Well... uh... that's still some pretty thick symbolism. I'm not sure how to feel about all that, but...
Look. Did you believe in what the darkness stands for? Then there's nothing stopping you from continuing to stand for that.
And if you don't? That's okay! You'll find your own path in life! Look to the past, see what sticks out to you as good or as bad, take those feelings to heard and... well, I don't know. Try to find yourself a place in the world, I guess?
But it's hard to find one you like just like that, and everyone's going to give you different advice... just another thing you'll have to figure out on your own, I suppose.
But you can do it! Everyone can if they try!

---

Meandra just looks miserably at Cellval for a few moments before abruptly sitting upright and pulling her in for a hug.

Another kick sends Octoiact flying upwards, Mighty barraging them with kicks and punches from all angles, pushing them higher and higher up... until he lets up just for a moment to allow the die to fall down on the surface of the collapsing upper pillar.

Your little cabal isn't special. This fate is all your empty threats are worth.

Just in time to witness the once proud D20 head get disintegrated by magical might.

You can go rule Hell when I send you down there.
Oh, wait. You'll fuck that up, too.

Octoiact is immediately hit in the head with a Geno Cannon from above, sending them face down onto the floor at terminal velocity.

A loud blast knocks Octoiact and everyone in the vicinity off their feet. It's hard to tell what caused it because of the yellow and green sparks flying around...

But as the smoke clears, you can see stars through it. And they surround the silhouetto of a man.











He looks down at Octoiact with an impossibly smug face.

I mean, come on. You obviously know my strength, even if you don't want to admit that you're hopelessly outmatched. Did you really think a minor case of getting killed would hinder a Reaper? Or are you just in denial of your fate?

Mighty suddenly jolts forward through the air, zigzagging quick bursts of speed until he crashes down on top of Octoiact, one foot on what could ostensibly be referred to as a chin, the other on their chest as they slide backwards across the floor from the impact.

All your preparations, all your little plans, gone to the wind. Your base of operations, breached. Your delusions of grandeur? If they haven't crumbled by now, you're even more pathetically stupid than I thought!
Like, seriously. SERIOUSLY. You MUST'VE caught wind of so many other, stronger sons of bitches coming to wreak havoc in my world-- did you never bother figuring out what exactly happened to them?

The dicehead is kicked upright onto wobbling legs.

Well, you're about to.

Mighty lays on the floor, bleeding, barely conscious. He briefly manages to turn his head towards Octoiact.


GHRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....! You- You- You fuhRGH... really... yourgh... you...... really.......... y- you... ghhhhhhh....

...

He goes limp. His head hits the floor with a wet thud.

Dord performs 12 more Lacerations, while L00T pops three Plasma Barriers each on both of them, downs a Gamer's Elixir and activates Support Buddy which lets Dord perform 4 more Lacerations. All on Scales.

Well... Hm. That's-
I'm not really sure how to put it. I already knew that the world wasn't perfect, but... I guess all those moments put into perspective just how horrible someone can get just to make sure they get what they want.

---

Meandra is unresponsive for some time, still awkwardly sitting on the ground...
...that was so horrible...

Hopping into the ring, Scout immediately notices something... off.

Oh. Das gotta be what the equalizashawhatchamacallit feels like.

He runs in place for a bit.

Damn, you guys are slow! You LIVE like this?????
Mission start.
Oh, right. Yeah, this'll be quick.

Scout draws an extremely shiny gun so quickly that you can't see where it actually came from, blasting away at the Generalbot who only manages to dodge half of the buckshot coming its way and nearly falls over, but turns it into a graceful roll, jumps back to its feet and assumes a more defensive stance for the moment. This is immediately followed by an air-to-ground shot from Scout, but this time the 'bot parries the buckshot. Scout's jaw nearly hits the floor despite the fact he's sent himself flying into the air, which the Generalbot tries to exploit by nailing him with a rising uppercut. It nearly connects, but Scout doublejumps backwards at just the right moment and pathetically grazes the bot with his bat, using their time in an unrewarding fall to the ground to reload his FaN. For his efforts, he is rewarded by a kick to the gut from the Generalbot once they land, with a followup punch parried with the bat, leading into a swing at the head which is itself parried, the robot once again delivering a strong blow to Scout's torso. After reeling from the impact a bit, Scout narrowly dodges a punch, and...

Think fast, chucklenuts! !?

throws a ball into the air. The maneuver confuses the Generalbot, distracting it just for a moment... but that's all it takes for a heavy swing of the Sandman to connect to its head, forcing it to stumble backwards. As Scout swings the bat back to the other side, the ball falls perfectly into its path and gets sent flying into the Generalbot's jaw! The machine is left moving extremely sluggishly for a second, which Scout exploits by hitting it hard with... a cleaver, which causes it to reel in pain in slow motion. Still, it manages to move out of the way of some of Scout's next FaN shot, sweeping him off his feet with a low kick in the process, forcing him into a weird midair roll which leaves him open to a quick punch across the ribs, but landing on his feet. The Generalbot then dashes at him, and Scout reciprocates, the one shell in his gun raring to go, but his next move is perfectly parried...

