---

---

The supernatural lowered his arms back to his side, drawing his shoulders up in a languid shrug.

"I'm just curious, I suppose. Amane always did call me nosy. Furthering that thought-- You aren't human, are you? There's no way a normal mortal would have survived, well, falling through an apartment building. What are you?"

Lucifer let out a small chuckle, wincing slightly as the reverberations sent waves of pain radiating though his upper body.

"Now that is quite the question indeed," he said, directing his gaze up to the sky above. "I have been many things to many people, but..."

Lucifer began to move, slowly at first, before gradually picking up speed as his body began to heal more rapidly. Getting to his feet and assuming a rather haughty pose, he stared down at Tsukasa with a downright manic grin.

"I am Lucifer, Son of The Morning! Day-Star of Heaven and the Anointed Cherub Who Covereth!"

He takes a step closer, taking hold of the sash of his garment with one hand, tucking the other behind his back.

"In short, my curious friend, I am the first and most powerful of the angelic host, hence why that fall proved to be little more than a... minor inconvenience."

DIO had one leg crossed over the other. "I understand completely, if not relate too you somewhat. I, DIO, also have discarded elements of my past that are unbefitting of me." DIO brushed some of the golden blonde hair from his face as Dracula asked him more about himself.

"And here I thought I was being impolite by speaking too much. Very well. In my world, it is currently the year 1989. Humanity has innovated quite a bit in the time I have existed in the world, developing things like automobiles. Steel vehicles that roam the streets, run by combustion engines and fill the air with smog. Firearms have revolutionized warfare, moving from simple implements in my time to weapons capable of dealing death at marvelous rates, firing high velocity projectiles capable of ripping flesh asunder. There are even bombs that can wipe an entire city off the map, flattening the Earth and burning people to cinders in an instant. Those unfortunate to surive these bombs will be afflicted by poison and ailments and cancers unbeknownst to any who came before." DIO monolouged with interest, having given indepth research to the weapons of his potential enemies. He would have to pay every country in the world a visit to completely dominate them, once the Joestars were out of his hair.

"They are all very...quaint. But I, DIO, posess a power far greater than all of them put together. A power I intend on using to rule the entire planet once I return to Egypt from the Crossroads. Tell me, Dracula, have you ever heard of a power called a 'Stand'?" DIO asked, clearly revelling in his own power. Even if Dracula had heard of Stands, there was no way he could know he possessed the ultimate Stand. This was one reason DIO was confident in letting anyone into his abode. He truly believed he was invincible.





Eltariel watched with awestruck wonder as the magnificent creature left her and returned to her tower to sleep beside it. It was a humbling experience to see such a beast. It struck her as...noble. Dignified. Wise and long living. A similar feeling to standing before Galadriel, but this giant lizard had an unknowable quality about it, having coming from some distant world. Was it alone? Was it separated from its pack? Was there a world out there brimming with these things, of even grander heights? Or did this creature rule it's world like some sort of God?

It was asleep now. Eltariel saw her vision becoming dark and tunnel-like and knew that she, too, would be asleep soon, though in a different way. The shaking and the pain had stopped, and the chill of the snow had been replaced by an all too familiar warmth. Eltariel fell onto her back, blinking up at the overcast clouds. She began breathing heavily, less and less air moving into her lungs each time. Her chest rose, fell, rose, fell, rose, fell...rose...fell...rose...fell...

Eltariel stared, half-lidded at the sky above, no longer moving or breathing. Her pale blue eyes had glazed over and there was no more life in them. Her expression was tired and resigned.

Several hours would pass, but ancient forces of magic unknown to her would eventually return her to the Crossroads. Now, though, there was just a small person laying in the snow, a dimunitive blue spot compared to the massive creature at the base of a stone obelisk.

As the Doomslayer slain yet another Hellknight under his metal foot, he looked up to see a bunch of skull-faced scythe wielders running straight towards him. The first one made a low-handed strike, only for the armored marine to leap and knee him straight in the jaw before punching his downed head. The second tried getting him from behind, only for the Slayer to swerve around and blast his supper shotty into his chest. Then the third one came, in which the Slayer would also try to shoot as he aimed it directly at his face...

*Click click*

Until realizing he was completely out of ammo. For most soldiers, this would be a nightmare in the making - being surrounded by enemies and having used all of your ammunition in the process. But as the Slayer demonstrated prior, he doesn't solely rely on guns or any weaponry. And even then, he had a much simpler plan in getting back all that precious ammo he knocked into these demons.

So as the Hell's Pride lunged with his scythe, the Slayer gripped onto its weapon's handle and kicked the minion away from him. And as it laid reeling on the ground, the marine then took the opportunity to swiftly decapitate him in a brutal slash. While these weapons were definitely great for reaching opponents from reasonable distances, they were more elegant and swift weapons compared to what he was used to.

He didn't like that.

He wanted something with more power, more "umph" to it.

He broke the weapon with his knee before proceeding to take out his own melee weapon. With two powerful tugs, his black-and-yellow chainsaw came to life, before the Slayer proceeded to lunge at a nearby Hellknight and slice into its flesh in a gory and messy fashion, feeling the flesh rip and the bones shred and snap underneath.

