[IC] A New World of Gods Chapter 2, The Rise of new Civilizations

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

"You and I are going to create a very interesting shadow." replied Claire, acting mysterious.

Her plan was to work with Xoxi to create a shadow that was complex enough to pose as a challenge, or even become a threat to their enemies. Though she had to use her momentos to make it work, the end result should be able to be great. The reason she needed to work with Xoxi to make it work was because Claire's own powers would be limited to her music. Yes, they've done the job before, but all things that she created with her powers only moved and lasted to the music she played. Xoxi was able to do something similar with her own shadows, but keep them around for long periods of time. Unfortunately, Xoxi's powers were also overwhelmed by her clone's.

Claire wanted to work with Xoxi to create a shadow that would be able to move on its own, and overwhelm Ixox's.

Meanwhile...

Yukiko looked at the bear, and snickered. It was cute. Adorable, even. It was like the toys that Claire got her when she...her counterpart first came to the mortal world. The clone even knew that Yuki still kept those things in a secret room. Stuff like that held some sort of strong connection to memories. Yukiko was curious about Purge's.

"Aw, the big, strong hero still carries around a small toy."

Of course, she couldn't pass up the chance to tease him a bit for it. It was, after all, somewhat strange seeing a guy like Tlevran hold a small bear dear to himself. She still wanted to know, but she just had to mess with him in the process.

"Come on, tell us! I weanna know I told you some of my secrets. It's only fair that you tell us one of yours."

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Xoxi and Tlevran)
Xoxi nodded and smirked, creating a small child as the shadow's base, the skeleton phasing away as the base was made. Music began playing from the new shadow, as the song changed to an odd selection. The song Ghost Fight began to play. The first of the mementoes was grabbed, the toy knife, and it's shadow was pushed into the child. A light blue aura surrounded the child as this happened, then faded away. Next was the glove, as an orange aura surrounded the child. Then came the ballet slipper, which provided a dark blue aura. The notebook provided a purple aura, and Xoxi was fond of that purple. The pan gave a green aura to the child. Lastly, Claire's gun gave the child a yellow aura.

The child, now looking at the two goddesses, had a blank expression, as Ghost Fight faded off.

"I guess I should contribute some kind of thing too? Considering you lost your belongings..."

Xoxi placed one of her daggers down, and it was absorbed into the child with a red aura. The child's expression changed from being blank to becoming a smile. Xoxi smiled back as she fainted. The energy that it cost to make the shadow child was a hefty amount, and it took all the energy out of her it seemed.

Tlevran, meanwhile, was busy raising his army to fight the clones with. It was no easy task, and each one was made on a small amount of soul, considering only half the Myceling race was able to be used as fuel, ad they had little souls compared to normal races. He walked into the room and had the Commander with him.

"I raised an army outside. What's the kid doing here?"

(Ixox and Purge)
"... the bear is... well... remember like a month ago when we were all little nerds? I begged Miss Marie to give us all presents, and... well... she only gave me a present for some reason. This was it, and I promised myself that I would care of it. I later saw what I needed to do when we got little glimpses of our missions, and I guessed mine was to free the world of corruption, considering I had the bear."

Ixox was going to say something heartfelt, but she reacted when Krieg wigged out for a second.

"My original spent a shitload of energy just then... Yukiko you better get your goddamn sister here ASAP."

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

While Xoxi set to work creating the shadow and infusing the items to it, Claire set about installing a looping song within it. It wouldn't play out loud, but if one listened carefully, they'd hear the music from within the shadow. This music would allow it to shape and control light and darkness to its own will, allowing it to conjure up almost anything it wanted. It took a bit of power to do this, but Claire was happy with the result.

"Xoxi and I made them. I figured we could use all the help we can get. With the current state of things, I wouldn't be surprised if they were gathering together to make it easier to take us out. If that's the case, we'd probably be boned."

Claire was glad that she didn't say it while that other shadow of Xoxi's was out. For some reason the music goddess felt that that one loved puns. In any case, Claire picked Xoxi's unconscious body u. She'd bring her over to Yuki's unconscious body to rest. They'd probably feel a lot better waking up next to each other.

Before heading off, she looked to Tlevran, and said,

"Look...As much as I hate you, I have to say this, otherwise I'll feel like a prick...Thanks for helping us."

Meanwhile...

"That doesn't sound good. Any idea why?" replied Yukiko, jumping back onto her feet.

She asked the question casually enough to seem as if she didn't really care, but in reality, she immediately took action when Ixox told her to bring Clarice here. One doesn't just take their lover's warnings for granted, after all. At least, Yukiko doesn't anyway. As soon as she got up, the clone began dancing. She overpowered the winds, and forced them to take her to Clarice. In an instant, she was gone. She appeared in what was once Greece, where she found her sister waiting alone, looking up at a statue of Terpsikhore ( or "Terpsichore", as others spell it).

