With the twin Slayers of Hell making short work of the demonic horde, the demons began to disperse into the surrounding ruins. Their portals had disappeared as soon as the last demons emerged, leaving them stranded in unknown lands trapped with the banes of their eternal existence. Those who dared to stay would find themselves ruthlessly slain by Dante and the Slayer, leaving them alone amongst the piles of unholy blood and gore that littered the streets.

Now they could finally rest and take a breather. As the Slayer reloaded his Super Shotgun, he looked towards the red-coated man in relative intrigue. He had to admit, he did quite well. Yet the only thing the Slayer cared right now was for he to give him back his combat shotty. As he rose his hand to signal Dante's attention, he'd suddenly hear a small ping coming from within his arm pocket. He paused before taking out the annoyance, only to find that it was coming from a beeping datachip.

Then it suddenly hit the Doom Slayer. He knew exactly what this contained. It was a backup of the UAC's ai "VEGA", a helpful ally who helped the Doom Slayer in his last adventure on Mars by giving him valuable information about his objectives and in upgrading the Praetor suit. His last task with it was shutting down the ai's core processing unit in order to make a rift into Hell, with Vega itself assisting the Slayer through the process in its own self-termination. Had the Slayer not spied the option to create a back up copy on the terminal, he would've lost the AI completely.

It was an act of merciful resolve for the greater good of mankind. In fact, the Slayer - underneath his brutal armor and skin - considered the AI as... a friend perhaps.

Nonetheless, the Slayer wasn't sure if his suit was able to power the AI directly. Still he was able to spot a place for him to insert the chip within his armor and cautiously planted it within his suit. Power surged through the Slayer's body, being bombarded by the sound and feeling of code downloading into his suit.



As soon as the initiation was complete, the Slayer was released from his trance and shook it off. For a few moments, it would seem like nothing happened as the Slayer found himself glaring into open space.

"Hello."

The Slayer's head cocked back in relative shock. He stood still as his mind confirmed his presence.

"Thank you, Slayer." VEGA said in a blunt, yet generous tone, "I am truly grateful for your consideration in saving me from my own self termination. I am forever in your debt."

It paused before it seemed to scan its surroundings.

"It seems that we are no longer on Mars. In fact, we aren't even on Earth as you know it. According to Earth records, the ruins of this city - while imitating Earthling buildings - do not appear to match any known city maps. The energy signatures here are chaotic and spastic, as if time and space have been thrown into disarray with multiple realities phasing in and out from reality."

The Slayer nodded, confirming the AI that he is indeed aware of the situation.

"Of course, it seems like you already know the situation at hand. You may fill me in on the details later."

The Slayer would then look at Dante who was blowing the smoke off the barrel of his shotgun.

"I see you have already made friends." he acknowledged dryly, "Regarding your tendency to not adamantly vocalize your thoughts, allow me to speak on your behalf when needed to address any information that needs to be said."

He took a moment to think about the offer before nodding.

"Excellent. However, do note, I've been booted into "Emergency Mode" based on the power that your Praetor Suit provides. While I am authorized to communicate to you and other individuals vocally, I am unable to track your objectives, map out surroundings accurately, or upgrade your suit automatically in this stage without the presence of a descent power and processing unit. If you can find such a facility to house me, I can help you out more efficiently. And, do not worry, you won't have to find any that mirror my previous residence."

Again the Slayer nods understandingly, as he remembered the huge processing center that had a giant metallic brain to house him in, as well as a large absolute zero cooling facility to cool his 1.7 megakelvins (173 times the surface of the sun) power output. He was relieved to hear that he wouldn't have to go searching for such a place, for the chances of locating one would be incredibly slim.

Perhaps Dante might become curious regarding the Slayer simply standing motionlessly in place, or perhaps that he was looking at him somewhat intently... or rather at HIS shotgun he had in his hands.



From his slumber, the burly man would slowly wake upon hearing a feminine voice call out to him. His eyes rose to reveal two amber-colored pupils, before raising his head to meet the person who stood above him. She seemed concerned, asking about seeing a giant monster that was in the area. It seemed to humor the man a bit, allowing a verbal grunt before he began to raise himself from the snow-covered ground.

"Then you have found him." he bluntly responded in a deep, gravelly, yet pronounced voice as he towered over the girl by a few good feet, "I was sure that you were dead by the time I left you. Had you not resurrected yourself by the time I awoke, I would've left here without a second thought."

She glanced towards the woman's soft features; from her flowing golden hair, her pale skin, blue eyes, and curiously shaped ears. He proceeded to sniff her general location, trying to get a sense as to who she was.

"And just who are you?" he asked curiously, but perhaps in a slightly unintentionally imposing way, "You look human... but not."

---

---

He was on his way to the next spot until he heard Steven's words. "You have noticed that the village is kinda.. really super quiet, right?" The words forced him to halt as a shiver went up his spine. He had noticed it was quiet - but he didn't want to think about it. For all he knew they were all busy, or huddled up or.. Or....

Hiccup suddenly bolted, leaving behind both Toothless and Steven in a rush of pure panic. What if they weren't just simply huddled up? What if the enemies had already gone through the village and they, without a chief to guide them, went peacefully - no, no, no! Gods, no! He had to check, he needed to see if there was a struggle - or maybe, just maybe, it was a prank set by the god Loki himself! He silently prayed it would have been - but as he came upon his own home, it seemed untouched. Abandoned. He scurried up the steps and, still praying to the gods and those of the nine realms, pushed the door open. There was nothing. No sign of a struggle, no sign of any sort of life - everything was perfectly in place, which by now he knew was merely impossible - Zephyr would have touched at least one valued heirloom, but it was perfect and proper. This made him much, much more nervous.

---

---

Toothless was beginning to notice the silence as well, he even recognized it as an odd thing that probably shouldn’t be happening, given the bustling village of vikings would have completely fawned over the idea of a dragon - and they’d certainly be out and about. There was a weird air around the place, like something was the same but slightly.. Off.

