"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."
- "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot
Chapter 4 Not With A Bang But A Whimper
For this one moment, everything hung in the balance. All of existence, every being, though most did not realize it, held their breath, waiting in breathless, terrified anticipation of the decisions made today, at this one critical crossroads.
Everything hinged on Harry Potter's next choice.
A small smile quirked its way to the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. Lord Voldemort's eyes narrowed in consternation.
If he could spite, escape the Dark Lord one more time, defy him just once more... that alone might make it worth it.
He would never submit to the Darkness.
Never.
Sucking in a breath, Harry spun, grabbed Ginny Weasley, and threw himself into the roaring, endless abyss...
Nothingness, terrible howls and arctic cold devoured his senses...
And he knew no more.
Throughout the entirety of Reality, most beings go day to day, blissfully unaware of the tiny, invisible barriers that separate one world from the next. Endless possibilities, an endless sea of worlds that is invisible to the eye.
Events that scar one world are completely and totally irrelevant to another.
Wars that slaughter millions, shatter lives, topple cultures, are unimportant to a different world. A life lost on one world is of no consequence to another.
This is the way it has been for aeons.
But, at long last, all worlds have but one destiny.
To fall to Darkness, or to be saved by the Light.
Among the trillions upon trillions of lives, the endless multitude of worlds, only a few can save Reality.
And in the end, only one truly matters.
Only one can undo what Darkness, what Fate has wrought.
And that one person has just fallen into the abyss.
But Darkness, and the universe, does not stop, even for the only person who can make a true difference.
For now... now the End has begun...
The countdown to oblivion.
In another world, another time...
Something was wrong. The wind... the wind had changed, somehow. A subtle, intangible quality of the world itself was not right.
Uneasy, the half demon Inuyasha clutched his sword, the Tetsusaiga worriedly.
"Is something the matter, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, her soft brown eyes filled with worry.
"I... something doesn't smell right." The half demon replied, tense. For the first time, he truly, desperately wished that Miroku and the others had come with them to the well. They weren't too far from the village, but...
"Kagome! Run!" Inuyasha shouted, ripping his sword from its sheath. The battered katana was transfigured by golden light, becoming a massive, thick blade with a furred hilt.
Immediately, the shadows around them burst to life, innumerable shapes of umbra swarming around them. Some were small, bug like things, some were tall and lanky, but all were Evil.
With a snarl, the half demon leapt forward, and his blade lashed forward, creating a wave of annihilating golden light. "WIND SCAR!"
For a moment, the figures took form. Short, lanky forms made out of pure shadow, buggy little things with golden eyes, and then others that were indiscernible as the awesome power of the Wind Scar obliterated them from this existence.
"Feh. Easy." Inuyasha muttered, placing the massive blade casually over his shoulder with one hand. But still, despite his bravado, he knew something was still terribly wrong...
With Everything.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered softly.
Her soft, slightly frightened voice shook his attention back to where the shadows had been. Within the smoke, shapes took form.
A score, then two score, and then a hundred, and then perhaps a thousand...
Swearing, the half demon grabbed Kagome and leapt off, back in the direction of the village. He glanced backwards a second, and a spasm of fear crossed his heart. With renewed determination, he leapt again, trying to outrun the ever advancing wave of shadows that had already devoured most of the countryside.
Trying to outrun the inevitable.
Elseworlds...
Hurrying along the darkened street, Robin Sena glanced up at the sky every second or so worriedly. The streets were empty, seemingly dead.
Her heavy, black dress dragged against her, but she moved fluidly, her feet lightly tapping the street, her small silver crucifix dangling against her chest.
For minutes, perhaps an hour since she felt something wrong with the world, the witch had run, trying to find... anyone.
Robin's panic blinded her so much that she ran headlong into a black clothed figure in front of her. Strong, masculine arms grabbed her shoulders, and she found herself looking into the impassive obsidian eye's of her partner.
