Within the bowls of Hell itself, the coming and passing of Ira’s great rule had been extinguished. For those who had dwelled in the fiery realm for far too long, this was nothing new; the leadership of this godforsaken place changed so randomly at times that there was really no point in hoping for a long-standing and permanent receiver. Rufus being a rare exception, it was as if Hell’s Throne was destined to forever be spilled over by blood and idiocy.

Well, no longer would this policy stand. Striding in the vast hallways of Hell’s center fold where the Throne was located stood a man of great power. Negativity and all sorts of horrid emotions emanated from his glare alone and with each step, the world that was Hell seemed to shrivel back and recoil out of instinct. At long last, the throne was his.

“E-Excuse me sir? C-Can you escort me?” came a voice to his side. Raising a brow and threatening to blow the hallway sky high, he glanced and saw a meek-looking woman appear before him; or maybe she had been walking alongside him the entire time? He could care less for the actions of those beneath him. Still, she was strange looking, even for Demonic standards; what Demon had green hair and carried a parasol around?

“If I must. After all, Hell’s New Leader must lead by example,” the great Demon Lord said with a roar. “Allow me then young one; where might we be heading to-”

“A-Actually, it’s, um, just this door coming up,” the woman said, looking as if she would trip on her own two feet. The Demon Lord paused, walking towards where the woman had pointed. Honestly, it looked like any one of the doors that led to one of the many rooms within Hell’s center. Maybe this was her personal domain or something? Well now that couldn’t be it because when he did open the door, the Demon Lord was met with nothing but a never-ending sea of flame.

“You said you wanted this room-hey!” the Demon Lord said, his voice rising into a startled crescendo. He wouldn’t have seen the boot shoved into his back, the catalyst to his demise into the room of molten liquid. Whether he died or not was really not a concern because just as quickly the green-haired woman slammed the door shut. Just for good measure, she crushed the knob within her palm too.

“Oh no. I seemed to have lied. I suppose that’s why I’m here in the first place,” said the woman. An expression of eternal dullness plagued her face and would remain so even as she turned on her heels and walked in the direction of the Throne room. "Then again, if you’re really that much of an idiot, you deserve to be in a place like this,” the woman muttered. And then she kicked the doors to the Throne down and walked inside to claim what was hers.

"Darn. Neat me to the punch." Artoria said, having just shifted an arm into overgrown muscle and having been about to punch down the door herself, but losing to the other interloper in speed. If anyone was paying close attention to her, they might notice a pair of rabbit ears replacing her wolf ears for a moment, shivering, and then turning back into wolf ears, all in less than a second, while Artoria stared at the new ruler of Hell. Her snaggle-toothed grin downturned for a bit, before returning with her next statement.

"So, if Rulership is determined by who's sitting in that chair.. Is it really comfy or something? Maybe magic?" Artoria asks, peeking into the room after the green haired woman, apparently not wanting to enter anymore. She certainly didn't make any threatening moves towards their new ruler, but considering the circumstances of the previous one's loss of the throne, that didn't exactly mean much.

"Er, I mean, is it really comfy, my Lady? Or maybe King? Queen? What title ya want? Should I spread the word or do you wanna munch on the next few chumps? Or make the reveal grand or something. I dunno." Her eye rolled away from the woman for a few moments as she pondered, before returning to the new Ruler, ending with a shrug of her returned to normal fluffy wolf paw sans giant overgrown muscle.

@TheWindel

Throughout the entire day, the shifting of power within the realm of Hell could be felt by the "The Hell Knight" Mephilus. Twice has he felt the shift from Rufus, to Ira, and then to another character. Unfortunately, he was out on a personal monster slaying quest when Ira had her inauguration, let alone the entire Battle Of Arcadia. In fact, he hasn't been officially seen by the rest of the demons for a good several months. He wasn't any outcast or anything, just busy with his little agenda. But when the new ruler that surpassed Ira came into play, he just had some time spared to pay it a visit. He smiles as he puts on his Phantom Horseman Armor.

---

As Mephilus approaches the gates leading to the Throne Room, she can see a wolf-like human girl by the entrance, followed by the gates opening violently from within. Looks like he was just in time. His presence shifted a massive change of hellish energy emitting through the entrance way. His armored suit made him look extremely imposing and ominous as he entered the castle, stopping half way to the new ruler's throne. He would stand silently for awhile, inspecting this new ruler. Not quite who he was expecting, but alas he didn't complain. Whether this individual will pass in a matter of hours, days, weeks, years, hell perhaps eternal, it didn't matter much to the Hell Knight. Perhaps after a rude remark for him to speak up or an insult on how he's so quiet, Mephilus then takes off his armored helmet, steam hissing from the seams as it reveals the demon's face. To many, he would look quite handsome.

"Welcome to Hell, milady." the demon welcomed her warmly, without a hint of ill-will as he bows down with a natural charm, "Call me Mephilus. I'm also known by many as "The Hell Knight", "Hell Walker", "The Armored Nightmare", "The Two-Faced Heretic", "The Titan Slayer", amongst many others. I hope the throne suits your rule perfectly. All of Hell's forces are at your very finger tips to command, including my services. What title do you so desire to have?"

"HEY! No fair, I asked first." Compared to the imposing Hell Knight, the pouty little wolf-girl stamping a paw on the ground indignantly did not quite match up in sheer awe factor. Once again, bunny ears momentarily popped up, but this time, there was no shiver. Lickety split, the wolf ears were back.

"Grr... Stupid showy arrogant guys always upstaging me with their waves of hellish energy and spikey red armor suits. Nnrr.. Ooooh, look at me I'm so special and awesome that I need to leak my power all over you like I'm an overfull nappy to bolster my ego and establish how strong I am.." She slightly further drew back behind the doorframe, grumbling under her breath and glaring and growling at the knight, one eye and her ears peeking out, as well as her giant paws. Her claws started digging into the doorframe, unintentionally starting to tear through it.

If the new ruler of hell wasn't in the room, and a complete unknown, Artoria would very definitely simply rip the door off its hinges and launch it at the source of her irritation. But her bunny ears had told her that pissing off the lady who had just gotten a new throne room might not be a good idea. Artoria had no idea whether the ruler liked this guy and frowned on property damage.

