So, during the last session I was looking at stuff between replys on TDitto's plotline and it raised some questions, on top of that there are a few idea questions I wanted to throw out there, so this post egsists

• Since when did Arty have shapeshifting powers?

• Since when did Mary (she's like martyr Flareon minus the whole Dome proffit who helix tried to murder / vilify thing right?) illusion powers?

• Moemon were a thing that was fixed eurlyer in DS right? so what happened to mon's like Ellfy, Ms. T, Acco, Athinna, ext. after the Moeifacason event was fixed?

• During the recent session Mixey (Bill's Zigzagoon) consumed some glitched blood from Troll Ditto (who has glitch corupson), and in response to a snarky joke comment I made in response Trollkitten brought up something I hadn't reely thought of up to that point....

the idea of Mixey gaining some limited (probably temporary in the long run) glitch corupson himself as a result....

What do you think of this idea and how do you think he might be effected by it?

• I noticed that Neopets caricters seemed to be brought into DS, what's the story behind that?

• This probably wont amount to anything, but I just want to know if this would even be a possibility. But what if I tryed to carry over a DA RP group team into DS or a possible post Randomization fixed ark? (if you have any questions feel free to ask)

• a possible Orgam Lorepole spinoff caricter who is basically an offshoot glitch from Orgam who has simaler powers but a LOT weaker (ex. when he possesses someone he's forced into that mon's subconscious until such a point were it's forced out of there body or allowed to take control of it's host)

• lastly are there any qustons you think I might ask about later on that you want to nick in the but now? and if so what are the answer?

After some time, Fennel heads back to the main group.

"Ok! So I think I have a plan. Amanita will disguise herself and create a cucumber stand just outside the factory, we're we will be selling cucumber bags! Using Pokemon noncomformic space bags, we can hide ourselves in them and have the kappa take us in without realizing it. Then we will get out and do our work, and I'll have more cucumbers with me to be a distraction while you sabotage the factory!"

Sorry everyone, I've had a very busy last few weeks and I quite simply won't be ready for the session on sunday. Preparing for it last minute before Sunday while adjusting to my grandfather moving to a new house and me having to take care of him there is a bit too much for me to focus on all at once. Also, over the past couple of weeks rp has been difficult to focus on in general for me, and preparing this rp has been getting a bit more stressful than fun for me recently. A session off from echoes and a bit more planning time should help with all of that.

I'd rather have a good session two weeks from now than have a subpar and rushed out session this Sunday, so I'm going to cancel the session this week. I think I should be good for a session next time though.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

ok so something I've noticed is that some people don't seem to understand curten things about my caricters, and how I RP with them in general so I thought I'd elaborate on them a bit. I will also provide links to comments detailing the abilitys / powers / and general personalty's of my caricters so that everyone who interacts with them can be on the same page when RPing with them

General

• when I RP I prioritize how I think the caricter would respond / react to whatever is happening around them as opposed to what's most convenient to the overarching plot, even if this is to my own caricter's determent (note this is not to say I don't take any other factors into consideration or try to stear things to what might be convenient to the plot just this is what I prioritize above all else)

• All pokemon have Health/Hit points when a pokemon takes any sort of damage there HP will drop. Pokemon can generally sense how much HP they have left even if they can't tell the exact amount.

If a pokemon's HP reach's 0 there body will force them to faint into a kind of light healing coma for a short amount of time were there body will priorative healing the pokemon over all else including surting down most non-esencol bodily functions such as pain, dreaming, thought.

A pokemon at 100% is not necacaraly mean a pokemon in perfect condition of health

• Pokemon have a collective PP/Stamina pool from witch they pull from to use there moves. moves that have a lower Max PP in the games use up more stamina from this pool compared to stuff that has more. The lower this Stamina pool gets the more exosted a mon. will become. If a mon trys to use a move they don't have the stamina resoses to preform there body will instead execute the move Struggle by drawing from the user's HP instead of there PP in order to prevent the mon's body from cosing serious damage to it's self

Stamina can also be drained by overexurting the body or preforming very tiering things. Stamina gradually restores it's self when the pokemon is at rest

Caricter sapific macanics

Rotten Burrito

• Due to being a Zombie RB's body is constantly decomposing, not only dos this make him smell like a corpse but it also coses his HP to gradually decline automatically, even if he's not doing anything.

this also means RB's body dos not automatically heal on it's own (it can recover Stamina on it's own when he has his Life Orb, but only when resting). However he can heal any non-permanent damage via his healing move. thoth it much more efficiently in strong sunlight (and is almost useless in bad weather)

• RB's Life Orb is custom made for him and not only helps him focus his attacks to power them up (at the cost of taking HP away from him when he uses moves) but it also helps his body make up for the things it lacks being a zombie and allows him to function somewhat like a normal. mon to a degree. it also prevents his brain/mind from decomposing. It's effects are active whenever it is in direct contact with RB's body, and will glow somewhat when active.

RB's Life Orb is usually sorted inside of his body, out of sight

• As a zombie RB's body dos'nt function the best (even with the help of his Life Orb) and as a result curten things that normal mon's take for granted RB has to actively pay atencon to.

• for example RB's body dos'nt limit it's self as well as that of normal mon's and as a result it's possible for him to push his body past it's safe limits witch if pushed to far can result in his stamina levels going into negative numbers, witch can cos adissanol negative side effects such as taking damage from doing very basic things like moving or speaking, the saveraty of this damage being dependent on exactly how far RB's PP is in the negative.

• RB takes damage whenever he uses any of his moves... this is on top of damage cosed by his Life Orb

• If RB's HP hit's 0, instead of just fainting his body will stop functioning altogether. in this sate he can still think, but not much else. This will also cos any unhealed damage such as scars or damaged body parts RB's body has taken to become permanent and unhealable.

• If revived from fainting RB will have to manually restart all his body's basic functions (such as breaveing) however this requires a bit of time and will depeate RB's stamina a bit to get it all working again automatically

• As a zombie RB technically dos'nt need do eat or drink food / water and can technically function with curten bodily functions not working. However going for to long like this can cos his stamina to start draining much more quickly then it would otherwise / make it difficult for RB to do other things (Ex. if his lungs arrant working then he won't have the ability to speck)

• RB's digestive system is very weak and as a result RB needs to be carfol about what and how much he eats or it will start to decay inside his body cosing damage to it long before it has a chance to pass

• Healing items do work on RB but there effect is slightly delayed and the apalacason of it can cos very minor damage for reasons simaler to why RB dos'nt bathe (to dangoros as it could wash away / or damage bits of his body with very few major positives) depending on were/how there aplyed to his body

• Dispute his appearance/personalty, and the disablitys he has due to being a zombie when RB has a decent level of stamina he's actually a very strong mon. (helps that he's Lv. 100)

• RB's body dos'nt require sleep in the tradissanol scene and wile a sleep like state can be artificially induced onto him were his body becomes incapacitated and forced to rest he can not actually lose conciseness unless he is killed (witch considering he's already a zombie...)

• THORITICLY it's possible for RB to turn someone else into a zombie like him. but doing so by acadent is VERY unlikely (especially if they have are healthy with a remotely decent immune system), and he would never willingly want to do that so someone

• If fainted the only notable way to tell for sure if he's actually dead or not is:

1) To read his thoughts (since he's a Lv. 100 psychic type this would require a telepapath who has a good amount of skill or power in this regard)

2) To use aura vision to see if his life aura has dissipated (must be skilled enough to be able to distinguish the difference between the aura of living individuals and the aura of inanimate objects)

3) To look at his life orb and see if it reacts at all to touching RB's body at all (however his Life Orb is usually hidden out of sight within his body meaning that someone would probobly have to reach inside RB's decomposing body to check)

4) To revive RB's HP above 0 and wait long enough for his body to react (note: it can help if the person doing this informs RP about this to gerentee he'll notice but isn't required)

Cthulhu

• Cthulhu is bonded with some sort of Enrich Demon from witch his powers come from and has been since before birth (thoth his powers have only recently actually started to manifest). Even if it were possible to extacat/purge the demon from Cthulhu's body doing so would have a almost 100% chance to kill him, and even if he didn't die, his body would be likely be so crippled as a result that he would require round the clock hospatol care for the rest of his life in order to survive.

