Dimensional Heroes Ultimate: Memories Past

by Xovercreator

A what-if trilogy, based on what if the Unmei Force were involved in the finale of the Dark Kingdom arc, and the bad endings of the World of Light in Smash Bros Ultimate. There are many paths to tread... And each of them have consequences. (Based off Dimensional Heroes: Ultimate)

A/N: This is the first part of the what-if trilogy, which details the events portrayed by the three endings of World of Light in Smash Ultimate, as per Dimensional Heroes: Ultimate, with the change that the Unmei Force are involved in the matter, making it a non-canon three-shot of the story involved. This ending in particular is associated with the World of Darkness ending, associated with defeating Galeem alone.

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In the original timeline, Galeem and Dharkon were both liberated by David, thanks to the new power of Masakado. The universes returned as they were, and the alliance of heroes were strengthened, all while the Unmei Force were left sitting on their hands.

But in all honesty, this is already the best outcome currently possible, believe it or not...

Let me tell you a story...

What if Richard was never warned off by Yukari...

And what if... David, the butterfly who would either doom or save the words, had different decisions...?

What if... indeed...?

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In the Celestial Battleground...

Everyone watched in silence, as their attention was directed at the cracked spatial rift in front of them, as purple energy swirling inside of it, as they were awaiting Master Hand who was inside the rift itself.

"...I can only hope that things will go well." David worded his own worries, as he looked around, as they stood at the very point where the two forces and energies of Darkness and Light clashed together. On one side was Dharkon's army and realm, as the sickly purple and dark blue realm filled with dark clouds and wild thunder filled his side of the field, and on the other was Galeem's own army and realm, a golden misty fog filled with swigs of green and blue. "Both armies should be weak enough to reach a stalemate, right?"

"Yeah, seems like it." Jexi responded back with a nod. "Galeem and Dharkon are on their lonesome. We've freed every single Spirit on our way here, so they're without their armies now. All that's left is to take them both down, and then... Lord Alabaster."

"Yeah... Can't believe that this will be the end of all of this. Once we do all of this, everyone and every universe will be freed from their clutches." Hope commented as well.

Ace and Richard were both silent, although for different reasons. Ace was looking at his own teammates with a worried look for all of them, while Richard was staring intently at the purple rift before them, and Crazy Hand who was still his usual self, giggling manically with spastic movements of his fingers.

Soon after, the rift began to shimmer brightly than ever, as Richard immediately felt that a colossal burst of energy was coming out of it. Suddenly, the area began to rumble, as everyone was startled by the sudden quake.

"What the!?" Jexi cried. "What's going on now!?"

Suddenly, Master Hand flew out of the rift, as the area around them began to crack, as the web of fractures spread throughout the entire realm, before the first of the pieces fell away from the atmosphere, as it eventually showed a bright orange metallic plain before them, as the skies were sunset-orange with white clouds all around them. In front of them, a majestic sunset could be seen, as its light spread across to the edges of the horizon.

"So… So beautiful…" Elma remarked, as she seemed to be mesmerised by the scenery around her.

"So this is what happens when both light and darkness are conquered…" David said to himself with some astonishment in his voice. "This is what this place is like before the influences of Dharkon and Galeem twisted and corrupted it."

Master Hand then turned to the groups. "It is done." He declared. "The bonds that tie this realm together to their respective selves has been shattered completely. Now then… Our role here is complete. We thank all of you for liberating us from the clutches of Dharkon and Galeem, but from here on, what is to be done is of your own choice."

Master Hand then left them as he rose into the skies and left the group, as Crazy Hand followed him, giving the heroes a overexcited 'Bye!' as he followed his brother out of their sights.

Richard then turned back to the group, as he sighed deeply. "I guess that they really don't want to stay here any more than they needed to." He stated. "I guess by helping us purge the influences of both lords, they consider their favour from saving them paid in full."

Everyone else watched, as the paths to continue materialised themselves into existence, as all of them were made of a blue ethereal stream that seemed to look like it could support their weight and size, should they travel down it. One path in front of them seemed to lead into nothing but a dead-end, while two others lead them to where Galeem and Dharkon were.

"Wait… Why are there three paths here?" Jexi asked. "And why's the middle one empty?"

"Don't know." Hope admitted. "Things aren't exactly clear here."

"…It's a test." Richard answered back.

"…What?" Ace questioned Richard, as he snapped his attention towards him suddenly when Richard spoke. "What do you mean?"

"It's a test from the Spirits themselves, to see if we know the true path to end this nightmare is." Richard said. "A path to Galeem, a path to Dharkon, and a path to nowhere… There is no hints around us to tell us what the true path is, but it's clear if you look into your deepest desires and ideals."

Every one of the leaders were silent, as they seemed to be considering Richard's words.

"Either way, I know that there's no persuading you from choosing any different to what path you have in mind." Richard continued, as he turned around. "So I won't stop any of you. But my choice is set. Unmei Force, come to me."

"Right…" Gus answered back, as he walked beside Richard, with the rest of their group followed after, just behind both of them, as they made their way to the middle path, without any hesitation from either of them.

"What…?" David muttered, as he saw Richard and the Unmei Force walk further and further down the path, before he then rushed after them. "Hey, wait a minute!"

Richard immediately stopped moving forward, as he spun around on his heels, as he walked past his members, stopping in front of David. "What do you want, David Ishihara?" Richard asked back.

"Pangu…" David was about to say, before he then shook his head. "No… Richard. What exactly are you doing? Did you not say before that both Galeem and Dharkon must be banished?"

"Richard Lin is an alias I adapted." Richard answered back coldly. "So is Pangu, but it is my official name in the organisation. Call me what you wish, but my true name is withheld from you all. Regardless, what's your point?"

"You're walking to nowhere, that's what!" David shouted back with clenched fists.

"Exactly. That's the answer." Richard sighed back. "'Nowhere'. What do you think that translate to? And what do you think travelling down the individual paths mean?"

"And what's that got to do with everything!?" David retorted. "Stop being such a enigmatic prick and just tell us what you mean straight!"

"If you all can't figure it out, then I'm not going to be so nice to overlook that negligence of knowledge." Richard snapped back with a glare, before he then sighed. "Fine. Think of it this way. Galeem and Dharkon? What do you think they represent?"

"Light for Galeem. Dharkon for Darkness, right?" Ace answered back. "Where is this going? All you're doing is being vague and an utter jerk!"

Richard scowls a little at the 'jerk' comment, although his voice remained the same. "And the paths, no, defeating each of them means? Think about it."

"Defeating Galeem means destroying light. Defeating Dharkon means destroying darkness. Leaving the remaining being in either scenario…." Jexi reasoned, before he then realised what Richard was hinting about defeating either of them. "Wait, then… what you're telling us, defeating one means the other's dominion grows!?"

"Finally, someone gets it." Richard claps slowly in an unamused manner. "That's right. By destroying one of the elements, the other gets stronger. You leave Dharkon, darkness reigns eternal. You leave Galeem, light purges all. By defeating either of them, you support indirectly the efforts of the remaining god. And what do you think will happen when a god attains total control, thus total power?"

"…I don't like where this is going." Hope spoke with a sense of dread in his voice.

"That's why there's a third path, the path which supports neither." Richard answered back. "Taking a path where none is opposed, means that we remain neutral to this conflict, as we will defeat both forces for the sake of balance and equality. I will walk this path, regardless if you accept my reasoning or not. But know that nothing will stop me, so don't bother trying, or else."

"That's… That's just goddamn speculation!" David rebuked Richard. "How are you so sure of all of this!? Is this another of your 'fore-knowledge' things!?"

"David Ishihara, I will tell you once again… 'Fore-Knowledge' of the worlds doesn't mean much, when your interferences ruined the course of events, along with your friends." Richard hissed back icily. "I don't need that to know what these paths mean. Like I said, you can choose whatever you wish. But I'm not changing my path."

"I'm gonna say this. I know I'm not that bright when it comes to matters like this. I make decisions based on what I know. And what I do know is…" Jexi said stepping on the neutral path. "None of my friends made spirits can return unless we stop those beings stupid fighting! I don't know who you are but...one thing's for sure. I don't support either Galeem nor Dharkon."

"That is true." Richard answered back. "As long either exists, Spirits will remain enslaved, and they will never retain their form. And what's to say that they'll stop after they're done with us? I don't know how either of them knew of the other reality and who to take, but both WILL pay for what they have done."

"I'd say that Jexi would be right for this one." Hope answered back. "And so is Richard in this case, so I'll say that we take the middle path."

Ace was silent, as he still seemed to be pondering about his opinion about the matter.

Richard merely silently listened at the opinions of the other team leaders, before he noticed that David was silent, as he drew his blade, Masakado, as he was looking intently at it.

"...So you're trying to consult that blade of yours, Masakado?" Richard asked David. "I sincerely doubt your blade is the katana of SMT's own Masakado, nor Persona's one. But I definitely can say that it is the heirloom of a Masakado, presumably the same Tokyo you and I met in. Regardless… What is your choice? You can choose either path, but I'm going down the middle path, and so is Jexi."

David was still silent, as his silence unnerved his own teammates, as they feel like that David is feeling quite conflicted at the moment.

"What about you? What do you think, after all this time with us?" Sectonia asked him. "Sure, both Galeem and Dharkon make solid viewpoints on the matter, but they devalue everything we've accomplished as comrades...as teammates...as friends. If a small part of you treasures that, any of that… Then let's stop them...both of them!"

"A sound point, Sectionia." Richard replied to that statement. "Let your close companion decide for himself. After all… This is a test of heart dealt by the hand of fate itself. Where your loyalties like, David… Let us see."

Gus looked at Richard with some worry, as the Link, Fox, and Corrin of Unmei Force seemed to quite tense for some reason, and the other members didn't react at all, mostly because they didn't know what to do.

David listened closely to the words of Sectionia, and then considered Richard's words in his mind again, before he then took a deep breath.

"I… Sectionia." David spoke in a serious tone. "If we're going to take them both down, let's start with Galeem."

"Oh?" Richard asked with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps you aren't willing to take them both on together? I'm not mocking you for cowardice here, but I am interested why you're going after Galeem first."

"Galeem was the very reason this mess has started. Sure, Dharkon came in and hijacked what remained of the Spirit-possessed puppets, and brought in a whole new set of them." David answered back. "But it was his own actions that took the worlds and the inhabitants, and if there's someone to start on, it's him. Perhaps his defeat will release the worlds, but we'll go for Dharkon next."

"Reasonable." Richard answered back. "The sooner that I can get my friends and close ones back… The better-"

Suddenly, a sukima that wasn't Richard's own appeared above the black-haired leader, as something fell through it, landing into Richard's hands, as he caught it with a flick of his wrist. When he got a closer look at it, he saw that it was a folded rectangular note which was written on with black inks from the near-transparent ink marks on the back of the paper.

"Yukari sent this…?" Richard hummed, as he then slowly opened it. "I wonder what's got Yukari so hasty about all of this, when we're supposed to stay as much out of contact as possible. Whatever it is, it must be very much important."

Richard began to scan the letter's contents with his eyes, before they suddenly widened, as Richard's hands gripped the letter with much more force, as his hands were shaking, and the paper around his fingers were crinkling from the force he was exerting in his grip, and when he placed the letter down, his expression was one of utter shock and fear, which he quickly wiped away for a more surprised expression before it could be held any longer in front of the others.

"Richard…?" Gus asked. "What did that letter say?"

Richard immediately slammed the letter into Gus's hands, content facing-up. "Gus. Read this. Every. Single. Word." Richard articulated every word with a very tense tone, as his lips quivered to stop himself from betraying any of his former fear.

Gus read the letter quickly as well, although his reaction wasn't as easily controlled as Richard's own, as his jaw was agape, and his eyes goggled with fear, as he dropped the letter with trembling hands. "Richard… This… This has to be a joke, right?" He asked Richard frantically. "There's… There's no way that…!"

"Gus. Draw your weapon. I order it." Richard snapped back. "Gus, Elma, Link, Fox, Reimu, Marisa. Get close to me. All the rest of you, move back a bit."

Gus was silent, as he didn't know what got into Richard himself, but he couldn't bring himself to distrust Richard at such a critical point, and unsheathed his fiery greatsword, Etherflame in both hands. Understanding the gesture, the rest of the members with Richard immediately prepped their weapons, as they didn't train it at anyone in particular.

"Richard… What is the matter?" Ieyasu asked. "I have not seen you so tense ever since we have met. Have something dire reached your ears through that letter reported by your ally."

"Ieyasu… The news… I… I can't put it in words how dire the news was." Richard said. "That is why… we're preparing for a battle to the last man. But not all of us has to stay."

"What do you mean, Richard?" UF Corrin asked Richard.

Richard immediately summoned one of his own sukimas in front of the group. "I want to go back to base. Make sure that nothing happens there. Ensure that our 'back-up plan' is not compromised, no matter the cost, and no matter what you will hear or see. Tell them… We have a Code Omega."

"Code Omega…?" Reisen asked, as she then realised what Richard was talking about. "Then that means…!?"

"Exactly what you think. Remember, do not leave the base. No matter WHAT!" Richard barked. "Now go! GO, damnit!"

The members who were set for base were immediately startled by Richard's sudden command, as they immediately left, but not before Reisen, Meiling, and Sanae looked back.

"Make it back… All of you." Sanae told them all, before she went in, as the last to enter the sukima, and closed itself up.

"Richard… Why the sudden split?" Marisa asked Richard. "Sure doesn't seem dangerous here. Why are we drawing our weapons?"

"Marisa, Code Omega is not easily spoken of." Richard responded back. "You know what it means, do you, like everyone has been told before we left our reality in search for our hope?"

"Code Omega… Ah, yeah. I remember. That's the highest danger level. It means that its as bad as 'multiverse goes bye-bye' as a situation, right?" Marisa questioned back, as she had her Hakkero charged at the ready. "Then what's the trigger?"

"I think that there's an answer to that." Richard responded back with a stoic look, as he then turned to David. "In fact, the person we need to get rid of to avert this… is in front of us."

Richard then immediately summoned his twin blades through sukimas, as he brandished them by the tip towards David.

"David… I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're going to have to back down… permanently." Richard emphasised his last word with his blades glowing ominously in their own aura colours.

"Permanently…? Wait, you're going to kill me?!" David asked in shock.

"Kill? If that is what it takes… Don't blame me for balancing my options here. I just need to stop you. And for someone like you… Only death would be enough to achieve that, considering our type… no, your type." Richard answered back. "You really want to know what was written in that letter? Want to know why Gus suddenly began to tremble just back there?"

"What the…!?" Gus questioned back. "What does David has to do with all of this!?"

"Let me put it simply for you, Gus. He has everything do with it. He just doesn't realise it." Richard responded back with a side-glance. "And I doubt his friends are going to be so nice to let us stop him here. Don't you. David is your friend, and you'd protect him no matter what, huh?

Richard eyed every single team-member in front of him, before stopping at David.

"What's going on here? Whatever you're accusing me of trying to do, I have no intention of, I swear." David said.

"Words are cheap, when you don't realise what you're doing." Richard shook his head slowly. "I know you want to know what's going to happen, David. So I'll tell you."

Richard then embed both of us blades into the ground as small cracks formed at the impact point.

"It goes like this… Galeem dies…" Richard answered back. "Dharkon wins. And when he does, it's bye-bye to all light in the multiverse. I knew what the test wanted… But I was glad she told me what the consequences of choosing wrong were."

Everyone was stunned by Richard's words, as he pulled his blades out again. "Like I said before on my words, I don't care if you believe me or not. I don't need your trust, only your impedance." He coldly spoke again. "If you're insistent on continuing, then I'll sever your limbs' muscles, so that you can't even crawl when I slam you down. Once I deal with this, I might have you healed back, but NOT until then."

Richard then pointed his finger at David. "So David, in apology of what I will refer to. We can do this the painless way or the hard way. Once you choose, don't expect me to back down, or let you reconsider, so I'd be thinking about what to do."

"Richard, wait!" Sectonia said. "Is what you're saying really true? Will leaving Dharkon alone really doom us all?" she then looks to David. "What about what you said before, about a multiverse where everyone can be happy? Doesn't part of you still want that?"

"It's no use, Sectonia." Leopardmon spoke up. "I can see it in his eyes. The losses that were suffered are too great. He no longer sees that such a thing is possible."

"That can't be…" Omnimon said in disbelief. David had always believed in achieving the impossible. That's why the Royal Knights are spared and reunited. Omnimon couldn't believe that David would be in this broken of a state.