@TheWindel@Lmpkio

Lucille didn’t need to be a psychic to know that nothing but idiocy had long ruled Hell; and it was that same stupidity that continued to play into the Faction’s downfall. Rufus was a fool, Ira was an even bigger fool, and quite frankly, everyone in Faction was a fool for even participating in this stupid, fruitless war. But it mattered not for her, because it wasn’t her problem at the end of the day. This was just a hobby at the moment.

Settling herself upon the Throne of Hell, Lucille placed her parasol on the side and leaned it against her chair. After doing so, her eyes flicked up to see two fresh Demons appearing in her presence. One looked like a failed experiment for some sicko’s fetishes, and the other looked like the standard “Pretty Boy” variety of Demonology. Still, hearing their arguments was amusing to say the least.

“How about I call you Try Hard. You’ve got all the titles to back it up,” she said to Mephilus before swinging her gaze on the wolf girl. “And you. Shouldn’t you be locked up in a cage somewhere to rot? Well, I suppose I can find some use out of you two. Being the first ones to greet your new Queen after all,” Lucille said in a bored manner, leaning back in her Throne.

For a few moments, Lucille took the time to enjoy the back and forth between Mephilus and Artoria. By the smirk on her lips it was evident she was enjoying their little bout. “Call me what you see fit. People with common sense call me ‘Lucille’. People older than you call me the ‘Black Goat’. And one particular idiot calls me the ‘Mother of…’ well, I’ll let you figure that out.”

With a clap of her hands, Lucille looked down at her newfound subordinates, ideas spinning in her head at a mile a minute. Yes, she could get used to this. “Onto my first order of business in governing this pathetic excuse for a government. Who wants to be my official royal assassin? You seem a bit too clunky for the job Try Hard; you on the other hand, Furry, look like you can get quiet jobs done,” Lucille said, crossing her legs and resting her cheek on her fist.

---

Despite the faint glow that radiated off of Omega, the thick growth of the forest allowed to cowboy to hide almost completely from sight. Now the only question was if the Machina followed him or went off to fight a different target. Gripping his pistols tight he began to give them a charge while anticipating the enemy's arrival.

His wait would not be in vain, as after only a few moments the sound of a thruster could be heard at the tree line before being replaced by the sound of leaves and twigs being crushed beneath her boots. Holding his position, Omega listened as the Machina questioned why someone with a cowboy motif wasn’t aligned with them. Of course he had an answer, but giving it now would reveal him and surprise was his biggest advantage at that moment.

Once the approaching steps were right next to him, the spirit pounced. Springing from his hiding spot Omega drove his revolver blades toward Tatiana’s chest. Once they either made contact or were blocked, Omega replied to the earlier question. ”You’d think. But I much more prefer the home team. Besides, as I hear y’all already have a spirit on your side. My addition would just be redundant at that point.”

Focused on the duel, the witty cowboy failed to notice the rosey mist lingering at the edge of the forest, nor the flames that followed.

@Flamelord

---

Though his initial idea worked in keeping the first chainsaw away, Balrog soon learned that there was more where that came from and he was far from prepared. In the instance the titans clashed Graf brought down a second chainsaw directly on Balrog’s machine gun arm. He could do nothing but watch as the saw cut deeper and deeper into the gun before he decided he had to fire back. Unloading with the busted gun proved effective in breaking the saw’s chain, but the damage done from the saw plus the inevitable backfire rendered the gun completely inoperable.

It was for naught it seemed as Graf had even more chainsaws ready to go, and they all began to slice at Balrog each cutting deeper into his armor. To make matters worse, Balrog’s thrusters lacked the strength to counter Graf as he forced Balrog down aiming to smash him to the ground. It seemed the demon’s only option was to use his missiles, but doing so at this range would almost assure his own destruction.

Things seemed bleak, until a familiar red mist began to envelope the air. Thanks to his demonic nature, Balrog was left unaffected while Graf began to feel the sting of the acid. This was his chance to try something crazy. Ripping his flails off of the first chainsaw, Balrog engaged his thrusters, but instead of fighting Graf’s, pointed them to the right. Simultaneously, he fired several rockets the same direction to give him some extra push.

The thrust was just enough to push Balrog out of the way while Graf continued on his path to the mountain. No longer toe to toe, there was no danger in using the missiles. “You want body back? HERE! HAVE MISSILES FIRST!” Balrog yelled as he unleashed a barrage on Graf.

@Lucius Cypher

Tatiana Lorenz

The hunt was fairly long, or at least it seemed that way to her. She had been aware of the sudden appearance and then disappearance of demons on the island, but did not want to get distracted hunting them when her foe might use the opportunity to kill her. She also was aware of the nearing fire and the demonic mist, which her filters were currently straining against even as it ate at her armor. This was a problem, and she needed to end this fight before it went on too long. Otherwise she would be out of luck and it wouldn't matter whether she won or not.

Her weapons swept the area as she stepped forwards, eyes ready and alert to confront the foe wherever he appeared. She could not fail now. Even though he did have some element of surprise as he struck from the bush, she was nonetheless ready to react quickly and did so. A purplish barrier flared into existence as she activated her powers, buying hr enough time to drop a rifle and produce a beam sword that blazed into life with a blue glow. So he wanted a melee fight? She could handle that.

Of course she had her other tricks, and she would give no indication of what was coming as she held the sword until they struck. If he hadn't noticed the mist, he also probably had not noticed the funnels responding to her silent direction until they had lowered into place and opened fire behind him.

She used the distraction to dodge to the side and unleash a blast of Soulfire at him, figuring it would be effective even if the funnels failed to do the job. She needed to finish this quick, and if that meant playing unfair then so be it.

@Awesomoman64

~Ah, that expression of distant amusement, of believing the fools that pranced in front of you were no more than playthings. Those words that expressed a belief that you were nothing more than property that thinks it's a person... It's just like I'm back in Hohenheim's resplendent presence..~ Artoria blushed at Lucille's harsh words reminding her of her one sided crush, "Sssso her name's Lucielle.." She whispered to herself with a forked tongue slither.. Then she composed herself, slipping into the room, still staying near the back close to the door. ~No, I must be loyal to Hohenheim, someday I'll capture the form of some legendary being that catches even Hohenheim's interest, and I'll finally get Hohenheim's attention! And this sounds like a great way to do it.~ "Sounds like a great way to eat a lot of new people, I'm in, Queen Lucille." The forked tongue still showed, a few puffs of frosty white escaping with her breath.

~Ooooh, I bet she's got someone she wants killed right away if she's already asking for an assassin. I hope it's him.~ Artoria glared at the Hell Knight some more from her position at the back of the room. If looks could kill, she'd definitely be doing lethal damage at this point. But, alas, she did not have the Valuable Metal Eyes, which was another thing on her list of 'Maybe Hohenheim'll pay attention to me if I bring her these'.

Eventually, her bloodlust filled eyes returned to Lucille, impatiently waiting for a delicious target to be announced.

@TheWindel@Lmpkio

"She said let go!"

Coming out of no where was a large, rocket-powered fist coming right for Henry's jaw. However killing him was only the secondary objective: the first was saving Bastion. She knew that her sister would eventually get on her case about it, but Shizuka wasn't going to stand around waiting for her. The battle was getting too chaotic to hope that orders come through the command line, so now Shizuka was just going to have to clean things up herself. Right now the only people Shizuka could account for was Bastion and Bonesword. She was somewhat aware that Grafdakka was somewhere in the red mist, but she has no idea where he was or what was happening to him. Shizuka could also pick up telepathic links from her sister, and she seemed to be hidden somewhere on the islands.

"Just stand there and look pretty for me."

Hibiki was fine. Though her plane got shotdown, she chose to eject before she was hit and landed on an island not too far from where she was shot down. She remained hidden until the angel's forces moved on and made sure to keep moving once the red mist started forming. Her plans had quickly fallen apart, but Hibiki remained cool and simple took out her Bionic Rifle. Saw saw Grafdakka get consumed by Victoire's acidic fog, so Hibiki fired a full magazine of nanomachines at the mecha. They would go through his systems and keep Grafdakka healthy for his fight with Balrog, if only for a short time. Then Hibiki scanned the battlefield for other targets when she found her sister getting into a fight with Henry. He seemed to be in the middle of kidnapping Bastion.

"Well that wouldn't do at all."

They were rather far away, but Hibiki was confident that she could make the shot. Sticking her finger into the air Hibiki ran some quick math through her head to account for the wind pressure, humidity, the velocity of her bullet, and the general madness going on around them. It wouldn't be an easy shot, but not Hibiki's hardest. At least this time she had time to line up her rifle. So taking careful aim, Hibiki fired twice: One shot to Henry's face, and another shot to the back of Zak's head. From this distance Hibiki wasn't worried about her rifle making too much noise; it was far too loud with all the wind blowing here anyways. Looking behind her Hibiki smirked before moving somewhere safer.

Behind her was the crashed and damaged Falken. That laser attack had effectively destroyed the plane, but Hibiki wasn't known as the Heal Bot for nothing. She had her repair drones go out in full force to salvage what resources they could to rebuild the Falken. It wouldn't have all it's equipment, namely the V2 and most of it's missiles. However they could at least make it operational, load up it's main gun, and recreate the Excalibur TLS. It was all Hibiki needed really. So as she hid, she waited for her repair drones to finish their job. And on the off chance that anyone finds out what's happening here, they'll be in for a nasty surprise.

@TheWindel@floodtalon@Inner Demon

---

A small little frog was busy running around on his stumpy legs in the halls of Hell's castle, with a pretty well-made tiny gun on his back. He wasn't well known around Hell, but he did have his ways into places of notability. Anyone nearby would be able to hear the hums emanating from this frog, which was to a rather catchy tune. There was the occasional skip from the frog while he hummed the song. He happily leapt through the halls until he managed to make it to the main room of Hell, where the new ruler of Lucille was busy watching over her other troops. The frog stopped his happy jumps as he walked through the main room, however his humming did not cease.

He gleefully approached the woman who was sitting on the throne and began to do a bit of a small dance towards her. Well... "dance" is probably a euphemism for just bobbing around rhythmically. After the song was finished, the froggy puppet looked up at Hell's queen and took a small bow towards her before introducing himself to her. "Hello miss! I am Kermit the Frog! Do you wish for me to sing you one of my favorite songs?" asked the frog. It was clear that he had no intentions of causing mischief at the time, rather he just wanted to do what he was originally made for, and that was to entertain.

"To my sides lie a snooty trickster and a fluffy bunny. I hope they enjoy the show as well~!" the frog thought as he began to repeat his rhythmic bobbing, although it was to no tune this time around.

@TheWindel@The 42nd Gecko@Lmpkio

Of course, when Mephilus asked for her title, Artoria complained on how she asked first and that this wasn't fair. Ah, how cute does the wolf-creature girl look when she's angry, especially when pounding her foot on the ground. He hasn't seen or heard of her for a long while, but they hadn't properly met before. The Hell Knight simply chuckled as he ruffles her hair a bit.

"Ah, my apologizes." he replied chillingly, yet politely, "It's not quite my fault that I have the same idea as yours."

They both were presented with the name of Lucille for the new ruler of Hell, and "Black Goat" as a nickname. In return, both Mephilus and Artoria were given their own little nicknames, the former being "Try Hard" and the latter "Furry". Mephilus didn't bother much of that nickname. In fact, it was rather ironic, considering those names were given by the locals of both Hell, Machina, and Heaven. King Rufus even bestowed him the title of "Lord" and "Hell Knight". The others were names he takes for granted, with only a sliver of pride or care. Reason why he gave them out was just out of spite. He simply shrugs at that remark. After all, he's been called much worse nicknames before.

Lucile moves on to assign an official royal assassin, picking "Furry" for the job, considering that Mephilus looked "too clunky".

"All fine by me." he remarks, "Never really was the type to sneak around all that much. I'm more of a heavy hitter kinda guy myself."

Shortly after he said his answer, he hears someone humming a tune from behind. Looking back, he sees... a walking, talking, frog. Well... this is something. Apparently his name is Kermit the Frog, who likes to play songs. Mephilus paused for a minute, until realizing something.

"Wait..." he says looking down at Kermit, "Aren't you supposed to be some sorta puppet? Heard about some kid's TV show called the uh... 'Mappets?' Milf-ets? uh what was it *snapping fingers*... Oh, Muppets yeah?"

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Lots of stuff happened, Bastion waking up being the most important thing. Henry created a quick platform in the middle of the air, throwing Bastion onto it as he prepared to fight again. It was at this moment that her restraining collar should kick in as it shocked her mercilessly. "Stay put. If you try and get off the platform the collar will shock you into submission." Along with the collar, several chains wrapped around Bastion and were anchored to the floating platform. Henry sighed and drew his sword, looking at his temporary ally in the form of Bonesword.

Suddenly a rocket powered fist came out of nowhere, yet Henry saw it coming pretty easily due to her loudly telegraphing her attack. Henry kinda just moved back to avoid her and let her rocket past him. Some people have no common sense really. "Go wait in the corner, the adults are talking right now little girl."

"Thanks for the help. Sorry for trying kill you earlier." Then Bonesword went hurtling through the air as he attempted to tackle an incorporeal clone. Henry looked at the main angel and smiled. "I would be happy to." Henry made the first move as he zoomed towards Zak with a heavy overhand strike, followed by several Silver axes appearing around Henry and striking at Zak from all sides.

Artoria was absolutely staggered... This... This... MAN.. Had just pat her head. She reeled back. He was no cute animal girl, he wasn't even a cute girl like Hohenheim or Lucille.. THIS TRAVESTY WOULD NOT STAND. Her blue eye twitched, as a shiver ran down her body.

Artoria completely lost her composure, her mouth opening, and not words of rage but a tidal wave of icy mist spreading forth, aimed to freeze both the Hell Knight and anything in a cone around him. She had been charging up an attack, in case Lucille had indeed wanted her to kill the Hell Knight, and now she used the power of the Leviathan regardless of Lucille's command or lack of there of in her rage. With the Hell Knight distracted by looking at the frog, his first sign of the attack would be when ice crashed over him. Yet, oddly, even if the attack did strike him, there would be no pain, and while entangled, blinded, and made a bit chilly by the ice, he would not seem to take any damage.

Fortunately for Artoria, the angle of the attack meant it wasn't aimed at either Frog or Lucille, so getting triple teamed for her lack of composure wasn't a 100% given.


@TheWindel@Lmpkio@Banana

The amount of people arriving was starting to give Lucille a headache. That and her irritation was beginning to fester and grow with each passing second, only capitlized by a sudden throaty voice announcing itself. Lucille death stared at the frog puppet, ignoring his introductions as well as his singing. So this was what she was dealing with in terms of lackeys and pawns. It was a little disheartening-assuming she had one-but frankly it was obvious why Hell was losing this war. Especially when everyone inhabiting it was a complete idiot. Still, her gaze lingered on Kermit a moment longer; she would be using him for more recreational things much later down the line. For now she turned away from his singing to look at Try Hard and Furry.

Just after asking Kermit a "totally-not-breaking-the-fourth-wall-question", Mephilus hears a roar of anguish coming from Artoria, followed by a sound of chilly-wind. In almost an instant, the Hell-Knight creates a portal and wields his massive shield and blocks the incoming attack. Other than feeling slightly chilly, he didn't seem to be affected by the attack at all, not even flinch otherwise. Only after the cold subsided did the Hell Knight sigh and look directly at the wolf-rabbit-serpent-girl, chuckling as he lowers his shield. "Really?" he remarks as he looks at her almost jokingly, "Is that the best you can do? You're going to have to try much harder than that if you want to~"

But before he could finish, the icy air began to condense as it covers his entire body. Then he feels a weird sensation, as if his whole body began to change. His body began to change, with his armor merging into his body and gaining some particular curves in his chest and buttocks. Yet the armor began to form into hard armored scales that covered most of his entire body. His face became slightly enlongated as he eventually resembled a humanoid-Pangolin... with nine fox tails because reasons. Mephilus looks at his body with relative surprise. The frigid air morphed him into this creature hybrid, and his gender changed into a girl! He, or maybe she, was completely taken off guard by this attack.

"Teheheeee... Aw, you're so cute now, look at us, we could be twins!" Artoria popped up at Mephila's side during the distracting changes, sporting a similar set of animal parts, also being a fox-pangolin hybrid. She reached around for a christian side-hug. But it would be hard to mistake them for twins, as Artoria's figure and colorations were different. Still, Artoria was cackling like mad, who needed to kill your target when you could just make them adorable!

"Hmmmm..." Mephilia responds in a low, tomboyish tone, "This isn't so bad... Hell do I look absolutely fabulous and awesome in this."

"WAIT WHAT? THIS HAS NEVER WORKED BEFORE! REALLY?!?" Artoria seemed to forget how to work, or how indoor voices worked for a moment, stunned at the possibility of this actually having worked for once. She was bouncing up and down for a moment, tail wagging furiously, her shoulder bumping into Mephila's arm from Mephila's greater height.

Then Artoria went in for a big side hug as Mephilia took the embrace. For a measily few seconds, it really seemed like her thoughts were actually true. She proceeds to putting two hands on the girl's cheeks, embracing them softly as if she was going to kiss her new maker. Then came a sickening "CRACK", as the wolf girl's neck snapped, without remorse and without pity.

Artoria's features brightened, her face flushed, and then she slumped to the ground from a terminal case of snapped neck. As Mephilia drops her limp body down to the ground, her body began to change again, this time reverting back into his original form as Mephilus, with armor and all. He clears his throat, brushing his armor off before looking down at this fool.

"Like I said," he repeats to her, "You're going to have to try much harder than that if you want to succeed. I never really liked that new form anyways. Just doesn't fit my style."

It was at this moment that the familiar form of a generally pissed off Incubus pushed open the doors to the throne room and ascended the stairs, stopping just at the top. He noticed many things, but mostly a frog with a machine gun and a brand new Queen on the throne for the second time that week. If one looked at him for even a fraction of a second, they would easily notice a vein bulge out in his forehead, fit to violently burst. And this being Sliske, this was exactly what he did.

