Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none
Rating: T
Word Count: 10,034

Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one's reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.

Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves

Note: This story took place right before the team meets Rosso, so Laby will not bein this story. Rose will not be in this story due to not knowing her canon class at the time this fic was written.


Class Notes:

Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen

Alternative Path: Rune Master, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter


Doppelgänger

Chapter 15: Connect


2 Weeks Later


Rune Master

Red haze from the smoke and flames clouded Rune's vision. Everything was hot to the touch. The air was stiffening from the dry wind and the ground was uncomfortably warm. There was electricity in his hair that left the fire user on the edge. His mind was going to burst into flames if someone didn't put out the fire! Dominator snarked it was all the meat he ate before being silenced by Ultimate's glares. His body was overheating, Blade kindly told him and forced him on the side while the rest of the party dealt with Rosso.

Pain struck Rune in the lower part of his abdomen, struggling to catch his breath as he dragged himself across the floor. He hugged his stomach and straightened his back in an attempt to sit up to avoid nausea. There was nothing to support his back except for the remaining tree trunk exposed by the winds. Rune poured water from his canteen over his face. The fire user shuddered from the cold water trickling down to the base of his neck. Rune tilted his head back again to chug down the rest of the water.

Dead plants and tangled weed curled up at his feet. Was Varnimyr always like this or was this caused by Rosso's presence? Varnimyr was the same as Rune had remembered. The only difference he noticed between the different Demon Realms was that this one didn't know about humans until their arrival.

They made it to the correct Demon Realm, or at least one that wasn't already occupied by another El Search Party. As they traveled up north in the Varnimyr region, Rune kept wondering if Knight and Immortal encountered the same challenges and problems as they had. The only thing Rune was sure of was that Rosso existed across their timelines.

Immortal wasn't kidding. Despite his size, Rosso hit like a brick wall. There was so much anger and sadness coming from the El Master of fire. Every burst of flame and swipe was followed by the half-demon's pained screams. What could have caused someone as powerful as an El Master to curse everything around him? If only Rune was spared enough time to look into the source of Rosso's pain…

Forcing an eye open, Rune looked up to be greeted by haze and dusty clouds. Rosso's fires have hindered his view of the stars that once dotted the eternal night sky. His friends' cries scattered in the distance as he laid himself to the floor. His fingers felt numb from clutching onto his sword until his knuckles were white.

Warm palms pressed over Rune's, applying pressure to his knuckles before letting them go. Covered in calluses, it was a wonder how those hands could pull a trigger, but those hands were also responsible for saving his life among many others in the past. Phantom sat beside Rune with one hand over his destroyer and his eyes staring into the thin winding tower where Rosso was.

"What are you thinking?" Phantom kept his voice low. His eyes darted to Rune's with care in his words, "You've been quiet."

"It took us two attempts to get to the right Demon Realm," Rune laughed without humor. "We still couldn't avoid fighting Rosso."

"I think there are some things that can't be prevented even with prior knowledge," Phantom said. "Rosso was already here before we arrived. I don't know what his goals are, but it's up to us to take him down."

"You won't kill him, will you?" Rune asked.

Rune briefly caught a glimpse of Rosso's figure before being forced to leave by his teammates. What could have pushed an El Master to cause such destruction? The El Search Party managed to reverse their previous enemies from mind control in the past, but Rosso was different. He was alive and aware of his condition. Rosso actively screamed at the El Search Party to leave, resorting to violence when his wish went ignored. There had to be a chance to save him from his poor fate.

"I won't hesitate if it means coming out of this alive," Phantom said. "There are people depending on me."

Those that didn't know him well would have taken his statement as being cold, but Rune understood. After nearly losing his kingdom to demons, Phantom had learned the harsh lesson of what it meant if one hesitated to fight back. Delaying their next action by the merest second could mean a premature death to them all. They have followed Immortal's advice to split the team into two to rotate whenever Rosso changed his battle strategies - if mindless thrashing and crushing buildings counted as such.