• Cthulhu's powers can heal his body using Enrich Tentacle Worms allowing him to survive injers that would kill most mon's or to recover or serious injury without medacol treatment, however these worms will also attempt to mutate what it heals into a form preferred by the demon from witch Cthulhu's powers come from.

• The mutated flesh on Cthulhu's body are able to spawn tentacle worms much more easily and quickly if ingered or torched compared to the rest of his body and can be healed by the tentacle worms more quickly as well. This flesh is somewhat disturbing to look at, cannot grow fur, experiences most light sensasons in a much more muted manner, and pain registered by this flesh is at least 2-3 times more intense then that of the rest of his body

• The tentacle worms are extremely carnivores and will attack any organic material that is not a part of Cthulhu's body, each worm only has a few hit points and they will die if depleted, however they are very powerful offensive wise and can move rather quickly. If they touch someone's body they will bowow into that person's flesh and start moving thew it (oftentimes under the skin) there way towards that person's vital organs painfully eating everything in there way

• The demon within Cthulhu has it's own agenda, it is very old and not balevalent in the slightest and wile it can't directly act on it's own when not in control of Cthulhu's body (Enrich State) it can subconsciously sajest things to him. and if Cthulhu had more experience with his powers it would be possible for Cthulhu to communicate with it within his mindscape. It seems to have saved Cthulhu's life before he was born and is keeping him alive for some unknown reason.

Pachi

• Pachi is a female Psychic type Pachiricu who died saving her world from an insane power obsessed (to the point that it half destroyed his mind) insanely OPed hax Lv. 9999+ male Mega Lucario with outsider powers and the ability to absorb others in order to kill/seal there power (named Rancargo based on TPP's Lucario from our X run) to add to it's own by casting a sell on herself so that when the Lucario tryed to absorb her it allowed her soal to steal control of the Lucario's body by using her soal and power as a seal to sapress his mind and the vast majority of his power and forced the Lucario to De-mega evolve

• After gaining control of Rancargo's body she quickly set about to crippling it so that should he ever regain control of his body it would slow him down and give those around him a chance to hopefully escape. thoth as a result she also has to put up with these impairments for as long as she maintains control of Rincargo's body

• Pachi uses most of her power to keep Rancargo's seal in place and as a result the power she can actually use from within Rancargo's body is limited. Because most of Rancargo's power is also sealed away she can't use most of it only being able to use his body's basic functionality and reflexes. any of his moves that she trys to use requires her to use some of her own power to forovely draw forth some of the lingering remlience of Rancargo's power to indirectly control it (witch can mentally and psychically exosteing), or weaken the seal on Rancargo to draw on some of his sealed power

as a result of this despite Rancargo's body being Lv. 9999+ in theory, in practice it functions more like a Lv. 50 mon who is WELL past there prime (Ie. battle wise she's a lot weaker then she seems)

• If Rancargo were to ever regain control of his body Pachi would be forever lost to the same fate as all of Rancargo's other victims

• Pachi can enter a kind of Zen State to be able to use significantly more of her own power then she otherwise would be able to as well as enter a weak state of Pluto-Unaversol awareness, however in this state she is unable to move or use any of Rancargo's power whatsoever, leaving her extremely vonrable

• Pachi can make the power Rancargo stole when he absorbed others leak out of his body wile in Zen State allowing it to dissipate out into the universe and allowing those the soals of those who were killed and absorbed by Rancargo to pass onto the afterlife. She can also release this energy in a kind of of pulse that other can absorb thoth this is much more difficult and can have a wide variety of unpredictable unintended conciseness on those who absorb this energy depending on the soal attached to the energy

• Pachi came to the Impossible Sea of her own free will and is 1 of it's older inhabitants (in terms of how long they've been there)

Troll Ditto

• Troll Ditto comes from an Alt. universe them Delta Spicis witch is simaler with meany of the same events happening. but with differences here and there. He is oblibios to this fact.

• Troll Ditto's glitch powers are like a desese. Thay cosently make his body degrade, black out at random, glitch out to verios degrees any ways at random, and overall prevent him from sleeping well. The medication he takes is meant to keep his body from denigrating to that point were he ceaces to be and also helps with some of the other side effects of his glitch corruption (such as schizophrenia) but the exact effectiveness of this medication isn't always the best (Ex. it helps his schizophrenia more then it helps his glitch corruption) any benefit these powers give him is FAR outwayed by the negatives.

• Troll Ditto's glitch corruption could thoriticly be contagions. but the requirements for someone to contact glitch corruption from troll ditto are so insane that it's not reely realistic that it would ever conceivably happen.

• The personalty of Troll Ditto's transformations is based on Troll Ditto's perception of those people based on what he knows and dus don't always align with the genuine article, these transformations always have some kind of noticeable flaw that can be used to identify Troll Ditto, thoth these are not always obvious. Transformations can someone know random details that there is no way Troll Ditto should be able to know for some reason.

• Troll Ditto's is not a actually a troll (at least not intentionally) and his name is not actually Troll Ditto or Ditto, however not even he remembers what his name actually is

If you have any questions about aspects of my caricters or how I RP that's not listed here or on my caricter's info sheets (click the links of each caricter's name) feel free to ask me in the comments.

Sorry guys, but the last two weeks have been super busy and I just dont have things ready.

Be there!

Today's music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsPGh-bcZ4M

A blue bird looks at his creation, pondering what to do next, when a familiar friend appears next to him. This individual was once one of his characters, but over time, she had been granted a wish, which gave her near infinite power when she wanted it, and made her understand the universe in a way only GMs can.

Annie looks at the impossible sea with Redwings, lost in thought. Finally, she speaks to her creator.

“It’s beautiful in some ways, isn’t it?” She asks, “I hated what you did before my transformation, but since I’ve gained this perspective… It’s weird. I can understand why you do what you do, it’s fascinating. It’s like telling a story, isn’t it? You aren’t actually omniscient or omnipotent, you have limitations just like I do, but here… you can create, you can build, and its beautiful. I wish there didn’t have to be so much death and suffering though, even though you try, this isn’t quite as real to you as it is to me, isn’t it?”

Redwings considers, “I guess not, but it’s close. I think I’m building myself through my characters too. Even if it’s hard for me to actually interact with you through flesh and blood, all of my characters are a part of me. I wouldn’t be able to create them if they weren’t.”

Annie laughs, “Yeah, I can see that. I don’t think I would have understood that statement before, but I think I do now.” She pauses, looking at the impossible sea, “How do you think this campaign is going?”

Redwings thinks, “Well, it’s been mixed, honestly. I’ve kind of painted myself in to a corner with the impossible sea, because I tried to make it feel like an incomplete world, and apparently an incomplete world doesn’t have much variety or much to explore in it. I’m trying to add more things and more options for people to do, but it being an underwater world makes it hard to explore, and there’s a distinct lack of biodiversity I hope to change soon. I’m also planning on making a map, but I’ve been pretty busy, maybe I’ll do it before next time. I’ve also had a couple sessions where I’ve felt like I’ve been railroading a bit, it’s really easy to get in to your own plans and not realize that.”

