Side Story The Goddess

[Sark]

"The Goddess picked us for a reason. I don't fully understand it myself, I'm usually always wrapped in on saving the world, thanks to Lady Purple Heart. Besides, she already decided that we were her chosen before she was killed, so why would we not fight? Why are you even acting like this?! What's your real goal?! You could of taken me and Compa but you're putting her into uncomfortable situations, I mean come on! She's a NURSE! What can she even do to you?!"​

"Because Blackheart needed to be taught a lesson," She finally replied when brought into the interrogation. "If you think the Goddess has anything to do with me doing here, I'm afraid I'll have to laugh. I'm just here to show a child his place in the hierarchy. Nothing more."

@Crunch @Sark @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

The RED ROOM
View attachment 4946
"So its a matter of duty?" Hearts folded his arms and grinned. "Duty drove you to send thousands of men to their deaths? You've picked the wrong side of history, my friends. Allow me to enlighten you--"

[ZZZ-WWIRRR]

The air seemed to crackle and glitch. Zamasu appeared a few paces behind Hearts, his fingertips pressed to his forehead.

"Hearts!" The Kai snapped. "This has gone on long enough!"

"Ah. So the Loyal Goddessian has decided to join us at last..."

"We had a deal. The Chosen have been captured. The council has been culled. You must convince the old fool to withdraw his forces. We agreed to conquer the Fellowship, not destroy it!"

"Haven't you heard, Zamasu? The War is all but over. Eliphas' beast has crushed the battlefield beneath its heels. The fury of a Saiyan is an beautiful, terrible thing. A powerful thing. Cunber's newfound fury is fueled by his agony and self loathing. He's a one man army now. The Fellowships forces are tracing the scars he is carving through Blackheart's forces. If all goes according to plan, the war will be over in an hour or two. Your losses will be great, but the Fellowship will bounce back."

"Stop it!" The Kai spat. "I won't let you keep me out of the loop. You've changed the plan again, haven't you? Without consulting me. Without consulting him?
View attachment 4950
"This alliance was a mistake! You're playing me for a fool!"

Hearts sighed. His pulled on the lapels of his coat, and slowly turned around to face his captives once again.

"Of course I'm playing you for a fool, Zamas. And you're going to let me keep on playing you until the Goddess' spirit has been eradicated. I will continue to adapt the plan as I see fit. I will continue to adapt the Great Plan until I am certain of its success. You will continue to play your role, as we agreed. Remove the Secularists. Fill the Council with our Chosen. Keep the Faiths in check and control those who worship the Goddess."

Hearts waved his hands. The panels the Chosen had been strapped began to float above the floor.

"But if you insist on running everything by 'Lord' Blackheart, that's fine too. How about we pay him a visit? I think he's overdue a status update, anyway. What do you say, Kai? Care to explain to him how he's on the verge of loosing his territory to the mutated carcass of one of our men?"

"I--"

Hearts snapped his fingers. The walls around you began to crackle and glitch. You were being teleported from underbelly of the fortress to its highest peak.

****
[VVVVSSSHHH]
View attachment 4951
The floor was cold. Colder than anything you had felt since your arrival in the Nether-Realm.
At the back of the hall, a towering marble throne sat. It had been carved in the shape of a large, cloaked figure.
Sitting upon the statue's 'lap', a familiar demon sat.
Well... it almost looked like...

"Blackheart!" Hearts cried as he skipped up the stairs at the back of the hall. He refused to bow, or perform any of the niceties one was expected to perform before meeting a 'king'. "'Lord' Blackheart! Are you awake?! Zamasu is here..."

Blackheart stirred. He coughed and groaned. He rested his weight against his staff, and did his best to straighten his spin. Despite his efforts, he remained hunched over his anvil. His discolored, dry lips twisted into a weak smile.

"Lord Zamasu..." The Demon croaked. "What brings you to my chamber?"
View attachment 4953
"Is there not a war for you to be fighting? I can hear the invaders... they are at my doorstep... You promised me protection..."

"Yes, Lord Blackheart." Zamasu scowled as he approached the throne. "The situation is... complicated..."

"How so...?" He wheezed. "I gave you an army of demons... Legions upon legions of beasts... the Fellowship was caught unawares... things... should not be turning out like this..."

"Yes, sir... I understand your frustrations... You see--"

"I am tired of your excuses, Kai... Sick and tired... It's time that---" His dry eyes thinned into slits. "Who... who else is in here...? Who have you brought to me?"

"Prisoners, sir..." Zamasu signaled to Hearts. Hearts waved his hands and sent the Chosen flying across the chamber towards the throne. All the while, his smirk never left his lips. Watching Zamasu sabotage himself had made his day. "Luthor believes that these... mortals were chosen by the Goddess. They're her weapons. Her swords and shields. They conquered death during the attack on the Citadel. With your father's help, they've conquered death a second time. They are the ones who have been complicating the battle. They are the ones who brought the Fellowship to your doorstep. I caught Hearts before he could torment then in private. I believe that he has already sent several of them to their deaths..."

"Pity..." Blackheart snarled. "I had hoped to study these creatures myself..." The Demon stepped away from his throne and turned to his staff for support. He pulled his cloak around his chest. With a stumble and shuffle, he approached his captives.

"Now tell me... who the Hell are you...? What are you...?"

@Takumi @Jeremi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin​

 

[Minerva]

Xalek reached out with the force and shuffled his prisoners into an orderly caravan. He lead it from the rear and his boots against the cobblestones to give them a marching rhythm. The path to the staircase seemed to stretch on endlessly. They passed hundreds of tired, desperate souls as they marched. Some appeared young. Some appeared old. Some were scarred. Others were still fresh-skinned. But they all shared the same, defeated stare. They stretched their arms out through the bars of their cells and pleaded for assistance.

A hand touched Maddie's shoulder. His touch was delicate. Cool.

View attachment 4874
"Maddie... Yes... Kind Maddie.... Compassionate Maddie..." Izana whimpered, his eyes wet and red. His fingers trembled. "Yes... Maddie from the Citadel... does Maddie remember Mr.Izana? Mr.Izana had better hair then, yes? Better hair? No beard? No scars? You remember Mr.Izana, don't you? Tell me your remember him, yes?"

"Against the wall, prisoner!" Xalek spat. He hammered this hilt of his lightsaber against Izana's bars. The Seer recoil in fear and fled into the corner of his cell. He place his hands of his ears and wept. "You'll get your turn. You'll---"

Xalek stopped for a moment. He felt it. A ripple in the force. A warning. He tightened his grip around his weapon. He slow turned towards the defiant prisoner. His finger shifted towards his weapon's activation switch.

"You..." He whispered...

@Lucky @amwexia @Jackythejack @Minerva @Raynar Saassin @Takumi

"Like Chaff before the wind." She spoke, clearly and calmly. Her powers weren't dampened anymore.

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and then a long cracking sound. Johanna held her arms up in front of her face, and twisted. The metal shackles snapped like cheap plastic, and fell to the ground. The air would hang silent for a second before the iron shackle hit the stone floor. It bounced, the clattering sound echoing through the room. Johanna’s wrists were unbound. Red scabs still shown where they had been, but her arms were now free.

“One can not bind light.” She said sternly. "Laws of Valor, strengthen me."

There would be a would be a flash of light, and people would gain strength.

@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi​

 

[Jeremi]

The RED ROOM
View attachment 4946
"So its a matter of duty?" Hearts folded his arms and grinned. "Duty drove you to send thousands of men to their deaths? You've picked the wrong side of history, my friends. Allow me to enlighten you--"

[ZZZ-WWIRRR]

The air seemed to crackle and glitch. Zamasu appeared a few paces behind Hearts, his fingertips pressed to his forehead.

"Hearts!" The Kai snapped. "This has gone on long enough!"

"Ah. So the Loyal Goddessian has decided to join us at last..."

"We had a deal. The Chosen have been captured. The council has been culled. You must convince the old fool to withdraw his forces. We agreed to conquer the Fellowship, not destroy it!"

"Haven't you heard, Zamasu? The War is all but over. Eliphas' beast has crushed the battlefield beneath its heels. The fury of a Saiyan is an beautiful, terrible thing. A powerful thing. Cunber's newfound fury is fueled by his agony and self loathing. He's a one man army now. The Fellowships forces are tracing the scars he is carving through Blackheart's forces. If all goes according to plan, the war will be over in an hour or two. Your losses will be great, but the Fellowship will bounce back."

"Stop it!" The Kai spat. "I won't let you keep me out of the loop. You've changed the plan again, haven't you? Without consulting me. Without consulting him?
View attachment 4950
"This alliance was a mistake! You're playing me for a fool!"

Hearts sighed. His pulled on the lapels of his coat, and slowly turned around to face his captives once again.

"Of course I'm playing you for a fool, Zamas. And you're going to let me keep on playing you until the Goddess' spirit has been eradicated. I will continue to adapt the plan as I see fit. I will continue to adapt the Great Plan until I am certain of its success. You will continue to play your role, as we agreed. Remove the Secularists. Fill the Council with our Chosen. Keep the Faiths in check and control those who worship the Goddess."

Hearts waved his hands. The panels the Chosen had been strapped began to float above the floor.

"But if you insist on running everything by 'Lord' Blackheart, that's fine too. How about we pay him a visit? I think he's overdue a status update, anyway. What do you say, Kai? Care to explain to him how he's on the verge of loosing his territory to the mutated carcass of one of our men?"

"I--"

Hearts snapped his fingers. The walls around you began to crackle and glitch. You were being teleported from underbelly of the fortress to its highest peak.

****
[VVVVSSSHHH]
View attachment 4951
The floor was cold. Colder than anything you had felt since your arrival in the Nether-Realm.
At the back of the hall, a towering marble throne sat. It had been carved in the shape of a large, cloaked figure.
Sitting upon the statue's 'lap', a familiar demon sat.
Well... it almost looked like...

"Blackheart!" Hearts cried as he skipped up the stairs at the back of the hall. He refused to bow, or perform any of the niceties one was expected to perform before meeting a 'king'. "'Lord' Blackheart! Are you awake?! Zamasu is here..."

Blackheart stirred. He coughed and groaned. He rested his weight against his staff, and did his best to straighten his spin. Despite his efforts, he remained hunched over his anvil. His discolored, dry lips twisted into a weak smile.

"Lord Zamasu..." The Demon croaked. "What brings you to my chamber?"
View attachment 4953
"Is there not a war for you to be fighting? I can hear the invaders... they are at my doorstep... You promised me protection..."

"Yes, Lord Blackheart." Zamasu scowled as he approached the throne. "The situation is... complicated..."

"How so...?" He wheezed. "I gave you an army of demons... Legions upon legions of beasts... the Fellowship was caught unawares... things... should not be turning out like this..."

"Yes, sir... I understand your frustrations... You see--"

"I am tired of your excuses, Kai... Sick and tired... It's time that---" His dry eyes thinned into slits. "Who... who else is in here...? Who have you brought to me?"

"Prisoners, sir..." Zamasu signaled to Hearts. Hearts waved his hands and sent the Chosen flying across the chamber towards the throne. All the while, his smirk never left his lips. Watching Zamasu sabotage himself had made his day. "Luthor believes that these... mortals were chosen by the Goddess. They're her weapons. Her swords and shields. They conquered death during the attack on the Citadel. With your father's help, they've conquered death a second time. They are the ones who have been complicating the battle. They are the ones who brought the Fellowship to your doorstep. I caught Hearts before he could torment then in private. I believe that he has already sent several of them to their deaths..."

"Pity..." Blackheart snarled. "I had hoped to study these creatures myself..." The Demon stepped away from his throne and turned to his staff for support. He pulled his cloak around his chest. With a stumble and shuffle, he approached his captives.

"Now tell me... who the Hell are you...? What are you...?"

@Takumi @Jeremi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin​

Oh, this was just sad... "Feeling and looking a lot better than you, child." Despite being captive Big Mother didn't seem to care about her current situation as she addressed Blackheart with all the contempt she could muster. "I can't speak for the others but I am your better, Blackheart. I am Big Mother, a follower of Knull, chosen by the Goddess, though that second part isn't as important." She leaned down and bared her fangs. "And I am here to put you in your place."

@Takumi @Sark @Crunch

 

[Sark]

Oh, this was just sad... "Feeling and looking a lot better than you, child." Despite being captive Big Mother didn't seem to care about her current situation as she addressed Blackheart with all the contempt she could muster. "I can't speak for the others but I am your better, Blackheart. I am Big Mother, a follower of Knull, chosen by the Goddess, though that second part isn't as important." She leaned down and bared her fangs. "And I am here to put you in your place."

@Takumi @Sark @Crunch

"To put me in my place?" Blackheart half coughed, half laughed. "To see me suffer? That was your plan? Look at me. I'm sick. Dying. My kingdom is marches towards ruin. Any delusions I once had are long dead. I am already in my place." Blackheart stumbled back into his chair. Sitting upon it seemed to revitalize him. Revive him. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. Though his sickness remained, the Throne of the Black Realm seemed to calm him. Take away his pain. "So what is left for you to do? Gloat? Be my guest. Make yourself comfortable."

Blackheart stamped his staff against the stone floors. The restraints that had once bound the Chosen clicked open.

"Come. Laugh at Lord Blackheart. Laugh at the frail king."

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin​

 

[Takumi]

The RED ROOM
View attachment 4946
"So its a matter of duty?" Hearts folded his arms and grinned. "Duty drove you to send thousands of men to their deaths? You've picked the wrong side of history, my friends. Allow me to enlighten you--"

[ZZZ-WWIRRR]

The air seemed to crackle and glitch. Zamasu appeared a few paces behind Hearts, his fingertips pressed to his forehead.

"Hearts!" The Kai snapped. "This has gone on long enough!"

"Ah. So the Loyal Goddessian has decided to join us at last..."

"We had a deal. The Chosen have been captured. The council has been culled. You must convince the old fool to withdraw his forces. We agreed to conquer the Fellowship, not destroy it!"

"Haven't you heard, Zamasu? The War is all but over. Eliphas' beast has crushed the battlefield beneath its heels. The fury of a Saiyan is an beautiful, terrible thing. A powerful thing. Cunber's newfound fury is fueled by his agony and self loathing. He's a one man army now. The Fellowships forces are tracing the scars he is carving through Blackheart's forces. If all goes according to plan, the war will be over in an hour or two. Your losses will be great, but the Fellowship will bounce back."

"Stop it!" The Kai spat. "I won't let you keep me out of the loop. You've changed the plan again, haven't you? Without consulting me. Without consulting him?
View attachment 4950
"This alliance was a mistake! You're playing me for a fool!"

Hearts sighed. His pulled on the lapels of his coat, and slowly turned around to face his captives once again.

"Of course I'm playing you for a fool, Zamas. And you're going to let me keep on playing you until the Goddess' spirit has been eradicated. I will continue to adapt the plan as I see fit. I will continue to adapt the Great Plan until I am certain of its success. You will continue to play your role, as we agreed. Remove the Secularists. Fill the Council with our Chosen. Keep the Faiths in check and control those who worship the Goddess."

Hearts waved his hands. The panels the Chosen had been strapped began to float above the floor.

"But if you insist on running everything by 'Lord' Blackheart, that's fine too. How about we pay him a visit? I think he's overdue a status update, anyway. What do you say, Kai? Care to explain to him how he's on the verge of loosing his territory to the mutated carcass of one of our men?"

"I--"

Hearts snapped his fingers. The walls around you began to crackle and glitch. You were being teleported from underbelly of the fortress to its highest peak.

****
[VVVVSSSHHH]
View attachment 4951
The floor was cold. Colder than anything you had felt since your arrival in the Nether-Realm.
At the back of the hall, a towering marble throne sat. It had been carved in the shape of a large, cloaked figure.
Sitting upon the statue's 'lap', a familiar demon sat.
Well... it almost looked like...

"Blackheart!" Hearts cried as he skipped up the stairs at the back of the hall. He refused to bow, or perform any of the niceties one was expected to perform before meeting a 'king'. "'Lord' Blackheart! Are you awake?! Zamasu is here..."

Blackheart stirred. He coughed and groaned. He rested his weight against his staff, and did his best to straighten his spin. Despite his efforts, he remained hunched over his anvil. His discolored, dry lips twisted into a weak smile.

"Lord Zamasu..." The Demon croaked. "What brings you to my chamber?"
View attachment 4953
"Is there not a war for you to be fighting? I can hear the invaders... they are at my doorstep... You promised me protection..."

"Yes, Lord Blackheart." Zamasu scowled as he approached the throne. "The situation is... complicated..."

"How so...?" He wheezed. "I gave you an army of demons... Legions upon legions of beasts... the Fellowship was caught unawares... things... should not be turning out like this..."

"Yes, sir... I understand your frustrations... You see--"

"I am tired of your excuses, Kai... Sick and tired... It's time that---" His dry eyes thinned into slits. "Who... who else is in here...? Who have you brought to me?"

"Prisoners, sir..." Zamasu signaled to Hearts. Hearts waved his hands and sent the Chosen flying across the chamber towards the throne. All the while, his smirk never left his lips. Watching Zamasu sabotage himself had made his day. "Luthor believes that these... mortals were chosen by the Goddess. They're her weapons. Her swords and shields. They conquered death during the attack on the Citadel. With your father's help, they've conquered death a second time. They are the ones who have been complicating the battle. They are the ones who brought the Fellowship to your doorstep. I caught Hearts before he could torment then in private. I believe that he has already sent several of them to their deaths..."

"Pity..." Blackheart snarled. "I had hoped to study these creatures myself..." The Demon stepped away from his throne and turned to his staff for support. He pulled his cloak around his chest. With a stumble and shuffle, he approached his captives.

"Now tell me... who the Hell are you...? What are you...?"

@Takumi @Jeremi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin​

The revelation that Zamasu was allied with Blackheart, and likely the one who orchestrated the explosion of the ship they had been on as well as the attack on the Citadel cause Ashe to stare in disbelief. He knew there was mention of a possible traitor, but the thought of so many dying for such a cause...

He looked to Zamasu and Hearts as they bickered about their plans changing to reach the goal they wished to fulfill.

"You can't control someone completely. To even attempt to do so under the guise of being faithful to a God or Goddess is like being a Priest with no care for the common people." He cried out, fists clenched.

Before he knew it, they were face to face with Blackheart, and it was almost dizzying.

"What did you mean by studying us?" Ashe frowned, brows furrowing as he stared at Blackheart. Something didn't seem quite right, but he had to remind himself of what Scott had said before about how time was tricky in this place.

Oh, this was just sad... "Feeling and looking a lot better than you, child." Despite being captive Big Mother didn't seem to care about her current situation as she addressed Blackheart with all the contempt she could muster. "I can't speak for the others but I am your better, Blackheart. I am Big Mother, a follower of Knull, chosen by the Goddess, though that second part isn't as important." She leaned down and bared her fangs. "And I am here to put you in your place."

@Takumi @Sark @Crunch

"I'm Ashe Ubert, a Chosen of the Goddess and a follower of the Goddess Seiros." He greeted in a mumble, more than sure that if she were any closer Big Mother might have tried to rip Blackheart's face off with her teeth.

"To put me in my place?" Blackheart half coughed, half laughed. "To see me suffer? That was your plan? Look at me. I'm sick. Dying. My kingdom is marches towards ruin. Any delusions I once had are long dead. I am already in my place." Blackheart stumbled back into his chair. Sitting upon it seemed to revitalize him. Revive him. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. Though his sickness remained, the Throne of the Black Realm seemed to calm him. Take away his pain. "So what is left for you to do? Gloat? Be my guest. Make yourself comfortable."

Blackheart stamped his staff against the stone floors. The restraints that had once bound the Chosen clicked open.

"Come. Laugh at Lord Blackheart. Laugh at the frail king."

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin​

Ashe blinked, and then rubbed his wrists where his restraints were. He felt like something was missing, like he couldn't stay still. What was the point of this?

"You act as if you have given up, so why even keep us here?" He asked then, and knowing how his company so far were quick to maim and kill on a whim, he wouldn't have felt entirely surprised if either Big Mother or Eliphas decided to do so soon.

@Sark @Jeremi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin

 

[Jeremi]

"To put me in my place?" Blackheart half coughed, half laughed. "To see me suffer? That was your plan? Look at me. I'm sick. Dying. My kingdom is marches towards ruin. Any delusions I once had are long dead. I am already in my place." Blackheart stumbled back into his chair. Sitting upon it seemed to revitalize him. Revive him. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. Though his sickness remained, the Throne of the Black Realm seemed to calm him. Take away his pain. "So what is left for you to do? Gloat? Be my guest. Make yourself comfortable."

Blackheart stamped his staff against the stone floors. The restraints that had once bound the Chosen clicked open.

"Come. Laugh at Lord Blackheart. Laugh at the frail king."

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin​

"Only someone like you could destroy any enjoyment I would have gotten from destroying out," Big Mother bemoaned. "If you won't fight us send one of your slaves at us. Are you still not the son of a hell lord? Act like it!"

@Sark @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

 

[Sark]

"There are no demons here with us, Lord Urien," she said, walking up to the wreckage he was pinned under. "Only people." Even though her lashing at the walls had failed her before, Kolin couldn't help but try to use her cryokinetics to free Urien, creating icy pillars to lift up the debris and give him room to escape. "If you're desperate for a target to unleash your fury upon, I have one for you. But you must allow us to assist you."

@Sark @Lucky

"Oh... it's you... rat..." Urien groaned as the weight of the rubble was lifted from his shoulders. He fell forwards onto his wants and knees, his wet body trembling. He waved away any attempts to help him up. Slowly but surely, he mustered enough strength to stand tall again. "I heard you were dead... wishful thinking..." His knees buckled beneath him. He cried out in pain. "Ugghh... Point me towards this demon, girl... I will make him... tremble..."

@Yun Lee @Lucky​

"What did you mean by studying us?" Ashe frowned, brows furrowing as he stared at Blackheart. Something didn't seem quite right, but he had to remind himself of what Scott had said before about how time was tricky in this place.

"To study you... learn from you..." Blackheart hummed. "The Goddess has imbued with so much power... more power than you know... I can feel it... I can sense it... I need it..."​

"You act as if you have given up, so why even keep us here?"

"Given up?" Blackheart howled. "Were it within my power, I would slay you were you sand. I would torment you and torture you until you prayed for the abyss! But look at me!" The demon threw his thin arms to the side. "I am weak. Dying. I've been bound to this chair for months. I will do everything within my power to hold off your invasion force, no matter how limited that power may be... To my last breath, I will oppose you. I will watch as many of your imperialist brothers burn before my time comes."
​

"Only someone like you could destroy any enjoyment I would have gotten from destroying out," Big Mother bemoaned. "If you won't fight us send one of your slaves at us. Are you still not the son of a hell lord? Act like it!"
@Sark @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

Blackheart stamped his staff against the tiles. The room shook. A cloud of dust descended from the ceiling.

"My body may be weak, creature..." Blackheart snarled. "But so long as I sit upon this throne, this realm still belongs to me. It command it. It obeys!!"

Thunder cracked outside the fortress. A faint glow flickered through the thin cracks in the chambers walls. A second thunderbolt scorched the air. Its roar was enough to drown out the howls of approaching battle. Even with the stones the shield their eyes, the light was enough to blind the Chosen. A third thunderbolt struck the fortress itself, shaking the tower to its foundations.

By the time the Chosen's sense of sight returned to them dark pit had carved itself in the heart of the chamber. The stones they had been standing upon had been shifted around. A great chasm now sat between them and the throne. A faint light glowed in its depths.