Rosso was not to be trifled with. Despite having control over fire, Rune had suffered burns from attempting to breach Rosso's tower. Rosso's flames were demonic, impatient, and demanding. His skin was still hot when he applied cold water to the nape of his neck and the rest of his body. They were already struggling to fight back when the half-demon was using a small portion of his abilities. Immortal warned him what would happen if they weren't prepared to give it their all.

Half of their team was out of commission from the fight outside of Rosso's tower. His sister was leading their remaining team inside to find the El Master. Rune was half-listening to the occasional messages sent between team members. He was thankful for Dominator making last-minute adjustments so they could communicate with each other over long distances. The messages were getting shorter.

"They'll be okay," Phantom noticed Rune looking back and forth between the Hamel protector and his communication. "Your job is to stay alive."

"Not making sure none of us do something stupid?" Rune chuckled.

"That's my job," Phantom broke out of his facade and smirked.

Rune's heart nearly leaped out of his chest to the sight of the blonde man's smile, unable to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. He distracted himself by examining the freshly cleaned bandages wrapped around his joints. Soaked in an herbal bath to alleviate burns, Rune was proud to say he was getting better at prioritizing himself first so he could attend to his teammates. He and Richter helped prepare the bandages while Oz and Dominator counted how many people needed elixirs. They were lucky that most of their injuries were minor. There should be enough resources for them to last for at least a week.

"You're still worried," Phantom studied Rune's face.

"I was," Rune admitted. "Rosso makes Perkisas look weak."

"Was?" Phantom made note of Rune's wording. "What else is there?"

"We're already fighting Rosso, so there's no turning back." Rune said, "We did everything we could to prepare for this moment. Even if we fail, I can at least say that we tried. I have you guys to help me."

"I think I can live with that answer." Their fingers brushed. Phantom brought his hands back to his lap and leaned his head back. "You're not afraid to die?"

"Nah," Rune laughed. "If I was, I never would have left Ruben considering how many times I almost died. Gotta sacrifice myself at least once a week, right?"

"Not funny," Phantom growled.

Phantom gave him a look as if wondering, "Really?". The blonde was going to drill holes into Rune if he kept glaring at him like that. A lopsided grin found its way onto Rune's facial features, giving his partner a shrug and cocking his head to one side to show he was joking. Rune knew it wasn't going to work, but man was he going to try.

"You know being an adventurer isn't the safest job," Rune said with a more serious expression. Maybe joking about his own death wasn't the best way to cope, especially around his friends. Old habits were hard to break. "That's why they make so much money. They do the jobs no one else wants to do. Not even soldiers want to do it."

"That doesn't mean I'm okay with you joking about your death," Phantom said.

"I know, sorry."

Rune hated how lame his response was, how hollow his words rang. He wished he could say more than that, but he couldn't take back his words. Even if he did, Rune still made light of people's feelings. How many times was he going to ignore how his words impacted others? He was supposed to stop keeping things to himself and rely on others more, yet struggled to be honest about himself without making self-deprecating jokes.

"Did Immortal tell you Rosso's weakness?" Phantom asked.

"I didn't get it when he told me, but now I can see that Rosso was not completely in control of himself," Rune said. That much was certain from his enragement, sometimes crying to an outside influence with no name. "When his shadow appeared, I saw him covering his left eye. Do you think that has to do with why he overpowered us?"

"He's also an El Master," Phantom added. "We struggled against Solace when we defied him. Did you think fighting Rosso would be easier?"

"No, but isn't it strange that Solace barely mentioned him when we saw the other El Masters?" Rune grew frustrated, "I'm sure he has a lot to worry about because of the El Lady and the state of the El, but isn't it important to wonder what happened to his friend?"

"Unless they don't get along," Dominator interjected into the conversation. With a potion in hand, the scientist had a smug expression, "Talking about others behind their backs? I can't believe I thought you were a good boy."

"I can," Oz deadpanned.

"Don't scare us like that!" Rune twisted his body to pout. Couldn't a guy get some privacy for once? He crossed his arms, "We're talking about battle strategies."

"Like your distrust for an El Master?" Dominator cackled.

"I'm getting tired of nobody telling me what's going on," Rune sighed.