"Amon!" she said, surprise in her emerald eyes.
"Why are you running?" Amon asked, subtly reaching for his pistol and scanning the street for what could have panicked the normally sedate girl.
"I've got a bad feeling..." Robin murmured, slightly ashamed of how childish she sounded.
To her surprise, Amon replied, "Me too. Something isn't right here. We should head over to Headqua-"He sucked in a breath, and pushed her aside, raising his gun, firing off a three round burst.
Robin turned in time to see the bullets pierce what looked like a living shadow. The creature staggered backwards, but didn't go down the way another being would, after being shot in the head thrice.
Placing her glasses on her face, Robin narrowed her eyes, focusing her Craft. Immediately, a fire engulfed the shadow, burning it from existence.
"There's more of them." Amon said calmly, but the slight tremor in his voice was detectable as he raised his pistol. What the Hell is going on?
And there were, at least a score of indiscernible shadows leaping and bounding and loping across the darkened street. Effortlessly, they dodged Amon's barrage of fire, and even avoided being burned by Robin's Fire Craft.
As Amon's pistol clicked empty, Robin panted slightly, constant use of her pyrokinetic abilities draining her.
"Come on. We've got to go." He said gruffly, and grabbed her arm.
"Alright." The witch said breathlessly, hurrying down the street.
Together, they ran, not noticing the black void the sky had become.
"What the hell are these things!" Inuyasha roared, letting yet another Wind Scar send the creatures into oblivion.
As always, where one, two, a dozen fell, a score of these prenatural monsters surged forward, a deluge of shadow.
Kagome didn't answer, preferring the action of stringing an arrow into her bow to words. With a slight snarl on her face, she fired off an pink swathed arrow, which cut through the shadows effortlessly.
Though they fell by the dozen, they swarmed by the score.
Desperately, Inuyasha grabbed the girl again and leapt off, once more trying to outpace the shadows. He nearly paused as Kagome sucked in a breath and let out a fearful whisper. "Inuyasha..."
The half-demon glanced upwards and did pause.
"The sky... it's gone..." Kagome murmured quietly, gripping Inuyasha's back tightly.
And indeed, it was. Where a night sky that twinkled with innumerable stars had been, there was now just a black abyss that advanced with a will. It was coming towards them, slowly devouring their world.
"The village!" the girl realized, and her head craned in the direction of the small village that was like her second home. "Sango! Miroku! Shippo! Kirara!"
Inuyasha turned as well, and a brief horror spread over him, before it was washed away in a tide of fury. "I'm going to kill the bastard who did this." He snarled, clenching his claws reflexively.
"Behind you!"
In their horror, both of them had forgotten the advancing tide of shadowy creatures. But now they were nearly upon them, pressing them closer and closer to the abyss.
"Shit." There's no way we can fight them all off... the half demon realized, but grabbed the Tetsusaiga anyway.
"What do we do?" Kagome asked, afraid.
"Stay behind me. I'll protect you." Inuyasha assured her, raising his fang-like blade in an attack stance.
Before anything more could be said, the shadows crashed upon them.
They were too close to use the Wind Scar, so the half demon hacked them apart, the massive Tetsusaiga capable of cutting three in one stroke.
Kagome fired off a few arrows, thinning the ranks further, but her rate of fire was slow, as to avoid hitting Inuyasha, and thus, unable to provide adequate cover fire.
But this stand could not last forever, as the abyss howled it's triumph, devouring more and more earth, the distance between it and the two closing at an unholy pace.
"Inuyash! It's getting closer!"
"Damn it..." the half demon growled, and cleaved another shadow to pieces. Momentarily, he wavered and looked back.
It was a mistake.
The shadows, out of some nefarious will, leapt over the half demon, lunging for his charge.
With eyes wide in horror, Inuyasha watched as they struck out at Kagome, who stumbled backwards, stepping ever closer to the edge of oblivion.
As he moved to catch her, the shadows swarmed up, forming a wall of darkness that impeded his progress considerably.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" his blade cut them down in twos, threes, and fours, but still they held. A small part had formed, a cruel favor of the Powers, so that he could watch the girl's end.
Kagome screamed as they plunged a claw into her chest, before her body went slack and her scream faded away. A light was held in that creature's claw, her light.
For one moment, Inuyasha stared at the scene, unable to comprehend that he had finally failed the girl, finally been unable to protect her.
It would haunt his nightmares for years, perhaps forever. It had already haunted his dreams once... but reality, as always, is so much worse than dreams.
And then Kagome fell into the abyss, and was lost to him.
A terrible, heart rending howl let itself be known from Inuyasha's throat, the feral side, his dog demon side coming forth. His eyes narrowed in a hateful rage, and the half demon leapt for the shadows, revenge the one agenda in his narrowed consciousness.
A Wind Scar burst forward, sending those that had taken Kagome away into oblivion, but before that light had even faded, the half demon had already swung his blade again, sending another group into nothingness with a wave of golden light.
The upper hand lasted for only a moment, as the creatures began to drown him in their tide.
"I'll kill you!" Inuyasha roared, and swung his blade, slicing them apart, and then again, and again, and again, a berserker rage taking him over.
One tried to ambush him by leaping from behind, but the half demon's senses were on overdrive, and he spun, blade outstretched to greet the shadow.
Another slashed his shoulder with its claw, but Inuyasha grabbed the creature by the arm, and hurled him forward, bashing away another group of the monstrosities.
But one managed to slash at his gut, and another struck his arm, and soon he was unable to swing his sword, their proximity too close to him to wield the large blade.
One particularly fierce one struck him in the stomach, and sent Inuyasha hurtling into the abyss.
And it was over.
"God in Heaven... all those people..." Robin breathed softly, sorrow in her heart and tone. A blank wall of nothingness had swallowed up the city, and everyone in it. She wanted to sink to her knees, but held fast, instead looking to her impassive partner. "What do we do Amon?"
"We need to get out of here." The witch hunter replied calmly, but from the slight clench in his fists and tightness on his face, he was nervous. After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Robin's hand, tugging her along towards his car.
However, that moment of hesitation cost them dearly, as the shadows caught up with them, bounding across street lights and walls. Some actually landed on top of the car, cutting off the final escape route.
"Shit." Amon cursed, and raised his pistol, firing off three bursts, more to slow down the mob than do any real damage. The shadows avoided the bullets with prenatural grace, claws outstretched to deal out oblivion.
A column of blazing fire however, put a stop to that instantly, and the monsters were swallowed by a roaring inferno, which briefly, but powerfully shoved the darkness back to the edges of sight.
Briefly, the witch hunter wondered if they should run off again... but that would only waste energy against the inevitable.
What can one do, when the whole world falls to darkness?
Fight.
As if sensing that determination, Robin stood up straighter, and her eyes narrowed, sparking with a fierce flame.
Shadowy creatures became immolated in a cloak of flame, entire groups were decimated by one roaring inferno, and yet still, they kept coming.
For the first time, Amon cursed the fact that he was born without the ability to use a Craft, and raised his weapon. Planting himself firmly on the ground, he fired careful shots, each designed to stun rather than finish.
Whenever one creature bypassed the fiery assault, Amon would shoot him down, allowing Robin to burn the creature into smoke and ashes.
The defense was effective, even allowing for a few tense seconds when the pistol needed to be reloaded.
However, Amon only carried three extra clips, and had already used the first up. As his third and final clip of ammo began to dwindle, Amon cursed.
This was not the only problem, as Robin's body and mind were feeling the intense strain of calling on so much of her Craft at such a rate.
Soon, they began getting too close, their claws moving too near...
And then suddenly Amon and Robin were on the defensive, trying to hold back a relentless tide of shadows with bullets, fire, and soon, fists and feet.