"What. The. Fuck!? This shit again!? I leave to fortify everything Hell owns while you go fight for some useless islands, and the throne changes hands AGAIN!? Okay, fuck you all, this is my show now!" Eyes flaring to life with something short of silver, one of his rifts opened up and the foot of an Overblesser stepped out, only to be cut off with the portal closing. The reason was an ornately crafted glaive flying from behind the throne and lodging itself in the demon's chest.

The thrower of the weapon stepped out from the shadows of the room, his glaive ripping itself out of the victim's chest and flying back to the owner's hand. "Sliske, I've known you for one minute, and I want you dead already."

"AH FUCK! IF YOU WANT ME DEAD THEN PUT ME DOWN!" Reckless as ever when the blood got to his head, Sliske's right arm transformed into its weaponized form, excepting the last couple inches of the blade. He took a haphazard swing at the aggressor, only to find the strike met with a second glaive. Before he could react, a dull, swirling portal opened on the left of the man dressed in drab motley and he felt a sharp edge dive through his back.

A grin full of needle-like teeth opened up in the fool's mask with a definitive victory. "You're nothing, Swindler. Your army is a boon, but you? Useless. Leave this war, for your own sake." With that, he opened his mouth wide and bit Sliske's head off at the neck with a sickening crunch, proceeding to devour the rest of his body as well.

A very deep sigh was heard from Lucille at the mess formerly known as Sliske. Wonderful. But what was most annoying, most irritating for her, was the masked man who had appeared in her throne room like a phantom. Lucille looked down on the newcomer with barely hidden scorn in her sight. Oh now this was one very annoying; just the sight of him made her want to toss him about or maybe ram something hard and permanent into him. "I think I'll call you Asshole," she muttered under her breath before sweeping her gaze over the pathetic lot gathered before her.

"You see, this is why you idiots keep losing," Lucille hissed, watching Artoria crumble like a sack of flesh while Mephilus rejoiced in his petty victory. "You can't function one moment without being at each other's throats...well, I suppose that's in your nature now isn't it?" Lucille said, raising an eye at the wolf girl. Oh so she wasn't dead after all? Maybe she had some use. "Ah, but see that's why I'm here," Lucille continued, a malicious smirk creeping onto her features calmly. "You idiots have been led by bigger idiots and I can see clearly now that their stupidiy has dripped down to the ranks and influenced you all. Weak and eager for your own betrayel. But we're going to change all that. I understand that you've lost many of your fellow soldiers to Heaven."

A prison break? That sounded like a joyous idea to the Frog, as there were people that needed saving for Hell's forces, and honestly it would be better than sitting around here watching the wolf-girl desperately trying to... play with Mephilus. The Frog cheerfully bobbed around as he spoke up to the queen of Hell before him. She was the only one he knew as the queen so he addressed her as such. "Miss Queen of Hell, do you need me to assist you with this task? I want to be a helpful friend to you, and while I can't sing to you right now I will give you my power as a frog!"chuckled the Frog, who returned to humming his tune as he waited for a response from the queen.

Next on the list of returning demons came Ghelgath, being carried by the Ice Sargent. The Sargent was panting rather quickly as he careful puts the unconscious Lich's mangled body on the floor. He was not in good shape by the laser blast on his shoulder and one of his kneecaps being blown out by the robot sniper Marquis, but is still alive none of the less. The Sargent quickly looks in his pack, scuttling through the case until finding an icy model of a heart. Griping the Frozen Heart, he proceeds to literally jam his open fist into Ghelgath's chest and ripping out the old one in the process. The old heart was already worn out and was beginning to melt. Quickly, the Sargent throws it away and inserts the new heart in to replace it. After a few seconds, it began to connect to the heart vesicles and began to merge with him. This prompted a rapid regeneration boost that completely healed the Ice Lich in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, his eyes open with a quick inhale as he starts coughing violently for a moment. The Sargent sits him up while patting his back. As soon as the Ice King stops hacking, he looks around the room in confusion.

"Ughhh," he groans groggily, "What happened? W-Where the hell am I?"

He then mentally recognizes that he's back at the throne room. He sees several new faces in the room, mostly demon, until looking at who's sitting on the throne herself. The Lich opens and closes his eyes rapidly, trying to figure out who she is.

"W-Who is she?" he asks dazedly as he begins to get up, "I-Is that the bitch Ira?"

"No my lord," the Sargent responds bluntly, "It's the new Queen."

Once he gets up on his two feet, Ghelgath's vision finally came back as he takes a gander at who's on the throne. And... well it really wasn't much better. Or so it seems. But, he did want the previous queen to step down so... yay? He simply growls quietly as he looks at Lucilie coldly.

"Aaaand so she is." he says while rolling his neck, "Ugh, listen. I hated that previous Queen that came in. I'm already beginning to hate you a bit... but you know what, I'm going to give you a chance. I reaaaaaaally hope you have what it takes to lead us lot, unlike the last one."

"What a surprise. I hate you too. Get over it Popsicle,"[ Lucille said in response.

Artoria rose back up from the ground, cricking her neck a few times. Lucille really did remind her a lot of Hohenheim. But her derision was lacking the elegance of the inimitable Hohenheim. "Well, uh, sorry, I don't really know anything about the status of our forces. I was running around making monster girls. But, uh, I just managed to gain a whole new slew of powers without any risk to Team Hell." Regenerating from what would be fatal without her heart always left her feeling like she had just awakened, so she stretched her arms a bit.

Still in her new fox/pangolin form, Artoria started by making a flickering flame in her tails, playing with them back and forth, before making a portal under her feet to send her into the air, and then jets of flame from her tails propelling her flying around the room, occasionally portalling around inside to avoid smashing into a wall. Not succeeding 100% of the time.

Mephilus looks back to see the furry girl resurrected from the dead. He simply sighs as he looks at her blankly.

"Wheee! I like these powers, Mephila, thanks!" Artoria said, pulling a face at Mephilus as she jetted by.

The Hell Knight simply stood motionlessly as he shifted his attention back to Queen Lucilie.

Had it all been a ruse before? Was it really all just as planned? Nope. Artoria was heartbroken, and was trying to play it cool. And failling, by flailing around the room like an idiot.