Except, he just whacked the Generalbot with the muzzle.

Heh.

And now that its parrying motion has been wasted, the mother of all meatshots rings out in the center of the arena.

The Generalbot's unconscious, but not dead body, as is the case for some ruder qualifiers, flies out of the ring. Scout is left incoherently gloating inside.

---

Professional Killstreak Australium Force-a-Nature: Scout's personal Force-a-Nature, a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. Its shots pack an immense punch, enough to send targets(or even the user, if they're not firmly on the ground) flying. Per EAST regulation, the damage output has been scaled back to avoid lethal outcomes, roughly equating a meatshot to an average heavy attack.
The Flying Guillotine: A cleaver. Usually thrown, hits from this weapon inflict heavy damage at any range and bleeding for several seconds. It will return to the user's hand automatically six seconds after being thrown, or sooner if it hits its mark from a considerable distance. Per EAST regulation, the base and "bleeding" damage, and the pain thereof, are to stay the same, while the wound itself is reduced to avoid lethal outcomes.
The Sandman: Scout's personal baseball bat (and ball). Hits with the ball daze the target or even completely stun them, the strength and duration of the effect depending on the distance and strength at which the ball hits.

---

---

---

---

---

Vyolen wakes up on the floor opposing the closet Elizabeth locked herself inside.

,,,,,,

The closet is now open, Elizabeth asleep with phone in hand.

Vyolen's memory is weirdly fuzzy regarding anything actively involving Elizabeth, she can barely remember the girl in front of her, but she can vaguely recall her name, that she is Walter's daughter, and doesn't appear to be on best terms with Vyolen.

...

A figure walks into a room.

Dusty, dark and disused, but not in disrepair.

His eyes fixate on something in the center of the vast area...

The Director's Chair
♫ Cave Story(Wii) - Geothermal

Man. It's just the way I left it.

I- yes, that's me in there. Hi.

Don't mind the other text color. Just trying something new on.

I pat the armrest of the chair, then set my sights on the large computer terminal in front of it. It's... still on.

*sigh*
I'm not giving up on you yet, Legacy. I'll be back. *smooch* *COUGH*

...I forgot about the dust. Anyway,

The terminal is shut down and a bulky cable leading from it to something in the distance is disconnected. Not forever, I hope. But right now, I need the hardware. Off comes half the casing and many connections are undone, replaced by new ones leading through a series of adapters into a weird tape deck-looking thing; the connector for the big outbound wire in particular is connected to a weird wireless adapter. I then pull out an oversized casette of indeterminate make and a folder. One is shoved into the tape deck, and the other thrown onto the desk surface of the terminal.

As the computer reboots, I open up the folder and spread the notes it contains around. Lots of plans, some drawings and a couple of instructions directed to me specifically, all in dreadful handwriting.

Okay, a note. "i ,maeked NEW!! cHarictre,! Pls use 0k??? Othe® chacter iz crige" Okay. Wow, that hurt to read.

Finally, the terminal is back online. It lists out the character files contained on the tape, and establishes a new connection... to the Chaos Zone.

To figure out how to approach this, I look through the characters and quickly pull up details on all the ones I could find that seem to be different takes on someone very specific.

---

No.

---

Okay, there we go. This one's more in- wait, she was personally behind the Conglomerate? Damn. I guess the eye motifs should have clued me in, but, like, she doesn't exactly use them sparingly...

---

The first one that was also Walter's kid. Still had that hat, and the doodle gills. They fit. I remember that time; much calmer. Except for her, I guess. "gets killed a few times" - well, at least she's nonchalant about it.

---

Oh... this one's separate? I thought this and the previous iteration were one and the same, only changed by that mess in Valhalla... "The daughter of powerful martial artist Walter Oliver, out of envy, attempts a ritual to gain herself powers and fight alongside her father. It however goes terribly..." That- yeah, that tracks.

---

I ponder these for a good few minutes, scrolling back and forth between them and occasionally looking at the notes.

Okay, no more stalling. Let's see what I'm working with.







♫ Deltarune - THE HOLY



Okay. Okay! I can work with that!

I minimize every other window on the screen, open a blank text box, and get to work.

Calmly, L00T raises Plasma Barriers twice more(for a total of 8 layers) and makes Support Buddies with Dord, who then proceeds to use Radiant Zeal and 16 consecutive Lacerations on Scales.

Well, that's your loss, baby. 'sides,
With a sick twirl, Scout draws a chicken drumstick from the bucket under his arm as if it were a sidearm, then bites into it.
I already picked me up some chicken on the way here.
So, I just siiiiign...here?
The half-eaten drumstick is returned to the bucket as Scout picks up a pen... and draws his little winged sneaker symbol in on the signature line. It looks surprisingly good.
My name's classified, ya know.
Not even paying attention to FR, Scout backpedals a bit and sits down on a beanbag that came out of nowhere, positioning himself a bit out of the way, but just close enough to keep up with who else signs up.

3 seconds after registrations start, the gates are kicked open by a thin figure taking a wide, showboaty stance, before walking in with entirely too much swagger.
I gotta bucket of chicken and I'm here ta kick ass!
He scoots over to a registration booth, completely ignoring all existing queues in the process and prioritizing the one with the most handsome woman behind (or near) it if such exists.
So. Where do I sign up?