Oh how he almost forgot how much of a great communicator it was.

And when he sliced the demon in half, out spurted definition not just the demonic blood of his enemy, but yellow bits that each represented the ammo that the Slayer desired. Indeed, his chainsaw was to be used in situations of need; for whenever he would be low on ammo, this baby would regain all that was pumped into these demons before hand.

Now with a relatively full clip, the Slayer revealed his Super Shotty once more and continued blasting at his foes. As he was doing so, Dante would then call out to him, asking for something:

"Yo, crazy soldier guy! Toss me that shotgun! Y'know, the one you aren't using!"

As he crushed an imp's windpipe with his massive armored gauntlet, he turned to him briefly as he seemed to contemplate on whether or not he'd want to. Despite his skepticism towards his newfound "ally", he would shrug as he whipped out his regular combat shotgun and tossed it at the red-coated warrior. The Slayer would only point both of his fingers towards him, as if he was watching him, before continuing on his demonic massacre.



But the creature that Eltariel saw was gone. She would notice that the massive saurian body had completely vanished, yet she would also notice that there were no foot prints to pinpoint its direction. It was as if the beast would've magically disappeared. Had it truly disappeared without a trace? Perhaps the snow covered up its tracks over the course of the several hours she laid in between the fabric of death and dormancy?

However, if she were to look at her tower, the elf would find something else resting at the base of the tower. It was a large muscular man, one who despite the lack of appropriate clothes for this environment, appeared to be sound asleep. His midriff, upper arms, thighs and feet were all exposed to the winter cold, yet he seemed to remain impervious to frostbite. His long black hair coiled around the base of his feet, with blue streaks emanating from the tips of his rich hair. He wore clothing that included an armored spiked vest, with a basic scaly-coated skirt wrapped together by a thick strand of rope. His lower arms, hands, shins, and feet were also covered by draconic-pieces of what had to be a form of armor.

Anything could be going within her mind as she watched him sleep soundly under the tower, but he didn't seem to stir. Would Eltariel dare to approach the man or perhaps leave him be?

---

---

He was about to suggest they should take a closer look - preferably on Toothless, as he's the only creature among them that should be able to fly, with all due respect. However - once he saw the child take off like an arrow loosed from the greatest archer this side of the sea stack they lived upon - he has to admit he felt a bit.. concerned. He was unsure if he saw it right, but as he proceeded to fall back down after momentarily remaining in the sky, looking for the source of the noise they heard and looked towards Toothless to see an equally confused dragon, he didn't really know what to think - so.. He didn't.

As Steven landed he gave a sort of blink and a grin - it was visibly uncomfortable "Uh.. Yeah! Good thing." A nervous chuckle escaped his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. Right, he should just go on with the tour. Hiccup cleared his throat and gestured for the pair to follow, to which Toothless did - with much hesitation, considering all he just witnessed with an infant human doing.. that.

---

---

Stormfly had gone back to her hunting antics - following the old buck. He seemed to have eluded her - until he bolted through a clearing - to which her eyes held steady upon. In a flash, Stormfly flicked her spines at the dashing buck - striking it right in the throat. She seemed to cringe internally ever so softly - but this was lunch, hooray!

As the dragoness approached the rabbit she stared at its struggling, quivering body. Poor thing.. Tilting her head, she bit down on its torso, grabbing it up off of the spike and throwing it onto the ground before beginning to skin it. It was most certainly dead by now, but if it wasn't it would be. Eventually, of course. It wasn't until she went to dig in after delicately skinning the small carcass that she hacked up the tokens - not wanting to accidentally digest them if they really meant what she was told they meant. Once they laid in front of her, she quickly downed the dead rabbit, satisfied that she managed to find some food after that loud noise startled it - but fate worked in her favor.

Stormfly seemed to sniff out a new scent - perhaps a new rabbit or source of prey - when suddenly a new scent joined the mix. Wait.. This scent was familiar. Toothless?? Her crest spines flicked up out of excitement as she quickly placed the scent to the dragon. He must have been close by! This excited her, causing her to spread her wings and take off in a dash.

__________
@Ladypug

---

---

"They are all very...quaint. But I, DIO, possess a power far greater than all of them put together. A power I intend on using to rule the entire planet once I return to Egypt from the Crossroads. Tell me, Dracula, have you ever heard of a power called a 'Stand'?" DIO asked, clearly reveling in his own power. Even if Dracula had heard of Stands, there was no way he could know he possessed the ultimate Stand. This was one reason DIO was confident in letting anyone into his abode. He truly believed he was invincible.

"I can't say that I have," Dracula replied, tilting his head to the side as he stowed the description of Dio's world in the recesses of his mind for potential use in the future. "Although it must be a great source of power if you can conquer a whole planet with it."

Although Dracula's tone had fallen into dry sarcasm near the end, there was something in his eyes-his gaze-that suggested he wished to know more about this oddly named ability his host claimed to possess, especially if it really did let him conquer entire planets.