"Let me guess...Something big happened?"

Yukiko said nothing as she placed herself next to her sister.

"I felt her use her power, sister. She's got a trick up her sleeve, but whatever she's doing is weakening her. If we get close enough, whatever she's doing won't be enough. We'll be one...and we'll be whole."

Yukiko was slightly confused about what her sister was talkng about, but then remembered what they had pledged. She remembered what their dream would be, and smiled as Clarice laughed. She danced again, and the two were back in London.

Clarice stopped laughing, and walked over to Alias. The other bandits froze in shock, with the exception of Resin who looked more curious than surprised. The clone of the Music goddess had simply shoved her arm into the body of the Duskician, starting from his head, and descending downward further. His gurgled voice could be heard as the lights that made up his eyes faded out. The Duskician's body looked as if it had been absorbed, as only the clothes he once wore was left hanging onto Clarice's arm.

Smiling, Clarice took a knife out of her pocket, and cut one of her fingers off. She infused some music into the finger, and tossed it to the ground. The music started to play...



The finger began pulsing, and twitching, and growing. It began to shift into something else. Darkness and Light began to rush toward it from nearby and far-away. They mixed together as they surrounded the finger. The familiar form of Alias returned, but it wasn't finished. As soon as his form returned, his legs exploded, and the excess entered his head. New clothes formed around what was left, and a new hat covered his head. The body writhed as changes took place. Two horns ripped their way out of his head and hat, twisting along the way. His once-glove-covered hands were revealed, and became somehwat demonic. From his back, incomplete wings rapidly grew, with feathers that didn't quite reach all the way. The light of his eyes returned, and the music that played began to fade into his new body. Alias was recreated into something more. He was floating. He was flying. He had more power than he had ever thought would gain.

"Not bad for a rushed upgrade."

Alias took a moment to regain himself. Then, seeing what looked like his race's creator missing a finger, he mixed two different healing spells together. The goddess' finger grew back quickly. While he looked surprised at this, Clarice smiled and turned to Ixox

"Well, Ixox? Do you have a way to get us to them? I'd like to get this over with before they have any more time to prepare."

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Ixox and Purge)
"Does a butterfly have 2 wings? Everyone grab something, this is a non-stop flight to the realm of dance."

Using the only active shadow in the realm of dance, Ixox ported everyone to it. It was a bit of a harsh teleport, but there the group stood, facing the house that kept the goddesses within. Ixox coughed when she reappeared, it was a hard teleport, but safety was no concern during the travel. If anything had happened the Inkling lost a few brain cells, which is a benefit because he had too many of them anyway.

"...what are those...?"

The Purge pointed out the rapidly approaching army of damnable amalgamations. There wasn't time to count how many of them, so the group had to act fast on it.

"I count more than 50."

Krieg had revved his axe while the group prepared for combat.

(Xoxi and Tlevran)
"No problem... I'd rather be a good guy anyway, but I was cursed with these powers of death and geno-They're here."

Xoxi woke up just in time to hear Tlevran say the last words of his sentence. She patted Yuki and attempted to wake her up before the small group was ambushed and probably slain. While she was attempting to wake the sleeping Yuki, Xoxi's eyepatch held a bright green glow under it, probably because Ixox was nearby and she had removed the eye.

"Yuki! Wake up! We need to move like right now-ish!"

The child that was recently formed hugged Claire's leg, and looked up at her with a puzzled glance.

"What's happening?"

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

When they arrived at the realm belonging to Yuki, they immediately noticed the small army that Tlevran had brought. Clarice looked to the bandits and nodded to Alias, who nodded back in understanding. At the revving sound of the shadow Krieg's Buzz Axe, the bandits jumped down to deal with the new enemies. Cherry actually smiled as he found a chance to cut through flesh again, while Resin calculated just where he would place his ink and attack, before entering the fray himself. The Mirifakino Exiles charged into the battle, dancing to conjure up their new powers, starting out easy by lighting their limbs on fire. Alias floated into the fray slowly, but kept his guard up this time as he focused his power to increase the strength of his spells.

Clarice and Yukiko smiled. They could feel their counterparts nearby. Claire was weakened from performing something, just a bit more of a push, and they would be able to absorb her. Yuki, on the other hand was much weaker. The Music goddess' current state of being made her ripe enough to be absorbed by her counterpart. Yes, there were more than a few obstacles in the way, but they weren't doing things on their own at the moment. Their fellow clones would help out. After all, they did come to the place for the same purpose, after all.

Meanwhile...

Claire was surprised that the shadow could talk. Honestly, she didn't really think that was possible. Perhaps it was the end result of both her and Xoxi's powers mixing together that gave it a bit of sentience. This looked to be a bit problematic, as the shadow was essentially an infant. She didn't know if it knew of what it was made for, and honestly she didn't really want to tell them if they didn't.