Hey, LISTEN UP! Do you think I wanted to fight those monsters in the middle of a city?! NO. But I HAD to. Because otherwise, it would've been WORSE.
Dord blasts six Hadal Smokers out while setting up six Falling Blades. L00T merely looks at him with concern before Brave Striking Reggae before stacking four Muspell Flames each on each of the bosses and hitting with three Ulfrvetr.

Dord limps onto the battlefi- Jesus Christ, I've never seen anyone limp so fast! As L00T - who splurged on a Near-Field Essence Absorber - casts FoN and then Brave Strike on herself and him, he sets up Blazing Wings and seven servings of Falling Blade. Deary me.


AND THAT'S NOT ALL.

Dord should actually have 12 AP from the BW/FoN!BS combo, adding 4 more Falling Blades. And then, L00T remembers her other 5 AP and Brave Strikes Nath too before giving herself and Dord two Plasma Barriers for a total of 10 layers each.

Ok, so for now I'm gonna buy a Team Baton.

---

L00T stares intently at the portal. Meanwhile, Dord is lagging behind the group, barely stumbling along, occasionally flailing his arms as if to ascertain just how many of his joints are broken.

t⁠e⁠s⁠t t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ t⁠e⁠s⁠t⁠ 

An exact copy of the Bank of Poppo credit card appears in the wallet in the spot it used to be in once it's removed.

...Followed by exact copies of whatever else was inside.

...Followed by an empty copy of the wallet falling down to the floor. Which then also populates itself with the goods.

---

Well, sort of. The first time it would've happened, I suppose I got off lucky because he messed it up...
After that, uh, people have tried. Both with sledgehammer mind control and just subtly trying to manipulate me. But now, I can do something about it, and I do my best not to fall into their schemes. Most recently, this overblown megacorporation is trying to make me some kinda mercenary by dragging me in through a common goal. I'm pretending to go with it, just to use their resources, but since that bastard hasn't shown his face yet, it's basically a paid vacation at this point...

---

Meandra just...

Locks up. She barely jumps over the quartz attack in the nick of time, botching the landing and ending up falling on one knee, unable to do anything but look on in horror as BROKEN SEAL is blasted to- well, not necessarily to bits, but things are not looking up for it.

---

♫ VS the Dice Council - part 2 ~ Boss Boogie(DKC3 GBA)♫
As the chain wraps around Mighty's right arm, he writhes, trying to get it off. This leaves him open to a healthy serving of papercuts from playing cards, which hurt more than they harm, but there's also the matter of the halberd that cleaves straight through his armor and embeds itself within his left shoulder, prompting a yelp of pain and a strong reflex in his other arm that swings the Schestorpse around him and into Octoiact! Mighty then dashes straight over to the two and indiscriminately uses his still good arm, with the chains acting as an improvised knuckleduster, to deliver concrete-obliterating punches indiscriminately to their heads.

Yep. I'm doing it again. But I can promise you I won't be getting away with it forever.

---

---

---

Dord quite literally falls out of the fusion, ending up on his hands and knees. The once-strong fires from his various holes where vital organs should be have dimmed severely and are flickering. He barely gets enough time to swing himself up to his feet with his wings before they fizzle out, bits of them dropping on the ground as a glowing hot molten mass.
Gh- damn. That hurt. I-
Dord looks around. He sees the wreckage, but he also sees his fellow raiders... and he does not see the as of recently twice fallen Super Fighting Robots.

He's speechless. Barely standing on his feet, his head somberly slumps downwards. But he starts chuckling. Silently, helplessly chuckling, regardless of the tears subtly trickling down. He puts his hands over his face and throws his head back, then finally looks back at everyone, revealing a very, very sour grin.
Fuck, what a mess! ...But... at least it's over. They'll never hurt anyone again... and what was left of their true selves won't have to watch it happen, either...

Thanks, guys.

ReDevil, despite occasional twitching, does not stop. Lacerations fly at Tinkatedd once more, then the Flash, Ensemble, Vat, the PIRATEs, and L00T, and he caps the spectacle off with two Hadal Smokers.

Emboldened by her recent successes and the recently received debuffs to her team, xX_L00T_Xx raises her hands once more(which are still smoking from the last attack) and burns all her 12 AP to shower each of the main trio equally in double super-effective divine retribution.

---

Phantom Reggae arrives in a strange place. A ruined city completely different from the one the fight is going down in reality. The sky is dark as obsidian with an ominous tower quite literally reaching into low Earth orbit sitting in the background. Moving to a town square, a big, red complex shape chained down with big, red chains from all directions - even from out of the sky - can be seen suspended about at the height of a first floor. There are many figures taunting it in various ways. Some are grey and red, some pitch black with a tinge of purple, but the majority is AOC Reggaes. It's constantly shaking, but never breaking from the relentless punches of the person inside of it, who seems to notice Phantom Reggae's arrival even if he isn't looking at him...

HEY! I hope you're only inside my head to gimme a hand with this shit!