Location(s): Undertown, Bellwood/Control Center, Paradox Engine.

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Seriously? The one time Ben has an off-day, and it couldn't even be a cool emergency. His grandpa just sent him a message about the Forever Knights stirring up trouble un Undertown again. Just his luck most of the Plumbers were off-world. Something about Vulkanus being up to some seriously shady stuff in some remote corner of the galaxy. Not to mention Rook taking the week off to go visit the family on Revonnah. Ugh...

Well, heroics never waited for personal life. Mr. Smoothy would have to wait for today.

And thus, that was how he ended up near the center of Undertown, after having thrashed through a small army of knights as Four Arms; an imposing, ten-foot-tall tower of muscle with double the arms for double the pain.



"Seriously guys, how many times do I gotta teach this lesson?" Ben spoke, his voice tough and gravelly to match his Tetramand form as he took two Forever Knights and unceremoniously had their heads meet, the clank of helmet armor ringing out as they hit the ground with a grunt.

"So what is it this time? Another DNA bomb? I swear, if it's another DNA bomb..." The remainder of the knight grunts rushed forward, to which Four Arms only grinned. With a clap of his hands, the shockwave was enough to floor the lot of them. However, nearing the center of the commotion, Ben couldn't help but have his jaw hang. Atop a spire-like device, clearly ready to release some unspeakable evil across all of Undertown, was a familiar, and shocking, face..

"Driscoll?!"

"The one and only."

With a tremendous leap, the armored king landed down to the battlefield below, quaking the ground enough to even knock Four Arms off balance, if only for a moment. However, as Ben was prepared to talk to and likely snark at Driscoll, he instead caught a powerful optic beam to the chest, skidding the Tetramand into the stone roads of Undertown and several dozen feet back.

"Ugh...Did he always pack that much of a punch?" Four Arms puzzled to himself, lifting up from the street rubble, finding himself already winded. That blast had some sting to it for sure...But before he could think, he could see the Forever King readying another blast. With seconds to spare, he slammed the dial on his waist. By the time the blast hit, Ben was gone...But a new voice could be heard in the skies.



"I feel like we're skipping some steps here. Usually, this is the part where we give witty jabs at each other while you spill the evil plan." The grinning Aerophibian could be seen in the heights of Undertown, keeping a close eye on Driscoll and his device. Growling in annoyance, the King attempted a few more times to unleash his optical beam, but each one a miss; Jetray was far too fast for him.

"I must admit, this one was unprecedented...But you would be a fool to think me outmatched, Tennyson!" Without warning, a thin red line of energy shot from the wrist of Driscoll's suit; Jetray reacted as fast as he could under the surprise move, but it just managed to clip his foot. For this maneuver, it was more than enough. Barely able to offer a yell of panic, Ben found himself being hurled from the skies back to hard earth, smashing into solid stone with a groan. Retracting his tether, the king made his approach to what he believed was a defeated Ben 10...A reckless mistake, to be certain, but maybe not unwarranted.

Grunting with effort, the Aerophibian weakly rose up to his knees, dazed and weak from the brutal slam. "So, he's strong...And got some new tricks. Maybe it's time for one he won't be ready for." Ben whispered to himself, already hatching a scheme in his head as, only partially an act, he collapsed to the ground once more as Driscoll arrived to the defeated hero.

"Ah. So this is how the great Ben Tennyson falls. With a whimper..." With a crushing grip, the Forever King grasped Jetray, dragging him up face-to-face with him. "And to think, I had planned for far greater contingencies than this...How sad. Now, hero, you may watch as your precious Undertown will soon be laid to waste!" While his weakness was partially feigned, it was true Ben was having difficulty staying conscious. But what he saw next shocked him back to his senses.

Around the entirety of Undertown, an energy barrier crackled to life, likely ensnaring all the residents there at the time. An innumerable amount of alien civilians. Ben didn't know where this was leading, but his stomach was already curling. "Now, as much as I'd love for you to see the fruits of my labor, I'm afrai-AGH!" His attention torn away for a moment too long, Ben had shifted yet again, as the Forever King's grip on the hero was loosened, and he caught a face full of radioactive energy.



The Forever King was sent sprawling across the street as Ben's new form staggered into standing upright, a deep Russian accent coming from the clanging steel of the suit. "Sorry Driscoll, but the show's over. I don't know how tough the new suit is, but I doubt it took a point-blank blast like that well. So just sit back, or I'll put you on your rear again." The heavy-duty suit began to lumber its way across the empty street to the strange device. He'd like to just melt through it and be done with it, but who knows what that'd do...

But with his attention away from Driscoll, the King made a desperate move. With a switch emerging on one of the suit's hands, he pressed the button...And the machine began its dark work.

Immediately NRG snapped to attention, glaring over to Driscoll. His voice, while he tried to keep it steady, was edged with a bit of fear and confusion. "Driscoll! What did you do?!" He was met with dry laughter as the Forever King stood once more, though his helm notably burned and damaged. "It is simple...This is a temporal displacer. In other words, it takes things from one place in space to another. Though, this one..." His laughter, at first humorless and devoid of energy, grew in adulation and triumph. "It's programmed to transport everything in a massive radius into the nothingness of space! Of course, the barrier will prevent it from reaching Bellwood, and I have it set to transport creatures that do not match Human DNA."

If Ben could go pale, he would've. This thing will strand thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of aliens, in the middle of space! It was certain death for nearly all of them! Out of snark, the only thing the hero could give was a growl, and a declaration. "I'll stop it!" While he wasn't sure how he would, he knew his best bet, given how dangerous the thing already looked, crackling with energy and threatening to go off.

With a flash of emerald light, Ben made his last transformation, the last hope for stopping this catastrophe.



"Driscoll, if you've got half a mind, steer clear!" This new form's voice crackled like static, as Feedback jammed his fingers into the Temporal Displacer, energy siphoning off into the Conductoid. But still...It wasn't enough! In desperation, he plugged in his antennae and tail in, trying to take on as much power as he could from this thing. He could feel it slowing down, but it wasn't stopping! As Ben grit his teeth and put his all into it, he could tell it wasn't going to be enough...He failed.

In the last moment, however, he found himself tackled by Driscoll. "This is my MOMENT! You dare, Tennyson?!" With the electrical charge of Driscoll intermixing into the process, the two of them were caught entirely off-guard as a blinding flash engulfed the both of them. In the end, the Temporal Displacer was stopped....But what of Ben Tennyson and the Forever King?

Feedback found himself knocked to the ground of a strange new environment; a room filled with cords and screens, and at its center, a towering device that, unbeknownst to the Defender of Earth, served as the de-powered core of what was a massive structure soon to be known as the Paradox Engine...

What Feedback did know is that he had appeared in a weird dark room and was filled to the brim with energy threatening to blow this place apart. "Oh man, oh man...Gotta discharge this somewhere!" Not sure of what to do, the Conductoid casually plugged himself into the core, outletting all the siphoned power, and with it, restoring energy to the station as the room suddenly brightened, with screens he couldn't possibly comprehend flickering to life.

"Ah, crap. Looks like things just got complicated..." And as he spoke, more flashes of light began to emerge. "...And I might've spoken too soon."

---

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Location: Paradox Engine, Simulated Universe #1 (Open Fields, Current Simulation: Unknown)

When Driscoll came to, the only thing he could think of was his defeat. Yet again, in spite of all his planning, years of effort, he was waylaid once more! He couldn't help but slam his fists to the ground in fury, craterizing the beautiful, luscious grass plains around him...Which is what brought him to his senses.

"Well then. This is neither the cold, emptiness of space, nor Undertown. It seems my plan was less foiled, and more...Complicated." Uncertain of his surroundings, he tried to get his bearings, but as far as the eye could see was the windy grasslands, scenically peaceful, in stark contrast to the crater he had made. Wherever he was, he had the strange sense it wasn't quite Earth...And this was only impounded as familiar flashes of light began to emerge across the plains.

"And so the plot thickens..."

For Danny Fenton, it had just been an ordinary day. For the first time in a long time, Danny didn’t have any ghost related shenanigans going on. Ghosts weren’t wreaking havoc, people weren’t running in fear, it was an actual normal day. Danny was on a date with Sam. Their first real date, as a couple. For once in his life, everything was good.

Then there was a weird flash of light, and suddenly everything went downhill. Danny was now no longer in Nasty Burger with his girlfriend. (It still felt weird calling her that.) Instead, he was in a room filled with cords and screens that didn’t look like any part of the ghost zone he had ever been too. Although, this could be something Technus could have cooked up… “Where am I?”

Standing in front of the weird towering thing, was a green and black monster that was radically different from any kind of ghost Danny had ever seen before. His eyes went wide. “And what kind of ghost are you?!” Danny immediately transformed into his ghost form, and hovered up. His fists glowing green with energy. “So let me guess. I have to fight you, so I can get back home to my girlfriend? Or is there an easier we can do this?”

Merlin

The wizard looked at his surroundings. He immediately unleashed a non lethal blast of telekinesis at the people he thought were his captors. "What is the meaning of this?" The wizard demanded to know. He was ironically dressed in modern clothing, not the robes he wore during the days of Camelot. He was ready for a battle, and he looked very angry.

The chariot's soul shattered, and the king's roar of fury lapped at his spirit.

I'm leaving the rest up to you, Giorno.

B-Bucciarati... Y-Your body's still back at the Colosseum. That body is-!

Giorno, I was reborn. When I met you back in Naples... When I betrayed the organization... My heart was dying a slow death, but it was reborn... Thanks to you.

This is what true happiness is. This is how it should be. Don't worry.

Please give everyone my regards.

Don't worry about it Giorno.

I'm only going back to where I was supposed to go.

I'm simply returning to how I once was...

The eddies of his fading consciousness delivered a crystalized dream into the hands of the dreamer.

That's all...

Everything faded away.

(/._./)

Cold.

That was the first thing that occurred to him.

The ground was cold and hard. Smooth. Metal.

How... How long had it been since he'd felt? How long since he last... smelled ozone.

The scent of ozone, of fading thunder and static lingered, buzzing across his skin. He could feel it. With this corpse of a body, long since passed on, he could feel again.

"Giorno?" Even his own voice almost sounded foreign in his ears after having gone deaf, as blue eyes cracked open in disbelief... and muted optimism. His wounds... were long since fatal. No, rather, he had already been dead, and it was merely the life force imbued into his corpse that allowed his soul to cling to it for a while longer... to finish what they started. Giorno couldn't have healed him, couldn't have undone what had been done... before Requiem. But if the Arrow was involved, then maybe...

Bruno's blurring vision cleared after a languid blink to the sight of steel and blooming lights cast all around him, wires and cords snaking across nearly every surface. His body was assaulted by pins and needles, as he twitched and lurched almost awkwardly into life, limbs shaking with the effort. The gangster felt almost hyper-aware of the thundering heartbeat in his ears, a thunder that had long been silent, as he grit his teeth at the sight of a green and black figure.

A Stand?

Gasping, Bucciarati flopped onto his stomach, as many other lights continued to intensify and slowly congeal into other figures. Bruno sucked in a shaky breath and restrained a snarl, as he pushed himself to his knees, the feeling in his limbs returning intermittedly, almost painfully. He was trapped in a confined space with an unknown Stand User with unknown intentions. Somehow... Somehow, the transportation had healed him... truly resurrected him even. For that, if this person was responsible... He owed them a debt... if they were.

And even so, there was no telling what purpose he had been abducted for. While he would like to believe the best of his potential savior, intentional or not, gratitude could only go so far... in the face of a mountain of shit. If he had been called forth for the purposes of injustice, he would fight against it to the last breath, even in this brand new body. Despite that resolve, however... Bruno grit his teeth and continued to stay silent, biding his time, as the pins and needles died down at an achingly glacial pace. Realistically, he didn't have the strength to fight if it came down to it. He'd only just been healed, and he could barely sit up as is, never mind move quickly. He could summon his Stand, but it would take an unacceptable toll upon him at this time. The only choice... was to run away.

Glancing around at the other figures appearing, Bruno considering the situation carefully. While he had awoken here, there was no telling for sure if he had been transported like these others or arrived by other means. In fact, there was nothing saying that these new arrivals weren't also allies of the Mysterious Stand. In that case... in the case of hostility... he could only use all of his strength to flee, to open a zipper through the floor and fall in. Hunching onto elbows and knees, half strategically and half in unmitigated exhaustion, Bruno's soul coiled and vibrated beneath his skin, his spectral partner prepared to act at a moment's notice, as he watched... and waited for the confirmation or denial he needed to act.

The second figure to fully form (or perhaps they had been there all along, and his struggling senses had merely missed him), an older teenage boy, made statements of confusion. His grievances were... simple but understandable for a youth, but in this situation-

Bruno startled at the appearance of two rings, rings that brought forth an... almost lackluster transformation, like merely switching the color pallet and slapping a bodysuit on the boy. A moment later, the kid took flight, hands glowing with a baleful energy. Another Stand?! With an ability like flight and whatever that glow was, Bruno was all too thankful to see the boy presented as an apparent ally, even if only for convenience. Given the boy's statements, it was clear he'd been abducted against his will as well. Unfortunately, Bruno couldn't very well let the boy fight alone if things devolved. His body was weak but... not entirely helpless. If it came down to it, he could observe the potential enemy, identify their weaknesses and an opportunity, and expend what little energy he had for a singular blow that would turn the tide.

Before anything could be done in that direction, one way or the other, a third light finished depositing its charge... a very angry old man... who was also a Stand User... if the near-immediate ripple of force that ripped towards the Mysterious Stand was any clue. It was lucky Bruno was so weak, because he might have broken a tooth from how hard he was grinding his teeth, as he struggled to decide upon which side of the aisle he'd place his bets and commit his flagging power behind.

Was everyone who'd been captured a Stand User?!

---

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“Hurry. You have time. You can fix her, can’t you?”

She was tired. So very, very tired... Of saving Mommy... of saving Daddy, of saving Drew, of saving Muffles... Of having her work undone each time and coming back to find even more work than the last. For hours. So many hours. She didn't know how many.

“Come on,” came the whisper. “You can do it. Don’t you love your mommy?”

Mommy's face was more stitches than anything else, and she was so very tired.

"No." She...

"No?"

"I don't love her." She was such a bad girl.

“Alrighty. Say goodbye, then.”

"Goodbye, Mommy."

Mommy responded silently, but she knew what Mommy said.