"If this war is done, so be it. If my life is at an end, so be it. If you wish to fight one of my 'slaves', so be it!"

A creature howled from the heart of the pit. No... three creatures howled.

"You have entered my realm. My home. You have slaughtered my pets. Killed my children. And for what end? To kill a dying man? If you insist on suffering, imperialists, then I am happy to make your wishes come true!! Burn--" He wheezed. "Burn in the jaws of Hell's great hound, Cerberus!"

From the guardian of Hell leaped from the pit. Flames poured from its lips as it snarled. It greedily sniffed its prey, before letting out another, ear splitting roar.

"Blackheart, we need to save beasts like these for the front lines. The War is more important than--"

"Do not tell me how to rule, Zamasu! The Nether is mine--"

"For now--" Hearts added.

"--and the war is all but lost! I shall reinforce my Fortress as I see fit. If we cannot repel these invaders, we will outlast them!"

"Sorry, Blackheart. But my associates and I are on a strict schedule." Hearts sighed. "We can't waste any more time here. I had hoped that we would have had time stick around for the fireworks, but it looks like you're going to waste everyone's time with this... theatrical dog fight? Sieges? Sorry, 'your majesty', but you're just wasting our time now."

"What do you---?"

"You can come out now, M."

A tower of fire burned in the corner of the room. The flames took to form of the conman, who removed the toothpick from his lips and grinned.

View attachment 4959
"And there I was waiting for a dramatic entrance. Good to see you all again. Mother! How's your new body treating you? Son! Your father's day card must have gotten lost in the mail! It's been too long!"

"BASTARD!"

"Love you too, Junior. I gotta say... Imprisoning a Guardian of Hell? You've made Daddy real proud today."

"I'LL KILL YOU FILTHY FUCKING--"

"Now-now, son. Don't get all worked up. You'll only make yourself sick. Now. I know there's no use in asking you nicely to leave that chair. So I'm ready to do things the hard way--"

The conman snapped his fingers. Dark magic washed over Mother, Ashe, Compa and Eliphas. They would feel their powers grow. Their strength multiplied.

"You've been plotting against me from the start!"

"No shit, I've been plotting you from the start, kiddo. Has the poison reached your brain already? Did you really think the Hellions just 'escaped' my care? No. Scott said it himself. Souls don't just 'escape' Hell."

"You let them out..."

"Yes, I let them out. I couldn't be seen attacking your prisons with my own demons, now could I? On the topic of the Hellions, they'll be here any minute, actually, ready for a daring rescue. Captain White's 'sacrifice' was enough to get them back in the fight. No more guerrilla attacks. They're marching in here all-guns-blazing. Do or die. I say the Chosen will only have to last... say... 5 minutes against your dog before reinforcements arrive?"

"Zamasu! Stop him! Kill Mephisto! Your king commands it!"

"Don't drag me into this. This is clearly a family matter."

"Hearts, my dear!" Mephisto grinned, throwing his arm around his spy. "Tell me. Has Izana bluffed yet?"

"He held his tongue for a while. But in the end, your son was always good a loosening lips. He told us everything we needed to know eventually. He gave us the prophecy we needed a few hours ago. I've sent some of my personal agents off to scout out the tomb already. They should be reporting back any minute now."

"Brilliant. I might have to stop by the salon before we pay her a visit. I want to look my best when I meet this 'Goddess'..."

"Enjoy playing with your dog, Blackheart. We've got a date to keep."

"You used me! Manipulated me!"

"Exactly. We needed a means to soften up the Fellowship whilst we waited for Izana to snap. You were a means to an end. You were never supposed to win. We weren't looking for any new allies."

"Our club is quite exclusive, you see. We don't let any old sod join. Especially now some crusty old---"

"BASTARD!"

"Love you too, squirt. I'll send you a postcard from the tomb. Fingers crossed you're alive to receive it!"

"Zamas? Make sure nobody leaves this room alive." Hearts threw a salute in Zamasu's direction. "We'll come find you when this is all over."

"You'll come find me?" Zamasu snapped. "I'm not one of your minions Hearts! We had an agreement! What happened to our partnership!?"

"Remember our deal, Mother!" M. laughed.

Sparks of ki sparked around Zamasu's clenched fists.

"Don't you ignore me, you obnoxious--"

In a flash of brimstone, Mephisto and Hearts were gone.

The Chosen were left to face a bitter Kai, an elderly demon and an angry three headed dog.

@Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin​

 

[Capri]

MADDIE
@Sark @Minerva @Takumi @Lucky @Jackythejack

Maddie nearly choked when Izana touched her. Compassion? She has no compassion.

“Shut up...” Maddie hissed. She has no intention of escaping. This is the fate that awaits her. She’s hated, she knows that. What purpose does it serve to be rebellious now?

To the new girl, Maddie glared daggers into her soul. Hopefully, she isn’t another Jester, another ‘big damn hero’ to save the day. To what it seems, this new person is just very religious.

---

ROMAN
@York

“Thank you, sir,” Roman said to the man, “There’s two others, Kolin and Beaudette, but they’ve got the Urien man.”

Anyone who knew Roman would see it, he’s changed. He’s a different man than the nervous wreck who just barely survived the ship.​

 

[Yun Lee]

Not even so much as a thank you. It was expected, really, which when you think about it was a sad thing indeed. Kolin had to hold her tongue and respect the President before, when Bison was their common enemy. But now? Why should she? On her side was both her Emperor and her Goddess. On his knees, gasping for breath, Urien was nothing. Well...nothing, except for Gill's brother. So she would help him...but not take an ounce of his shit as she did.

"Girl, rat...I don't think either of those are my name." Kolin crossed her arms, weight shifting to one hip. "Kolin came down here to assist Urien, President of our Society, not a weakling who wastes precious breath with insults. Are you Urien, and am I Kolin? If the answer to my question is no, then I will leave you to your own devices down here. I already served my obligations by freeing you. If you can't give me the smallest sliver of gratitude by addressing me with my name, well...Beau and I can take our leave."

@Sark @Lucky​

 

[Jeremi]

"Oh... it's you... rat..." Urien groaned as the weight of the rubble was lifted from his shoulders. He fell forwards onto his wants and knees, his wet body trembling. He waved away any attempts to help him up. Slowly but surely, he mustered enough strength to stand tall again. "I heard you were dead... wishful thinking..." His knees buckled beneath him. He cried out in pain. "Ugghh... Point me towards this demon, girl... I will make him... tremble..."

@Yun Lee @Lucky

"To study you... learn from you..." Blackheart hummed. "The Goddess has imbued with so much power... more power than you know... I can feel it... I can sense it... I need it..."

"Given up?" Blackheart howled. "Were it within my power, I would slay you were you sand. I would torment you and torture you until you prayed for the abyss! But look at me!" The demon threw his thin arms to the side. "I am weak. Dying. I've been bound to this chair for months. I will do everything within my power to hold off your invasion force, no matter how limited that power may be... To my last breath, I will oppose you. I will watch as many of your imperialist brothers burn before my time comes."


Blackheart stamped his staff against the tiles. The room shook. A cloud of dust descended from the ceiling.

"My body may be weak, creature..." Blackheart snarled. "But so long as I sit upon this throne, this realm still belongs to me. It command it. It obeys!!"

Thunder cracked outside the fortress. A faint glow flickered through the thin cracks in the chambers walls. A second thunderbolt scorched the air. Its roar was enough to drown out the howls of approaching battle. Even with the stones the shield their eyes, the light was enough to blind the Chosen. A third thunderbolt struck the fortress itself, shaking the tower to its foundations.

By the time the Chosen's sense of sight returned to them dark pit had carved itself in the heart of the chamber. The stones they had been standing upon had been shifted around. A great chasm now sat between them and the throne. A faint light glowed in its depths.

"If this war is done, so be it. If my life is at an end, so be it. If you wish to fight one of my 'slaves', so be it!"

A creature howled from the heart of the pit. No... three creatures howled.

"You have entered my realm. My home. You have slaughtered my pets. Killed my children. And for what end? To kill a dying man? If you insist on suffering, imperialists, then I am happy to make your wishes come true!! Burn--" He wheezed. "Burn in the jaws of Hell's great hound, Cerberus!"

From the guardian of Hell leaped from the pit. Flames poured from its lips as it snarled. It greedily sniffed its prey, before letting out another, ear splitting roar.

"Blackheart, we need to save beasts like these for the front lines. The War is more important than--"

"Do not tell me how to rule, Zamasu! The Nether is mine--"

"For now--" Hearts added.

"--and the war is all but lost! I shall reinforce my Fortress as I see fit. If we cannot repel these invaders, we will outlast them!"

"Sorry, Blackheart. But my associates and I are on a strict schedule." Hearts sighed. "We can't waste any more time here. I had hoped that we would have had time stick around for the fireworks, but it looks like you're going to waste everyone's time with this... theatrical dog fight? Sieges? Sorry, 'your majesty', but you're just wasting our time now."

"What do you---?"

"You can come out now, M."

A tower of fire burned in the corner of the room. The flames took to form of the conman, who removed the toothpick from his lips and grinned.

View attachment 4959
"And there I was waiting for a dramatic entrance. Good to see you all again. Mother! How's your new body treating you? Son! Your father's day card must have gotten lost in the mail! It's been too long!"

"BASTARD!"

"Love you too, Junior. I gotta say... Imprisoning a Guardian of Hell? You've made Daddy real proud today."

"I'LL KILL YOU FILTHY FUCKING--"

"Now-now, son. Don't get all worked up. You'll only make yourself sick. Now. I know there's no use in asking you nicely to leave that chair. So I'm ready to do things the hard way--"

The conman snapped his fingers. Dark magic washed over Mother, Ashe, Compa and Eliphas. They would feel their powers grow. Their strength multiplied.

"You've been plotting against me from the start!"

"No shit, I've been plotting you from the start, kiddo. Has the poison reached your brain already? Did you really think the Hellions just 'escaped' my care? No. Scott said it himself. Souls don't just 'escape' Hell."

"You let them out..."

"Yes, I let them out. I couldn't be seen attacking your prisons with my own demons, now could I? On the topic of the Hellions, they'll be here any minute, actually, ready for a daring rescue. Captain White's 'sacrifice' was enough to get them back in the fight. No more guerrilla attacks. They're marching in here all-guns-blazing. Do or die. I say the Chosen will only have to last... say... 5 minutes against your dog before reinforcements arrive?"

"Zamasu! Stop him! Kill Mephisto! Your king commands it!"

"Don't drag me into this. This is clearly a family matter."

"Hearts, my dear!" Mephisto grinned, throwing his arm around his spy. "Tell me. Has Izana bluffed yet?"

"He held his tongue for a while. But in the end, your son was always good a loosening lips. He told us everything we needed to know eventually. He gave us the prophecy we needed a few hours ago. I've sent some of my personal agents off to scout out the tomb already. They should be reporting back any minute now."

"Brilliant. I might have to stop by the salon before we pay her a visit. I want to look my best when I meet this 'Goddess'..."

"Enjoy playing with your dog, Blackheart. We've got a date to keep."

"You used me! Manipulated me!"

"Exactly. We needed a means to soften up the Fellowship whilst we waited for Izana to snap. You were a means to an end. You were never supposed to win. We weren't looking for any new allies."

"Our club is quite exclusive, you see. We don't let any old sod join. Especially now some crusty old---"

"BASTARD!"

"Love you too, squirt. I'll send you a postcard from the tomb. Fingers crossed you're alive to receive it!"

"Zamas? Make sure nobody leaves this room alive." Hearts threw a salute in Zamasu's direction. "We'll come find you when this is all over."

"You'll come find me?" Zamasu snapped. "I'm not one of your minions Hearts! We had an agreement! What happened to our partnership!?"

"Remember our deal, Mother!" M. laughed.

Sparks of ki sparked around Zamasu's clenched fists.

"Don't you ignore me, you obnoxious--"

In a flash of brimstone, Mephisto and Hearts were gone.

The Chosen were left to face a bitter Kai, an elderly demon and an angry three headed dog.

@Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin​

"Of course, how can I forget?"Her pleasant words were filled with cold malice aimed at Mephisto. She was revolted by the power coursing through her but she was going to use it all the same. "A suggestion, you green fool," She responded to Zamasu. "Make yourself useful," Her mouth lit up with energy. "And kill the cripple on the throne."

A massive blast of energy erupted from her mouth aimed straight towards the three-headed dog in front of her. Tough love was some times the only way for someone to get their will through.

@Sark @Takumi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin

 

[Sark]

"Girl, rat...I don't think either of those are my name." Kolin crossed her arms, weight shifting to one hip. "Kolin came down here to assist Urien, President of our Society, not a weakling who wastes precious breath with insults. Are you Urien, and am I Kolin? If the answer to my question is no, then I will leave you to your own devices down here. I already served my obligations by freeing you. If you can't give me the smallest sliver of gratitude by addressing me with my name, well...Beau and I can take our leave."

@Sark @Lucky​

"You've grown far too big for your britches, woman," Urien spat with the same intensity with which he had called her a rodent moments before. "You gave forgotten yourself. Forgotten your worth. Your place in the pecking order. I am your President. Your Lord and Commander. You will obey me. You will repent." Urien straightened out his spine and lumbered towards Kolin. With each passing step, more and more of his power seemed to return to him. He pointed towards the dirt. "On your knees. Your Emperor would not be pleased to hear of your insubordination, now would he?"
@Yun Lee @Lucky

"Of course, how can I forget?"Her pleasant words were filled with cold malice aimed at Mephisto. She was revolted by the power coursing through her but she was going to use it all the same. "A suggestion, you green fool," She responded to Zamasu. "Make yourself useful," Her mouth lit up with energy. "And kill the cripple on the throne."

A massive blast of energy erupted from her mouth aimed straight towards the three-headed dog in front of her. Tough love was some times the only way for someone to get their will through.

@Sark @Takumi @Crunch @Raynar Saassin

"I don't take orders from you, Mortal!" Zamasu snapped. He flexed his fingers and sent a burning ball of indigo light hurtling through the air towards Big Mother. The seconds crawled by, and as each one passed, the Kai's Fury grew. His face twitched and trembled. Silva leapted from his gritted teeth. "I don't take orders from any of you! Not anyone! I am Zamasu! I am Zamasu!"

As for Cerberus, the Beast seemed to be equally furious. Mother's blast had sent it recoiling for a moment or two, but it recovered quickly enough. It shook off the pain and began to charge towards its attacker.

6 rabid eyes locked into Big Mother. With a crack, Cerberus' centre head struck Mother's ribs and carrier her across the chamber. Whilst one head kept her pinned against a stone pillar, the Beast's other two heads closed in, ready and raring to maul.

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

 

[Yun Lee]

"My Emperor gave me direct orders to come to this council, and to represent our Society. Clearly he couldn't trust you. In fact he never bothered to mention you were here." She refused to back down, not now. The hope and light her Goddess had given her...it ignited a fire within, the same fire that had ignited long ago, for a nameless child in the snow. "I am not only chosen by him, but by the Goddess as well...though let me guess. You're one of those who is too close-minded to care about anything but your own opinions and disbelief? On the opposite spectrum from Zamasu, who is every bit as reprehensible."

Normally she would never, ever voice her distaste for Gill's brother in such a manner. But what could he do? Kill her? She had already experienced that once, and came close to it twice more this day alone. Death was no longer something she feared. Back home, he was the President. At the council, he was High Chancellor. But down here? He was just a man, a fool who was more concerned about his pride and superiority than the honor bestowed upon him by Gill to even be here in the first place. Even if he did rip her throat out after she'd finished talking, she was going to say her piece, and he was going to listen.

"You know, Zamasu offered to give me your place on the high council if I left you to die. Something I know you would've accepted in my place, but I refused. Do you know why? Because the will of our Society is more important than selfish pride. If you truly wish to wage war on another, I suggest doing so to the man who tried to leave you for dead. You would think that was a higher priority than some hurt feelings."

@Sark @Lucky​

 

[Takumi]

"You've grown far too big for your britches, woman," Urien spat with the same intensity with which he had called her a rodent moments before. "You gave forgotten yourself. Forgotten your worth. Your place in the pecking order. I am your President. Your Lord and Commander. You will obey me. You will repent." Urien straightened out his spine and lumbered towards Kolin. With each passing step, more and more of his power seemed to return to him. He pointed towards the dirt. "On your knees. Your Emperor would not be pleased to hear of your insubordination, now would he?"
@Yun Lee @Lucky

"I don't take orders from you, Mortal!" Zamasu snapped. He flexed his fingers and sent a burning ball of indigo light hurtling through the air towards Big Mother. The seconds crawled by, and as each one passed, the Kai's Fury grew. His face twitched and trembled. Silva leapted from his gritted teeth. "I don't take orders from any of you! Not anyone! I am Zamasu! I am Zamasu!"

As for Cerberus, the Beast seemed to be equally furious. Mother's blast had sent it recoiling for a moment or two, but it recovered quickly enough. It shook off the pain and began to charge towards its attacker.

6 rabid eyes locked into Big Mother. With a crack, Cerberus' centre head struck Mother's ribs and carrier her across the chamber. Whilst one head kept her pinned against a stone pillar, the Beast's other two heads closed in, ready and raring to maul.

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

Ashe had been silenced by Blackheart's response as if he had been struck, staring at the 'Lord' owlishly for a moment, before his brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to retort, only for his dog Ceberus to be siced on them.

It was a very ugly dog, but that wasn't important when it turned out to have three heads.

Ashe's hand shot out, the dark magic given to him and the others made his skin crawl as if having ants crawling under the surface. Casting Wind, he hoped to intercept Zamasu's strike before it got close to Big Mother and dispell it somehow.

@Sark @Jeremi @Raynar Saassin @Crunch

"Like Chaff before the wind." She spoke, clearly and calmly. Her powers weren't dampened anymore.

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and then a long cracking sound. Johanna held her arms up in front of her face, and twisted. The metal shackles snapped like cheap plastic, and fell to the ground. The air would hang silent for a second before the iron shackle hit the stone floor. It bounced, the clattering sound echoing through the room. Johanna’s wrists were unbound. Red scabs still shown where they had been, but her arms were now free.

“One can not bind light.” She said sternly. "Laws of Valor, strengthen me."

There would be a would be a flash of light, and people would gain strength.

@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi​

It was odd how in the end, they found Izana like they had planned to. Even if it everything wasn't going as planned since they were imprisoned.

Silque for a second, thought Xalek would try to bring harm to the other woman, and stood between them, her eyes narrowed at the Apprentice. The thought that he was ready to bring harm to someone who was bound made Silque disgusted, initially. Her head turned slightly, eyes landing on the other as she lended them some sort of strength.

She blinked, for a moment, and realized that things could get bad very quickly for all of those present.

She acted quickly, raising her hand she hoped to cast Nosferatu on the Sith Apprentice before he could decide to use his odd blade against them.

'I will not die here, not if I can protect those around me from unnecessary harm first and foremost!' She thought then, her will to protect the group strong and at the forefront of her mind.

@Sark @Minerva @Lucky @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Capri

 

[Jeremi]

"You've grown far too big for your britches, woman," Urien spat with the same intensity with which he had called her a rodent moments before. "You gave forgotten yourself. Forgotten your worth. Your place in the pecking order. I am your President. Your Lord and Commander. You will obey me. You will repent." Urien straightened out his spine and lumbered towards Kolin. With each passing step, more and more of his power seemed to return to him. He pointed towards the dirt. "On your knees. Your Emperor would not be pleased to hear of your insubordination, now would he?"
@Yun Lee @Lucky

"I don't take orders from you, Mortal!" Zamasu snapped. He flexed his fingers and sent a burning ball of indigo light hurtling through the air towards Big Mother. The seconds crawled by, and as each one passed, the Kai's Fury grew. His face twitched and trembled. Silva leapted from his gritted teeth. "I don't take orders from any of you! Not anyone! I am Zamasu! I am Zamasu!"

As for Cerberus, the Beast seemed to be equally furious. Mother's blast had sent it recoiling for a moment or two, but it recovered quickly enough. It shook off the pain and began to charge towards its attacker.

6 rabid eyes locked into Big Mother. With a crack, Cerberus' centre head struck Mother's ribs and carrier her across the chamber. Whilst one head kept her pinned against a stone pillar, the Beast's other two heads closed in, ready and raring to maul.

@Jeremi @Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

"Mortal?" Big Mother replied with some surprise towards the mohawked god. She was ready to respond before she fired off another blast from her mouth aimed at the orb to deflect it, but that's all the opening the guard dog of hell needed.

As she was shoved against the wall pinned by the jaws of the beast bit into her flesh drawing blood. It quickly however quickly found out that it had bit off more than it could chew as it's jaw extended as its prey started to grow. "Green men with god complexes. Rabid dogs and their timid masters. Do all think they can beat me? My legend lives in epics crafted by humanity. My name lost to time as to allow no control over me I believe it's about time..."

"I show you what type of mother I can be!" Big Mother had grown almost as big as the chamber the group found themselves in as she'd use her new size to her advantage and pry the jaws of Cerberus from the patch of flesh it was still clutching unto and flung it directly at Zamasu. She had been patience had run thin already and Zamasu's arrogance had sent her over the breaking point. Let the others worried about the cripple on the throne for the time being.

It was time to humble a God.​

@Sark@Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

 

[Crunch]

The utter chaos of it all. The booming claps of destruction and rapturous tears in the flesh of peace. Beauty like this shouldn't be contained in just a single, dank, decrepit throne room. Alas, one must make a compromise to ensure they do their part... in the name of Chaos.

An unsettling voice intruded upon the crippled demon's ear. It came to him as an insidious whisper, yet louder than the raucous chorus of destruction encased within the room. Before Blackheart could even begin to turn around, a cold metal fist suddenly seizes the old demon from behind, crushing his spindly blue throat. "But, I doubt you would know anything about compromise, Blackheart."

Eliphas the Inheritor lurched forward at the leisure provided to him, one hand lifting the cripple of his petty throne and the other dragging an Accursed Crozius along the ground as he walked out from behind the throne. The old cripple couldn't do much to escape the Chaos Lord's vice grip on his throat. A flex of his fist would have been enough to snap his neck like a twig. But Eliphas had no intention of giving Blackheart such an easy way out.

The feeling of power in his fingertips was all too difficult to contain. Arcs of purple lightning danced across the surface of Eliphas' power armor, the sensation of the Warp's embrace already filling him with renewed interest regarding this dispute. Gently leaning the Crozius against the side of the throne, Eliphas gripped the back of the demon's skull with his other hand and forcibly turned his head towards him. Blackheart had no choice but to gaze into the swirling orbs of energy glaring at him from behind the Word Bearer's horned helmet. The very sight of it would have made his head pound.

"Do you not see the beauty of it? The inevitability? All these words are thrown between mongrels and mutts that call themselves 'God,' claiming to impose Order upon their petty realms... but in the end, Chaos rules us all."

"... Ah, but now I remember... Cunber will not be able to fulfill his purpose," the helmet tilts to the side slightly. "Perhaps you are more deserving of his gift, Blackheart."

Eliphas glances down at Blackheart's throne. A murky grin unfolds behind his helmet. The Dark Apostle gingerly squeezes the so-called 'kings' throat as he lowers himself upon his throne. Eliphas briefly released his grasp upon the Demon King's throat, only to lift his boot and slam it back down on the creature's blue back, forcing him into the stone floor and keeping his head in place.

