Wendy feels a stabbing ache in her heart. She feels the presence of her greatest love vanish beyond reach. The pain digs deep. Tears form in her eyes. Still, she fights. She fights against the mindless spawn of Xexanoth, pushing back with everything she has.
"I won't let you bastards win!"
Wendy is thrown back by a colossal worm. The entity doesn't even consider her a threat, instead turning down and burrowing into the world ship she stands on. Wendy is joined by Alice and her sons on the surface of the battleship, surrounded by broken and dying allies as the sky is covered in fire and death. Wendy stands as her body burns with the fires of Hell.
"We… Wendy, are you alright?" Alice asks.
"I… he's gone… and Zelestra… they're gone."
"… Then we're fucked."
"No… I'm never giving up."
The mad demon stands again, harnessing her power and transforming back into a great demon.
"Wendy, we've lost!"
"Never… that's what he showed me… that's what Dipper showed me. Never stop fighting. Never let them take you."
Alice gazes in disbelief, seeing Wendy fight against her obvious doom. Seeing her fighting against the end of all they love. Wendy charges across the exploding hull of the ship, finding the end of the giant worm slithering down to the core. She charges after the mindless creature, ripping and biting at its flesh to prevent it from destroying the ship. The monster ignores Wendy entirely, focusing only on dismantling the world ship. Wendy claws at the hide of the monster, ripping through its hide. She digs through the hardened skin and into the soft, vulnerable tissue. The innards of the beast are comprised of distorted chunks of reality, segmented and incased in stasis. Next Wendy rips apart the belly of the monster, battling against long forgotten species that have become the corrupted immune system of the worm. She rips and tears her way through the belly.
"You will burn!"
Wendy snarls and yells against the defenses of the monster. She begins to become overwhelmed by the swarm within the beast.
"I… will never let go…"
She is brought to the ground and the creatures within the worm prepare to destroy Wendy, snuffing out her great flame. But suddenly an arrow of starlight pierces through the swarm, incinerating most of them.
"You always run too far ahead!"
Alice and her sons enter the organic chambers, ripping and tearing away at the horde keeping Wendy down.
"Seriously, Wendy. At least wait for my kids and me to catch up so we can fuck up together."
"Sorry."
Wendy laughs as she stands again, gaining a second wind.
"You know me. I love a good fight. And one I'll lose is a really good fight."
Wendy and Alice carve their way to the heart of the beast. A glowing orb sits at the center of the mass of tissue. Alice and Wendy go to work on destroying the heart while Alice's sons defend against the defending cluster of devoured species.
"Mom, if we fail, at least we fail together."
"We aren't quitting yet, Jeff."
Alice dive kicks the orb, causing it to crack and break. Wendy rips the orb out of the attached tendrils and crushes it in her giant skeletal hands, killing the great worm. The beast thrashes about, sending Alice and Wendy flinging through the internal organs and stomachs. Wendy rips her way out of the monster, landing within the command room of the world ship. Alice and her children fly out of the dead monster, falling to the floor of the ship. The exhausted angels are picked up by Wendy. She carries her allies away from the ruined creature, whose corpse has become putrid and poisonous, capable of killing anything that breathes its corrupted air.
"We… we need to leave…" Wendy mutters. Running through the corridors of the ship, Wendy passes by the countless soldiers, living and mechanical. Many are dead already. Others beg for death, having gone insane from seeing the true strength of the gods. A massive dorsal fin slices through the entire ship, cleaving it in two.
"Fuck!"
Alice drops down from Wendy's skeletal form, looking around to regain her senses. She flies out of the damaged hull, looking for a way to escape the armies of hunger as they draw closer. Alice sees through the maw in existence. She sees the strength of the world coming against them. A slough of souls and minds mutated and forced to reproduce countless times, filling the dimension of Xexanoth to the brink. It is a world on the edge of collapse, forever devouring other galaxies as fuel.
"We're never going to beat this thing."
Alice is dragged from her thoughts by Wendy, who pulls her and her sons through space. The great demon aims for a broken goblin ship, having barely survived the hellfire unleashed by both sides of the conflict. Wendy returns to her human form, landing within the broken wreckage. Wendy runs to the front of the ship, searching for the wormhole generator.
"Come on, where is it?"
"What are you looking for?"
"The wormhole thingy. Aha!"
"Do you have any idea where we're going?!" Alice shouts.
"Anywhere but here!"