Unfortunately, the luxury of thinking it over passed before the music goddess even knew it, as their enemies were here, and they had started their attack. Claire moved the child off of her leg, and knelt down to them. She looked them in their eyes, and told them of what was happening, unconsciously treating them as an innocent child.

"Um...Well, a bunch of people are here to do bad things, and now we have to stop them. We have to do that quickly, though."

While Claire tried to explain things to the shadow child, Yuki stirred as Xoxi woke her up. She was still weak and felt sore where injury once was, but at the moment she should have been good enough to move. Yuki didn't speak, as her voice cracked and was still recovering from the shock of the past experience, but she nodded in reply. Xoxi was urgent in getting away from whatever had invaded her realm. Some of the Mirifakino spirits had arrived to act as body guards, in case they met with opposition. Yuki looked to Xoxi and nodded that she was ready to get a move on.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Xoxi and Tlevran)
"I'm gonna command the troops. They'll need it if they're gonna hold the enemy off."

Tlevran ran outside and to his troops with the Commander, they started to lead the troops into a defensive strategy, trying to keep fire off the house and such. He admitted the bandits he saw a month ago had really stepped up their game when it came to combat. Xoxi meanwhile was helping Yuki stand as she asked a very important question to Claire.

"Should I take Yuki and the kid to safety? It's up to you, because Yuki's in no way able to fend for herself right now, and I'd go to hell if it meant she stayed up and alive."

Xoxi wasn't going to leave Yuki behind, or the kid for that matter.

Speaking of the kid, a small knife appeared in his hand, made from a shadow it seemed, as he spoke again.

"I can fight if I need to... mom?"

The kid didn't know what to call Claire or Xoxi at the moment, it seemed.

(Ixox and Purge)

The Purge ran into the fray of war, but then, as if something happened, his powers weakened. The Abominations were dying in a very fast amount, and it seemed they would be extinct very fast. The amount of death going on weakened Purge's powers, so he had to retreat back, and realized he would be fighting his original alone.

Meanwhile, Ixox released Krieg to run rampant within the swarm of the army, as she walked over to Clarice and Yukiko and smirked.

"You two can fight these nerds on your own with Purge. I've got a demigod to skin. You guys understand where I'm coming from, right?"

Ixox cloaked herself in shadow, and began to sneak towards the house.

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

"M-Mom!?" said Claire with surprise.

Claire had done a great many things in her existence. Most of which being music or sister-related, but there were other things too. She made friends with mortals. She played those games that Miriam loved to play so much. She deliberately avoided going to the Merged meetings, as at the time she thought that most other Merged were too close to their predecessors in terms of decision-making. She joined a swimming competition. She failed to finish the swimming competition. She was banned from joining Swimming competitions in 25 states of what used to be the U.S., because of a fight she had with the competitors that were saved on phones and sent out across the internet. in any case, this was a first for her, and not the good kind.

The shadow child, despite originally being just an idea of a weapon to combat their enemies, was now sentient. Not only that, she/he called her "mom"...Which meant that the kid was Claire and Xoxi's...Claire and Xoxi's...Claire was internally screaming at the very thought of what was going on, and it didn't help that they were under attack at the moment as well. Yuki would tear her guts out later, maybe even Xoxi's as well. Claire might have broken if not for the fact that Yuki kept telling her to snap out of it.

Claire spoke to the shadow child again.

"Yes, but please go with Yuki and...Xoxi. Make sure that they're safe..."

Claire had to force herself to end her sentence there, as she realized that she had no idea what to call this new shadow.

Meanwhile...

Clarice and Yuki nodded as Ixox went off to get her own clone.

The two sister clones looked to each other and waited. They had a feeling that if they rushed anything, they'd just speed up the inevitable, and find trouble along the way. Besides, for them it was much easier to absorb their clones one at a time. It would certainly leave one of them vulnerable, and give them much more of an easier time to trick the others, as they'd be able to disguise themselves as their counterparts perfectly after absorbing them.

So for now, they watched as the bandits and Krieg began tearing through the small army. At first it was going swimmingly, but as it went on, it seemed that the abominations were beginning to become more organized mid-battle. It seemed that their leader was finally with them, and making things much more difficult than it was.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Xoxi and Tlevran)
Xoxi picked up the kid and put he/she on her shoulders, and patted the kid on the head.

"I'll be your mom, sweetheart. Let's stick with calling her auntie Claire, yeah?"

Xoxi looked outside, and saw the entire house was surrounded with an army, and the army would be rapidly dying. In the current situation it seemed there was no way out of the conflict surrounding the goddesses.

"Um... okay maybe I should get us out. Claire do what you need to, I'm gonna make a way out of here for me, Yuki, and... we'll call you Alex for now."

Without hesitation or thought, Xoxi summoned the skeleton from before and blasted the wall down. She grabbed Yuki in her arms and told the kid to hang on tight, as she cloaked and leapt out of the building, running as far away from the conflict as possible.

