Chapter 38

Darkfall

Run!

Before any other thought could be processed, her instincts screamed at her to run!

So she did.

Madoka dashed away from the balcony, screaming an incoherent warning at everybody else in the area, a Flowmotion aura surrounding her. Behind her, she heard the deafening roar of the ship as it plowed through the castle, smashing through pillars and walls.

As she ran, she realized that many of the others weren't as fast as her. In desperation, she held out her hands and shouted "Aero!"

A blast of wind surged through the hallway, sending the Asgardians in front of her flying forwards and pushing them away from the ship.

Eventually, Madoka came to a halt, falling to the ground as the ship grinded to a halt.

She rolled over onto her back, gasping for air. As she was recovering, she heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw several guards rushing in, weapons drawn and shields raised as they approached the ship. Madoka rose to her feet as they took formation, donning her costume and summoning Crystal Clarity.

Looking forwards, Madoka realized this was one of the Dark Elf ships that Odin had shown her in the hologram. That meant they could only be here for one thing. She tensed as the hatch to the ship began to slowly open and mentally prepared herself for the invaders to emerge.

Then, the plasma guns on the ship opened fire, catching everyone off guard. Several guards raised their shields too slowly and were shot down. Madoka managed to deflect the plasma beams with her Keyblade, and then she rolled to the side at the watery sound that signified the arrival of Heartless.

True to her senses, Shadows and Neoshadows emerged, charging forwards, while at the same time, Dark Elf troopers exited from the ship, opening fire.

One of them pulled a grenade like device from their belt and hurled it. Madoka dove to the side and then watched in horror as the weapon detonated, creating something akin to a black hole, sucking a soldier in, who screamed as his body was crushed.

Shock filled Madoka, though her grip on Crystal Clarity intensified, and she turned and swung it at a Shadow that leaped towards her. She couldn't let herself get distraught now. She transformed Crystal Clarity into it's bow form and began opening fire on the enemy, each shot sending elves flying into the air. They were clearly here for Nagisa. She couldn't let them pass.

As she fought, she noticed among the Elves emerging from the ship, there was one who didn't wear a mask.

Malekith! Madoka recognized. She watched as the Dark Elf King drew a black hole grenade and hurled it at the throne. The black hole formed and ripped Odin's golden throne to pieces.

If he got to Nagisa, it was all over. Madoka transformed Crystal Clarity back into its Keyblade form and leaped towards Malekith, only to be intercepted by several Dark Elves. She ducked beneath the sword swing of one and kicked them away, before narrowly avoiding a shot from anothers bowcaster. She smacked them with her Keyblade, unleashed a Thunder spell to blast away more of them, and then turned to strike at Malekith. Her blow was intercepted by a Heartless wielding a massive shield on which a monstrous, snarling face.

"Princess. Though I have greater priorities, be assured that your time will come." Malekith said in a deep voice as Madoka attempted to maneuver past the Heartless. He drew a strange crystal that glowed with a sickly green-black light. He crushed it within his hands and then hurled it down to the ground, from where a disgusting looking slime oozed out. It spread out, forming into a magic circle that reminded Madoka of how she had summoned Ramuh. "Great spirit! Come forth!"

The slime bubbled and steamed, releasing a greasy looking fog cloud. A pair of glowing red eyes filled with malevolence emerged from the foul fog. Before Madoka could react, the cloud streaked forwards, engulfing her in a world of disgust and horror.

The city was in chaos. Kyoko dashed out of the way as a burning building collapsed near her, blasted apart by one of the ships streaking across the city, the viking longboat ships were in pursuit, though the Dark Elf ships were faster because they used the bladed edge to plow through buildings and turrets.

Kyoko swerved as she ran, barely avoiding the flaming wreckage as one of the longships came crashing down towards her. Mid-leap she slashed at a winged heartless, destroying it, only to turn and narrowly dodge a fireball.

Kyoko rolled away, coming up to face one of the robed Elves. They were like Heartless, Kyoko noted, appearing out of dark corridors and dispersing into darkness when slain. The creature held out its hand, and a fireball streaked out. Kyoko ducked beneath the spell and then thrust upwards with her spear, impaling the Shadow Elf and destroying it. She then looked up at the ships battling in the sky.

