New Beginning 23: One for the Record Books

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Gentleman Vaultboy wrote

"I have spent all my time preparing specifically for this moment." Billy says, standing up. He pulls his glove off his hand and presses his thumb and finger together. "Mr. Vaultboy, perhaps you'd better take your leave as well?"

Vault, seeing as he's not going to be able to stop this or warn anyone about what's going on starts to turn arounds and slowpoke his way away from the door.

"Of course," Asoka replies. "For one who is taking their mission this seriously, I wouldn't expect any less. And I don't expect you to verbalize your preparations in front of our enemy either when we're about to kill him. That would give him that much more of a chance."

[Philote]

Zauber:
"I've done quite a bit of new training" Zauber answers to Asoka. "I didn't think we would all reunite like this, but I'm glad that I prepared."

The last few tendrils begin to break away from the red source of energy within the seal. "Its starting."

(Do we want to track down Marv and let him do the honors of narrating the release of the Red Eye?")

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Phi:
I slash my way through the shields of another frigate with my newly draconified claws and slam down onto the ships hull. I raise Halo into the space above me like a lightning rod and a spiraling cloud forms over the frigate.

Overdrive: Lightning Mastery: Heavy Storm

I swing my sword down into the ship and a wave of purple lightning strikes ripples along the hull of the ship, breaking it apart from one end to the other. I let the wreckage float away from me in space as I lift off.

I sweep my vision around, waiting for the gambit that these endless mass of ships were trying to play me into. I'm rewarded for my observations by catching the tail end of the collapse of three black holes. I pull on the Philotic web of the Dragadin and throw him in the way of the shot.

The Dragadin raises his claws and the golden scales of his shining armor expand. Two arms spawn from either side of the Dragadin in Gilgamesh's normal style and lock together with the first two. The scales from all six arms merge together into a radiant tower shield as the Dragadin takes the brunt of the tri-barrel energy-blast.

The loss of the Dragadin was acceptable, it had served its purpose in giving me time to unleash a counterattack. This was no time to worry about holding back, with no allies nearby to worry about damaging when I unleash my power. I release the second lock on my powers. [Lock of Body: Power Filtering Offline]

I summon my Soul Sphere and the ten Elemental Gates from within my body to surround me.

[Load: Ultimate_Overdrive.05]
{Style wrapper: Gilgamesh's Soul}
Elemental.Armageddon(Focus "Gate of Flame") //Apply Gilgamesh's Breath
{/Style wrapper}
[End]

Nine gates rises around me and begin to funnel their power into me as I grow more draconic. My body glows and burns as the power builds up within me. I open my maw and the tenth gate's portal, the Gate of Flame, is present within my jaw. I fire a beam of destruction through space composed of the energies of ten elemental planes funneled through and focused by the prime source of fire within the Fire Elemental Plane.  

[Marvelous Miscreant]

As the last few tendrils peeled away, the energy in the seal faded. A deep thrum began to emanate from the the seal, a deep throbbing note that spread across the floor and enveloped everyone in the room. It was the kind of deep bass-like humming you could feel in your bones. And it was building...

It didn't take long for the gathered mages to see that the seal was now vibrating as the noise grew louder. It shook and rattled, more and more chaotically. A loud crack echoed in the room as a fraction of the seal splintered, showering the area in stone dust. The deep thrumming continued to build, reaching deafening levels. Suddenly another crack appeared on the seal, followed by another, and another. Dust and stone gravel burst from the seal as each new crack dived it into smaller and smaller portions.

A foul stench filled the room, an odor of decay and ash that evoked a feeling of despair and emptiness. Slowly the Seal began to bend outwards, as if something were pressing against it waiting to burst forth. Vile, black fog began to seep from the splintering cracks in the seal, spilling onto the cold floor of the room.

The room rumbled

The seal split down the middle

...and exploded outwards.

The air went still. The sound died. And the world held it's breath as the gathered heroes gazed into the deep black hole behind the seal. The area beyond was choked with dark black void. A vast emptiness that expanded into the infinite. And yet, the void seemed to be filled with the very presence of the two bright Red Eyes that stared back.

To say these Eyes were evil, to say they were filled with rage and hatred, to say they inspired fear and hopelessness...would be understatements. The Eyes burned with such rage and indiscriminate hatred of life that nobody present had ever imagined possible. They were impossible, no living thing could be attached to these Eyes, and yet the indomitable presence behind these Eyes begged to differ.

The Eyes stared out of the void beyond the seal at the assembled beings with what could almost be described as a calmness.