Tlevran was busy keeping the shadow of a psycho from running into the house and slaying everyone, when he saw his weakened clone. An opportunity was thought of, and it may be put into action if Tlevran could do it right...

(Purge and Ixox)
Purge watched the conflict go down from a safe distance and behind a few spiritual trees, then he saw the blast of energy appear from the house. He figured that's where some of the goddesses came out. He felt like he should tell the sister clones that.

Ixox, on the other hand, tackled the cloaked trio after they got what seemed like a few hundred feet away. They were out of any noticeable range so Claire couldn't really see what was about to happen. The cloned demigod giggled as she saw the demigoddess without her eye, the injured dance goddess who wouldn't be able to do much, and... the small child with them... made of unknown material...

"hee hee~! Is this what you spent so much energy on? Why... it's so... pathetic."

In the distance, Megalovania is heard...

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

Claire allowed herself a moment to recover after her sister, Xoxi, the skeleton, and the literal new kid fled the scene. There was a number of things rushing through her mind at a rapid pace, and all of them were actually bothering her enough to sit her down. A bad move to make in the middle of a battle that seemed to be expanding its active conflict radius further from its starting point and towards the house. In all fairness, however the stress of the importance of the situation only served to add to growing chaos within her.

It didn't help that her and her sister's clones just walked in...

"Wait, wha-!"

The music goddess wasn't given a chance to finish her sentence or even react before she was bound by twilit constructs produced by her own clone. She could feel the internal music of the constructs play within. She tried to hijack control, but there were two problems that prevented her. The first was that creating the child took a lot out of her. The second was Yukiko showing off a bit of her "Tough Love", palming Claire in the gut.

"Hello, Claire." said Clarice.

Claire simply glared at her, unable to even speak due to the clone's constructs. As Clarice walked toward her counterpart, Yukiko danced away, giggling. Clarice caressed her counterpart's cheek the way those creepy villains do when they plan to...Claire's eyes widened as her clone smiled gently.

"Let's just get to the point."

The energy summoned by Yukiko immediately crafted a circle behind Claire, and a chained spear shot out, impaling her.

Claire couldn't even scream in agony.

Meanwhile...

Yuki began to scream. The ones around her may or may not know why she was screaming, but she screamed regardless. She felt pain. Strong, agonizing, almost deathly pain. Thing was, it wasn't hers. It wasn't even true pain. It was sort of like an alarm system, indicating when her sister recieves a fatal wound. Claire too had a similar sense, only much broader, allowing her to know when Yuki is injured in even non-fatal ways. She was just better at hiding it.

The music Claire placed within the child stayed within it, but that was because the child's sentience had made it their own. It was part of their existence, so Claire would have to dispel it herself in order for it to leave. Still, it reacted to Claire's wound, shaking when Claire recieved it.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Xoxi and Ixox)
"My my... the other two must've gotten to Claire, huh? No wonder why you're being such a little bitch, right Yuki? Hee hee~!"

Ixox stared at Xoxi, who was on the grounda few feet away, the eyepatch glowing with a faded green.

"Don't worry, when I'm done with you, you'll understand how the two feel right now."

Ixox walked to the shadow child, and withdrew one of her daggers.

"I should show how serious I am, shouldn't I? I guess I'll take this kid's li-"

The music roared through the realm, it wasn't Megalovania, though. It was similar to it, but not it. Megalo Strikes Back played, as Xoxi decked Ixox in the cheek, the eyepatch now off her face and aflame a few feet away. Ixox fell on the ground with a thud.

"...you don't... fucking... touch them..."

Xoxi's eye socket was illuminated with green and purple, as shadows came out of the ground and formed around Yuki and the kid, who were immediately transported away from the fight. Xoxi stood there, staring her clone down, music playing in the background.

Meanwhile, over in the house, the shadow skeleton stood facing the cloned goddesses.

"i guess you kids need to learn a lesson, huh?"

A large dragon skull appeared to the right of Yukiko, as she was blasted with a large beam.

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

For a few more moments, Yuki continued to scream her lungs out in agonizing pain, clutching at a wound that wasn't on her body. She continued to writhe violently as Xoxi moved her and the shadow child somewhere else. Eventually the pain would lessen, and she would calm, but with her injured state, she felt much weaker than before.

The Dance Goddess looked at the shadow child, and stared for a while. She felt Xoxi's power within them...but she also felt Claire's music as well...She didn't want to think about for fear of doing something extreme later, but she was now alone with them. She didn't know what else to do, so she decided to talk.

"...um...hello..."

Yuki's voice was still filled with pain, though not as much as before.

"My name i-is...Yuki...Do you have a name?"

Meanwhile...