Richard then looked at David, whose eyes were filled with misery and regret.

"Tell me, David." Richard demanded. "What now runs through that head of yours? Are you considering what to do to get past me? Or are you trying to find a way to dissuade me from impeding you?"

"What's the point? My home is gone, and I've let everyone down. I've got nothing left to fight for..." David said.

"No, you know that's not true at all!" Shuichi said.

"He's right. We've been through worse. We'll find a way." Jude said.

"I'm afraid there's no time." Sectonia said as she started going down the middle path.

"Sectonia? You're not serious about this, are you?" David asked.

"I'm sorry. But it has to be this way." Sectonia said. "For the sake of all of our worlds, we must destroy both Galeem and Dharkon."

Richard dropped his swords suddenly, as his expression seemed to be grim.

"So… You're going to give up then?" Richard asked in a very clipped tone. "Are you? Answer me, David."

David was about to open his mouth, before Richard caught him off-guard with a right-hook to the jaw that sent the blonde back a few steps, clenching his jaw.

"Here's what I think of your little hissy-fit." Richard spike with venom. "You call that losing everything? Calling that letting everyone down when your friends are before you, David?"

Richard then flung his arms out, as his expression turned into one of rage. "DON'T FUCKING KID ME!" Richard roared. "IS THIS SHIT ALL REAL,HUH!? IS IT!?

"That's enough! Both of you!" Jexi shouted. "Nothing is going to get better if we start ripping each other's throats out."

"You stay out of this, Jexi." Richard hissed back at the Color Fighter. "Deny it all you like, but what David needs right now is a reality check. A real GOOD one."

Richard then turned to David. "David, do you truly know what it means for a world to burn, do you?" Richard asked David again. "Go on, I'll be nice to let you answer this time. Come on, give me your reason."

David was silent, as Richard merely scoffed loudly.

"Just what I goddamn thought." Richard grumbled. "You fucking chuck your ideals and rights into the basin, as well as your friends. And you don't even what you're sacrificing all of this needlessly for."

Richard then walked over and gripped David by the collar in front, as he glared into David's eyes with his own, a look of pure hot anger behind it.

"Let me tell you this, David. You don't even have a single clue of what true suffering is." Richard spat. "That kind of feeling is something just the feeling of betrayal and loss. You believe that you're at the despair event-horizon of your mind. Well, either you're pathetically weak-willed to be broken so simply, or you're just pointlessly wailing about fate dealing you a shitty hand."

"Richard...you lost your entire world didn't you?" Jexi asked. "I've seen that kind of rage before. It normally comes from people who have lost that much."

"Lost my entire world?" Richard asked back, giving Jexi a emotionless look, before he then laughed mirthlessly. "How about try amplifying that a thousands times over! But do you see me giving up like David!? Do you see me broken like him!? Fuck no! I'm not going to let that kind of thing define me! Especially when I had to watch everything burn to ashes over and over again-"

Richard then immediately choked on his words, as he clutched his face, letting go of David, as his expression under it was strained, while he stepped back a little.

"No… Those times have passed. I will not let myself fall to what I have seen… The horrors, the despair… And the sorrow and rage that courses through that damned place like a impenetrable fog…." Richard breathed silently.

He then crossed his arms, as his expression was back to one of distrust. "Either way, what happened to me doesn't matter now." Richard stated. "What matters is that whether David will change or not."

"I know you hate heroes. I'm not going to argue you on a person's ideals on justice. But what I'm about to ask next I ask as a fighter and not a hero." Jexi said standing face to face with him. "Are you going to lie down and whine about things you can't change...or are you gonna fight to save everything you cherish...including close friends!" he shouted.

"You know damn well my answer, Jexi!" Richard roared, as he picked up his swords, as he grinded the edges against each other slowly, and the Unmei Force members also prepared for battle. "If I'm going to have to fight, I'll fight anyone tries to get in my way, even if they're your friends, Jexi, so whatever happens, don't blame me for what I will do, because this is for the sake of everyone!"

Richard turned to face David, as his expression was more calm.

"All you have do David, is to back down." Richard told David. "There was once a method used by ancient kings of some race, to avoid divine punishment aimed at them. They let someone else take the crown and suffer the punishment. Here, it is far more beneficial. Let us deal with Dharkon and Galeem. Just leave, and we'll save the worlds in your stead. You can resist fate if you truly try, so tell me, what is more important, your honour, or the lives that matter? It's a simple decision. Practically easy to decide, but hard depending on what your ideals and morals are. So tell me, what do you choose?"

David lowered his head in silence, as he strained out the words, "I… can't…"

Richard merely scoffs at David's strained words. "So… You refuse to stand down?" Richard asked back with an unamused expression. "Is that it, David? So you'll throw the words of your friends into the furthest winds than to heed them?"

"...Shut up." David spat out, as he lifted Masakado.

"Oh?" Richard's eyebrow quirked up. "So you finally made up your mind then?"

"SHUT UP! Don't you dare say another word!" David roared, as he raised Masakado in both of his hands. "I swear! It's always this stupid attitude of yours! Sure, you're not our friend, but you don't have the right to mock or insult me, as someone who knows little to nothing about me! I do this for the sake of everyone who has been gone! If there's something that I desire more than anything! It's vengeance against that damned Galeem for what he had done! He will PAY! And I will not stop until I get to him and slash him to pieces!"

Richard reeled back, when he noticed that from David, there was a slight hint of dark energy emanating from him, which triggered his own magic senses, before he grit his teeth with anger.

"Then you'll have to get through me! Over. My. Dead. BODY!" Richard emphasised his last words, as energy surrounded him. "It doesn't matter who we are or your relations! The future is at stake, and I will not let those that I have bonded with just fade away into ashes just because of your fatalistic decision!"

"Richard, David! Stop this!" Sectonia cried. "There has to be a way that we can prevent this! You don't have to fight each other like this! This isn't right-!"

"No… It's all that is possible, Sectonia." Reimu answered back. "From their eyes, they know that words are inevitably going to fail here. They'll fight each other until one of them falls."

Sectionia watched as David and Richard circled each other slowly, as they were preparing to launch the first strike that would initiate the battle.

"Seriously, David." Richard clicked his tongue. "This is exactly why I hate you hero stereotypes. You have a rigid set of ideals, and anything that deviates from them would break you so easily. It's either one side or the other. You have no understanding of what it means to 'take the middle road'. You can't see beyond what you want to see. And now, look where it got you, against your own ally. Sure, I may be a prick at times, but I genuinely did everything for your damn benefit, and gave fair assistance. Shame you waste such loyalty with that limited mindset of yours."

"Like you're one to talk." David bitterly said. "If you're so determined to fight me, then why waste your words on me? Everything you say is just angsty crap that no-one can even understand."

"Indeed. Why waste words?" Richard asked back, before he raised his short-sword. "I'm not here to monologue, I'm here to deal with you!"

Richard immediately shot forward, as David managed to get Masakado up, as Richard's twin blades clashed against the katana. Sparks emitted from the friction the blades were making, as Richard was forcing the blade towards David, who was pushing against the attack with most of his might.

"Get away from me!" David cried, as he shoved Richard back, before then initiating a Tiger Fang Artes, as the rising slash knocked Richard up into the air, as he managed to defend against it, as Masakado scraped against his crossed blades.

"You're leaving yourself open! Wind Cutter!" Richard exclaimed, as he fired off a moderately-sized green crescent-shaped projectile at David, by swinging his right-hand katana in front of him.

David immediately dodged to the side, as the projectile missed him entirely, dissipating when it hit the ground. He immediately swapped out Masakado for his own personal twin pistols, as he aimed them at Richard, who just landed on the ground.

"Seriously, I goddamn beat Snake and Megaman Clones." Richard mocked David. "What makes you think those pistols of yours are going to do to me-?"

David immediately used Zero Divide, as the purple projectiles snaked towards Richard at a alarmingly-fast speed, as they immediately hit Richard before he could block against them, as he was knocked back slightly, with a few grunts of pain.

"Using Artes, huh?" Richard stated. "Well, that's the only hit you're getting off me for free! Here's some payback! Let's melt that frozen head of yours a little! Flame Pillar!"

Richard immediately embed his left short-sword into the ground, as orange fissures appeared on the ground, as they snaked towards David's surroundings, before they stopped at small points, where they erupted into large pillars of flames, which David weaved through, before he was slightly singed by one that got too close to him.

As soon as David dodged, he immediately initiated another pistol-type Artes, Rapid Burst, as he fired off a series of fiery bullets from one of his guns, and a large wind-sphere to bolster the fire on his opponent. Richard immediately evaded by doing a curved run, as the flame bullets missed him, and he slid under the large wind-sphere.

Before David could reload his weapons to attack again, Richard immediately summoned a sukima in front of him, as he slid right into it. He then reappeared from a sukima that appeared from behind David, coming out and kicking David right in the back of the head, dazing the blonde hero and flooring him.

Richard immediately kicked David onto his back, before he pressed his right foot against David's chest before he used his left foot to kick David's right pistol away, and momentarily flicking his right foot away to kick the other pistol out of David's hands, as he thrust his blade at David's neck, the tip just a hair's breadth away from his neck.

"You lose, David. Don't try to prolong this fight. For the sake of this multiverse, stay down." Richard warned David.

David merely growled at Richard, as he clenched his left hand, as if crushing something inside of it. A circular portal appeared facing Richard, who turned his attention to it. It then suddenly fired off a series of icicles at him, as he countered by conjuring up twin streams of fire that melted the ice that was aimed at him.

Before David could cast anything more, Richard immediately stomped cruelly on David's left hand, almost breaking it, as David cried out in pain. Richard then followed up with a kick right under David's chin, before then summoning up some magic of his own, as earth spikes rose from the ground to trap each of David's limbs.

"Just goddamn stay down! Do you really want me to follow up with my promise to sever the muscles and nerves of your limbs so badly!?" Richard cried. "I will not be so nice to just knock you down next time!"

David glared back at Richard, as he charged up his magic, preparing to enter his Sapphire God Mode to turn the tables on Richard.

However, before he could do that, Richard was immediately assaulted from the side by Ace, who threw his Hellfire Twin Lions Fists, as the fiery attack knocked him aside from being unable to guard against it. He was sent flying a few feet, before skidding on the ground, as the spots where he was hit was still burning before Richard extinguished them with a gush of water. He got back up slowly, while Gus moved to his side, worried about the condition of his friend. David slowly got up as well, as Ace pulled him back up.

"Ace…? What…? What are you doing…?" David asked Ace, as he was clenching his injured arm.

"Doing what's right. I've had enough of Richard trying to force things upon us." Ace told David. "I rather that he's the one to stay down, not you. Come on, we'll fight together."

"Richard, are you alright?" Gus asked Richard, as Richard was slowly rubbing the impact points of Ace's attack, trying to deduce the severity of his injuries.

"I'm fine…" Richard answered back, before he looked at Ace with bitter eyes. "Son of a bitch… I guess that it makes it two to one. Fine with me, I'll trash both of their asses if that's what it'll take. I'll take everyone here if I goddamn have to, alone!"

"Richard…" Gus replied back, before he shook his head, as he moved in front of Richard. "No… You won't have to fight alone. I'm still here with you, and I'll help you, even if what you're doing is of questionable morality. All I have to do, is weaken David, and stop anyone else, right?"

"It's that easy, or so you would think…" Richard said with a dry chuckle. "Now that Ace is in the game, so will his teammates, the Spirit Force. And that means that we're going to have the numbers stacked against us. Even more if the other heroes are 'persuaded' to face against us. The Brave Adventurers are less likely to help, since they know to stay out of it when David has gone nuts. The Dimensional Heroes of Jexi's? Questionable. The Shining Hope Squadron led by that Hope boy? Very likely he's going to be against us. And that's not to mention the rest of the groups here. We're outnumbered more than 10 to 1. But then again, we're no pussy-ass hero. We're travelers from another reality, and we don't fuck around when it comes to it."

"I see." Gus answered back, as he smiled slightly. "Then I guess that we'll have to stomach the odds and go against it."

"...Just like the best friend that I knew, Gus." Richard smiled back.

"Sorry, David… And Ace. But I can't let you win here." Gus told David and Ace. "I will stand by my friend in battle, but I will at least do my best to show mercy if I can, and I will apologise in advance, for I won't be able to hold back with Richard by my side."

"...We don't have time for this. If we don't stop Galeem and Darkhon...you already get the picture." Ace said. "A little word of advice for the future, stay out of our business and we'll stay out of yours. I've already lost my parents a long time ago. I won't let the same thing happen to David, Jexi, or Hope. If you wanna try to start a fight with what's happening right now...you're a dumbass." He said to Richard. "I honestly thought you were a really nice person, guess I was wrong."

"Nice? Niceties don't matter when things are at stake, Ace Neptune." Richard chuckled with sarcasm. "You think that I want to do this to David? It's because David isn't going to back down. Nice or not, the facts don't change. You're the dumbass here, if you're interfering against our fight. I just need David to stay down, not to kill him, so that he doesn't ruin everything with his choice. But I guess you won't care, because you won't listen to the words of your enemy. Typical of a stubborn hero. Fine then, go ahead and try to take me down, Ace. But I'll make sure that you won't be let off for trying to interfere against me. There's a old saying that goes 'Either you die, or I die'. Eventually, it'll reach that point, and I don't care what you think. It's not going to be me for the latter statement."

"Wrong. David is not alone." a voice said revealing to be Sectonia. "We made a promise. Whichever path he chooses, I'm staying with him until the end. Whichever way this is going to end...I want to witness it."

"Sectionia…" Gus muttered, as he seemed to be worried for her, before he then shook his head. "No… I won't hold it against you. It would only be fair that you would do that. Just like I've sworn to fight for Richard's sake as his closest friend, you would fight for David's sake. I'm sorry it had to be this way. If only Yukari's words never came… we would at least be united if her words were true. Don't hold back, because I cannot either, with Richard's own life and health at risk."

Sectionia nodded grimly in return, as she brandished her royal rapier for battle, before she was joined by Francisca, who immediately conjured her staff to her side.

"I won't let you harm David any further!" Francisca exclaimed, as she gave Richard a determined look. "If Sectionia is going to fight for David… so will I. I owe him for what he has done, so I won't let you do what you want with him! Even if you're once our ally, doesn't meant that I'll show you any mercy!"

Richard merely turned to Gus silently. "Well, the odds are stacked against us now, eh, Gus?" He asked, before he then sighed. "Doesn't matter, with you by my side, these odds mean nothing when we work together."

Gus immediately readied his blade. "That's true." Gus said. "Richard, promise that you'll do your best to limit what you do against them. Even if they're our enemies now… They deserve to be left unscathed as much as possible."

"I'll try." Richard answered back.

They both charged at the quartet, as Gus's sword immediately enveloped itself in orange-red flames.

"Flame Arrows!" Gus chanted, as he rose his blade. From it, the flames that were enveloping it immediately sprouted off, as they molded themselves into the shape of narrow arrows, as they shot at the group in great density.

Francisca immediately moved in front, as she twirled the staff around in front of her with magic, as it left behind a circular trail of ice, that coalesced into a larger barrier which defended against the barrage of fiery projectiles, although it was being quickly hammered down. The barrier was melting quite quickly, as Ace and David immediately moved aside, before the barrier could come down just a few seconds after it was erected.

As the last few of the flame arrows flew towards Francisca, she immediately used her staff to physically dispel the arrows in a wide swing, as Sectionia immediately pierced the remaining ones with quick thrusts of her rapier.

Just as Gus finished attacking, Richard immediately jumped up towards Gus, before using the shoulder of his friend to boost himself higher. Gus immediately steadied himself, as he only flinched slightly, before continuing his run. Above ground, Richard threw his right katana up, before a swirl of brown energy appeared on his hand.

"Earth Shatter!" Richard incanted, as he immediately slammed onto the ground, with his palm slapping the ground with mighty force. The ground then erupted into a series of earth pillars moving outwards from Richard, as they sequenced one after the other in range quickly, as it managed to knock Sectionia and Ace right up into the air. "You're mine!"

"Berserk!" Ace called as he entered Carnage Form: Leomurg and entered Berserk Mode as he grabbed Sectonia and melted into the shadows out of sight.

Richard was surprised to find that Ace disappeared into thin air after recovering and bringing Sectionia onto the ground, more when he noticed that Ace became noticeably more powerful than before.

"Utilising a form change…?" Richard muttered under his breath. "This complicate things…. But it won't stop me. Gus, Ace is possibly everywhere."

"I'll deal with it." Gus answered back, as he turned his blade towards the ground and pierced it. "Ignition Barrier!"