"Solace probably didn't think it was something we should be concerned about," Oz reasoned. "We already have a lot on our plate as is. Don't you think he may have kept Rosso's existence away from us because he didn't want us to throw ourselves into danger again?"

"You mean this brat doing something dumb?" Dominator pointed to Rune.

"Don't pretend you don't do stupid things too," Phantom wasn't impressed. "What about that knife-wielding cleaning robot?"

"T-that's different!" Dominator protested and turned pink, "I was testing something!"

"Already done healing everyone?" Rune stiffened a laugh to Dominator's shock of being talked back by the quietest person on the team. Although they lacked in battle healers, their team compensated by having a handful of alchemists. Natural resources weren't lacking from the various plants and rocks they found on their ventures.

"Nothing a few doses of elixirs and rest can't fix." Dominator was relieved to change the subject. "Is Solace obligated to tell you everything going on in his head? I'm not sure if he knows about the fire midget being here if he was so eager to throw us here instead of coming himself."

Rune wasn't sure if Solace was as keen as Dominator claimed about sending them over to another dimension, but his words made the rune user wonder. Would Solace find a way to the Demon Realm if he knew that Rosso had imprisoned himself in a tower? If one of their teammates had disappeared, Rune wanted to believe he would have done something about it, but he wasn't so sure after meeting Solace. He and the El Master of the sun were both Rubenians, obligated by an invisible force to carry responsibilities over the El. Although Solace had deemed him as a worthy equal, Rune couldn't shake off the unwavering restlessness he felt around the older man. Solace was a reminder of what human desperation could do to a single person and those around them.

"Regardless of Solace's intentions, we need to calm down Rosso if we want to get any information out of him." Phantom said, "Someone with that kind of power would likely know something about the Dark El."

"I can't promise I won't kill the midget," Dominator mused.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Oz forced the scientist to jerk his head down by pulling on his collar. She hissed, "Rosso may have lost his mind, but he can still hear us."

"Then there must be two of him," Dominator laughed. "Because I heard him screaming about Elesis while I was talking to the priest."

More fire? Who are you people?

Rune ran his hand over his temples, that voice again… Rosso? His voice sounded so young yet ancient, easily centuries older than Rune. The half-demon's voice echoed like a memory ingrained into his subconscious, refusing to let go and forced the leader of the El Search Party to look into the faces of his teammates. A darkened blade covered in gold scriptures, Flame brought her Claymore over her head to strike a giant demonic eye covered in thorns. Fire spun from her fingertips as she led five other people by her side.

A row of grey thorns was blocked from spawning above their heads by Ultimate, who had summoned a dozen spears at her disposal. With the help of a few demon allies, blue flames rose to form a firewall controlled by Timoria and Abysser. Fire splashed to the side as Blade made his way across to slash through the barriers protecting the demonic eye. Green wind swirled as Anemos spun around into a high-jump kick. Dozens of arrows flew from her nimble bow.

Blood shot out from the demonic eye in all directions. Its shrieks caused all to cover their ears. Seismic waves riveted over the floor as everyone dug their weapons into the ground for stability. Its thorns shriveled back into the eye's core before it stopped moving.

"Is everyone okay?" Flame checked on her teammates. "Careful, it's getting restless…"

"That eye must be a part of someone who could very well be within this tower," Ultimate stated. "Energy levels have elevated."

"I think we angered him," Timoria backed away from the flames. "I'm not sure if there's enough time to retreat for this one."

"We need to let the others know," Abysser clenched his teeth. "We're reaching our limits. Els-"

"Elsword!"

Rune opened his eyes to his name being screamed by his sister. He rushed over to meet Flame and the rest of their shabby team, clearly worn out from the last battle.

At the wake of the demonic eye's death, the earth had opened up. A fault emerged from the depths of the Demon Realm. The long narrow tower once protected by its prisoner had split open, engulfed by violent crimson flames. Once the flames had cleared, darkness cloaked a towering figure rising from the horizon.

GO AWAY!

Towering at a height that was easily comparable to Eltrion, the colossal figure was composed of a material that reminded Rune of black lava rock. Darkened wings made of the same material expanded outward for the monster to look down at the El Search Party. Red horns protruded from its forehead, matching its equally red eyes hinted with an unworldly hue of blue etched into its pupils and the rest of its body. This was Rosso?