It took far, far too long for Mommy to die while she watched. And then, eventually... there was no more Mommy, just a machine of flesh and blood that was winding down. Just... meat, no Mommy... because of a bad girl. But Mommy had told her to be good. So, from now on... she’d be polite and cheerful and she’d do her chores and she would mind her manners and she’d eat all of her dinner and she’d keep her hair nice and she wouldn’t swear. She do all that and more, and when she did...

She'd be a very Good Girl.

(/._./)

The all too familiar nightmare faded in a sudden blaze of light, and Riley faded with it.

Appearing in a small freefall from a sleeping position, it was Bonesaw's smart and squeaky-clean black dress shoes that padded down into thick, vibrant grass after an abrupt, midair near 180 of the young girl's spine. The barely perceptible sound of her own muscles creaking, as her torso rotated back into proper alignment, sounded wonderfully ominous in the blonde's enhanced ears, not that she expected the armored lunk before her to hear it, as a cherubic, deceptively pleasant smile crossed her expression, her hands folding demurely over the front of her unstained dress and apron. After all, when possible, she was hardly going to sleep without changing after a hard day's bloody work. She wasn't a savage.

Nor was she anything close to the affable image she presented.

Her hands were folded over her apron only so that she could do inventory on the surgical tools within the front pocket. Needle case, string, bandages, wire, hooks, spare vials, several vials filled with either delightfully unpleasant chemicals or medical concoctions, scalpel set and, of course, her namesake. In the meanwhile, her pings for her spider boxes were receiving no response, which elicited a light pout. It did appear that she was bereft of the majority of her better tools. Someone was going to hurt for that.

In more positive news, her pre-fight inventory of her personal systems had revealed that all her internal gadgets at least seemed present, functional and sufficiently well stocked. Mechanical traps, spring-loaded needles and venom venting systems readied throughout her body, as she double checked her berserker mode and found it untriggered even by the expansive green vision stretching out as far as the eye could see, which meant this was no Master/Stranger effect... for better or worse.

Gosh dippity ding diddly foodily do darn! she whined internally. Jack was going to be maaaaaaad if he found out about this, especially since it was likely all Bonesaw's fault for getting greedy with her craft to begin with. That annoying Lady in the Hat had obviously lied and broken into the Nine's dimension while she was sleeping!

Stupid really. Putting Bonesaw in the middle of nowhere away from the rest of the Nine? That was just begging for blind-fired plagues, some of the real nasty stuff that she'd saved for a rainy day when she was extra bored... and also just as general Mutually Assured Destruction weapons. Sure, a threat was only good if you were willing to use it -and she very much was, but that made things a whole lot less interesting in the long term, years of entertainment eliminated long before she could play with them personally, just to make a stern point to some very, very foolish people with big guns and bigger heads. In all her years, she'd only had to actually exercise that threat once, and for the world, once was more than enough. However, it looked like the lesson hadn't sunk in well enough...

Alternatively...

A thrill of anxiety and muted excitement crawled up her prehensile spine.

Alternatively, the Hat Lady was rather less stupid than she looked. She had claimed they could break into the Nine's dimension now that they knew where it was. That meant they had dimensional tech or powers... There was every possibility that she had simply been removed from the Earth Bet equation entirely and dumped on some empty, boring mudball. In fact, as the other... less than heroic-looking individuals formed around her... that sounded more and more feasible by the second.

Bonesaw debated striking preemptively. Her poison needles could surely do the trick for the majority of these unlucky yahoos, but for most of her other weapons, her venom spray, poison spit, telescoping arms and acid-loaded fingernails, she'd need to get close. Even her poison clouds wouldn't be as much use without getting closer than she'd appeared, and going after whoever she gambled on being the most troublesome would leave her open to potentially far worse. And that aside, even something as simple as a fair wind might rob the poison clouds of their teeth. Oh and -double and, there was that big Tinker in the armor. Even if she got rid of everyone else, that armor could likely trump everything she could conventionally bring to bear as she was... unless he'd skimped on the air filtration systems, but if he hadn't skimped...?

Her beatific smile widened, all sparkly white teeth now.

She'd just have to play it by ear... Play it like Jack.

She'd talk and listen. She'd smile and nod and laugh and giggle and grin and wait and needle and poke and slice and dice until she knew where she was and who these were and who she was going to have to make suffer like none had suffered before and it...

...was going to be so. Much. Fun.

---

Small flash of embers escaped either side of bared fangs. A large black dog lowly but decidedly paced forward through the grass. Its fur was black and shiny; bony protrusions like ribs ran down its back. The creature looked like it had come from the devil’s lair. The pointed tail and curved horns atop its head certainly didn’t help dissuade the notion. Eventually it came to a stop, legs spread and head lowered to the ground. It continued to growl deeply, its snout wrinkling as its face tightened revealing its collection of sharp teeth. The air surrounding the creature warped as a mysteriously aura of sweltering heat surrounded it. Dark eyes pierced forward, glancing at each new entity that formed within the light. It looked like it would pounce at any moment, but something was keeping it at bay.

Close behind the beastly looking animal, a much more calm and collected individual stood. This gentleman was seemingly unaffected by the heat in such close proximity. The man held his hands behind his back, standing perfectly still with feet partially apart. He stood watching the same lights as his flame producing companion. He was dressed in all gray slacks, long sleeved shirt, and collared sleeveless jacket. A yellow stylized ‘G’ rested proudly over his left beast. His eyes were deep and focused while his cheeks sunk in slightly. His bow sat furrowed over his eyes, and his mouth was closed with a slight upward arc. He had a look of one who had not given a moments thought to anything other than his goals. Cyrus was in command of the powerful canine. It stood waiting for a command as Cyrus stood in thought.

This is not the universe I had hoped to create. I do not know where I am, but my plans have not changed. Whatever it is that brought me here has done so foolhardily. I still have the red chain. I still control the masters of time and space. Yet…

The people who had come from the light were nothing like he had seen before. He has seen a variety of peculiar people. Those who dressed as Pokemon. Those who wore armor even. But these people, even those in normal attire, were off-putting. The perfect world, the perfect universe, Cyrus had hoped to create. There were not meant to be human spirit, but these people still expressed it. The little girl could only do so much to contain whatever fantasy she was dreaming in her head. As new light illuminated the grassy plain for each new individual to show, it left Cyrus with a new question.

Who are these people and where did they come from? Surely it was not Dialga or Palkia who brought them here. In any case, I will still have my perfect universe.

A blur of color tore through the skies of Talescria, the capital world of the Coalition of Planets. The blur had a name, Terra Grayson, and she had been raised on this world hundreds of years ago. As she observed it from the skies, she ruminated on how different it had become. Before, it was an ecumenopolis with spires stretching into the clouds, and the skies were choked with transports and aircars. Now, after the war with the Viltrum Empire, it was more idyllic. Greenery had taken over what was previously industrialized, and the empty sky scrapers teemed with plant life. Terra took a deep breath of the fresh air, and sped along through the sky. She had an appointment to make with an old friend today.

Or she would have, if a sudden flash of light did not rip her out of Talescria's skies and deposit her in... Well, she didn't know. It appeared to be indoors, a control room of types, in dilapidated condition. Terra hung in the air a few feet off the ground, fists raised, prepared for anything. There were others, a few humans by the looks of them, but others that seemed clearly not human. Her eyes flicked from person to person, trying to see if anyone had a better idea of what was going on than she did. Gauging that the level of confusion she currently had was shared with everyone else, she decided to feel out the person in the room that was the most unfamiliar to her.