A large dome of roaring flames appeared around the duo, as they immediately scrambled back to back, as they kept an eye out for any surprise attacks.

"Come on, Ace… Let's see who can play the waiting game better…" Richard whispered a taunt under his breath.

Francisca immediately pulled out her Soda Shaker, as she immediately prepared it by vigorously shaking it, before she fired it at the flame barrier, as the pressured liquid seems to be weakening the barrier greatly.

"You little…" Richard cursed under his breath, as he immediately jumped up. "Hold the barrier, Gus! I'll deal with this!"

Gus nodded in return, as he plunged his blade further into the ground, as the dying flames flared up again in full strength, as if they were given new life.

Richard immediately did a short-distance sukima teleport, as he teleported out of the safety of the burning barrier. He immediately charged up light-blue magic in his hand, as ice flakes around it.

"Ice Shards!" Richard declared, as he threw a clustered bundle of ice spikes into the liquid stream, detonating itself inside of it, as the ice shards caused the liquid to slowly freeze over, as Richard kept on supplying his magic to freeze the stream.

"Take this! Infernal Torrent!" Ace cried, as he reappeared from behind Richard, as his weapon glowed with flames, raising it to attack Richard.

"Son of a… From behind!?" Richard cried out in surprise, as he barely noticed Ace coming for him from the air, dropping his other blade. With his other hand free, he immediately used it to power up a transparent glass-like magical barrier that stopped Ace from advancing.

"You'll need more than that to stop me!" Ace cried, as he slashed at the barrier with multiple fiery strikes, relentlessly without end.

Richard split his attention between the freezing soda stream, and Ace's attacks on his barrier, as both were of importance to him.

"Come on… Come on!" Richard growled, as the soda stream was getting closer to being completely frozen, while his barrier was not doing well against Ace's attacks in his Carnage form, as the barrier was buckling and bending with each blow, as transparent shards were chipping off from the large barrier behind him.

Soon enough, the stream is frozen to the point where Francisca fired it, as she immediately cut the stream before the ice could reach her, as she immediately smashed the stream with her staff, as the frozen structure fell into ice pieces, which Francisca levitated with her own magic.

Richard immediately lowered his barrier, as Ace charged right at him, while Richard re-equipped his katana, as he used the one weapon to try and block against Ace, only to have the blade knocked out of his hand. Ace slashed at Richard repeatedly, as the black-haired fighter was unable to defend against the attacks, before Ace cocked his left fist back, as a fiery aura appeared around him.

"Rising Phoenix!" Ace shouted, as he slammed the fist into Richard's chest, as the latter cried out in pain, as he was knocked down to the ground from the air, as he was knocked with much more force than before, as he slammed onto the ground a few times, flipping over, before sliding on the ground by the back.

Francisca immediately used her collected ice-shards to damage Gus's barrier, as it was weakened even more, as Gus was struggling to keep it up.

"This isn't good…" Gus muttered with worry. "I might have to bring this barrier down…"

Richard slowly got up, as he clutched the burned part of his robe with his hand, as Ace walked towards him, with his blade out.

"Give up. You're outnumbered and overpowered." Ace advised Richard.

"Outnumbered, yes…" Richard snarled back, as he picked up both of his blades with the help of his sukimas. "But overpowered…? I'm just getting started! You want to fight so badly, for something stupid like this with David? Then I'll fulfill your WISH!"

Richard immediately charged at Ace, as he swung his blade in a cross-slash, which Ace blocked, being knocked back slightly by the force of Richard's attack, as he struggled to return Richard's attack back at him, resulting in a bladed dead-lock. Ace noticed that Richard's body was emanating a thin and faint green aura around his body.

"Gus, drop the barrier." Richard ordered his partner. "Turtling up is only going to waste your mana. Ace is in plain sight, so there's no need to blockade yourself. If you're going to take care of someone, take down that damned ice mage, you have enough power in your fire magic to melt that ice of hers!"

"Got it." Gus answered back, as he pulled his sword out and the flame barrier dissipated. He then charged forward at Francisca. "This is going to hurt you more than it'll hurt me, Francisca! Burning Cyclone!"

Gus then swung his blade around himself at increasingly faster speeds, turning into a miniature fiery cyclone. He immediately grinded himself into Francisca, who was forced to block against the attack, although she was unable to block every attack, as her robes were being cut up, and the hot flames were weakening her greatly.

"Francisca! Hang on!" David cried, as he immediately summoned a magic circle above Gus. "Icicle Rain!"

A rain of icicles dropped down upon Gus, only for every single one of them to be melted by the sheer heat of the tornado of flame and steel, which shocked David.

"What!?" David cried. "Did the fire just… melt those icicles!?"

"You…!" Ace cried, as he tried to break out of the stalemate of blades, by withdrawing his blade, and charging at Gus at fast speeds.

"Oh no you don't!" Richard exclaimed. "Get back here!"

He immediately summoned a sukima in front of Ace's path, as he charged right into it. Richard's aura then turned into a brown-yellow one, as he slowly slid his right foot back, and twisting his body in the same direction, before he summoned another sukima in front of him. Ace charged right out of the sukima, as he was right in the range of Richard, who immediately did a cross-knee right at Ace's abdomen. Ace was knocked back, as the breath was knocked out of him, as he was knocked slightly into the air.

"What's the matter? Lost your breath?" Richard mocked Ace. "Focus yourself on me, if you're so determined to beat me down into the ground! Your fight is with me now!"

Richard immediately dropped his blades into sukimas, releasing his grips on them, falling into the tear-like portals. He then immediately barraged the stunned Ace with a series of hooks to the head, which rattled up Ace's head, despite his current form making him far more stronger, reducing the effect the attacks were doing to him.

Before he could finish off his series of unarmed attacks with a hard head-butt, Sectionia immediately charged from behind Richard, with her rapier at the ready.

"Super Sonic Thrust!" Sectionia roared out her Artes, as she charged at Richard at a speed that is almost invisible to the human eye, as she made her way to Richard in just a few moments.

Before she could land her attack, however, Richard immediately summoned a sukima in Sectionia's path on the ground, as a massive sword was raised from it, as the large flat blade of the weapon managed to stop the attack on its tracks, although the attack pierced through the steel of the weapon, evident by the massive hole on the blade.

Richard immediately kicked Ace away from him with a quick push-kick, as his aura disappeared.

"Still going well… I'm still fine, and most of my magic is still there. I might win this before things get more ugly…" Richard noted to himself. "Damnit… With the others covering for David… I can't bring him down until I bring them down first… Non-lethal moves aren't exactly cutting it here… I don't think they're even as affected by my attacks. The only person who I have managed to land clean hits on is Ace and David…"

Richard watched as Ace immediately recovered, as he scowled at Richard, before he then pointed his blade at Richard, as thunder sparked across it.

"Perhaps a little shock will teach you some manners, huh!?" Ace mocked Richard. "Thunder Blitz!"

Ace then swung his blade forward, as it fired off a large arrow made of thunderbolts at Richard. Richard immediately caught the elemental arrow in his hands, as he grimaced at the thunder burnt his hands slightly, before he blocked the oncoming thunderbolt from the heavens with a barrier aimed up that barely was able to absorb the energy and disperse it harmfully.

"You call that a shock?" Richard mocked, as he scoffed loudly at Ace's attempt to attack him. "That still actually hurt, but that's nothing compared to what I'm going to do you, you interfering little prick!"

Richard immediately charges both of his hands with plasma energy, as the energy crackled from his hands. He immediately traced a large magical circle in front of him with a single finger, as the insides of the magic construct completed itself upon completion of its border. He then cocked back his other hand, as energy was charged onto it.

"Here's some real thunder!" Richard roared. "SPARK RAIN-"

Before Richard could finish his attack, he was suddenly blasted from afar by a large beam filled with crackling thunder, as it slammed right into Richard from the front, as it shattered his magic circle without effort, and jolted Richard badly enough for him to spasm wildly from the nervous system overload, and buzz incoherently. He then fell to the ground on his right knee, and head down, as light and thin smoke emanated from his slightly overheated body, as he was left gasping quietly for some fresh air to soothe his internal pain.

Ace turned around to see who was responsible for the ambush, and saw Zan with her thunder drums at the ready, and her spear, which was crackling with thunder on the head of it.

"Zan!?" Ace cried out.

"I won't let them touch my sister." Zan spoke coldly. "I don't care who that Richard thinks he is. Lord or god, nobody hurts and threatens my sister and gets away with it! And the same goes to those misfit friends of his!"

Gus immediately finished his attack, as Francisca was slightly wounded from the attack. He then turned to find Richard crouched, as the damage dealt to him was evident.

"Richard!" Gus cried. "Are you okay-"

Before Gus could finish his sentence, he was smashed in the stomach by a Sapphire God David's fist, who seemed to be vengeful for Gus's attack on Francisca, as the brown-haired fire mage was sent flying towards Richard.

Richard barely got up, as he turned around slowly, and braced himself, as he caught Gus mid-flight, as he was knocked backwards and he almost fell over trying to stop his friend's flight into him. After managing to safely catch Gus, he set his friend down onto the ground by his feet.

"Richard… You're…" Gus said, worried about Richard's condition. "Are you sure that this is the only way…?"

"I don't have a choice." Richard spoke under his laboured breathing, as he slowly eased the pain from the attack until it was bearable enough, allowing him to stand back up straight. "I'm fine… They're nothing compared to Trillion the first time we fought her. I'm not about to keel over and let them end the world unwittingly."

He then turned around, as he glared at Zan. "Well, aren't you a doting sister, Zan Partizanne." Richard spat out Zan's full name with hate. "Truly, you Spirit Force are clearly good at interfering with others. I don't know whether to applaud you all for having the spine to stand up against me, or to mock you for being idiots for partaking in a fight that would have never gotten this serious had you never cranked up the odds against me. You are truly touching upon my nerves, and the limits of my patience and mercy. I'll be nice and warn you again: Don't make things harder for me, or you'll pay the price from all of us. I don't care if I have to beat every single one of you until you all can't get up, David's not getting to Galeem alone."

"And I'm not going to let you harm David, because he's what my sister desires, and I take care of my sister with much love!" Zan retorted back. "So do your worst, you savage!"

"Fine by me." Richard smiled without any mirth in his voice, as he looked at everyone in the Spirit Force. "Who wants some of me, huh!? Are you going to come and join your leader against me!? I'll take down every single one of you myself if I have to! So come at me! COME AND FACE A REAL FIGHT!"

"Richard, you shouldn't be taunting the rest of them right now-" Gus tried to persuade Richard.

"Shut it, Gus. I'm sick of being hit from the back and sides while I'm fighting someone. I'm giving them their chance to come into the fight simple and clean. No low blows, no sudden ambushes. They fight me up-front and in plain sight. Or are they all too scared to fight the two of us alone in a fight they should win." Richard hissed at his teammate.

"...You're a utter idiot, Richard…" Gus sighed at his friend's poor choice.

"...And I'll be a greater one, and a indirect murderer of billions if I let David through and do what he will do." Richard countered. "So let them do their worst. Die by obliteration, or by their blades by possibility. What do think I choose?"

Richard then turned around, as he noticed Simon and Spade standing beside Ace, both of them looking quite angered, as well as Zan having his spear prepared. Richard merely looked at David, who was standing beside Sectionia and Francisca, then back at the Neptune Siblings with Zan, back and forth a few times, before he sighed.

"Well… siblings, all that crap about 'no-one beats my brother but me' is just a rumour, huh?" Richard quipped. "One Neptune is already annoying to deal with, and three…? Well, I guess that's a different ball-game, hm?"

"Don't get all smart-ass towards me." Spade retorted back. "If you want to get to my younger brother, you'll have to go through me and Simon!"

"Hmph, I wouldn't have it otherwise." Richard replied with a stoic expression. "But… Since you're here. I got some matters to deal with, and they involve you. Link. Fox."

The two Unmei Force members immediately sprinted forward, as they readied their weapons, as Fox pulled out his customised assault rifle, and Link immediately brandished his own Master Sword and Shield.

"Time for us to show them what we're made of, huh?" Fox asked Richard with a mere glance at Richard.

"...Richard. You want us to fight as well?" Link asked, in a tone that seemed to have some reluctance in it.

"Take care of Gus. Don't give up until you're sure David won't be getting back up. Dead or alive, it's your choice. Just don't endanger yourselves. If any of you die… I won't forgive whoever did the deed." Richard barked his order to his two allies and Gus, as his last words were filled with a cold hate in them, before he then sheathed his katana, before snapping his right hand's fingers. "For now, I got a little 'spar' with one of the strongest."

Richard then summoned sukimas under both Spade's and his feet, as they fell through it, as Spade yelped in surprise, as Ace and Simon turned to him.

"Spade!" Simon cried.

"What did he do to Spade, damnit!?" Ace demanded from Gus, who solemnly raised his blade in front of him.

"...He wants a one-on-one fight." Gus answered back in a barely audible whisper.

"...What?" Ace asked.

"What absurd idea is this!?" Zan exclaimed in outrage.

"...I think I know the reason. If I remember what you said, and what he done… Spade's a spell-blade with both exceptional physical and magical talent… Of course Richard would go after him for a duel… Because they're so similar in many ways." Gus continued.

"Bring him back! Or else…!" Ace growled.

"I'm afraid that Richard is very unlikely to do that. I'm sorry, Ace, but when Richard is determined, there is almost nothing that could bar his way forever. If he wanted a clean and direct fight with Spade… You'll need to find a way to find where he went if you want to have a chance to do that." Gus responded, shaking his head in denial. "But it doesn't change things… David must be incapacitated for the sake of averting the fate that lies in front. Richard didn't want to make things harder, so I want to convey that wish in a more peaceful manner, please… David, you have to trust Richard about going against both of the lords. The middle path is the only way that we can end this."

David was silent, as he turned away from Gus with guilt in his eyes. Gus noticed the expression, as he bowed his head silently with regret burning in his heart.

"...I guess that there's no other choice." Gus stated, before he readied his blade. "Then we're going to fight until one side is unable to fight anymore, whether it be by death… or by unconsciousness."

"Why… WHY!?" Ace cried in anger. "Why do you trust that bastard so much!? Do you even realise what he is doing now…!? He's tearing us apart for some stupid prophecy."

"Stupid and unbelievable it may seem…" Gus answered back. "...Yukari's words aren't easily deniable. She has never once told a single lie, and the fate is described so vividly. There is no doubt left on the message. I rather fight for the trust in her words, and possibly save everyone, than let everything return to nothing. I don't want to fight either… But if we don't block your path… What could possibly happen? I want to protect as well, and this is the only way I can do it with minimal casualties. All you have to do is back down, Ace, everyone… David, I can find a way to persuade Richard to place you in stasis. That way, no-one will be hurt anymore, and this fight won't have to go on."

"I'm sorry, Gus. But I can't allow that." Sectionia denied Gus's suggestion. "I know… I know that it hurts you to see us all fight like this, but… as long as you're following Richard's orders… We can't show mercy to any of you."

"Same here…" Gus replied back with a sorrowful expression. "I have to fight… because if I don't… I won't have anything to protect."

"Oh, for…!" Ace swore under his breath, before he turned to Link. "Surely you won't be following under that asshole's commands, right! You're the Hero of Time, you're meant to fight for the sake of everyone!"

"Richard told me that sacrifices have to made for true peace to be made…" Link slowly intoned back. "I don't have to kill you, all I have to do is just defeat you. The two aren't truly connected, so I can still stop you without harming you beyond the point of recovery. Just please… stay down, for my sake and everyone on our team."

"Don't try to persuade me, Ace-kid." Fox clicked his tongue, as he raised his weapon onto his shoulder. "I'm just a simple mercenary working with my allies. If you want me to back down, you gotta make me do so, just like we've have to if we're going to come close to fulfilling what Richard and Gus are after. You'll find that I'm a lot more experienced compared to your version of me, so don't get cocky, because I ain't putting the kiddy gloves for this fight."

"Damn it all…" Ace swore, as he raised his blade, before he then roared as he charged at the group, as Simon and Zan did the same. "Why won't you stop THIS!?"

Meanwhile, on another place, just far enough away from the group, Spade and Richard found themselves on opposing ends of the Final Destination of this realm.

"What the…? Where did you take us?" Spade asked.

"Somewhere far enough that no-one will interfere with us." Richard answered back. "A diverse group your brother has, but none of them are capable of teleporting efficiently enough to reach where we are."

"Why did you throw me here with you!?" Spade demanded, as he drew Tyrfing. "Why did you want to fight me alone."