The laser didn't obliterate Yukiko immediately, but it hurt. A lot. Even when she got out of it, it was like the beam also injected some sort of poison into her. This wouldn't be much of a problem if it was just the magic of a normal person. Unfortunately, the one who created the shadow skeleton was half-goddess, so it had some effect on her. The clone collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

When she collapsed, the energy that she summoned dissipated, forcing the spear and chain to disappear, and leaving a gaping hole in Claire's body.

"Yuki!" exclaimed Clarice to Yukiko, wincing at the shared pain.

Clarice stared daggers at the shadow skeleton. She snapped her fingers and let the twilit constructs surround Claire and Yukiko. The constructs melted into the ground with them, bringing them somewhere else.

"You're dead!"

Clarice used the music to her advantage, crafting serpents out of light and darkness, and quickly programming them to attack her new enemy as it played.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
The skeleton seemed to warp as the constructs of light and dark attacked it. Warp was the only word that could come close to what it did, and either way it dodged.

"nah, i think it's the opposite here."

Each time the serpents attacked, the skeleton dodged. After a while, the skeleton got close enough to Clarice that an attack was prevalent. Bones shot up out from under the clone's feet as she was stuck to the ground. Another blaster appeared to the side of Clarice and blasted her, as a smile appeared on the skeleton's face.

"damn, i really thought you'd put up a fight. and here i am, throwing you a bone."

(Xoxi and Ixox)
The two women clashed in close-quarters, constantly moving, constantly attacking, and constantly blocking eachother. To others, this fight would last a lifetime it seemed. To the two actually fighting, it would last no more than ten minutes.

Xoxi, even though she was the original here, had the bad hand in the beginning of this situation. The new kid was just made, so she started out here with less energy than the clone.

Ixox, while she had more energy initially, has had to maintain Krieg's actions through all of this, so she was spending more energy. Making him carry her was one thing, having him fight alone was another.

The battle became a test of endurance, whether or not the clone would give out first or the original was entirely up to fate. However, when one looked at it, the original was at the disadvantage as of current.

(Alex)
"I had a placeholder name... it was A-lex..."

While the shadow kid sounded it right, it seemed to wince occasionally. It couldn't be explained now, but maybe in time it could be.

"Are you my mom...?"

Again, Alex had no idea who was his or her mom right now. Xoxi said it was her, but Claire was the first one called mom... it was confusing right now.

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

CLarice was getting dunked on...Clarice, clone of a goddess that killed other, older, more experienced deities, was getting dunked on. By a shadow. A shadow that was created by a Demigoddess, someone that wasn't even a full deity. That frustrated her. The shadow was also delaying her. Delaying the moment she and Yukiko had been waiting and planning and working towards for so long...and this thing was delaying them. That angered her. However, the worst of it all was what the shadow had done before he started fighting Clarice. He hurt Yukiko. He hurt her adorable, precious, and wonderful half-sister. That...was unforgivable. That sent her into a rage. Not only that, the skeleton was insulting her...Well, if he wanted to feel her wrath, then she would oblige.

The music silenced, and another song played.



the music played as she got up. She ignored the bones and beams that were sent her way and let the light, darkness, and twilight come to her and mix. She was completely surrounded as she assumed her and Claire's goddess form, but that wasn't all. Unlike Claire, who couldn't think about anything but killing Cia at the time, Clarice wanted more. She wanted the shadow destroyed to the point where it would hurt him if he was recreated by Xoxi or Ixox, or anyone. Other Twilit constructs were created in the form of several monoliths. They created a barrier that kept the two in an arena.

"YOU'LL BE NOTHING BUT DUST BY THE TIME I'M DONE WITH YOU!"

Her many arms shot toward the skeleton, and the monoliths began shooting lasers to help Clarice.

Meanwhile...

Yuki did not quite know how to reply to "Alex." She didn't want to lie to the kid, but what else could she do? Technically, it was Xoxi's child, but it also technically Claire's child. Calling herself their mother would be wrong...wouldn't it? She thought on it. for a moment. There were many mothers who weren't related to their daughters, and yet their children still treated them as their own. Plus, would it really matter? To Yuki it did, but she also felt this urge to raise Alex as her own.

After thinking on it some more, Yuki came to a decision. She'd be Alex's mom. She'd still have to explain things, but for now, she was content with it.

"Yes." she replied. "I'm your mom, Alex."

She gently smiled at the shadow child.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
The skeleton dodged every attack thrown at it. While the goddess was pounding so much energy into it, the skeleton kept dodging. As he was dodging he noticed the two demigoddesses fighting, and he got an idea. He just had to wait for the perfect moment...

He still needed her aggression to rise for it to work, but he could do this.

"y'know, i always thought you guys were hard after i fought my creator's clone's shadow, but now it's like you can't even touch me... also, why not switch to some hipper music and be a bit more humerus."

He needed to provoke the goddess.