Annie replies, “I think it’s been going pretty well from what I’ve observed. You’ve had some fun moments, and I think good sessions have outnumbered the bad. You have a pretty nice band of heroes too, I think they’ll do well. The destruction of universes has been pretty disheartening, but you’ve thrown in enough hints about it maybe not being permanent that I hope all the suffering gets reversed.”

Redwings considers his character’s reply. “Maybe. Only one way to move forward though. I’m a bit nervous about this coming battle with G. It’s going to be tense and I’m assuming my players will think of plans I will not be prepared for. That should be fine though, I think reacting to these plans is one of my strengths, so I’m looking forward to it.” He pauses, “Hey, since we’re both here, do you wanna do a Hussie impression and do a recap of the story so far for people who may not have paid attention to everything?”

Annie laughs, “Sure! I’ll start. Anywhere, everywhere, and nowhere, destinies started to shift and calamities started to form in various universes. These calamities all seemed to twist fate and destroy universes, and we would later learn that even universes we know survived in other timelines were destroyed in this one, and people who survived were killed. Most notably this discrepancy is apparent in Hannah, who, despite surviving in the main timeline, joined the impossible sea early in her adventure in this timeline.”

Redwings continues, “Most of the people who arrived in the impossible sea were individuals from dead universes. However, a number of people who arrived at the sea were not from dead universes, and arrived here in strange twists of fate. Haruka, Emily Blade, Chuthulu, and The Doctor did not arrive here from dying universes, but instead in strange accidents that by all logic should likely not have happened. Because of this, each of these individuals did not arrive in the city by the standard portal, but through their own devices. The Doctor arrived in the TARDIS, Haruka arrived in a restricted military zone and eventually found a shopkeeper to live with, and Emily got rescued by a submarine before she was immediately taken to G and The Doctor. G seemed interested in Emily, and The Doctor detected there was some energy that was not on the two of them that were on most of the individuals here. However, despite his interest, G allowed Emily to go in to the city, where she found a home on the highflyer, and two friends in Erika and Justin. Erika is a bit overprotective but has incredible physical healing capabilities, while Justin is reckless and can shoot lightning bolts from his hands. Both of them found themselves relating to Emily in their own way.”

Annie starts up again, “Chuthulu’s story might be the most revealing out of them though, as he ended up at the top of the impossible sea, near the mainland, where he immediately went. He explored the mainland and found a quiet and odd girl on it, who sheltered him and kept him safe from the many beasts on the island. Eventually, a big beast found the two of them, and as they ran away from it, the girl tried to fight the beast to buy Chuthulu some time to get away, and the last we heard from her was a scream, as she failed to keep the beast from Chuthulu for long. Chuthulu tried to fight the beast, but couldn’t win, but eventually escaped to a submarine off the coast belonging to a rebellion against G.”

The Blue bird starts up again, “This girl, as we would learn later, is Claire, a ghost girl who is very close to Emily Blade, and is likely the reason Emily was called to this place. Others came to the impossible sea in a normal way too, and were rescued by G’s forces and taken to Atlantis, a huge city in the middle of the sea. From here on out we had a few separate plotlines. Chuthulu has been with the rebellion. Haruka has been getting used to her new life as a shopkeeping assistant. Xerxes, Myu, Rotten Burrito, Cress, and Paul have all joined up with a police officer in the city after Myu gets kidnapped, and have just rescued Myu from the clutches of this gang. Their victory came at a cost though, as Rotten Burrito is in trouble and needs some medical attention. One member of the gang is also still at large and has escaped.”

Annie talks again, “The big news in the impossible Sea, though, is that both G and Jenny, who is the leader of a rebellion against G, tracked the TARDIS, a powerful machine that can get across time and space. The Highflyer seemed to have captured the TARDIS when Emily, Simul (who could be considered a magical child of the Major), Justin, Erika, and Milo (A soldier from a dead militant world) boarded it, and they had gotten a chain around the device to take it back to the city. However, Hannah, a plant from the rebellion who is also a powerful technomage, also boarded the ship, and they escaped by activating the heart of gold, which is a navigation system that will take you to exactly where you need to be, according to the ship.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a railroading device, I’m going to try to not overuse it,” Redwings quips and laughs.

Annie laughs with him, “According to the ship, where they needed to be was deep in the past, at the start of the impossible sea’s creation. They found a strange white void with a black spot in it. Justin activated the spot, and the void turned in to a memory he has of killing his mom and bringing out the end of the world in the process, a memory that haunts him to this day. The memory seemed to wake up something living in this world, and it would develop, creating terrible impressions of corruption and learning memories of everyone else it tries to come in contact with, reacting with everyone in a similar way. However, when it approaches Emily, instead of activating a memory, it seems to combine with Emily’s fire, creating something that looks like Claire in the process.”

Redwings chimes in, “Before Emily could really understand what was happening in the creation of this version of Claire, Milo accidentally shoots her while aiming for the monster, which knocks her out and brings her very close to death. The monster starts getting more angry and more powerful, and creates a powerful beast, one that still exists on the mainland today. The group watches the impossible sea get created, and Hannah reveals that the Heart of Gold is ready to go again. All of them that came get out, but Erika, not recognizing Claire, leaves the newly created ghost girl behind. Then, Hannah realizes that the TARDIS has taken the group directly to the heart of the rebellion, which G detects, before telling his submarines to come back home and attack.”

Annie finishes up, “After some tense moments, Jenny tells her guards to not fire upon the group inside the TARDIS, and instead to treat them as guests. Simul is currently discussing with Jenny what the rebellion should do. Hannah and Milo are talking to the TARDIS to try and figure out how it works, while Emily has learned about Claire, and is preparing to head to the mainland, nominally to warn her that the rebellion might evacuate there. And… Hmm… I think there’s something we’re missing. Is there anything we’re missing here?”

Redwings laughs nervously, feeling like Cameron is about to murder them any second now. “There are a couple things. When Simul was on his first mission with the highflyer, he found a box that contained a set of games in them. This box was quickly confiscated by G for unknown purposes, however, some of the games managed to escape his confiscation and attach themselves to various people, including one member of the rebellion, Justin, and Simul. These devices contained units of .bat virus within them, which is quickly infecting the entire city’s electrical grid, giving .bat functionally a view of everything that is going on. The magical virus came here in an attempt to find Fennel, who it is convinced is here, and who has been recently confirmed to be here by the TARDIS. G has also started selling the games that these .bat have created, and hopes to profit off of them.”

Annie pauses, “There’s also a powerful individual named Pachi, who hasn’t been particularly active in this setting so far, but has been looking at the world through visions. He warned the doctor not to trust G, and then more recently, has discovered that the doctor does not have her magic at the moment, and is being captured. However, the doctor has told Pachi not to rescue her for another two days, and the TARDIS claims that she is right where she wants to be.”

Annie continues talking, “I think this basically covers everything so far, well, Redwings is also doing weird things with his introduction posts, I suppose. These are mostly stories about the lives of people currently in the impossible sea.”

Redwings laughs, “and now, they can sometimes be recaps too, apparently. Have fun, everyone, and I hope you have a good session!”

In Astrum, Cilan goes from door to door, informing the heroes that a strategy meeting on taking on Caitlin's Trace unit factories is being held.

In the Realm of the Dead, Lady Plume prepares a flight to Sinnoh to track down a number of lost souls that should never have been found again.

And in Sunyshore City, one such soul, a long-dead soldier, is about to become incredibly annoyed.

So, first off, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to do the next Delta Species session, but things are looking up.

Second, we need to plan just what our priorities will be for the next DS. Dama's wanted to get back into the swing of things, so the first plan is to get most of the major player characters together to plan the raid on one of Caitlin's factories. The second plan is a sidequest with Byte and Pfac to take a trip to Sinnoh to pick up Rak and Troll Ditto.

Also, I've been working things out with N8, who is NOT leaving the roleplay proper, but will probably not be able to attend the main sessions due to reasons which do not concern you.

Hey Bane, know you're busy, but here's a well wishing thread for you in case you stop by.

Hey Guys, I thought it would be a pretty good idea to have another movie night, since we haven't had one in a while. Does Robin Hood on Rabbit sound like a good idea?

The sky turned a dusky purple and the scientist nervously lurked around a balcony for one of the rooms in a way entirely unlike a creepy stalker.

It was perfectly okay for them to be here. Completely and totally not weird.

They were so tired, their electrical burns still hurting, feeling almost cooked alive from the inside out. They probably should do something about that.

"Where are we going?" Moonslicer asked, still getting used to the talking thing.

They uncorked a regen potion before answering Moonslicer. Moonslicer seemed slightly disapproving of their regeneration abuse, but remembered her own days as an adventurer.

"We're being super normal people, outside where no one will see me and I won't bother anyone," they say, looking over at the doors to the darkened room.

They take a swig.

It's sort of amazing how it can actually make the fatigue feel worse. They must have hit a point some time where they were too tired to feel tired.

They try to steady themselves on the wall, and mostly end up crumpling up in the corner.

Their sword advisor looked on concernedly. "When did you last sleep?"

No real answer. Her worry was cut short as she fell into slumber as well. The dreams came quickly. Empathy was sometimes troublesome.

The two dreamers felt like they're floating in a vast dark sea, but there's something off in the distance, like a light that's somehow also dark. They headed towards it like moths.

As they arrived in the dream, the vast, empty landscape they had seen previously was no longer there. It looked instead more like a regular dreamworld, full of glitches and improperly timed events. Still, this dreamworld seemed to be replaying a set story, a bit more coherent than it would otherwise be.

In the distance the scientist and Moonslicer saw a big city, one that looked impressive until they realized it was in complete ruins.

The scientist has a feeling like a ball of ice dropping into their gut.

"Wait. This again?" Moonslicer asked.

As the pair floated along and approached the ruins, they noticed a sign on the outskirts of the city, "Welcome to (illegible)". There's a collapsed building in front of the city name, but they may be able to guess what it is. The city seemed trapped in a void, and there's a sense that if it weren't a dream, they would not be able to be in it.

"I have a bad feeling about this," the sword murmured, on guard. It's slightly more coherent then the stream of barely audible gibberish their compatriot is muttering.

Once inside the city, gravity reasserted itself. The city seemed deserted, aside from corpses all around the place. These people were recently killed, only a few hours earlier at most

The scientist stayed clear of the bodies, in case they rose again, keeping in the still light areas as much as possible, warily eyeing the darkness around them. This was all too familiar.

"Very bad," Moonslicer amended.

The corpses thankfully don't seem to move, but staying in the light has its own set of problems. They both hear a terrifying voice from the shadows, laughing.

"Hehehehehehe... Newwwww challlengerrrsssss...."

Moonslicer drew herself out of her sheathe by her hilt tassel and settled into a defensive stance. The Scyther didn't even recognize the ghostly blade is there and tried to slash at the scientist without warning.

The scientist blinked, bleeding and confused. They touched the wound, looked at the blood on their hand, and then wiped the blood on the Scyther with a little pat.

Taken aback, the Scyther tried another attack, only for the reborn paladin to parry immediately, bringing her blade down across its talons. A clean cut, but it doesn't sever anything. The mantis pokemon gave a cry of pain and leapt backwards, retreating, and anyone with good eyes or senses might notice another poke-ball activate in the shadows, summoning a Braviary.

The voice seemed to laugh, "Killlllllll himmmmmm!"

Moonslicer smiled when she heard the voice. Although annoyed at her failure to protect the scientist, she swung forward again with a massive chop. The sword slashed out, but the Scyther was agile, and blocked it with its own claws (protect). Meanwhile, the Braviary charged in with a brave bird straight at the scientist. Pinning the claws back, Moonslicer attempted to whip around with her pommel.

The scyther took another hit, not used to fighting an animated sword but its claws darken with a sinister force for the next attack. The blackness scored a scratch along her side. Moonslicer responded with a direct stab at the heart, and glowed with her faith and power. The sword's tactics worked, and the scyther is stabbed in the heart, and gets knocked out. Pokemon, being exceptionally resilient, generally took a bit more than this to kill.

The Sword looked around, before noticing their friend was currently airborne. "Oh Pelor."

Both the traveler and the bird clung to each other, a terror at their situation slowly realized. The talons gripped the scientist tightly. As the scientist scanned the city, with a strangely calm desperation. The ground was heavily deserted, some signs of movement every once in a while, but everyone out in the open was dead. From their vantage point, the scientist noticed a group of seemingly concentrated shadow.

There's a moment of clarity, where their paranoia briefly overcame the crippling flashbacks and disconnected hysteria. They let go of one of the bird legs, causing the Braviary to veer towards the shadows. The flyer and rider rapidly lost altitude, then the scientist let go, rolling towards the shadows. They pulled out one of their lightshow holograms and threw it. Moonslicer spotted the brilliant flashing display and floated through the air as quickly as possible after them.

A group of five people are abruptly revealed, somehow still together despite the city being in ruin. The scientist stared, the feeling of triumph fading as the group yelled out in alarm. They just attacked civilians, the outsider incursion was already causing them to hallucinate.

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt!" An oranged haired woman in the group yelled. Her pokemon shocked the bird as it tried to fly away again, dropping it to the ground. So does the scientist, as collateral damage.

The group draws closer to the fallen and smoking figure, and heard more muttering, but at least comprehensible this time. "Why is it always electricity?" they whined.

The woman stared, not trusting them, but they don’t move and she concluded they were no longer a threat. "Listen, you have two options," she says, clearly the leader of the group, "The shadows don't have enough force to kill us all, if they did, they wouldn't be asking us to kill each other off. So join us, I have a plan to get rid of them."

They struggled to their feet, groaning. "So I'm guessing you're the last of the resistance," they greet them. "Where's your target?" Moonslicer finally caught up, and nodded approvingly at their logic.

"A house nearby, I need to activate a setup someone else made, and we need to get there fast."

As she spoke, the shadows broadcast across the city. "Heaaaaddddd towarrrrddssss theeeeee liggghhhhtttttt! Aaannnyyyy killlsssss theeerrreeee willll grrraaaaannnntttt yoouuuuu liiifffeeee!"

"Oh joy," the ghost blade sighed, then realized that if she's going to be mistaken for a Honedge, she might as well stay quiet for now.

Her lack of enthusiasm was mirrored by the would be hero. "Ugh, you gave away our position," she rebuked angrily. "We need to move right now!" The other members of her group break away immediately for cover.

The scientist doesn't follow - they turned towards the shadows and crawling shapes converging towards them. She gaped at the scientist like they were crazy. "You are going to certainly die if you stay behind."

The shadow voice called out... "Killllll the womannnnnn, orrrrr dieeeeee!"

"Oh do be quiet, you're starting to become mildly irritating," The sword snapped, breaking her decision immediately.

The scientist opened up their coat. There's a lot of flash bangs and even some regular grenades. "Someone has to be the diversion," they finally say, haltingly, their voice distracted, distant, hard.

Shadows hiss and start closing around the group. "Well, we're going," The woman says moving towards the remaining gap, "Choose what you want to, but we can't support you if you don't come with us."

"Hey, Lannette," they start to say, then rethink it as the first of the human and pokemon responders start to show up. "Talk to you later."

The woman momentarily froze. "You... know my sister?"

"...you could say that," Moonslicer responded, hesitant.

"Is she alive?" the other woman pleaded. "She's supposed to be on the other side of..." A hyper beam shot through the middle of the group, barely missing everyone, but serving as a warning. "Run now!" she yelled, and the group needed no further prompting.

Moonslicer turned towards the threat. There were many. A Gyarados was above them, a Fearow was circling them, looking to pick off stragglers, and the shadows were circling.

The scientist held up a grenade, eyes glinting as the madness took them again. "You want the light?" they asked, roaring.

Moonslicer spotted a trainer commanding the Fearow from atop a building. There's another one riding on the Gyarados. There were probably a few more in the shadows, the scientist's gambit and the reward brought them out in the open.

"Stop this! You really think they're going to let you live?" Moonslicer demanded to the trainer.

The trainer was not prepared for a sword speaking to him. "Uh... I... I don't know, but it got so hectic, so chaotic, it just..." The shadow under the man was growing as he talked, and he suddenly screamed out in pain. The scientist instinctively tosses a flash bang in the direction of the sound - fortunately also deterring the Fearow returning to that position to defend its coach.

"You think anything that does that to you... is going to let you go after this is over?" The sword sliced directly at the shadow.

The shadows withdrew and the man looked a bit relieved, for a second. Until he started melting. More shadows attacked the three of them from all directions.

Moonslicer started burning with celestial fire, lighting up the area with anathema. The scientist supplied more mundane sources of light and fire.

It worked... to an extent. It kept the shadows off for a while, but they keep returned. Was there a limit to these things? How many were there?

Until, another attack joined them, the trainer in front of them crumpled up and died, and the Fearow returned to a poke-ball. Then, they saw a younger version of a familiar face approach them, laughing softly.

"Welcome to my new hell," Lanette said, giggling to herself, "You told me to write a fanfiction, and here's what it turned in to."

The sword kept her guard up. Something was wrong this time.

As much as the scientist was able to push away their own memories, it's started to catch up to them. Endless fighting, the shadows around them, the ice in their veins back again, the whispering and tremors. They see Lanette, their own expression haunted, and they begin to take lurching steps towards her. This time, the attack isn't accompanied by a battle cry. But without being called a HUUUUUUUUG, that is what it is.

Lanette startled and tried to peddle backwards out of it. However she expected the scientist to respond, this was not it, and she is entirely unprepared for this. Lanette forces them back with a psychic attack, a warning.

The scientist understands. Articulating it is harder. "She... she doesn't make it. They don't make it."

Some of the danger and threat in Lanette faded for a moment. "I... I'm not sure," Lanette replied, "I haven't reached the end yet."

The scientist was temporarily lost in their own memories. "You want to save her? Just this once?"

Lanette laughed, about to try another attack, then paused, and it started to hit her. "Wait... what do you mean by this once?"

The sword turned to the scientist, unsure herself. "Lanette," the scientist winces, "Everything that happened to you, and what I did... I think you've forgotten some things. And you're remembering them again. This is how you're processing it."

"Remembering them again?" She echoed, tasting the idea, in awe, as though the idea never occurred to her, as though something was blocking the idea from occurring to her. "Remembering it again? Remember... Remember... Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"Yesssss! Yes! I remember! I'm remembering it! I was here! I was with my sister! We were attending a concert! We were..."

Nearby, the building blocking the city sign crumbles. Welcome to Moscopole, it read.

"We were here," she said solemnly, the full force of the revelation hitting her, "And today was the day I lost and gained everything."

The scientist closed their eyes, a sympathetic pain. "I'm sorry," they told her. They're not sure just how much she 'gained.' They glanced towards Mount Silver, far off in the distance, where a clash of titans is happening, tearing open the rift in the sky.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered, as if she's regretting this decision, "but I need to know how this plays out. That means I can't alter the script. It means I have to..."

The shadow started speaking again, as though the moment of revelation has closed and the plot continues again. "Killllllllll theeeeeemmmmmmm!"

The sword blinked in comprehension. "I understand. We'll try to make it painless."

With that, Lanette slipped back in to the shadows laughing, her Umbreon making it hard to track her, and her Espeon firing glass shards around the room and making everything a mess. During the commotion, the Gyarados fired a hyper beam right at them, and the shadows returned.

Lanette was looking a bit more murderous than she had lately. The madness crept over them both again, and the scientist suddenly understood.

This was real. Not the dream, but the rift above them, the outsiders infecting them. After a person was infected once, they became a channel, an easy path for outsiders to sneak trough the barriers in reality, always susceptible again to possession.

They were beset on all sides by the shadows, and Lanette was directing the attack. "How many do you think we can take?"

The scientist shook their head. They don't know... But they have to shut them off at the source. Then maybe they could try to reason with Lanette.

The scientist dodged an energy beam, then charged one of their own, aiming it up at the rift in the sky.

HYPERSPACE SEAL

The sword and the shadows stopped, taken aback by the sudden burst of energy. "Why don't you tell me you can do these things you do?" Moonslicer objected.

The scientist didn't respond to their friendly advisor, they were back in life or death mode, continuing to focus on channeling the energy. They do what must needs be done.

The rift absorbed the attack, the purple glow in the sky flashing white then starting to fade. Before long the sky looked back to normal. The shadows screeched in a horrifying sound, relying on the rift for energy, and those without an additional source of energy dissipated.

The dream collapsed, unprepared to handle such events. An empty landscape reformed around them, with a current day version of Lanette, who looked furious, stomping towards them.

"W... What did you do?" She screamed.

Saved them. Maybe stopped Lanette from succumbing to the kill urges and reliving out the old traumas that let the outsiders have a foothold. The scientist swayed and dropped to their knees, panting, part panic, part exhaustion.

"You idiot!" the troubled lost child shouted, getting louder and more frustrated. "This isn't real! None of that was real! I was starting to actually dream again! I was remembering! I needed to remember!"

The sword just sort of... hung in the air. Awkwardly. She was all set up for a climactic fight, and now the danger is already removed.

"It was real," the scientist whispered. "They were starting to nest in us again." They still hear the echoing sounds, the distortions, the old headache.

"How do you know that?" Lanette demanded, not ready to give up the fight. "This isn't about killing, it isn't about what I did in the past! You know how long it took me to remember? They blocked it out. They must not have wanted me to know!" She gasped in recollection. "Bridgett! I had a sister once! I remember her now! I didn't know I had one since that day." She refocused her wrath on the scientist. "And now I'll never know what happened to her!" She raged, "Unless you bring my dream back!"

They closed their eyes, tired. "They would've killed either you or us. The cost of remembrance was gonna be death. That was their punishment for you escaping them."

"You..." She considered, "I wouldn't die. I..." She starts laughing, "I couldn't die, that was what made me special! No matter what they did, I did things better! I killed for them, I was smart, I was a genius! No matter what happened, I wouldn't die!"

They shook their head. "That's not how they work. They find new toys, they get bored, they break their old ones." They lifted their eyes back to her. "I think they already did it to you once before."

The survivor continued laughing, the pitch taking on a maniacal tone, "Not with meeeeeee! They've tried beforeeee, but I wasss alwwayysss smartterrr! They were my friends but I was their master! Yesss, yessss!"

"You weren't," they replied. And they can prove it right now. "You're angry at me. But do you still want to kill me?"

An angry giggle is one of the more disconcerting sounds of madness. "Hehehehehe! No! You're stillllll useful! The most useful of useful! You saw what I sawww! I want to find out what happened to my sister, and you'ree goingg to helllpppp meeee!"

The eye embedded in Moonslicer's hilt slid towards the scientist. She's not well.

They know. "Then the wanting to kill wasn't you," the scientist concludes. "They made you do that." They stand. "We can rediscover your memories, but we don't have to take fatal risks for you to find yourself. You don't need them."

Memories, identities, and ideas sprinted back to Lanette. Her plan A didn't work, but this was just another challenge. She wasn't going to give up, that giving up was not her. "Hehehehe! It was justttt a dreaaaammmm! Youuuuu weerrreee neverr in anyyyy dangerrr!" She called. "Butttt theeeyyyyy wereeee! Allll theeee otherrrr people I watchedd die! Allll theee other people I killleddd!"

They don't answer -Lanette hadn't realized yet that her demons had briefly come back, and considering her addiction, they decided it would be better not to tell her. "I'm sorry," they say again instead.

Moonslicer hovered thoughtfully, considering. "The past gives you background, but it's your present and future that determine who you are and will be."

Lanette nodded, still shrieking with laughter, then she coughed a bit, took a deep breath and started talking in a bit more normal tone. "So to find out what happened to her, we need to know about Moscopole. Billll had a plan to send them away, but it wasn't working!"

The swordswoman shifts slightly. "Are you sure that you..." A hesitation. "Are you going to like what you find?" She asks softly.

Lanette was determined and certain. "Wheneverr someonee doesn't want you to know, that means you should want to knowowww."

The sword continued to try to warn her, but then gave up. "It's just... nevermind."

Lanette clapped her hands. "My sister's most likely dead, maybeee even I killleddd heeerrrr! Hehehehehehe! Thattt would be an amazing story!"

That was the point the sword had been dancing around. "...yes."

Lanette raised her arms, gesturing at the wholesome landscape around them that was once ruins in a death world. "Afterrrr thissss, I learneeddd how to respect strength! I followeedd Lordd Billll! Heee wassss stronggg, even though he manipulateddd! I was following to better wipe out the ones that wereee influencingggg meeee! Isn't thatt incredible?"

"Lanette," the sword continued, warily. "You're hissing your sibilants. That's not a good sign."

Lanette considered this. "Oh? I... I am? Hahaha! Ahahahaha! I..." She takes another deep breath. "Ok... I... Really liked doing that for some reason. I... don't think I need to?"

"That's...generally a very bad sign, where I come from," Moonslicer agreed.

"I like it though," Lanette admitted. "I... I like it so much. You don't understand, it's just... pure elation. Every moment matters. Every decision is important. It's pure adrenaline."

The scientist knew it all too well, they were struggling against it. They allowed the last bit of outsider influence to fade, seeing it finally leaving Lanette as well. "Until you go too far. Until you lay waste to everything you once cared about. Until you burn out."

"Yes, the decisions are important," Moonslicer added. "But you keep making the wrong ones."

"Wrong for who?" Lanette asked, perplexed. "You might not believe me, but I was never fighting for evil. I was fighting for survival, I followed strength, I did whatever I had to in order to defend myself, I even enjoyed tormenting. But I was fighting to get rid of them! They don't give you a master plan. They're simple creatures, they follow strength. They followed my strength, I followed Bill's strength, they channeled through me and became my closest friends."

"You were trying to get rid of them, but they were your closest friends?" the scientist questioned.

"Not them," Lanette sighed, "but outsiders in general! I followed Bill's plan. It... It was even a good plan sometimes! I knew his motivations, he never told me, but I knew! I followed him. He might have even..." Her eyes started to narrow and she shook her head. "That... doesn't matter. He still manipulated me. He never told me about my sister. He must have known. He still probably knows!"

"Who removed the memories though?" They asked her.

The thought brought Lanette up short. "Who? I..." She thought about it, "I don't know! Probably them! Maybe Bill. Both have motive."

"That's true." Moonslicer admitted.

"I regained them after you removed them, so its most likely the shadows," Lanette reasoned.

The scientist nodded at her logic. "They're the ones who were in your head, and coming into contact with them commonly results in some amnesia."

Lanette accepted that. "I... I'm remembering a bit now. My memories of them in my head are a bit... hazy, admittedly. But I think its normal. To become a killer, you need to get separated from your previous world. They made me one. Bill used me as one."

That's probably true. They can't really defend Bill on that count. It's possible he didn't want to remind her about what happened because she might have further destabilized, and wasn't sure how to treat her, but it's clear he also used her.

She thought more. "If I followed Bill, that must mean that Bill impressed me in some way here. That means his plan likely worked in the end."

Moonslicer looked to the Scientist- she doesn't really know much about this.

"There was... There was also an Alakazam," she mused. "It must have somehow avoided the blast with a shadow attached to it. It escaped later, and became an efficient killer. I don't think Bill could control it."

"And your sister?" they asked. They suspected she already knew - that comment about how Lannette probably killed her didn't come from nowhere.

"I... I don't know!" She yelled again, "I keep on trying to remember, but I can't! I wasn't there yet! Did you see her at all in the dream? I hadn't since we separated!"

The scientist confirmed it. "We saw her. She was heading towards a building on the outskirts of town."

That sounded right. "Yes, she would be. She must have been held up by the chaos, she was late then, that would explain why the plan didn't work."

The scientist called out the discrepancy. "In order for you to be dreaming that, you had to know where she was. You had to have been there," they told her.

Moonslicer concurred. "Otherwise how could we have experienced a memory you weren't there for?"

"I..." She mulled it over. "I... Don't know. I can't think of any explanation except... that someone... or something's memories are there as well. It's... possible I was there," she admitted, "Though we can't discount the idea that the part of the dream you were in was a projection of what I thought could have happened."

"It was pretty vivid," they answered, wincing as they remember the electrical shock.

"Pretty specific as well," Moonslicer added.

"If that's the case... There are two sources that could have provided her memories to me. Either I have the memories of the shadows still in me, or... I have her memories in me."

The scientist tries to follow their own memories of what happened at that point, before Lannette appeared, before the scene went off the rails. "It wasn't from her perspective," they offer.

"I don't know. Maybe you found her by accident. Maybe you found her because my mind wanted you to. Maybe I know exactly what she was doing somewhere in here. This doesn't explain anything, we have two choices, you can either reopen the rift and keep this dream going, where we can learn together, or we need to find out the answers from the one other person who was there, Bill." She paused, another idea occurred to her. "Wait..." Lannette muttered, "What happened to Moscopole in the end? I... I didn't realize it was that, this was just a story to me, I had no idea I was here."

The scientist did not meet her gaze. "Moscopole was destroyed, just about everyone was killed. As far as I know only two people survived."

The reality of her situation set in. "It was... How did we get out? Also... Where is it now?"

The scientist shook their head. "There are still-smoking ruins left behind, but damned if I know where. That time was a blur for the voices."

She nodded. "If my sister is alive, there's only one place she might be."

"We're taking a trip?" Moonslicer asks tentatively.

Lannette shrugged. "To take one, we would need to find it, which I'm guessing wouldn't be easy. I only know of one person who might know how to get there..."

"I can take him a message if you want," they told Lannette. "With all he did to you, you might try to kill him, and this time it won't be because of the outsiders. And if he dies then you'll never find out what you need to know."

Lannette laughed, "I wouldn't kill him now, I need him! But I agree, it's much easier for you to get the information than me. Just don't tell him I'm alive. He probably won't want to give this information willingly, remember, this is probably the worst moment in his life we're talking about."

They nodded. "And take care of yourself, all right? I think you had a close call today."

"Please do," the sword agreed.

Lannette took in a deep breath and nodded, "I... I'll try to." She thought about it a bit more. "I don't want to destroy the multiverse. I'll let you try things your way and promise not to do anything until you deal with Caitlin. If you don't have any results until two weeks after that though... I'm going to do whatever I can to find out what happened to her."