"Oh, Spade Neptune… I think that the reason is obvious." Richard spoke in a mock-disappointed tone. "Tell me, Spade, do you not admit that we use the same powers, in different manners?"

"So… What do you mean?" Spade questioned back, unsure of what Richard was getting at.

"See here… Spade. Surely you're good at doing magic of all elements and swinging that blade of yours like a true warrior. Makes you quite fitting for the title 'spell-blade' at quite a high rank." Richard continued. "But the things is…"

Richard then drew his blades from sukimas above him, as he crossed over each other, sliding the sharp edges of the blades slowly enough with great force that sparks appeared from the grinding metal, giving off a menacing impression.

"Let's see how you fare against someone of the same role, someone who has been fighting like this far longer than you have." Richard challenged Spade with a smirk. "Let's see how far that magic and sword of yours gets you against someone who's got the same. I've been itching for a good fight, and now that no-one here to interfere, I'll do just that."

"Why are so determined to bring David down?" Spade asked, trying to find a way to dissuade Richard. "Are you that scared of the future that you believe that David will cause?"

"Would you not feel the same, Spade?" Richard asked back, his voice slightly more sympathetic. "I've lost everything once. Ace claimed that he had lost his parents, but that was merely by circumstance, by cruel fate?"

"And what do you mean by that?" Spade answered back.

"I've lost much more than just people just like that." Richard sighed, as he closed his eyes, as painful memories resurfaced in his head. "I lost the home that I have sworn to protect, and I watched as my friends die one by one. I won't let that happen again, even if it costs my life, because no-one has to see and experience what I have before. It's the very epitome of despair and hopelessness for someone whose soul is still as human as my own. That's why I refuse to back down. Even if I have to kill… it's a small price to pay for saving everyone from a fate that no-one could possibly overturn. The future that Yukari predicted… It's a completely certainty, which means that no matter what differences there are, it all ends the same way."

Spade was left with silence, as Richard turned around.

"That's why I can never work with someone as pure-hearted as you and the others" Richard answered back. "Because I myself am just human, despite all the power I have. I pretend that I am not one, but in the end, my mind and spirit is of one. Even if I have inherited the blood of the eternal and ever-travelling Phoenix, my body is of human flesh, and my mind and soul has not changed. Heroes require someone who is able to separate themselves from human desires and vices. But for me… I embraced them so that I could understand both good and evil, to understand both sides of a conflict, because you must think like someone, if you are to truly understand them. That's the true reason that I could never work with you other than the fact that we're after the same objective for a reluctant alliance. I'm a jerk, because it's the only way that you will all turn your eyes away from me, and respect my neutrality."

"...I understand." Spade said. "Richard… I never thought that you would be so conflicted inside of you."

"Well, you'll have the chance to choose whether you want to tell this to everyone." Richard smiled slightly. "I've made my peace by speaking the true words from my heart. So now… It's time for one of us to leave this place. No matter who is defeated, my sukimas will take both of us back at the brink of defeat. So Spade, prove to me that you're worthy of being a hero!"

Spade watched as Richard turned back around, as he dropped his katana into his own sukima, before clutching the golden short-sword in his hand, before it glowed, as it turned into a golden longsword.

"I never use this form of my weapon often, because I prefer twin blades over a long-sword." Richard replied, before he then swung the blade through the air with a single hand like he was warming up. "But then again, I see the benefits of clashing you with a blade class similar to yours."

Richard then immediately charged at Spade, as he took the first attack, as Spade immediately parried it away from him. Taking the vulnerable moment, he immediately swung his blade up to try and land a blow on Richard, only for Richard to immediately hop back, and swing the sword back around to block the attack and take a few steps back.

"Not bad, that weapon of yours must be the real deal." Richard remarked, before he then placed his sword in his right hand, before he then charged his left hand up with magic, as it glowed golden. "Let's see how you handle this. Seeker Rays!"

Richard then lifted his hand up into the air, as two sleek and slender beams appeared, as they snaked towards Spade. He tried to evade the attack in a run, only to see the beams follow him quite well. Unable to evade the attack, Spade opted for the other option, as he readied his blade, a frosty aura surrounding it.

"Icebrand!" Spade cried, as he cut through the beam with a precise swing that dispelled them.

"Not bad." Richard remarked, as he saw how Spade dispelled his attack. "Then how about this!? Light Orbs!"

Richard then conjured up a group of large light orbs, as he fired off all but two of them at Spade, which he summoned to his side, shrinking considerably with a stream of light flowing towards Richard from each of them.

"Demi Sword!" Spade chanted, as his sword glowed purple with dark energy, as he cleaved each of the light orbs into two without much effort, before the last orb was followed by Richard charing at him with his blade shining with golden energy.

"Let's see how you fare blade-to-blade, Neptune!" Richard exclaimed, as he swung at Spade with considerable force and speed.

Spade switched to blocking the close-range attacks, as he tried to counter effectively, only to be parried in return for every attempt he tried, resulting in him having his guard knocked closer and closer to being broken and exposing him. He tried to find a way to escape his situation, before he noticed the orbiting light orbs around Richard, and the stream that were empowering Richard.

"Hope this works… Dark Nebula!" Spade incanted, as he fired a beam of darkness at Richard, bigger than the light orbs. Predictably, Richard dodged away from the attack, as it hit both of the orbiting light orbs, cutting off Richard's source of power, surprising the black-haired boy slightly.

"Well, I've left you on the defence for so long." Richard stated, before he then placed his sword down, and crossing both of his hands over each other in a cross. "Well, I like to see you how you break through this."

Richard's left hand erupted into wind, while his right roared with flames. "Scorch Barrier!"

Immediately, the wind and flames combined, as they immediately spread out into a sphere around Richard, as the green and red elemental energies could be seen under the spirals of flames around him, as Richard picked his sword back up, and slung it over his shoulder, beckoning Spade to come onto the attack with a hand gesture, his finger beckoning with several curls.

Instead of rushing forth recklessly, Spade examined Richard's barrier, as he remembered how Richard combined the elements of wind and fire into the barrier around him, meaning that it would take more than a simple elemental attack to break through it, before he found a way that would be able to deal with the wind and fire attribute at the same time.

"Iceberg." Spade declared, as he conjured up a large ice spike from under Richard, which didn't seem to affect Richard, but did get rid of his shield, as the green wind energy snapped apart from the brittle cold, and the ice smothered the strong flames.

"...Clashing blades, and casting magic. Seems we're even at that degree." Richard said, as he steadied his footing after being knocked up by the previous attack. "Well, this is going nowhere. So… I'll give you my strongest, if you give me yours."

"Why would you do that? And why would I agree?" Spade questioned back, a little weary of Richard's words.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to fire it either way. I know that you got some good magic there that'll counter my own trump card. Surely you wouldn't let yourself get injured just to save yourself a lot of magic." Richard answered back.

"...You're strange." Spade answered back, with a confused expression.

"Ah, no distracting yourself." Richard scolded Spade with a wry smile, as he immediately prepared his own attack, as he threw his sword into the air, thrust his right hand forward, as a large magic circle appeared in front of him, as red, blue, green and yellow energy began to appear in the white magical construct.

Realising that Richard was serious, Spade also prepared himself, as he immediately conjured up as much of his magic, as he prepared one of his strongest attacks.

"Expunging Sword!" Spade declared, as he charged at Richard with a blue-silver aura surrounding him.

"Charging me!? Try charging through THIS!" Richard exclaimed, before he then finished charging his attack. "Eat this! ARCANA BEAM!"

The white magic circle in front of him broke, as it fired off a massive beam of clear white energy at Spade, with streams of the coloured elements in them.

Spade braced himself, as he only increased his pace, as he ran through the beam, as it seared him all over with fire, ice, wind and earth at the same time, gritting his teeth to handle the immense pain that he was feeling, before he was out of the beam right in front of a shocked Richard.

"Oh, that does not f-" Richard mouthed, before Spade slammed the hilt right into Richard's stomach, making him gag from the impact. Spade then followed up with a upwards swing to knock Richard into the air, then kicking him down onto the ground, still stunned, and then kicking him across the field.

"This ends here!" Spade cried, as he then charged at Richard, before then swinging, as hundreds upon hundred of blue slash lines appeared around Richard, most of them cutting through him, before the mark exploded into blue energy, as Richard was knocked to the floor.

"Is it over…?" Spade whispered under his breath, as he saw that his attack managed to connect with Richard, before he then fell onto a knee, as the pain from before returned, as his adrenaline dissipated.

Richard slowly got up, as his clothes were torn badly from the damage he received, explaining the massive scowl with a bitten lip.

"Ooh, that hurt like hell…!" Richard hissed, as he clutched his torso with his right arm, as most of the pain was there. "Jesus… Using a fucking unique Mystic Artes… I know that this kind of crap is high-tier blade-murder, but how the hell does it hurt more than what I expected!?"

"You're… still standing?" Spade questioned him, astonished by Richard's endurance.

"Of course, I'm no squishy mage, and you should know that. As a sword-user, I have to take what I can dish." Richard replied back with a strained tone. "Still, fuck… You got me good there. I'll consider this your win for now. Now then, back to our friends."

Richard then summoned his sukimas, as they appeared in front of each of them.

"...You weren't using your full power on that attack, were you?" Spade asked back in a accusing tone.

"I'm sorry?" Richard responded back with a curious look in his eyes.

"When you fired that 'Arcana Beam', you weren't placing a lot of your magic into it, were you?" Spade said.

"Pft, of course not. And neither were you, or I'd be staying down like you wanted." Richard answered back with a shake of his head. "I'm not wasting too much of my magic on a fight that barely matters. I was merely trying to weaken or incapacitate you so that you're out of the fight back there. I guess I overestimated the power of my attack against yours. Technically, it would be a draw, since neither of us is down. You're free to try Round 2, but I won't be holding back this time, because whatever goes to you, goes to your friends as well, justifying its use."

Spade could only remain silent, before they both entered their separate sukimas back to where the heroes were.

When they returned to the battlefield, they found their respective sides still fighting.

Fox seemed to be out of energy for most of his weapons, as his burst rifle was on the ground, with enough damage to completely disable it, as he resorted back to his personal blaster. Link was injured everywhere, as there were both burn marks and residues of ice over his torn tunic, as he was panting heavily. Gus was using his own greatsword as a crutch to keep himself standing, as there were several gashes on his face, and there were several drops of blood leaking from his robes from the cuts and bruises he received.

The other side didn't seem to fare any better, as Ace was out of his Carnage Form, exhausted from the overuse of his magic and power, David was also slightly injured, as well as Sectionia. Simon was on the ground, as he seemed to be reaching the limit of his own endurance to fight back.

"Hah… Hah…" Gus huffed. "I'm still not done…!"

"Damnit…" Ace cursed. "Just what are you guys!? How are still standing after all the attacks we did!?"

"That's because we're not some standard heroes." Fox said. "We aren't going to go down in a few hits or so like some Saturday cartoon villain. If you want a win, you're going to have to fight for it!"

"I'm sorry, Ace… David…" Link said. "But we can only fight what's right for us… We've sworn to see Richard's quest through, and so… We can't just back down. That would be breaking the promise that he has made for everyone who has believed in him."

David was in silence, as he didn't know what to say.

"Well, looks like you guys are having trouble." Richard stated, as he walked beside his teammates. "But at least none of you are down for the count, or even… dead. I'm glad that you're all still okay."

"Charmed…" Fox smirked. "We've fought battles harder than this. It's going to take more than a few hits to bring us down."

"Spade?" Ace asked, as he noticed that his brother has returned. "What did he…?"

"He wanted a fair fight with me, and he fought to a draw against me." Spade responded back. "...I don't know if there's a reason to fight anymore… Richard and his friends has done nothing to permanently harm us. His words are crass and blunt, but his meaning is genuine."

"You're right…" Sheer answered back, before he then prepared to activate his ability. "We have to see what the future has in store…"

Sheer began to use his foresight ability, as he tried to peer into the near future, to see if what Richard feared was to come true, before he suddenly felt a immense jolt of pain that was accompanied by a voice that seemed to be familiar.

"Do NOt IntErFeRe, lItTle PuPpEt Of ORDer, YOu ShaLl nOT rUiN MY PlAnS." Dharkon's rarely heard voice rang in Sheer's head, as his ability was shut off before it could achieve its purpose, and crying in immense pain, clutching his head.

"Sheer!" Jexi cried. "What happened!?"

"I… Something is nullifying my future sight!" Sheer stammered back. "I don't know who did this, but they seem to have a hand in all of this!"

"This isn't good…" Jexi grimaced, before he turned to Richard. "Richard… We have to stop this! Someone's behind all of this!"

"We can discuss this question when David is down!" Richard shouted back. "If you want to stop me, then do it with your own hands, not your words! As long as that future looms as a certainty, I am NOT backing down!"

"Then I'll go through you!" David declared, as he entered Sapphire God Mode. "I won't let you stop me!"

"You will be! One way or the other!" Richard roared back, as his aura returned, as it began to show a red colour. "If you can't be persuaded, then I'll burn you until none of your ice can save you from being heated into unconsciousness!"

He then raised his hand, as a large red magic circle appeared in front of him. "Fiery Eruption!" He chanted, as he immediately teleported using a sukima, before appearing above David, as the magic circle followed after him, as it was aimed at David, raining a fiery spray of molten rock at David.

David immediately countered, as his new power made him both faster and stronger, as he slashed every single piece of molten rock, as they fizzled out from the ice-cold aura emanating from him, before he then immediately rose up and knocked Richard out the air with a upwards spin-slash.

As Richard was knocked further up into the air, David immediately used Arctic Mayhem, with his blade strikes, imbued with ice, easily breaking through Richard's attempt to shield himself with a magic barrier.

He then finished off his blade combo with a downwards slash that knocked Richard onto the ground, who grunted, as he tried to get up, before David landed on the ground, as he charged up another Artes.

"Celsius Caliber!" David declared, as he conjured up a large frosty mist that floated towards Richard, as it froze his legs in ice. David immediately rose up with a cry, his blade raised up, before bringing it down, with the ice over Richard's body growing larger and larger until he was completely encased. He then finished off his attack with a full swing that cut through the frozen Richard, as it broke the ice in a massive burst, as Richard fell onto the ground, significantly injured. "It's over…"

Richard got up weakly, as his legs were shaking, before he then fell down onto a knee for support, rising his head slowly with a pained expression. "Damn you… It's not over… until I say it is…" Richard groaned, as he got onto his feet again, this time succeeding to keep himself standing, as he raised his blade in front of him slowly. "You hear me… I won't let you go… I can't… I won't…"

David only readies his blade, as he aims carefully at Richard. "I'm sorry, but for both of our sakes, I have to do this."

He then charged at Richard, as he slashed at Richard with a horizontal blow of light that stuns Richard, before he then jumped up into the air.

"Light Spear!" He declared his Artes, as he aimed to thrust his blade through Richard at the abdomen to force him into incapacitation, as a silver aura appeared around him, focused onto his blade.

Elma, who was shocked at what David was going to Richard, immediately rushed towards Richard with her staff at the ready, as Reimu and Marisa immediately noticed what Elma was going to do, as they tried to stop her. However, the silver-haired young demoness immediately raised her staff, as she used a short-range teleportation to reach where Richard was.

"Brother Richard!" Elma cried, as she immediately conjured up a shield to defend Richard from the attack with her own magic.

However, despite all the magic she had used, the barrier was easily broken upon impact, as David's attack went through, as Richard tried to push Elma out of the way.

"Elma, MOVE-" Richard was about to say, before the attack reached her, as Elma protected him with her own body, as David's sword pierced right through her heart, as her expression turned into one of shock.

Everyone reacted greatly to what they saw, the other heroes were shocked with varying expressions at how Elma was so brutally killed by a mis-aimed attack, Sectionia paled with shock at how her partner had possibly mortally injured someone who didn't have a part in this battle, and Ace, Hope, and Jexi were left without words, as their expressions were filled with fear. The entirety of the Unmei Force were left in utter terror at how one of their own fell victim to such a fatal attack, as Richard himself became completely different from what he was, as the battle-rage within him was instantly washed away by the immense tide of fear for Elma's life, and David was left with a expression filled with pure guilt and regret.

No-one could speak a word, as they could only watch Elma's bleeding body fall to the ground, as David's grip on the blade, Masakado was loosened. Blood pooled from under the female magic user's clothes, as her expression was one frozen with betrayal and sorrow, tears leaking from her eyes from the damning blow that struck her down.