(Tlevran)
Tlevran left the realm in pursuit of his clone, all the amalgamations that were dead fueled his powers as he rushed to his clone. These clones needed to be wiped off, they were going to end the life of this planet and do it fast. They had to be slain soon too, or they'll get stronger. Since the Purge was weakened, Tlevran figured he could wipe him off and be done with it. He would intervene with the conflicts, but Xoxi seemed like she had it all under control.

(Xoxi and Ixox)
The original and the clone each possessed powers of shadow, and had started to use them in the fight. Xoxi wasn't letting up until she saw the goddess form rise out of the house. Ixox managed to get a solid punch in, but Xoxi refocused after that. She figured a plan was about to be enacted, as she started to play defensively, and dodged the attacks more often. This was a hard fight.

(Alex)
The kid hugged Yuki tightly, and proceeded not to let go. The child was happy to know it had a mother, or at least some form of a true parental figure in life. It looked up at Yuki and tilted it's head though.

"What's going on with the other people mom?"

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

Clarice continued on her assault. With every miss, more and more frustration built up, which sent her further and further into a blind rage. She wasn't going to be like her original. Claire was stopped, and even held back in order to get her point across to Cia. Clarice wasn't going to say anything. She was going to kill him. She didn't care if she had to kill everyone just to get to him. It just pissed her off so much. And she had no one else to blame but the skeleton and herself for making her angry and becoming sloppy.

Hey, he kinda messed up with that pun.

If not for the fact that she was in the middle of fighting, Clarice would have stopped right there out of confusion.

Sister, I'm forcing the winds carry my words to you. I'm actually watching the entire thing through the water, actually. It kind of hurts, but I'm fine now.

Clarice was somewhat glad about that. She wouldn't forgive the Skeleton, but at least Yukiko was okay.

It's time. You should do something about him. In any case, you should calm down. It wouldn't feel right to do it while your angry.

Clarice shook in anger, but she listened. She began to calm down more and more, until her arms returned to being two large ones, rather than several smaller ones. The goddess form looked at the skeleton with a somewhat venomous glare, but instead of attacking again, she said,

"Holy ****. You didn't even get the pun right."

She spoke in the tone that Claire had before. The calm, cool tone that made you think she could take things in stride.

"So, a request, huh? I don't usually do this for an enemy, but I think I'll make an exception...Have fun."

The form began to break down into an uncountable amount of crickets. Clarice made a perfect circle with her finger, and spun it. Music began starting up, and pretty son, the most random song started to play.



Some of the crickets joined together to form small, bomb-throwing humanoids with an adorable smile. They were off to go and "play" with the shadow Skeleton, and they'd chase him no matter what. The rest just began hopping and jumping all over the place, ready to help out their bomb-throwing friends at all times. Until then.

In the meantime, Clarice opened up a portal and went through it, closing it as soon as she was through. It was time.

Meanwile...

Yuki didn't quite know the reason behind why Claire and Xoxi created the child, so she decided to treat them as such. She didn't know that Alex was made to be a weapon against the clones, so she thought that the child didn't know what death was.

"They're trying to hurt us, Alex." replied Yuki. "They want to hurt us badly, and it's difficult to fight against them."

Yuki began trembling. She wanted to help, but she was still too injured. Her body still shook from the pain that Claire was put through. At the moment, she was as helpful as a stick against a longsword. This feeling of uselessness hurt her. She didn't know what to do for now...

Too bad for Tlevran...

Miriam was celebrating with her Slimilili. Their festival was still going, this time celebrating her victory. The place pretty much looked like a country-wide party. Trith be told, she was a bit bored. After the high from the fight wore off, the party was simply a resting event to her. She grew a bit restless. Her race played fun games, but she really only played them after her urge to fight wore off. Problem was that her urge was still very much there. She just took a break. She had one more fight in her before she could rest and have some other type of fun. No normal monster would do, either. One does not immediately go back to fighting lesser creatures after fighting someone strong. She needed another challenge.

Suddenly she felt two strong presences. They were off in the distance. One seemed weaker than the other, but it was clear that the two were off to fight. Miriam smiled. She could care less about the clones and their motives. She could care less about who she fought, with the exception of Yuki and Claire. They were strong, and she wanted to kill them. It was that simple.

If Purge of Tlevran paid attention, they'd find a thick mist following them.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
"not finished with you, coming to give you a bad time."

The skeleton walked through a door, and appeared next to Yukiko.

"shortcuts are pretty damn nice."

A skull blasted Yukiko towards the ground once he was through the door. He saw Claire on the ground a few feet away, unconscious. He figured Clarice was going to arrive soon, and he'd need her up if he was going to survive this fight. Clarice walked in just as he grabbed Claire.

"i'm gonna be taking this now, if you don't mind."

(Alex and Xoxi)
"It seems like the purple lady is winning..."

It was true, Xoxi managed to land more hits while dodging, and it's been a better matchup, although it seemed like Ixox was backpedaling towards the other two people in the area... Then suddenly, Xoxi threw Ixox over onto the ground and jumped on her stomach. Following that she started to beat the everloving soul out of her.

