Tales of The Cosmic War EXE Vol: The Secret War Beyond Good and Evil!

by Darth Necron

Five years after Ben Auro saved the universe from Chaos Zannacross Necron he is still helping try to guide the people to a better place alongside his lover Lacus Raystar. However they must reunite with their friends Mario,Cloud Strife, and others as everything they work for is threatened to unravel at the hands of the reality-destroying Incursion at the hands of the Beyonder!

12. Chapter 212 Roundabout of Regret

Chapter 212: Roundabout of Regret, Passage Vie the Fragmented Nightmare.

Despite the outburst, by the time everyone else got on board Doug had regained his composure and set off to see what the Joestar's had planned. Jotaro and Ravio were caught off by the advanced ship but quickly guided Doug to their destination.

The blond man saw that after being guided to the target point there was indeed a train station, and after checking the area for hostiles he landed the Zodiac Pinion near it.

Doug saw that snowy cloudy mountains were in the distance before he shrugged." I may not have gotten the full story on this world yet but how does a train help us nail this Dio punk again?"

"On their own, their worthless." Joseph answer as he knocked on the train door to check it." But as common as a train as it might look it's the key to sneaking through the enemy's watch to get to the Divine Beast before they notice. The gist of it is, the train will go deep under the Herba mountains so we can get directly under the Turtle Rock Tower without being detected.

The train tracks go deep under a mind that was not supposed to be linked to the tower. However because of how much Dio altered Lorule, a pathway was connected to the tower's basement. That's our pathway in."

Aqua saw Doug, Axel, and many of the others around her express various forms of confusion before she raised an eyebrow." Wait, so a pathway just appeared in the depths of the caverns that links to an enemy base? Can more than one person fist? Even if we can magically expand the opening won't the enemy notice?"

Jotaro glanced at the train tracks before he tipped his hat." Your assumption would be correct if we are talking about a physical hole, but this is a more magical kind. See, the thing is theses spirit tracks are linked to the Amala Network."

The younger member of the Joestar family saw nearly everyone around him looked confused before he shrugged." I never heard of the term myself till a few days ago, but it seems to be a vital part of Dio 's end game.

The gist of it is that this Amala Network is a control flow grid that harnesses the flow of Magatsuhi in this world of smaller worlds slammed together. Basically, it's the flow of souls, of those killed in this sick game."

"Flow of souls?" Aqua muttered." That nearly sounds like how the Life-Stream on Cloud's world works. I never heard of this Amala Network though."

"Eh…could be from another time in history." Axel threw out." Course if this whole place really is a reality that the Beyonder made up for himself then could just be how things work in his place. What matters more to me is that, you guys test this out before to make sure that this in fact, works?"

Josuke chuckled before throwing out a brash," Its fine dude, we used the Amala Network so far and long as you do it right it saves a hell of a lot of time!"

Doug eyed the train tracks carefully before he cracked his neck." Maybe but sounds mighty risky. Maybe you dudes did not have this option before but some of us can fly rather damn fast without a ship. An even faster way for this is for me to just fly to the top of this tower and bust everyone before they can blink so we can size this thing."

Jotaro's comrade Noriaki winced before muttering," I heard how you killed Azrael friend so no doubt you have formidable speed and strength. But even that won't be enough.

Even if you are indeed fast enough to get into the tower, unless you can be at two places at once that will alert the Divine Beast and are chances of stopping Dio will drop to rather grim odds. The thing is, if you don't disable the Divine Beast its over for this entire area."

"No offense dude but in case you did not get the message we busted doomsday machines before." Doug threw out as he cracked his neck." Trust me, even if this thing's a planet buster we have the means to take it down!"

Joseph chuckled before responding with a wry," I don't doubt that, especially after seeing how you took down Azrael. But it's not about sheer power. For one thing even if you take this Divine Beast down without getting hit, the other three will finish the job. Besides, taking over one and sizing its systems is the only way to uncover Dio's floating castle, at least in time to stop him."

"What the hell is so great about theses Divine Beasts that they are the only things that can track this dude in time? Some super nose?"

Before anyone could react everyone heard a bird like screeching noise in the distance before Jotaro merely grasped his fist tightly." See for yourself, just duck under the train while you do it!"