"Hey you, alien!" She pointed at the black-skinned creature that was stood across the room from her. "I don't recognize your species. Are you the one that's abducted us?" Looking to the others, she saw that they were panicking, and felt that to avoid a chance of violence, she had to assume control of the situation. She descended to the ground, lowering her fists, and tried to speak in a softer tone. "My name is Terra. I'm a peaceful agent of the Viltrum Empire. I just want to know where I am, and why I'm here."

Location(s): Control Center, Paradox Engine.

Mentions: Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned, Bruno Bucciarati @Lewascan2, Terra @Dead Cruiser, and Danny @Crimson Flame

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Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa! So much happened that even as XLR8, Ben's head would've been spinning to keep up. Feedback barely had time to glance his singular eye to Danny before an old man popped in behind him, and without warning, he was held up a few feet above the ground, grunting in effort. "H-hey! This how you greet an intergalactic superhero, old timer?!" His struggles were made worse with the fact that he'd just spent all that energy, not to mention the adrenaline wearing off from his fight with Driscoll. The sting of those crashes were catching up to him...

Before the wizened old man could respond, another newcomer popped into the scene. And her introduction left something to be desired...Seriously, single out the weirdest looking guy in the room and say he's a kidnapper? Not. Cool. That much was clear on Feedback's deadpan expression staring at the person who called themselves Terra. And they were an agent of the...Viltrum Empire? Didn't ring any bells. In fact, Ben's gears started to turn in his head...

This lady could recognize he was an alien, but it seems the others were clueless; heck, the white-haired guy called him a ghost! Heh, if only he knew about Ghostfreak...Still, it was even stranger that while she could point out he was extraterrestrial, she couldn't recognize him as Ben Tennyson. He began putting the pieces together, and came to his conclusion with a groan.

"Alright, alright. I think I've got a good idea of what's going on. Lemme just..." While the telekinetic bonds were strong, Ben had a lot of practice as Feedback; sneakily jamming his tail back into the core, he siphoned back a bit of the energy, and with a surge of strength through electrically-powered muscle, he forced his hand to the symbol on his chest, and in a flash of light that broke the spell, there stood...

A completely normal human.



Ben didn't hide the grin on his face, knowing he'd get some great reactions from these people; he was used to it, but it didn't make it any less fun to see. "Name's Ben Tennyson. Protector of Earth, Savior of the Universe three....Maybe four times? But I doubt any of you get what I'm saying, so..."

Ben's attention was snatched away. In spite of the situation, and accusations coming in from all sides, he couldn't help but notice the man nearly collapsed to the floor, clearly in pain. He, uh, dressed...Differently. But still, Ben knew a person in need when he saw them, and he didn't hesitate to drop all pretenses and stride towards the struggling Bucciarati.

"Hey, you alright? You're not looking great...Here, let me help you up." His cheesy grin from before was replaced by a face of genuine concern as he reached down, offering a hand to the confused and suffering Stand User. If these people weren't happy about this, then they could take it up with him later; when there's someone in trouble, he always knew what he had to do. If Bruno was paying attention, he could also tell just how selfless the young man was. Judging from his slight limp and the pained gritting of teeth as he leaned down to offer his hand, he wasn't in the best of shape either.

Interactions: Ben @Mintz Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned Bruno @Lewascan2 Terra @Dead Cruiser

Before the… whatever it was could answer, an old man appeared, and caused the creature to start floating, as he demanded to know what was happening. It also would have sent Danny flying too if it he weren’t already flying. “I don’t know either sir!” Danny shouted.

Another girl dressed like a superhero appeared, addressed the monster as an alien, and called herself Terra agent of the Viltrum Empire. It was like something out of video game. What was weirder was that none of these people made his ghost sense go off. They really weren’t ghosts. So, if he wasn’t in the ghost zone, where was he?

The alien then turned into a boy, introduced himself, bragged about how he had saved the universe, then went to help another man who had fallen on the floor, and looked to be in pain. Ben himself didn’t look to be in the best shape either. Danny landed on his feet. “I’m Danny Fenton… Or Danny Phantom… I haven’t saved the whole universe… But I did save the planet from a meteor once… How do you not know who I am? It was kind of a big deal. They built a statue of me in the capital of me in every country. I think it’s a bit much to be honest…” He rubbed the back of his head nervously. Not that long ago, he was public enemy number one. He wasn’t exactly used to all the attention from people.

He then put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “You don’t exactly look so good either. Let me help.” He then offered the unfamiliar man a hand.

Others continued to appear, and Terra's confusion only grew as they introduced themselves and bragged about their accomplishments. The alien turned into a human by means Terra didn't yet understand, and claimed to have saved the universe on multiple occasions. Between his technology that was unfamiliar to her and his grandiose claims, Terra wasn't sure what to make of this character. She was fairly traveled in the universe, and what she hadn't seen for herself her father had likely told her about, and she had never heard of this guy. She was admittedly less familiar with the superheroes of Earth, and couldn't reasonably disprove the other boy's claims, but his powers were interesting, and his claim of global recognition was spurious. Terra also had the feeling that she would have heard about someone that important, likely from her father. Their clothing didn't seem to be from modern Earth, anyway.

Her brow quirked in confusion, but Terra remained calm, stepping forward to see if the strangely-dressed man they were helping needed medical attention. He seemed mostly fine, but exhausted. She tried to talk to him to see if he was conscious, "Hello sir, can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?" She looked over at the Ben character, asking, "What's wrong with you? Hurt?" She took a serious look at them, grey eyes scanning them, analyzing the potential threat they represented. She didn't know enough to make a judgement. "Are you humans? Are you from the Earth? My father tells me about what superheroes of the Earth used to be like; is that what you're supposed to be?"

---

Another day, another list of countless emails and partnership offers and design concepts to sift through. Running a business such as Gabriel was never an easy task, but the brand's namesake has his mind on more pressing matters. Around the fifteenth amateur wanting to make a name for themselves with a serious lack of talent to do so with, Natalie had finally returned to the mansion. Passing the busywork to her, Gabriel Agreste went to do his much more important job, at least in his eyes.

As his secret elevator glided to a stop in his secret watchtower (you can really get away with a lot for the right price), Gabriel tore his ascot away, revealing what seemed like ordinary jewelry on his shirt, a golden peacock and a small purple gem. But anyone aware of the Miraculous could tell otherwise.

"Nooroo, Duusu... unify!"

The transformation complete, Gabriel - now Shadow Moth - watched as the window before him opened, the long stretch of the city revealed to him. The light coming in disturbed the many pristine white butterflies resting about, sending them fluttering around the room. An errant thought passed in his mind, the way the butterflies moved together inspiring a new ad campaign, but he pushed it aside. No time for it now. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of Paris's downtrodden fill his ears.

Nothing particularly caught his eye, today. A kid had his ice-cream taken by a bully. Ramier was upset about the treatment of his pigeons again. What's this, a frantic mother in search of her lost child? Yes, that would work very well.

"A parent facing their worst possible reality," he spoke, voice nice and deep and ~mysterious~, hand open to let one of his butterflies land upon it. "To what end would they go through to find the children they've misplaced?" He clasped the butterfly between both hands, filling it with a dark, sparking energy. "Fly away, my--"

Before he could send his Akuma away, before he even let it leave his grasp, the bright sky before him grew brighter. And brighter. Brighter still until it almost blinded him in pure light, like the sun finally decided to swallow the Earth! If only...