"Is that our demon?" Devi grabbed her spear. Hunger replaced her once emotionless expression, bringing her spear pointed downward and lowering her body close to the ground. The older woman gave a dark chuckle, "I won't let it get away this time."

"Find shelter while we deal with Rosso!" Rune looked to Anemos and Abysser, "It's okay, I promise. We'll come out of this alive."

"You better," Abysser laughed. "Lu isn't too happy after he nearly took her eye out."

"Ciel and I will do our best to heal everyone in case you need to switch out," Anemos said. "Watch out for the eye. There's a lot of demonic energy coming from it."

"Not unless we blind him first," Dominator grinned.

"I can help him," Richter said with a serious expression.

"Spread out and watch your feet," Rune ordered his team. He couldn't believe the scientist could find the time to joke at a time like this. Richter too? Or maybe the priest thought Dominator meant it and agreed. "Don't rush into this battle. We only have six people active and can't afford to lose anyone."

Richter nodded. Light shone from his palms, grasping around the spears materializing in his hands. Raising one arm from the side, spears rained down from above and shattered into Rosso's left shoulder, sending the half-demon roaring in pain. Red flashed over the already reddened landscape. The priest dodged a laser blast from Rosso's eye and tumbled onto the floor.

High pitch cackling roared out of Rosso. The earth rolled as a pillar of thorns erupted from the floor. Long shadows extended beneath Oz's feet, followed by firing dark energy to propel herself into the air. Dominator and Oz moved towards the center of the battlefield, out of reach from Rosso's spiny attack. Multiple drones were set up at the base of Rosso's waist level to fire lasers around the half-demon. Orange orbs from Devi spun around in circles before consuming the rest of Rosso's remaining pillar of thorns.

"Look out!" Phantom shouted to him.

A pair of giant conal structures swung from the side. They were slow-moving, descending onto Rune and spinning counterclockwise with the intent to crush the leader of the El Search Party. The runes on his body glowed as he concentrated and released flames from his fingertips. Smoke filled his vicinity to create confusion for the towering half-demon. Rune slammed his greatsword against the dirt as a launchpad to distance himself from the strange structures that could move on their own, perhaps controlled by Rosso. He could muse about Rosso's abilities later when he wasn't running for his life.

Silver bullets flew from Rune's direction. There wasn't time for Rune to look and see Phantom sliding over with his arsenal of pistols and an oversized cannon he kept from his early teen years. The blonde wasn't taking any chances and had them fired at the eye visible on Rosso's face, red layered with unnatural bright blue rings around the pupil.

Rosso didn't like that. His arms extended from behind the cliff where the rest of his body was, clawing at their team of six and howling. The left eye glowed. Red and gray thorns erupted from the ground up, threatening to pierce into the toughest man-made armor.

Phantom cursed loudly over the chaotic fight. Blood gushed from beneath his armor, pushing forward and using the last few bullets to get in between Rosso's hardened shell. The way he limped over when he crawled to the side was one Rune was too familiar with. He had broken a few bones. The thorns were stopping him from bleeding out, but they would need to remove them eventually - if they made it out of this alive.

Rune felt his hands form into fists. This could not happen, he wasn't going to allow it! He gripped his blade, forcing himself to breathe through his mouth because of the overwhelming smoke from his own fires and from Rosso's. This was what happened when one fought fire with fire.

"Keep going!" Phantom hugged where the thorns dug into armor and into his skin, "I'll be back on my feet in no time!"

"Not in that condition," Rune glared. "You're going to Rena and the others."

"You can't defeat Rosso with only five people!" Phantom argued, "Our friends barely stunned him long enough before he found us!"

"Arguing in the middle of the fight?" Devi backflipped to land neatly on her feet and turned to wipe blood dripping down her forehead. "I can't believe you're purposely missing this opportunity to kill this demon to bicker amongst yourselves. You must think you can win this fight by idling around. Move!"