Despite this, Toothless got to thinking about if this place was empty then.. Perhaps? He hadn’t thought of that until now. His family. His dragons. Were they missing too? He had to check, surely they’d be around somewhere, but.. he had already checked. There was no body of ocean near this strange place, he distinctively remembers this new Berk being completely isolated by the ocean, meaning if this place was not the same then it could mean that his home didn’t exist. After all, he awoke in the middle of New Berk to a stone telling him the rules of the ‘Crossroads’. His appendages flicked back softly as he began to pace. It was a place called the Crossroads, they were clearly not in the real New Berk and there was a way to get out. Those token things he devoured were the key out. Oh. Yeah, those tokens.

Toothless began to retch up the tokens, just as a safety precaution lest he digest and lose them entirely. It was going to be fine. He could go home, and this would be like a little adventure! Just him and Hiccup, like the old times.

Looking towards Steven, who seemed somewhat stunned for good reason - he gave a coo of sorts, showing him he wasn’t that mad at him. Not anymore, at least, but he licked up the tokens opting to keep them in his mouth, before gesturing for him to follow on as he made his way to the chieftain’s house. As he got there though, Hiccup seemed to be making his way out. He seemed.. Saddened. Worried, dejected in a way. As he flattened his appendages and gave a small tilt of his head he went to greet him as he made his way down the steps to his home - only to be treated with a small, absent minded head pat and a swallowing of a man’s sadness, with a clear display of Hiccup pretending to be alright - but through his years of knowing the man, he could tell when he wasn’t okay, not one bit.

Toothless looked back at Steven, then gestured his head towards Hiccup, giving him an expectant look as if to say ‘Hey, you wanna tell him what’s going on?’.

---

@Ladypug

Current Location: City
Interacting With: Ladybug and Cat Noir, intercepted by Rodan
Current Token Count: 5

Before one of the pods could warn the four about the goliath-class lifeform approaching, it's voice was drowned out by the sudden primordial roar, sending vibrations into the ground below them. On instinct, 2B and 9S grabbed their swords, in case the creature was planning on attacking. Soon enough they saw the lifeform in pursuit of two fighter jets. It wasn't a machine, but it was something they had never seen before. The animals back in their city ruins have evolved since humans fled to the moon, but the fire bird above them was something else.

Though they had no time to stay and watch. A wave of dust, debris, and fire was closing in on them all. All four of them hurried into the nearest skyscraper. Seeing as Ladybug didn't want the androids to lag behind, 2B extended a hand out to let the heroine's yo-yo wrap around it. Then with her other hand, she held onto 9S so both of them were boosted forward.

Once inside, they kept an eye on the storm outside to see if the fire bird would return. Odd enough, it didn't once things died down.

"What...was that?" The scanner spoke up. He looked over to Cat Noir when he asked if they had to chase after the beast. "Beats me. It didn't look like a machine." he shrugged with his arms crossed.

"But it can still be a threat." 2B added. "It might be best if we investigate."

"By the Supreme Leader..." a breathless "Fidget" complained, "How far do these trees reach?"

The trooper just in front of him, FN-768, took yet another annoyed glance back at him.

"How many times do I have to ask you to shut up?" he growled at the lesser trooper, "All you've been doing was complaining!"

A frigid Fidget shrugged as a cold shiver ran down his spine. Not out of fear as what many would usually expect; for he was just freezing in his boots. The Supreme Leader had ordered them to find a suitable place to call for reinforcements, one spacious enough for them to properly deploy and create a command post. And so they were thrusted into the wilderness alone once again to search for a way out of the forest. However, their trip was already becoming tedious trekking through the thick snow.

The good news however, is that they hadn't encountered any hostiles as of yet. They went in the opposite direction of the tower, sparing them from reencountering the guardian monster's wrath once more. Even then, it didn't prevent them from talking about the experience to each other.

"Did any of y'all think that the Supreme Leader actually won that fight?" Scorch asked everyone with a somewhat curious tone.

"He looked pretty pissed when he arrived," FN-453 mentioned, "He didn't say anything but I could tell he must've not been pleased with the outcome."

"Yeah..." FN-768 admitted, "Probably a sign that he lost to it, or that it got away."

"I mean, it was a pretty big monster." Fidget admitted, "It was almost as big as the tower itself. And it looked meaner, and I mean A LOT meaner, then, say, a rancor."

"Wait," 768 interrupted as he realized something, "Didn't the Supreme Leader fight a Zillo Beast back during the expansionist era... and WON?"

"The Benathy's home world worshipped one as a god." FN-149 tapped in with confirmation, "I was there when it all went down."

The stormtroopers quickly turned their attention to the quiet one as their intrigue spiked.

"Did he win?" Scorch asked first.

A brief pause later and 149 nodded his head.

"He did." he confirmed genuinely, "Jumped into the creature's mouth after dropping from his own shuttle. Sliced him open from the inside-out."

"Then how the hell would he beaten by a monster far smaller than that 100 meter tall sonova~?" 768 asked inquisitively.

"Did it use the FORCE?" Fidget added in.

"SHUT UP FIDGET." 768 commanded bluntly with a jab to his shoulder.

"Musta' breathed fire then." Scorch answered jokingly with a chuckle, "Had an anti-Ren proof plan or somethin'. Either that or it spewed acid."

"There are monsters that can do that?!" Fidget asked naively.

768 sighed defeatedly as he addressed the entire squad. "Who even cares at this point? Whether or not he defeated the beast, the Supreme Leader is still alive and well. Once we have our reinforcements, we should be able to take down that monster if we run into it again."

The others reflected on the situation before agreeing with his statement.

---

"Hey, I think we're reaching the end of the forest." FN-453 noted as she pointed to the reddish-brown dust that laid just beyond the tree line.