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When the light finally subsided, Shadow Moth found himself in an almost picturesque field, the grass green and growing in every direction. He immediately buckled his knees, prepared to take on whatever being brought him to such a place, if it was even real, taking his un-released Akuma in one fist while lifting his cane with the other.

"Blast! Is this the doing of another Miraculous user?! An Akumatized villain from the future?" Shadow Moth spoke aloud, since he was so used to being by himself, and it took him a solid second before he realized there were others around him. By their looks they could only be others like him, a hero or a villain from any stretch of the world, but nothing that he's researched before. Though they seemed just as confused to be here as he was. Taking quick stock of who was around, paying particular note to the imposing knight, Shadow Moth straightened himself and set his cane on the ground.

"It would seem we've all been transported here," he said. A quick dip into the various swirling emotions definitively proved that confusion was the constant between everyone present. "Do any of you know why, and to where?"

Location(s): Control Center, Paradox Engine.
Mentions: Ben @Mintz, Danny @Crimson Flame, Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned, Terra @Dead Cruiser.

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As the Mysterious Stand was wrenched upwards and restrained by a telekinetic grasp, another light congealed, this time, for once, a woman, rather youthful in appearance and... already hovering a notable distance above the floor like the boy, which by this point was not so surprising. Brows furrowing and a fair shake more lucid than he'd been several moments ago, Bruno frowned at her accusation leveled towards the Mysterious Stand of "alien", his blue eyes narrowed. As she descended to the ground, the woman -Terra- claimed to hail from an empire that he most certainly would have heard of... if it actually existed.

Frowning, Bucciarati scrutinized her closely. Her posture was firm and confident. There were stirrings of unease only he was privy to, but regardless of the situation, she seemed almost completely nonplussed and unthreatened by any of the potential dangers in this room. Her tone of voice was straightforward and unwavering and her words unstuttered and unhesitant. On the surface, one could only assume she was either a consummate liar, arrogantly overconfident, or some variation thereof.

Bruno knew better.

He'd always possessed a talent for sniffing out liars, and this woman... At minimum, she believed what she was saying was true. That talent of Bruno's, perhaps it had always been something more... and had simply awakened to its true potential upon him being forced into a state of undeath, but he had grown to be able to feel the souls and thoughts of others. And it was because this was so that he could truly tell, without question, that this Terra was speaking from the heart. She believed -assumed even- that the Mysterious Stand was an alien. Absurd.

Or was it?

As Bruno paid attention to the souls of the room's other occupants for a change, he pursed his lips in thought at the potent prevailing cocktail of confusion, annoyance and anger... except for one.

Rattling off a shakily light-hearted remark at the old man's assault, the "Mysterious Stand's" own confusion had morphed into a combination of realization, resignation and then resolve. Bruno's sharp eyes and lowered position made out the Stand's tail jamming into the humming core, and Bruno's body tensed at the Stand breaking free of the telekinetic hold in a surge of renewed strength... only for it to slap the distinctive, hourglass shaped emblem upon its chest and fade away with a flash of green... into another teenage boy of similar age to the first.

Another extreme close-range Stand, like Secco's [Oasis]? The odds of that being the case with each abductee twice, never mind four times... was absurd. The fact that Bruno was the only odd one out -the only one with a humanoid Stand- of the five of them was simply mind-boggling!

Poleaxed, Bruno blinked and then frowned, as the boy landed heavily and staggered before straightening up with a wry grin, clearly concealing a limp. He called himself Ben Tennison... before making a truly absurd claim! And yet, somehow, as the boy turned a concerned gaze his way, he could tell for certain that this boy was no less truthful than the woman! As Ben approached him, the other teenager landed and introduced himself as Danny (last name variable) and made similarly absurd claims... with similar shades of truth to them!

Bruno's expression pinched in both confusion and pain. Were his senses failing him in new and horrifying ways? What they said couldn't be the truth, and yet it all was! What was this? What was this place? Who were these people really? He was supposed to be dead. Was this even real?

Could this be...

"-The work of an Enemy Stand," Bruno murmured aloud, brows furrowed. In the end, they had never determined the full limits of [Silver Chariot Requiem's] power over souls. It was possible that even in its death throes it had made one final gamble in defense of the Arrow. which meant that all this was... what exactly?

Setting his jaw, Bruno firmed his weakened shoulders as much as he was able, as he stared at the hands offering aid. In truth, he very much did not want to stand up right now. Honestly, that would probably be one of the things he definitely shouldn't be doing in such an exhausted state. He should be resting and recovering, doing everything in his power to avoid straining himself and making any lingering damage worse.

However... As always seemed to be the case, there was no time to rest and no place to lay. If this was real...? He had to be strong for now, to do what he could where he could. There was no use destroying himself to put on a strong front, but he needed to demonstrate that he could at least pull his own weight. Inhaling sharply, he grit his teeth and grasped the offered arms with his shaking ones, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. Staggering, he reflexively caught himself with [Sticky Fingers], the pale humanoid's limbs briefly flickering into being beneath his shoulders to straighten his posture and allow him to lock his knees somewhat, before fading away once more to conserve energy.

The woman -Terra, he reminded himself- expressed her own concerns then. Though, they were marred somewhat by a ripple of objectively reasonable wariness and mistrust in her spirit. In contrast, the two boys seemed wholly unconcerned by any of those present, not even the old man that had moments before struck out at one of them without even a second thought.

Bruno opened his mouth to speak, before coughing briefly at how dry it felt. Working his tongue, he mustered up depressingly little saliva and swallowed, clearing his throat with a rasp. "My name is Bruno Bucciarati." He paused to clear his throat again uncomfortably. "I am-" His brows furrowed. "No. Rather, first, I must thank you for your concern and your aid." However little or unintentionally harmful it may be. At Terra's following questions, he frowned minutely before replying. "I was much worse before arriving here. And-" His eyes narrowed. "I can't imagine what would make you think for a single moment that anyone here isn't human. In fact-"

Setting his jaw, Bruno's expression hardened, blue eyes sharpening like glass. "My name is Bruno Bucciarati! I have long held a talent for determining a liar!" Wrenching his hands free of the boys' hands, he dragged his fingers firmly down their warm palms in passing and brought the digits to his mouth, giving a languid lick of the salty substance he had collected, humming thoughtfully, before gritting his teeth. "Before, I could only do so through tasting sweat, but I recently developed a more reliable method, and I can say for certain... that this is the taste of the Truth!" Gasping for air from his sudden bout of energy, Bruno hunched, and [Sticky Fingers] rose from his back once more, one leg sliding between his to allow him to sit on its thigh, while the arms wove around his own in support of him leveling a pointing finger at his fellow captives. "There is no Viltrum Empire, nor any other empire! The universe has never been threatened, nor has the world! Superheroes, ghosts and aliens: none of those exist! And yet-!" His jaw clenched harshly. "I know for a fact that every one of you is telling the Truth! Your stories contradict themselves, and yet not one lie has been spoken, nor deception attempted!"

His eyes narrowed upon Ben in particular. "You. I wish to give you the benefit of a doubt, but your prior form was compatible with a structure native to our mysterious location." His eyes flickered towards the humming structure in the center of the room. "When I arrived, you were the only one here..." His expression was resolute and straightforward. "I wish to trust that you are an ally. What do you know? Please, before we proceed further, speak quickly, that we might defang any hostilities."