Both men silenced. Rune grabbed Phantom and tossed his weight over his shoulder, ignoring the definitely-not-taller man's protests as he and Devi ran together to avoid another line of lasers. Rosso's wings expanded as he brought his arms to the side to summon a sea of energy orbs. The orbs floated slowly like bubbles and surrounded the El Search Party. Rune stared at the orbs in awe.

Rune blinked. The orbs have disappeared. His blade clashed against Rosso's arm swinging towards him, bearing down his weight and struggling not to get pushed off the cliff. Rosso backed off when sparks flew from his hands and surprised the half-demon. Flames licked Rosso's arm and traveled to the rest of his body before disappearing. Just enough to buy him time to run to the opposite side of the battlefield.

"How many times do we need to bring down this brat to make him stop moving?" Dominator complained.

"As many times as needed," Richter said.

Metal clashed against the conal structures rising once more against Devi, who had her spear extended and her hair turned white. The wind howled as the spear user flipped her weapon so that its tip was facing the floor, bringing her feet up and jumping to the opposite side to avoid another row of thorns fired in her direction. Her girly laughter filled the silence as Devi summoned orange orbs to fire at Rosso.

A tiny figure fought beside Oz. Cladded in purple clothing to match with the dark mage, Angkor assisted Oz in opening a dimensional gate. Purple bats flew from the portal and dislocated the arm Rosso used to summon the thorns. Rosso cursed at the woman as his form began to darken and lowered his head. His eyes glowed and the battlefield shone brightly.

"Did we defeat him?" Rune asked.

Dominator frowned and looked to his screens for help before his eyes widened, "No, you idiot. He was just playing with us!"

A small body rose from the collapsed rubble. Red hair draped past the shoulders and hid the right side of the face. The body was covered in black markings and the arms were colored bright magenta, wielding a scythe over the head. Rune recognized the figure. It was the form Rosso held when they tried to break into the tower.

"Is everyone alright?" Rune checked his teammates.

There was no time to listen to a response as he turned around to duck a scythe aiming for his neck. Great, now he was going to truly lose his head as Dominator always complained. Rune held his arms up to concentrate fire into his hands and touched Rosso by the wrists. Unfortunately, Rosso was also made of fire and used the moment to raise more thorns at the red-head. Rune was pulled out from the rows of thorns summoned by the half-demon by Oz, who was quick to teleport to his side with Angkor following her.

"I should be asking if you can still run," Oz gasped. "Worry about yourself first, silly."

"Hard to when most of us are barely avoiding his attacks," Rune said. "One wrong move and we're dead."

"Only if we get hit," Richter said. "I'll bring Mr. Guardrian back to Rena. I will return as briskly as the El permits."

Rune was in awe of Richter's confidence, never letting the little things get to him. He needed to ask the priest how to do that. Once again, Rune pulled out his blade to fight. His flames were eager to show Rosso what real fire looked like. Rune weaved around his opponent, only taking a few steps to allow Rosso to slide to the side. His friends joined the macabre dance in their own rhythm, spinning new steps with their unique fighting styles.

Oz and Angkor relied on each other as a medium to summon familiars to aid them in the battle. Bats flew above their heads and struck Rosso from behind. Drones floated the area from Dominator's endless supplies of technology. Forming into a triangular formation, lasers flew into a straight line to disarm Rosso from his weapon. Devi's eyes glowed red in bloody prance, swinging her spear to the side in precise movement as an extension of the demon-loathing woman. Her attempt to cut into Rosso's stomach at the midline was only stopped by the reddened scythe armored in demonic energy.

"What a dangerous monster," Devi glared at the half-demon with disgust. "You sure you don't want to kill him, boy?"

"No, we can't do that." Rune gasped. "He was crying for help. Something is controlling him. Something is…"

Rune's voice was cut off by the sound of his own scream. His blood sang when Rosso's scythe sliced through his shoulder. Red blood dripped from his pores and he heard his name being called.

Fuck.

He had suffered many injuries in the past. Some were worse than others, so why did this one hurt the most? His brief stay in the Demon Realm had strengthened his endurance of demonic energy, but Rosso was too strong. Solace barely held a candle against what Rune had witnessed from the El Master of fire.