As the lanky figure finished his first meal in several millenia, he looked up at Lucille with a blank expression, lips slowly twisting into a smile. "Call me what you will, though my name is Gregorovic." He cackled, his weapons folding on their own accord. "And before you ask, I'd love to take revenge on the Angels. They owe me a few years, to say the least." He took a moment to grab Artoria by the ankle as she spun out of control past him, dragging her back to solid ground.

Gregorovic would find that he had dragged Artoria "down" to the ceiling, which she latched onto, upside down, with her claws. She smiled smugly down at Gregorovic, proud of her quick thinking with portals.

"Shut up Greg," Lucille said before looking at the wolf girl's "corpse". "Well aren't you an eye-sore," Lucille commented, watching the unsightly display that was Artoria's awakening. Either the revival process for death was faster than usual or that Angel of Death was slacking off. Whatever the case, she could see those gathered here were excited by what she was implying. And if they weren't? That wasn't her problem now was it. They could either follow her word or get out. The door was quite literally, right there. "If you don't like it, the door is right there," she said simply, directing Ghelgath to the shattered entrance. "I'm going to overlook your words but watch your tongue Popsicle. Or I might just have Furry here rip it out for me."

Artoria waved cheerfully at Popsicle, to help him figure out which one Furry was. He sounded tasty! She had by now returned to her standard wolf form.

Ghelgath simply rolled his eyes with a snarl of bitter disgust. Maybe Ira wouldn't have been such a bad choice after all. Oh well, too late now.

"We're all on board with kicking the Imperator's teeth in? Yes? Good! Consider it a test run of how much you can keep my annoyance low on the field. Or think of it as an analysis of your skills; I really don't care," Lucille said, giving each of them their orders. "Go and prepare our departure Try Hard. Pray I don't eviscerate you Greg. Walk it off Popsicle. Go ahead and act as our scout Furry. As for you Muppet, you're going to be broadcasting our little endeavor on your show. Any questions? No? I didn't think so."

"As you wish." Mephilus nods as he puts on his Phantom Headpiece. He then proceeds to prepare for the incoming prison break.

"Okay! I'm gonna go run off and get my stuff to broadcast this across Hell. Be back in a flash!" cheerily replied the Frog, who hopped out of the room quickly, and hastily returning to the main room of Hell's castle and placing his various equipment down. "I'll set this up while we leave, Miss Queen!" the frog said as he hastily began setting up his equipment.

"No problem, Queen Lucille!"

Ghelgath simply walks off to get his body ready into shape. A quick eat and drink should replenish his strength and vigor.

While everyone either abruptly left or trickled out, Gregorovic remained, his slits tracking Lucille like a predator would track prey. His mouth split once again, showing rows of stark white teeth that were unsettling to most. "Do I really look so much like the Jester, Lucille? Last I remember, he had a cloak." He chuckled, seeming to laugh at a joke only he was aware of. The chuckle would be short last because Lucille was standing in front of him with a speed that was most unsual. She didn't seem like the fast type honestly but judging from her frown, Greg's words had struck a nerve. With a heave and a ho, she raised the masked Demon up high before slamming him into the ground, leaving behind an audible crack in both the sound barrier and the floor.

"Mention that name again. Go on, I'm asking you," Lucille said casually, hand still clenched around the Demon's arm in a death grip. That wouldn't kill him, of this she knew but it would definitely hurt. "I'm perfectly fine with doing this all day and if I have to beat that mask off of you, then that's alright too. So go right ahead Greg. Keep mentioning that name in front of me. I need a new punching bag," Lucille continued, repeatedly slamming him into the floor, not caring if she was making a scene.

As Greg was slammed into the ground repeatedly by Lucille, the smile disappeared from his lips ever so slowly. "Duly- UNF! Noted." Aside from the jerking of his body into the floor of the throne room every couple seconds, he seemed to have very little reaction to being manhandled by a woman that was not that much shorter than him. To put an end to it, he opened up a small portal underneath him that ended up spitting him out a few feet to the right.

"Anyhow, my blades are yours for the meantime." The harlequin promised, taking the left glaive from his hip and tossing it into the air idly.

"If you want me to kill him for you, I'll steal his blades for you so that you still have them, only in the hands of someone who hasn't indirectly promised to betray you eventually." Artoria popped her head back in, ears up and excited at the sound of the pounding that possibly meant Gregorovic was getting pummeled by Lucille. The Faceless One looked straight at the girl he had pulled out of the air, staring in silence for a short second before running his tongue across his teeth.

"You know what? You're the only one who in this room who hasn't ticked me off. You and that Muppet knock-off. If he starts being mouthy, you can kill him all you like," Lucille said to the wolf girl, walking back to her throne. "Now. Does anyone else want to make the stupid decision of challenging me? No? Then get to work," she barked, frown never changing.

The macabre jester bowed low to his Queen, signalling his submission to her rule. "Very well. I won't disappoint... now all I need is a cape." Grin plastered across his face, Greg stood erect and took his leave.

---

Tossing his joint toward the oncoming demons face, Zak dove backward, crossing his blade of holy holy flames with the axes that dropped from above. Another blade materialized in his other hand, clashing with the axes from below. In a spin of motion and fire, Zak deflected the majority of the axes, using their own momentum to send them crashing into each other. Before Henry could completely close the distance with weapon in hand, the joint Zak tossed exploded in a bright flash of golden light and fire as it came within inches of the demons face, sending white hot holy flames spewing in every direction.

A yelp escaped him as one of the projectiles slashed across his chest, tearing through his already tattered shirt and leaving a red gash in its place. "Argh! Ye doaty bloody blatherin son of a scabby faddle fucker!" As Zak recoiled, bending down and covering his chest with a muddled expression across his face, Henry was swiftly and unexpectedly engaged by one of the Machina, flying in with a rocket propelled punch. Seeing the opportunity, Zak drew his hands back and let loose the two blades. letting out a slightly pained grunt, he threw the sabers forward through the air toward the demon. Holy flames split the air as the sabers spun like buzz saws toward Henry. One toward his neck and the other toward his legs.