This wasn't some skirmish battle, it wasn't a raid against some dumbass bandits. They had gotten caught up in a fucking war. Dark Elves and Heartless waging war against Asgard, and she and her friends were smack dab in the middle of it. The survivor in her said that this wasn't her fight and that she should just get the fuck out. The realist in her said that they were here for the Aether, which was currently coursing through Nagisa's veins, and would follow them wherever in this World they went. The survivor said to just leave the doomed Nagisa to her fate and save herself. The realist agreed for once.

But then the optimist broke free of the ball gag and chains they had long been and said that they couldn't leave behind their friends, that they couldn't abandon Asgard when they had done so much to help them. The survivor and realist called the optimist a naive dumbass. The optimist called them chickenshit. The survivor and realist picked up chairs. The optimist lifted up the table…

Kyoko barely noticed the pod as it came crashing down into the middle of a restaurant near her, almost taking a flying chunk of rubble to the face.

She rolled to the ground, and as she picked herself up, she saw the pod open, and Dark Elf soldiers poured out, guns blazing.

Kyoko immediately formed a chain shield to deflect the plasma bolts, almost knocked off balance at first from the impact of the hits. Unfortunately, now, she was pinned down, unable to move without putting herself at risk.

She then saw one of the Elves draw something from their waste. While it looked all sci-fi it was plain to tell it was some sort of grenade.

Screw it.

Kyoko ran, forming several illusionary duplicates of herself at the same time, sending them all spreading out in multiple directions. It didn't help much, as she still took a blaster bolt in her side. Then the Elf threw the grenade.

Kyoko leaped across the street as she was proven right. However, it wasn't an explosion but instead an implosion as the grenade sailed past her and into building where it created a fucking black hole that sucked part of the building into itself the rest collapsing into a pile of rubble.

Kyoko immediately scrambled away as when the Elves realized that she hadn't been sucked in, they opened fire. Kyoko blocked with her shield as she retreated, ducking into a nearby alleyway. From there she slammed the base of her spear on the ground and shouted "Quake!"

The spell shook the area, and the nearby walls collapsed, cutting off the Elves rushing towards her. From there, she fled several streets over, dodging falling debris and cutting her way through several Heartless that attempted to accost her. There, civilians were being evacuated by soldiers, and she could see Sayaka healing the wounded. She immediately perked up upon seeing her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, casting a healing spell on Kyoko.

"Yeah." Kyoko said.

"Good to hear." Mami said as she leaped down from a rooftop above them. "Now, we need to-"

The girls flinched as one of the Dark Elf ships streaked overhead, the blade slamming into one of the longboats, slicing it in half in a fiery explosion, sending the flaming wreckage to crash into another building.

"Shit!" Kyoko exclaimed. "What do we do against that?!"

"I think we have bigger problems." Sayaka said, pointing towards the palace. Kyoko followed her gaze, where there was smoke pouring out of the place. The barrier that had surrounded it was now down.

"They're after Nagisa because she has the Aether!" Mami said, her voice wavering.

"She has Madoka to protect her." Kyoko said.

"Against an entire army of these creeps?" Sayaka objected.

"Yeah, you're right, we should-"

The girls were interrupted by the sound of plasma shots. The Dark Elves had caught up to them, blasting a hole through a nearby building and pouring out. The civilians screamed and fled as the Einherjar rushed forwards to engage.

The girls were about to do the same, when the entire area rumbled. There was massive roar of noise and a gigantic building nearby them was engulfed in darkness. Cracks formed, widening until the building collapsed, the dark cloud completely engulfing it. Then, out of that dark cloud a gigantic creature emerged. A Heartless that seemed to be some sort of mixture of crab and fortress.

The thing had the lower body of a crustacean, with glowing yellow eyes. Resting on its back was a literal fortress complete with a ridiculous array of armaments, including cannons. Smaller heartless and Shadow Elves, moved about, operating the weapons.

Floating at the top of the fortress was a strange creature that didn't appear to be a Heartless. It was a strange creature in a black and red cloak. Its head was completely obscured by a strange golden skull shaped mask, and spindly golden claws emerged from the sleeves. A strange reddish aura surrounded the entity.

More attention demanding was the figure standing atop the head of the Fortress Crab. A Dark Elf without a mask. He wore robes mixed with armor and wielded an obviously magical staff.'

"And what luck that I should happen upon the Princesses retinue. But where is the Princess?"

"Who are you and what do you want with her?"

"I am merely known as Astos." Said the Dark Elf. "And I wish so dearly to see the Princess."

Mami pointed her musket at him. "She's not here."