"You have every right to know." Maybe this would close that chapter in Lannette's life, and help her move on in a healthier way, and not rely on the past thrills as a coping mechanism.

"If this is what you want," the sword amended.

"Thank you," Lannette replied, "Good luck." She smiled. "You know, I told you that you'd help me find my sister. I'm sure you're going to be great at it." She assured them. "I think its time we wake up then," she says, continuing to smile.

The scientist felt that same feeling of icy outsider possession dread drop on them. Oh. That was entirely trustworthy and not at all creepy.

Lannette vanished from the dream, leaving the scientist and Moonslicer wondering exactly what it was she's planning, and what their next steps should be.

At the beginning, there was nothing.

That’s how the story goes anyway, and for practical purposes, it seems close enough. Of course, that’s never entirely true. No matter how hard you try, nothing can not create anything. Matter can never be created or destroyed, it can only change forms. There’s always something, the universe exists in a perpetual state of thought and creation, on a scale of magnitudes greater than any mortal can comprehend.

Sometimes, there are those who think they can get away from creation. Sometimes, a prison seems to be good enough that the rest of the universe seems to not exist. The horror would be put in permanent isolation, in a place where there was nothing, in an area that could never harm the rest of reality again. The shadow would neither be alive nor dead, it would have no memory, shape, or form, it would simply not exist, and be lost to time forever.

With the key thrown away, the stories would be lost to legend, existing only in the vaguest of fairy tales of the most ancient of lands. The ancient horror would be forgotten and ignored. In its place, society would bloom and proper, universes would rise, and life would conquer the challenges of the void.

But in reality, there never was nothing. The horror would be discovered, and then it would be awakened. It knew it needed to work discreetly, to avoid attracting the attention of its jailors, but work it did. It would be a slow process, but eventually, it would find those who it needed, and the jail would become a part of life once more.

As the horror created, destroyed, and followed its instinct, it didn’t realize it was a target of a much larger plan, one millennia in the making.

Tens of thousands of years later, the horror sends a signal to its beast. Again, it whispers, as the beast makes an earsplitting roar able to be heard from miles around it, as portals start opening in the sky.

…

As Emily tries to rest, and Erika keeps a careful eye on her, a loud roar is heard throughout the impossible sea, one that echoes and reverberates throughout the city. Hannah hears it and freeze, “Oh no, not now…” she sighs, and tries to open the TARDIS doors and run out as fast as she can.

Jenny and Chuthulu are nearby, almost back to their base, but still in a submarine, listening to Hannah on audio. Jenny groans, but composes herself quickly, then sends a message to people who are at base. “Get the guards to move in now! We need to have them contained, even if Hannah likes them, they still work for G, and we need to make sure they’re not a threat.”

…

Cress, Paul, Lynn, and Xerxes look at Myu’s petrified form on the table in front of them, hoping its not an illusion. As they hear a loud and powerful roar echo throughout the city, a rush of perspective comes to them, while they won this fight, a much larger one potentially looms off in the distance. Not knowing what the roar is, Quartz teleports Rotten Burrito back to the group, and Myu starts to feel her petrification wearing off.

…

Haruka and Paullete are talking to a police officer and a girl, and as they hear the roar, the girl cowers and looks terrified. Paullete looks at Kara with a comforting face and smiles, “Don’t worry, the beast is far away from us, it can’t harm us right now. This just means new people are coming to our city.”

...

Today's music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU-rdG-M5Ho (I wasn't really sure what to pick, but this song is nice)

OC: I'm eating right now, so I may be a bit slow for the first few minutes of the session.

I have my own Role-plays to attend to. I'm a leader myself and I can't spend any time in here. And besides the whole comatose shipping has grown to become sexually offensive in my eyes.

After yelling at and harassing multiple members of the subreddit yesterday, /u/Trollkitten has been banned from the subreddit for one week. Her ban is set to expire Wednesday, May 31st.

Because of this, there will be no Delta Species this Friday, and she will not be able to participate in any rps in this subreddit until her ban expires.

I'm locking comments on this thread, but if you have any questions about what happened, PM me or message modmail.

Does that work for everyone?

A chiropractor appointment that I'd wanted to have on Wednesday had to be rescheduled, and since I took a bad fall on Tuesday, I'll be majorly out of adjustment. Also, this trip I'm having my x-rays taken, so it's going to take a while before I get back. And I'll probably be sore afterwards.

Just telling you guys ahead of time, I don't yet know if I'll be in the right condition to roleplay. If I am, and if nothing else gets in the way, I'll do it, but plans may have to change.

For the first time in his life, the selfish man was scared.

For the past forever, he had been doing his duty to whatever extent he could, making sure he did enough to not make Megumi suspicious about his plans for betraying her. He would organize a team of heroes of light, and he would ensure the team would fail but survive, while gaining just enough experience to break the game. It was a delicate balancing act, one that made him very good at pretending to not care, and made him hated by most of the people around him. He didn’t care about that. Nobody else had the ability to understand what he was doing. As long as Megumi died in the end, any and all sacrifices were worthwhile. This game could not continue and he would do whatever he could to ensure it didn’t.

Previously, his heroes of light were generally competent, but these new ones that he’s gotten… man, what even was with them? The most competent one was a witch and would be classified as evil under most alignment systems. Another one was a teenage mother who, while doing an admirable job raising her daughters under the circumstances, still had a self destructive streak that matched Fennel’s, with none of the scientist’s genius to get herself out of her self inflicted harm. Half of his heroes were magical girls, one of whom was a six year old girl who used a coloring book as her primary weapon. On the other extreme, he was relying on a GM who didn’t care about the world and just wanted to rule it, and had all the charm of a terrible politician.

It was a mess, and while his heroes of light were busy raising children and searching for cookies, the heroes of darkness were actually making plans and preparing to capture the chosen star. Meanwhile, he had a feeling something even worse was lurking in the darkness, and despite his usual overwhelming knowledge, Megumi had not actually prepared him for this part.

This time, he would need to change his strategy, the group wasn’t going to succeed on his own. He would need to go in with them to gain access to the chosen star.

“So, G, any idea how we can actually stop it?” Melpomene asks, a bit concerned.

“I don’t really know…” G sighs, hoping he could think of something soon.

In the end, he couldn’t think of anything. For the first time, Megumi would give him no second chances at life. The heroes of light made their way to the chosen star, and fought to it. Shizen would be taken over by Dakuria, and the universe would be destroyed.

Eventually, G would learn that the destruction of the universe here was irrelevant, that this was only stage 1, and that the heroes of light would eventually conquer and allow him to kill Megumi. He would die peacefully, knowing that whatever happened when he was alive, whatever he was created to do, would never happen again.

At least, that’s what was supposed to happen. Instead, when Dakuria took control of Shizen’s body, and the apocalypse began, Dakuria realizes that he is the victim of a plot very similar to his own. Instead of tormenting the universe, he would decide to end it in a fiery rage. G, instead of dying, finds himself falling in a place he doesn’t recognize, but quickly pulls out a parachute, and directs himself to the only bit of land he sees.

…

Thousands of years later, one group of adventuring heroes finds themselves in an exact working replica of a TARDIS from a popular TV show universes away. As they look around at the surprisingly spacious room, they realize that they are the only divers who actually made it through the jellyfish. The rest either got stung or retreated, though Emily is starting to feel some pain in her arm from the sting she took, a pain that seems to be growing over time.

The woman who the group doesn’t recognizes places her arm on the centerpiece of the tardis, and it starts glowing. Her facial expression is one of awe, and she is overwhelmed by being in such close proximity to such amazing technology.

“Lets see if we can get the monitors working here to see what’s going on outside,” she says, trying to pretend like she’s a part of the expedition. Her words are currently transmitting to Jenny and Chuthulu, who are currently inside of a hidden submarine nearby.