Another minute later and the squad would find themselves abruptly changing into a new biome. From the forest they emerged into the ruins of a concrete metropolitan jungle while walking upon a heavily beaten asphalt road. Large pillars of decrepit stone jetted up from the ground, exposing their rotted guts of furniture and office supplies. The road was long in disrepair, with potholes and debris littering the pathway. Even an occasional tumbleweed could be seen moving across the road. Beaten up rusted vehicles littered the streets as well, left as if they had been abandoned for years or having exploded violently in place.

"What happened here?" Fidget asked curiously as he cautiously raised his blaster, expecting anything to pop out at any time.

Large cracks jetted from the ground at unusual angles, with huge chunks of the road having been pushed up by the violent force that erupted from underneath. The stormtroopers had to be careful not to fall into the deep dark abyss that laid below. Sparse amounts of dried up foliage could also be seen emerging from the cracks, yet without water they remained dead and lifeless.

"Keep your eyes open for any hostiles." FN-149 ordered as he took the lead.

And only a few seconds after he said that, a shrieking humanoid monster suddenly bursts out from around the corner.

"Hostile sighted!" 453 confirmed before the troopers proceeded to shoot at it.

For a second, the agile imp avoided their fire, even being quick enough to chuck a fireball at the troopers, only to miss. Soon it would be hit in the shoulder by a blaster bolt, stunning it as several more bolts would quickly take it out as it fell with a shrieking cry. Now that it was taken care, the now alerted troopers quickly proceeded to inspect the creature's mangled from.

"What is that thing?" Fidget asked worryingly as he inspected it from a distance.

Scorch would proceed to prod the creature's leathery-brown foot with his flamethrower, making sure that it was dead.

"Damn is that thing ugly." he casually remarked, "Was pretty metal that it could throw fireballs though, heheh."

453 proceeded to take a closer look at the creature with moderate intrigue.

"Can't say I've seen something like it before." she admitted before raising back upright, "We need to keep moving. I have the feeling we'll be probably seeing more of~"

"Shhh," 149 hushed his teammates quietly with a raised fist, "I hear something... Stay quiet while I take a closer look."

They all remained quiet as 149 slowly peaked from behind the corner. Within a large clearing a few blocks away, he could faintly see two figures conversing with one another. One was a large burly figure clad in green armor, who held a large gun of some kind; possibly a slugthrower by the looks of it. The other white-haired figure wearing a crimson jacket, holding a similar weapon to the former. And littered around them were dozens of corpses. Many seemed to resemble the creature the stormtroopers just killed, while there were others that were more unfamiliar, some wielding weapons of their own, or have great wings, or utilized great size for intimidation. Each were horribly disfigured or resembled unholy monsters that crawled from deep within the unknown regions. The troopers would be no match against a large army of these creatures by themselves.

He turned back from the corner and faced his comrades.

"Looks like we got company." 149 said in a low voice, "Confirmed visuals on two figures, both armed, with dozens of monster corpses littered around them."

"Did they kill the entire army of these things by themselves?" Fidget asked while pointing to the imp they killed.

149 nodded. "I didn't see anyone else in the area."

"Great," 768 muttered, "I would've been comfortable if you just said there were two units, instead of mentioning how they both busted up an army of these things."

"Do we give 'em hell?" Scorch asked eagerly.

453 shook her head. "I advise against it. For reasons I shouldn't have to point out."

"FN-453 is right." 149 responded, "Our mission here is to find a suitable location for the Supreme Leader to deploy reinforcements. That is all. We should not get into any conflicts that are in over our head."

The rest of the troopers nodded in agreement. They were all on edge in engaging the two who took out an army of these things. If they could take them all out, then a couple of stormtroopers like them would be nothing to them.

"Should we contact the Supreme Leader?" 453 asked.

149 nodded again as he proceeded to take out his holo-projector and waits for a response...

---

---

Dracula idly tapped a claw against his cold wrist as he stepped out into the cool night air, the door to the mansion swinging shut behind him with a soft 'click.' Striding away from the building, he quickly put some distance between himself and the out of place structure, before shifting into a cloud of crimson-black mist and soaring out over the monolithic city, swooping between buildings as he scanned the ground below for a suitable clearing. After around five minutes of flying or so, he eventually came across a crossroads sitting smack dab in the middle of a ring of featureless buildings. Shifting back into his human form, he allowed himself to plummet to the ground below, nonchalantly dusting himself off after making impact. Reaching down, he begins fishing around in his coat pocket, only to pull out a single token.

Positioning it over the top of his thumb, he flips it into the air, and waits.

---

The stormtroopers of Vader’s Fist, each pair with their own designated section of the roof, made their move to take down these mysterious rebel forces.

The squad leader and the sixth trooper of the squad, TK-359, stayed where they were behind the cover of an air conditioning unit. Neither trooper spoke to each other but they knew the plan and would be ready to spring into action the moment they needed to.

---

”I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” TK-777 said to his partner as they were moving from cover to cover around the right side of the roof.

”You always have a bad feeling about everything, Coward.” TK-451 said in response, crouching down behind some nearby cover to avoid being seen by the enemy.

”Coward? Wha- Is that supposed to be a nickname or something?”

TK-451 gave a small shrug to Coward. ”It’s easier to give you a nickname rather than keep calling you by your number all the time. Oh, and it’s the name we call you behind your back.” He let out a little chuckle when he finished saying that last part.

”Well, that’s just great…” Coward was obviously a little annoyed at this new nickname he had been given but he did agree with what TK-451 was saying in regards to nicknames. ”Well, what should I call you?”

Now that’s a good question. I hadn’t actually thought of one for myself. Let’s see…” TK-451 thought to himself for a few moments about a nickname he could give himself before he noticed some movement. ”We’ll have to get back to this later. There’s movement up ahead, get ready.”

Coward nodded and gripped his blaster tightly, preparing himself for a fight.

---

TK-009, along with his partner TK-268, went around to the left side of the roof. However, one of them was getting a little antsy for some combat.

”Can’t we just rush forward and blast them already? I want some action!” TK-009 said, expressing his aggressive nature to his partner.