David immediately looked at his hands, which were shaking, as his former cool disappeared into nothing, filled with a sense of dread and regret for what he has done.

Richard immediately fell to his knees, as he looked at Elma, before he slowly walked to her, his breath staggered in a attempt to control the fear that Elma can't be saved within himself.

"Elma…?" Richard asked, as he slowly pulled out Masakado, to avoid worsening the wound, before he then picked her up slowly in his arms, as Elma weakly turned to Richard, as blood leaked from her mouth from the internal damage that was dealt to her. "Elma…? Talk to me… Talk to me..! That… That didn't hit where I thought it hit… right? Right!?"

"R-Richard… It… It hurts…" Elma whimpered with a fading voice, as she tried her best to keep herself conscious. "It hurts… It hurts… Hurts… so much…"

Gus immediately rushed to Richard's side, as he tried to seal the wound with his fire, and cauterise it so that the bleeding would stop. "Hang in there, Elma! Stay strong!" He cried to Elma loudly, so that she may be able to hear him in her half-conscious state. "We'll get Lana here to heal you! Just hold on until then!"

Elma's wound was slowly closing, as the fire stung her deeply, as she groaned in pain, but the wound seemed to be too big and deep to cauterise effectively, as the attempt only reduced the blood loss slightly. Even getting weak from her life-blood leaking out of her, Elma tried to lift her head towards Gus, and force a smile onto her lips.

"G-Gus… T-Thank you for your kindness…" Elma replied with a thin voice. "B-But… I don't think that… I'll… I'll make it…"

"No! There's still time!" Richard cried, before he then pulled out a light-blue sapphire stone out of his pocket. "I won't lose you! I won't let you die in vain!"

He then channeled magic into it frantically, as it summoned the blue-haired sorceress Lana beside him, although to the other heroes, it seemed that she was different to the one that they knew, as she wore a white magician's robe with her leather boots,as in her hands was a silver tome with green bindings.

"Richard, what do you call me for…" Lana asked Richard, before she then noticed the dying Elma. "Elma…!? No!"

Lana immediately began to heal her as much as possible, as she chanted various spells from her silver grimoire, as they seemed to have little effect on Elma, as she still seemed to be weak.

"Lady… L-Lana…" Elma coughed, as more blood leaked from her lips, as her wounds worsened more. "I-It's no use… You told me… that this type… of magic… has reduced… effectiveness… against those who are dying…"

"Elma… I…" Lana tried to say, as she was doing her best not to break under the pressure of her own 'adopted' student dying before her. However, she knew that Richard only summoned her to do her best to save Elma, but even those efforts have failed.

Lana immediately stopped using her magic, as she closed her grimoire slowly, her head bowed down.

"Richard… I… I'm sorry. There's no magic within our catalogue of spells that is powerful enough to bring her back from the brink of death." Lana apologised. "Please… let me return back into the stone… I… I can't bear to see her… die like this."

"Lana…" Richard sighed, before he then slowly clutched the stone in his hand, as he lowered his head in sorrow. "...I… I'll grant you that request."

Richard focused his magic into the stone, as it brought Lana back into the stone, as he pocketed it slowly.

"Richard… I… I can save Elma!" Ace cried, as he immediately rushed at Elma's downed body, as he switched to his Eidolon Fighting Style, as he immediately channeled magic into himself. "Hope's Song: Elixir Vitae!"

Elma's body seemed to be revitalized by a glow of green over herself, as she seemed to feel like that some of her lost strength was recovering, but she still felt her own consciousness slipping.

"Ace… I knew… that you… weren't actually… fighting brother Richard…" Elma whispered, as she turned to Ace with a warm smile. "I'm… so happy… So happy… that no-one is going to get hurt anymore…"

"No…" Ace said, as his expression turned into one of despair. "Not even… Not even Elixir Vitae worked!?"

"Elma…" Richard said, before he clutched Elma to his chest, as he began to whimper. "Don't go… Losing you once is already painful enough… I can't lose you again for real…!"

"Big Brother…" Elma breathed into Richard's ear. "I… I'm sorry… that I couldn't… help… any… more…"

Elma then slowly closed her eyes, as the last of her energy and life left her, as she slowly slumped against Richard's shoulder, her last smile still on her face, seeming to be in peace in her final moments. Richard soon felt Elma's life leave her, as he clutched her closer to him.

"Elma…? Elma…?" Richard asked silently. "Are you…? Are you really… dead…?"

When silence met him, he suddenly let go of Elma, as her dead body fell to the ground. Richard didn't even move a single muscle, as his expression began to quiver, as a flood of emotion overwhelmed him completely, rendering him completely catatonic.

Gus could only bow his head in silence at Elma's passing, as Marisa only lowered her hat over her eyes, tears leaking from her eyes, and Reimu lowered her gohei in both of her hands, as she prayed that Elma would be able to spend her afterlife in peace. Link and Fox both reactly in the calmest way they could, with Fox turning away with a pained expression on his face, and Link crossing his arm over his chest as a sign of respect.

David looked at Richard, who seemed to be completely rendered unable to speak or move from what he just witnessed, as he picked up Masakado, which is still tainted by the blood of Elma on the edge.

"Richard…" David tried to say, as he choked on his words with regret and sorrow for what he did. "I… I… I'm sorry. What Elma did… was truly selfless… And I cannot express how I feel like after what I did to her with my own hands. But we can't let her sacrifice be in vain… I… I'll back down… Perhaps… This isn't the way after all… We can still talk this out. Please… You can't be like this…"

Richard was silent, as he looked at Elma with soulless eyes.

"He… He killed her…" Richard muttered under his breath with a stoic tone. "He killed her. He killed her."

"What…?" David asked, as he seemed to have a bad feeling for what he was hearing.

"Richard… What exactly are you are you saying here… Unless…?" Gus said, before his face paled significantly. "Oh no… Oh gods…"

"You killed her…" Richard continued his muttering, as he looked at his hands. "You killed her…"

"David… Everyone… Listen to me very carefully…" Gus spoke with fear in his voice. "You… You have to escape from Richard! He's… He's not going to be himself for much longer!"

"Escape?" Ace asked. "What do you mean!?"

"Elma's death triggered something within him… Something that has been buried deep into the deepest recesses of his heart." Gus responded with a expression filled with dread. "If you value your lives, you must stay out of Richard's way… And for you, David… You need to flee before he stops muttering vengeance under his breath. There is only one time I have seen Richard like this… And it has ended in utter carnage and destruction."

"She's dead… She's dead because of you…." Richard growled, as his mouth twisted into a snarl that grew larger and larger, as hate and rage began to fill in his eyes. "You.. you… you…"

"He must have lost his mind." Sectionia realised what Gus was trying to imply. "And because of what has happened… He'll be after David's head, won't he…?"

"Yes…" Gus grimly answered back. "But after one's head isn't putting it fairly… What Richard is going to do… is utterly annihilate David beyond death itself… And because he's lost his mind… He's no longer capable to holding back or showing mercy. Anyone who tries to fight him… could possibly die or be permanently scarred depending on their strength. There's no question… Once this has happened, and millions died before Richard could be stopped."

"You.. You you you you you YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU!" Richard roared, as his voice suddenly increased in intensity, as well as the hateful tone he was using.

"That's why… I warn you that if you try fighting Richard now, or even try to help David or obstruct Richard's way to him, you will be liable to die without fault." Gus continued with a worried tone. "But even so… I beg you… Please stop Richard… I know that all of you don't deserve what he is going to do to you all, especially you, David. But if we work together… We can possibly bring Richard back to his senses. If he isn't stopped… Until David's head is mounted on a metaphorical pike… He'll destroy anything and everything to achieve that goal. Friend or foe, it won't matter… Because with his mind twisted by his rage, there's neither conscience, nor morals to stop him anymore."

"We'll do our best to help…" Link continued. "But we won't be able to help much, until we're forced to back away… As much as we wish for Richard to be saved from himself… We aren't so foolhardy to sacrifice ourselves, the only people who could possibly drag him out of his rage once he's defeated."

Richard silently gotten up to his feet, as his previous injuries seemed to not affect him anymore, as he slowly summoned both of his blades onto his hands, as he raised his head slowly, as his eyes seemed to be filled with complete uncontrollable hate. The sheer hate even overflowed into a aura that could be felt around Richard, like a sucking pressure onto those nearby him.

"Welp, Looks like the fireworks are about to begin…" Fox groaned, as he prepared his blaster. "This is surely going to suck one way or the other."

"David… You want to know something?" Richard spoke with a very icy tone. "Do you want to know what you just done?"

David remained silent, as he didn't dare to respond to Richard's question, especially when Richard won't care for his reply.

"Oh? No answer?" Richard answered back, as his lips curled into a cruel smile. "Either you're too cowardly to answer me back, or you're smart enough to know that no matter what you say, your words mean nothing anymore. Nothing. At. All."

Richard's smile then disappeared, turning into a frown. "You know, there's one thing that is common between us." He continued with a dry tone. "We both can't simply bear to see those we hold close and dear be injured. Anyone who tries will be beaten black and blue. That's a true fact for both of us, despite how we try to hide that fact. And when someone kills them? Let the 8th circle of hell open for them, because it's a mercy compared to what they did. And I'm sure you know what you did."

Richard then pointed at David with a finger. "You sir, have completely gained my attention and wrath." He answered back. "How does it feel, David? To have your blade pierce through Elma's heart like a knife through juicy fruit? The sensation of murdering someone? I'm sure that you're familiar with the latter, no matter how you try to deny it."

"David would never think of such a thing-!" Sectionia tried to say, before Richard charged up green energy in his palm, as he fired off a Razor Wind projectile near Sectionia's head, as it seemed to be many times larger than the one he used before, as it left behind a massive gust of wind that brushed onto Sectionia, the attack missing her by a mere millimeter, as the attack continued on to smash the path behind her, causing shards of the energy path to fly up on the impact point.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs Rule 63." Richard mocked, as the green energy fizzled from his hand, as he lowered it. "I didn't quite hear that over the sound of my projectile giving you a well-needed haircut. Did I ask for your opinion? Tsk tsk, you should know better to yell at someone so rudely. Next time you try to interrupt, it goes for your head."

Sectionia was completely stunned, as she felt the immense power from Richard's attack, as it made his attacks before seem like simple spells compared to the monstrosity of magic he had unleashed before. All the heroes rose their own guard after seeing Richard's display.

"Now, as I was trying to say. You and I are similar in many ways, David." Richard answered back. "We have killed people before, even those of questionable morality. I'm sure that you are thinking what you are witnessing before you. It's the consequences of what you have done."

Richard then shook his head. "You know, David. I did really try to be nice. Even though I was trying to stop and disable you, I still held back and did my best to just merely weaken you and your friends. Ain't that a touching display of kindness and generosity to you all, even though YOU don't deserve it." Richard spoke with a stoic tone. "I tried to put this down peacefully, and when that failed, I tried to fight the increasing odds for a chance to protect a future that I could bring forth, one where everything would be fine, with sunshines and rainbows. It could have been fine if you knew that I did this for everyone's sake, even yours. I'm sure murder-suicide is not something you would willingly do?"

Richard then turned back to David with a mirthless expression. "But no. You had to play the hero, and act all self-righteous and bratty. Whining about this and that. 'No choice' you say, 'I lost everything' you also say." He continued on. "Even when I tried to stop you, I still believed in you. Ain't that funny, Papyrus? You'd say the same in front of a certain someone. I'd showed kindness enough, and what did it get me? Nothing but all this. Elma's dead… because of you. Because you couldn't be satisfied by knocking me out, you just had to go for the stomach. And now because Elma sacrificed herself because she thinks I would die from the blow. But instead, it's her to die, and it's all because of you. Because you just simply can't control your attack or cancel out of it."

Papyrus began to shiver, as Sans's expression changed as his left eye glowed with magic, as he tried to take a read of Richard's LV, only to find that the amount he had was far more than what he could measure, and Frisk felt uneasy at the sudden hostility Richard was showing.

"So you know what I'm going to do?" Richard asked back. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You taken the life of someone I have went through the effort of showing affection and a world that she could exceed her poor fate, so I should do the same. Who should I kill? Your little bee-lady? You seem to be quite interested in her. Francisca? She's your student after all, much like Elma was Lana's. Oh, so many choices."

"Richard… This isn't right! You can't just do this, just because Elma's dead. She would never want this-" Gus tried to say, before he was swallowed by a sukima, and teleported in front of Richard, who looked at Gus with his soulless eyes.

"Oh, Gus… I respect what you're trying to do here, but you seem to need to learn just a little thing you must have forgotten." Richard answered back with a thin smile. "There are the times…"

He then clutched Gus by the neck, before he dropped the blade, as his right hand was engulfed in the brown-yellow aura before, as he clenched the hand into a fist, as he smashed it across Gus's face several times. "You. Need. To. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Richard emphasised every word onto his friend's face, as it rattled his head.

At the end of the series of punches, Gus's face was completely bruised, as blood leaked from his nose, and he was barely conscious. Having finished with his friend, Richard released his grip on Gus, as a sukima swallowed Gus, placing him far behind Richard, lying on the ground groaning from his friend's attack.

"Now then, anyone likes to argue back? I've still got all day to teach some respect for all of you." Richard asked everyone on his team, as they all seethed at Richard's punishment of Gus, but refused to speak anything to him.

"Richard… What have you done!?" Hope asked with horror. "How could you do this to Gus!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hope The Victor… But does it look like I could care for what I did to Gus? I could have just knocked him out, but he just had to go and make it personal." Richard spoke with a very unamused tone, as he tilted his head for extra effect. "Besides, he needed to learn that some matters are not to brought up with certain people. Speaking of Elma, unfortunately with him, is one of them."

Gus slowly got up, as he looked at the group, as he mouthed something.

"'This is far better than I expected… But still, keep your guard up… There's no telling when he'll start attacking… When he does, hold nothing back… Nothing at all.'" Ace read Gus's lips, as he growled. "What the hell…!? This counts as 'far better'!?"

"And a good reason…" Reimu answered back, slightly uneasy. "He would have straight-up nearly kill Gus and would have done that without him even saying a word. This is better, like it or not."

"...Actually, on second thought, murdering your loved ones in revenge is a overdone cliche." Richard pondered, with a hand on his chin in thought. "What's the point of doing that, when I have you right where I want you? I've got just exactly the thing for you. You know when you said I was going to kill you? Remember that part at least? Before, I might have denied that fact… But…"

Richard then crossed his sword over each other, as he swung them around, before pointing both of the blades at David. "Since you have so nicely decided to fuck over your own ideals to kill Elma, and have caused me a fair lot of crushing pain... " Richard continued. "Then I'll say 'fuck you' to all of my ideals and moral by killing you for that. And don't expect your death to be quick and painless. I'm going to tear you piece by piece, and keep you alive only to suffer until your mind and soul breaks from the pain."

Everyone immediately tensed up, as they all readied their weapons, as they were ready to fight Richard, who seemed to noticed what their gestures mean.

"Oh? I expected that you would have all ran away at this point, and left David to meet the fate he deserves." Richard raised an eyebrow.

"You won't get to David as long as we are here!" Francisca declared.

"We can't let you do this, Richard." Hope shook his head. "This isn't yourself."

"You got to snap out of it! I know that what David did wasn't right, but what you're about to do is worse!" Marisa cried out.

"Oh, you heroes are literally predictable. You claim that everything you do is for the benefit of everyone, and that you shouldn't abandon your friends no matter what." Richard answered back, before he then chuckled maniacally. "I'm touched actually… Touched that you would do this for your friends. And you know how I'll reward that?"

Richard's aura then reappeared, as it flickered between red, blue, green and yellow, before he then twisted his right hand towards himself, before he then jabbed his thumb deeply onto his forehead, his heart, the centre of his chest, and the base of his neck, as he was engulfed in a burst of white light.

When it disappeared, it showed Richard's eyes being completely silver, as several orbs of elemental energy orbited around him like a halo, as his weapons glowed with the energy of both weapons.

"By sending you to oblivion with David. If you cherish him so much, then you can join him when I annihilate all of you into nothing but ashes and memories." Richard finished off his sentence with a growl. "Remember that you always had the choice to leaving David, and you chose to stay and fight. I don't care about the damn prophecy anymore. All I care about is your fate, David, and how I shall be the one to bring forth it."

Richard immediately controlled the red orb of fire energy, as he threw it into the centre of the group in front of him.

"But first, let's thin the herd, shall we?" Richard said, as he immediately snapped his fingers. "And what better than a trial of fire, hm?"