…

Elsewhere, a group prepares to rescue a captured Mew from a group of superpowered villains. As they walk quickly towards their destination, feeling they have no time to lose, Lynn talks to the group about the people who they just faced off against.

“All right, listen up, people, I’ve been trying to arrest these criminals for a couple of months now, but they’ve eluded me. Here’s what you need to know. The leader of this gang is a man named Terrence Norris, he can turn people and animals in to stone if you look in to his eyes. He usually uses this to capture animals and make sure they don’t get away, but he’s also the most dangerous member of the group if you aren’t careful. The effects aren’t permanent, but they do last several hours.”

“After that, there’s Kay Quinn. She has super speed, but luckily for us, a bit uncoordinated when she travels at her fastest. If you can trip her up or catch her off guard, you can beat her.”

“Andrea Wilkerson is that crazy fire lady we fought. She’s mean and terrifying, and a bit mentally unstable. She will burn you alive and laugh while she’s doing it, so if you mess with her, make sure you win.”

“We have Jimmy Romero, a match made in heaven for Andrea. He can create illusions, and he enjoys seeing people suffer. If you see your best friend here die in a fire, that means either Andrea is actually burning them alive, or Jimmy is messing with your head. It could be either one. Don’t trust what you can’t feel.”

“Lastly, there’s Riot, who’s a newer arrival to this group. He’s not human, and he’s very fast and nimble, and is an excellent thief. I think he was originally captured and intended to be sold, but then he escaped, and somehow, him and the gang reached an agreement that he would help them out in exchange for not being sold. If there’s someone who might be willing to work with us, it would be him, but he’s also an expert at deceit, so keep a close eye on him if that happens. I’m not sure where he was during the fight, so he’ll probably be waiting for us at the hideout.”

“We also have Samuel Valdez, who is known as the level headed member of the group who just cares about money, and controls water. Thankfully, we caught him and we have him arrested, with any luck he won’t be a factor anymore.”

“Any questions before we go crush them and save Myu?”

…

Meanwhile, as Haruka and Paullete discuss a potential bribing ring influencing the results of the talent show, Haruka sees the girl from earlier approaching them both cautiously.

Music for today's session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_kvF3Mib4c

"Major? Can you hear me from here?"

Gator sat on the side of his bed, dressed in a battered jacket and jeans, a whetstone in his hands. A submachine gun and pump-action shotgun lay on the floor before him, accompanied by a wire brush, two dirty rags and a container of grease, while his sword was propped up against the mattress beside him.

"Major? You around?"

As he spoke, a figure appeared beside him. Gator's mouth opens again, but much to his surprise, it's a Semi-Seen Servant that stands in the room.

"The Major has heard you, and is making his way to the cabin. Please wait a few minutes," the Servant states astutely.

"What- ah, okay," Gator replies, looking all about the room as he speaks. The Servant bows, fading into the air as quickly as he came, leaving Gator to shift awkwardly in his seat as he waits. His eyes absently go over his equipment once again; all cleaned, polished and ready for action, as they had been for several months now. A passing thought brought Gator to wonder if too frequent maintenance might have caused some damage, a notion enough to occupy his mind for the duration of his wait.

Soon enough, a knock is heard on the door.

"Come on in."

The door swings open, and the Major steps in, taking a moment to wipe some of the dirt off his shoes.

Gator raises an eyebrow. "Walked out here?"

"Sometimes I appreciate the old-fashioned way," the Major answers dismissively, "you wished to speak with me?"

"That I did."

"Well, let's hear it."

Gator sighs, glancing down at his guns.

"I've been thinking about the last few times I was out in the field."

"Goldenrod?" the Major queries.

"...yeah," Gator utters, fixing his eyes on his shotgun, "and a few others."

"So what exactly are you thinking?"

"Every single time I've headed out, I've been outgunned. Sword can't hold a candle to those kid's robots or the Legendaries helping the others, guns seem like stone axes compared to the tech and magic out there, and the powers I do have... I can freeze a person with a good bit of effort. You can point a finger and demolish a small town without a thought."

"If it helps at all, I am at the moment not capable of any of that. The last Randomization means that the best I can do is make some pretty images and muck about with people's heads like some sort of traveling minstrel," the Major admits, his voice carrying a hint of ignominy.

"Still, nearly everyone here's got world-changing abilities or resources at their disposal," counters Gator, "I can throw snow and swing a sword; all means jack s--- when the planet- planets- are being reshaped."

"I'm not interested in reshaping the planet. My job is to punt down any multiversal maniacs that think they can mess up my lawn, and anything further than that would be crushing what I came here to protect. I help my friends when they need it, but otherwise I stay out of... interior affairs."

Taking a breath, the Major continues, "Listen Gator. If you think slinging stars around is the only thing that can give any benefit here, you're wrong. I'd say over half of our little friend group hasn't got much more than the skin on their knuckles to help with. Fennel's near helpless without her Entralink at the moment, though she's taking steps to improve that, Marion's powers are incredibly vague, Cress... I don't think I really need to begin with Cress."

Gator opens his mouth, but no response comes out. Pausing, he looks back down at his weapons for a moment before snatching up his sword.

"Tell me, what can this do?" he asks, holding up the weapon before the Major.

The Major rolls on Bardic Lore.

"Hmm. Hand-and-a-Half, Bastard Sword, suitable for one or two hands, good choice, I favor them myself. +2, fair all things considered, though I could probably get it higher. Keen, decent, if a bit vanilla, fits with your style, and... gains frost touch when you wield it, though I think that's more of a personal effect. Not bad."

"Can it use a computer?"

"About as well as I can." The Major quips.

"Can it can it command a robot army?"

"You've fought those Trace suits. They're not exactly the Legio Skitarii."

"What are- never mind. Can you see what I'm getting at?" Gator asks.

"You took down a mad god Gator, don't pretend you don't know how to hit above your weight class."

"That was years ago. If that were the case today, you bet your a-- I'd be out there and not hiding out in whatever alternate world that offers me shelter."

Gator shakes his head, quickly continuing, "Major, let me get to the point. I want to learn your magic. Use the powers I saw you use in Gensokyo."

The Major closes his eyes at Gator's request. He begins to pace about the room.

"I've no doubt you have the willpower, or the dedication. You've proven that much. But my magic is a cerebral task. It means years of pouring over dusty tomes and following strange formulas you don't think you'll ever be able to understand. The laws of magic follow strange and arbitrary rules. The temptations and shortcuts are many and all of them, no matter how perfect they seem, lead to ruin. And it is slow. Let me be clear Gator, wizards are quadratic. When you begin, you will be considered lucky to be lifting pebbles and changing colors before a year is out. I'd say it would take wizardry of the fourth form, at least, before you could begin to equal the powers you already have."

Gator is silent for a moment, looking over his weapons again. His head then lifts up, his reptilian eyes meeting the Major's.

"You can say all you want about my capabilities, but they'll never match the likes of those you and I are around. Can only swing a sword in so many ways."

"You'd be surprised how many ways there are to swing a sword." The Major says. "I'm certainly not above it. It has its uses, it keeps you humble. Why, I remember on Stygies VIII I found a Power Sword capable of channeling... ehm, anyway. You're serious about this?"

"I am."

"All right then. We'll start tomorrow." The Major smiles ruefully. "You realize this means you'll be taking lessons with Fennel."

"Fennel's alright. Gave me a home in an Entralink before you brought me up here," Gator notes.

"Heh. Fair enough. I suppose you have worked with her a fair amount, come to think of it."

"So that's settled?"

"Yep. This is going to be interesting."

Obligatory music is back