Was there an end to this battle? Rune grasped where he bled, fumbling through the limited cloth he had to stop himself from bleeding. If only they had a healer, he thought in blinding pain. No matter how many times he wanted to tell Rosso he was sorry for the pain, his own had made it difficult for him to see past the battle.

Phantom was already out of commission and had joined Anemos and the others shortly after he was hit by the thorns. Fighting Rosso was barely feasible with a team of six when his sister did it, but a team of four? What was going to happen to them?

Footsteps scattered all around him as Rosso swung his blade, blocked by Devi's swift blade. It was impressive how long the older woman could withstand ongoing battles with such vigor. Dominator ordered Dynamo to switch to a different install to fly higher to release a rain of laser grenades. Oz dropped her staff to pull Rune to the side.

"I can walk," Rune waved his hand away when Oz offered to help him up. "You go fight Rosso. I'll take care of myself."

"And let you bleed to death?" She scowled.

"There's only three of us left because Ain left with Chung," Rune argued. "You need to stay. Ain should be back by now."

Oz looked as if she was ready to argue back, but stopped. Glazing over the bombed battlefield with pain visible on her face, the black mage nodded, clearly unhappy about their predicament. Rune didn't like it either, but what else was there to do? Rosso had neatly cut into their defense like tissue paper.

A woman appeared within his eyesight. Rune wiped his eyes to make sure it wasn't an illusion by one of those demon plants. Ultimate? Cladded in black spandex covered in white plated armor, she bore a strong resemblance to Ultimate. When Rune was able to get a better look at the stranger, he noticed her face lacked the same depth of emotions as his teammate.

"There they are!" Immortal exclaimed.

The swordsman brought attention to himself by raising one of his many swords as a guiding beacon. Rune was too stunned to vocalize his shock about his counterpart appearing. He was greeted by Immortal's signature grin, pearly white teeth and dried lips. Richter was with him. The priest must have shown Immortal where they were, although it wasn't very hard with the lasers and thorns flying in their general direction.

Rune's gaze switched back to Ultimate's doppelganger. She must have been Eve from Immortal's dimension. Unlike her rowdy teammate, she kept to herself and was silent with Richter, who equally had nothing to say amongst the chattering party. The priest made eye contact with Rune and acknowledged the rune user with a curt nod. It looked like Richter was able to bring Phantom to safety with no complications.

Knight appeared in good health albeit his expression suggesting worn and wear from the long journey. He nodded tiredly to a person Rune didn't recognize. A petite girl whose height was only rivaled by Timoria's ("Hey!"), her pink wavy hair reminded him of cotton candy. Keeping up with cotton candy as inspiration, the rest of her attire was in various hues of pink and pastel blue. Rune noticed a large amount of energy coming from the mirror bobbing next to the girl's head as she talked loudly in the middle of a warzone.

"Sorry for being late," Richter apologized.

"We were kinda lost until Richter found us." Immortal laughed.

"Elsword lacks understanding in reading coordinates," Ultimate's look-alike stated.

"Shhhh, I'm trying to look cool in front of myself!" Immortal stage whispered.

"You mean Metamorphy isn't here?" Rune still couldn't believe they were here.

"She was, but said she had business to deal with." Immortal shrugged, "Magical girl duties, or whatever."

Rune didn't get it, but couldn't bother to ask. His mind was on his friends, who were fighting for their lives against a corrupted El Master. The sight of his counterparts and their friends should have brought ease to the tension in his shoulders, but Rune couldn't shake off the fear that they were too late. He looked to Richter for help.

"What are they doing here?" Oz looked at the new strangers with concern.

"We're here to help," Knight said. "Richter told us you were fighting Rosso. It sounds like he's been giving you guys as much trouble as he did for us."

"In all fairness, Rosso isn't a pushover, especially when angry." Immortal mused, "Funny guy with a hot and cold personality."

Rune frowned. Why was Immortal talking as if he personally had the half-demon over for tea and biscuits? Was this another one of Immortal's moments of undermining things that were worse than how he phrased it?