"Come, let us indulge in some entertainment. I've been working far too hard recently." Eliphas said as he leaned back in the comfortable seating of Blackheart's throne, drumming metal fingers along the armrests as he intently watched Big Mother's battle like it was live theater.

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

​

 

[Sark]

"My Emperor gave me direct orders to come to this council, and to represent our Society. Clearly he couldn't trust you. In fact he never bothered to mention you were here." She refused to back down, not now. The hope and light her Goddess had given her...it ignited a fire within, the same fire that had ignited long ago, for a nameless child in the snow. "I am not only chosen by him, but by the Goddess as well...though let me guess. You're one of those who is too close-minded to care about anything but your own opinions and disbelief? On the opposite spectrum from Zamasu, who is every bit as reprehensible."

"The Goddess?" A bellowing laugh erupted from deep inside Urien's chest. "You can call me close-minded all you like, but at least I am certain in my beliefs. No-one can serve two Masters, girl. I never thought I'd see the day that my brother's favorite pawn would hold that damn witch in the same reverence as him. Lines are already being drawn in the sand. Sooner or later, you're going to have to pick a side. Tell me. Will you side with the Society? Or against it? What I wouldn't give to see the look on my brother's face should you stab him in the back..."

"You know, Zamasu offered to give me your place on the high council if I left you to die. Something I know you would've accepted in my place, but I refused. Do you know why? Because the will of our Society is more important than selfish pride. If you truly wish to wage war on another, I suggest doing so to the man who tried to leave you for dead. You would think that was a higher priority than some hurt feelings."

@Sark @Lucky

Urien's demeanor shifted. His breathed heavily. Slowly. Like an old piece of machinery slowly grinding to life. His face shifted between expressions of fury and ecstasy again and again. He locked his jaw and ground his teeth against one and other. His lips twisted into a grin. His sprayed saliva from his bared teeth.

"You should have accepted his 'offer'. You'd have done well in my shoes. You're driven. Stubborn. Cold." He spat. "Let's not mince our words. You and I are birds of a feather. You're every bit as cruel as I. If it meant furthering my cause, I'd stab you in the back in a heart beat. If my brother let you off your leash, you'd no doubt do the same. You'd scurry back to his side with a prize between your teeth like a good little dog."
View attachment 4965
"I'd fear you, if you were more than an extension of his will. You refused to submit to me. Refused to obey your President. But I shall forgive your blasphemy. There are bigger fish to fry." He wouldn't admit that she was right. He couldn't give her that satisfaction. He wouldn't. "I'm going to kill Zamasu, with or without you. I am going to march into that fortress and remove his head from his shoulders. I will crush him beneath my foot, and I'll do so with or without your help."

Urien tore what remained of his shirt from his back and cracked his neck. Thunder cracked across his chest. He raised one fist towards the roof of the chamber. He steadied it with his free hand.

"TEMPORAL THUNDER!"

His power surged forth. A cracking orb of pure lighting shattered the steal canopy like glass. The rays of Hell's 'Sun' poured into the chamber. Tiny shards of steel pitter-pattered around the Chosen like droplets of hail.

"Speak to me like that again, woman, and I will make you pray for death."

@Yun Lee @Lucky

Ashe had been silenced by Blackheart's response as if he had been struck, staring at the 'Lord' owlishly for a moment, before his brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to retort, only for his dog Ceberus to be siced on them.

It was a very ugly dog, but that wasn't important when it turned out to have three heads.

Ashe's hand shot out, the dark magic given to him and the others made his skin crawl as if having ants crawling under the surface. Casting Wind, he hoped to intercept Zamasu's strike before it got close to Big Mother and dispell it somehow.

Ashe's wind caught Zamasu' Heavenly Arrow Blast. For a moment or two, the ki ball battle against the push of the boy's attack. In the face of the wind, it trembled and danced.

"You dare?" Zamasu snapped, reinforcing his ki ball his another wave of energy. His beam struggled against Ashe's spell. "You dare to oppose the Great Zamasu?"
​

"I show you what type of mother I can be!" Big Mother had grown almost as big as the chamber the group found themselves in as she'd use her new size to her advantage and pry the jaws of Cerberus from the patch of flesh it was still clutching unto and flung it directly at Zamasu. She had been patience had run thin already and Zamasu's arrogance had sent her over the breaking point. Let the others worried about the cripple on the throne for the time being.

It was time to humble a God.​

@Sark@Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin

"Insolent creature!" Zamasu snapped. He flicked his wrist and focused his ki into a single location, his wrist. His will tightened the raw energy into a tangible scythe, which switch carved a path through Cerberus' body. The creature was down a jaw and would have likely broken a leg or two after it struck one of the stone pillars that littered the hall. The Kai didn't have any reservations when it came to putting the creature down. The two halves of the three headed dog skidded across the tiles to the side of him.

"Do you really think I fear a creature from the fairy tales of humans? The foul creatures have spent their pitiful existence jumping at their own shadows! Their stories mean nothing to me!"

Zamasu released a groan of exertion. He closed his fist and detonated the ki ball that Ashe had intercepted. The blast was enough to send Ashe skidding back across the dirt. But Mother? A creature of her size would have felt little more than a breeze on her skin.

For a moment, Zamasu hesitated. His fingers twitched. Repelling a creature such as Mother would require something more. It would require a greater power. It would require--​

"Come, let us indulge in some entertainment. I've been working far too hard recently." Eliphas said as he leaned back in the comfortable seating of Blackheart's throne, drumming metal fingers along the armrests as he intently watched Big Mother's battle like it was live theater.
​

Eliphas had closed Blackheart's throat. He could say little in response to his taunting and tormenting. He could only twitch and beg, futility clawing at the Inheritor's great fist. Eliphas' crushing blow had made it hard to tell where Blackheart's tattered body ended and the shattered concrete began. Yet, in the face of unimaginable pain and the crushing dread of death, Eliphas could hear the crippled creature weakly... laughing?

"Fool... I have seen the beauty of chaos... and I have gotten drunk on the wine of madness... but never before have I seen a fool such as you..." The creature's stomach heaved, he gagged and coughed again. He wheezed his final words through shattered teeth. "The throne of Hell is a burden... I burden that corrupted me... and my father before me... and my father before him. The temptation of the throne drove my father to cruel things. To wear my face. To attack the Citadel. To lure you here. To weaken you, and kill me... All for the throne..." His left hand reached out towards Eliphas' boot. "My infernal, right handed father... Though his burden is yours now, isn't? Feel the corruption wash over you. Feel it flow through you. Feel it twist your mind. Shatter your soul into a thousand shards and bury those shards in your skin... It's a burden no mortal can carry... feel it kill you... feel it kill you..."
View attachment 4967
"I will pass on happy... knowing that whatever torment awaits be beyond death... you will soon suffer it by my side..."

With a final, desperate gasp, Blackheart, the Cripple King, left the eternal plane.

A tower of dark thunder fell from the sky. It shattered the roof of the tower. The bolt struck Eliphas' heart. It felt as if he had been turned inside out, twisted around, broken apart and then reassembled. The painful cycle occurred a thousand times a moment. It was maddening. Hard to breathe. Hard to think. His dark soul was being blackened further. Scorched. Burned with dark fire.

View attachment 4968

"No..." Zamasu whispered to himself. "No... it's not his right..."

The dark-light that struck Eliphas grew brighter by the moment. It's glow scarred the remnants of the royal chamber. To stare into the light was to stare into the heart of Hell itself. The visions one would see would be enough to drive one mad.

The kai found himself at a crossroad. He bared his teeth and picked a side.

"Shield your eyes! The power that flows through the Inheritor is too much for any man to bear! The soul-fire will eradicate him, mind, body and soul. The flood gates have been opened. The power of his realm has been unleashed."

"Only I can contain it! I am the Supreme Kai! I am a divine being! If you want your ally to live, you must let me claim the throne! I swear to the Light of Absolution to release you all from this realm so long as you lower your weapons and surrender your claim to the power of this realm!"

Zamasu slowly placed his scythe on the ground and stepped back towards the throne.

"It's me or Mephisto. Pick your poison."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Crunch​

 

[Sark]

“Thank you, sir,” Roman said to the man, “There’s two others, Kolin and Beaudette, but they’ve got the Urien man.”

Anyone who knew Roman would see it, he’s changed. He’s a different man than the nervous wreck who just barely survived the ship.​

The Battlefield
The moment Hearts left the realm, the face of the battlefield transformed. Kamin and Oren, who had been doing everything within their power to slow the mutated Cunber, vanished in a flash of light. The Droid ships vanished from the skies. The anti-air canons faded away. The Sith traitors and masked troops disappeared.

One minute the Fellowship had been locked in a stalemate against a mighty, advanced army. The next, the fighting the war Luthor had promised them. Their men were carving through a fleeting fighting force of thing, pale demons.

"What the Hell happened...?" A solider muttered. He removed his helmet stared up crumbling towers of Blackheart's fortress.

"The Fat Lady just sung..." Luthor grinned. "Keep pushing on."

***
"I'll worry about then," Azrael nodded. "You need to leave. Go! Go!"
***
A clear path through the madness had been carved. Roman and Kuro's journey to the fort was quiet. Almost to quiet. Perhaps they would grow to miss the noise. Where there had been screaming, there had been life. Now, silence stalked the battlefield. Everything was still. Dead.

The pair soared past the beaten bodies of the soldiers the soldiers they had sent off to the war. Their faces were smooth. Their eyes were wide and glassy. These men- these children- could have been so much more. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Big Mother had promised them a morale boost. The Fellowship had promised them purpose. White lies.

Some had fallen before they had a chance to draw their weapons.

But they were with their Goddess now. Knowing that didn't make the sight of their scared, desperate faces any easier to bare.

Their journey was short in distance, but each moment seemed to linger on for far too long. By the time they reached the walls of the fortress, the Fellowship's main fighting force had already broken down its main wall. Or maybe the mutated Cunber had been responsible for the carnage? It was hard to say.

A wall of solider help the line, unleashing round after round into the chests of the defending demons. At the heart of the battle, a young soldier stood upon a pile of fallen stones. She waved the flag of the Goddess proudly. The sight of the emerald sheet was enough to inspire her brothers in arms. It served as a reminder as to what they had been fighting for. What they had been dying for.

A beam of light leaped from one of the demon's mouths. It pierced the girl's chest. All her armor? It made no distance. She remained standing for a moment. The flag slipped from her fingers. She fell back into its embrace, staining its green silk red. Another solder rushed to her side. He removed the flag from beneath her and raised it above his head. He remained frozen in fear for a moment or two. Bullets whizzed overhead. The earth shook. He swallowed hard as sung a silent prayer. He raised his sister's flag and took to her post. His tears in his eyes, he continued what she started. He waved it with pride, his eyes wet with tears. His body fell beside hers a moment later.

"Hold the line!" Luthor roared. "For the Goddess! Hold the line!"

Luthor's attack drew the fighting away from a nearby stairwell. The Goddess had filled Roman and Kuro with a new instinct. It guided them towards the stairs and upwards towards Izana's cell.

@York @Capri​

She acted quickly, raising her hand she hoped to cast Nosferatu on the Sith Apprentice before he could decide to use his odd blade against them.

'I will not die here, not if I can protect those around me from unnecessary harm first and foremost!' She thought then, her will to protect the group strong and at the forefront of her mind.

@Sark @Minerva @Lucky @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Capri

As the darkness of Silque's spell swarmed Xalek, he drew his arms inward. He searched his feeling. He pushed his anger aside. He wouldn't let it blind him. He reached deep into his soul. He reached for his hatred. His loathing. The loathing he felt for his master. For Nox. For those who did his bidding. He took a hammer to his hate. Like a blacksmith, he struck it. He let it harden like tempered steel, and molded it into a weapon.