Location(s): Control Center, Paradox Engine.

Mentions: Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned, Bruno Bucciarati @Lewascan2, Terra @Dead Cruiser, and Danny @Crimson Flame

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Hearing Danny say his part, being a world-renowned hero of his own that none of the rest have heard of, Ben couldn't help but sigh; which brought another brief wince of pain. "Yeah, that just about sells me on it..." Though before he could continue, after helping the strangely dressed individual to his feet (or close enough to his feet), the lady who called herself Terra gave a smattering of questions, one of which Ben couldn't help but facepalm at.

Maybe he couldn't exactly speak for Dan, but he could say for certain the old-timer, himself, and Bruno looked plenty human. "Duh, we're human! What else would we be? Uh, although maybe I shouldn't talk there, hehe...." Ben responded, his tone shifting from annoyance to embarrassment quickly. Yeah, maybe calling himself 'just a human' wasn't exactly on the dot. Still, once he was certain the injured man was standing of his own volition, Ben turned his full attention to the Viltrumite. "Yeah, I'm from Earth. Seems Danny is too, and I'm willing to bet our pal here is as well," He jutted a thumb towards Bruno to indicate him. "...Verdict's out on the old-timer though. But my guess is we aren't all exactly from the same Earth....And yeah, for the record, not only am I fine..." His confidence and stancing belied the pain he was in; yep, something was definitely wrong. Did something get knocked out of place fighting Driscoll? That'd be his luck...

"...But I'm totally a superhero. The intergalactic, butt-kicking kind." That grin of his had returned, giving off an air of arrogance...Though perhaps an earned amount. Before he could continue though, it seemed their friend found the strength to speak, as he gave his name and his thanks. All par for the course...

And then he yanked his hand away and licked his sweat. "Ewww! What the heck'd you go and do that for?! Bruno promptly gave him his answer. Honestly, the dude sounded nuts, and Ben knew his fair share of nutcases. But something about Bucciarati's eyes...They reminded him of grandpa Max's, determined and sharp. As much as he wanted to joke and snark about a dude who would lick up sweat, he couldn't help but take it seriously.

When he saw him gasp from his burst of energy, Ben thought the dude was about to collapse, and nearly rushed in to help...Until his eyes caught sight of something behind him, propping up his exhausted body. He...Had no idea what to make of it, and honestly, there were already way too many questions to answer. Later.

His gaze turned directly to Ben, and for a brief moment he froze up, like when he was ten and Max was about to reprimand him for doing something stupid and selfish, but it soon dropped when he realized the topic of the conversation. "Yeah, that...Well, first of all, I wouldn't call it compatible. I just sorta shoved it in hoping for the best." Ben turned his gaze to where he had probed in with the tail, and was surprised to see whatever damage he might've accrued with that move was nowhere to be seen. Sheesh, another piece of a puzzle...Shaking his head, the teen hero continued on. Taking a deep breath, he looked to the rest of the people present here. If they thought things were weird before, well....It was gonna get weirder.

"So, I sorta have experience with time travel, dimensional travel...That kinda stuff." He couldn't imagine the kind of reactions this would elicit from the others, but he pressed onwards. "And since I know how I ended up here, it gives me the feeling that, well...This could have something to do with one or the other? Or both? When he brought up the idea of it being both, he gave a long groan. "I really hope it isn't both....But the point is, I think we're all from different dimensions. I have zero clue why we all got brought here, but..." Glancing around, Ben saw the screens begin to flicker to life, and the light of some sort of control board encircling the core brightening. ...I know who to dial up to get some answers. But hey, gramps?" Ben glanced over to Merlin, not looking angry or malicious...More peeved than anything. "Don't do any dumb magic stuff on me again, alright?"

With that, the hero got to work. Pressing two fingers to a strange device on his wrist, a holographic circle popped up, and it seemed to cycle through a shocking number of strange icons. As he passed through the catalogue of alien lifeforms, they all could hear Ben muttering to himself now and again.

"No....Not that one....Sheesh, The Worst? Yeah, no....There!" Seemingly satisfied with his choice, he raised his fingers up, and what seemed to be the core of this peculiar contraption jutted up into the air, crackling briefly with green energy. Without hesitation, Ben made a practiced smack to the Omnitrix; one he had done hundreds of times, and as the emerald flash began to fade, one could start to hear the clinking of chitinous legs...



A new, but just as bizarre, creature stood where Ben once had; crab-like in nature, though its cranium seemed far too oversized, as the tightly set mouth curved into a small grin. "Ah, yes! The superior intellect afforded to me as the highest caliber of the Cerebrocrustacean species shall make short work of this peculiar predicament we all have found ourselves interwoven into!" The voice had a notably British tone to it, and spoke quickly and eloquently as it skittered over to the controls, tapping a few keys on the console. Unbeknownst to the rest, mentally, holographic screens began to project into Brainstorm's mind, drawing a small "Intriguing..." From the highly intelligent crustacean.

Data flowed into his gigantic brain, but in spite of all his smarts, it was clear to the onlookers that whatever was going on, even this self-declared genius was feeling overwhelmed to an extent. "Erm...I see, yes...Well...Aha!" Having some sort of breakthrough, Brainstorm turned his attention back to the group, but not before two slots opened in the lower compartments of the control board, jutting out two strange thin black rectangles, one of which the Cerebrocrustacean snatched up for his upcoming example...Though he struggled for a moment. Pincers make it tricky for precision grip, you know.

"Strangers, companions, and acquaintances! I call your attention to this, first and foremost." Bringing the rectangle into view, he grasped both ends of the contraption with his pincers, and as he pulled away, a holographic map came into focus, showing a massive, multi-level station of sorts. At first, there also seemed to be some gobbledy-gook written on it; a strange alien language none of them could hope to understand, or comprehend in reasonable time. Taking notice of that, Brainstorm looked a tad abashed.

"...Ahem! One moment, please." Turning away for a brief second, it could be disturbing to witness the top of Brainstorm's head open, revealing his gargantuan grey matter, which promptly began to precisely weave electricity into the device, slowly dismantling and reassembling it. By the time he returned and raised the map once more; this time with simple electrokinesis instead of his awkward claws, one word stood out amongst all of them, in the corner, in large print....

"I would like to welcome all of you to the so-called 'Paradox Engine'."

Interactions: Ben @Mintz Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned Bruno @Lewascan2 Terra @Dead Cruiser

After helping the weirdly dressed man to his feet, Terra bombarded the group with all kinds of questions. Some of which Danny wasn’t really sure the answer too. As far as he knew, he was the only superhero he was aware of. Ben spoke for the group. Danny would have to correct him on the whole human thing… But that would come later.

Besides, there was stranger stuff happening. Like Bruno licking Ben’s sweat, to which Danny made a disgusted face. Or that that was helping Bruno up. It didn’t make his ghost sense go off either, but it was still weird. Then Ben talked about all of them being from different dimensions. It made sense, but the more he went on, the more it sounded like something out of a comic book or a video game.

Then Ben changed into a different alien creature, and started fumbling around with the controls and spoke in big words that he only ever occasionally heard Tucker use when he got into something tech related. After a couple of tries, he brought up a holographic map with the words Paradox Engine.