"DON'T! YOU! FUCKING! DARE! COME! BACK! TO! HERE! YOU! PIECE! OF! SHIT!"

Alex hid behind Yuki as Xoxi continues pummeling Ixox into the ground. After a minute Xoxi had visible blood on her hands, and Ixox had a broken nose, a blackened eye, and about 5 missing teeth. Nope, make that 6. Damn she was going to town.

(Tlevran and Purge)
Tlevran sped after Purge, and hunted him down. As the Purge started to slow down, he ended up in a cave, facing Tlevran and the cave opening.

"Now this is a better matchup."
"For one of us it is."
"The one that's gonna beat your bitch ass into the ground."
"I'm here to save lives."
"I'm here to keep the world as it is, at least until you guys are gone."
"There's a red mist behind you."

Tlevran turned and saw the mist. When he saw it his heart sank into his chest. He had learned only one thing about who this was, and that was she loved fights. This must've provoked her. Hooray, more enemies!

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

There were many things Clarice felt this day. Smugness. Joy. Glee. Anger. Plenty of rage. But right now, she was feeling shock and worry. Yes, her counterpart was nowhere to be seen, but her sister was on the ground. Clarice went to her. Yukiko was crying. She had failed to keep Claire. Their hope...their dream...To Yukiko, it was all taken away. The beam may have smashed her into the ground, but it was when the skeleton took Claire away that did the most damage.

For a moment, Clarice just let Yukiko cry and sob and smother herself against her body. If Clarice was going easy on the skeleton before, she wasn't going to now. She embraced Yukiko, who responded in kind. Yukiko was still crying, but she was doing her best to calm down. They had been humiliated enough. It was time.

Yukiko stepped away from her half-sister, and reached her hand out, inviting Clarice to dance. Clarice smiled gently, and took Yukiko's hand. At the same time, she began to play music for them to dance to. It was short bit, but it was still beautiful in its own way.



Contrary to what the beat may have people think, the two danced fluidly. They were graceful. they were calm. They were happy. The dance was wonderful. When they the music stopped, so did they. Their bodies shined brighter than the sun, and in a moment, their forms fused together into one.

Time for a test drive...

Music played throughout the realms. A small, strong piece.



Accompanying it, was laughter. Simultaneously, Ixox was surrounded by some sort of energy. It looked like the twilit energy that Claire usually made when combining darkness and light, but it seemed like it was...more. Not just darkness and light. The power of the elements could be felt as well...along with some other unknown energy. Before the song was even half-way done, the energy disappeared, along with Ixox.

Yuki began breathing heavily. Not because of some sort of pain, but because of some sort of pressure. It made her feel uneasy, as if something about her own body was off. It was as if she wasn't completely there...

With the Goddess of Blood

Miriam stepped out of the mist, allowing it to return to its whitish-grey color. At the moment, she took the form she once had among the mortals. The form of a little girl. On her face was an expression of happiness. Three strong foes in one day? How joyous! She barely knew how to celebrate it! Should she have her Slimililis craft a giant monument? Perhaps she should dance for joy?...Nah. Despite all the ideas, there was really only one thing that fit perfectly for the occasion. A large, bloody, violent fight. She knew they expected that from her. She could smell their knowledge in the air. They'd fight. She'd bleed them dry. They'd fight back, she'd enjoy it all even more.

Miriam reached her arm out, and let the mist surround her once more. She didn't care to waste anymore time! She'd see blood spill once more! She dashed out faster than a hyperactive roadrunner, a long mace in her hand, and a large circular blade on her back. She swung it at them with enough force to cause a small earthquake, just to see what they were capable of, but still letting out her excitement. It's time to play the game!

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Xoxi and Sans)
Xoxi stood up when Ixox vanished, and her eye stopped glowing. Her hands were soaked in the blood of her clone, and it felt good to have done that much damage to her. She felt the fight wasn't over yet, though, as Sans appeared, with Claire over his shoulder.

"look who i found, yuki. it was tiring but it was a good haul."

Xoxi clenched her fists as she put Yuki on her shoulders, along with Alex. The tune that played through the realms did not sound friendly, and it sounded like another fight was going to happen.

"I've been making a realm piece by piece for us Yuki. I think it's time to go there."

A portal opened, made from a shadow, as the group went forward.

The Realm of Shadows

The portal landed in a workshop-esque place, but scaled to a very large size. The group compared size-wise to mere action figures in the realm.

"This is the safest place for us right now. The only way in is if a true thief accessed my old home and was worthy enough to enter. We need to rest, the fight is not over yet."

Xoxi's lunar energy passively lingered as she stayed in the realm, as well as her other notable shadows, such as Krieg. A stereo was playing music in the corner of the room, and if Claire desired it could be changed. Another video game song played in the background, as a holographic figure appeared.