"Ah, it appears I was mistaken then." The Dark Elf grinned as hands and the staff glowed. "Very well, it seems I'll have to draw her out with your screams of agony!"

The cloaked figure strode through the streets. They looked up, seeing the Dark Elf ships clashing with their Asgardian counterparts. The records and legends were right. The Dark Elves had come for the Reality Stone. Malekith was nothing if not predictable. And it made their job far easier.

Malekith would not be long for this world. Once he reached the stone purpose would be served, and he would be ended. The Svartalfar deserved their place on the ash heap the same as the Aesir, impaled upon the same spikes as Odin and his legacy. None of them were worthy of their power, and with the stone, that could be made a reality.

The cloaked figure suddenly heard screams, and looked back down at the ground to see a crowd of panicked Aesir fleeing from the combat, escorted by a squad of warriors. The paused upon spotting him, before a group of warriors raised their weapons.

"Identify yourself!" One screamed.

The cloaked figure grinned. The city was under attack, it really wouldn't matter if they were noticed. Before the warriors could react, a blade had emerged from the sleeve of the cloak and with a dash, one of the Aesir was decapitated.

The civilians stood silent in shock. However, the cloaked figure had to at the very least commend the warriors for not even flinching, instead moving to attack.

For all the good it did them.

The cloaked figure was more than a match for them, laughing as they fell one by one. Impaled, dismembered, decapitated, eviscerated, the Aesir fell, screaming in fear and agony. Swords, spears, axes, and more emerged from the beings cloak, and the soldiers simply couldn't keep up with the variety of weaponry. All the while, they laughed. It was a cold and raspy sound, but they laughed all the same, reveling in the blood they spilled, the justice they brought on these scum.

Eventually, some of the Aesir tried to flee, but the cloaked figure was having none of that.

As the cloaked figure pulled their blade out of the last warrior, they turned to face the people they had been protecting. They were no different from the warriors. They would fall all the same…

"Girl. Wake up girl."

Madoka groaned as she heard the familiar voice.

"Wake up."

Madoka opened her eyes to find Odin standing over her. She realized she was in the feast hall, and lying on a long table while she stared up at the rafters above. Judging from the displaced tableware, whatever had happened to bring her here had hurled her across the table as it deposited her. As she sat up, she realized she felt gross. Like she needed a long, long, shower.

"Are you okay?" A female voice asked. Madoka turned to see Sif standing on the other side of the table, weapons drawn.

"What happened?"

"That creature happened." Odin gestured with his spear towards the other end of the feast hall. There, her memory was jogged as she saw the greasy green cloud with the red eyes glowing within it.

"It is so good to finally meet you, Lord Odin." The cloud said in a warbling, slurping, voice. Just the sound of it made Madoka nauseous. "I've been waiting for so long to take a swing at the Dark Divinity. And with the ever so lovely Princess here as well. Why, I could absolutely burst with joy."

Madoka leaped off the table and dropped into a fighting stance as Odin stepped forwards, pointing his spear at the cloud. "Who are you? I would know the name of the challenger to be impaled upon Gungnir."

"Of course you would say that. But I don't blame you. Surely, an elite Esper like yourself wouldn't notice the likes of little ol' me. But now, I finally have your attention, most esteemed Odin, and with the Princess as our guest of honor the party can really get started."

The cloud laughed, and then something emerged as the fog dispersed. A slimy, writhing, mass of mouths, eyes and tentacles, mixed with mottled green and grey flesh. Each eye was different; human, reptile, fish, insect. Each mouth supported a pair of rotting, plaque-stained teeth and a blackened tongue. A foul stench filled the room as one of the largest mouths opened. It then vomited out some sort of horrific sludge, spraying it across across the room and prompting the trio to leap back.

The sludge stank to high heaven, but even worse, it appeared to be moving on it's own. The sludge began to clump together, rising into mounds of oozing filth. Then, parts of the sludge congealed, forming into huge bulging eyes, while elsewhere parts extended outwards, forming into something akin to arms. Finally, a large split near the middle of the body formed into a gaping, drooling mouth.

"And why should we limit the party to just us? Let's invite these Flans to the celebration! Oh forgive my lack of manners, I forget that I am in the presence of my contemporaries." The creature chuckled, spewing more slime from its many mouths. "I am the Esper of Corruption and Decay. Cúchulainn the Impure. And we are going to have a helluva time!"

Thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx