Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[Huntress]

"You're in charge, right? Well I'm not sure if you noticed, but that.. thing.. just regrew a tentacle, and I get the feeling it can grow more, so I would suggest trying to find something a little more powerful than what we're using."

"Yes, I did sort of notice." Hunty was leaning against the spiky wheel, glaring at the looming figure of the Underdeep. This particular voyage was much bumpier than even the worst storms; at least storms only tossed you from side to side. "A little more powerful? We're currently using boomoil, it costs two thousand shinies a barrel, nobody on this entire planet is allowed to manufacture it or get their hands on the formula and it took me a helluvaload of diplomacy to get the Spacefleet to allow the existence of that stuff on our ship alone-"

"Yeah, she calls that diplomacy," Bloody Mary said cheerfully, popping up on her shoulder again.

"-shut it, what I'm saying is, this stuff is so bad, you shouldn't technically even know that we have it, since you're not in our guild." She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "The Spacefleet probably has weaponry that'd help, but I don't have a way of reaching them right now."

"I can help." Zagora swayed closer across the deck with an airy smile on her face. Somewhere behind her, Kassandra got hit with another plothole and curled up with a quiet pained 'gnnngnaargh'.

Hunty shot a sharp glare at the voodoo witch that would've burned a hole through a sheet of metal. "How much will it cost?"

"Ouch, zat's harsh," Zagora said coolly. "I'm just trying to do my civic dutee." She lifted the dreamcatcher amulet off over her head and turned to look at Owen.

"You vill have only vun shot viz zis," she said with a stern scowl. "But if you hit, and hit good, it vill help vunce and for all. Put it in vun of zose cannonballs, inside ze oil, and aim for ze head."

"It doesn't have a head," Bloody Mary pointed out. "It doesn't really have an anything."

"Makes it easier, then," Hunty guessed. "Alright, kid, go shoot that amulet at the beastie. Not like it can get any worse at this point."

"Famous last words," Bloody Mary said grimly.

[Strife]

Time is running out, the Underdeep beckoned to its puppets.

Strife's eyes widened in disbelief. How could this happen? How could a small band of petty adventurers, with no magical capabilities whatsoever, come close to vanquishing the vast sentience of the Underdeep?

Perhaps the sentience was actually weakening it. If he was going to keep his newfound powers, he would have to figure out how to dumb down his "master" into its original, primal, inhuman state. Unfortunately, due to his jet boots being fried, he could not fly over the water to confront the Underdeep directly... but then again, did he have to? The pirates were already doing the dirty work for him. All he would have to do is wait for them to whittle the Underdeep monstrosity down to its final breath, then use its last ounce of energy against it in order to absorb its infinite power.

The timing, however, had to be flawless. And he still needed a way to fly to the creature.

...Dark Sev. Unfortunately, he could sense that his pet was busy fending off attackers. In the meantime, he'd have to make due with the stones he was using to attack the pirate ship.

Strife continued to orchestrate the barrage of rocks, this time making them clash together piece by piece in rapid succession. The large boulders shattered upon doing this, giving him more surface area to work with. Within about ten seconds - apparently while the pirate captain was explaining something - the mass of earth assembled itself into an enormous gray hand, slightly smaller than the ship itself which loomed above the deck ominously, just outside the mist.

Strife extended his own hand, using it to puppet the giant hand that he had just created. He stretched out his fingers, then swiped forward, hoping to physically grab the ship and the block the cannon ports to buy himself more time.

[Gelquie]

((Gelquie versus Draco again. Place your bets! Bidding pool is now open!))

Gelquie mainly watched as Draco continued to spout out seemingly off-place comments, with only half of the conversation being known.
She was very much concentrated on her illusions, but she also wondered what would happen with this ninja. He certainly wasn't making sense at all; while she hoped for him to slip and fall, she expected much more balance from a ninja. Then again, the more she thought about that, the more she couldn't help but smirk. Life and death situations shouldn't be fun, but this one seemed to be... She didn't stop to contemplate why, but it was certain that she found Draco's predicament hilarious.

"I am so going to kill her... Slowly... Painfully..."

Gelquie's smirk faded, and as she weighed the words, something more like stern lined itself on her face.

"So, torture and endless suffering, is it? Not entirely original, ninja," Gelquie said bitterly. "Or maybe I should just call you a pseudo-ninja."

Gelquie turned her dagger in her hand--with her double as usual copy-cating--as she let the last of the birds disappear; she didn't need them now. She concentrated on the waters around Draco before a hint of a smirk appeared on her face again.

"They aren't the only things I have left. Watch your legs."

An illusion of what seemed to be many water snakes began to appear, some coming closer and some already becoming very invested in finding their place on Draco's legs. They seemed to be coming from 3 sides; the two Gelquies and a space in-between the two girls. She intentionally left a space open in another direction; there might eventually be a good reason for her to let him run.

[Draco]

((Mage VS Underdeep Ninja Battle))

"Pseudo-ninja? When I get my hands on you! Hey... Don't crawl up my pants!"

Underdeep!Draco tries his best to keep a snake from crawling up his pant leg.

"You could let me take over for a short while. I could have you out of this without a problem."

"You would like that, wouldn't you? There is no way you are taking over my body. It's mine."

"Then have fun with those snakes... Having me take over 'your' body is the least of your problems."

"Grrrr. Fine!"

In a moment, Draco blinks his eyes. He's seeing everything around him from his eyes, and not a window that saw through his eyes. He stares at the water and snakes. He's surprised how real it all feels, but remembers it's not real, or that it can't be real.

He stands up, the waves and snakes not effecting him. However he can still feel a little wet. He stares at Gelquie, or at least one of them, and smiles.

"Hi there."

"What are you doing saying hi?! Attack! Kill! Just wait."

[The Underdeep]

"People of the NTWF, I am the lightless night, the shelterless storm."

He kept moving at the same pace, never stopping, never slowing, never speeding. He walked like a king to his throne.

"I am the memento mori, the bloodstains on the road, the desire in every human heart to steal and cheat and maim and kill. And consider, my child, my adolescent world, where would you be without me?"

He winced and shook a tentacle as the last yard of it fell to the ground in flames. Slowly, the dark, oily skin began to cover the wound.

"I am older than Horsemen and Hell. I am the apocalypse of worlds."

He picked up the detached tentacle and hurled it at the sphere of stones. It bounced off a stone and fell harmlessly to the ground.[/b]

"Honey... I think my water broke."

"What, NOW?"

"And what are you? A young and insolent species. You think yourselves immortal. You are in love with your own pathetic power. You think you have conquered the world with magic and technology. And you wonder if there is anything left to fear."

He shuffled through the city streets, knocking the stone people over, breaking some entirely. He didn't seem to care.

"There will always be something more to fear. The more you know, the more questions you have. This is evolution, moving from ignorance to more ignorance, and from ignorance comes fear. From fear comes hatred and from hatred, slaughter. And from slaughter, more fear."

A sickening crack as he destroyed the pillars of a bank. The roof crashed down, crushing the stone people inside.

Somewhere in the heavens, a queen screamed.

"And so I have come from my palace of earth and stone to this desolate place with an infinite sky and an infinite sea and a detestable sun to make you an offer."

"I'm sorry, the beds are full. Our doctors are up to their eyeballs in wounded people."

"This is the heir to a kingdom!"

"Do you think you have a future?"[/b]

"I'll send a spare nurse when we have one."

"We need one now!"

"Your future is oblivion. I can save you. I can bring you back to paradise. The only thing I ask for in return is - "

"Love, we can make it through this."

"I'm scared."

"Your progress."

"Puuuuuush!"

"The last several thousand years of it. I want to return you to my rule. I could take away the fire that sears and consumes and leave in its place blissful ignorance. You need never know of what you as a people have lost. You could return to the start of life. Make for yourselves a new future."

"Darling, we can still make it. I know it's hard, but - "

"Look around you. You have already lost so much."

"Darling? Darling, speak to me."

"Wouldn't you rather forget it all?"

"Kienne? Kienne? Sally?"

"Would you not rather return to my care? You don't have to take risks any more. You don't have to stand on your own feet."

He raised a tentacle as if to beckon.

"The choice is yours. Accept my offer... or die here."

[Huntress]

The world went dark. Of course, it'd been somewhat shady to begin with, due to the looming shape of the Underdeep, but now it was something new. Hunty strained her eyes to figure out what this thing that now surrounded them was.

Stones? Oh great. Strife again.

She just barely had the time to brace herself when the hand made impact. The ship shuddered, sending barrels and crates flying below the deck, and then pulled its mistwings together, sizzling furiously, attempting to pry the rocks off.

The captain shot a look overboard, took a deep breath and, without all that much emotion in her voice, uttered a string of words that made Bloody Mary raise a disapproving eyebrow.

"Cannon ports?" he asked.

"Cannon ports," Hunty said.

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, then Bloody Mary stood up on Hunty's shoulder and turned to look at her. Hunty looked back. Meepit eyes, huge and round as they are, aren't a pleasant thing to look into even at the best of times and from a distance bigger than two inches, but this time there was something flat-out scary shining in them. Something... serious.

"Just this one thing," he said, and his voice sounded oddly solemn, a note Hunty had never heard in his voice before. "Despite everything I've told you over all those years, I think you'll be able to handle things just fine... Justice!"

The female meepit in the huddling gang of rabid meepits on the deck stood to attention. "Sir?"

This was definitely new.

"Second in command," Bloody Mary said, and leaped through the air onto Zagora's outstretched hand.

Justice breathed in with a hiss and nodded. "Sir."

Hunty watched in complete silence as the meepit grabbed the amulet from Zagora's hand, hopped down and rocketed down the stairs and across the deck into the galley. Only when he'd disappeared into the galley did her voice finally come back.

"Bloody Mary!"

Not that she expected it to change anything.

***

Meepits are fast thinkers, Bloody Mary even moreso. His current plan of action was also made easier by the fact that he really couldn't think of anything else to do. So once there was only one way out, he could have a point A, a point B, and draw a straight line to connect the two points.

There was a huge old oven in the galley. The meepit left the amulet on the floor and climbed into its sootbox. When he got out again, his dark blue coat was pitch black. After some careful patching and grooming, he grabbed the amulet again as well as a box of matches and flew downstairs.

The problem with point B was that it was freaking him out beyond imagination. But this was what it all came down to now, right? Make or break.

Up on the deck, some of the weasels, who'd apparently picked up on the situation, began singing The Final Countdown.

Bloody Mary grabbed a carcass shot and pried the ball open, careful not to get any of the oil on his paws. Amulet goes in, a small rag gets soaked in the oil and left sticking out as the ball clamps shut again... done. Off we go, then.

Make or break.

The black meepit gripped the cannonball with both paws, created a portal and went through.

***

The Meepit Realms had gone into mostly-lockdown-mode ever since the Underdeep breakout became big enough to be noticed in other dimensions. Meepits still came in and out, but all portals were being monitored with twice the vigilance. But there were still many portals created throughout the Realm, so a black meepit carrying a metal ball wasn't too much out of the ordinary. This gave him some time.

Bloody Mary stopped, looked around, wrinkled his nose - bunch of snobs, think they can exile us into a world where there's actually sunshine and wind, hah, your loss here - focused for a moment and teleported out again.

This one portal, unlike all others, opened straight onto the surface of the Underdeep personification. It was only open for a split second, but the meepits in the Realm could still feel it all at once, and the effect was that of a hornet nest getting kicked across a field. All of a sudden, the entire pocket dimension was seething in panicked fury.

Bloody Mary landed on the face of the Underdeep. It was... squishy, and smooth, and overall surprisingly less unpleasant than he'd really expected. It looked like the creature was still somewhat unsure as to what it wanted to be like. He knew that despite the fury, the other meepits wouldn't follow him here. But he also knew that if he went back to the realms from there, he'd be as good as dead. That is, if the explosion doesn't kill him first. Boomoil reacted very fast.

At least he didn't have to worry about the Underdeep. There was a fifty-foot safe zone around him, and the creature was so big that it hadn't yet registered that this new hit was somehow worse than the already burning patches on it. It also seemed to be busy monologuing. Good.

He shoved the cannonball into the squishy surface of the Underdeep, lit a match and put it to the wick. The very fraction of the second that it blazed up, he dropped the match and created a new portal.

The world went white and got filled with the angry screech of a million meepits at the exact same moment in time. Bloody Mary felt vaguely like falling, but he had no idea if he was being pushed or pulled or was just floating somewhere far, far away...

Everything went black. The screech of the meepits, mixed with the low rising roar of the Underdeep, faded into the distance and only one voice remained ringing in his ears.

It said, MEEP.