His hatred called out to the force. He commanded it. He shaped in into a dark, crackling shield. His dark thunder surged forth, parting the clouds of nosferatu. The lighting continued to burn through the air until they struck Silque square in the chest, throwing her back into one of the cell doors. Izana rushed to her side. He reached out through the bars of his cell and planted his hand on her shoulder. She felt her burns fade and her bruises lighten.

"Please, please, please, please..." He muttered. "Up, up, up, up..."
​

"Like Chaff before the wind." She spoke, clearly and calmly. Her powers weren't dampened anymore.

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and then a long cracking sound. Johanna held her arms up in front of her face, and twisted. The metal shackles snapped like cheap plastic, and fell to the ground. The air would hang silent for a second before the iron shackle hit the stone floor. It bounced, the clattering sound echoing through the room. Johanna’s wrists were unbound. Red scabs still shown where they had been, but her arms were now free.

“One can not bind light.” She said sternly. "Laws of Valor, strengthen me."

There would be a would be a flash of light, and people would gain strength.

@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi​

Xalek's lightsaber ignited in a flash of purple. He reached out with the force and let his weapon sit in the air before him.

"I should have choked you weeks ago..." Xalek spat against his marrow mask. "Still... I can make up for the mistake of my mercy..."

His blade started to spin. It span faster and faster with each subtle gesture from the Sith's hand. His blade transformed into a shimmering, whizzing wheel of light. Xalek slowly walked towards his prisoners, his razor-wheel closing in on them.

"Go on. Pray to your Goddess."

@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi @Minerva @York​

 

[Crunch]

"The Goddess?" A bellowing laugh erupted from deep inside Urien's chest. "You can call me close-minded all you like, but at least I am certain in my beliefs. No-one can serve two Masters, girl. I never thought I'd see the day that my brother's favorite pawn would hold that damn witch in the same reverence as him. Lines are already being drawn in the sand. Sooner or later, you're going to have to pick a side. Tell me. Will you side with the Society? Or against it? What I wouldn't give to see the look on my brother's face should you stab him in the back..."

Urien's demeanor shifted. His breathed heavily. Slowly. Like an old piece of machinery slowly grinding to life. His face shifted between expressions of fury and ecstasy again and again. He locked his jaw and ground his teeth against one and other. His lips twisted into a grin. His sprayed saliva from his bared teeth.

"You should have accepted his 'offer'. You'd have done well in my shoes. You're driven. Stubborn. Cold." He spat. "Let's not mince our words. You and I are birds of a feather. You're every bit as cruel as I. If it meant furthering my cause, I'd stab you in the back in a heart beat. If my brother let you off your leash, you'd no doubt do the same. You'd scurry back to his side with a prize between your teeth like a good little dog."
View attachment 4965
"I'd fear you, if you were more than an extension of his will. You refused to submit to me. Refused to obey your President. But I shall forgive your blasphemy. There are bigger fish to fry." He wouldn't admit that she was right. He couldn't give her that satisfaction. He wouldn't. "I'm going to kill Zamasu, with or without you. I am going to march into that fortress and remove his head from his shoulders. I will crush him beneath my foot, and I'll do so with or without your help."

Urien tore what remained of his shirt from his back and cracked his neck. Thunder cracked across his chest. He raised one fist towards the roof of the chamber. He steadied it with his free hand.

"TEMPORAL THUNDER!"

His power surged forth. A cracking orb of pure lighting shattered the steal canopy like glass. The rays of Hell's 'Sun' poured into the chamber. Tiny shards of steel pitter-pattered around the Chosen like droplets of hail.

"Speak to me like that again, woman, and I will make you pray for death."

@Yun Lee @Lucky

Ashe's wind caught Zamasu' Heavenly Arrow Blast. For a moment or two, the ki ball battle against the push of the boy's attack. In the face of the wind, it trembled and danced.

"You dare?" Zamasu snapped, reinforcing his ki ball his another wave of energy. His beam struggled against Ashe's spell. "You dare to oppose the Great Zamasu?"


"Insolent creature!" Zamasu snapped. He flicked his wrist and focused his ki into a single location, his wrist. His will tightened the raw energy into a tangible scythe, which switch carved a path through Cerberus' body. The creature was down a jaw and would have likely broken a leg or two after it struck one of the stone pillars that littered the hall. The Kai didn't have any reservations when it came to putting the creature down. The two halves of the three headed dog skidded across the tiles to the side of him.

"Do you really think I fear a creature from the fairy tales of humans? The foul creatures have spent their pitiful existence jumping at their own shadows! Their stories mean nothing to me!"

Zamasu released a groan of exertion. He closed his fist and detonated the ki ball that Ashe had intercepted. The blast was enough to send Ashe skidding back across the dirt. But Mother? A creature of her size would have felt little more than a breeze on her skin.

For a moment, Zamasu hesitated. His fingers twitched. Repelling a creature such as Mother would require something more. It would require a greater power. It would require--


Eliphas had closed Blackheart's throat. He could say little in response to his taunting and tormenting. He could only twitch and beg, futility clawing at the Inheritor's great fist. Eliphas' crushing blow had made it hard to tell where Blackheart's tattered body ended and the shattered concrete began. Yet, in the face of unimaginable pain and the crushing dread of death, Eliphas could hear the crippled creature weakly... laughing?

"Fool... I have seen the beauty of chaos... and I have gotten drunk on the wine of madness... but never before have I seen a fool such as you..." The creature's stomach heaved, he gagged and coughed again. He wheezed his final words through shattered teeth. "The throne of Hell is a burden... I burden that corrupted me... and my father before me... and my father before him. The temptation of the throne drove my father to cruel things. To wear my face. To attack the Citadel. To lure you here. To weaken you, and kill me... All for the throne..." His left hand reached out towards Eliphas' boot. "My infernal, right handed father... Though his burden is yours now, isn't? Feel the corruption wash over you. Feel it flow through you. Feel it twist your mind. Shatter your soul into a thousand shards and bury those shards in your skin... It's a burden no mortal can carry... feel it kill you... feel it kill you..."
View attachment 4967
"I will pass on happy... knowing that whatever torment awaits be beyond death... you will soon suffer it by my side..."

With a final, desperate gasp, Blackheart, the Cripple King, left the eternal plane.

A tower of dark thunder fell from the sky. It shattered the roof of the tower. The bolt struck Eliphas' heart. It felt as if he had been turned inside out, twisted around, broken apart and then reassembled. The painful cycle occurred a thousand times a moment. It was maddening. Hard to breathe. Hard to think. His dark soul was being blackened further. Scorched. Burned with dark fire.

View attachment 4968

"No..." Zamasu whispered to himself. "No... it's not his right..."

The dark-light that struck Eliphas grew brighter by the moment. It's glow scarred the remnants of the royal chamber. To stare into the light was to stare into the heart of Hell itself. The visions one would see would be enough to drive one mad.

The kai found himself at a crossroad. He bared his teeth and picked a side.

"Shield your eyes! The power that flows through the Inheritor is too much for any man to bear! The soul-fire will eradicate him, mind, body and soul. The flood gates have been opened. The power of his realm has been unleashed."

"Only I can contain it! I am the Supreme Kai! I am a divine being! If you want your ally to live, you must let me claim the throne! I swear to the Light of Absolution to release you all from this realm so long as you lower your weapons and surrender your claim to the power of this realm!"

Zamasu slowly placed his scythe on the ground and stepped back towards the throne.

"It's me or Mephisto. Pick your poison."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Crunch​

The Inheritor watched the mongrel demon die in the agony he deserved, seedy laughter echoing from his scarlet-spattered helm. Blackheart's words might have carried weight with a true mortal, but Eliphas the Inheritor was no such entity. Let none say that the Dark Apostle is without honor or mercy, as he allowed the old cripple to croak out his cautionary tale before he met his end. It was a pity that he couldn't put up a fight worthy of the Blood God's attention, but even now, the whispers of compromise called from the back of the Inheritor's skull.

Now, he honors the Architect of Fate, for the great game shifts in His favor. Now, the next phase begins.

The lightning bolt struck Eliphas at center mass. The Inheritor's armored body suddenly began to writhe upon Hell's Throne as a chorus of grunts, and shrill hyena-like laughter sputtered from his lips. The heat building in his muscles reached the boiling point of stinging, searing pain as if his organs had burst, regenerated, then exploded again - a looping, neverending cycle of torment that brought Eliphas the Inheritor low. His gauntlets dug into the side of the throne's armrests and crushed the stone inward like tissue paper.

And yet he did not leave the throne.

Eliphas threw his head back in maddening ecstasy, barely managing to silence his sputtering only to let out an explosion of howling laughter. Streaks of amaranthine energy surged across the surface of Eliphas' armor like bolts of lightning in the night sky, slamming into the ground and sending chunks of concrete flying from the ground around him. Warping inwards on himself, his crimson shell began to tear itself apart in the roiling storm of energy surrounding the Inheritor's throne.

Eliphas was able to see genuinely for the first time in forever. His gaze fell upon Zamasu, who was now standing before him.

"... Hm."

He lifts a crimson palm off the armest and uncurls it in Zamasu's direction.

"No, I think not."

A swarm of roiling energy bolts skyrocketed from Eliphas' hand. Faster than the kai could think, the Doombolts sent him hurtling towards the back wall like a ragdoll, shaking the foundations of the room as he slammed against the concrete. It wasn't enough to kill the so-called 'God,' but it would've shut that green fool up for a moment.

A cynical, rapturous laugh echoed from Eliphas, which quickly degenerated into stumbling coughs and grunts.

"... As if that green fool wouldn't have betrayed you all the moment he got the throne," Eliphas sputtered weakly, his palm shaking from the painful psychic attack. "B-but... he speaks truthfully... such power is beyond even my control... even now, I-I feel the Warp overtaking me..."

"It is a good pain. B-but - nngh - not one can suffer for long."

He laughed again. Eliphas' gaze was now falling upon Big Mother. The symbiote had already proved herself capable of harnessing such power for her benefit. Yet another pity that she isn't willing to accept the Chaos Gods within her alien heart. But there was no other organism in Hell more deserving of this rapturous taste. It would be merely rude of Eliphas to deny her this snack.

The Inheritor's palm reached further out, now turning downward, as he offered his hand to the creature.

"Hmhmhmhm. I recall that you have a debt to settle, dearest Mother... please, have a taste of this power."

A grime-filled smile uncurls behind his helmet.

"I insist."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Sark


​

 

[Jeremi]

"The Goddess?" A bellowing laugh erupted from deep inside Urien's chest. "You can call me close-minded all you like, but at least I am certain in my beliefs. No-one can serve two Masters, girl. I never thought I'd see the day that my brother's favorite pawn would hold that damn witch in the same reverence as him. Lines are already being drawn in the sand. Sooner or later, you're going to have to pick a side. Tell me. Will you side with the Society? Or against it? What I wouldn't give to see the look on my brother's face should you stab him in the back..."

Urien's demeanor shifted. His breathed heavily. Slowly. Like an old piece of machinery slowly grinding to life. His face shifted between expressions of fury and ecstasy again and again. He locked his jaw and ground his teeth against one and other. His lips twisted into a grin. His sprayed saliva from his bared teeth.

"You should have accepted his 'offer'. You'd have done well in my shoes. You're driven. Stubborn. Cold." He spat. "Let's not mince our words. You and I are birds of a feather. You're every bit as cruel as I. If it meant furthering my cause, I'd stab you in the back in a heart beat. If my brother let you off your leash, you'd no doubt do the same. You'd scurry back to his side with a prize between your teeth like a good little dog."
View attachment 4965
"I'd fear you, if you were more than an extension of his will. You refused to submit to me. Refused to obey your President. But I shall forgive your blasphemy. There are bigger fish to fry." He wouldn't admit that she was right. He couldn't give her that satisfaction. He wouldn't. "I'm going to kill Zamasu, with or without you. I am going to march into that fortress and remove his head from his shoulders. I will crush him beneath my foot, and I'll do so with or without your help."

