"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Kujo," Peach said. Jotaro Kujo, a tall, muscular man of great strength and few words, stood before her.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Jotaro said. His tone was cool and professional, just as it had been at Sandwide Station, where they'd first met – although Peach suspected that he was a younger or alternate version of Koojo, the person who had taught her about the Ripple arts. Still, she got the feeling that despite his aura of indifference, he was a good man at heart.
A couple of Lumas floated towards them, carrying trays of food and drink. Jotaro grabbed a donut with Star Bit sprinkles from the tray and bit into it. "Hmm… honey," he commented. "It's been some time since I had something that tasted like proper honey."
"In any case, we want to hire you as a consultant for our upcoming task," Micaiah said, also grabbing a donut. "You'll be paid well, of course, though it might be a bit dangerous."
Jotaro finished his donut and washed it down with a glass of sparkling red juice. "Does this have to do with that knight guy at Sandwide Station?"
"It does," Peach said. "We believe that an organization called the Apex was responsible for both the incident at Sandwide Station as well as the kidnapping of Rosalina, the creator and captain of this ship."
"Wait, why do you think the Apex is responsible?" Micaiah asked.
"I'm getting to that." Peach waited until Jotaro finished his drink, then leaned in and looked him right in the eyes. "Jotaro, I'd like to know more about your ability to stop time."
Jotaro blinked. He dropped his empty glass, but one of the Lumas flew in and grabbed it just before it hit the ground. But his momentary lapse of composure faded just as quickly as it came, replaced by a stony gaze and deep scowl. "You figured that out, huh?" he muttered.
"I've seen super-speed and various forms of teleportation, but your abilities didn't quite match with any of them," Peach said. "There are other explanations, I'm sure, but I figured that a localized time-stop spell was the simplest."
"It's not a spell," Jotaro said. An invisible presence, identical to the one Peach had felt back at Sandwide Station, manifested above him. "Can you see it?"
"I can't see it, but I can sure feel it," Micaiah said. "That's a Stand, isn't it?"
The invisible presence faded slightly, but didn't go away completely. "Who are you, exactly?"
"I am Micaiah, former Love-God of the Apex." Micaiah bowed to him. "I've fought other Stand users in the past, but stopping time seems positively mundane compared to the abilities they possessed."
"It's considered bad form to reveal the abilities of one's Stand to another person," Jotaro said. "Only fools and braggarts do it. I am neither."
"We'll double your pay," Micaiah said.
"Triple it," Peach said. "And… I promise that this information won't leave the Observatory. I swear it on my honour as Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom."
Jotaro looked expectantly at Micaiah.
"Yeah, I won't tell anyone either," she said. "Besides, if I really wanted to know the abilities of your Stand, I could just read your mind."
Jotaro chuckled to himself. "I was off by a degree of separation, but I was almost right about your mind-reading abilities, Peach."
"Please, Jotaro. There are a lot of lives on the line," Peach said.
"…My Stand's name is Star Platinum. It's a humanoid Stand that possesses above-human strength, durability and precision." The presence around Jotaro intensified, and this time, Peach saw the ghostly outline of an arm to the left of his head. "I once thought it had above-human speed as well, but I learned through practice that it is a limited ability to slow down time, and with further practice, I learned to stop it entirely for a few seconds at a time."
"So the time-stop has a limited duration?" Peach asked.
"I can handle about five seconds comfortably. If I push myself, I can go up to ten or fifteen, but I risk blacking out or serious injury to myself if I go any farther than that."
"And you're sure it's actually stopping time, right? You're not just accelerating your speed and perception?" Micaiah asked.
"There are a whole host of physics problems associated with super speed," Jotaro said. "For one, I would deliver much more force with my punches, enough to reduce both my arms and my opponents to mush on contact. There are also problems with friction, acceleration and deceleration, and others. Even if my Stand protected me from those effects, it has little reason to protect opponents in the same way. So yes, I am very sure that I am stopping time."
"I see." Micaiah pondered for a moment. "So let's assume that the Over-God can stop time too, either by another Stand or by some other method. We also have to assume that he has the Triforce of Power, so he can likely use it to stop time for a much greater duration. Can you think of any way to defeat someone like that?"
"I have never fought anyone else who could stop time, but it seems reasonable to me that two people who could stop time would be immune to one another's powers," Jotaro said. "Or at least, one could stop time before the other and defeat them before the effect wore off."
"But I doubt that's the Over-God's only trick," Peach said. "If he has the Triforce of Power, then he probably has supernaturally-enhanced abilities as well."
"And if he was able to bind a creator deity to the Titan of Love, he may have divine protection too," Micaiah said.
"And you plan on fighting this guy?" Jotaro said. "It seems to me that you'd be better off forgetting him and running away."
"No, we have to defeat the Over-God for the good of everyone in the universe," Peach said adamantly. "I'm sure we can find a way to defeat him, but the first point of order is getting around his time stop. Jotaro, do you know any way for us to duplicate Star Platinum's powers?"
"I don't know much about Stands, actually. I randomly developed mine after I left my home world, and I've read a few books about them here and there, but I don't know how one goes about developing a Stand or replicating its powers. I do know that a Stand is bound to a specific user's consciousness, and I don't think they're transferable."
"In that case…" Peach unfastened the blue brooch on her dress and handed it to him. "This is an Aja stone. I used it in combination with a mask to become what my enemy at the time called an 'Ultimate Life Form'."
"What do you want me to do with it?" Jotaro asked.
"I can replicate the Stone Mask and give you-" She glanced at Micaiah as well "-both of you the same powers. Jotaro, you'll be able to stop time for a much longer duration, and Micaiah, your divine magic will be greatly powered up. Then we'll have a better chance of defeating him."
"I'll pass," Jotaro said, handing the brooch back to her. "I'm happy with my strength as is. And if this Over-God is as deadly as you think, we won't beat him with power alone."
"Likewise," Micaiah said. "We can certainly keep it in mind as a last resort, but I think we need to fight smarter, not harder."
"…I suppose you're both right," Peach said. "And… well, I've had enough issues with my own power, and I wouldn't wish that upon either of you."
"Yeah," Micaiah said. "So, let's focus on overcoming time-stopping for now."
And so, for the next few weeks, the three of them went all across the universe, looking for a way to overcome the Over-God's assumed ability to stop time. Peach first consulted the Book of Minwu, and while it contained spells like Haste and Slow, those only altered the target's perception and physical speed, and didn't actually affect the flow of time itself. She then went to the Mushroom World and poured over as many magical tomes as she could get her hands on, but even those that contained so-called "time stop" spells worked identically to those in the Book of Minwu, freezing perceptions instead of time.
Even the Star Rod, an artifact that could itself grant wishes, was limited in this sense. As Eldstar, one of the honoured guardians of Star Haven, had explained, the Star Rod's influence ended at the edge of the Mushroom World's atmosphere; as such, it would lose its powers if brought beyond the threshold, and she in turn would lose any abilities it granted her.
Micaiah took on the task of meeting with Rosalina's contacts, both to find out more about time magic as well as to gather allies for the inevitable assault on the Apex's Throne. None of them could provide an effective means of countering the Over-God's abilities, but she did find out one useful bit of trivia: Rosalina was a being that existed partly outside of their universe's timeline, and thus would be unaffected by any "local" (that is, affecting only one universe) time-stop effect.
Finally, Jotaro set out to research Stands, largely for his own sake. He found out a bit more about their origins, and did find out that there were ways of transferring Stands between two people, but failed to find any specific way to do that.
But two weeks into their researching montage, while the three of them were recuperating on the Observatory after several long days of work, a timer expired.
As Peach was flipping through the Book of Minwu, trying to divine some way to gain more knowledge from it, she felt an odd burning sensation on her forehead. She reached up to feel whatever was causing it, running her hands over a cold metallic object that she definitely hadn't put there before. She ripped it off of her forehead, revealing that it was the mask-shaped device Meta Knight had given her – and its eyes were red and glowing.
Her three months were up.
Sure enough, as soon as she realized exactly what that meant, a loud alarm sounded across the entire Observatory. A small, armour-clad figure with a long dark cape folded in front of her: Meta Knight, the Warrior-God of the Apex.
"Greetings again, Princess Peach," Meta Knight said, bowing to her to the best of his ability. "You have been quite busy in these past three months, it seems."
"I have," Peach said. "And I'm confident that I can defeat you now. But I have a proposal for you, Meta Knight, one that you may find quite agreeable."