”If you want to get blasted to bits with whatever weird weapons these rebels have, be my guest.” The female voice of TK-268 replied in a sarcastic manner. She didn’t much care for the way TK-009 acted but letting him run in and die needlessly probably wasn’t a good way to go about things. ”Let’s just focus on staying alive for now. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities to blast these rebels later.”

”That’s no fun though!” 009 retorted, only to get an annoyed sigh from 268 as a response. ”Alright, fine! But you better save one of those rebels for me.”

”Yeah, I’ll be sure to-.” 268 started but was cut off when she noticed some movement. This was definitely the enemy making their move. She signalled to 009 and they both crouched down behind some nearby cover.

---

Vader silently watched as the mysterious silhouette slid down the side of the building, growing ever closer to the ground before he seemed to jump away from the wall and come to a rolling stop. From the looks of it, this individual was wearing some strange looking armour and weapons he had never seen before which was likely some new creation made by the rebels. And if that were to be true, then this man was his enemy.

The Sith Lord ignited his blood red lightsaber and moved into the stance of Form Five of lightsaber combat. He did not know what this armored rebel’s intentions were but the weapons this rebel was holding did little more than make him seem like a threat. So Vader would deal with this threat like he would do with any other and began walking towards his opponent, preparing himself for retaliation.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Hokagae

Chief watched as the armored figure grabbed the strange metallic item that Chief saw on him before and activated it, unleashing a blade-like beam of energy from the top. Chief was familiar with weapons similar to this, but had never seen anything exactly like it before. Seemed to be par for the course for these strange people, honestly. Chief briefly considered using his own energy sword in response, but...no, not a good idea. Chief wasn't familiar with what this person was capable of, and getting in a close quarters fight with someone like that was just asking to get himself killed. Chief also got the sense that they seemed like they knew their way around that energy blade, and Chief was, at best, competent at energy sword combat. Besides, Chief...wasn't getting a good vibe from this guy. Not only the armor that gave a look of death, but there was...something about this person's presence that put Chief a little bit on edge. Something about this person's aura, some kind of overwhelming...force, or something. Chief couldn't quite explain it in words, it was just a feeling he had. He wasn't really scared, but he could tell he should probably be fairly cautious around this person

Regardless, they were clearly not willing to talk to Chief about calling their troops off, so Chief decided to take action. He opened the fight with a 3 round burst from his battle rifle, aimed at the person's chest. Chief wasn't really intending to damage him, it was more of a way of seeing how they would react to it, which would give Chief a better sense of their abilities

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The ODSTs all walked covertly in a single file line behind their drop pods, getting closer and closer to the enemy troops. When Rivera reached the last pod, he pressed his back against the pod, slowly leaned out of cover with his SMG at the ready, and took a look at the battlefield

"What do you see?" Powell asked in a hushed voice

"Not much, looks like they might've already flown the c...wait..." Rivera whispered as he saw what he thought was one of the trooper's distinctive white armor moving across one of the other air conditioning units. "I think I saw one. 10 o'clock! Want me to take the shot? I can probably hit 'em from here..." " Rivera continued, still in a whisper

"Negative, confirm the shot first. We don't wanna blow our element of surprise" Powell responded

Rivera followed his order and kept his eyes and SMG sights on the air conditioning unit, watching for any signs of movement

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Lmpkio

Dante lowered the shotgun from his face and turned around to look at Doom Slayer. At this point, Dante had stopped being angry at the guy. Dante wasn't really the type to hold grudges...well, usually anyway. What were they even fighting about in the first place again? Whatever, Dante couldn't really remember and to be honest, he didn't care enough to bother to try. Besides, the guy clearly hated demons and was good at killing them, what's not to like?

Dante started making his way towards Doom Slayer, as he noticed that he was...well, Dante wasn't really sure what he was doing actually. He seemed to be just, well, standing there, staring off into space? Whatever, Dante didn't really think much of it. Regardless, Dante wasn't sure how to approach this guy now. While Dante had dropped his anger towards him, he wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual. Dante decided he would start showing his change in attitude by giving him his shotgun back. "Heads up!" Dante said to Doom Slayer as he gave the shotgun a casual underhanded toss in Doom Slayer's direction

---

---

The sounds of bolter fire and other heavy weaponry echoed throughout the grand interior of the Retribution as its crew fought tooth and claw to repel a veritable horde of Warpspawn that had forced their way onto the craft during a routine jump into the Immaterium. Bullets flew, armor sparked, and flesh was rent as the daemonic swarm surged from deck to deck, putting down defender after defender. Even the mighty crimson clad Blood Angels were being pressed, already having to fall back to the rear portions of the ship, giving up valuable ground in the process. It was in one of these sections, and one of these squads, that Ophiel found himself-bolter in hand-mowing down row upon row of daemons, doing his best to remain calm, silently praying to the Emperor that the thirst didn't take hold. For if it did he would find himself bereft of all strategy or tactic, charging forward at the vile chaos spawn currently surging towards them with reckless abandon. While he was more than willing to die in the service of the Emperor, breaking ranks was the worst thing he could do at the moment. Not only would it weaken their formation, it would also provide a convenient opening through which the beasts could push, putting his brothers at risk of death or worse.

So, ignoring the gore flying through the air, he kept the trigger of his gun depressed, unleashing a steady stream of explosive projectiles. Once the clip was empty he pulled it out and tossed it to the side before slamming in a fresh one and staring back down the iron sights. Swiftly acquiring his next target-a rapidly approaching Bloodletter-Ophiel put a .75 caliber round between its eyes, causing its head to burst like a rotten melon. A melon that promptly reformed as the twisted energies of the Warp brought it back, stronger than before.