Danny blinked. “Ok cool… Is… that supposed to mean something to any of you? Cause, I still don’t know where we are.” Danny shrugged. “But, anyway. I have to make a correction. See, I’m not completely human. Um… I’m half ghost.” He demonstrated by going intangible, then phasing his hand through the floor. Then he floated back up, and became tangible again. ”It’s a long story how that happened. I’ll tell you later.”

There was a lot of conversation and activity taking place, and Terra was doing her best to keep up with it. The fatigued man, identifying himself as Bruno, apparently tasted Ben's sweat to determine if he was lying or not. While Terra had the beginnings of an understanding of what was going on, Ben's later comments put the pieces together. Different Earths. Her father had described one of his most dangerous villains as being able to travel between alternate dimensions, and bring things and people from those dimensions with him. Could he be responsible for bringing them all here? She couldn't be sure, especially as her father had told her that the man with this power was dead, but she kept the idea at the back of her mind.

While she had been ruminating this, Ben had transformed into a different alien, and had begun to fuss with the console, eventually producing a holographic map of the facility they found themselves in. The Paradox Engine, it appeared to be called. Terra wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, and instead tried to scrutinize the map. The wrist-mounted device that Ben used to transform also piqued her interest, but was of a lower priority. Meanwhile, this other character, Danny, claimed to be half dead and then melted into the floor. Terra watched him with deadpan confusion, before returning to the panel Ben was working on.

"This thing telling you anything besides a name? Where are we? A space station?" She herself tapped at a few buttons, trying to see if she could pull up any relevant information. She couldn't read the text, but Terra had fumbled her way through a few alien computer systems before. "Would love to know who built this place. Geldarians... Flaxans... If I could identify the power source, a reactor or something, I could hazard a guess at what this 'Paradox Engine' was built for."

"Okay, all of this power is as great as obscene magic. You're telling me that this the work of some advanced machinery?"
"I've seen impressive displays of power with technology but this is beyond impressive." Merlin states.
"Something about this just doesn't seem right."

Location: Paradox Engine, Simulated Universe #1 (Open Fields, Current Simulation: Unknown)

Mentions: Bonesaw @Lewascan2, Cyrus @Randomness, and Shadow Moth @TruthHurts22

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The knightly figure rose to his full stature now, as more and more strange individual began to emerge; 10 feet of steel-clad regality towered above the more modestly sized strangers, glancing around at the new arrivals as a brief wind billowed through his cape. No doubt that Bonesaw would be interested in a new development she could only have noticed now; while the suit did indeed appear quite airtight, prior to his arrival, something must have happened. The helm of his suit, while still mostly in acceptable condition, looked a bit seared, and more notably, the visor of it seemed irrevocably cracked open.

Driscoll only took notice of it when his feed of vision outside of the Forever King began to suffer, static clinging to the sides and his gaze obscured by the nasty crack across the length of his sight. He could only scoff. Tennyson would pay for that indignation...If indeed the teen hero still lived. He had a vile sense in his stomach that that was the case; that boy was not so easy to dispose of...

On-board systems were down as well. No predictive AI or the like...Aggravating. Trying to take his attention off of this, he glanced from person to person, though his gaze notably hovered over the beast next to the gaunt individual's side. Another alien? It was unlike any Driscoll had ever seen, but that didn't mean much in a galaxy full of savages...

Still, even beyond that, it was a strange bunch. Seemingly some form of child, whom he could only guess couldn't be any older than 14, though oddly enough he managed to catch her some form of surgical supplies. A doctor, at her age? Peculiar...And perhaps concerning, but this situation was already concerning enough. The man with the fiendish-looking hound had a surprisingly calm composure in spite of the situation at hand, which Driscoll accounted to the same reason he did not panic; a man of leadership, used to grasping even the most chaotic situations by the reins and pulling them in.

Trying to lead a madman like Doctor Animo teaches you something of that.

Lastly, though, was another man who also had the confidence to speak up; respectable, even if his choice of ware was...Questionable. He was certainly extravagant, if nothing else. Though, Driscoll had not missed out on the man's brief outburst at his situation. He couldn't claim to understand much of anything that was said, but he was sharp enough to put two and two together. It seemed this man, at the very least, had some....Shared problems with those who did not know their place. That was enough for Driscoll to address him first, dusting off some light debris from the armor and clearing some of the soot smudging off his visor, revealing a baleful, dull red gaze, hampered only slightly by the violent crack across the length of it.

"So it would seem. I cannot claim to know the answers to either of your questions, and I safely assume we are all...Somewhat disconcerted by this turn of events." As he made that claim, while it was impossible to see under his helmet, he made a passing glance towards the young lady to the side. She seemed to be taking things in stride...Uncomfortably so. Regardless, his attention returned to Gabriel.

"Since, for the time being, I believe we are all indisposed and without clear direction, introductions are in order." Showing a surprising amount of flexibility for the heft of his suit, Driscoll performs a bow. "I am the Forever King, ruler of the Forever Knights. Although, I suspect such words might ring hollow to you all...So you may also refer to me as Driscoll. Sir Driscoll."

Ganondorf looks around, very clearly annoyed. He was going to land a killing blow on that blonde, blue eyed fairy boy for the last time, and then suddenly, he's in Hyrulian field! Or at least, he thinks it's Hyrule's field. There were only other creeps around the area with him. Suspicious, he immediately grasped a good hard hold on his conjured Sage's Sword, and was ready for a fight. "What the Hells is going on here?"

Dr. Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy, was sitting in a cell at Arkham Asylum. She had been put there by Batman for the umpteenth time, and she wasn’t the least bit concerned. It was all a matter of time before she would be free once more. To reclaim Gotham, and eventually the entire planet in the name of Mother Nature.

She smiled and winked at a passing guard, the poor man returned her smile, and almost went to her cell. She didn’t even have to touch him, and he couldn’t resist her charms even behind a containment unit. Men were such pathetic creatures. They were all the same. Then warden came by and pulled him away, and glared at Ivy before storming off. Ivy just rolled her eyes and smirked. “You know these walls can’t hold me forever. I’ll be free soon enough.”

Soon enough came sooner than even she thought. There was a flash of light, and suddenly she was out of the Asylum, and somewhere completely different. Soft, beautiful, luscious grass as far as the eye could see. Now this was more like it! Of course, there were men there, but she decided to ignore them for them now. “Hm, not bad, if a little plain…” She raised an arm, and several vines and flowers sprouted from the ground. Forming a throne of flora for her to sit on.

Location(s): Control Center, Paradox Engine.
Mentions: Ben @Mintz, Danny @Crimson Flame, Merlin @ActRaiserTheReturned, Terra @Dead Cruiser.

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Bruno listened to Ben's answer with a frown, grimacing from where he currently sat heavily upon his Stand's thigh. Ben's soul flared with renewed confidence, as the boy seemingly hit his verbal stride again, additionally claiming that he had experience with time-travel, among other things. "I see... You're telling the truth, so I suppose I must place my faith in your experience," Bruno responded simply, as Ben shot an almost offhanded warning towards the old man, who'd yet to do much talking beyond voicing general confusion. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd chosen to follow the lead of someone younger than him, and besides, he was so far out of his depth with all this technology and talk of alternate dimensions that it wasn't even funny. He was a gangster. In a fight, his resolve and results were matched by few, but he had a team to do what he couldn't in the past... and so it would seem again.