But beyond that, raced the new threat. A wall of advancing umbra, howling its perverse joys into a dying world, devoured ground, and was quickly and rampantly about to be on top of them.
And Amon knew that this was the end, and accepted his. But not Robin... the girl was too pure, too good to end here. Somehow, he knew it.
Which was why he would keep fighting till the certainly bitter end.
Robin, for her part, sagged backwards, unable to use her powers further. It was a feeling she had never known... never had to use so much power so quickly.
For the first time, she found her true limit...
And it wasn't comforting.
Mostly because now the shadows were able to actually leap forward, as one did, nearly taking her head off with its claws.
Only the timely physical assault by Amon managed to keep the creature from slaying her, but even he, for all his training and strength, was no match for these abominations bare handed.
Like a snake, they grasped the witch hunter, and struck out at him, tearing into him, searching for... something.
"Amon!" Robin gasped, and lunged for him, but one shadow struck her.
The witch stumbled backwards, winded but not injured. She managed to catch a glimpse of Amon's unshaven face for just a second.
They stared at each other, neither one blinking... and then the moment was gone, like all others, and the man's eyes went dark and dull.
Robin, mercifully, only had a few moments to scream before the howling abyss drowned her out, and then drowned her in itself.
Across every world, it was the same story, as people in the worlds looked up, and were afraid. And a few, looked up and saw that other worlds were swallowed up in shadow.
Yet none could stop it.
"Syaoran... I'm scared."
"Don't be... I'll protect you, trust me."
"Besides, we're here too, and if the brat can't help you, we can."
"Kenshin! What's happening!"
"Stay behind me! You and Yahiko stay in the dojo!"
"What's going on Tai?"
"I don't know sis... but it's not good."
"What's going on Yami?"
"... Darkness is coming."
"Mein Gott in Himmel... what the hell is that!"
"I don't know... I don't know."
"What's happening?"
"Don't ask me, dead last."
"Shut up, bastard!"
"Stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you, Yuna."
"I can fight too! I'm not letting you go out there alone."
Gripping the railing of her balcony, a queen looked into the sky, and saw beyond, saw what was happening.
"It's begun then... but where is the Key?"
One being's will commanded this massive orchestra of destruction and death, and watched with sadistic glee as hundreds, then thousands, then millions of hearts fell to his power. A swirling storm of stolen light hurtled towards him, bringing him power that was unmatched, and yet his potential had only been brushed.
With every heart that struck him, the Dark Lord laughed.
His consciousness was expanding rapidly. He could see through the eyes of his minions, whose number outmatched the stars in the sky, as if, and they were, and extension of himself, of his will, and his mind.
He was transcending mortality... becoming a god. Now, everything he wished could come true at last.
A new world... without Death, without Pain, free from Mudbloods and Muggles...
His utopia.
But for now... for now he needed to pure the elseworlds.
The Dark Lord could see... he could see worlds untamed, worlds of science, worlds of magic, worlds of criminals, worlds of war, worlds of peace, all of them... ripe for the taking, a field of untapped power waiting to be harvested.
And beyond that... a glow, a bright, thrumming power that echoed throughout Eternity... the Heartbeat of the Universe.
It was wonderful... so ancient, so powerful... this was what he needed...
The key to his paradise.
Triumphantly, the Dark Lord knew his time had come.
He reached for that power, but was repelled... a barrier, one older than Time, older than the Eternities, angrily shoved at him.
Only the Key will open the Door, it spat hatefully.
"The Keyblade..." the Dark Lord hissed softly. "Potter..."
Of course that damn boy would be in the way... he was always there, blocking the ascendant path to Godhood, forever against him...
It was poetic justice that the boy be his sacrifice when that pure, untainted world rose from the graves of all worlds.
The Darkness, his creatures, heard the name, and it burned into their minds... they would hunt the boy until the Key was taken and he was dead.
Deep within the impenetrable abyss, Lord Voldemort laughed.