"Grox…" He cursed internally, falling back a bit as his fellow battle-brothers did the same, their guns belching out thick clouds of acrid smoke as they were emptied and refilled without rest. "They just keep coming! At this rate we'll be overwhelmed... Damn it! We need to-"

Ophiel's inner monologue was abruptly shattered as modulated screams rang out from their flank. Whirling round, he watched as another group of daemons swarmed over one of their makeshift barricades, overwhelming the defenders stationed there. Raising his bolter, his eyes narrowing into rage filled slits behind the glowing socket panes of his helm, Ophiel unleashed another torrent of .75 caliber rounds at the hellions, even though he knew how it would all end. They would be slain. Their bodies consumed or defiled at best, and twisted to serve the forces of Chaos at worst.

"Still, if this is to be how I die..."

He exclaimed, making his voice heard over the screams of the dying and the bone-chilling screeching of daemons as he slung his bolter over his shoulder and unsheathed his chainsword, preparing to bring its fanged edge down upon the neck of a clueless Bloodletter that had strayed a bit to close during the fighting.

"THEN SO BE IT! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!"

Bringing it down, its toothed edge whirring as it cut through the air, Ophiel suddenly found his view obscured by a bright light. One that faded away to reveal a ruined city on the very edge of nightfall. Letting out a surprised grunt as the downward momentum from his swing made his sword embed itself within the blasted concrete that had replaced the polished metallic decks of the Retribution he had been fighting on only a few seconds prior, the confused space marine spun around wildly, scanning his surroundings as though he were expecting an attack at any moment.

"What!?" He shouts, his gaze tearing over the area. "I was just on the ship and then... no... no, no, NO!!! VILE DAEMONS!!! REVEAL YOURSELVES!!!"

Ophiel continued to shout, albeit for his fellow battle-brothers this time, his voice radiating powerfully off of the surrounding buildings. The area, however, remained silent. Breathing heavily, the handle of his chainsword held in a white knuckle grip, Ophiel began racking his mind as to what had happened before coming to a conclusion. The Warp, that was it. Perhaps one of the Ruinous Powers, or a stray shifting of the realm had brought him here, wherever that was. Not that it mattered. He still had a duty to the Emperor and all of mankind, even if he was the sole survivor of the battle that was no doubt still raging on the Retribution at this very moment.

And by Holy Terra he would see it done.

Taking his hand off the lever of his chainsword, he slid it back into the sheath slung over his shoulder once it had powered down, checked the rest of his gear to make sure it was all present and accounted for, then set off, his clamorous footsteps the only prelude to his arrival. During this time he only stopped once along the way to retrieve a scroll containing information and tokens within its crinkly folds, taking a few seconds to read it before tossing it back to the wayside, dismissing it as a trick of the Warp.

Continuing onwards, he set out to discover just where in the Materium, or Immaterium, he was.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Fox sighed as he sat in the seat of his Arwing cockpit. He listened to the sound of the Great Fox's walls creaking and groaning as it sailed through space. It was the day that Team Star Fox had to do their weekly Arwing test. It was standard procedure for them, they needed to make sure all their vehicles were working when they got their jobs. Fox was just waiting around for the rest of the team to get into the hangar with him. Where were they? He knew they were on the way, what was keeping them? Suddenly though, as if on cue, Fox heard a series of footsteps echoing through the hangar, and he turned his head to see the rest of Star Fox walking to the Arwings

"There you guys are. What took you so long?" Fox asked to them as he got into a better flying position

"Ey, don't look at me. Slip over there was insistent on finishing up one of his little science projects" Falco said defensively, pointing to Slippy and stepping into his Arwing

"Hey, it's not just a science project, it's an upgrade to those reflectors I built you guys!" Slippy explained in a slightly annoyed tone. "But, ummm...sorry for delaying everyone, Fox..." he added as he also stepped into his own Arwing

"It's alright Slippy, just try to be a bit more punctual next time" Fox replied to Slippy. The Star Fox Team all pressed a button on their left that slowly closed the hatches of their Arwing cockpits, then proceeded to fasten their safety harnesses and start pressing some buttons on the display in front of them. "Communications open. G-Diffuser system nominal. Green across the board" Fox said as he did the routine check for all of his Arwing's systems. The rest of Team Star Fox chimed in with their own confirmations in response. "Ok, everything's in order" Fox continued and ignited the Arwing's engines in preparation for launch. "Prepare for takeoff in 3...2...1..."

All of Team Star Fox's Arwings suddenly sprang to life as the hovered above the ground of the hangar where they were just lying on. They then slowly moved forward, all making their way through the long tunnel of the hangar and quickly started to gain speed at every point

"Reaching 70 mph and climbing" Slippy said as the team's starfighters sped through the tunnel. "Reaching 100 mph, almost to the end of the tunnel. Everything seems g..." Slippy began to say, but suddenly got distracted by the image of something strange out of the corner of his eye. Some bright flashing light was appearing at the tunnel exit

"What is it, Slip?" Falco asked, noticing Slippy trailing off in thought

"There's...some kind of strange anomaly at the end of the tunnel..." Slippy answered, with a hint of worry in his voice

"Huh? Oh whoa, yeah. What is that thing?" Falco said after looking at the entrance himself and seeing the light as well

"I dunno, but it's getting closer!" Slippy said, the hint of worry from before now turning into full on fear as the light was appearing to stretch into the tunnel itself, almost appearing to engulfing the hangar entirely

"I don't like this Fox, we should turn bac-"



...