[The Underdeep]

The cry of the beast shook the bones inside bodies. The magnitude of it shattered parts of the stone landscape. It was a howl and a scream and a roar and it was rage. It stretched and wavered and held because it had to hold, like rigging in a storm.

The beast reared, throwing all its weight upwards and crashing to earth. Buildings toppled. Clouds of dust billowed, too thick to see through with what little light there was. Tentacles thrashed in the beast's death throes. The crashing of black shapes didn't seem like it would end. Aftershocks vibrated across the land. The force would be enough to knock people off their feet. The dust clouds rose for miles.

When the dust settled, the beast lay still.

"My children, you betray me."

He weakly raised a single tentacle.

"I raised you and disciplined you, and this is how you repay me. We both deserve more than this."

He let out a long sigh, and his body seemed to deflate.

"You are not afraid any more. You will keep pushing forward under your own strength. But just know that you will never be rid of me completely. Even when fire and light fill every corner of your world."

His skin withered and wrinkled.

"And when you realize this, you may look for me under the earth, as you always have. The caverns where you used to hide from your ancient fears. I will no longer understand your tongue or your mind, but I will be there to deter you from the false paths, to warn you against progression."

As he melted into the ground, he seemed to say, "My children."

A tap on his shoulder. Groggily, Rane opened his eyes. He could taste the floor.

"Sir? Sir."

"What the?"

"Sir, you passed out sometime during the birthing process."

Rane hurried to his feet and dusted off his hat. "I didn't pass out, I took an impromptu nap... Wait, my wife - "

"Is doing fine. She's strong for a woman of her age. What is she, forty?"

"Um..."

"She's a bit old for childbirth."

"You don't know the half of it. And the child?"

"A healthy baby girl. Her mother is resting, so I need you to fill out the necessary paperwork. Do you have a name picked out for her?"

"... Selene. Crown Princess Selene of Leona. Can I... hold her?"

"Sir, I really need this paperwork filled out."

Ahh well, Spacefleet will always be Spacefleet.

[Strife]

Strife observed the destruction of the massive Underdeep persona. Its tangled mass of limbs thrashed around wildly in the distance, flattening everything in its path. If there was any hope of restoring the petrified souls of Tabloid Town, it was gone now.

As he felt the Underdeep's final words echo through his mind, a strange sensation flooded him. He dropped to his knees, feeling the Underdeep's energy and power escaping from his body, leaving nothing but a cold and empty void in its wake.

"Have I failed you?" he asked.

No response came.

Strife remained still for a while, attempting to absorb and understand what just happened, and why. The Underdeep was a creature of limitless power and potential. How did it get destroyed? The thought of a small band of pirates being the sole cause of its destruction baffled him to no end.

He knelt at the edge of the rooftop he was standing on and lowered his head, gazing at the ground below in deep thought. At that moment, he asked himself another question...

What if the Underdeep personification wanted to be destroyed? What if, because of the human emotions it was acquiring, it gained a conscience about its own actions? What if it actively sought conflict with the world so that it could be forcefully reduced to the primal state that it once was? That alone would explain the confusing series of events that led to this point.

Strife looked back up towards the horizon, observing the melting silhouette of a once massive abomination. The scorched, bald surface of his head glimmered in the approaching sunlight, and the static in his eyes gradually faded into its original purple glow.

Just then, another thought occurred to him. He recalled his previous journey through the Underdeep itself. He remembered how much he loathed its existence, and how badly he sought to destroy it. Now that his body was no longer a puppet of the Underdeep, these loathsome feelings resurfaced. It was at this moment that he realized something very clear about what just happened. He had won.

By joining the Underdeep and causing the deaths of thousands, he managed to coerce the strongest and bravest warriors of the guildverse into confronting the Underdeep face-to-face. They did the dirty work for him.

This was never his plan, though, and he didn't see it coming. Was it some twisted form of fate? Or did the Underdeep subconsciously follow his orders? Whatever the case, his job was done. The deaths he caused would undoubtedly trigger a swarm of revenge against him, so he had to depart before the petrifying ooze completely disappeared.

But first... the sword. His sword. Its power had been eradicated, but he didn't want to take the chance of someone else repairing it and using it against him in the future.

With that in mind, he leaped over the side of the rooftop, using his psionic grip to slide effortlessly down the side of the building. When he hit the ground, he took off in a dash that was slower than his Underdeep-fueled teleport-dashes, but extremely fast nonetheless. Time to find his weapon.

[Gelquie]

((Gelquie and Draco battle, a little bit earlier.))

Gelquie tried really hard to not chuckle as the ninja seemed to struggle with the 'snakes' coming up Draco's legs. This urge, however, seemed to instantly fade the minute Draco regained his demeanor and stood up. As Draco smiled, Gelquie blinked in surprise; what the heck just happened? And what happened with his tone of voice? Was what he said about taking over his body related? These questions were pushed to the back of Gelquie's head in favor of one question: What was he up to now?
Unfortunately, Gelquie pushed the other questions too far back. Surely, he would be saying that sort of thing to trick her.

Gelquie only glared and concentrated on her illusion. The snakes below had just begun to transform when she heard a big booming voice. She kept part of her brain on the slowed illusion while she listened to the Underdeep's speech.

As he began, Gelquie resisted the urge to roll her eyes; the evil’s ego was certainly as big as the growing darkness. The thing had decided to start lecturing them while destroying things. He speaks to them of fear as if she didn’t know that there was more to fear after magic. Maybe that’s what he gets for speaking to a broad audience. What could he be going on about? He even admitted that it was the spawn of many bad things. …Bad things that still applied…

Gelquie shot a quick look over to Draco and quickly finished up her illusion. The snakes in the water seemed to have formed together, and out from the water came a snake, seeming giant even if most of the ‘snake’ was still in the water. It snapped and hissed at Draco.

“Don’t you dare come any closer, you fiend,” the Gelquies said scathingly before returning to her listening.

As the Underdeep began to speak of his offer, the words began to become more and more enticing. Morbidly enticing--each word the Underdeep spoke left a bitter taste in her mouth--but enticing nonetheless. Even if he was simultaneously insulting them, there was good to be had in his offer; something very good indeed. It seemed very strange that this was coming from the same being that was destroying everything… But at least his actions coincided with his words.

"The choice is yours. Accept my offer... or die here."

Gelquie looked down at her dagger, both awed and disgusted. She wasn't sure of the exact word she really felt at the moment.
She didn't realize how much she was staring at the Underdeep, and how much time Draco would gain from it...

[Draco]

<<Draco VS Gelquie>>

Draco stares at the large snake, and takes a step away from it. He knew it was fake, but that was really life like. He could swear he he smell it's breath.

When Gelquie begins to be distracted by the Underdeep talking, and turning away, he sinks into a shadow puddle. He soon reapears behind her.

"I'm taking over again! I need to kill her!"

Draco's hand reaches for a kunai and begins to point it at the mage, when a large explosion, followed by a 'Meep' is heard.

"Meep?"

The hand with the kunai freezes inches from Gelquie's body.

---
<<In Draco's Head>>
In Draco's mind the darkness begins to clear away as the Underdeep leaves his body. Soon the two Draco's stand staring at each other.

"Why aren't you gone?"

The Dark Draco smiles and laughs.

"Kukukukuku. I'm a part of you. You can't get rid of me that easily. The Underdeep only released me, and I don't intend to be locked away again. I'm to weak now, but I'll be back in no time."

The Dark Draco continues to laugh as he walks away in his mind.

<<Back In Reality>>

Draco drops the kunai, and drops to the ground himself. He holds himself up on a knee, holding his head with one of his hands. It takes a moment, but he soon stands up again.

[Gelquie]

Gelquie froze as she saw what seemed to be a black dot charging the Underdeep. It was a cannonball, certainly, but... there was something else on it. Not too long later, the dark thing seemed to... die. It began to go on and on about betrayal before dissipating completely. The spawn was dead.

Gelquie's feelings were now running amok. The offer was retracted, the evil was dead, and she hadn't even fully formed in her mind everything that had just happened. What was she--

"Wait, there's a ninja behind me, isn't there?" she thought as she heard some sound behind her. She slightly turned her head just enough so that she would see the shape of Draco trying to get back up on his feet. Gelquie wasted no time in quickly spinning around and punching Draco in the head, using the arm with the dagger in her hand.

"Trying to sneak up on me and take me out while I was distracted? I'm no expert on the ninja code, but I'm pretty sure that that action fits the bill of the honorless.” Gelquie glowered at Draco. “Good thing for me I saw you first."

Of course, Gelquie knew for a fact that her strength in a fight was laughable; all she could count on here was the small shock value of being hit. But she had better things coming than just this. Gelquie clenched her dagger and both the water and her double disappear. She quickly improvised on showing the bottom half of the snake and allowed it to come close to Draco.

“…It’ll just be bad for you that I saw you first,” she said, kicking his kunai away.

She knew she was angry. She knew she was frustrated. She knew she was sick of everything that had happened. But she ignored the little voice in her head warning her to stop; begging her to stop. Her thoughts were only on two things; her illusions, and what she was going to do to Draco. She stuck the dagger she was holding into her other stiff, unmoving hand before staring at him again.

“You’ve brought hell itself on me... And not just me. Were you working with that thing; helping it destroy everything? Whatever that thing’s intentions, whatever its ultimate goal…” Gelquie glared at Draco. “You tried to kill me. Repeatedly. And you’ll probably still try to murder me; it’d be in character for you. I’m not okay with this. But more than that, you caused me a lot of pain. Pain I had no need to feel. Pain you chose to inflict. You enjoy relishing in others' misery and pain. And mine. I suffered and suffer already. So now...”

Gelquie let that last word hang for a split second. Then she suddenly thrust her hand forward to his chest or head, or any body part of his within reason. Upon contact, she began channeling something else into him: pain. Not of any physical sort; this sort of spell would leave Draco uninjured physically... But physical injury was not the sort of thing she was looking for.
A small glint appeared in Gelquie's eyes.

“Feel my pain.”

[Draco]

Draco doesn't know what hit him. Well, he does, a fist, a angry fist. First he's knocked down, again, and then he's screamed at. This is not something he was hoping for right after he regained his body.

Several times he tried to speak up, but always stopped before he said anything. He still felt a little dazed from the punch when she mentioned the words pain and touches him.

He snaps out of his daze instantly as he feels pain course through his body at a alarming rate. He felt like his veins himself were on fire.

"What are you waiting for you idiot?!"

Before he can think what he was doing he pulls his leg up and kicks Gelquie in the stomach. Quickly, and still feeling the pain he staggers away a few feet, panting a little as he does.

"One, I dropped my weapon before you hit me... Two, I probably deserve a punishment. Three, I was kind of possessed by evil when I did all that stuff. Four, that touch HURTS!"

He stands up straight and continues to stare at Gelquie.

"And for the record... I'm sorry."

He digs a hand in a pocket and pulls out a small personal med-kit. He tosses it to her.

"It's not much, but there should be a few things in it. I have to go, there's still a few things I need to do..."

He begins to run off, staggering from time to time. He stops and turns around to face the mage again at one point.

"I'll probably see you again soon. So I won't say goodbye."

He turns around and begins to run off again.

[Deleted]

Nasue kept running. Or at least, that was what she had been doing before a voice spoke from where she was going; she yelped in surprise, stumbling and falling to the ground. A sharp pain greeted her as she hit the ground, and a faint cracking noise.

Hissing in pain, she clutched her chest as she rolled. Her ribs - she'd forgotten about them. Please let them not be broken! All this, and the voice kept talking, speaking about how it was superior, and how the people of this world were foolish, trapped in an unbreaking cycle of fear and death.

The coati coughed. Blood dripped out of her mouth, pooling on the ground. Soon it turned black, like all of her surroundings... and the large mass of darkness. Return them all to paradise. Save them from oblivion. Take away any responsibility. A new start. And in return, sacrifice their progress and leave in blissful ignorance.

Such a tempting offer...

--

Kovaran had not heard such a loud voice since he had left his own world. He tensed up, clenching his fists and baring his teeth.

This... without doubt, this had been what the Superior warned the Ninjas of. The evil threatening this world, and which he was on a mission to stop. It was ancient and powerful, but it could be conquered.

Yet when it spoke of how fear would cause slaughter, and slaughter would cause more fear, he paused. It was true... how many had died by the hands of his bloodline's paranoia? Countless. How had the people reacted to this massacre? Fear. Hatred. And he listened to bloodlust, and caused more deaths.

No. He had left that behind. Its offer to return the world to paradise, at the price of progress--total crap.

Accept the offer, or die here. Yet... Ikkin.

He hesitated.

--

KABOOM!


In a moment of poor timing, Nasue looked up in time for dust to go right into her eyes. Howling in pain, she covered them, and flattened her ears. The noise was overwhelming, and the coati curled up to protect herself from the dust, the shockwaves... then it stopped.

The darkness spoke again, its voice had changed. It had been betrayed by its children. It would always remain, in the darkest parts of the world... not as it was, but nonetheless...

That offer. It was familiar. As her mind began to unscramble, it focused on the words the darkness had spoken. And now that she thought about it, something made her fur stand on end, and her tail begin to twitch violently.

Save them from oblivion.
Return to paradise.

...oh gods. That.

She hissed again, but this time it was more out of anger. The coati's tail went from twitching to lashing about.

--

Near where Mage Manor had once stood tall against the Underdeep, a bay and white horse looked to where lasers had been seen earlier. A black dragon looked in the same direction, blinking.

Cop-Out smiled. "It's over."

--

An explosion had sent up dust and shockwaves. Kovaran instinctively threw up his arms, shielding his face from the debris and trying to keep his balance. Once it had stopped, that voice--that evil--spoke again.

It had lost. Someone had gone and defeated it. On one side, they were not him - he did not even know who they were. It was too far away to see. He felt some irritation; why was it not him?!

On the other side... it had been defeated. The NTWF was no longer in danger from this force. Its people had won.

Kovaran laughed loudly. "We are not powerless in the face of evil! Never forget that, [EDIT]!" (Three swear words in less than ten minutes - that had to be a record for him. He did not cuss very often.)


Movement caught the komodo dragon's sight - someone sliding down the side of a building.

"Who is that?" he wondered out loud.

[Huntress]

Bloody Mary opened his eyes.

It was quiet. Dead silent, in fact. Black sand stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction, which wasn't much because the sky was also black. The only source of light came from a doorway that stood right in front of him on the sand. The door was shut, but bright light showed between its cracks.

The meepit just knew that if he was to walk around the doorway to look at its other side, it would look exactly the same.

He looked around. It turned out that he wasn't alone.

"So that's what you look like," he said.

MEEP, said the Death of Meepits.

"Very... traditional."

The tiny meepit skeleton in a black robe eyesocketed him stoically.

"Am I dead?" It felt like a bit of a stupid question, but had to be asked.

MEEP.

The meepit turned to face the reaper. "How can I be not quite dead?"

The Death of Meepits pointed at the door. Bloody Mary cast another look around.

"Doesn't look like I have any choice but going through that door," he said accusingly.

The Death of Meepits shrugged as if to say, whoever said you get a choice here?

Bloody Mary turned to look at the bright lines of light in front of him. There were sounds just on the edge of his hearing range. The sounds of howling wind and the rushing seas and seagulls.

"I guess I've cheated you for a long time now anyway, huh?" he said mostly to himself. "I've only lived this long cos I have rabies. I always thought that I'd be able to postpone it at least one more day. It's been a dangerous life. A fun life. And gods know I went out for a good cause."

The Death of Meepits said nothing. He didn't get such monologues as often as his human counterpart, so he enjoyed a show while it lasted.

"It's lonely here, though," said the meepit, still as if in a dream. "I haven't actually been lonely as long as I've been able to think. I've always had that nutcase of a girl to look after. What'll she do without me?"

MEEP, said the reaper, not so much because he had something to say, but because he felt like this was where empty consoling words were in order and he couldn't say anything besides MEEP anyway.

"Well, I did take the risk," Bloody Mary muttered and stepped towards the skeletal meepit, whose empty sockets, reflecting times older than the universe itself and the answers to all unasked questions, now turned to face him. The meepit looked straight into the eyes of Death, and saw... oblivion.

Which was why the Death of Meepits never saw the high-speed furious headbutt coming until Bloody Mary's skull crashed into his and sent him toppling over backwards in a cloud of black sand.

"Not today, mate," the meepit said cheerfully and disappeared through a portal.

***

The Underdeep went down.

It was quite the spectacle, and one Hunty watched with a vaguely impatient scowl. She'd been to an opera once and witnessed a stage death that took an entire aria. This one brought back memories, although she was fairly sure that throwing a tomato at the Underdeep wouldn't make it die faster in this case.

She'd just about begun to wonder if the Tabloid Town Royal National Royal National Opera House* would still have her face on the 'don't ever let this one walk over this door again' list when Bloody Mary dropped on her shoulder out of thin air, or more specifically, a black meepitportal.

