki · April 1, 2016

The Pathway To Remembrance, Tsunugai

Upon making it to the other end of the lake, the Paladin saw what looked to be a flight of stairs that stretched far beyond his vision. He sighed at this, not sure how much farther he has to go before the end of the Pathway. "Only way to go is up, I guess."

As taxing as the walk up stairs was, especially since it took him 20 minutes to do so, Tsunugai was able to make it to the top, breathing heavily but in relief. Taking a quick moment to breathe, he soon noticed that he's possibly reached a dead end. There wasn't anywhere else to go, so the only thing that came to mind was that the pond before him would lead him out. As he walked towards the pond, a disembodied voice called out to him, one he didn't recognize.

‘Are you satisfied with your past’?

Tsunugai was silent for a moment. That question was something he never considered before. But he had to wonder: What does his heart say about this?

"I feel empty inside. Sometimes I don't know what to believe anymore. I've come this far, and what good has it brought me? I'm pathetic. That much is obvious. But that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm fighting for. I'm a Paladin, even if becoming one was not under the best of circumstances. Everyone I know and love is dead. But I've come to learn what each and every one of them stands for. They may be gone, but those ambitions, the will to fight, everything that they stood for will live on so long as I do. The emptiness I feel inside me is filled with the strength my allies give me. The past I've been given has made me who I am. There's no changing it, no matter how many times I try to run away. So, to answer your question: yes, I am satisfied, knowing that the darkness I faced revealed a glimmering light of hope I could hold onto."

After speaking his mind, some invisible force urged him to walk forward, stepping on top of the pond. Upon doing so, he was pulled in slowly. Eventually everything turned to black...

The White Room

Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the White Room once more. In front of him showed two doors: One gray, and one pitch black. He didn't even think about the next door he'd choose. He went to open the pitch-black door...

The Pathway to Death

This feeling...it was unlike what he felt in Remembrance. It was...different, yet familiar. The feeling of...uncertainty.

Tsunugai struggled to see in front of him all that well. The blanket of darkness around him only made things more difficult. And considering the name of the Pathway, he figured that would be the point: to make the way more treacherous and risky for those who enter. Add on the faint whispers he could hear as he advanced, and this could possibly be the most difficult part of his journey so far.

(Current Location: A1)

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The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

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