Urien tore what remained of his shirt from his back and cracked his neck. Thunder cracked across his chest. He raised one fist towards the roof of the chamber. He steadied it with his free hand.

"TEMPORAL THUNDER!"

His power surged forth. A cracking orb of pure lighting shattered the steal canopy like glass. The rays of Hell's 'Sun' poured into the chamber. Tiny shards of steel pitter-pattered around the Chosen like droplets of hail.

"Speak to me like that again, woman, and I will make you pray for death."

@Yun Lee @Lucky

Ashe's wind caught Zamasu' Heavenly Arrow Blast. For a moment or two, the ki ball battle against the push of the boy's attack. In the face of the wind, it trembled and danced.

"You dare?" Zamasu snapped, reinforcing his ki ball his another wave of energy. His beam struggled against Ashe's spell. "You dare to oppose the Great Zamasu?"


"Insolent creature!" Zamasu snapped. He flicked his wrist and focused his ki into a single location, his wrist. His will tightened the raw energy into a tangible scythe, which switch carved a path through Cerberus' body. The creature was down a jaw and would have likely broken a leg or two after it struck one of the stone pillars that littered the hall. The Kai didn't have any reservations when it came to putting the creature down. The two halves of the three headed dog skidded across the tiles to the side of him.

"Do you really think I fear a creature from the fairy tales of humans? The foul creatures have spent their pitiful existence jumping at their own shadows! Their stories mean nothing to me!"

Zamasu released a groan of exertion. He closed his fist and detonated the ki ball that Ashe had intercepted. The blast was enough to send Ashe skidding back across the dirt. But Mother? A creature of her size would have felt little more than a breeze on her skin.

For a moment, Zamasu hesitated. His fingers twitched. Repelling a creature such as Mother would require something more. It would require a greater power. It would require--


Eliphas had closed Blackheart's throat. He could say little in response to his taunting and tormenting. He could only twitch and beg, futility clawing at the Inheritor's great fist. Eliphas' crushing blow had made it hard to tell where Blackheart's tattered body ended and the shattered concrete began. Yet, in the face of unimaginable pain and the crushing dread of death, Eliphas could hear the crippled creature weakly... laughing?

"Fool... I have seen the beauty of chaos... and I have gotten drunk on the wine of madness... but never before have I seen a fool such as you..." The creature's stomach heaved, he gagged and coughed again. He wheezed his final words through shattered teeth. "The throne of Hell is a burden... I burden that corrupted me... and my father before me... and my father before him. The temptation of the throne drove my father to cruel things. To wear my face. To attack the Citadel. To lure you here. To weaken you, and kill me... All for the throne..." His left hand reached out towards Eliphas' boot. "My infernal, right handed father... Though his burden is yours now, isn't? Feel the corruption wash over you. Feel it flow through you. Feel it twist your mind. Shatter your soul into a thousand shards and bury those shards in your skin... It's a burden no mortal can carry... feel it kill you... feel it kill you..."
View attachment 4967
"I will pass on happy... knowing that whatever torment awaits be beyond death... you will soon suffer it by my side..."

With a final, desperate gasp, Blackheart, the Cripple King, left the eternal plane.

A tower of dark thunder fell from the sky. It shattered the roof of the tower. The bolt struck Eliphas' heart. It felt as if he had been turned inside out, twisted around, broken apart and then reassembled. The painful cycle occurred a thousand times a moment. It was maddening. Hard to breathe. Hard to think. His dark soul was being blackened further. Scorched. Burned with dark fire.

View attachment 4968

"No..." Zamasu whispered to himself. "No... it's not his right..."

The dark-light that struck Eliphas grew brighter by the moment. It's glow scarred the remnants of the royal chamber. To stare into the light was to stare into the heart of Hell itself. The visions one would see would be enough to drive one mad.

The kai found himself at a crossroad. He bared his teeth and picked a side.

"Shield your eyes! The power that flows through the Inheritor is too much for any man to bear! The soul-fire will eradicate him, mind, body and soul. The flood gates have been opened. The power of his realm has been unleashed."

"Only I can contain it! I am the Supreme Kai! I am a divine being! If you want your ally to live, you must let me claim the throne! I swear to the Light of Absolution to release you all from this realm so long as you lower your weapons and surrender your claim to the power of this realm!"

Zamasu slowly placed his scythe on the ground and stepped back towards the throne.

"It's me or Mephisto. Pick your poison."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Crunch​

It felt good seeing the green god get flung back. Zamasu's attack had left a mark on the demoness. Flesh and sinew were showing through the attack that had hit her, but she was healing. Slowly. Her size had come back to about seven feet tall.

Mephisto wasn't going to get the last laugh, and the green gremlin even less so. And so with confident steps, she started to make her way towards the throne.

The Inheritor watched the mongrel demon die in the agony he deserved, seedy laughter echoing from his scarlet-spattered helm. Blackheart's words might have carried weight with a true mortal, but Eliphas the Inheritor was no such entity. Let none say that the Dark Apostle is without honor or mercy, as he allowed the old cripple to croak out his cautionary tale before he met his end. It was a pity that he couldn't put up a fight worthy of the Blood God's attention, but even now, the whispers of compromise called from the back of the Inheritor's skull.

Now, he honors the Architect of Fate, for the great game shifts in His favor. Now, the next phase begins.

The lightning bolt struck Eliphas at center mass. The Inheritor's armored body suddenly began to writhe upon Hell's Throne as a chorus of grunts, and shrill hyena-like laughter sputtered from his lips. The heat building in his muscles reached the boiling point of stinging, searing pain as if his organs had burst, regenerated, then exploded again - a looping, neverending cycle of torment that brought Eliphas the Inheritor low. His gauntlets dug into the side of the throne's armrests and crushed the stone inward like tissue paper.

And yet he did not leave the throne.

Eliphas threw his head back in maddening ecstasy, barely managing to silence his sputtering only to let out an explosion of howling laughter. Streaks of amaranthine energy surged across the surface of Eliphas' armor like bolts of lightning in the night sky, slamming into the ground and sending chunks of concrete flying from the ground around him. Warping inwards on himself, his crimson shell began to tear itself apart in the roiling storm of energy surrounding the Inheritor's throne.

Eliphas was able to see genuinely for the first time in forever. His gaze fell upon Zamasu, who was now standing before him.

"... Hm."

He lifts a crimson palm off the armest and uncurls it in Zamasu's direction.

"No, I think not."

A swarm of roiling energy bolts skyrocketed from Eliphas' hand. Faster than the kai could think, the Doombolts sent him hurtling towards the back wall like a ragdoll, shaking the foundations of the room as he slammed against the concrete. It wasn't enough to kill the so-called 'God,' but it would've shut that green fool up for a moment.

A cynical, rapturous laugh echoed from Eliphas, which quickly degenerated into stumbling coughs and grunts.

"... As if that green fool wouldn't have betrayed you all the moment he got the throne," Eliphas sputtered weakly, his palm shaking from the painful psychic attack. "B-but... he speaks truthfully... such power is beyond even my control... even now, I-I feel the Warp overtaking me..."

"It is a good pain. B-but - nngh - not one can suffer for long."

He laughed again. Eliphas' gaze was now falling upon Big Mother. The symbiote had already proved herself capable of harnessing such power for her benefit. Yet another pity that she isn't willing to accept the Chaos Gods within her alien heart. But there was no other organism in Hell more deserving of this rapturous taste. It would be merely rude of Eliphas to deny her this snack.

The Inheritor's palm reached further out, now turning downward, as he offered his hand to the creature.

"Hmhmhmhm. I recall that you have a debt to settle, dearest Mother... please, have a taste of this power."

A grime-filled smile uncurls behind his helmet.

"I insist."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Sark


​

A vicious grin crept up on her face as she extended her arm towards the Inheritor. "I look forward to see," She clutched unto his hand tight. "What you will do with the place." The power of hell started to flow into her and she knew what to do. This was all Mephisto's game, he had held all the cards and even as it was eventually he would sit on this throne. But when he would Big Mother that the domain would be an empty one. "I release all souls from this domain. All debts have been paid in full." She uttered looking at Eliphas. With a tug, their position could be switched. He was only a zealot in armor after all and she was so much more. Instead...

Big Mother let go of his hand. She had done what she had set out to do. Screw over Mephisto, and she had done just that. Instead, her focus went back to Zamasu. If he planned to do anything she'd keep him occupied for as long as she could to let Eliphas do what he was going to.

@Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Sark

 

[Crunch]

It felt good seeing the green god get flung back. Zamasu's attack had left a mark on the demoness. Flesh and sinew were showing through the attack that had hit her, but she was healing. Slowly. Her size had come back to about seven feet tall.

Mephisto wasn't going to get the last laugh, and the green gremlin even less so. And so with confident steps, she started to make her way towards the throne.

A vicious grin crept up on her face as she extended her arm towards the Inheritor. "I look forward to see," She clutched unto his hand tight. "What you will do with the place." The power of hell started to flow into her and she knew what to do. This was all Mephisto's game, he had held all the cards and even as it was eventually he would sit on this throne. But when he would Big Mother that the domain would be an empty one. "I release all souls from this domain. All debts have been paid in full." She uttered looking at Eliphas. With a tug, their position could be switched. He was only a zealot in armor after all and she was so much more. Instead...

Big Mother let go of his hand. She had done what she had set out to do. Screw over Mephisto, and she had done just that. Instead, her focus went back to Zamasu. If he planned to do anything she'd keep him occupied for as long as she could to let Eliphas do what he was going to.

@Crunch @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Sark

The Throne Room

... GIVE IN TO THAT VOICE THAT CALLS IN THE BLACK OF NIGHT...

...GIVE IN TO THE CLAWS SCRATCHING AT THE CORNERS OF YOUR MIND...

...ABSOLVE YOURSELF OF THE LIMITS THEY HAVE PUT UPON YOU ...​

YOU ARE AN ANIMAL

YOU ARE A MONSTER

YOU ARE CHAOS

And as with all things, it continues in war.

Eliphas smiled. He could not stop smiling as he could feel the weight of a thousand souls lift off the back of his mind. Even in his state as the Inheritor of Blackheart's Throne, Mephisto's spell had effected him just as it did the rest of the chosen. That was cause enough for the Dark Apostle to see the dearest Mother undo his works. But there was no time to celebrate and mock. Now, there was no time at all.

View attachment 4975

"Thank you, dearest Mother. May the Four bless you in your endeavors."

"But truthfully... you should have believed me from the start. You all should have listened to my words, dearest children. Perhaps, then, you would've been spared this nonsense war between the whore-Goddess and Blackheart's mutts."

Eliphas' voice changed. The supposed 'strain' from containing the throne's power vanished. It took a more joyous, enraptured tone, as he forced his hands against the side of the concrete seat and slowly rose to a stand. The Inheritor's from towered over the Chosen in the room as he turned his gaze down towards them.

The storm of empyrean power swirling around Eliphas exploded to a billowing tornado of energy that slowly crept towards the ceiling above him. He wrapped a hand around the Crozius' handle, dragging it in front of himself and planting the eight-pointed star into the concrete before his feet. Insidious whispers filled the air, and nonsensical words peeled back the layer of the Chosen's minds, filling their minds with maddening truths if they didn't plug their ears.

Even if they did so, however, Eliphas' voice echoed in their mind.

In everyone's mind, no matter where they were.

"Every action you take... every emotion you feel... it is just a fragment of Chaos yearning to be released from the prison of Order imposed upon you all. You all claim to act within their own interests... dreams and ambitions motivated by your heart... but look upon your works and ask yourself if what you're told you want is what you truly desire. The answer? No, I think not."

The Apostle raises his hands to the air, head tilting back to the sky. "You yearn for Chaos."