Doug saw the Joestar's and their allies tensely dive under the train before his group did the same. Everyone then saw the clouds part, before the group saw a gigantic mechanical eagle the size of a warship fly through the clouds. Link saw the metallic avian creature fly in the distance before he winced." That's the divine beast? Is it a creature at all?"

"That is indeed the Divine Beast Vah Medoh." Jotaro grit out." I don't know how organic that thing is but frankly I don't give a damn. When it goes all out it's a monster all right. If you doubt me, just take a look."

Everyone saw that Medoh was flying around the mountain, before suddenly an asteroid descended from the sky. Star-Lord was one of the many who cringed at this sudden dire turn in weather before muttering," Hey um, guys, is that another one of these Stand things because that rock looks really real!"

"No, that seems to be very real." Joseph tensely retorted." My bet is that, one of the other worlds is trying to take out the competition early. If they have the means, they can do it."

"Um, if that's the case Yoshi thinks someone should do something fast!"

The green dino cried out. Groot then looked up and nodded." I am Groot!"

Raccoon glanced at his taller teammate before snarling out," I don't have enough time to charge my big gun Groot!"

Doug saw everyone panic before he rolled his eyes." God damn am I the only one who still has their wits to them? Guess time to add asteroid busting for my list today."

Aqua saw her theoretical boyfriend prepare to take off before she noticed something, prompting her to grasp him." Wait Doug look!"

The man indeed looked, and saw Vah Medoh suddenly have its eyes glow red, before a large cannon appeared out of its back. After a few seconds it unleashed a massive red energy blast that pierced the asteroid, and unleashed a massive explosion that was powerful enough to shatter it.

The Divine Beast swiftly unleashed missiles from its wings to destroy the remains. Axel saw the giant robotic bird just fly back into the clouds before he chuckled coyly." Well I can see this Beast here can walk the walk. I take it the other three are just as armed?"

"Seems that way." Jotaro answered." The others are the Elephant like Divine Beast Vah Ruta , the salamander like fire based Vah Rudania , and the lighting camel like Vah Naboris. None of us really are what you would call tech savvy but Princess Hilda told us that they were the masterpieces of the Sheikah tribe.

Some, very advanced machines that were able to replicate any weapon they could analyses. Since this is a world made up of many worlds from all over the universe, they were able to analyses a lot of weapons."

Link looked at the Joestar with shock before retorting with," The Sheikah tribe you say? Their…must be some misunderstanding, as wise as Impa and the others where it would take a life time for her and the others to build a beast such as that!"

Mario just eyed the snowy mountaintop carefully before adding." Aside from all that Mister Joestar, how does getting into that a tower give us any shot of taking control of it if it's as advanced as you say it a is?"

"It's all because of the nature of the way the Divine Beasts receive commands." Jotaro answered." Us and Dio did not come from a world of such high levels of technological advancement, Dio merely used dark magic to assert his control over them, and all other machines on the world.

Its linked to the Amala network, Dio uses these towers to recharge the Divine Beasts without having to go to them directly. As ghastly as fueling them with souls is, it gives us one advantage. That would be that when they are being recharged their defenses are down. We can retake control, at least long enough to find Dio's castle.

We chose Vah Medoh because while it is the hardest to take control of at first, once we do take control it will be mobile enough to evade the others till we can lock on to Dio. I'll be the first one to admit it's not a flawless plan, but it's still the best one we could think of."

"Heh…sometimes crazy's the only option on the table dude." Doug uttered as he cracked his neck." Crazy and half-cocked are not always the same thing, and it's better than just waiting for this cocky vampire to come to us am I right? One thing left though, you say this train will take us to where we need to be? You don't think these dudes won't waste this slug the moment they see it coming?"

Ravio cleared his throat before he walked up." That's what I'm here for sir. They know me as an amusing merchant. As long as you all take cover in the special boxes made of material that prevents energy form being sensed you all should be able to be sneaked into the Turtle Rock Tower in time."

"Hold the fort dude why the hell in a world one step away from the apocalypse are people trading stock?"

Ravio saw the doubt in Doug's eyes and just chuckled." Even if the main stars are the fighters the people who can't fight still want to cling on to what sense of normalcy they can afford, so I gather up items and barter for people on this train.

Till now Dio found me a harmless jester, one he promised he would bring to the new world if I did not fail him. He kept his word this far but, I have enough sense to think he is stringing me along for one sick joke. Besides…I'm willing to risk everything to save H, Princess Hilda!"

