I thought I was ready for the RWBY finale. I was wrong. Dead wrong. (Get it? Cause people died... I'll see myself out.)
Anyways, I am nearly done with Arc II! I'll probably need two or three more chapters to wrap everything up (sort-of). Thanks for reading.
MCZ: Nice observation. The answer to your question lies below.
"Kozilek is that thing?" Daretti asked, pointing to the emerging Eldrazi. "I was expecting something bigger."
"No, Kozilek has likely surfaced elsewhere, probably Sea Gate." Ataldis explained. "This is simply one of its larger spawn. I'm going to call it… It That Consumes."
"What does Kozilek do, anyway?" Daretti wondered aloud.
"Kozilek is a powerful manipulator of reality." Ataldis answered. "His very presence twists loyalties, makes basic facts meaningless, turns you against yourself, and refutes all logic as we know it."
"Ah! He's a politician, then!" Daretti shouted excitedly. (AN: Kozilek 2016 - Make the Multiverse Great Again)
"You can think of it that way, yeah." Ataldis responded. "But right now, we should really be running like hell."
Daretti looked upward at the Eldrazi. The black glass shifted downward, toward the monstrosity's midsection. It pointed its black, insectoid arms at the two planeswalkers. The eyes all along its arms fixed on its intended targets.
Then it began to devour the ground. Unlike the Ulamog spawn, it left not a trail of white bone but a multicolored bismuth-like material, which now spread rapidly towards Ataldis and Daretti.
"Oh crap!" the goblin shouted.
He pulled a lever on his wheelchair and he rocketed out of the attack's path. Ataldis stumbled after him. Bismuth corruption reached Daretti's two turrets and cascaded over where the planeswalkers we just standing.
Black glass triangles began forming over the turrets now firmly in Kozilek's trail. They turned their barrels at the two planeswalkers.
"Seriously?" Daretti moaned.
"I told you he could twist loyalties, right?" Ataldis responded.
"Shatter!" Daretti shouted.
The red blast of mana Daretti released connected with one of the turrets and it instantly exploded. The panes of black glass above the turret disappeared.
"Naturalize!" Ataldis said.
Vines spontaneously grew in the other turret and ruptured it from the inside. Then Ataldis doubled over in pain.
"What's wrong?" Daretti asked.
"Mana deficiency." Ataldis answered. "Ahh!"
His form flickered, then stabilized.
"You good?" The goblin asked again.
"Yeah." Ataldis confirmed. Then his voice carried a tone of incredible fright: "We need to find Jaune and get off Zendikar. Now."
Jaune struggled to keep the lines intact. The kor were faltering as the Eldrazi slammed into them. He looked back.
Good. No Eldrazi from that direction.
He knew he should trust Ataldis and Daretti to do their part - hell, he had to trust them, but he just couldn't shake off the feeling of suspicion about his former mentor.
"How are we doing?" he asked Nahira
The Stoneforge Mystic swung her sword through three Eldrazi Scions.
"Not well." she responded. "We're being pushed back and two of those huge ones are coming right at us."
"The Desolation Twins? I have a plan. Rally the kor." Jaune commanded.
Nahira began shouting orders, and the dozens of kor that remained began to form ranks right in the shadow of the two skyscraper-size Eldrazi. The kor wielded their swords, pikes, and hooks against the eldritch might of the Desolation Twins.
"Bold Defense!" Jaune shouted.
The weapons of the kor began to glow. They sliced through Eldrazi Scions like knives through butter, but still they could not hold back against the goliaths before them. One of the humongous Eldrazi raised its arm above what looked like its head and brought it crashing down upon the soldiers.
"Make a Stand!"
Jaune spread his arms out, and a white bubble of mana spread outward. The Eldrazi's arm slammed against the energy shield, but it stood firm.
"Smite the Monstrous!"
Nahira gathered mana in the palms of her hands. She aimed her arms at the Desolation Twin. Projectiles of pure white mana shot out of her hands and impaled themselves in the Eldrazi's body. It let out an unearthly scream and crashed to the ground.
The other kor cheered at the victory and charged the remaining Desolation Twin.
Jaune struggled to keep his mana forcefield intact as he moved with the small force. Their blades - still shining white - cut into the Eldrazi. The abomination staggered as its legs were cut out from under it by dozens of tiny white-hot blades.
Jaune looked out at the battlefield. Two massive Eldrazi were defeated, and the smaller drones and scions were either dead or retreating.
"We can do this!" Jaune said excitedly.
He would regret saying that a second later.
Then the ground shook and a new set of scions appeared from the cracks. Then another massive Eldrazi appeared, with insectoid arms and black glass triangles around its midsection.
Jaune heard an otherworldly sound. It sounded almost like… laughter. Then almost inaudible voices rang out:
"Kozilek…" they whispered. "Kozilek…"
Jaune looked around and saw the source of the whispers. Above his former comrades floated the same shards of glass around the massive Eldrazi.
Nahira turned to face him, her eyes changed to eerie chromatic bismuth.
"You." She addressed Jaune with no emotion but anger. "Collaborated with Ataldis, the heretic. Come face the wrath of Kozilek."
She raised her arms and the world began to refract around her fingertips.
"No, Nahira!" Jaune shouted.
He leapt to avoid a wave of distortion that cascaded from Nahira's outstretched hands. The patch of ground where Jaune had just stood on shot up a meter into the air, spun around rapidly, then fell into a dimension he could not comprehend.
Then Jaune heard a loud bang from his right, and Nahira collapsed. He looked over and saw Daretti with his shotgun, with Ataldis coming up behind him. Smoke came out of the barrel.
"Thank… you…" Nahira whispered from the ground. The black triangles above her dissolved.
Ataldis dipped his head.
"Nature's Spiral" he said solemnly.
Nahira's body dissolved into the ground.
The rest of the kor - still under Eldrazi control - brandished their weapons at the three planeswalkers. Two huge Kozilek spawn appeared to either side, each with hundreds of insectoid Eldrazi Scions.
"Jaune, we've got to go." Ataldis asserted.
"No! I have a promise to keep!" Jaune cried out.
"Yeah? Well, look around! You failed!" Ataldis shouted exasperatedly.
"Ataldis!" Daretti scolded.
"I'm not leaving!" Jaune said desperately.
The kor charged. The Eldrazi scrambled forward. The bismuth trail of Kozilek closed in, nearly touching where Jaune stood.
"No!" Ataldis cried.
He tackled Jaune. Daretti grabbed them both. And the world went black.
Kozilek's Domination 3UU
Enchantment - Aura {U}
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.
"If you hear his laughter, you fall under his spell."
—General Tazri, allied commander