Wendy activates the still working wormhole generator. She pulls levers and presses the activation switch. The broken ship vanishes from the ruinous battle. Thousands of light years away, the wreckage crashes into the ground. Wendy and Alice stumble out of the ruined ship and onto the unknown world.
"I… fuck me." Alice mutters, coughing on dust and sand. Wendy looks around the dead planet. A seemingly endless desert extends to the horizon on every side, covering the barren world. Wendy walks back to the machine, checking the generator.
"Fuck… it's broken."
"So we're stuck."
"Better here than the frontlines."
"You're the idiot who went there in the first place."
"And you're the idiot who followed me."
Alice stifles a laugh. She followed Wendy into the heart of madness and is now lost on a dead world, far away from the battle.
"Yeah… you got me there."
"Well… we used the wormhole generator inside the galaxy. And those giant space squid-things with the big planet ships made it impossible to get in or out."
"So we're somewhere in our own galaxy. Is there a way to send out a distress beacon?"
Without warning, the ship explodes into a pile of rubble.
"No." Wendy replies flatly. A piece of the wreckage flies out of the explosion. The communications device lies at Alice's feet. She picks the device up and fiddles with it, but finds that its nearly broken, only capable of receiving messages.
"Does it work?" Wendy asks.
"Only the receiver. So we're stuck… we have to find out what planet we're on. Come on, kids."
Jeff looks up at the cold, dark sky.
"… I hope Waddles is doing better than we are."
"He'll be fine. He's just as powerful as Mabes and Dip." Wendy replies. The four stranded survivors begin moving out, attempting to find any sign of life. Wendy looks up at the sky. It is peaceful and calm, giving no glimpse to the heated war consuming the worlds around it. But Wendy can still feel the echoes of battle. The scars of existence rippling out like waves of despair and pain. As the four continue on their path, Wendy continues to look up at the stars. They appear peaceful despite the war growing overhead.
"Dip gave me a nickname once. Started calling me Taurgarus."
"Why?" Jeff asks.
"Named me after the constellation Taurus. I took it for a while… but I like Wendy more."
"… I guess he prefers Thamiezel as a name."
"I don't know. Sometimes… sometimes he's so… lost. Like he begins to wonder if everything he's done is pointless. And other times I can't see Dipper inside of him. It's just the vampire Thamiezel. Just a psychopath who hurts people."
"You still love war." Alice says.
"Yeah. I do." She says with a happy sigh.
Alice and Wendy remain motionless for a few moments, watching the universe turn overhead. Far away from the dead world, Pacifica is attempting to maintain order on the capital planet. A werewolf captain of the city guard meets with Pacifica and the twins' family in the throne room. She clasps her hands in thought, angry at the growing chaos. Even with her doubts, she is now the only one her people can rely on to lead in their darkest hour.
"Lady Pacifica, the vampires of Tul Gur are rioting. They're attempting to break free and leave the battle."
"I… Kill them all. If they won't help fight, then they'll feed the ones who will. I'm not going to lose this planet because of a couple of mindless psychos. And what's happening at the frontlines?"
"The angels have halted the assault… we… we believe Queen Zelestra is taken, but Inferno continues to press onward."
"Send Waddles and Bill to deal with them." Pacifica says, ignoring the heaviness in her chest at hearing her love has vanished.
"But then we leave our allies near the entryway of Xexanoth's horde."
"They can deal with it by themselves."
"We need more power. They're just toying with us. When they-"
"I know what's going to happen… we're… we're all going to be fucked… Prepare me a ship. We're going."
"Where?"
"Galaxy XZ Four Hundred."
"That is-"
"Where the star weavers were last seen. Get me my ship."
"If you leave, you won't make it back inside the galaxy."
"I don't care. We aren't going to lose. And no one knows we've left, got it? We're not abandoning our homes. We're finding someone to help."
Pacifica and her guards leave the throne. They find an unused ship at a military base. Pacifica steps inside the goblin ship, using her personal guard to escort her to the frontlines. They take her to where the fighting is weakest and pass through the shields. Even far away from the battle, Pacifica can feel the ruin. She can feel the torment and insanity. And she feels that it is simply the beginning.
"I… this can't be… what they wanted…"
Pacifica watches out of the window, seeing her home vanish from sight. The ship leaves the galaxy of Thamiezel behind, moving to the edges of the universe and the newly made cluster of stars.