Such powers were rare, after all, and extremely useful. As were the one's who wielded them.

@Majoras End

---

To put it lightly, Ladybug and Cat Noir were dumbfounded. The pair stood, frozen like statues, for a few solid seconds after the androids explained themselves.

A piece of paper fluttered in the breeze...

"Ohhh," Ladybug finally said after reeling her jaw back in, "that sounds really, uh, bad. Right, Cat Noir?" Ladybug jabbed her partner in the ribs, shocking him back to his senses.

"Myahh! R-Right! Guess you two really need to get back to wherever you're from, too. Without us, who knows what'll happen back home."

Ladybug continued when Cat Noir failed to explain. "Where we're from, there's this villain named Hawk Moth who turns people into supervillains. Though, since he only does it to get to us, Paris might be safe," she continued, her mind trailing from the conversation.

"Unless he followed us here, milady!"

"What're the chances of that?" she scoffed. Then she turned her attention back to the androids. "Maybe we should all travel together? If we have to collect these tokens to get a wish, we could gather them all and just wish for everyone to return home, right?"

---

The troopers continued firing at their target in the hopes of taking him down. However, they quickly realised that blaster shots didn’t seem to be effective, at least as far as they could tell. Before the stormtroopers could deal any real damage with their blasters, Chief had taken cover behind an air conditioning unit.

At this point, the commander had regained his previously shot away weapon and joined the others. Now, he and his men all slowly started moving towards the cover that their enemy had hid behind. As they creeped up on Chief’s cover, one of the troopers spotted something out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see five mysterious silhouettes dropping from the sky.

”Hey-hey! Look out!”

The rest of the squad’s attention was brought to the things falling from the sky. It looked like these objects were going to land directly on them and the troopers had to jump back out of the way.

Once the dust settled, the troopers would see the five objects were actually pods and it looked like there was a hatch that one could use to open them up. Did ithe pods have something within them?

”What the hell are those?”

---

---

---

She hadn’t hit him but Valkyrie was still somewhat satisfied that she had at least managed to catch him off guard with her attack.

At that moment, Inosuke decided to initiate an attack of his own but Skulduggery saw this coming and held his hand out towards the masked man. The skull-faced detective flexed his fingers again and manipulated the air in order to push Inosuke away before he could land his attack.

While their Supreme Leader held against the great beast, the stormtroopers were able to fall back to the fallen tie fighter without issue. They could hear the two battle it out even from a distance, hearing the creature's thunderous roars and the pounding stomps meshed in with the sound of a humming saber and its squealing hits. As much as they wanted to stay and watch, their ordered were clear and after all, they weren't quite sure if he was going to win that fight or not. They wouldn't want to stay around to see the worst.

Once they reached the rendezvous point, the troopers could finally relax. Both FN-602 and FN-453 were lain against the cold, black metal of the fallen vessel, with FN-149 dealing with the two wounded comrades. FN-602 was slowly getting up to his feet, albeit still dazed from Eltariel's assault on his mind, as he grappled to his feet. FN-453 meanwhile was still sitting on the ground covering the wound on her side. With her being his top priority in care, he got to his knee as he comforted the pained trooper, who was loosing a decent amount of blood.

"Hold still." FN-149 said as he took out a bacta shot from his case, "This'll sting, but you'll be fine."

He then proceeded to inject the blue liquid into the wound, causing the female trooper to hiss in pain as she tried to keep it down. Yet once the initial spike of pain was over, she could feel a relative ease in her muscles as the pain gradually began to decrease. She nodded towards her fellow caretaker as he offered to grab her hand.

"T-Thank you..." she said shakily as she grabbed his hand and slowly was back on her feet.

With the wound troopers having now been accounted for, they would huddle around the tie fighter and begin talking about what had just transpired. FN-602 sat upon a broken piece of metal before taking his helmet off, revealing his hot, sweaty face underneath. Underneath his ruffled brown hair, was a face of both innocence and fidgetiness*. His skin was rather soft and smooth-looking, a sure-tell sign of a newly drafted recruit, with light freckles dotting in between his eyes and atop his nose and sported a light goatee on his chin. His bluish-greyish eyes tend to make him standout amidst a crowd of those having black and brown-colored ones, especially as he lacked blonde or even red hair in which such colors were far more commonly seen. Yet all that, along with his smaller stature, had made him far more susceptible in being pushed around by the more experienced stormtroopers.

He planted his helmet beside him as he took a deep sigh and looked blankly down at his feet.

"Geez," he muttered as he lightly kicked some snow away, "What a day it's been so far. First we encountered a girl with a skeleton partner, then a woman wielding a bow and arrow that hurts like utter rancor poodoo, and lastly we faced a giant monster who's now battling the Supreme Leader."

He then looked up to face his fellow teammates with a worried expression.

"It makes me shudder to think what else lies out there..."

His comment went unanswered for a minute before 768 glanced at him.

"I've seen worse things kid." he commented as he was inspecting his blaster, "If you think this is weird, you should've been around during the expansionist campaign into the unknown worlds. I've seen things you wouldn't even imagine unless you've seen them for yourself."