But before Peach could propose her proposal, Micaiah, Jotaro and a bunch of Lumas ran toward them. Meta Knight glanced at them quickly and dismissed them, but did a double-take and looked at Micaiah again.
"Hello, Warrior-God," Micaiah said.
"To you as well, former Love-God," Meta Knight responded. "I was aware of your defection, but I did not know you were working with Princess Peach… how interesting."
"I had a change in priorities," she said. "You're here to fight Peach, right?"
"About that," Peach interrupted. "Meta Knight, I heard from one of my sources that you consider yourself about on par with the Over-God, is that right?"
"Heavens, no. The Over-God is my superior in strength, speed and skill," Meta Knight said. "But that does not stop me from continuing my training, that I might one day overcome Him."
"So you don't have any loyalty to him or the Apex," Peach said. "Then why not join up with us? We all have the common goal of defeating the Over-God, but individually, we're not strong enough to challenge him – but if we team up, we might stand a chance."
Meta Knight shook his head-body. "You underestimate Him. He could defeat four of us just as easily as He could defeat one of us."
"But we know about his ability to stop time," Micaiah said, "and we've spent over half a month working to overcome that particular disadvantage. With a bit more time-"
"With a bit more time, you will die just as easily as you would with a hundred lifetimes of research. It is pointless to consider such a thing, because it is currently impossible."
"Nothing is impossible," Peach said. "But at the same time, I owe you a duel, so I will honour our arrangement. And once that's over, we'll go back to finding a way to defeat him."
"You have no doubt improved, but you will not win our duel." Meta Knight summoned his sword in a flash of light. "First, we will select our weapons. I choose my sword, the Galaxia."
"I choose Grim the parasol." Peach expanded her parasol from her bracelet.
"Very well. This will be a one-on-one duel – no outside interference of any kind will be tolerated. You may use your weapon, your body and any skills you possess, so long as they do not come from an external source."
"May I use my options?" Peach asked, splitting off two infant-sized Peaches from her back.
"They are a part of your body, so I will allow it, but you may not have more than two active at any time. Do you agree to this?"
"I do," Peach said. "I knew you said I wasn't cheating in our previous fight, but I would feel like I broke the rules if I pulled the same stunt again."
"Who is the overseer of the duel?" Micaiah asked.
"The Over-God," Meta Knight said. "He has expressed interest in watching you fight, Princess."
Which, Peach realized, likely meant that he was going to eliminate her even if she won the duel with Meta Knight. And judging by the look on Micaiah's face, she was thinking the same thing too. Even Jotaro's stoic façade let slip the slightest bit of concern.
"The arena has been prepared so that neither of us will have any significant advantages," Meta Knight continued. "The duel will end only when one of us dies. There will be no forfeiting or postponements. Do you agree to these terms?"
Peach nodded. "I agree to your terms, Warrior-God of the Apex."
The four of them – Peach, Meta Knight, Micaiah and Jotaro – stood in place as the Observatory folded away, leaving them standing in the center of an enormous metal arena. Rows upon rows of stadium-style seats, each filled with an inert Knight of Apex, lined three quarters of the perimeter around the flat circular plane; the last quarter was slightly raised, and held an elaborate throne with the symbol of the Apex floating above, shining brightly. Upon the throne was a man with dark greenish skin and bright red hair, wearing black armour and with two glowing triangles tattooed on his right hand.
No doubt that was the Over-God: Peach could feel his overwhelming power even from a distance. At the side of his throne was Rosalina, her hands, feet and throat bound in thorned purple vines, her body limp and her expression blank. Her bang had been ripped away, revealing that she still possessed the Triforce of Wisdom within her body – which meant that the Over-God had the other two pieces.
"Wait," Peach said, looking at Micaiah and Jotaro. "They're not part of the duel. Send them back to the Observatory."
"It hardly matters," Jotaro said. "The Over-God's going to kill us regardless. We might as well watch the duel before we die."
Micaiah nodded in agreement. "He likely knows that we've been researching time-stop spells, so he wants to nip that in the bud before we become an actual threat."
If they had only had more time…
"Go there," Meta Knight said, pointing to two empty seats at the edge of the ring. Once Micaiah and Jotaro took their seats, a semitransparent red force field popped into existence around the ring, then just as quickly faded. Peach could still feel the energy of the force field coursing around them, but it blocked her from sensing anything beyond, including the Over-God's power, Rosalina's condition or Micaiah's telepathic link.