And The Eyes spoke, not in words or sounds, but a deep gut feeling the sickened and nauseated.

"At Last," they said, "...Freedom!"

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Asoka let out the breath she'd been holding and raised a hand up to her face, the palm facing upwards, "Freedom? I believe that your freedom will be short lived very quickly. Tempestatem Ardoris Petalis!"

Asoka breaths in the direction of the Red Eyes causing a cone of purple fire to fly towards it as it suddenly grows into a raging storm of fire and powerful winds. In her hand, she holds her Mage Tool, the chakram Murasaki.

(Tempestatem Ardoris Petalis is a combination using Asoka's Soulsword, Lilia Venti, and fire magic. Lilia Venti is petals formed from pure wind that can cut people, it can still teleport people from one petal to another as well, and of course, Murasaki turns the flames channeled with it purple)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Billy breathed deeply of the bitter air as his heart fluttered with a mixture of fear and anticipation. To any normal person, this stench of decay and death might be threatening, but to Billy it just smelt like home. A place he could return to, after taking care of just one more thing.

Despite the malice that filled the air, that's force was so great it was almost physically crushing him, Billy felt himself smiling. He greeted the beast with a huge smile. "Good Morning, Red Eye." He called. "How would you like me to handle your funeral?"

He leaped back, away from Zaubar and Asoka, as power spun arounds his fingers like a cruel black wind. He extended his arm high into the air and intoned "Rise, ManGrave!" He snapped his fingers and the energy dispersed, flying downward through the stone.

The room begins to shake as all of a sudden the floor beneath Billys feet exploded upward and Billy rises up, perched on top of a giant white fist. It wasn't just a fist, however. A fist of bone was to be expected, but this wasn't even just that. Rather than a single solid bone, this one was made up of many different interconnected skeletons.

Billy jumped off the fist and landed on the head of the monster as it emerged fully. It stood as tall as the room itself, a humanoid skeleton as large as any giant, the whole thing composed of many smaller skeletons. An armored warrior, made with the bones a wizards. It its right hand it gripped a spear that looked to be made of the spine of a dragon, and its grinning skull stood naked and without a helmet. The skull was composed entirely of other skulls, each and every one faced forward, and for a brief moment the dark light of Billys mana flashed in every one of their empty eye sockets before pooling in the giant ones, finning it's eyes with inky blackness. It gripped it's spear, twirled it once, then charged over Zaubar and Asoka toward the red eyes.

[Philote]

The last time Zauber had looked into those merciless red eyes, he had only partially tapped into his Correnian nature and the final Overdrive that had sealed the creature had been nothing but an overwhelming outflow of power. Now though, calling on the familiar surge of energy that was uniquely crafted to his own style was verging on becoming second nature, and the Inscription Table was no longer his only trick.

"You're free because we're no longer playing at sealing you away. One way or another, this all ends today."

Overdrive: Fantasia

A single mote flows out of Zauber's palm, and then two, and three. Like a river of stars, Zauber's signature motes and foci of his spells pool out around him like a glittering nebulous. Zauber whirls his hands and the cloud follows his motions like it was tied to his very being until Zauber releases it and it scatters forward, erupting like a display of fireworks.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

As Philote launched his onslaught against the robotic opposition, Titannus is sure not to disturb him. That strike was definitely intended to end him. And it would have, if not for Motherboard Prime's provision. Thanks to her, it took little thought for Titannus to jaunt himself back to the Microverse.

He even had a Macroscope, to perceive his foe at ordinary scale from within the relative comfort of his terribly battered vessel.

Though, it was quite obvious that attacking from full scale was simply out of the question. For now, he would have to be far more evasive. He deployed a single nanocyte--gigantic to his current size--to repair his ship. When that was done, not a second could be spared.

"Computer--I could use some reinforcements." came his remark, as he watched Philote's display of power in disbelief.

The computer replied: Affirmative. Scanning out forty-nine likely probabilities for Titannus' next course of action. Initializing Motherboard Prime's Stochastic Cohesion Synergizer to collapse them simultaneously into corporeal form. Psychically linked to experience and intention, but not to psychic pain.

"Then shall we begin?"

Affirmative. Next course of action?

At the order of Titannus, he and his forty-nine replicates would scan Philote's form, and align themselves to fifty of the typical pressure points within humanoid species. With any stroke of fortune, Philote's senses would not be so keen as to pick him up at microscopic level. He would take just a few samples from the warrior's form, perhaps blood and other tissue--not to mention a few philotes--and that would perhaps lend to some better understanding of how to defeat him.

At his discretion, the fifty of them would launch collection probes all at once.