Fox slowly grew to consciousness, and he opened his eyes to the image of a bright blue sky. It took him a second to process this, but then immediately started noticing the strangeness of this situation. Wasn't he just in space? How did he get onto a planet? Why was he asleep? Fox immediately started looking around to take in his immediate surroundings to figure out where he was, seeing the image of his Arwing cockpit display. Okay, so he was still in his Arwing. Whew, that was good at least. He pushed himself up in his Arwing seat, and decided to survey the location he was in

What he saw was...almost too strange to comprehend. The Arwing seemed to be hovering stationary above some kind of vast desert, which itself would be strange enough, but that wasn't even the part that caught Fox's attention. What did was the fact that the landscape beyond the desert was some kind of bizarre mishmash of various locations. Castles, cities, western towns, and too much more for Fox to even register in his mind. Fox had been to some strange planets in his day, but this certainly took the cake for the absolute strangest for sure. Fox decided to ignore this fact for the moment, as the first thing he had to focus on right now was figuring out where his team members were

"Team Star Fox, all aircraft report!" Fox said into his headset in a slightly worried tone, hoping to get at least some kind of response

"Ey, look who decided to stop sleepin' on the job! Rise and shine, Sleepin' Beauty!" a familiar voice said over the Arwing radio, followed by the image of Falco's Arwing speeding across Fox's vision a couple yards away from him. Fox sighed with relief in response to hearing Falco's voice over the radio

"I never thought I'd say this, but it's great to hear your voice, Falco" Fox said jokingly to Falco over the radio

"Haha, whatever man" Falco replied

"What's the status of the others?" Fox asked Falco, hoping to hear good news

"You mean the rest of Star Fox? Who knows. Spent a whole half hour lookin' for 'em, found nothin'" Falco explained

"I...I see..." Fox responded dejectedly. He wondered what could've happened to them. Were they even here with them? Were they even alive? Fox didn't want to think about that, but...well...

"By the way, did you get those things too?" Falco suddenly asked, interrupting Fox's train of thought

"Huh? What things?" Fox asked

"Look under your seat" Falco said. Fox was curious, so he leaned down to the area for his legs to rest under his Arwing seat. Sure enough, there seemed to be something there: some kind of strange disk shaped objects. As Fox picked them up off the Arwing floor, he could see that they looked like poker chips of some kind, and had Fox's face printed on the middle of them. What were these things? How did they get in his Arwing

"Oh, yeah I did. What are they?" Fox asked, genuinely puzzled at these strange objects

"Check your messages" Falco responded. His messages? What did that have to do with them? This made Fox even more curious, so he opened up his message inbox using the Arwing's display panel, causing a list of messages to become digitally projected on the Arwing's window. Yep, just like Falco said, there was a new message. Fox opened it and read it eagerly, hoping for some answers

"So...these things are supposed to be our way out of here?" Fox asked

"Bah, don't believe what that thing says. It's probably all just a scam or somethin'" Falco responded dismissively. Fox sighed, he couldn't blame Falco for feeling that way, but he didn't want to write them off like that just yet. If these things were real, they had the chance to get their team members back from...well, whatever happened to them

"Alright, well first thing's first. Let's survey the area, get to know our surroundings" Fox said as he gripped the controls of his Arwing and took it out of stationary mode

"Got it. I've already done a bit myself, but it could be better with two of us" Falco said. Both Fox and Falco's Arwings both pointed in a random direction and took off

DIO watched the fellow vampire leave and immediately began to monologue to himself again. "An interesting encounter. What are the chances that I, DIO, were to meet another vampire lord upon my arrival here in the Crossroads?" He smiled, chuckling to himself.

"Of course, I already know the answer. Mere chance had nothing to do with it. I believe in 'gravity.' I know I am but a few short years away from the discovery of the truths of the universe, but first I must escape the Crossroads and eliminate the last remnants of Jonathan's disappointing bloodline." DIO briefly run his hand along the porceclain skin of his left shoulder, underneath his jacket and skin-tight top.

"Night has fallen. I shall leave soon." He picked up the glasses and placed them normally in the sink. After a moment he glanced down and tried the handle of the sink a few times. No running water. "Unfortunate. Internal plumbing is my favorite invention of the new century. That or...perhaps television, though it often lacks the substance or knowledge contained in books. Not to mention the infernal commercials that plague the air ways. Video rentals are hard to come by, aswell. Tomes remain the greatest reserve of human knowledge, thousands of years after man first put quill to paper. Such simple things are eternal, much like I, DIO."

DIO ascended to the roof of his mansion. Passing by his wardrobe, he commanded the doors to open, and they did so. From within he drew a flowing red cape that wrapped around his shoulders and trailed behind his right shoulder. He emerged from the rooftop access and stood, arms crossed, cape fluttering in the dusk breeze and observed the environments. He cut quite the dramatic figure.

"This place fascinates me. If I did not have more important business to attend too back on my Earth, perhaps I would study it further to lean it's secrets. But I am so close to greatness. I must return to Egypt. Thus, I shall collect the required tokens by any means necessary. I doubt the inhabitants are as powerful as someone like Dracula, merely due to the fact they are not eternal beings. Even still, with the power of the ultimate Stand I can defeat anyone foolish enough to challenge I, DIO. Perhaps there are new followers here that I can recruit to my cause, or maybe I can avoid petty conflict and coerce people to give me their tokens without tearing them asunder." DIO considered his thoughts aloud and looked for movement. A directionless search like this had no rush. He had just as much chance to see someone standing on the roof as he did while on the move. Thus he could take all the time he wanted and move with the practiced grace an eternal Lord like himself deserved.

DIO was an impossible to miss figure, striking a menacing pose, a shadow on the skyline of the old blank city, his ancient mansion radiating a kind of alluring evil that drew one into it's sickly sweet maw.





Eltariel smirked a little as the odd man seemed to look her up and down. But his words confirmed it- this was the one and the same creature that saved her life. Well, that was an odd way of putting it. He saved her tower, that is. That was the most important part. He sniffed, which was...weird. But who was she to talk? She hadn't had a normal conversation in what felt like a thousand years. Unless she counted Talion and Celebrimbor, but...those two were a certainly odd pair and she handled them extremely poorly.

When he asked who she was, she thought she would oblige. "My name is Eltariel. And no, I'm not human. I'm an elf." Perhaps elves did not exist where he came from. She knew for certain that beings like him did not exist on Middle-Earth, so it was fair guess to make. She pulled down her hoodie a little bit to show off her pointed ears a bit more clearly. Much more angular and sharp than the rounded stumps humans had.