"Oh no, you're bleeding!" The pink-haired girl tugged Rune's arm. Her eyes watered and pointed to his bleeding shoulder. "Why are you hurt?"

"Who's the kid?" Rune looked at the girl with confusion. He would have remembered someone who dressed as strangely as the young girl if they had met before. "Are you recruiting kids now?"

"This is Laby." The girl talked. Her voice was as sweet as hard candy and had to look up to make eye contact with Rune, "Is this one of Elsword's friends?"

"Yes," Knight said with wariness. What was up with this guy? One would think he had lost a pet rabbit in a fire. Too soon? "We met when we were trapped in the Demon Realm. We came here because Laby wanted to meet you guys."

"How did you get here if Bringer isn't with you?" Rune noticed the brawler's absence.

"I think Add gave the machine to Elsword as an apology," Laby said.

"For what?" Immortal asked.

"Elsword needs to have his wounds attended to immediately," Richter interrupted. There was irritation in his tone after what he thought to be too much conversing. "That demon is still alive."

"Right," Oz looked at Knight and Immortal. "Think you can keep up with us? We need someone to create a diversion while Richter and I remove the weapon from Rosso."

"Of course," Immortal smirked. "Why didn't you say so?"

Oz rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Laby, can you help Rune with his injuries?" Knight asked.

"Of course!" Laby waved her arms out in excitement. She bounced onto her feet and pulled Rune to look at his sorry state.

"Thank you," Rune lowered his head to hide the tears. Their timing was impeccable when they were down to a few adventurers. He couldn't have imagined his next meeting with his counterparts to be at the edge of a one-sided battle. "Please help my friends."

Laby's healing was gentle and reminded him of Bluhen, who wasn't with Knight today. He thought the priest would have stayed close to the knight and noticed how tense his counterpart was when Bringer was mentioned. Did something happen between them? Rune shook his head, that was their business to deal with unless Knight was looking for a second opinion. But still…

"Don't forget we're your friends too," Knight smiled for the first time since his arrival. "You're welcome to join us after Laby helps you."

"Man, how come you get two healers?" Immortal whined, "Ow!"

Immortal rubbed his forehead where Knight had smacked him. Laby failed to stop herself giggling from the man's pain.

Greatsword pulled out, Knight had the imposing demeanor of a Velder soldier ready for battle. Nodding towards the direction of the battle, Knight gestured Immortal to follow him. The swordsman pulled out his two blades. Sleek in design and balanced, Immortal struck a pose as Sariel ordered her Nasod drones to fly into combat mode. Richter looked to Oz for the signal and the two ran into the battlefield to join their teammates.

The cathartic landscape of torn-down buildings and the ground set ablaze was enough to bring most men on their knees. However, as Rune witnessed Knight and Immortal pulling Rosso towards their blades, he saw the fire light up in their faces. The excitement of battle in fusion with fear of uncertainty. Sariel's drones weaved along with Dominator's as they roped Rosso into using his thorns opposite Devi as she harpooned her spear into the half-demon's flesh.

His strength was slowly returning when a strong wave of power flooded his vicinity. It was coming from Rosso. Even those not sensitive to the El could feel it. The corruption had taken over Rosso. Rune stood up, suddenly finding strength in his voice.

"I'm going," Rune said. "They need our help."

Laby looked up at him in confusion, but it must have been his tone that stopped her from protesting. After much arguing with the pink girl (Who would have thought someone so tiny could be so stubborn?), Rune had forced himself to be content on resting, at least until he could move his limbs without wincing. He could no longer ignore the crave to return to the fight.

It was as if all of the pain in his body had disappeared. Maybe it was the strange food Laby gave him to recover or maybe he was delirious from the adrenaline, but he couldn't let the fight go on without talking to Rosso one more time. Fire lit up in one hand and his sword in the other, Rune calmly stepped into the battlefield to face the Master of Fire. It was time to settle this once and for all.


Metamorphy

"Ugh, I hate snow." Metamorphy sighed.

What could be so important for the magical girl to be summoned to Pruinaum? Although it was barren in demons since most tried to avoid the cold, no amount of layers could get rid of the frigid wind finding its way through her clear pores. It was a good thing Metamorphy was the nicest and most patient person in the world, otherwise, she would have been very angry to meet up with the person who was so generous to invite her to the coldest place in Demon Realm.