"Had me worried there," said the captain, her voice carefully blank. She was still looking at the Underdeep. The meepit didn't even have to look down to know that the hands she had rested on the railing were shaking.

"We're good at things like these," the meepit said vaguely. He opened his paw to look at a tiny little handful of black sand, then sunk a little lower and dropped it in one of Hunty's numerous pockets in the corset. You never know.

"Was it difficult?"

"Don't ask." Those empty black sockets would haunt his nightmares for years to come.

The Underdeep creature was finally dissolving, and so was the ooze. The grey sea of roofs regained its colors, the people on the streets started to move again. Tabloid Town was slowly regaining its former look. If there was one upside to the petrification, it was having been fairly neat. Apart from the smoldering craters and building chunks here and there, the city looked about the same as it'd been before.

And the sea was shimmering again.

whump. Only now, as the ship sunk abruptly and rose higher into the air again, did Hunty realize that the stone hand holding it in place had disappeared, or rather fallen down into a pile of rubble on the streets below. As the wings stretched out again and the mistshield cleared from around the ship, she turned to face the sea and took a deep breath.

"Yeah," she said with a small smile, "I think we're just about done here."

"And Strife?" Bloody Mary asked.

"I didn't file a contract that said that I have to fight all baddies in this region in person," Hunty said sternly, spinning the wheel. The ship turned heavily. "The seas are free, the city is thawing, let's go down the coast and restock in Le Singe, they should be operating as usual. Zagora?"

"Yes?" The witch was already standing by the railing, ready to step off. The fact that the ground was fifty feet below her didn't seem to bother her. The captain felt mildly annoyed. Sure, once the mist had accepted her, it'd most probably help her reach the ground safely, but what right did she have to go around assuming that?

"Locate the nearest fleeter and tell them where to find Haggoth's spaceship, will you? I think it can still be fixed easily. Oh, and send the blarf to the sea."

"Can do." Zagora smiled and swung herself over the railing in a cloud of billowing skirts. Hunty turned to Owen and nodded at Kassandra.

"Off you go, too," she said. "And take her along. I don't have any use for either of you. I think the mist should break your fall, since I pegged you as allies for the time being, but the next time you see us, don't count on her remembering you. And, hm, thanks for the help, I guess."

The black ship turned in the air and its mistwings slammed down with another whump, freaking out everyone within sight, or at least freaking them out more than they already were, recent events considered. A short while later the blarf's huge lumbering figure followed it along the same street below. Two generations later, the children of that street were easily the quietest and most well-behaved when it was time for the grandparents to tell stories about their youth.

The White Weewoo set out to sea.

_{*Tabloid Town's older buildings had seen a lot of history.}

[Deleted]

(NOTE: I was very unhappy with what I originally wrote in this post... so I went and rewrote the entire thing. Now it's far less Deus Ex Machina-y - yes, I know, Cop-Out's a relative of DEM, but seriously!)


"Look closer," someone beside Kovaran said. "You've seen him before."

The person was still going down the wall. Now that he focused... yes, they were familiar somehow. A human, covered in green, with other colours, and something glowing. As they were falling, he tried to recall if he had seen someone like that before.

Yet the answer would come sooner than expected.

"That's him! The Commander!" Ikkin's voice rang out, making the komodo dragon jump and turn to look at her. "He's the one who attacked me!" Except she did not seem to be saying those words...?

"Look behind you."

Kovaran instantly did so, and found himself staring at a bay and white horse. The hooved and blonde-maned animal sighed, and spoke, this time in a masculine voice.

"Sorry. I had to get your attention somehow. Look, let me explain--hey, what are you doing?! Don't turn your back on me! I need to tell you what that guy's done--hey! Listen!"

As the armoured figure had taken off and left a trail of silhouettes, Kovaran had himself turned and begun to run, only to stop when he heard the word, "listen".

"He's... he's killed thousands. Maybe millions. He helped the Underdeep--he's responsible for the ooze. And if he gets away... who knows what he'll do. I'd kill him if I could!"

"So why can you not?" Kovaran called out (making the stallion wince).

"I--look, I don't have time to explain. You two--don't let him get away!"

After hesitating a moment, the big lizard looked to where the silhouettes had gone. Then he let out a roar, loud enough to be heard for a long, long way off, and burst into a run.

The chase was on.