"I suppose, if you are indeed that large creature, I should thank you again. You saved me. I mean...I died," She glanced over her shoulder at her own corpse laying face up in the cold grass. Then she turned to the scale-dressed man and addressed him with a sincere gratitude. "...but that's not really an issue for me. The Silver Tower is what's important. You scared off that vile warlord and his minions. So thank you. Thank you very much. I owe you everything." She concluded.

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Ophiel had been trekking through the Emperor forsaken ruins of that decrepit city for hours, the abandoned, decayed, and blown out buildings an overbearing constant throughout the course of his journey. Granted, it wasn't like the hike itself wasn't much of a challenge. Not only because of his own superhuman physiology, but because of the fact that he'd marched for days, weeks, and even months during various battles his Chapter was involved in. As such, this was more like a pleasant stroll than anything else.

Or it would have been, anyway, had he not just been fighting daemons a few hours prior. The fact that he had been transported here kept it from being such by forcing him to remain on high alert. For all he knew he could be on a planet on the far side of the galaxy, or traipsing through the depths of the Immaterium itself, flanked by hellions at all times.

Pushing ahead, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon, Ophiel soon found himself in a city proper or at least the outskirts of it. Cracked cement and ruinous structures had slowly given way to dunes of sand and monolithic stone pillars, ones that were markedly different from the architecture he was just encompassed by. Staring down at the patchworked section of ground as he stalked past, Ophiel came to the conclusion that he was definitely within the Warp. That or some world trapped within the hungry maws of the Eye of Terror or the Great Rift.

Either way, he was still deep inside Chaos controlled territory, and that meant everything here was a threat no matter how it looked. Raising his bolter slightly, his eyes easily adjusting to the low levels of light, Ophiel soldiered on into the long night undaunted.

Ready to bring righteous vengeance to the enemies of mankind.

---

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Lucifer walked along the neon lit streets, his exhaustion having passed several hours ago. Of course that didn't make up for the cool night air that was cutting through his toga like a knife, but then again that was mostly his fault for not dressing properly. Continuing on his way, his sandal shod feet making small pattering sounds as they pressed against cold asphalt still damp from rain that had passed through the area long before he faceplanted into it, the fallen cherub considered the scroll that he had found after taking leave of Tsukasa. From what he had learned, assuming the source could be trusted that is, he had to find objects known as tokens, five of which were in his possession already. The exact amount of which was a hundred, apparently so he could make a wish of some sort.

Of course a sane individual would have dismissed this as nonsense, but then again Lucifer knew he wasn't entirely sane himself. He had tried to kill his own father, after all. A feat that he recognized was impossible. If his long rebellion had taught him anything, it was that his father was not someone you just eliminated. But this wish business had gotten the gears of his mind spinning. If it were true, and he really could wish for anything, then once he got the one hundred required, he could wish his creator out of existence entirely.

"And once that happens, the universe will be mine for the taking."

He chuckles, a sinister grin worming its way across his immaculate face.

"Oh my brethren might stand in the way for the briefest of moments, but once they realize I was the one to bring an end to father, they'll have no choice but to accept my way of running things."

Moving deeper into the secondary residential sector, Lucifer continues to laugh, his mind spinning dark machinations once more...

As the Slayer pondered openly at the ground, he wouldn't fail to notice the red-coat throwing him back his own shotgun. The armored marine caught the shotgun with his left arm without even looking at it, before slowly turning to face him. For now, his anger has resided into relative dormancy, but it won't certainly remain this way for long. As his armored visor peered into the fellow demon slayer's face, the artificial voice of Vega proceeded to break the silent tension.

"Hello." the voice spoke audibly towards Dante, "I am Vega. The sentient intelligence originally assigned to Mars by the UAC. The figure that stands before you is known by UAC records and testaments recovered from Hell as "The Doom Slayer". He has allowed for me to speak upon his behalf, using his Praetor Suit as a vessel for my conscious before I may be transferred to a more suitable power source."

The Slayer said nothing as he began to slowly walk back and forth, inspecting the white-haired figure cautiously. Despite this figure having allowed himself to help the Slayer with the demonic invasion, he still couldn't trust this individual completely - especially with the fact that he claimed to be a half-demon. His visor shielded most of his facial features, save for a few instances where the light hit his visor just right to reveal his stern gaze from underneath.



The large figure grunted at Eltariel's response in not being human either. Yet as he inspected her closely, he could see characteristics within her that he hadn't seen in regular humans before - such as her spear-shaped ears, her outfit, and others. While he too shared some characteristics, such as similarly shaped ears, he had never seen anyone who called themselves as an "elf", let alone have heard of such a term.

"An elf...?" the beastly man wondered as he rose his head up with a muted sigh, "I do not know of these "elfs" you speak of. Still..."

Eltariel proceeded to thank him for saving The Silver Tower and scaring off what she believed to be a warlord and his minions. She even claimed to owe the creature everything. The creature simply grunted in indifference.

"You do not need to," he modestly replied, "It was merely a coincidental incident. I stumbled upon here after I heard the commotion, in which I was challenged to fight. I would've not noticed you had you not made noise that alerted me of your presence... I could've easily squashed you or flung you away by accident."

He then proceeded to glance at the tower, studying its pristine walls save for the large gash near the base.

"Hmmm... you seem to value this tower more than your own life." the man said as he placed his hand upon the structure, "Yet you've managed to resurrect a new vessel for yourself. Does this tower allow you to achieve this?"

Eltariel smiled, turning away briefly. The man here- she would have to ask his name- was a humble one. She liked that. Still, she wasn't sure how to feel. She'd never really needed help before.

"Well...coincidence or not. I'd still be over there were it not for your intervention." She aimed a thumb over her shoulder at the corpse in the snow. Indeed, he didn't know about elves, but that was to be expected given he was from another world entirely. It was impossible to know where he came from. This lack of knowledge was startling, and it was truly a humbling thought to know that there were countless histories just as complicated and layered as her own. Somewhere out there. Could there be another Eltariel? Or perhaps an Eltariel that hadn't make the mistakes that she had? A Middle-Earth where Sauron stayed defeated? It was impossible to know.

She tried not to let herself get too distracted on the abstract, cosmic factors at play and instead focus on the current situation at hand.

"Yes. Without the Tower, I cannot return to the land of the living in another body. A preposterous luxury for some, but in my line of work it is desperately needed." She admitted.

"What's your name?" She asked after a moment. Eltariel had turned her head away from him at this point and was idly scanning the tree line for any sign of the warlord or any other number of threats.

---

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---

---

Dracula watched as the token flew into the air and vanished, seemingly without any further effect. Raising an eyebrow at this, he crossed his arms and waited, tapping his foot against the ground in a rather impatient manner. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of creature or beast for him to slay? The message on the scroll certainly seemed to indicate this was the case, yet all he'd encountered thus far was the disturbing lack of something to kill. Had the message been false after all? Were these tokens actually useless? If so then Dio was simply wasting his time gathering them and he himself using them. Better to just secure some territory, store up some blood, and then-

Dracula was jolted from his thoughts as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, each one grinding over broken glass and shattered stone as their owner drew closer and closer.

"Hmm, it appears I was mistaken," Dracula mused as he scanned the surrounding area for the source of the noise, eventually finding it in the form of a tall, broad shouldered, and rather lanky looking man wearing a wide brimmed fedora, heavily tinted sunglasses, white gloves whose backs were covered in arcane looking stars, beneath which were the words Gott Mit Uns or God With Us, an interesting detail to be sure, and a long red frock overcoat that prevented Dracula from identifying whatever else might be hidden underneath. Turning to face the summon head on, he took further note of its gait, which seemed relaxed, confident. He also took note of its direction of approach, which was due north of where he was standing. And most importantly of all, its face.

The creature's face was pale, like porcelain if it were made of flesh. A good detail to be sure, as it told him all he needed to know concerning the nature of his foe.

He was a vampire, and the battle that was about to follow?

A joke. Where some might have been scared, even downright terrified, of such dark beings, Dracula could only view them with apathy. Maybe disgust or hatred if they truly warranted it. He'd killed so many of them, after all, and any sort of trepidation or fear he might have felt towards them was long gone, having fallen into that cold void along with the rest of his human emotions.

"Most of them anyway," he muttered, his mind making its way back to his family and the love he felt for them. A love that, even now, welled up warmly within the cold recesses of his dark heart, to the point where he had to silence the flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm his mind and distract him from his foe. With that done, though, he was finally able to devote his undivided attention to this new immortal. There was one thing about all of this that still confused him, however, and that was the saying he had seen on the mans gloves earlier. God with us. Quite the odd phrase for a fellow creature of the night to have plastered across their clothing, given their cursed nature and all, but perhaps this one was simply more religious than most. Either way it didn't really matter.

God or not, guns or not, this whelp would fall. He would see to that. Channeling blood along his arm, he manifested his Shadow Whip and watched as the other vampire charged towards him, actually eager for the first time in his long existence, for the battle to begin.

---

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Alucard sprinted towards the malignance at full speed, eventually coming close enough to make out its features. It was a man, tall and pale skinned, with long claws and dark hair who was clad in a blood colored long coat with golden embroidery. A vampire then, from all appearances, and a powerful one at that if the malevolence he felt radiating off the guy in waves was any indication. Not that it bothered him much. He'd faced other vampires before and come out on top, and he'd do so again. As he drew closer, he took note of the crimson gauntlet surrounding the mans right hand, but did not make any attempt to move out of the way as he rushed towards him.

He wanted to see exactly what this blood drinker was capable of, what kind of weapons and abilities he would bring to bear. If that meant getting hit, then so be it. Alucard knew he was well within his limits in that regard. Predictably, the man lashed out, launching a whip of red tinged darkness towards him at high speeds. Watching the weapon arc through the air with a smirk, he allowed the whip to connect with his face and send him flying backwards into the side of a nearby building. Letting out a small chuckle, he clawed his way out of the rubble and got back to his feet, the large gash across his face already healing.

"Impressive!" He shouted, staring at the man from over the brim of his sunglasses. That attack had been more powerful than he'd been expecting, especially considering how underwhelming it'd looked.

Almost as though the vampire standing before him was holding back.

Leveling his Casull at the man-his eyes narrowing suspiciously-Alucard squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet spiraling straight for the mans forehead. Another test of his enemies capabilities, durability this time. While Alucard knew exactly how much damage his own body could take, just how much his opponent's was capable of tanking was still unknown.

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Hiccup stared at the ground momentarily before Steven's voice caught his attention. "So, uhm.. Funny thing, Hiccup. I.. I think I know what's going on, and maybe even the why of it. But.. It's kinda hard to explain." With that, he glanced up at the boy, feeling a sense of hope among his dread - but that was quickly washed away when he continued. "So, uh, instead of trying to explain and inevitably making myself look like an insane fool, I'm going to give you-" He pulled out a weird rectangular device that looked beyond what his people used. "This!" What was that thing?

Hiccup stared at it as his brain began to ponder it. Steven seemed to give him an unspoken permission to hold the odd metallic tablet, and so, with great hesitance, he held it - seeing upon the weird device words of a written rule of this land. He squinted, reading the vague text but- Wait. What did it even say? The text was so tiny and foreign. Suddenly, his eyes widened. This has to be some godly device and Steven had to be-

His heart skipped a bit as he thought about it. Steven had said he had healing powers, though he had never really saw it himself, and this technology pressed him to believe that he was perhaps a god of sorts. It became more apparent as he displayed the patience of a god, and though he wasn't truly as graceful as the goddess was.. perhaps he was the goddess Eir taking shape of a boy, causing his pupils to widen. Hiccup felt himself tremble softly as he bowed his head. In this moment he truly realized he was not talking to a child, but a goddess herself, thinking her as a blessing to him. "Eir, the goddess of healing, I am honored to be in your presence, but you've no need to be around a mortal such as I."

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@Ladypug