Sitting at the edge on top of a tall glacial structure was a tiny figure. They were a single black dot to the naked eye. When Metamorphy teleported to the figure, she was greeted by a child. She made out a pair of cat ears sitting atop of the hood they wore and the chains dangling from the back of their jacket.

"How long are you going to pretend you're a kid?" Metamorphy asked.

"How long are you going to pretend you're nice?" Paradox snarked.

"Add, you requested this meeting." She said in her sweetest voice possible. "So this better be good."

She cracked her knuckles between the grip of her staff.

Paradox wasn't shivering only because of the cold, although she couldn't understand how the literal man-child wasn't freezing from how little he wore. Light flashed for the child to be replaced with a man in a body-tight suit. His hair reached past his shoulders and nearly touched the ground.

Metamorphy shrieked when a portal opened from the side and a frozen body tumbled out. Red hair sprawled out from the roots and over the unidentified person. Their hair was so long that Metamorphy was sure it could have gone past the ankles. A red Claymore laced in black stuck uncomfortably between their ribcage.

"Add, what is this?" Metamorphy gasped.

"A body," Paradox said as a matter-of-fact. "I found her under the ice. Aren't you going to thank me?"

"She's dead!"

"Her heart is still beating," Paradox corrected.

Metamorphy flipped the woman onto her back to press her ear against the Queen's chest. A faint heartbeat fluttered weakly like a dim light on a winter night. She kneeled down to frantically tend to Bloody Queen's wounds. They needed to pull out the Claymore to clean her cuts. Metamorphy looked to Paradox for help. It took more effort than it should have to pull out the weapon. It was tempting to toss out the weapon since it was rusting from excessive use, but she also didn't want to risk losing her head to a frostbitten woman. Time froze in place as Paradox unwound time to heal the deep cut.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Metamorphy asked more to herself than the Paradox. The time traveler didn't make a good conversationalist most of the time and she struggled to understand the brat.

"Do you want her or not?" Paradox asked, "If not, I can throw her back to the demons."

"Like hell you are," Metamorphy growled and pressed one hand over her temple. "What do you want out of this? It's not like you did this because you felt like being nice."

"Don't you have some brats to pick up from their fun little fight?" Paradox asked.

How did he know?

"You never told me what's going on between you and Glave." Metamorphy said, "Why didn't you complain when he agreed to keep the timelines together? Are you planning to mess with time again?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder," Paradox said. Cryptic as ever, typical. "Not everything I do involves destroying time and space, you know."

"You always seem to know where everyone is too," Metamorphy made note of how the time traveler always popped up whenever they were in trouble. Even more so, he often held important information they needed for any obstacle that got in their way. "Could it be that you actually car-"

"Mention me about having feelings for you losers and I'm going to throw up." Paradox interrupted.

"Of course," Metamorphy smirked. "Then you just happened to stumble onto Elesis's frozen body and asked me to come pick it up."

"Yes, and now you have a new problem." Paradox grinned.

Metamorphy could never understand the enigmatic man. Albeit childhood trauma from the short glimpses of Paradox's past, she didn't know much of the time traveler. Maybe it was for the best. There was no point in digging up painful memories when it didn't help them in the present.

She turned to thank the man but he had disappeared. Metamorphy groaned. Why did Paradox always do this to her? The magical girl was one hundred percent sure he lured her to do the dirty work so he could take his leave. Looking at Queen's still body, she tucked some of the hair behind the older woman's ear. It was going to take time to bring Queen back to the others before checking on Immortal. Metamorphy lifted the woman and sighed. Immortal was not going to be happy about this. Her sole hope was that Queen wasn't going to wake up and dart the other direction when reunited with her brother like the last time in Velder.


Author Notes: It's been nearly two years since I started writing this story. There were times where I thought of dropping it because I wasn't sure what direction I wanted the story to take, but everyone's support helped make a series of headcanons into a reality! I always appreciated everyone's feedback and did what I could to include most characters in the story. Thank you for reading!