On Cul-Cerberon, Elegor, Halstur, and his sister run through the streets, trying to help maintain order. Several goblin warships land within the capital. Within the ships lies a swarm of demons from the third circle of Hell, sent by Mammon to destroy the capital. The monsters begin to slaughter everyone, nearly effortlessly breaking through the defenses. Halstur and Elegor are forced to fight for their conquerors. They see the truth of Inferno's evil might. The creatures desecrate the world with the blood and souls of the innocent. They are mindless, desiring only to destroy the planet for the demon of greed. Elegor defends dozens of civilians with his vampiric power, harnessing the souls of the demons to maintain his energy. One of the greater demons approaches Elegor. The daunting gaze of the creature of Mammon bears down on Elegor's mind. And Elegor feels hot. He feels his skin burning. Everything is burning. The newest member of Dracula's line screams in horror as it's overwhelmed by the insanity of the war. Halstur attempts to defend his sister, but he is broken and beaten down by the onslaught of demons. They drag his sister away from the battle, taking her back through the gateway to the pits of Hell. Halstur screams in despair as the most important person in his life is taken from him. The war that was promised to end suffering has simply brought more ruin.
The demons continue to press forward, driving deeper into the heart of the homeworld. Eventually all that stands against them is a pair of tired and angry twins, Stanley and Stanford Pines.
"You want some?! Come get some!" they shout together. Stanley charges forward with a mace and Gatling gun while Stanford uses spiked brass knuckles, punching the infernal monsters in the face. The mad humans smash against the far more powerful demons, catching them by surprise. The desperate attack gives the vampires and demons of Thamiezel's host time to regroup. They encircle the beasts from Inferno, carving at their flesh and driving them back to the captured ships.
"No one fucks with my family but me!" Stanford shouts, screaming incoherently at the demons. They flee from the insane human as the greater vampires of the twins' army consume the spawn of Inferno. The ships are retaken by the defending army and used against another swarm of attacking demons. The twins themselves take control of one of the warships. They fire at the swarm of demons and their vessels, preventing what's left of the skirmishing demons from reaching the surface.
"Not bad, Lee."
"Same, Ford. I think… I think I want a drink."
"Not until we kill every last one of them."
As the twins aid in the defense of the capital, Bill Cipher and Waddles align against Inferno. The wheels of time continue turning. Days pass as Bill and the dragon battle without rest. The mind of Bill Cipher speaks to his dragon ally.
"This is it, ain't it?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. But I have learned that those mad twins are worth fighting for. That within their insane scheme, we may yet see an end to the wars of creation. And I will finally be free."
"Well, I've never been in a battle this big. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Funny. Never thought I'd go down fighting someone else's war."
Bill Cipher sees a great beast come from the gates of the eighth circle. The monster was built from the pain of billions of ruined souls, combined into a single mind that simply desires to torment. Bill Cipher releases the power he's harnessed over the thousands of years ruling his own deranged world. The power presses against the demon from the Malebolge, piercing the gigantic devil. The horned monster reaches for the dragon, utterly ignoring the power of Bill and the wave of flame and magma released by Waddles. The great demon grabs Waddles, dragging the continent sized dragon down into the depths of Inferno.
"Well fuck." Bill thinks, removing his hat and holding it over his heart.
The dragon vanishes from sight, imprisoned within the eternal prison to be tortured forever. Bill Cipher realizes that the monster could destroy the twins' galaxy by itself. So Bill uses his power to distort reality. Without the power to destroy the beast, he instead reverses the gate, banishing the demon back to the Malebolge. Then Bill retreats, exhausted by the endless fighting. The insanity of the battle begins to grow. Throughout the universe, pockets of demons and angels begin to sprout up, believing the other side to be bringing war to the cosmos. Demons from all corners of Inferno and angels from the highest reaches of Paradise prepare for the final battle as the mad god who drove them into fighting watches from afar, laughing at the insanity that threatens to consume them all.
On the dead world, Wendy and Alice continue walking. The sun has risen again on the planet.
"It's been seven days." Wendy says, staring up at the hot sun.
"I didn't think we'd last this long." replies Jeff.
"Well, we aren't human anymore. So that helps."
"I meant the whole galaxy. You'd think we'd have lost by now."
"I hope Jessie's safe." Joe, Alice's other son, mutters.
"If she's on Cul-Cerberon, she'll be fine. Hopefully they escape."
Wendy, Alice, Joe and Jeff continue marching through the desert. As they move west, they begin to see faint signs of life. A bird flies overhead. A simple creature resembling an eagle observes the stranded survivors. Wendy begins following the bird towards other signs of life. The four travelers begin to see a long line of green trees that extends for hundreds of miles in both directions.