"On my mark, men!" was the cry, "Five, four, three..."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Suzue walked through the streets towards the closest explosions and commented, "Oi, Eidelweiss, how strong do you think these guys are strong?"

"I don't believe that Lady Wen Mei would recommend that we come if they weren't milady," replies the oldest looking maid who at the moment is wearing a hagoromo and standing directly behind her.

"Yup, Lady Wen Mei knows what kind of opponents to recommend to you," the maid to Suzue's left chimes in. "She is your aunt after all."

"It is awfully quiet though in this big city, though," states the last maid standing at Suzue's back. "Other than all the explosions."

"Quiet," Eidelweiss suddenly stops walking and cocks her head to the side listening. "You over there. Please come out. You're not going to hide your presence from me. Not like that."

(Note: Suzue, Eidelweiss, and the other two maids are hiding their abilities by suppressing their ki and can sense other life forms and their location constantly through way of the same thing. Eidelweiss is the best at doing so BTW)

[Philote]

(This is why I keep a reference list for my character. So that I can have a good grab bag of destructive goodies for when the need arises . Check out Sol's Matrix.)

Titannus' fleet attacks my Philotic structure at their own peril. As soon as Sol's Matrix is disturbed, the individual Philotic Cores within my body begin to react as a sort of amplified immune system.

The unfortunate copies of Titannus that tried to directly take a philote receive the full brunt of the reprisal while those attempting to take other parts are only hit by the aftermath of the emitted data.

One copy tries to take a philote of the Core of Flight and is thrown back in a turbulent gale, while another is hit and mutated by an overwhelming flow of data from the Core of Shadows, and so on for each one unfortunate enough to directly activate a Core.

(Philotes are supposed to be smaller than atoms / nano machines / quantum components and most other things. They are supposed to the smallest components of the universe, so small that they are reduced to data.)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

(Dunno how that works--size is relative; no matter, I think I can roll with the punches...)

Titannus finds himself devastated by the sight of his comrades destroyed, but to his own fortune, a fearful twitch of mental clarity rendered him intangible against the monstrous backlash.

He attempts to regain composure, "Uh, computer? Did...did we get the data we needed?"

Systems are silent for a second, before the computer replies, In the deed. Philotic analysis in progress. Processing...processing...complete.

"And...?"

Philotes are units of data. Subatomic, even by Microverse measurement. The very building blocks of knowledge and truth. Naturally, a controller of such units of existence makes for a devastating foe. That being said, I have already begun to synthesize a means by which you may harness such power for yourself. Parsing...parsing...complete. New plan of action required.

Titannus told the computer to proceed, and on hearing the plan, it was utterly brilliant. Or, at least, relatively more so than just attacking head-on. The computer generated another stochastic micro-clone, and as it jaunted off to  the depths of space, to carry out its part of the plan, Titannus was more than happy to direct the ships that remained under his charge. Next up, the Void Cortex Reactor Arcs-- four of the massive gunners backed up a half a mile before surrounding him in a spherical field of void energy (an antithesis to, and thus destroyer of, space, time, energy and matter). If the Correnian could not be directly harmed, then perhaps he could, at least, be contained a while.

[The Narrator]

"Ok, so we all know the plan right?" Narrator asked.

"Yea, we throw water ballons at the robots and they'll fritz up and we win and get donuts!" Roy blurted out. 

Everyone else sighed collectively. 

"He wasn't listening was he?"

"He never listens Shade....now Uncle-the plan is so simple even you can do it."  

"These robots are demolishing both worlds and I can restore them to their former glories after,"Narrator began, "but we have to end these robotic rampage.  We will take it to them, they seems to be congregating at a portal between Run O'Mill & Gude. There must be a tertiary wormhole they are being sent thru."

"We close that, problem solved." Songstress mumbled looking out the window. 

"It's never that easy.  Even I know that" Average-Man said.

"Lite and Shade will return to Gude and they all will hold down the fort there. You guys can handle Run O'Mill.  I'll see what I can come with to help you all. To be truthful guys I'm still lost on how these villains even know you all are here, much less why any of them would have it out for me. "

"I'm sure you'll find to later, we have to get in place!" Squeaked the Nerd.

Lite and Shade disappeared, magically teleporting to Gude. Average-Man and the group  went out and began protecting the streets of Run O'Mill.  A lounge chair appeared under the Narrator as he sat down, and sighed. 

He needed to be alone with his thoughts.....

--

[Marvelous Miscreant]

The Red Eye's closed, and disappeared into the inky blackness of the inner seal. The raging storm of Flames and Motes erupted into the passage, dispelling the shadows and illuminating a vast empty chamber, void of presence save for a crumpled form on the floor. However, they did not have long to contemplate what it could be, as the room they were in was quickly growing darker.

The shadows seemed to pour from every crack and seam in the walls and floor. It swarmed and spun about them, howling with grim delight. Voices whispered around them, "He lives...Formless in the Dark...Free again "

The Red Eyes opened again, glaring down at the mages as the room went black. The ceiling began to shudder, cracking as immense pressure built under it. Bright crimson runes were slowly inscribing themselves in the thick stone of the ceiling.

The Red Eyes was tearing at the College's wards. He was escaping.

(The wards of the college prevent intruders as well as escapees. However, they are not powerful enough to hold the Red Eyes. They are simply a small obstacle. The Seal was what really held it. The Red eyes now seeks to claim the power he once coveted and destroy the city.)

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Billy reigns ManGrave to a stop within the chamber. He can hear the voices, the crackling of the straining wards, but these aren't the things that catch his attention. Unraveling web from his tool, he lowers himself down to the figure crumpled on the ground to take a look.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Asoka looked at the area where Red Eyes was breaking through the wards and took a deep breath, gathering her energy in her hands and arms as Lilia Venti spread out to cover as much space as possible, before calling out, "Oi! You black roiling mass of darkness! You running 'cause you're scared? We've got a lot more we're going to do to you. Come try this: Pennae Sol Solis!"

With that, the air around Asoka's arms burst into flames before condensing into spirals of purple flame as she teleports to a petal of wind near Red Eyes to strike with all the force of her magic and body. Taunting may not have been the best option, but it should definitely attract attention.

[Philote]

Phi:
[Load: Ultimate_Overdrive.06]
Singularity()
[End]

I open my palm and a tiny point of light, several Universes condensed into a single point of Correnite, floats out. I begin to fade away, numbing my data and desyncing with reality as I pull back into the Planar Mote, leaving the singularity alone within the void energy. When I'm gone, the singularity explodes, releasing its energy into all directions till it matches and cancels out the void.

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Zauber:

Zauber floods his protective motes into the runes lining the room and Miss Shield adds her own defensive energies into the mix. "I'll reinforce and stall him. Get his attention and teach him that he has to deal with us before he can think about fleeing."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Titannus recovers from blank-faced disbelief, and his expression becomes one of disgust and annoyance. This guy just wouldn't fall. Not even a scratch or a bruise or a short pause to catch breath! He turned to the computer, and began typing full-speed.

"Computer, you saw what the heck just happened." he could barely manage volume above a whisper, "I hate to take cheap shots, but I think you know what must be done."

The computer replied its usual deadpan, "The failsafe. But it is not advised to utilize such an option at this point."

"Not advised by who?" Titannus retorted, "You're the only one advising me thus far, and I don't see you coming up with any other options!"

Vague mechanical noises whirred through the air. A piece of metal dropped from the ceiling, and the clattering clang of its landing made Titannus jump. Angry at how jumpy Philote was making him, he barked at some nameless cleaner droid to do its doggone job, and stop making him feel even worse about his junkbucket of a spaceship than he was already feeling.

This Correnian...Titannus had to do something, even if the computer was being an idiot and suggesting that the final option was a bad idea at this point in the game. Nothing less than the final option was sticking.

Then again, perhaps the computer was onto something. He was still at small size. Infinitesimal even. And that, as he figured, still left him at an advantage. Now, all he needed to see, was precisely how that advantage might be exploited.

He rushed to the com-link, to contact Hard-Drive.

"What is it you want, half-man?"

"Er, uh, we could use some more firepower here. Philote is putting up quite the fight."

"As was to be expected, yes?"

"Well, um, yes, it was expected his counter would be relentless. But this, quite honestly, is ridiculous. We've been here a few minutes, and he's plowing through our forces like a giant through tissue paper. The distraction won't hold much longer without a bit of extra muscle."

Hard-Drive grumbled, "...just how EXTRA are we talking here?"

There was a pause, "Have you got some of the tech left from before?"

As it turned out, the Technari higher-ups had indeed salvaged parts and pieces from 'before', as Titannus had hoped. And just enough could be rendered from the present materials. So, as Titannus waited in the Microverse for his reinforcements' assembly and delivery, more and more unmanned battle-ships would be sent to slaughter, by the hand of the mighty Correnian.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"You know, on second thought," Vault thinks at Three, hearing the sounds of violence from a room he realized he was not far enough away from yet, "Short version. Talk and walk."

To expedite things he had begun walking as soon as he heard the sounds of battle and was halfway through his first step.

[The Narrator]

*Alone with his thoughts, Narrator was joined by two other beings.*

"Guys you're all caught up right?" Narrator asked.

"Well duh, we're just extensions of your innerself."

"I know that, but I'm sure others reading don't....  Could you give an
introduction of yourselves?"

"I'll start by saying I detest it when you break the fourth wall.  With
whom are you speaking?  I am your logical side, the scientist that works
within the depths of your cortex.  I am the part of you that seeings things
in black or white. I..."

"I asked for us all to speak, kind of," the second began, "I am the
whimsical side of you.  The side that's hard to predict, not as boringly
logical as my cohort here.  I have fun, and like to make each interaction
special!  I see the world in shades of gray....  But they've met us before.
We've help you in your last exploits with these people..."


"I know but I all sides of my thought process now more than ever.  Somehow
we, I, has to blot out these menace without overriding the limits of my
power."

His logical side spoke. "If these beings are after you, give them what
they're asking for.  Put out an alert to get them to stop their mess, and
they can come to you."

"He's right," his illogical side spoke, "Maybe we can see who's after you,
and what they want."

"WElp, it settles it."

Narrator arose, once again alone.  "If I'm being diplomatic, I might as
well look the part"

His clothes morphed into a formal suit, tie and dress shoes.  He sent out
an announcement to all organic and inorganic beings.

"Attention, it is with great pleasure I address you.  I desire for you
robotic fiends to halt your assault of the lands of Gude, and Run O'MIll.
 PLease report to whomever is controlling you that if they want me, I'll be
here, awaiting them....."

[Philote]

I emerge out of the Planar Mote and from my faded state and begin to separate from Gilgamesh's data embedded within me. The dragon's spirit begins to peel off of me and soars toward the Feral Gilgamesh still in combat with the first wave of forces. As the second wave of incoming Technari forces near, the spirit merges with the Feral personification of itself. Feral Gilgamesh begins to swell and flames flare off of him to lick the space around him as the golden armor that was already straining to contain his rage is pushed past its limit. Feral Gilgamesh roars as I detonate him in a supernova of flames and conflict in the midst of the incoming forces.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

At the hellish onslaught, Titannus looked on with awe. A frightening display, if ever there was one to be seen. And the task at hand was intended to overwhelm one capable of such power. No pressure. Though, Hard-Drive reassured that, if nothing else was capable of dealing damage, this would at least reduce the utter wallop that Philote was capable of throwing at poor old Titannus and his sorry scrap-pile of a vessel.

"So, when can you get about assembling it, Lord Hard-Drive?" Titannus pleaded, "Certainly, you don't expect I can hold him off another hour. Twenty minutes, perhaps, but--"

"Twenty minutes?" Hard-Drive replied, "Perhaps to a mind like yours--only half accelerated with the gifts of mechanical logical processes--twenty minutes seems like a short window, in which to keep Philote distracted. Though, I assure you, to minds which truly grasp the situation, that twenty minute span is about nineteen minutes too long. In the ten seconds since you started prattling on, I analyzed and processed. So, tele-materialization of the fully-equipped mechanism should be finished in the next ten seconds."

A smooth electrical hum began just ten feet behind Titannus. Turning around, he could see just what Hard-Drive promised, falling together in perfect order just as Hard-Drive said it would. A beautiful, pristine thing, though not as grandiose as the larger version that preceded. But, if the machine was here to prove anything, it was that size didn't really matter.

Small comfort, but it would have to do.

With that, Titannus watched the last bit of the device being tele-materialized, and commanded the computer to mount it out on the ship's hull. Whirling back around in his commander's chair to face Hard-Drive, he gave a final nod of acknowledgement and thanked his benefactor. The com turned off, and the chair turned back to face the ensuing carnage.

The thought of any and/or all of that heinous chaos being wreaked on Titannus, steeled his nerves, making it so much easier to do what he had to do. He called to the computer for the all-clear, and when it was given, asked for a countdown from ten.

When the count hit zero, Titannus would have absolutely no remorse--in fact, it would give him great pleasure--as he threw the lever, and warped the force of his Miniature Power-Neutralization Apparatus to a size and magnitude better suited for the great and powerful Correnian, Philote.

Phi:Sorry. There was meant to be a challenge to attack all of Aeon, but since you safeguarded all your folks, I had to send Titannus directly after you. Nobody is immune from some sort of personal danger, else the stakes aren't fair for everyone else who's taking personal hits to their lairs and headquarters and whatnot.