"is this the new shadow? looks nice."

(Song is Waltz for One, from the Shovel Knight Plague of Shadows OST)

(Tlevran and Purge)
Tlevran withdrew his cleaver as he floated over the ground, not feeling the earthquake. Then he swung with enough force with the side of his cleaver, trying to knock Miriam to the ground and to reason with her. Purge, meanwhile, fled the scene, possibly trying to get to Clarice and Yukiko before he would be slain.

"W-wait wait wait Miriam! I'm with Yuki and Claire! Let me sort this out-they were both in bad shape when I left them!"

(Ixox)
Ixox appeared on the ground in front of an abomination of a morph. It was a sexy morph though. Ixox would talk but she was missing about 9 teeth and her entire face was covered in blood.

"...mph... heyph... I guephsh you guysh morphed togepher? Coolf, I guephsh you shee whaft happhened toof me."

It sounded illiterate because she couldn't really talk normally with so many teeth missing. She was also clenching one eye closed, and refusing to get up.

[OtomostheCrazy]

@Banana

When Yuki arrived at the new realm, she was impressed. It was nice for a creation of a demigoddess. Especially given the circumstances. It seemed like it could still use a few touches here and there, but it was amazing nonetheless.

When Claire was returned by the shadow, Yuki went over to her heavily injured body. It was a somewhat frightening sight. A gaping hole was in her body, and it looked as if it hurt just to breathe. Yuki began to cry. Her sister was wounded, and she had no current way of helping her...

The new goddess...

The new goddess, the nameless deity that was the result of Clarice and Yukiko's fusion, said nothing. She simply smiled seductively and shrunk down to the size Yukiko was before. The nameless goddess walked up to Ixox and placed her fingers gently on her lips.

For a moment, she simply caressed the bloodied, bruised lips. Then, after drifting her hand to the back of Ixox's head, she pulled her into a kiss. If Ixox wasn't shocked or surprised by this, she would notice that something had entered her mouth with the nameless goddess' tongue, and it was beginning to form and replace her lost teeth.

Someone's ruining the fun...

Miriam blocked the attack with her mace, chuckling a bit at the force put behind it. It felt held back. To what extent, she didn't know, but it let her know that the guy had more to offer in this fight. She'd like to see how much more.

She saw the other one run away while she attacked the genocide god. She was disappointed with that.

"Aw...Someone gave up. That's no fun."

Miriam backstepped a few feet away and made a motion with her free arm. The mist behind her didn't turn red, but still rushed past Tlevran. They were off to chase the one who fled, it'd have to work as a game for later. For now, Miriam decided to have a bit of fun with her current fight. The guy tried to say that he was on Claire and Yuki's side, but it was worthless.

"Claire told me you were looking for me. You disappeared, so I couldn't accept your challenge, but now you're here! So let's make the most of this."

Miriam continued her assault, swinging wildly and shaking the cave more and more violently, until both sides caved in. A pitch black umbra overtook the area.

[Gardevoiran]

@OtomostheCrazy
(Realm of Shadows)
Xoxi lifted Claire and put her sitting up, then with one sharp jab directly into the chest, Xoxi knocked her back to the ground, shadow's covering the gaping hole in Claire's body.

"That's the only way I can really help. It should heal at a decently quicker rate, and replace what was once lost there until it grows back. Krieg, keep a close eye on her for me, if you would be so kind. I'm gonna try something-heck-that'll make things easier to fight them with."

Xoxi had coughed up some blood in the middle of that, as she walked over to Sans and told him a special task. He nodded when given the task and teleported to where the new fusion was. Xoxi meanwhile went over to Yuki and hugged her.

"Yuki, everything's going to be okay. Claire's taken a beating, but she'll be better. Sans is going to keep the heat off us for a while. Right now we need to raise Alex as best as we can before things get worse. Okay?"

"I'll also help take care of auntie Claire, mom!"

Alex was ready to help Yuki with Claire and even more, as some of the energy from the light and darkness in Alex went to Claire, hopefully regaining her some consciousness.

(Ixox and Sans)
Ixox was completely taken off guard with the kiss, but after the teeth grew backand she noticed them, she didn't really care. Ixox grabbed the fusion's arm and proceeded to hold her in a pose as she kissed her. Ixox either thanked her for the teeth with a kiss, or she just kissed because of love.

"I've been waiting for that, unfortunately it was in these circumstances, but still."

Meanwhile, once the kiss was broken up, Sans appeared in front of the goddesses, then teleported away. He was trying to create a sense of paranoia within the girls, and hopefully this would work. He would continue the harassment for as long as he could.

(Tlevran)
"I'm not! Well I was... but that was a month ago... and it was solved... but still."

Either way, a fight was going to happen, and Tlevran knew that.

"I'll fight, but only to make peace. I won't kill you if you don't kill me, fair?"