"Hopefully we find someone that can help us off this damn rock." Wendy says.
"Yeah. Out of one shithole and into another."
Wendy smirks as Alice follows her to the row of green. They pass into the forest, finding signs of simple life. Creatures that resemble squirrels fly from tree to tree. Giant caterpillars crawl up the tree stumps, devouring the bark with their large jaws. A swarm of bugs resembling bees flies through, taking in the nectar from flowers.
"Where… where are we?" Wendy asks.
"It's weird… it looks familiar."
As the four continue moving through the lively world, they come upon a clearing. A lush utopia moves down into a deep chasm, extending for hundreds of miles before meeting a great mountain of black iron. Wendy and Alice continue deeper into the woods. The forests and wildlife bring back old memories for Wendy. Tears of sadness fall from her eyes as she remembers the world she once lived on so many years ago.
"It… it looks like Earth." whispers Alice.
"Yeah… do you remember, Alice?"
"A bit. I liked it… I wonder why Dipper never bothered rebuilding."
"… Whenever he talked about Earth, he started crying. It was like he was afraid. Afraid of his past."
"Never took him for someone who had regrets."
"I never took you for someone who can speak without cursing."
"Fuck you."
Alice and Wendy laugh as reminisce about the Earth. The sun sets in the west and a single moon rises in the sky. As the four move deeper into the forest, they hear music. The haunting melody echoes through the trees, taming wild spirits. It brings peace and happiness to all who hear it. Wendy feels the weight of her anger, fear, and bloodlust melt away.
Alice and Wendy begin to cry as they move closer to the harmonious music. The melodious sound dances playfully in their ears, letting them forget the pain of their past. They find the source of the long, beautiful song. A creature resembling a satyr, half man and half goat with two horns of oak, plays his music for the life of the forest.
"Who… ?" Wendy mutters.
The creature stops its song and turns to Wendy. The human-like man begins to pulse with a green aura. His veins glow with the life of the simple beings around him.
"Who are you?"
"I would ask you the same question."
"I… we crashed in the desert. We're trying to leave. Please… we need to find… we need to go home."
"Why are you trying to leave?"
"We… I lost two people I love. Paradise and Inferno took them. So I'm going to do anything I can to get them back."
"You… would fight against them?"
"Dip and Mabes did the same for me. They saved me. I'm not letting them down."
The woodsman smiles tenderly at Wendy. She meets his glimmering green eyes and sees them filled with love and pity for her plight.
"… You should stay instead. It's safer here."
"Safe? Have you seen what's going on out there? Everything's going down the drain." Alice says exasperatedly.
"I'm taking everything far away from here. I am a servant of Gaia. And I will take these spirits to her realm."
Wendy clenches her fists, frustrated at being trapped on the simple planet.
"… I can't give up. Not yet. Even if I fall, I won't abandon Mabel and Dipper… never." Wendy mutters.
"Where are you from?" asks the creature.
"Cul-Cerberon" Alice replies. The woodsman frowns and clenches his fists. Alice swallows nervously as the woodsman glares hatefully at the four interlopers.
"I know that name… so you four come from Thamiezel's homeworld?"
Wendy moves closer to the strange creature, looking deeply at his face. She sees the humanity in his changed appearance. And the love of the world that he saw turned to ash by Thamiezel's insanity.
"Who… who the heck are you?" Wendy asks.
"No one. I can't help you."
"We have to… I can't leave my friends."
"… There's nothing I can do."
"I… um… what's the name of this planet?"
"Earth. Long ago."
Alice and Wendy look around the changed world. They place the pieces of the puzzle together. Wendy gazes up at the sky, remembering the small fragments of Earth's constellations, now covered by hundreds more stars. Alice gazes at the iron mountain, suddenly recognizing the ruined fortress Thamiezel once ruled from, now claimed by Gaia's power and returned to a bed of life. Wendy looks back at the woodsman, the lonely protector of the renewed Earth. And she swallows, knowing that he saw Thamiezel when he was lost. When he was at his worst, a monster who tortured and destroyed simply for his own vile desires.
"If I could put it back the way it was, I would." Wendy says.
"Do you come from here?"
"I did… a long time ago."
Wendy sits down next to the woodsman as Alice and her children fly to the ruined tower, attempting to find a way off the planet in Thamiezel's abandoned stronghold.
"What's your name?"
"Wendy. Yours?"
"I… I'm the woodsman. Nothing more."