602 simply nodded as he squirmed around in his seat.

"Oi," 768 called out again, "Relax, ok? You can stop fidgeting around."

Again the young recruit shook his head.

"It's not that," he replied as he attempted to get himself comfortable, "It's just... cold. Blast do I wish I had some snow trooper armor on."

"Whatever you say, Fidget." 768 rolled his eyes as he continued tending to his weapon.

602 would soon get up from his seat as he crawled into the tie fighter's interior. It wasn't the warmest spot to be either, since there's now a large hole, but its already better then freezing his butt off outside. Once seated, he tucked his knees into his chest and tried to blow warm air onto himself. He thought looked rather pathetic compared to the rest of the troopers outside who were braving the cold, but he couldn't help himself. He seemed to almost accept the role as the runt of the squad. How he even survived having a brush with death was something he couldn't understand himself. He should be dead... and would he better off be~?

"Hey." a feminine voice called out.

602 looked up to see 453 at the entrance as she peeked her head in.

"Room for one more?" she asked curiously as she tried to find a place where she could sit.

The recruit nodded. "Y-yeah, sure."

He moved more towards the other end as 453 entered and slowly made her way to the other end. She just barely had enough room to fit, as they were already struggling to get comfortable with what they were provided. Their shoulder pads brazed against one another, both already feeling packed together like a pack of scalefish. Nonetheless, they would manage with what they had. Once situated, the two took a deep breath and got comfortable. 602 would look over at 453, noticing the bandaged wound on her side.

"How's the wound?" he asked concerningly.

453 shifted with a grunt. "It's fine. Not the first time I've been stabbed. I'll shrug it off."

602 nodded before the female trooper asked, "What about you? I've heard you screaming in pain... but I don't see any visible injuries on you."

"It was..." 602 paused as he tried to get the appropriate words, "Uh... more of an assault on the mind, if that makes any sense?" 453 nodded, letting the recruit continue. "Like when I got kicked back to the wall, it completely fried my senses. Everything seemed to be in a painful haze, as if I was staring into a bright white star, while my body felt like I was being cooked alive. I mean... I can't quite describe what I've felt, you'd have to had felt it for yourself. Did you happen to feel it?"

453 pondered on that question for a second before responding. "I suppose I felt something similar. Not nearly as bad as you claim your's to be though, well other than the burning pain on my side, and my vision being a little off after falling down from the tower..."

She paused as she shifted slightly.

"But for someone wielding such primitive weaponry," the female trooper admitted, "She definitely had skill and, or, some kind of magic. I mean, you really need to know where to place your arrows if you want to really penetrate through armor. She wasn't normal, is what I'm saying."

602 nodded in agreement. "Was she a jedi of some kind? Or like... a force wielder?"

She shrugged. "I dunno... possibly? She didn't feel or act like one. But it wouldn't surprise me if she had something similar to that."

"Fair enough..." the recruit mentioned before they were interrupted by 768 peering at them from outside.

"Sorry to interrupt your little make-out scession you two," 768 blandly joked as he pointed outside, "But the Supreme Leader has returned. Stand at attention!"

Both troopers nodded as they quickly got to their feet, with 602 putting on his helmet. As the troopers stood at attention, they felt a dark and aggressive aura quickly set the mood. Kylo Ren emerged from the forest, breathing heavily as he approached the troops. Despite not being able to see the Supreme Leader's face, they knew by his posture and tone that he was not pleased. None said a word, standing still as they awaited their next orders.

"Prepare to move out." Ren blatantly ordered as he glared at his men, "There is nothing else for us here."

Everyone acknowledged his request. While he said nothing regarding the battle with the monster, his stature and mood told it all. Only FN-149 was brave enough to speak to him

"Supreme Leader?" he asked diligently, "If I may ask, do you know where our next destination will be?"

Ren turned towards the trooper and stared.

"Somewhere out of this forest." he replied, "We'll need reinforcements. And for that, we must make it out onto open land to oversee preparations."

The troopers all began to get excited at the fact that they were finally going to get more boots on the ground. After all they've encountered, they hoped more troopers would come to their aid. And now that they were coming soon, they could finally ease up a bit while gaining newfound hope for their situation.

(* Ultra-Mega thanks to @Ladypug for drawing her take on FN-602, or "Fidget"!)

Current Location: City
Interacting With: Ladybug and Cat Noir @TruthHurts22
Current Token Count: 5

"Uh, did we say too much...?" 9S and 2B looked at each other, then back to the other pair, who seemed dumbfounded after they summed up their purpose and all. After a moment, Ladybug broke the silence, then explaining her and Cat Noir's own little job, fighting against an adversary named Hawk Moth.

"Super villain? Sounds like trouble." 2B said. If this guy was anything like Adam and Eve, then maybe the androids could help the other two out. Luckily, Ladybug suggested that they work together to get everyone back to their homes.

"Proposal: Units 2B and 9S should make a pact with Ladybug and Cat Noir." Pod 042 suggested.