Suddenly, the orb of fire floated higher into the air, as it grew considerably in size.

"Declare Spell Card: Fire Sign 'Ifrit's Rampage'." Richard coldly executed his spell, as the orb of fire immediately fired off streams of fireballs at many people at once, as it also fired off several rings of fire that arched downwards towards the heroes. All of them tried to resist the attack, either by blocking or dodging it.

The fire seemed to be hotter than typical fire, as Flamberge was unlucky enough to end up being hit by several of them, as she screamed in pain at how the fire burnt her despite her own resistance to it.

"Flamberge!" Zan cried for her sister, as she immediately raised her spear towards Richard. "You… I won't forgive you for hurting my sister! Take this!"

Zan immediately fired off a stream of lightning bolts at Richard, as they honed towards where Richard was. However, Richard merely teleported at the last moment by placing a sukima over himself, as he appeared somewhere farther away.

"What, you expect to hit me?" Richard taunted. "You can all try to attack me, and you might land some lucky hits in, but what about your poor little friends, who can't handle the heat? I'm afraid that you're in quite a dilemma, uh oh!"

"Crap… He's really not playing around." Marisa cursed. "If he made those spell-cards lethal, then we're going to have to finish him quick and fast."

She then lifted her Hakkero, while Richard was floating around, dodging most of the attacks coming towards him with a lazy wave of his hand that sucked them all up, and even twisting and bending mid-air to avoid the attacks. While Richard was occupied dodging the attacks, and mocking the attackers, she charged up magic in her Hakkero.

"Pathetic, every single one of you. If you truly hope to even hurt me, then you vainly hope for something that will never happen." Richard chuckled. "You're just fools sacrificing your lives for a vain cause-"

"DECLARE SPELL-CARD: Love Sign 'Master Spark'!" Marisa declared her own spell-card, as a large rainbow beam fired from her small Hakkero, as it rushed towards Richard. Having just noticed the attack, Richard immediately swivelled around, as he placed a sukima in front of him hurriedly to attempt a block, as it did do so, although the attack still hit Richard hard.

The fire orb then stopped attacking, as it returned to where Richard was, orbiting around him, as he seemed to be hurt by the attack.

"Thank god… The spell-card's broken." Reimu sighed in relief. "But still, I doubt Richard's done with us…"

"Marisa… I'm hurt! Hurt that you would do this to me!" Richard spoke with mock hurt in his voice, as he faced Marisa, who still held her Hakkero up, as the remaining energy dissipated away from it. "But I understand where you're getting with this. You can't bear to see them all die, don't you?"

"Richard… You need to get yourself together! Elma may be dead, but we can still find a way to bring her back-" Marisa tried to plead with Richard.

"Blah, blah, blah." Richard spat, as he shook his head side to side in disappointment. "Your intentions don't matter, Marisa. All I care about is that you're in my way of getting some just vengeance. It's all the heroes' fault that they just couldn't bear to make a small sacrifice to sate the wrath within me, so they can die for all I care. I hold no regard for them either way, because they're not with us. Now then, let me deal with you and Reimu, since you two would be quite troublesome."

Richard then swiped his hand, easily capturing Marisa in a sukima, as the gap closed itself below her after she fell through it without realising what Richard did until too late. Reimu fared a little better, as she managed to get into the air, dodging every single sukima that Richard summoned towards her, irritating Richard.

"Quite annoying, aren't you, Reimu?" Richard asked back. "Then again, what less to expect from the shrine maiden of Gensokyo? You are the strongest when it comes to using those spell-cards of yours, and you got some power in those arms of yours, but…"

Richard then warped himself in front of Reimu in a near-instant. "It doesn't mean a single thing when I know how to deal with you. Be a good little miko, and STAY OUT." Richard spoke with a eerily cold tone, as he smashed his knee into Reimu's stomach, as it seemed to be a debilitating blow, as she gagged deeply, before she was captured by Richard's sukima, as he turned back to the heroes.

"Now that the ones who would try something like this are gone, let me up the game a little." Richard said, as he mustered his own magic, as the blue water orb, and the green wind orb began to move towards the group. "Let's see how you handle two at once, better not choke~"

Before he could declare his spell-card, Ace immediately disappeared from the shadows, as he jumped at Richard from behind, with his fists raised, as they glowed with fire.

"Hellfire Twin Lion Fists!" Ace unleashed his move, as both of his fists glowed with fire, as they turned into roaring lion heads, as he tried to bring down Richard from behind.

However, his attack was interrupted, when Richard immediately grabbed both of the fists with his hands, as light-blue ice energy flowed through it, as steam rose from where his hands held the fists, as he was pushed back, but he didn't seemed to be taking damage from the move.

"Oh, Ace, trying the same sneak-up move again?" Richard spoke, before he growled. "You know something, Ace? I am tired of your shit now. So how about I give you something in return for this shit, huh?"

He then immediately teleported behind Ace, before he rose his foot, and slammed it down on Ace's back in a downwards axe kick, as it slammed him into the ground, where he laid there completely dazed.

"Now Ace, although I'd love to break your ribs and limbs so that you won't be able to try that again. But I haven't got time to deal with you, so stay down there, if you know what's good for you." Richard spoke, as he dusted his hands off, before he looked at them, as they were slightly burnt, but he didn't seemed to be affected by the pain. "Oh, well, A for effort at least, Ace. You manage to burn me a little there, but unless it's going to actually hurt, it's pointless. Now where was I?"

He then turned his attention back to the heroes, as he immediately smiled. "Ah yes, preparing the second phase. Now then, let's begin." He said, before he then charged up his magic. "Declare Spell Card: Wind Sign 'Sporadic Gale', Declare Spell Card: Water Sign 'Ocean's Roar'."

Suddenly, both of the elemental orbs activated, as the wind orb immediately rained down razor-sharp green wind wave projectiles, as it moved from one place to the other with each spread. The water orb charged up for each attack, unleashing a massive torrent of water that explode into a colossal geyser of water projectiles that rain back down onto the group from the gravity dragging them down. Richard immediately moved out of range of everyone's attacks, as he dodged any that tried to hit him from afar.

David immediately realised what to do, as he raised his sword, aimed for the water torrent that was just about to hit the group.

"Here goes nothing… Absolute!" David chanted, as he summoned a massive burst of ice that quickly froze the water stream, as it created a path up to the orbs. "We can hit it from here! Use the stream, before it gets destroyed by the other one's attacks!"

Hope immediately ran up the frozen stream, as Richard growled, as he ordered the wind orb to aim for the stream, as the wind projectiles slowly broke down the frozen stream, as the pieces began to fall with the path Hope was running on. Despite that, Hope was able to make it, as he leapt on top of the water orb.

"Eat this! Spectral Thunder!" Hope cried, as the powerful thunder strike immediately vaporize the water orb, as the wind orb aimed for Hope, as the projectiles were aimed for him.

"I've got your back, Hope!" Aqua cried, as she immediately used Flow Motion to reach in front of Hope, as she raised her Keyblade. "Reflect!"

The projectiles hit the barrier that Aqua conjured up, as some of them hit the orb itself, as it was knocked back by the force of its own attack, being unable to attack, and vulnerable. With the orb being disabled, Aqua immediately aimed a Blizzaga right at the orb, freezing it, as it broke apart with a single swing from Aqua's Keyblade.

Richard seemed to be getting quite furious at how his attacks were being so easily taken care of, as one by one, they were being countered by the heroes, as the water and wind orbs reappeared around him.

"Damn you…" Richard cursed under his breath. "You think that this is going to be over this easily? I'm just getting started! Let's see you take care of this!"

Richard then snapped his fingers again, as the golden light orb, water orb, fire orb, and the brown earth orb immediately moved out in pairs, as light and water merged into a silver orb that possessed both elements, and fire and earth became a red-brown orb that seemed to be glowing quite brightly.

"I like to see you break this one apart!" Richard challenged the heroes. "Declare Spell Card: Fire & Earth Sign 'Dark Pompeii'! Declare Spell Card: Water & Light Sign 'Sure-hit Massacre!'"

The silver orb immediately fired off a series of silver lasers that curved and honed towards everyone, and the red-brown orb was firing off a rain of molten rock that seemed to cause the ground to turn into lava from the molten magma that was contained within each and every one of them.

"Guh… This isn't good…" Jexi said, as he seemed to notice that Richard's attacks were getting more intense with each one he conjures up. "If we don't finish this fast… Our friends are going to be in danger at this rate…!"

"Not so cocky now, huh!?" Richard screamed. "Thought you were too good for mercy! Well, now that I threw that away, let's see if you'll be able to cling onto life so pathetically! You wanted to see me serious, well now… You get to see me like this! ALL OF YOU DO! RUN OR DIE! THE TIMER'S TICKING, AND SOMEBODY IS GOING TO DIE, AND IT'S A CERTAIN SOMEONE!"

"Crap, he's completely lost it!" Ace exclaimed, as he got up, having recovered enough from the previous attack that floored him. "I'd love to help, but I don't think trying to hit him would work as easily as before!"

"Then we'll have to play this defensively." David warned everyone. "Everyone, don't bother trying to attack Richard… It's pointless at this rate… Those attacks of his are going to exhaust him out, and we just have to wait until that time comes. Just hold on… He can't fight like this forever."

Jexi, Hope, and Ace nodded in approval, as they signalled their teams to do the same, as various barriers and techniques were used for the sake of defending themselves.

Eventually, the orbs began to fade in brightness, as they turned more and more grey, as Richard was beginning to show signs of fatigue, before he reached the point of exhaustion, as the orbs faded into nothing, and he fell to the ground, on his knees.

"...Hah… Hah… Damn you… All of this… And you still won't die…" Richard panted. "Why do you still cling onto your life so pathetically… You know that I won't let you go for this, David… You WILL die… And I don't care what will be done to achieve that."

David was about to retort back to Richard, before he remembered what he did to Elma, as he merely grimaced deeply in response.

"Look at all of you, you fight, and for what? Just to protect David?" Richard hissed at all the heroes in front of him. "You know, if none of you interfered and let me just knock David out until everything was done. If you just let that happen, then no-one would be hurt, and we could have stayed as we were. But you all refused, and whose fault do you think it was? I was forced to fight because you refused to listen to me. If words cannot get through you, then only force will make you listen to what I have to say. Even then, I did my best to hurt as less as I could… I wanted to prove that I didn't have to kill for once to achieve what I had to do…"

"But then you killed Elma… David, and you act like it's no-one's fault but my own, because I was the one who started this fight, and thus, what happens in this fight is my responsibility." Richard continued with a completely dark tone. "Think again… Who was it who pierced the fatal blow with his blade onto Elma? Who was the one who decided that bleeding me out was a option at the time? I'm truly disappointed, David. You claim to be so smart, but you fucking did all these stupid things because you chose to. You had a choice to just simply knock me out and be done with it. It would have ended so well… And the others would get what you wanted to do. We would have been friends if you had just done all that, and everything would have been fine, even though it would be a vain effort when we all die. Now, look what has happened… I'm fucking snapped, trying to kill you, and Elma's dead. Surely you did not expect that, didn't you? All of you!? Go on, say that I'm just blaming without reason, that I'm refusing to let go of hate! It's what you all heroes are good at! So what if I am!? You made me lose something that I could never take back! How do you expect me to react!? To just smile and continue on like nothing happened!? Are you so arrogant that you can't perceive the pain I feel right now, and that you don't understand why I had to do all of this!? No! Because you can't understand what's it's like to feel despair like a true human would!"

Richard was involuntarily sobbing, as he was covering his face with his right hand, as he tried to wipe off his own tears. "All this time, I wanted to be happy, I wanted to believe that there was something to believe in, after I have seen the darkest depths of the mortal soul, and wallowed within it for so long that I have been forever tainted by its influence… I just wanted to forget all the lives that I have seen die in such vainness and despair… I just wanted to see a world that never had the mirrors of the sinful soul dangling at every corner I see… But I guess, it doesn't matter in the end… Suffering always comes to seek me, because it's a part of human nature…"

Richard then slowly got up, as he turned away, before he silently walked away, as Fox and Link followed after him, despite what Richard was like now.

"Fox! Link! What are you doing-!?" Ace tried to say, before he was stopped by Frisk.

Frisk merely shook his head, as he pointed at Richard.

*You tell everyone that Richard's rage has been spent completely… All that's left of him is his sorrow and his self-hatred. He's lost the will to fight, and he's broken completely. It's best to leave him be. He has been through a lot lately. Killing someone close to him… Ace should be familiar with this feeling.

Ace looked at Frisk with a astonished expression, before he noticed that Richard seemed to be completely sullen, as he was walking away from the group without even sparing a look at them. Ace calmed down as he nodded solemnly, his expression softening greatly after hearing Frisk speak.

"Fox… Link…" Richard weeped, as he noticed the two following behind him. "I… I'm sorry…. I… I don't know what to do anymore… I don't know... "

"...Come on, Richard. I know you're tired." Fox spoke in a sympathetic tone. "I know that you're angry and sad, but you've lost the will to fight anymore, haven't you? There's no need to do anymore… You've done enough."

"Richard, I beg you… Let us return to the base… I'm sure that you'll be able to overcome this…" Link pleaded with Richard. "We're still here for you… even if we have tried to stop you before. We truly care for you, Richard… And that's why, we can't let you destroy yourself over this… It's not worth it to take David's life just because of what he has done, even if it hurt your heart after what you have been through before. Just… let it go…"

Richard stopped where he was, as he took a deep and shaky breath, before he whimpered a weak 'Ok...', as he slowly summoned a sukima, which he trudged through, as Link and Fox left with him.

Everyone was in silence, after what they have heard and seen with Richard.

"I can't believe… that all this has happened." Jexi spoke with a melancholic tone. "Richard… He just… gave up just like that… I… I don't know what I should say."

"All I know is that we've done something unforgivable to him." Hope replied back, as he closed his eyes in sorrow, as he sighed deeply in sadness. "Richard may have never been in the right, but he didn't deserve what he got, and that must be what caused him to break. After all that hate is gone, along with what remains of his power and strength… We saw what he truly was under those words and facade of his… A broken shell of a human."

"Richard…" David sighed, before he then looked back at Elma's corpse, as he felt guilt swell up inside of him. "I know that you'll never forgive me for this… But… I can only hope that one day… you will be able to break free of the pain and anger you have felt just now. Because to be a slave to the pain, is to live a empty life…"

Gus slowly got up, as his recent wounds were still causing him pain and weakness, as he groaned a little.

"Gus… You're still here?" Ace said, before he immediately walked to Gus. "Here, let me heal you up again. I still have some reserve power. Hope's Song: Elixir Vitae!"

Gus was rejuvenated by the healing spell that was used on him, as his wounds disappeared as if they never existed to begin with, and Gus felt like that he regained the strength that he had lost before.

"Thank you, Ace." Gus thanked Ace gratefully, with a nod as well. "I guess… The only Unmei Force member here is me now, and that technically makes me acting leader now. Still… Richard… I'm… I'm sorry it had to come to this, but at least he's still alive, as well every one of you. I knew that you would be able to handle Richard… You're heroes who have fought threats just as great as he was, right?"

"Alive he may be…" Omnimon responded back, as he bowed his head solemnly. "But the light within his eyes is extinguished within those last words… The death of Elma must have weighed in his heart so much, that after his hate has disappeared into nothing, all that's left was his broken spirit. He may never be the same again, and I can only pity how the consequences of what he has seen will linger on until his death."

"But even so… We have to stop Galeem… It's the least we can do." David spoke. "We can honour Elma by bringing about peace for the entire multiverse. It's what we have came here to do, and we can find a way to bring her back from death, if we could. What about all of you?"

The other team leaders merely nodded in return, as they refused to say a single word under the solemn atmosphere caused by the events, as they followed David down to fight Galeem.

As everyone left, Sectonia walked over to where Elma is, as she lifted Elma in her arms, as she glanced upon the peaceful expression of the fallen demon-girl.

"Oh, Elma… You truly did not deserve all of this…. No one did." Sectonia bemoaned. "I can only promise that one day, we'll bring you back, and everything will return to as it was… Especially for Richard… He's truly broken over you, which is why we'll do our best to help him by doing this at least…"

Sectonia then laid Elma onto the ground, as she followed after the rest of the her team, as she walked beside David, with a silent frown on her lips.

Eventually, the heroes made their way to Galeem, who awaited them, as its emissary appeared in front of them. The emissary was a Richard clone that he had created, which seemed no different to Richard in physical appearance, and had a golden archangel's robe with silver sleeves, as there were blue ribbons that went from his collar down to his waist on both sides of his robe, and a white mark of Galeem on the chest, and platinum boots on his feet.

"So… you have come…" The emissary spoke grimly with a frown on his lips, as he examined Masakado, which had the dry blood-stains of Elma's blood. "You have slain one of your own… And yet you seem like that you regret what you have done. And it seems that one of your major allies has disappeared, along with his companions. Perhaps… the incident was what resulted in his leave?"

David's expression darkened, hearing those words from the emissary. "You don't have the right to judge me, neither you nor Galeem." David spat back. "This is the end for you. For the people you have taken, for the worlds you have tried to eradicate… You will be punished for your sins. I promised everyone that I'll do what I can to save everyone, so I hope you made peace with yourself."

"Peace… I am already satisfied with my own state of mind, David Ishihara, but are you? Having sinned so greatly by murdering such a innocent soul. She may be of the Darkness, but I can only pity how her kindness makes her different to her abhorrent kind." The emissary answered back. "And why have you come to slay us, when Dharkon remains?"

"Because you are the reason that all of this began." David said. "And it will be by you that everything you have done will be thwarted. Dharkon will come later, after we have destroyed you and your lord."

"You seek vengeance then." The emissary answered back. "I cannot condone such violence towards us, the ones who have sought to bring true peace and order back to the multiverse. But… perhaps the death of your friend by your blade has resolved your will to defeat my lord, or you have been tainted by the darkness within yourself."

"Shut up. You have no right to talk about peace, order and darkness, when you're biased against the light." David retorted back.

"If those are your final words… Then I shall not show mercy." The emissary spoke, as he rose beside Galeem, as the being of light immediately flashed, as everyone found themselves on the final battlefield. "We shall cleanse you of the darkness that lies within you. Once that has been done, you will come to understand that all we do… is for the sake of all life."

"Come… Heroes." Galeem spoke. "I will defeat you for the sake of a multiverse where suffering and despair will be finally purged from existence."

"Don't forget that Galeem is weak to dark element attacks!" Jexi advised everyone. "If you got anything related to it, don't hold back!"

"I got just the right attack!" Spade cried, as he fired a beam of darkness right at Galeem's core. "Dark Nebula!"

"We beat you once, and we'll do it again! Dark Flame!" Simon followed up his brother's attack with a flurry of dark flames.

"You fight for a questionable cause. Why do you fight so boldly for such?" Galeem asked the heroes. "Do you not support the ideology I bring forth? Is that not the goal of all heroes? To bring peace and equality to all?"

"It's not all equality if everything is built to the image of one's ideas." Jexi retorted back. "Sure, the mutliverse may be flawed, but we will protect it to our last breath."

"Such determination." Galeem responded back, before he then raised his wings into the air. "It is a shame that it is misplaced. But as long as you live, I can teach you the error of your ways. Holy Lance."

His wings then appeared above the heroes, as they twisted into large drills, as golden energy collected on the tip of each of them, before they then shot down towards the heroes, as they dodged away from it.

"Gods like you should stay out of the matters of the people!" Kido cried, as he immediately used the seal of Arahabaki to imbue his blade with darkness. "Eat this!"

Galeem's core seemed to take more and more damage from the heroes attack, as its weakness was exposed over and over again.

"You cannot understand what you are doing, heroes." Galeem spoke. "My death will mean little to solve the crisis before you. Nay, it will cause it to become far more dire than you expect. Dharkon will have control over the world with its darkness, and all light will be extinguished."

"Well, that won't matter, because we're going to take you and Dharkon down together!" Ace roared back, before he then readied an attack. "Eat this! Camisade Rasengan!"

He threw a spiralling projectile of green energy that knocked Galeem's golden core a little, eliciting a cry of pain from the divine being.

"S-Such arrogance… It will be your undoing! You must cease this pointless battle, before its too late!" Galeem exclaimed, before his wings curled up into a massive ring, as he threw it forward, as the wings pointed at the heroes from different directions. "Judgement Lattice!"

Lasers soon shot from the many wings surrounding them, as the heroes were forced to dodge, as some opted to block or deflect the attack away from them, as Galeem's Emissary assisted by firing several beams from the sides, moving around to try and hit the heroes.

"You won't take us down that easily!" Connor retorted, as he vaulted over a beam, before loading his own shotgun with dark element rounds, before firing them right into the centre of Galeem's core, stunning it momentarily with a cry of pain.

"Eat this! Your divinity won't save you from this blade!" David cried, as he leapt into the air, as he slashed through Galeem's core with Masakado, as it caused the golden core to falter slightly, as it screamed in pain.

Its wings then crossed over each other, as it then unleashed more of its power, as its golden core began to sparkle and crackle, as it became more agitated, as spikes appeared around it.

"I cannot fall here… I will not fall! For the sake of the light! I will stand as its final guardian, even when hope is lost, and light is waning!" Galeem declared, as its voice became more powerful and strong, before it then warped out, as waves of light appeared from the sky and ground.

"Look out, I don't think being hit by that wave of energy would be a good idea!" Ace warned everyone.

Jexi immediately leapt into the air, as he dashed mid-air to keep himself out of the reach. "Yeah, got that. Thanks for the heads-up, Ace." Jexi thanked his ally.

"If he's getting serious now, then we've got him on the ropes!" Ace cried.

"I will not fall here… For the sake of those who still believe in me…" Dark growled, as he charged up his own power. "Even if it will take my life, I will prove that I have atoned from what I was before!"

He then jumped up, as his energy manifested into a massive dark fist. "Eat this! Punishment!" Dark cried, as the dark fist crashed into Galeem, immediately knocking it into the ground.

Galeem seemed to be weakening, as its emissary is doing its best to support its lord, although its attacks were measly compared to the attacks Galeem was using.

"Hah… Hah… Is this… really what you truly want, heroes? A world where chaos and darkness will rule eternally?" Galeem spoke. "It's not too late to stop all of this… Dharkon is the one that must be destroyed… I understand that you are all forced to do this because of circumstance… Please, don't let it win…"

"This is for the sake of the multiverse, Galeem! Begone from this world, and never return to plague it with your false light!" David intoned, before he raised his blade up, as Masakado grew in size, as it became a massive katana that was big enough to pierce the heavens. "This is the power of the bonds between us! The power that makes us what we are!"

He then slashed his blade down, as a massive slash mark appeared from where David cut Galeem through with his blade, as it turned back to its smaller form, as Galeem was still.

"Im… Impossible… I… How could… I… I be… destroyed… by the hands of a… mortal…!?" Galeem blurted out, as its wings began to swirl around it wildly in a circle, before the cut went through. Light spilled from Galeem's mortal wound, as its wings began to spasm wildly, and shards began to break off from them, losing their colour. "Ah… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Galeem began to fall, as several of his wings blew apart in golden explosions. Even the Master Hands that Galeem created were being destroyed, as their master has been defeated. The emissary was shocked at the defeat of his master.

"Lord Galeem… defeated…?" He spoke. "No… Impossible! He cannot die! Our goal to bring about a world of order hasn't been achieved!"

Suddenly the darkness behind the heroes suddenly accelerated, as it consumed more and more of the light realm, crawling across the sky like vine-like tendrils.

"No… No no no no no…" The emissary blubbered, as he fell into despair, as he watched the light be engulfed by the darkness.

From the darkness itself, multiple tentacles from Dharkon lashed out, as they pierced through Galeem's remaining Master Hands like soggy paper, the white gloved beings exploding on impact, as they aimed for Galeem.

"I… can still… fight… I won't… let the light… disappear... " Galeem groaned, as it tried to recover itself.

"On tHE CoNtrArY, It's aLl oVEr For yOU, GAlEeM." Dharkon's twisted voice rang through the realm.

Suddenly, the tentacles turned into dark chains, as they binded each and every one of Galeem's wings, before they tightened, straightening them out, leaving Galeem's core defenceless. Dharkon then followed up with a series of sharp tentacles that pierced through Galeem's closest wings, as well as one going right through the core, as golden light began to spray out like blood.

"I am… I… am… I… cannot… die…. I… am… the… light…" Galeem choked, as its voice was fading away. "I… am… Am…"

Galeem's body soon turned grey, as it has been killed off by Dharkon's attack.

"Lord Galeem! NO!" The emissary cried in horror, at the death of his master.

"Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon, angel-boy." A voice was heard behind the emissary.

"What-!?" The emissary tried to turn around to face the speaker, before he was pierced through the heart from the back by a long dark blade, as the owner was the other Richard clone, which served as Dharkon's servant. His only clothing was black shorts that covered his waist and upper legs, as the purple-black darkness covered his torso, looking like a warrior's vest. "Ack… Augh…."

The dark servant cruelly smiled, as he immediately twisted his blade, finishing off the emissary, who immediately slumped down, as his eyes remained open even in death, and blood leaked from his frozen mouth.

"Now then… That's this annoying bastard dealt with." The servant said. "Now that my master, Dharkon has dominion over this realm, I can finally reclaim those powers that this eye-sore of a copy has taken from me. He was too pathetic to use them effectively. Heheheh…"

He then turned around, as he regarded the heroes with a wide smile.

"Well well, look who has made the right choice." The servant spoke to David with a wild grin. "I know that you would come around and understand what this all means. After all, Galeem is all just empty promises. But me and Dharkon? We have told you the truth… And what the multiverse truly needs! And you have finally brought me what we needed."

David merely looked at Dharkon's servant with cold eyes. "I've finished off Galeem… What's to stop me from getting rid of Dharkon as well?"

In response, the servant's expression puckered up, as if he bit into a sour lemon.

"Oooh, you sure that you want to say that aloud to Dharkon?" He hissed with some sympathy in his voice. "Sure, we do preach that the strong decide what's right and what's wrong, but are you sure you're going to be challenging it, and by proxy, me? I'm sure that you want to try your luck? Because I'm not going to sympathise with you, if you end up all dead. But it would a bit annoying, if you tried to do a Klingon promotion and fall short of expectations, but if you want to fight, let's fight."

"Fine, then I'll take care of you first." David said, as he readied himself, as he tried to use his blade, only to realise that it was gone from his hands. "What…!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you looking for this?" The servant waved Masakado, as he was shaking the blade in his other hand, as he looked at it with intrigued eyes. "So this is the blade that sealed a lot of Galeem's power and strength. A real god-slayer, that's to be sure. I might actually find a good use for that."

"Give that back… now!" David growled, as he entered Sapphire God Mode, before immediately entering The Honourable form as well. "That blade belongs to me! It represents the will of the people of the multiverse."

"Well, it's mine now, so that will, along with the power it grants, is mine alone." The servant smiled evilly. "Rule number 1 of fighting in our chaotic reality, there are no limits or rules. Both sides are free to fight as they please, and nothing can or will stop them. This is the pure form of fighting, a form of fighting where the true selves reveal themselves. Besides, I can't have you trying to get rid of Dharkon after all this, so you ain't going to be doing anything without that pretty blade of yours. We just got rid of that loathsome Galeem, and achieved our goal. Don't worry, your worlds are returned to where they are, although they might a little… different to what you have known before."

"You… YOU BASTARD!" David cried in pure anger, as he rushed at the servant.

The Dharkon servant merely dodged to the side, as he let David whish past him.

"David, David. What's with the anger?" The servant asked. "You got what you wanted. Your worlds are back, and Galeem is properly punished. I'll deal with Lord Alabaster soon. So why are you after me? After all, you chose this path yourself, did you not? And everyone followed like docile little sheep."

"Shut up!" David shouted with anger.

"It's the truth though." The servant answered back. "In our world, only the strong has the right to enforce their ideals. Isn't that the way of all cartoons and anime? That the heroes use the power of friendship and bonds to overcome the power of the villains, so that they can bring about peace and order? This is no different, what you're doing. I'm just staking my claim with my master. I've done absolutely nothing after you freed every single Spirit we ever had. But I'm not angry about that. No, I'm actually impressed that you're trying to resist me even now, because it proves that you deserve some respect for your efforts.

"What are you-!?" David was about to say, before the servant rushed forward, and grabbed David by the neck with power that the Lunarian never felt before. He then was thrown right into a sukima, created by the servant himself, as everyone was shocked at how the servant obtained Richard's own unique power. Taking note of the reaction, the servant smirked.

"What? Did you expect that I would be as weak as I was though?" The servant asked with a grin, facing the heroes. "Taking down Galeem and its little pissy lap-dog gave both me and Galeem more power than you could ever imagine. You see, our power runs on the control we have on this celestial realm. Why else would you think that we waited until you weakened Galeem to pop in and do your shit? And why else we immediately pulled back when you gave Dharkon a good whack in the eye? Thanks to you, I've got enough power to utilize every single power this body has, and I'm getting more and more by the second. Turns out Dharkon's beginning to do its little conquest, and baby, I fucking love it!"

"We won't let you leave here!" Ace shouted with boldness in his voice. "We still haven't lost yet! Everyone is still here, ready to fight you!"

"Oh, how cute. I'd be happy to fight you all, however hopeless it will be, but I will state two facts." The servant chuckled darkly, as he counted off with two fingers. "One, you have already lost the moment Dharkon murdered Galeem and obtained full control of the realm. And two, you sealed your fate the moment I took David's little godslayer blade off him. And since I'm the one with it, I'm going to enjoy slaying some up-start gods who think they're above consequences. I've got no time to play with you, so I'm going to wrap this up as quickly as I can."

He then summoned a sukima, as he produced a golden pocket-watch, which seemed to be closed, before he clicked it open with a fling of his fingers, as the hands and numbers were visible. As soon as Gus saw the pocket-watch, he immediately paled to the point that he was completely white.

"No… How did he…!?" Gus shivered in fear, as he recognised the pocket-watch, and the terrible power it possesses.

"Oh, looks like your brown-haired pal has finally found out how deep your grave is dug." The servant smirked, as he dangled it by the chain with his fingers. "You see, time manipulation is one of the most exhausting techniques in all of existence. Trying to stop time for a few seconds is hard, and manipulating it requires conduits or mediums, much like this watch here."

"What are you getting at?" Jexi demanded.

"You see, stopping time is an impossibility, even for those who claim to have 'true' time manipulation." The servant continued his explanation. "What is perceive as stopping time is merely a extreme use of slowing time down. Slowed down to the point that everything seems to have completely stopped. The original owner of this little device could only slow time to the nanosecond, where actual light would seem to be like a car passing by you. And that's just for only at most half a minute. I, however? Take a guess. Go on, I'll be nice to wait until you've made your answers."

"A… femtosecond?" Fox asked back.

"Close, my little furry friend. But… not quite!" The servant responds back, with a clicking tongue and a wagging finger. "This goes into the attosecond leagues, where when a second passes, its equivalent in that dilation of time is at least 3 million years. Basically, not even the atoms that propel the light would be able to be seen moving. Now that the science lesson is over… Let's go into a history lesson: A lesson on the fates of the last heroes here."

The servant then crossed the arm holding the time-stopping pocket-watch behind his back, as he saw the heroes come at him. However, just as they made their first steps, he pressed the watch's trigger down, as they rushed at him.

"Too slow! Taste some real THE WORLD!" The servant taunted them, as they failed to realise the servant already activated the mechanism, and had no chance in attempting to stop it. Soon, the surroundings of the servant immediately halted, as everyone and everything was frozen.

He slowly walked past the heroes, as he checked the pocket-watch, whose hands are ticking down around the face, as if counting down something.

"Hmph. Still only a half-minute of juice in this thing?" The servant grumbled, as he closed the pocket-watch. "Ah well, It's enough. Now then…."

He then immediately swiped his left hand out, as a purplish spell-card materialised in between his fingers, as hints of golden flares appeared from it briefly.

"Sorry, kid, but what's yours is mine, they say." The servant spoke to himself. "Declare Last Word: Dark Arcanum 'Nightmare Of The Elements'."

As soon as the spell-card faded away, being used, a black sphere of pure concentrated magic appeared in the palm of his right hand, before he lifted it, as he jumped into the air, as the orb grew in size in small bursts, until it was as big as a house above him.

When he reached where he wanted to be, the time-stop weared off, as the charging heroes were stunned to find their target not in front of them, and surprised, when everyone looked up at him, as well as the massive ball of death above him.

"Oh, look, it's all done, just in the nick of time." The servant spoke with a casual tone. "Lookie, it's a dark Spirit Bomb, no fuck that, it's a fuck-all version of the Death Ball! Now then, any last words?"

Goku was about to say something, as he prepared to launch a Instant Transmission to reach up, before he then heard the next words to come.

"Ulp, remembered that I'm skimming on time here." The servant immediately added. "Sorry, I'll ask again, when you're back together. Maybe… Just maybe, you might actually be quite potent servants for our cause, next time you reincarnate… Hehehe… TOO BAD SO SAD, IT'S GAME OVER FOR YOU ALL!"

The ball of death was immediately thrown down with massive force, as everyone immediately diverted their efforts to try and knock it back. However, the servant merely chuckled, as he immediately teleported out of what may be the blast zone, as the last seconds ticked away.

Gus looked up at the approaching colossal projectile, as he immediately fell to his knees, as his fate was sealed at this point.

"Richard… I'm sorry… I guess this is it for all of us…" Gus muttered in despair.

The massive magic ball immediately slammed into him, and everyone, as it immediately glowed for a brief moment, before it exploded into a storm of chaotic elements. Dark flames scorched the ground, burning all to ashes, shadowed water flooded and drowned all it came in contact with, dark winds sought out anything that even uttered a single breath, and cut them mercilessly to shreds, purple lightning poured down to burn even more, as the airs were stricken full with them, deep ice that snap-freezed everything left after the previous carnage, before beams of light and darkness scorched and consumed all that remained, as sukimas appeared to carry the destructive beams further as a last hurrah.

As everything cleared, there was nothing left, not even the ashes of the fallen heroes who were caught in the blast, as the grounds were eerie with silence, before Dharkon's servant returned back to take a look at the destruction he has left.

As the servant looked at where the heroes used to stand, he immediately looked around.

"Come on… Don't think of trying to hide away from me…" The servant cooed under his breath, as he used his own magic sensing capabilities to sense any energy left by the heroes. "There's no point in hiding, since my scanning is now all-encompassing, since I have all those energies flowing through me…"

After taking a long and hard sweep of the entire realm where he stood, he sensed nothing, not even a single trace of what might have been magic, as his face showed a wide grin.

"So, completely annihilated, without a single trace of you left?" The servant asked, before he then let giggles rise from his throat. "Heheh… Hehehe…."

The servant then burst out into insane laughter, as he let his voice run wild.

"AHAHAHAHA! So much for trying to win for the good!" The servant cackled. "You thought that I was just going to let you as you were? I've truly waited for a moment where you all would let your guards down, and that's exactly the right moment!"

He then remembered David, who he threw into one of his own sukimas, as he stopped laughing, as he was a bit concerned about where the leader of the Brave Adventurers was.

"Oh right, he wasn't there to see everything go into ashes." The servant noted, before he smiled again. "But I'm sure going to enjoy watching him crack when he realises everyone in his team, including his little bee-queen is gone for real. Well, not truly, as long as I have Dharkon take the reincarnation cycle and after-life. But still… He's the last threat I need to deal with, and he'll be a pushover without that mystic blade of his."

David's screams of torture and agony were heard across the realm, as the servant noticed the voice, before he then smiled.

"Ulp, so much for 'you're our last hope, David'." The servant sighed. "Looks like a certain someone is getting mind-raped to the roots by my master. Let's see what boss-man got to say about this."

He then teleported to Dharkon's side with a snap of his fingers, as he found the dark being staring at him with its massive eye, as in its tentacles was a mentally-broken David, whose eyes were completely soulless, as the tentacles dropped David, as David landed on the ground with a dull thud.

"Well, master Dharkon, how goes the procedure?" The servant asked respectfully. "So I take it you're done with David, hm? He's the only reliable asset we can use. Those spirits and puppet fighters are shit, pardon my language, but I doubt you'd care for that, would you?"

"ThE bOy IS BEiNg SlOwLy wIllEd inTo My cONtROl. He wiLl PRoVe usEfUl, As My owN SLAYER Of gOds." Dharkon answered back in its deep and wild voice.

"Ha! Good choice there! You'll need someone else than me to help do the hard work of slaying the bastard gods and goddesses, and other divine beings." The servant applauded his master's choice with a smile and a few claps. "He's the only one who can properly use the power stowed in that blade. It'd still kill gods if I were to use it instead, but David's the master, so let him take care of all that! And we'll even will the conscious within the sword to give David our puppet some real power to punch up against them all!"

"INdEeD." Dharkon responded back with a dark laugh of its own. "FInAlLy… aFtEr So LoNg wAtiTINg, tHe fOOl gaLEem iS dEaD. I HAVe oBtaiNED FUlL CoNTroL OF THis rEaLm. AnD thE ReSt wilL foLloW."

"True indeed. Heroes are more of a 'put all eggs in one basket' thing. It's a gamble." The servant replied back. "They fail, it's game over for their worlds. Which is precisely why we already won, because no-one is capable of stopping us. Even if they did, they can't stop the spread of darkness, and with it, they'll soon be helpless once we've gotten enough power, and slowly crush them as we gain more beyond their one-tracked minds. Speaking of which…"

The servant then snapped his fingers, as Lord Alabaster appeared in front of both Dharkon and the servant.

"Is it… Is it all done?" Lord Alabaster asked.

"Yep, your heroes are dead, and everything is getting wrapped up." The servant nodded. "Congrats, you're a survivor, 'King' Alabaster. You managed to hide your pale ass until everything has passed over."

Alabaster was about to retort, before he remembered that Dharkon and the servant could easily crush him at this point, and that he should be focusing on the kingdom.

"Of course, I'm finally free to bring back the true glory of the Dark Kingdom." Alabaster answered back.

"Sure, I'll be happy to see it. Just one thing though." The servant said.

"What is it?" Alabaster asked, as he didn't seem to understand what the servant was saying.

"Knife." The servant uttered the single word like it was a password.

"Knife?" Alabaster said, before he then noticed that there were sukimas surrounding him, before he immediately turned to the servant who was smirking.

Suddenly, out of the sukima, streams of knifes poured out like projectiles, as they struck every single inch of Alabaster's body, causing the vampiric dark lord to gurgle and cry in pain, as most of his body was being impaled by the small blades, as he fell onto his knees, as he coughed up blood.

"Wh-What is this..?" Alabaster asked, with a betrayed tone. "Why…?"

"Why indeed?" The servant's smirk disappeared, as his eyes hardened with hate. "You see, I invoked a 'You Outlived Your Usefulness' act on you, just like you have done many times before with your useless subordinates. Except… I have more than just your weakness as a reason for your execution. You see… You very much owe us for the services we have provided you. And you want to know what you have done?"

The servant immediately floated in front of Alabaster, as he seized the pale being by the chin, forcing him to look into the servant's eyes. "You skimped on that debt by trying to help Galeem before. Not avoided, skimped, a thousand times worse than that. You tried to cheat us, little traitor, and I'm quite very sore about that. You see, I've inherited Richard's lust for vengeance with this form. So now that I have you embedded with knifes like a good little pincushion, I'm going to treat you like a traitor deserves. A traitor's death for you…"

Alabaster tried to speak, even move, but he found that not a single part of his body, not even his eyes could move, as he was frozen in a expression of terror.

"Ah, it looks like the 'incapacitation' effect of the knives has finally taken effect." The servant stated. "I can't have you running like a little coward after what you have done, but I won't grant you the peace of a painless death. No, 'Lord' Alabaster, you're going to feel every single moment of pain and agony, as I slowly immolate and fry you into ashes. Fire works well against your kind, doubly so with hell-fire. So… I'm going to end your pitiful life, Alabaster. See you… NEVER."

The knives then lit up with blue light, as Alabaster was suddenly consumed by raging blue flames, as he couldn't even scream with his entire body paralysed, as his figure slowly melted down to nothing, not even the ashes that the servant promised him, who is merely smiling.

"Oh, how I love to pull a Hellsing Abridged quote…" The servant said. "Richard's mind sure is chock-full of those kind of references."

"ENoUgH tAlK. wHErE ArE ThE ReSt oF tHe uNmeI ForCe?" Dharkon demanded from his servant.

"That, my dear master, is being taken care of." The servant smirked.

---

In the GFS Ryujin…

Richard was merely sitting on the captain's chair of the bridge, as he was completely silent, occasionally letting silent tears run down his face and onto the ground, as everyone could only watch their leader in endless misery.

"The Overlords in the Underworld will be torn over, when they find out that Elma is gone." Corrin said. "It is truly painful to lose a sibling, or someone they have cherished. It's reflected even more by Richard's state."

"I mourn for Elma's loss as well, but there is no time to waste…" Meiling assured them. "She has sacrificed herself for Richard, but it was because that it was a pointless one that it has broken Richard."

Velouria was merely silent, as she thought back to how Cerberus would feel when his other owner would never come back to his side again.

"I don't think Richard is in any state to lead." Link stated. "Normally, Gus would take command here, but we haven't heard a word from him ever since we left him. And without Richard, we have no way to find out of his status."

"This isn't the time to determining that now!" Sanae scolded Link. "Shouldn't you all be trying to help Richard?"

"Sanae, it's a pointless effort." Fox retorted back. "Richard is permanently torn after everything that had happened. You forget that seeing something like this again has caused him to sink into hopelessness."

"But, even so…!" Sanae cried. "This… This isn't fair! Why did all of this had to happen!? What happened for this nightmare to come to reality!?"

Nobody reacted to Sanae's outraged questions, before there was the sudden sound of the bridge elevator arriving at its destination, attracting everyone's attention, as Richard slowly turned his head towards it, as he opened his raw eyes.

Suddenly, from the elevator, came a copy of Richard himself, dressed in an silver skin-clad elastic suit, as he seemed to walk as if he didn't even care. Everyone noticed something wrong with the clone, as instead of the brown eyes that he should have, he had dark-purple eyes. This fact seemed to spook the group, as they didn't even know what was going on, before the clone then spoke.

"Well, hello, Richard and co, how's your little day doing for you?" The clone spoke in a slightly distorted voice. "The other me would like to send his regards. He seems to be quite interested in dealing with all of you."

"...You're that servant, aren't you?" Richard asked, as he looked back at the possessed clone of himself.

"Close. I'm actually one of his offshoots. Ever since he, no, we gained godly amounts of power, he decided to split his own soul and conscious up. He's powerful enough to divide like a amoeba, and ta-da, you have all of us."

"Us?" Reimu asked back. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought you would have figured it out already. Why have one…" The clone spoke.

Soon, through many different sukimas, many more copies of Richard came into the area, clad in the same outfit as the first clone, as their eyes were dark-purple as well. This caused the entire bridge-personnel to freak out, as they saw the number of possessed clones increase before them.

"...when you can have the rest?" The clone finished up with a fiendish smirk. "And here I thought I'd the only body of your template that is made. You really struck me up a jackpot, Richard and Unmei Force, and I like to thank you all for it. Now onto important matters."

He then summoned a large automatic rifle from one of his sukimas, as he immediately slammed a clip of bullets into it, as the gun's attachments lit up on its activation. The other clones followed, equipping various kinds of weaponry to themselves, which furthered the personnel's feelings of terror.

"You're the only group of heroes who could actually stand against us right now." The clone bluntly stated. "After all, you did give our fighters, and the other me a real good fight, with your friends. Better safe than sorry, because if we let you live, who knows if you'll all pull a Zenkai Boost out of your asses trying to resist. So we're going to have to kill you all thoroughly and properly."

"And you think those guns are going to kill us?" Meiling challenged back.

"Please, Meiling." The clone snorted. "You forget the 'magic' part of the magitek weaponry. I have enough energy pumped into these weapons to pierce mostly any material, organic or man-made. Your dragon scales won't protect you from the hail of bullets coming your way."

"And if I merely teleported everyone out here?" Richard retorted back.

"Playing the plan game, eh?" The clone raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I'll indulge you. You won't have the time to teleport anyone but yourself within the time it takes to set those things up. And being the selfless leader you are, you aren't going to leave your teammates to die, would you?"

Richard remained silent, as he bowed his head, thinking back to how Elma died. The clone, noticing that he struck a sore spot that was common in both of them, immediately walked over to Richard.

"Look, we saw everything, OK? To be frank, you did not deserve that low blow. I have seen your memories, and I can conclude that you're one fucked-up person internally. I don't even know how you even stay human with what you got." The clone spoke sincerely. "If it makes you any better, David's got mind-raped, and he's at our mercy. I'll be sure to give David some good ol' torture for what he did to you."

"And why would you care?" Richard responded back with a depressed tone.

"Because I owe you. Won't mean much when I kill you, but I still am quite grateful. That's why I just want to put it out that I'll make sure you're respected." The clone responded back. "I'll make sure that none of you die a painful death. It'll be quick and swift, I promise. Who knows, next time you come back when we fix up the cycle of rebirth, you might make one hell of a pal to have, you and your little group."

Richard merely scoffed, before it turned into a chuckle that unnerved everyone.

"Richard…?" Fox asked. "Why the hell are you laughing right now!? We're going to die here!"

"That's the thing. We've completely and totally lost." Richard answered back. "Yukari was right, Dharkon won, and that victory effects even us, even though we're travellers from another reality. We lost, and this is how our last move goes. A hopeless struggle, that has lost its point."

"So… Any last words?" The clone asked. "We've talked enough, and Dharkon might get antsy if we delay any longer."

"Last words? Well, here's mine." Richard answered back, before he then summoned a cigar, as he lit it with a magic flame. He then sucked it deeply in his mouth, before sighing deeply and looking at the clone right in the eyes. "You better not fuck up."

The clone then laughed, as he found the quote outrageous, then wiping his tears of mirth off his face.

"Hahh… I guess I should have expected that from you, Richard." The clone giggled. "Don't worry, this reality we will make, it will eventually be the norm. Now then, my soldiers…. Ready…"

Richard then slumped back, as his teammates immediately reacted. Link and Fox stood in front of Richard, intent on protecting him on the last breath, Reimu and Sanae merely looked at each other, before hugging each other for what may be the last time in their current lives, Reisen merely closed her eyes as if she awaited her demise, like Meiling, Corrin drew her blade, unwilling to surrender to the last moment, as Virion, Gunther and Velouria did the same. Marisa merely pulled her hat down, as she began to sob at how her death was inescapable, without her being able to even help, as Antonio tried to comfort her with a few back pats, although he seemed quite in despair himself. Ieyasu merely sat down with his legs crossed, as he too came to term with his fate.

Richard, however, was merely looking at the ceiling, as he thought back to his homeland.

Well… Looks like I won't be coming home any time soon, or any time at all… Richard thought with bittersweet longing. Hey, Yukari… I guess it's time that Heiwa joins the Yakumo household for real. Would you look at that… Heh heh heh…

His mental laughter extended into materiality, as he was unwittingly chuckling to himself, as the clone swished his arm down.

"FIRE!" He declared, as triggers were pulled.

And from that moment on… the Unmei Force were no more.

---

Back with the servant and Dharkon, Dharkon sensed that Richard and his friends were no more.

"I SEe... " Dharkon boomed. "So ThIS WILL BE Our nEw aRmY…?"

"Only temporarily." The servant said. "There was only 50 or so spare bodies in there. And I doubt until we're at that point, recreating him to the point that he's a passable copy with the same potential and powers would have to wait on two conditions, one that we're powerful enough to create something that well, and two that we wait until Richard is reincarnated as our subordinate. Then we'll have infinite ones to work for us. But why just Richard, when we have all the heroes' souls in our grasp? We'll make a army out of them, fuck all convention!"

"An aMuSiNG pRoPoSITIoN…" Dharkon agreed. "And whAt WiLl BE OuR NExT tArGeT?"

"What indeed…?" The servant smirked. "I know a certain reality we could set our sights on, thanks to our friend's memories. But for now, let's bide our time and take over this multiverse. One step at a time, my dark master, one step at a time."

Dharkon merely laughed at the idea, as the multiverse slowly sunk into eternal darkness, as chaos has reigned supreme.

---

In a different reality…

Yukari watched as the fate of her own student carried on, as she slowly closed the sukima she used as a portal to observe the tragedy. She then turned away, as she opened a fan, hiding her face behind it, shedding a single tear in sorrow.

"...So this is how the ones that I have cherished pass by… Richard… Reimu…" Yukari sighed deeply. "Even after I have tried to overturn fate with my own words… It was not enough. Had I dealt with David myself… Maybe there would have been hope…"

Yukari then closed her fan, as she rose her head. "No matter. Mourning my losses will do me nothing but a disservice." Yukari spoke with a stern tone, as he eyes showed a steeled gaze in them. "I cannot waste my time naively believing a future that will never come to fruition. Now that I know where they will come next… I shall prepare all for the threat to come. After all…"

Yukari then summoned a sukima, as her golden eyes glowed in its darkness.

"They'll face a brand of chaos that they have never seen before."