"Do not forget our deal, Warrior-God!" the Over-God said, his voice deep and possessed of the same unearthly quality that Rosalina had had.
"What does he mean by that?" Peach asked.
"I attempted to block the Love-God's fleet from attacking your world, but I was unsuccessful," Meta Knight said. "The Over-God found out, and… He was not pleased. My fate is sealed, but He had the grace to grant me one final duel before my death."
"Then why don't we fight together? You have nothing to lose!" Peach pleaded.
"Even if I did think we stood a chance against Him, it is too late. The force field will only lift when one of us dies." Meta Knight raised his sword. "Now, Princess! This will be the last fight for both of us, so let us make it a duel the universe itself will remember!"
Peach gritted her teeth and held Grim close to her heart. She took a deep breath, and to her surprise, generated quite a bit of Ripple; despite the arena seemingly floating in the middle of space, as evidenced by the starry sky above, the atmosphere was oxygenated. "I'm ready."
Meta Knight started by swinging his sword at incredible speed, just like last time; but Peach's training had paid off, and she was able to react to his movements and block his sword beam with her parasol. One of her options buffed her with Saber, Haste, Protect and Shell, while the other threw down a Force Barrier around them.
But even with Haste, Meta Knight was still too quick for her to follow with her eyes. She fired a few 'tag' spells at him, but he easily dodged or intercepted them with more sword beams. Just like last time, he was slowed down as he entered the effects of the Force Barrier, but he was still fast enough to slice right through Peach's body – only to be baffled when her body, options and the Force Barrier itself dissipated into nothingness.
Meta Knight looked around, only to see five more Peaches, each with options and Force Barriers, scattered around the arena. He swung his sword several times in succession, sending sword beams at each of them, but they all intercepted with Hexagon Barriers around their parasols and reflected the energy back at him. He dodged each attack easily by flying upwards, only to run into two more Peaches and a Rosalina, the latter of which playfully tapped the top of Meta Knight's head with her wand.
A string of luminescent pearls hit Meta Knight in the back, sending him spiraling out of control. His bat-like wings spread out and created enough drag for him to regain his (aerial) footing, and he looked down to see an enormous shaggy monster wearing Peach's dress preparing another Pearl spell.
"Illusions," Meta Knight muttered. "She means to not only defeat me, but humiliate me in the process." He flew at the monster, expecting to dispel it simply by flying into it – and collided with its shaggy fur, stopping instantly but not even causing the beast to flinch. It grabbed Meta Knight with one of its hands and slammed him against the ground, but he severed its arm before it could do it a second time – and though the monster dissipated, a deep gash opened up on Meta Knight's left side.
Peach and her options reappeared in place of the giant monster, dispelling her Vanish and Blink effects. The tip of her parasol was alight with a blade of pink energy.
"You're right," she said. "I do mean to humiliate you in front of the Over-God. You'll forever be remembered as the God of Apex that lost to pretty lights and a woman in a pink dress."
"You need to work on your insults," Meta Knight said. "I have endured far worse."
"Oh, I know. I was just distracting you while I put another Confuse spell on you."
Peach vanished, and in her place appeared nearly a hundred Peach doppelgangers, interspersed with a few doppelgangers of Micaiah, Jotaro, Rosalina and Meta Knight himself. Meta Knight used his Mach Tornado attack, generating a vortex of orange energy around himself by spinning at high speed, and charged headfirst into the crowd; but he felt another cut open on his body as he made contact with one of his own doppelgangers.
Meta Knight paused for a moment, realizing that the entire crowd was now copies of him. They charged at him from every angle, but he found an opening and flew toward the edge of the arena – and right into one of Peach's options. The option giggled as it created the ghostly image of a clock turning backwards behind it, vanishing just before Meta Knight ran it through with his sword.
The swarm of Meta Knight illusions continued toward him, but they seemed to be speeding up; either that, or, as he suspected, he was slowing down. He fired several sword beams at the horde, but each defeated illusion left another small cut somewhere on his body. He wasn't bleeding badly just yet, but the damage was accumulating quickly.
"Of course, those Slow and Confuse spells were just distractions too."
Meta Knight turned around to see the Peach option again, still giggling. He slashed it several times, but his sword passed through the option each time without dissipating the illusion.