"Alrighty then, can respect a man willing to make a gutsy move to get what he wants! Well if that's all said let's get a move on!"

Aqua saw Doug get on the train before she looked back at the ship she called home." Hold up Doug, let's think this out. I trust you guys thought this plan through, but maybe some of us should stay behind encase things go sour? You think our ship would be able to attack this Divine Beast enough to be a decent distraction?"

Joseph paused before nodding." It would tip them off but if they are already aware it is a moot point. Better than nothing."

Doug had his right eye twitch before throwing out,"Tsc…if we are not willing to give it our all we won't be able to win Aqua! I'm not going to do this half-assed I'm going to do this all the way!"

Axel chuckled before reacting with a coy,"And they call me hot headed. Whatever, I'll be the B team guy I guess. Someone's got to light a fire if things get dark fast."

Aqua smiled before she nodded." Thanks for agreeing Axel, it makes sense to keep one of our best in reserves in case we need it."

Doug eyed Axel before he just spat on the ground." Makes sense…just make sure to keep your eye on the ball alright dude?"

The two men looked at each other before the former Dark Enji just laughed." Forget your talking to a man who had to play some long stakeouts to find Celestial Beasts across galaxies? That sure as hell took focus, trust me I'm not the one you have to worry about focusing, yah hear?"

"Guess we don't have time to debate eh? Whatever, let's roll."

Star Lord looked around before he shrugged."Guess me and my unit will stay with Axel just in case the backup needs back up alright?"

Doug just jumped on the train before muttering," Whatever, anyone who does plan on joining the fight get on with it cause I'm under the impression we are short on time eh?"

Jotaro nodded before he also got on the train. After a few looks Aqua, Link, Airy, the rest of the Joestar group, the members of Brave Vesperia, Mario, Yoshi, and with a bit of prodding, Luigi got on the train. Ravio then got on top of it before he saw a small blue bird fly up to him.

After a few moments, the man in a bunny mask chuckled." So that's the word, eh Sheerow? The weather seems as good as its going to get but a storm might be coming. We better go while we have the chance, next stop, Turtle Rock!"

Ravio took out a pan flute before playing a catching tune from it. Doug raised an eyebrow before he and the others saw the train react to the flute, and move on its own. Link saw the train start to move before he grinned." Ah, always good to find another fan of music. This magic feels like it can be trusted."

Axel saw everyone take off before he waved."Watch yourselves guys, seems one way or another this is going to be one wild ride."

Star-Lord's comrade Drax then nodded before adding,"Rest assured we will make sure to watch carefully if your ride crashes comrades!"

Groot then added a hearty,"I am Groot!"

Rocket hear Groot's remark and just rolled his eyes." C'mon Groot we are not cannon folder here! We are just, playing to our strengths ok? After all am I not the best sniper?"

Before Doug could hear the answer to that the train picked up speed and burst to the upcoming tunnel Doug saw Aqua talk to Estelle before he just spat outside the train." Damn it, thought this was going to be simple and its turning to be out as convoluted as hell."

Suddenly Yuri came over and laughed." C'mon man you think this is convoluted? When you guys showed up on my world out of nowhere it was so convolting it took me months to put everything together."

Doug saw the long haired Enji come up to him with a friendly look and just laughed." True that Yuri. You got me with this not being nearly as confusing as some of the things we had to do. It's just…this whole thing is about fighting, right? Then just have us in a big ring and get on with it! You know me dude, the less drama to bog things down the better."

"Same here Doug, trust me. Even if the enemy is out of my league rather they just get on with it. That being said, also know that the corrupt always loved playing sick games that only amused them.

Seems here we are just stuck in another twisted game that the likes of Ragou, Cumore, Alexei, and all the types like them like to play with people's life's. Only difference is that this punk has god like powers or something, and that's why no matter how broken the rules are we got to win right?"

"No doubt their Yuri. I'm not keen on running in blind, just want to figure out how to get this over with to get back to things that don't involve the fate of the universe."

"Sounds good on my end Doug. Speaking of that, just what have you been up to man? Been a while since we had a chance to talk, figured might as well before things get crazy again."

"Eh, honestly man…nothing worth mentioning. Just one job after another with some parties in-between."

"That so man? Just asking because been hearing different things from different people, figured to get it straightened up."