Zak stumbled, loosing his balance slightly as the pain from his would nagged at his body. That couple with the recoil of throwing the tow blades sent him collapsing backward onto on knee. Simultaneously, he felt a rush of wind pass over his head and a few hairs fall down over his face. The bullet mean for the fiery hair angel passed right over him and toward Henry who had just charged directly at him. Zak's eyes grew wide before he looked back, peering through the distance toward where the shot had come from. "Oh no no no not this again. Enough with the snipers!" Another pained grunt escaped Zak as he receded from the battle with Henry and took cover behind the tree he was previously leaning against. A familiar position. A few drops of blood spattered against the charred tree trunk as he reclined behind it. "Ye know what?...Ah don't hafta do this! Ah got the bloody prize. Ah'm out of here!" Zak whistled, calling back his hounds and other flame born servants. Each quickly came to him, forming up around him.

The clone of Zak launched forward at Bonesword, weapon drawn forward as it pierced through the air toward the skeleton. Dust blew off the ground as the clone flew over the edge of the landmass Bonesword was on and quickly close toward him. In a swift and heavy motion, The weapon came down toward his head. Then suddenly, smoke rushed over him in place of the fire that was the clones body as it vanished, outliving its live span. The hot air blew past accompanied by the sound of Zak shouting out in the background. "Ta hell with the lot o' ya! My eyes sting!" As the golem finally hobbled its way over, its size having significantly increased from eating earth and snipers, Zak crossed his arms and sat against the back of the tree, legs crossed as well. The ground below them turned red as the fiery serpent formed a circle around him and the other creations, biting its tail to begin form a portal to some obscure part of heaven.




Overwhelmed by the shock she felt through the link with Daimyo, Miyu fell into the crate feebly. After a quick tumble, cutting her hand on the jagged end of a rock, she landed next to the strange object. A streak of blood smeared across the dusty chrome surface of the sphere as she collided against it, slumping over at its side. The surge of electricity suddenly stopped and the area fell silent. The chirping from the object stopped. Several moments of quiet passed before sound and life burst into the sphere.

Tension in the air built up as the object went crazy, blinking rapidly and beginning to convulse. Its shape expanded and transformed, spinning and whirring rapidly as new features formed and locked into place. Mechanical growls escaped the conglomeration as it began to take on a more biological form. What once was the oval object had reformed into a cybernetic monstrosity. It propped itself up with its massive arms, tipped in dagger like claws. A second set of smaller arms emerged from what became the creatures abdomen. It stood on a pair of massive hind legs. Metallic plating locked into position across its form, layered over bio-mechanical muscles. As the beasts head emerged and slid into place, it set its eyeless gaze on Miyu. A maw filled with fangs hung open, letting out slow, ragged breaths. Steam shot into the air from the sides of the towering mechanical monstrosity that was Beast as it finished taking shape, followed by one last, high pitched chirp.

--B.E.A.S.T Unit operational--Biological material assimilated--Genetic identity processing--New Host registered to imprint database--Initializing nanitic link--

Darting out from within Beast's jagged maw was a small metallic tendril tipped with a thin chrome needle a couple inches long. The device swiftly lashed through the air, stabbing into the back of the unconscious angels neck. Thankfully she didn't have to feel the sensation of a stream of nanobots being pumped into her body, spreading down her spine as they rushed across her nerves and through her bloodstream. The tendril receded back, with Beast's jaws snapping closed over it. After a moment a few drops of silver liquid leaked from the small puncture at the base of Miyu's skull. The wound rapidly healed however, sealing itself up as if it never existed. The same quickly happened to the wound on her palm as her skin reconstructed itself, leaving only a small crimson stain where the blood had leaked. The rest of her body slowly began recovering from the damage done by the shock it received earlier. It would be no time before her senses would return to her.

A guttural rumble roiled out from the metallic belly of Beast, accompanied by a flash of several small neon lights that patterned its large form. "GGWWWWWWWWAAAAAAOOOOO!!!" A frighteningly loud mechanical roar bellowed out of the metal creature, echoing across the vacant wasteland, as it set its eyeless sights on Daimyo. Steam billowed from Beast's sides and a deep crimson glow emanated from its maw as it rose onto its hind legs and reared back. Pushing off the ground with massive force, Beast shot up through the air, tackling the massive mech with claws out and fangs bared. Loud grinding and shredding echoed out as the robotic monstrosity tore into Daimyo's right side, biting away at the metel shell of the massive mech and swallowing chunks of armor and circuitry whole.

"So they have found a way inside the Nexus," Iona said as she listened to Zeruel's accounts of the battle at Arcadia, before opening the message and reading it. "Arcadia is a very borderline territory, it's likely that that whole battle was a ruse to weaken the barrier. I'll need to get Juno back here at this moment," the Dark Archangel said more to herself than to Zeruel.

Finally, once she was done reading the contents of the letter, Iona directed her attention at Zeruel once more. "Prepare whoever you can, we will likely have another conflict before the skirmish at Arcadia is due," she said, after a moment of silence. "This may as well be beginning of another great crisis."

"What kind of disorder is happening on Hell? I knew that leaving it without a proper advisor would be a problem in the long run," Iona thought. "Why someone like the Black Goat is even here? Did she take advantage of whatever loophole they used as well?"

It was obvious to Iona that Lucille knew way too well what she was getting herself into. Even if the Dark Archangel couldn't spare the time to get a detailed reading of what was transpiring on the Halls of the Hell, she could feel all those wild fluctuations of power and the clearly brewing intent to strike down Celestia.

"Take the message to the Imperator. She shall give you directions on what to do after gathering your troops. I have my own mission to fulfill in a very short order," Iona turned her back to Zeruel and began to leave. Suddenly she turned on her heels, as if remembering something, and said, "You may read the contents of the message if you so do wish." After saying all she had to, the Dark Archangel made a brief pause so that Zeruel may say anything on his mind.

In case nothing else were to be said Iona would depart as soon as Zeruel turned his attention to other chores.

The contents of the mysterious missive, in case Zeruel decided to read it was the following message:

If you do not want your war to be ruined, you will have to best us. Spread this message to the other parts of your "Triumvirate" as well.

"Your Ragnarok will not be coming today."

— H.

Zeruel was silent as Iona read the contents of whatever the message held. He had no idea who those characters he encountered were, but if she was here, she sensed something big on the horizon. Something the Laguna Angel was obvious too, rather everyone else in Heaven for that matter. Once she finished reading, she turned her gaze towards the Laguna Angel, who looked very worried about the situation. She orders him to prepare whoever he can to prepare for the next conflict at hand, mentioning that another big crisis was due. The Arm of God nods.