"Didn't the email say our abilities would be weakened in a pact?" the battle android looked back to her pod. "Well, I guess it's up to you then. We're made to protect humans, so we can team up without a pact if you want! 9S told the other pair.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Hokagae

As the pods crashed to the ground, Chief moved to the edge of the air conditioning unit and leaned to the side to get a look at the pods, aiming his rifle at the troopers as he did in case they saw him and fired back. A second or 2 passed before the doors behind the SOIEV drop pods started shaking and soon swung open one by one. A bit of smoke came flying out of the interior, and 5 soldiers donning ODST battle armor and armed with M7 SMGs could be seen inside their respective pods. As they climbed out of their respective pods, each one immediately saw the strange white troopers holding their guns in the ODSTs' direction and immediately trained their weapons on them in response

"Who the hell are these guys?" said one of the ODSTs to the others with a deep and gravely voice

"Doesn't matter who they are, they're aiming at us. I already don't like them" responded one of the others in a smooth, almost whispery masculine voice as he gripped his SMG tightly in anticipation

Chief slowly stood up from his crouching position and stepped towards the ODSTs, still holding his aim on the troopers the whole time. The ODSTs heard him standing up, and the gravely-voiced one turned his head very briefly to see what it was

"Whoa, is that goddamn Master Chief? Never thought I'd see the day. It's an honor, sir!" the gravelly-voiced ODST said excitedly

"Oh great, a SPARTAN. As if I wasn't already feeling bad about this..." the smooth voiced ODST responded in a sarcastic tone of voice

"Price, Rivera, both of you stow it!" shouted another ODST to the other 2 in a stern, feminine voice. "Master Chief, ODST Echo team at your command. What are your orders, sir?" she asked Chief

"Open fire on those troopers" Chief simply replied, immediate and to the point. The ODSTs responded by immediately releasing a storm of bullets at the troopers in front of them, with Chief joining in as they did so

---

---

---

---

With the twin duos beginning to form a pact with one another, their agreement will provide them with greater numbers, allowing them to take on bigger threats that they may perhaps be not prepared for on their lonesomes. It would be a good thing too if it fell through, as they would suddenly be alerted to the present of another being far in the distance.

"BRAAAARAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The terrible sound rippled throughout the city from seemingly all directions, even vibrating through the very feet they stand upon. To them, it would sound like an unholy demonic screech, one backed up with enraged fury. The closest they could relate it to would be that of a bird, or in this case a rather large bird at that. Had they been standing in a flat, empty, space, they would probably see the creature coming from miles away. However, with massive concrete skyscrapers blocking their view, they would have no visual on the perpetrator.

But they would feel it.

To their right, they could feel the ground shake alongside the sound of what could only be described as a wave of debris heading straight towards them. Buildings swayed, with rocks and debris vibrating in place, as they told all what they needed to know. From above, they would see two fighter jets soaring straight ahead, yet they didn't seem to be pursuing anyone. Rather, they were the ones being pursued. And just seconds after they flew overhead, did they finally see a massive winged titan fly right over them. Its dark shadow eclipsed the duos with its great wings, blocking out the sun for just a moment, as it still chased the fighter jets.

Then came the thunderous shockwave mere seconds later.

The galeforce winds brought with them a cloud of thick dust and smoke, alongside uprooted ruined vehicles of all sizes and rocky debris. Even from the air, large chunks of both active and hardened magma rained down upon them. The two teams had mere moments to hide or brace for impact, as they risked getting flung into the air and swept away or crushed by the falling fire. Their only chance of safety would be hiding within the skyscrapers, which would still be sturdy enough to spare them from the chaos.

And once it would be over, they could hear the great beast screech again before witnessing its gargantuan prehistoric form in full high in the sky. The fighter jet lacking behind would soon be chomped up by the creature's massive beaked-mouth, before firing a super-heated beam that immediately incinerated it upon contact. With its quarry eliminated, the flying pterosaur would then make it towards the west as it searched for the highest peak in which to roost.

Would the teams dare follow the great beast of fire? Or would they bolt in the opposite direction to leave it be?

---

The troopers looked on at the pods when the hatches suddenly opened up and 5 soldiers stepped out, wearing armour that was just as unusual and weird looking as the one in green from before.

The stormtroopers watched in stunned silence as the soldiers that had just come out of the pods were conversing with each other before pointing weapons in their direction. The troopers readied themselves for a fight against these new combatants but immediately realised they no longer had the number advantage.

Once the fighting began, the stormtroopers quickly made their way behind different objects on the roof to use as makeshift cover. They didn’t know if these strange pod soldiers’ weapons could penetrate through their stormtrooper armor but they weren’t going to stand out in the open to find out.

”How the hell are we going to get out of this? Anyone got any ideas?” One of the troopers said, looking around at his squadmates.

”Just one, but I’m gonna need you to shut up for a second.” The more aggressive trooper than took off a fragmentation grenade from his belt and showed it to the others. ”Whaddya think, huh? This’ll send them running for sure!”