Doug glanced behind him and saw that Estelle, Rita, Flynn, and some of the others were trying to casually talk to Aqua, The Joestar's and others while quickly looking at Doug before he just rolled his eyes." That so eh? I'd figure a man like you would know that when word spreads the truth gets distorted Yuri."

"And that's why I want to hear from you man. You know I'm not a fan of gossiping but I been hearing some kind of things that did not sound like you. Things like you robbing from the people who hired you and causing tension and all that."

"Yuri…I figured your one of the few Enji who knows things are not as black and white as some want it to be. Yah I turned on a client or two, only after I found out I was being duped!

Some dudes thought they were owned things after the war, while others wanted what was rightfully theirs before Weil Zabi and all the other rich pricks muscled the little guy to give one thing after the other the "legal" way. Even if they are not pure evil, just because you think you're doing what is natural in society does not mean your innocent!"

"I understand Doug, don't give the impression I'm judging yah. I know full well doing what's lawful and doing what's right is not nearly as much the same time as Flynn, Ben, and the others like to think. On the other hand, lawful or not it's always good to see things clearly before doing something like that."

"Things are always better in "theory" but not always time to have a nice long debate about the issues eh Yuri? Got to say man, looks like Estelle tamed you since I last saw yah."

"C'mon Doug give me some credit, I'm still my own man. But I'm man enough to let my friends teach me things. Just saying, she pointed out to me that the man on top is not always the one in the wrong. Plenty of jealous people make up stories to try and take what they don't have no right to. If your truly keen on doing what's right you got to be fair to all sides, Don White-horse taught me that much."

"No offense dude but you're talking like I don't know what I'm doing, and I had more than my fill of people thinking they know more than me."

"I'm just saying Doug, I noticed you changed a lot since last time, and I don't mean the beard. I'm just hearing a lot of things and want to know what the real deal is with a friend of mine."

"Heh, fair enough Yuri. Like I said, I've not been up to much. I been reading the rumors on the web on me to you know? Despite what some of the news sites with too much time on their hands have been saying, I'm not out to kick start fights cause I'm bored or anything. I mean do guys really think someone as lazy as me wants to be head of some convoluted revolution? Hell no. I just want to have a good time and to knock down pricks who get to ahead of themselves.

That means things to different people, and that's only natural. That being said, I am not going to pretend things are all hunky dory when they are far from it.

Things are better than they were for the war for most, but it sure is not paradise yet and despite what Ben, the Masters and the Angels keep saying if the solution to every problem has been found I sure as hell have not seen it.

Now, I sure as hell don't think so mighty of myself that I think I know more than Cosmos, I just know people from my own experiences, and that's why people may be exhausted after the Cosmic War but, that's far from everyone being all sunshine and rainbows.

People just don't to do what's right all the time, that's not how most people tick. Ben may be dead-set on trying to fix every problem, but even if he and Lacus are not immortal, not every problem can be solved! Hell, I reckon not every problem should be solved because it's not a problem for everyone!

I an't out to force everyone, or even most people to see things my way, I just want to be left along so I can do things my way in peace, that all to ask! But if I see someone doing that's wrong just because they think is right, I'm sure as hell going to point out how much of a joke it is if it meddles in my business and not just keep my head in the sand to be politically correct!

Even before this Beyonder prick decided to try and smash dimensions together for the kicks I keep being nagged from everyone who can't stand I don't want the same things out of life that they do! Is something as simple as true freedom really that much to ask?"

"Hell if I know Doug, I'm not god. But from my own experience I'll say things that seem simple can become complex as hell if you look into it too much. Freedom for me was trying to do my own path, and me and the others of Brave Vesperia have been trying to do what you have been doing Doug, going across world to world to help the little guy.

But it's not that simple. Like you say everyone sees things differently, to be honest it's still tricky getting everyone to see eye to eye on our world. Advanced machines may help but it does not solve everything. But, guess that's the problem Ben and Lacus are trying to solve, right?"

Doug just looked at the sky before he shrugged." That's their right to try, but I don't want to have any big part of that, too much damn drama."

"Fair enough man, just go down the path you believe in. I like to think my parents, Captain Hisca, and the others would be proud of the choices I made."

"Heh…I know being an orphan sucks Yuri, but trust me sometimes it's better not knowing your roots, because knowing can just make it worst. When you know what you are, sometimes you just want to go far enough away to be free to be what you are without having to deal with the hassle.