"VERY WELL. I WILL PROVIDE TWO SUPPORTING LAGUNA ANGELS TO ASSIST IF NECESSARY. IF TRUE, THEY WILL BE READY BEFORE THE BATTLE."

The messenger than tells him to give it to the Imperator and she will provide him with orders. She then briskly walks off to do her little thing, with Zeruel doing his deed. However, Iona quickly stops and permits him to finally read whats inside. Zeruel turns around while lifting his tendril, acknowledging her statement before officially departing. He was also interested in what the message had to say. He could've read it earlier but figured that the higher officials would benefit more from it. However, with permission, he cares to take a gander at the message...

And what he saw both made him curious... and furious, almost crushing it to dust in his massive tendril.

The world that most popped to him was "Ragnarok". The death of various major figures and when the entire cosmos is destroyed and is subsequently re-created. The world's slate will be wiped clean. Whoever these "characters" are, they mean't trouble... big trouble. Zeruel may have been almost obliterated during the Battle of Arcadia, but he can still fight. And with other Laguna Angels at his side, they will be a major force to be reckoned with. With that, he continues to the Imperator's Throne Room...

---

Some time later, the Angel of Might enters Deva's Room and walks towards His Majesty in his human form. Once he gets close enough, he bows before speaking.

"THE GLORIOUS AND ALMIGHTY IMPERATOR DEVA," booms Zeruel as his tendril presents her the scroll for her to read, "I BRING AN URGENT MESSAGE. YOUR ORDERS ARE MINE TO FOLLOW ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU SEE FIT."

"Hee, she'll never spot me through this portal while I'm invisible!" Artoria smiled as she had successfully portal-tailed the one responsible for capturing Ira and Victoire. Ira had apparently been the last last ruler of Hell, so if Artoria captured her abilities, or the abilities of one who had captured Ira, Hohenheim would have to notice her!

"Let's see, she's... Oh... Uh.. Wow... That's..." Artoria had difficulty functioning as her face turned red. While possessed of a form or two that did have red faces, this was not shapeshifting, but simply inexperience. Blinking and turning away, she felt woozy. ~Ooh.. That was.. I should calm down for a second.. So many cute girls.. But what if Ira was a raven, they look great when they're hateful... Oooh, and the one on top with some horns or antlers... Really show off that dominance, even if it doesn't make sense for a girl to have them..~ She utterly failed at calming down, and found herself dizzily stumbling through the portal, into a table, and then onto all fours on the floor, having loudly announced her presence to everyone.

"Uhh..." Artoria looked around at everyone ignominiously revealing her position, tail well and truly floofed up, still blushing like mad, which was visible now that the camouflage was down without her concentration. She suddenly recovered into a fighting stance, and she started saying things at top volume to try and recover, or something. "I'm Artoria! I like short skirts because they're comfy and they can flirt on and off with the Streisand effect! I'm scouting! What's your name? Let's fight!"




@Lonewolf685

In the span of a few decisive moments, what was left of the Machina force had assembled in the skies; apart from Grafdakka and Cherry. Bastion however, would have no time to greet her allies because the one intent on stealing her away forced her onto a platform to rest. “If you think I’m just gonna sit here and wait, you’re wro-gahh!” she said, body contorting at the pain resonating from her collar. Twitching on her side, she grunted more as chains suddenly ripped about and pinned her to the platform like a bound worm.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, gritting her teeth and focusing her gaze on the chains holding her down. Physical movements might have triggered the collar, but the Eyes were above such limitations. Thus, her right red pupil would shift into a golden color and she went to work slowly dismantling the chains. The collar would have to come next along with doing anything else in this last struggle for Arcadia.

Back in the holy land that was Celestia, Zeruel would walk upon the might and glory that was the divine Imperator of Heaven. Perhaps with such grace and power, he would not notice the tremble in her body or the flash of panic laying in her gaze. “The Black Goat has been brought to the Nexus…who thought that was a good idea,” she muttered, more than a little paranoid each time a flower or any other sort of vegetation was caught in her sights.

“Yes, yes, what is it?” the Imperator said, straightening up in her throne before the mighty Laguna. Whatever it was, it was probably bad news. Before Zeruel would have the chance to speak though, the Imperator suddenly froze on the spot. A demonic presence had been sensed roaming Heaven; it couldn’t be the Black Goat, could it? Yet as she checked more thoroughly, she realized the size of such power was much too fluid to be Lucille’s.

She held back a sigh, calm being restored to her figure. The day Lucille was able to walk freely in this righteous palace was…well, best not to think on it. At least the intruder was being dealt with now. “Continue your announcement Zeruel. What did you want to speak to me about?” she said, looking over the scroll she was given. "And...what does this mean exactly?"

---

"Huh? I never thought either of these prisoners had anyone willing to save them." Hildr said, assuming the bizarre creature with animal features was another wayward creature form the depths of Hell looking to make their bones by mounting the Elder Valkyrie. "Really bad timing for you. Normally you'd have a fair shot of bagging me, but my plate is real full right now and I'll figuratively and literally be damned if Ira is leaving here in one piece."

The Elder Valkyrie turned away from the succubus and dethroned queen, both of them chained to the floor in a horribly malicious bastardization of muscle therapy and the only scraps of garment to protect their modesty were the night clothes stuffed into their mouths and fitted over their heads as impromptu blindfolds. She'd been rather enjoying the sight of her prisoners trembling in agony, the soles of their feet pressed together while there knees were stuck in a raised position.

"It's called Tremor Release Exercise. You'll be joining them in it for trying to interrupt my interrogation, since I'd like to know who you're scouting for...eh, short skirts are cliché."

Bending down, Hildr picked up a paddle that had been resting upon the now overturned table, her eyes betraying her disapproval as all other manner of torture tool both lewd and lethal were now strewn about without a care for organization. Her eyes turned a clear silver and Artoria would find the air around her filled with similar bludgeons, each reared back with the tension of a batter's swing.

"Sit. Stay. Roll Over. Beg for mercy."

@The 42nd Gecko @TheWindel @KoL