"Fight me like a proper warrior!" Meta Knight screamed.
"I'm following the rules of the duel," the Peach option said. "These spells are part of my skillset, so I'm allowed to use them, no?"
"You make a mockery of this duel! Were you a true warrior, you would face me without any trickery or deceit!"
"That's the thing, Meta Knight – I'm not a proper warrior," the Peach option said, its squeaky voice suddenly turning serious. "I don't have the same 'warrior spirit' that you do. I don't like to fight or kill. But if I have to do it, I'm going to play to my strengths, and that's deceiving and outthinking my opponents."
"You are making a sport of this duel!" Meta Knight screamed, his rage building." I sensed your power and potential back on Sandwide Station, and that is why I let you go! I expected to get a proper sendoff, but instead I am being toyed with by a child!"
"Then why not join us? We could defeat the Over-God together. Wouldn't that be a worthy test of your power?"
"Enough!"
Meta Knight exploded in a burst of orange energy strong enough to leave scorch marks across the arena's entire floor. Peach, who was hiding in one of the arena's corners, shielded herself with Grim and a Prismatic Barrier that reflected most of the energy back, but the heat of the blast left burn marks on her arms and face.
Peach came out from behind her parasol, patched up her burns with Therapy, and looked at Meta Knight's new form. He was about twice the size as previous, with the same relative proportions, although his arms and legs were a bit longer. His previously dark-blue body and wings were now jet black, and his eyes were bright red and diamond-shaped, with the symbol of the Apex visible within. His sword Galaxia was longer and had two extra sets of spikes. His entire body was covered in a flame-like aura of orange energy.
"I am Meta Knight, Warrior-God of the Apex," he declared, pointing his sword at Peach. "I have had enough of your tricks, woman. Now we will fight for real."
"Why didn't you just transform at the beginning of our fight?" Peach asked.
But Meta Knight refused to answer, instead charging at her with wordless fury. His aura lashed out as bolts of lightning, striking around Peach and dispelling the Vanish and Blink spells she tried to put up. She raised Grim and created another sword-like construct at its tip, while at the same time putting up several Hexagon Barriers around the canopy.
Meta Knight slashed wildly at her with his sword, but her Haste and Saber let her parry most of the blows, and her Hexagon Barriers absorbed the excess kinetic force and energy from his aura. He reared back and shot his aura forward as an explosive sphere, but Peach released the stored energy in Grim and detonated it early, flooding the entire arena in orange light.
Once the light and smoke faded, Meta Knight reignited his aura and looked around for Peach, who had predictably vanished in the aftermath of the explosion. He again fired bolts of lightning from his aura at random spots of the arena's floor, methodically hitting every square inch to make sure he wouldn't lose sight of her again.
So of course, Peach descended from above and struck him on the back with a hammer construct. He tumbled through midair but had enough control to fire another aura ball upwards, but Peach was expecting it this time; she reflected half back with a Prismatic Barrier, while storing the rest with Hexagon Barriers. The arena was again blinded by light, but Meta Knight reached out with his own ability to sense magic and targeted Peach's presence.
This time, when he reignited his aura, it took the shape of a giant crustacean-like monster. The monster opened its claws and fired aura balls by the dozens, while Meta Knight himself added several sword beams a second to the barrage. Peach's barriers held admirably, but the dakka eventually overwhelmed her and broke through her barriers. She fell to the ground, badly burned by the heat of Meta Knight's fighting spirit.
Peach's magic presence faded. Meta Knight dismissed his aura and flew at Peach's falling body, stabbing her multiple times and dispelling the illusion with a final thrust, revealing a group of Sensory Bombs clustered together in a vaguely humanoid shape. Meta Knight's senses were overwhelmed by intense light and sound, and he tumbled to the ground once again.
Peach reappeared above him, having cloaked her presence with an invisible Prismatic Barrier, and unleashed the force she'd stored up in her two dozen Hexagon Barriers. The continuous stream of orange energy, mixed with her own rainbow-coloured FP, rained down on Meta Knight, melting the metal floor around him into slag. He tried to raise his aura to protect himself, but his Ki had run dry, despite the fact that he should have more than enough reserves for a basic shield.
Finally, after using up the energy stored in her hexagons, Peach wiped the sweat from her brow and collapsed Grim into its bracelet form. Meta Knight was still alive, but barely – the Silence spell she'd put in that attack seemed to seal his Ki as well, and she doubted he had much strength or stamina left.