I did my part in taking down Zannacross, I just want to be left along to do what I want with my life. And that's why, I'm going to trash this Dio punk, then do what I can to make this Beyonder pay for dragging me into this joke! So, about that, are we set to get this job on or what dude?"

Doug glanced at Ravio, and the purple wearing man chuckled before he quipped back," Patience bearded one, the train is on track. Still I would say get ready to hide in the boxes because we will soon be in the enemy's cross-hairs. Wait, huh? No, no that' can't be right! Er…sorry to say but we might already be in their cross-hairs!"

Doug and the others tensed up as they suddenly saw a flash, before they saw a bunch of glowing blue lights in the distance. As the lights caused the ground around them to crack and turn to car sized grey robots with squid like legs.

As the Enji and their allies saw half a dozen red targeting lasers turned to his direction Doug growled out," The hell dude? This some sort of set up? What's with all the robots popping up?"

"I swear this is not something related to me!" Ravio cried out defensively." To be fair I did tell you to hide before they could detect us!"

"Well I thought we had more time dude! You're the one who left out to watch out for land squid robots!"

Jotaro grimaced before throwing in," To be fair, these enemies use to be allies. They are Guardian robots. They were also built by the Sheikah and were once smaller units of the Divine Beasts. Guess like the Divine Beasts, Dio took control of them with his magical virus or whatever. Damn, was careless, did not think Dio would send more minions on top of everything but guess he is not taking this lightly."

Link saw the swarm of Guardian robots start to target the train before he winced." You say they built theses monsters as well? This must be an aspect of the, unique world the Beyonder made, because I can't image the Sheikah making such things. From everything I seen, this hardly seems like Hyrule at all, I'm starting to wonder if this is what happened to Termina after I left it, that Mask sells men did seem quite ambitious."

Doug suddenly had his aura flare up before yelling out,"Damn it I don't care where they came from, they are going to a scrap yard real fast! Cover our ride on all sides dudes, this ride's about to get real bumpy!"

The Guarding robots soon began unleashing a salvo of blue energy blasts at the train. Aqua quickly cast a barrier around the entire vehicle to reflect the first salvo. While it worked, the robots swiftly fired more blasts to try and overwhelm the barrier.

Soon similar robots came from the air and poured even more powerful plasma at Aqua, causing Link, Yuri, Flynn, and the others to jump up and deflect some of the lasers with their blades and shields.

Rita, Mario, Estelle, and some of the others fired off attacks, and while they managed to destroy some of the Guardians even more came down from above.

Joseph saw they were getting closer to the tunnel before he grasped the train's railing tightly." Everyone get ready to move fast! Once we are inside jump out when you see the light! Er, the reddish light! Um…the lighter red light."

Ravio just groaned before throwing out," We are not going back the way we came anyway so just blow the entrance once we enter! That should give us enough time!"

"Guess if this is an act you're playing it to the end bunny dude. Whatever, one way or another we got a base to bust into!"

The blond-haired man roundhouse kicked a laser out of the way before unleashing a Sphere of Might into the nearest Guardian. A few moments later the train went past the tunnel, and Link swiftly unleashed a bomb arrow to blast the entrance apart.

The train went downwards for a few moments, and as everyone wondered tensely if all they did was just back themselves in a corner Ravio looked around before he suddenly grinned." Yes it's still their! Brace yourselves for a rough stop!"

Ravio quickly played a rough tune on his flute, and the Spirit Train screeched to a halt. Everyone but Luigi managed to stay on their feet, and when the train stopped Doug saw a light, and glanced to the left to see a large drum like object that had red energy floating around it. He and the others saw this object had unfamiliar words glowing around it before Aqua stepped closer."So, this is the part of this Amala Network?"

Airily flew around the object before she widened her eyes." Oh, I saw this before! L, Dio set up something like this when his servants killed the other Fairies! I think, I heard it's a way to reorganize all the souls, so that Dio can amass the energy of all he kills to get even stronger. So, you guys figured out how to use this terminal for yourself?"

The elder Joestar grinned before his hand glowed with light." It was a bit of trial and error but we were able to get a previous Amala Drum working by utilizing my Hamon energy. Since they act as conductors from one section of the "grid" to another, it makes sense that using energy would allow one to "hitch a ride".