Bruno tensed as much as he was able, as the screens around them began to flicker into activity. Ben, in the meantime, had stepped away and was fiddling with a holographic projection of some sort from his Stan- No, given the truths he had heard, the strange watch wasn't a Stand like Bruno had first assumed, but despite that, the flare of confusion and flicker of his eyes indicated that Ben had indeed seen [Sticky Fingers], which meant that he was either a latent Stand User... or something stranger was going on.

A noise of triumph brought Bruno's attention back to the brunet teen, as his form disappeared in another flash of strangely bubbly green light, revealing a monstrous warped vision of a crab. Immediately, Bruno's senses were assaulted by... almost gibberish. Whatever this form was, its thoughts and feelings raced along at a truly monstrous pace, and acute though his relatively new empathic senses were, Bruno was no master of the craft. Bruno winced harshly, as the creature -Ben- gave a prideful declaration and then made several thoughtful noises, its already racing thoughts beginning to spin up to a truly egregious pace as if it were merely an idling car one moment and then slamming the gas pedal the next. The expression a "mile a minute" seemed appropriate here, as Bruno closed his eyes and did his best to restrain a migraine from forming underneath the deluge of words and terms that passed too quickly to properly comprehend in a maddening barrage.

Eventually, the mental assault died down. The other boy had been saying something, but he only caught the tail end of it. Whatever it was, it had rung with the taste of Truth, however, so he couldn't find it in himself to be overly fussed about it. The crab was holding a black rectangular device now, a second one jutting out of one of a pair of open slots that hadn't been there prior on the control board. The crab brandished the device proudly, expanding it into a the most high-tech display Bruno had ever seen in his life... a display covering in illegible nonsense. Looking briefly abashed, the crab -Ben's- carapace opened, gargantuan amount of grey matter exposed to open air, as it began to crackle.

"Hrk-!" Bruno choked out, squeezing his eyes shut at another mental spike being quite unintentionally driven into his forehead. Blinking the stars from his eyes, Bruno managed to catch what the crab was saying this time around, along with Terra's follow-up. "A-" he winced and shook his head. "Paradox Engine? I pray dearly that the usage of that term is largely for show, because if not? Its capabilities seem dangerously obvious, even if the purpose of its creation is unclear."

Horus was home. Horus was on the battlefield. Ten different voices were shouting over the vox, each demanding his attention in a different Imperial or Cthonian dialect. Various tactical datastreams filtered over his visual display, giving readouts of troop movements, atmospheric conditions, ammunition and energy reserves, and other useful minutiae. Soldiers hurried about him, rushing past his massive, armored bulk and cordon of Justaerin honor guard. Laser fire and munitions choked the skies overhead, and the ground seemed trapped in an endless earthquake as artillery mercilessly pounded the earth.

Horus ignored all of it. It wasn't relevant. He had his eyes locked on a different target. A horrifying xenos beast surged toward him, its multiple tendrils grabbing and throwing Astartes warriors like they were children. Their foes, in their desperation, had unleashed a warbeast against their superior foes, and now this monster and many more like it were wreaking havoc in friendly and enemy ranks alike. Horus was reminded of the ancient histories he learned from his father, particularly stories of tusked war-oxen yoked into battle by the warrior-kings of Ind.

Horus surged forward, a mountain of adamantium and ceramite in motion. His Justaerin did their best to keep pace, but he led the pack. Enemy soldiers, fleeing the chaos that had been unleashed onto the battlefield, fled blindly into their midst. A single stroke from Worldbreaker was enough to swat them all aside, like so much chaff. Horus pressed onward, and the alien monster entered his bolter's range. He unleashed a hail of bolts from his gauntlet-mounted cannon, which detonated futilely against the beast's grotesque hide. It wrenched itself about to find the source of the disturbance, and Horus saw his own reflection in the monster's rows of beady, black eyes. It roared at him. Good, he had its attention. It charged him, muscular tendrils flailing wildly as the Justaerin unloaded their combi-bolters into it, to no effect. Horus gripped Worldbreaker's haft with both hands, and as he grew near enough to look down the beast's gullet, he swung.

Before he felt the impact of the weapon up his arms, and the satisfying rain of the monster's exploded skull against his armor, light overtook him. A shot of confusion and panic ran through him at the surprise; his mind raced with possible reasons for his sudden loss of sensation. Psychic attack? Neural weaponry? Could he, a gene-perfected Primarch be suddenly suffering from a stroke or aneurysm? Before he could weigh the options further, his vision returned, and he found himself following through with his earlier strike. He would have stumbled from the unexpected movement, had the mass of his terminator armor not kept him stable.

Horus looked to his surroundings. He was no longer on the battlefield. Rather, this seemed to be a grassy plain as far as the eye could behold, and he was not alone. There were others here; one was introducing himself, Driscoll he called himself. While Horus did not recognize any of them, he understood them, so they were most likely human. Most of them seemed to be, anyway... more or less... Horus examined them carefully, not taking any motion toward them, searching for signs of aggression. He saw confusion, fear, anger, but no overtly aggressive overtures. Fine. He had a moment to collect himself, then.

Horus returned to the readouts he was ignoring earlier. Many were now missing, as his cogitator link to the Vengeful Spirit seemed to have been severed. He manipulated his optical display with his neural link, searching for his ship's data-signal, but he found himself alone. He reflexively nearly called for his Master of Signal, but caught himself before he made himself look more foolish. It seemed that he was alone... wherever this was. While he could not sense any psychic interference, it was nearly impossible to be sure. There was no way that he could have been teleported this range; nothing like this idyllic scene existed anywhere on the world he had been in the midst of conquering. More than anything he felt confused and bewildered, and recognition of those feelings angered him. The situation was wildly out of his control, and this fact humiliated him. He was the Warmaster of the Imperium, the highest-ranking soldier in an empire of trillions. This sort of thing should not have happened to him.

He doubted that the oppositional forces he had just been facing were behind this. They were fundamentally incapable, with limited access to standard technological templates, and lacked the resources to detect and train psykers among their population. If he was to gain a better grasp of his situation, these people seemed like the next anomaly worth investigating. Horus strode forward to join the coalescing group. His movement was slow and purposeful, each footstep causing the earth to shake slightly under his tread, his weight gouging out the ground and trampling the grass underfoot. His armor's reactor hummed, and each movement came with the soft whine of servo-motors. Once he was close enough to speak, he set Worldbreaker down on the mace's head, leaving it standing upright in the grass in front of him. His unclawed hand free, Horus pulled loose his golden-masked helmet, its burning red eyes staring at the others present.

Free of the helmet, Horus looked at the others with his own grey eyes. Behind the mask was a regal countenance, beard and head both shaved clean. He tucked his helmet into the crook of his arm, and wiped the sweat and grime of war away with the back of his gauntlet. He smiled at the others, despite his trepidation, and did his best to appear nonthreatening, as futile a task as that might have been. Still, he projected a preternatural aura of calmness and control, his facade flawless.

"Hail, I greet you in peace, Ave Imperator." He spoke in a giant's voice: dark, rumbling, impossibly deep. "I am known as Horus Lupercal, Warmaster of the Imperium of Mankind. I possess no foes powerful enough to abduct me unwillingly; have I been caught in some snare set by an adversary of yours?" He gestured to the others, hoping that they would offer answers.