She did know why he hadn't transformed at the start of their duel: that particular transformation was very energy-intensive, meant to quickly finish off an enemy at the expense of longevity. And to be fair, she only barely managed to contain half of the force of the second giant aura ball, and she would've been quite hurt if she'd taken the whole thing head-on. But she'd managed to weather it with more barriers and more trickery, and as such, she was confident that she'd won the duel. And she'd even done it without revealing too much about her fighting style to the Over-God.
But the duel wouldn't end until one of them was dead.
Peach flew down to Meta Knight's body. He was in surprisingly good shape after the attack, only sporting a few burns on his arms and sides, but he was definitely in no shape to continue. His mask had been burnt off or destroyed during the attack, and to Peach's surprise…
…he was rather cute.
"Here." Peach knelt down and used a weak Therapy spell, just enough to give him a bit of stamina back. He immediately reached for his sword, but she put her foot down hard on the blade.
"You…" Meta Knight sputtered. "You need to finish me."
"I don't intend to kill you," Peach said. "Even if you don't want to assist us against the Over-God, I'll still let you go."
"Why…?"
"Because I now see the potential in you." Peach again knelt down and looked him right in the eyes. "There's nothing wrong with trying to become stronger. In fact, I respect you for having such dedication to your craft. But I think you could be so much better than you are."
"How foolish…" With some effort, Meta Knight got into a sitting position. His body was heavy with fatigue, but his eyes still shone with the same burning intensity she'd seen back on Sandwide Station. "I am a weapon with the ability to speak, nothing else. My entire life revolves around fighting to get stronger."
"And you've never wanted to do anything else?"
"No."
"Then why do it for the Apex? Why not strike out on your own?"
"It is a matter of convenience. The Apex has many enemies, some of them worthy of a challenge. When they prove too powerful for the Knights, I am sent in to deal with them. I practice my craft, and the Apex spreads its influence further."
"What if I told you that I don't intend on destroying the Apex?" Peach gestured to Micaiah, still sitting on the sidelines of the arena. "Once we overthrow the Over-God, Micaiah will take control of the Apex and start doing things on her own terms. They won't gut other worlds' cultures anymore, nor will they force others to accept their gifts on pain of death. But they'll still have enemies that need to be dealt with, and they'll need a powerful enforcer."
"I could never bear to work for her," he said. "If she takes control of the Apex, then I will kill her myself."
"Just because she's not physically powerful doesn't mean she's not a threat. She managed to restrain me quite successfully, and I'm sure she could do the same for you." Peach got up and turned away from him. "No matter what you think, you can choose a different path for yourself, Meta Knight. Or, you can continue on the same path and end up dead at the hands of the Over-God."
Meta Knight grabbed his sword. "I won't be lectured by some bleeding-heart woman about how to live my life. I am a proud warrior, and I deserve a worthy death. And if you do not give it to me, then I will get it at the hands of the Over-God by killing you. Now make your own choice – who will leave this arena alive, you or me?"
"I was hoping to reason with you." Peach snapped her fingers, creating a ring of pure white energy around Meta Knight. He tried to escape its effect, but an invisible force field, cylindrical in shape, trapped him on all sides. The ring quickly filled in, becoming a full circle, and released a stream of holy energy upward, only barely contained by the force field around. The light faded just as quickly as it came, leaving no trade of the Warrior-God's body behind.
That was the second offensive spell she'd learned from the Book of Minwu, aptly named "Fade". It was designed for a wider area of effect, but she'd focused its effects as much as she could, not only to make sure his body wasn't desecrated by the Over-God, but… well, hopefully he would have considered that a 'worthy' death.
And with Meta Knight's passing, the force field over the arena faded.
"Excellent, excellent!" the Over-God said, clapping sarcastically at the end of the battle. "Yes, he was an amusing pawn for a time, but he far outlived his usefulness."
The Over-God rose from his Throne and descended from upon high, cloaked in an aura of purple flames. Micaiah and Jotaro ran over to Peach, preparing her magic and his Stand in what was likely a futile attempt to fight a being that far outclassed them in every way.
"Normally, I would offer you all a position in My Apex, but we all know that you would never take it. So instead, I will give you the honour of dying by My hand! Allow me to show you the power of The World!"