Without waiting for any sort of response or go ahead from any of his other squadmates, the trooper activated the grenade and threw it at the ODSTs all while shouting, ”Eat on this!”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Hokagae

The ODSTs continued to pump out bullets towards the mysterious trooper's direction, watching them as they all immediately took cover. The fire finally died down once the final trooper got behind cover. Before their squad leader could even give a command however, they already saw the image of a frag grenade flying from behind the cover and landing right near the squad's feet. "GRENADE!" shouted the stern voiced female squad leader (SSGT Brooke Powell), before Chief and the ODSTs all scrambled to get behind their own cover. Some jumped behind their drop pods, some got behind the doorway unit, and Chief and SSGT Powell both got back behind the air conditioning unit

The explosion from the grenade went off shortly after with a loud 'BOOM'. The explosion ripped pieces of cement from the ground and kicked up dust in the air, temporarily filling the battlefield with a disorienting haze. Luckily none of the ODSTs managed to take any kind of noticeable damage from the blast, but their act of taking cover ended up spreading them out which would make it a lot harder to function as a unit

"Everyone alright?" SSGT Powell asked to her squad

"Fine" said the smooth voiced ODST (LCPL Ethan Price)

"No problems here!" replied another masculine voiced ODST (PFC Noah Scott)

"I took a bit of a fall but I'm alright!" shouted the gravely voiced ODST (CPL Braxton Rivera)

As the situation played out, Chief turned his head towards the edge of the roof, which was very close to the air conditioner he was leaning against, and looked down at the city street and the mysterious black armored figure. Chief was more than 100% sure at this point that person, whoever they were, was the one in command of those white troops. Should he take the stairway down? No, not an option. Even if he could make it past the troops, the stairway would take forever. He thought about it for a second, and formulated a plan. He turned to SSGT Powell

"Sergeant, do you have things under control here?" Chief asked the squad leader

"Affirmative, sir. These guys are cornered, we can just circle around and flank them" SSGT Powell responded confidently

'Their leader is down there on the ground floor. I need to get down there and there's only one way to do it" Chief continued, gesturing with his head to the edge of the rooftop

SSGT Powell looked over at the rooftop edge, and after a second she quickly put the pieces together and understood what Chief was implying. If she was being honest she thought it sounded crazy, but she'd served under SPARTANs before, and she knew that crazy was just what they did

"Understood, sir. We'll hold down the fort here" she said back

Chief nodded as he stepped towards the small wall around the edge of the rooftop and looked down. 50 flights of stairs. Had to be at least 600 feet. Chief gripped the handle of his battle rifle in anticipation and grabbed the wall with his other hand. Then, with a quick mantle over the wall, he was off the rooftop

"Godspeed, you magnificent bastard" SGT Powell said as she watched the man in green leap off

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Lmpkio

Dante watched as the shotgun sailed through the air towards him. He held his hand up to catch it, and it landed straight into his palm. He looked at it and gave a devious grin. Alright, not it was really time to have some fun. The imp attempted to make another swipe at Dante with both its arms, but Dante made a spin on the balls of his feet to dodge the attack, and finished the spin with a shotgun blast to the imp's head

As the imp's lifeless body fell lifeless to the ground and Dante shifted his focus to the rest of the imps coming after him, he kept his eyes held on the lifeless corpse of the imp, formulating an idea in his head. He quickly stepped onto the imp's body, crouched down in the opposite direction of the other imps, and aimed the shotgun with his right hand at seemingly nothing. He fired, and the force of the shotgun blast suddenly started sending the corpse sliding across the floor, and Dante along with it. As the corpse started sliding closer to the imps, Dante pushed on the ground with his foot, giving the corpse a spin to it. As corpse finally slid up to the imps, Dante made a horizontal slash with his sword. The corpse was spinning fast enough and at just the right angle for his sword to cleanly slice through the torsos of both demons in one smooth motion. As the imps fell to the floor dead, Dante used his foot to stop the corpse he was riding on from moving, and stood back upright and looked back to admire his handiwork. "Looks like the party's over..." Dante said to himself with a shrug before rising the shotgun to his face to blow the smoke coming from the barrels

DIO noted the dry sarcasm and the desire to know more. How much would he love to explain his true powers to Dracula. How he longed to tell anyone! Only a few people, like Enyaba, knew the true power of DIO's Stand, that ineffectual wench with her disgusting pig of a son. Only she and DIO's one and only true confidant, Pucci. But someone like Dracula would understand completely. An equal. Never before had DIO met anyone with similar life experiences, as much as he loved the company of Pucci. But...unfortunately, DIO could not trust Dracula with that information. Moreover he could not trust the Crossroads. Anyone could be listening in with abilities unknown to DIO. However he could tell Dracula the power of a Stand, since DIO himself found the subject fascinating to pontificate on.

"A Stand is a manifestation of one's soul. A projection, if you will, of one's true self. They can take any form, though most commonly they are humanoid creatures of various shapes and sizes. In a way, it is what one truly looks like. The souls that inhabit the bodies we are given at birth are, with the power of a Stand, allowed to roam free and exert their desires upon the world.

For example, there was one young fellow I recruited to my cause named Noriaki Kakyoin. He was a quiet, reserved man, he felt like the world couldn't understand him, as if he had no true friends. He viewed his Stand, which was granted the name Hierophant Green by tarot cards, as more of an imaginary friend. But indeed, it was his Stand, his soul. It is a verdent green with yellow eyes, and it's skin appears to shimmer with water just under the surface.

It has the ability to spread it's limbs out like tentacles, damaging and maneuvering around the environment at will. It can even crawl inside people and possess their very bodies, bending their movements to it's whim. Finally, it has the ability to harden the water within itself into emerald like stones which it fires out of the palm of it's hand. He promised me no one could deflect it, but given how he was defeated soon thereafter, apparently that was untrue."

DIO leaned forward as he spoke, clearly passionate about the subject. "Do you see? Do you see how his life experiences shaped the powers he granted himself with a Stand? Fascinating, is it not? No one can choose the powers awakened within them, but when one does acquire a Stand it is as if you had it all along. Like discovering an extra limb, or sense. It was there the whole time, just out of view. Some of these connections with one's willpower and life story to the Stand are abstract or tenous at best. It is a power beyond total comprehension, for a Stand can be literally anything. It's wonderful. The possibilites are endless, but I know that my Stand is truly the most powerful Stand of all. No Stand can defeat it's power. While I would love to explain it to you in depth there are many factors preventing me from doing so." DIO took a sip of wine.

"And one more thing- only a Stand User can see a Stand, unless the power of the Stand states otherwise. My Stand would be entirely invisible to you, as if I possessed a potent form of telekinesis, when in fact it is my very soul manipulating the environment."

DIO smiled. "You might think me a liar, which I understand. I, DIO, did not know they existed until it was awakened within myself during a long meditation. But, allow me to show you a mere parlour trick compared to my Stand's true power."

The wine bottle in the middle of the table began to levitate. It moved over to Dracula's glass, the stopper was removed, and it refilled the wine infront of him. It was a telekinises of total control, the wine bottle did not shake or drift. It was as if it was being held in someone's hands.

"Perhaps one day you may see my Stand perform it's mighty abilities. But there are too many risks in divulging that information to you now, I hope you understand. My plan was to go our seperate ways after this little meeting. I have to acquire 100 tokens to leave the Crossroads within thirty days. If not, I will be mildly inconvenienced upon my return. A man with ambitions like myself has no shortage of enemies, you see." DIO explained.





There was a flash of blue light ontop of the tower. The elven woman opened her eyes with a gasp, holding her belly where the two holes previously were. Fortunately, they were gone. Color had returned to her face. Back to life again. There was a dragon creature, a massive behemoth of a beast. Where had it gone? The last thing she remembered was seeing it curl up next to her tower. Eltariel stood to her feet and glanced around. There, about fifty feet away, was the dimunitive corpse of her previous shell, a sight that always made her uncomfortable. An existential kind of dread began to well up that she usually chose to ignore.

But no sight of the beast. Eltariel leaned over the side and saw...a man? Dressed in scale-like clothes, not quite unlike her own, though his was certaunly more draconic in inspiration in comparison to her utilitarian design. Could he be...? Was that even possible? Could such a creature shrink down to the size of a normal person?

Either way, she would have to find out. The less people by her tower, the better.

Eltariel leapt off the side of the tower, falling the entire distance before rolling gracefully to a stop. Her swords were sheathed in her back once again and she crossed her arms. She wasn't sure what to make of him. Since this possibly could be the creature that saved her Tower, she owed him a great deal. Or, it could just be a strangely dressed man who stumbled out of the woods. But her instincts told her that the former was the case, considering he and the beast shared similar visual motifs.

"Hello?" She asked aloud. "Are you alright? Sorry to wake you, but you wouldn't have happened to see a giant lizard creature around here, would you?"

---

---

Dracula nodded, watching Dio's display with amusement veiled interest. So his power, this Stand, was an extension of his own soul and able to manipulate the physical world to boot? The old vampire had to admit it was a very interesting ability. A very interesting ability indeed.

"I understand completely," Dracula replied, tapping a claw against the base of the glass idly. "I must do much the same myself, albeit with a much vaguer schedule. There is only one pressing matter to which I need to attend back home, and even then it is not so urgent that I need to rush."

Despite the fact that he still wished for a true death, Dracula had to admit that he didn't mind taking his time about it. Perhaps it was the last vestiges of his mortal selves primal survival instincts, the fact that after so many years spent in isolation he finally had a worthwhile source of conversation, or the fact that he did not wish to return and be forced to come to blows with his son yet again that was keeping him here, but he didn't feel any real need for expediency in this particular situation.

At least not until he had sated his curiosity about this place a bit more.

"Anyway," he began, returning his attention to his host. "I suppose I should let you go about your business as I go about mine."

Dracula slid the chair back as he got to his feet.

"I thank you for both the wine and the conversation," he said, clasping his hands behind his back once more as he turned to take a few steps away from the table. "As both couldn't be in shorter supply for our kind. Now if you do not mind..."

He gestures to the main entrance.

"I shall take my leave and let you get to finding those tokens."

---

Some of the stormtroopers recoiled behind their cover as the grenade went off, obviously not expecting the explosion.

”What the- Are you crazy? That was insane!”

”Well, it worked, didn’t it?” The trooper who threw the grenade took a small peek over his cover and attempted to observe whatever he could through the smoke. ”That got them to stop shooting at us at least.”

”But that was-”

”Alright, it seems the enemy has stopped firing on us due to the grenade explosion. So, we are all going to split up into teams of two to cover more ground along this rooftop. TK-777 and TK-451, you two will be paired together and will go up the right side of the roof. Same thing with 009 and 268, you two will go toward the left side. Lastly, that leaves 359 and myself going up the middle. Does everyone understand that?”

The commander gets a shared nod and a “Yes Sir” from the rest of his squad, TK-777 being a slight bit more reluctant than the others. Once the orders were given and acknowledged, the appointed groups began moving out to their positions, slowly and carefully coming out from cover with blasters at the ready.

Meanwhile, Vader was still busy examining the vehicle that was the Warthog (though he doesn’t know that) when he heard the faint sound of an explosion from the top of the office building. What are those troopers doing up there? The Sith Lord wouldn’t get much time to wonder when he saw a figure jumping off and sliding down the side of the building. He could not believe that this was one of his troopers and identified this individual as an enemy and pulled out his lightsaber hilt, ready to ignite it once this figure reaches him.

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@Hokagae

Chief felt his stomach turn upside down as he fell down the skyscraper, falling completely free. He was familiar with the feeling of being dropped from large heights completely unsupported, but if he was being honest it wasn't really something you ever get used to

::4 stories, 40 miles per hour::

He figured he would try to put his body against the building to stop himself from freefalling and slow himself down as much as he was able to. He leaned back and felt a grinding sensation against the back of his armor as he successfully pressed himself against the wall, and then leveled his feet against the wall as well for even further stability and control over the direction he fell in

::20 stories. 70 miles per hour, now::

As he did all this, he kept an eye on the mysterious cloaked figure. He could see them reaching for something Chief couldn't identify. Chief had to assume it was a weapon. He quickly grabbed his M6 magnum from the holster on his armor and held it at the ready

::40 stories, 100 miles per hours, Chief!"

A couple stories before Chief reached the ground, he pushed against the wall with his feet using as much strength as he could manage. He managed to converting a fair bit of his inertia away from his fall and suddenly flew away from the wall that was holding him steady. He then went into a tuck and roll position, looking almost like a diver jumping into a pool as he finally hit the ground, and rolled to convert more inertia. As he landed the roll on his feet, he managed to slide almost 20 feet away from his landing spot

Chief stood upright and turned around to face the cloaked figure, finally getting a good look at him. His helmet was shaped like a skull, and his armor's chestpiece had some sort of strange grid of lights or something on it? Chief wasn't really sure if he should attack just yet, he wasn't familiar with this person and most of the details on them were unhelpful, he couldn't really identify anything that could help Chief understand who or what this person was. Chief simply chose to stand there with his magnum up at the ready, waiting to see if they would strike first. If they didn't, he would

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As the Chief made his way off the building, the battle on the rooftop continued on, and the ODSTs had all rallied behind the air conditioning unit to figure out their next plan of attack

"Alright team, the Chief has left the building, we're on our own for now" SSGT Powell said to her team

"Wow, he brings us here then immediately leaves us on our own against these guys? Real hero, that Master Chief. What a legend" snarked LCPL Price as he rolled his eyes

"Hey, I thought I told you to shut the hell up, corporal" barked Powell back at Price's snide comment

"C'mon man, there's no way he just left us, I'm sure he had a good reason" CPL Rivera added. Price sighed and shrugged in response to both of their comments, not saying anything back

"Listen up Echo, these troops are obviously scared. Let's go around and hit em from the side where they won't be expecting us. We'll stack up single file, and go from cover to cover. Rivera, you take point and we'll follow you" Powell ordered her team

"Got it. Let's do this" Rivera said as he and the rest of the team held their SMGs at the ready, lined up all in a row and started moving out of cover. They went from the air conditioning unit to the first pod to the second pod and so on, beginning their circle around to where the other troopers originally were

@Majoras End@Lmpkio

---

"Hmm, I don't think so. Wouldn't it make more sense to just agree to use the tokens together? If we already plan on working together, there's no point in making us weaker for it, you know?"

But before Ladybug could get her response, the huge dragon-made kerfuffle happened. Ladybug and Cat Noir barely managed to escape the rain of lava as they rushed into a nearby sky-scraper, buffeted by winds. Not wanting to chance their new friends being unable to follow, Ladybug whipped around mid-run and shot out her Yo-yo, roping the two in its string and giving them a hard tug forward.

Once safe in the entryway to the building, the two held their tools at-the-ready, waiting for something else to happen... and when it didn't, visibly relaxed.

"Say," Cat Noir said sheepishly, "we don't have to chase after that thing, do we?"