The swirling tornado of Warp energy pushes against the top of the ceiling, buckling the ancient stone upward before shattering it entirely. Those standing outside of Blackheart's fortress bears witness to faint streaks of indigo light beginning to streak across Hell's burnished skyline. The faint lights hadn't done anything but fill the sky with their dark markings. Someone, somewhere, was doing something - and the streaks were originating from Blackheart's fortress.

Suddenly, pieces of thin air began to split open, and arcs of warp lightning slammed into the black, ashy ground of Hell, obliterating those pitiful souls that happened to be standing nearby, leaving smoking craters in their wake. As the ground had begun to buckle and shudder beneath the weight of some unknowable force, structures began to slowly rise from these craters - icons fashioned from solid black stone and metal, depicting an eight-pointed star of Chaos.

View attachment 4976

"You hear the voices too, don't you? The song that calls from the black of the night? The claws that scratch at the corners of your mind? You surely can't deny it any longer, my brothers and sisters. You've been lied to. The Goddess has lied to you. Blackheart has lied to you. They led you here to die. You just number in this pathetic war, aren't you? Soldiers to be added to the casualty."

Eliphas the Inheritor lowered his head, slowly stepping forward off the throne platform. His crimson cape billowed behind him with every shuddering step he took. Something behind him began to occur - a transformation. Blackheart's former throne began to twist inward like a living thing. The stone took on a skin-like color and quivered. It began to breathe and twitch, and shudder.

"But now... you have nothing to fear. I can offer you all an escape. You were never meant to be caught in the crossfire, after all."

A red, organic substance crept off Eliphas' footsteps, spreading along the floor and walls. The entire room shuddered and began to gently melt inwards like clay, deforming into shapes determined by the sharp bony spines that shot out from seemingly random parts of the room. Parts of the fleshy wall quivered and then split open to unblinking, fetid eyeballs.

Twisting inwards like meat, an icon etched itself into the floor beneath Eliphas' feet. It softly glowed in a clouded yellow light.

View attachment 4970

Eliphas looked upon the icon as he spoke. "This war has grown far too large for Them to ignore. Fly too close to the sun, and you learn to fear that which lurks in the darkness left behind. They told me that an 'expansion of assets' is in order... that is why I have come here, my children. That is why this irritating conflict must come to an end."

Eliphas lifted an open palm directly above himself, the storm of whispers growing louder and more maddened as he continued.

But then they stopped. And he crushed his fist inward.

"Haha."

"Ha-ahahahah!"

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAH!"

The skyline ruptured at the beck and call of the Inheritor, as the ripples of Warp energy began to grow in number and intensity. A sharping ringing split the ears of any soul unfortunate to be within the vicinity of the epicenter, but they would have been long dead before they were granted a sight of what came after. The buzzing, the streaks of lightning, and a swirling tornado of energy originating of Blackheart's fortress all began to pool inwards towards a single point of the sky directly above the landscape of Hell.

The ground quakes and shudders. Chunks of concrete structures built by Blackheart's demons collapsed upon themselves in billowing clouds of debris that were blown into the air as a result of their destruction. Deep cracks, at least five feet wide, appeared in the crust beneath the unfortunate souls' feet, many Fellowship soldiers being sent hurtling into the depths screaming. Debris began to drift into the air and swirl around the point in the sky where much of the energy had coagulated, forming a smaller cyclone of concrete, brimstone, and steel lifted from the sundered plains of Hell into its brown, ashy atmosphere.

And then.

The very sky to tore itself open.

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The air shrilled and screamed in a chorus of tormented souls and broiling, thundering, earth-splitting clouds of psychic energy. Amaranthine colors spilled out across the landscape of Hell, consuming it in a miasma of Chaos beckoned from the depths of the Immaterium, originating from a swirling vortex of shrieking energy hanging over the dimension. A maddening vision of a sort ultimately indescribable seized Hell in an icy grip, consuming it in a levy of abhorrent visions of a place far beyond this uncertain veil, a place so subsumed in the unfathomable essence of chaos that what it truly was twisted at every microcosm of every second.
​

The Battlefield
The moment Hearts left the realm, the face of the battlefield transformed. Kamin and Oren, who had been doing everything within their power to slow the mutated Cunber, vanished in a flash of light. The Droid ships vanished from the skies. The anti-air canons faded away. The Sith traitors and masked troops disappeared.

One minute the Fellowship had been locked in a stalemate against a mighty, advanced army. The next, the fighting the war Luthor had promised them. Their men were carving through a fleeting fighting force of thing, pale demons.

"What the Hell happened...?" A solider muttered. He removed his helmet, stared up crumbling towers of Blackheart's fortress.

"The Fat Lady just sung..." Luthor grinned. "Keep pushing on."

***
"I'll worry about then," Azrael nodded. "You need to leave. Go! Go!"
***
A clear path through the madness had been carved. Roman and Kuro's journey to the fort was quiet. Almost to quiet. Perhaps they would grow to miss the noise. Where there had been screaming, there had been life. Now, silence stalked the battlefield. Everything was still. Dead.

The pair soared past the beaten bodies of the soldiers the soldiers they had sent off to the war. Their faces were smooth. Their eyes were wide and glassy. These men- these children- could have been so much more. They had their whole lives ahead of them. Big Mother had promised them a morale boost. The Fellowship had promised them purpose. White lies.

Some had fallen before they had a chance to draw their weapons.

But they were with their Goddess now. Knowing that didn't make the sight of their scared, desperate faces any easier to bare.

Their journey was short in distance, but each moment seemed to linger on for far too long. By the time they reached the walls of the fortress, the Fellowship's main fighting force had already broken down its main wall. Or maybe the mutated Cunber had been responsible for the carnage? It was hard to say.

A wall of solider help the line, unleashing round after round into the chests of the defending demons. At the heart of the battle, a young soldier stood upon a pile of fallen stones. She waved the flag of the Goddess proudly. The sight of the emerald sheet was enough to inspire her brothers in arms. It served as a reminder as to what they had been fighting for. What they had been dying for.

A beam of light leaped from one of the demon's mouths. It pierced the girl's chest. All her armor? It made no distance. She remained standing for a moment. The flag slipped from her fingers. She fell back into its embrace, staining its green silk red. Another solder rushed to her side. He removed the flag from beneath her and raised it above his head. He remained frozen in fear for a moment or two. Bullets whizzed overhead. The earth shook. He swallowed hard as sung a silent prayer. He raised his sister's flag and took to her post. His tears in his eyes, he continued what she started. He waved it with pride, his eyes wet with tears. His body fell beside hers a moment later.

"Hold the line!" Luthor roared. "For the Goddess! Hold the line!"

Luthor's attack drew the fighting away from a nearby stairwell. The Goddess had filled Roman and Kuro with a new instinct. It guided them towards the stairs and upwards towards Izana's cell.

@York @Capri
@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi @Minerva @York​

The Battlefield & Outside Areas

The approach to Blackheart's fortress was quickly subsumed in chaos as the ground and sky were consumed in a horrific storm of psychic energy. Regardless of what the Fellowship or Blackheart's remaining forces had done to escape the torrent of energy, the air around then shrieks as purple rifts suddenly tore open around them.

BOOM BOOM, BOOM!

Bullets soared out from the rifts and clapped into several Fellowship soldiers, blowing them apart in an instant. After a moment of sustained gunfire, hulking silhouettes began to silently file out from the portals. One of them lurched forward and smashed fallen Goddessian soldier's skull into the dirt, planting an icon of a Chaos star beside the corpse.

View attachment 4973

The entities were humanoid in appearance, towering over the common man and encased in fleshy, crimson armor similar in appearance to Eliphas the Inheritor. Heavy rasps escaped their helmets as they lumbered onto the battlefield in small squads, stopping for a moment to take in the stunning silence of their prey before slamming fresh clips into their block-like rifles and beginning to unload on anything that wasn't them.

Small arms fire futilely deflected off their armor. Anything that got too close was met a brutal end by the marines as they gouged out abdomens and legs with cruel, sword-like chainsaws clipped to their belts. Attempts to communicate with them were met with maddened gibbering and more gunfire, more violence.

The only option was a retreat. Communications across Hell seemed to indicate that these 'chaos marines' were appearing all amidst the swirling energy-consuming the sky, and they were eradicating anything that didn't run away.

@Capri @Jackythejack @Raynar Saassin @Takumi @Minerva @York @Sark
​

"The Goddess?" A bellowing laugh erupted from deep inside Urien's chest. "You can call me close-minded all you like, but at least I am certain in my beliefs. No-one can serve two Masters, girl. I never thought I'd see the day that my brother's favorite pawn would hold that damn witch in the same reverence as him. Lines are already being drawn in the sand. Sooner or later, you're going to have to pick a side. Tell me. Will you side with the Society? Or against it? What I wouldn't give to see the look on my brother's face should you stab him in the back..."

Urien's demeanor shifted. His breathed heavily. Slowly. Like an old piece of machinery slowly grinding to life. His face shifted between expressions of fury and ecstasy again and again. He locked his jaw and ground his teeth against one and other. His lips twisted into a grin. His sprayed saliva from his bared teeth.

"You should have accepted his 'offer'. You'd have done well in my shoes. You're driven. Stubborn. Cold." He spat. "Let's not mince our words. You and I are birds of a feather. You're every bit as cruel as I. If it meant furthering my cause, I'd stab you in the back in a heart beat. If my brother let you off your leash, you'd no doubt do the same. You'd scurry back to his side with a prize between your teeth like a good little dog."
View attachment 4965
"I'd fear you, if you were more than an extension of his will. You refused to submit to me. Refused to obey your President. But I shall forgive your blasphemy. There are bigger fish to fry." He wouldn't admit that she was right. He couldn't give her that satisfaction. He wouldn't. "I'm going to kill Zamasu, with or without you. I am going to march into that fortress and remove his head from his shoulders. I will crush him beneath my foot, and I'll do so with or without your help."

Urien tore what remained of his shirt from his back and cracked his neck. Thunder cracked across his chest. He raised one fist towards the roof of the chamber. He steadied it with his free hand.

"TEMPORAL THUNDER!"

His power surged forth. A cracking orb of pure lighting shattered the steal canopy like glass. The rays of Hell's 'Sun' poured into the chamber. Tiny shards of steel pitter-pattered around the Chosen like droplets of hail.

"Speak to me like that again, woman, and I will make you pray for death."

@Jeremi @Takumi @Raynar Saassin @Crunch​

The Wreck

Through the intensity of their fight, Urien and his opponents only now began to notice the Chaos outside as chunks of steel collapsed from the chamber's roof as a result of the thundering quakes. Suddenly, the walls began to whine under a buffet of heavy banging from something outside. A visible dent suddenly juts from the wall. The banging continues for a moment until a spindly pink fist manages to puncture the steel plating.

View attachment 4974

The steel hole is suddenly flooded with movement as several creatures resembling balls of pink flesh with teeth, horns, spindly limbs, and eyes began to invade the chamber. The daemons gargled words in some unknowable language as they leaped over the remains of the glass roof and skittered along the walls and ceiling like spiders, before dropping to the floor and lunging towards the nearest thing that wasn't them.

Urien was abruptly buffeted by a number of these creatures, as they maintained a distance from him and instead pelted the man with small balls of warp flame. Attacking the creatures proved futile that they seemed to ignore the pain and the mortal laws of damage. However, they were relatively easy to avoid... and the large opening in the ceiling was a prime escape point.

@Yun Lee @Lucky @Sark

***

The armored hulk approached his throne once more, stepping up atop the platform and turning to look at the Chosen in the room with him. The swirling vortex of power surrounding made it difficult to approach for any meaningful attack. He stood upon the platform, taking his works in silence and wrapping his hands around the pommel of his Crozius. Once again, his voice intruded upon the minds of the Chosen - all Chosen.

"Let the galaxy burn."

@Jeremi @Sark @Takumi @Raynar Saassin
​