It worked before and transported us from Lorule Castle to one that the Professor was working on in the Akkala region tower. Long as they are not waiting for us it should work again. Those Guardian robots have no means to contact Dio so we should be in the…"

Joseph was cut off as everyone heard a rumbling. Doug glanced back to see flashes of light before he grit his teeth." Guess we will have to gamble it will work again eh man? Aqua, have one of your counter curse spells ready case they try and do something screwy eh?"

The blue haired Enji nodded before everyone heard another explosion, prompting Josuke to wince."Hurry up old man! I don't want to die because your too slow to deliver when it counts!"

"You calling me senile? Just brace yourself and get around me, this ride's not meant for comfort!"

Doug saw everyone gather around Joseph before he winced and grasped Aqua's hand. A moment later the head of the Joestar clan touched the Amala Drum. Moments later the object he touched glowed with light before the drum turned to the same color as Joseph's aura.

Suddenly everyone felt a sudden jolt, and after a few moments of feeling unnatural Doug saw his surroundings had changed, and that he was in a wide metallic room with a machine that looked like some sort of energy generator in front of him.

The member of Squad 7 looked around to see everyone made it through the process, and saw some of the members looked woozy before he flashed a half-lopped smile." Everyone make it over in one piece or should we check back to make sure no one left any organs behind?"

"I'll be alright, but that's one warp pipe I don't feel very eager to use much."

"I've had more upsetting ways of teleporting, I'll manage."

Link said as he made sure all his gear was still in order. Aqua saw both Joseph and Jotaro dust off their hats before she smiled." Your plan worked, thank you."

"Don't thank use yet Aqua." Jotaro muttered as he glanced around the area." There are still several more steps to the plan to go. Even if Dio is not on to us, those Guardians might try and follow us. But, at least now that we are in the path should be straight forward, just get ready for a lot of jumping."

Mario grasped his hat tightly before he smirked." Don't worry, that's something I'm a good at! Let's a go!"

The heroic plumber took off and everyone quickly followed him. While Doug's group prepared for a sneak attack from all sides, they found a metallic spiral staircase and swiftly went up it, finding a much wider chamber filled with dozens of pillars glowing with red energy.

Everyone walked around but after a minute no one found anything that indicated any way to go up another level. Doug looked around for a bit longer and saw some of the pillars had mirrors on them. The blond-haired man swore after looking at himself in the eye." I see some odd building ideas over the last few years on some of my jobs but at least they had exits!

I don't know if this Dio dude is trolling us or they just forgot to finish working on this thing but frankly I don't care! We don't have time for games, if there is no exist I'll just make my own!"

Jotaro sighed before muttering," These games piss me off to but, letting them get to you will just make things worse for us. If we distrust the energy flow the Divine Beast will become alert and that would defeat the whole point of this yes?"

Aqua saw Doug's right eye twitch before she sighed." Let's not jump to conclusions ok Doug? There might be an exist after all, we just have to look harder. Look, the energy seems to be flowing in a precise direction. Even if it's another warp point, seems we might find an exit that way right."

Link grinned before adding," Aye, Aqua has a good point. Don't worry, I have my Lens of Truth with me, if the pathway is invisible we still will be able to find it!"

Yoshi looked around before adding," Yoshi does smell something over to the right! Not sure if it's an enemy though."

"Well…only one way to find out, so get ready." Yuri retorted as he drew his sword. Doug nodded and everyone went in the direction the energy was floating. After a few moments they saw Aqua's hunch was correct, but were shocked as they saw that in the center of the chamber was what seemed to be a young male lying unconscious on a bed surrounded by a red crystal of light that had lights go into mirrors around him.

Upon a closer look Doug saw the young man had glasses, light purple hair and a red arrow pointing downwards on his forehead. He was wearing a purple hospital gown and was nailed to his bed at his shoulders by two large bolts.

While at first glance the mattress which held the kid in place looked like any other hospital bed everyone soon realized advanced machinery seemed attached to it.

The base of the bed was purple in color, and had various fiendish looking technology attached from the bed to the pillars around it.

Estelle saw the kid looked sound asleep before she looked up." What is this? Mister Jotaro, have you seen people like this before? From here it looks that machine is sucking something out of him!"

Flynn took out his sword before tensely uttering," It seems clear the mechanism is harvesting something from the kid! This must be some make shift jail cell, so we must free him before it's too late!"

"Easy there." Jotaro uttered as he suddenly held up his arm." As I said before, Dio has a sadistic sense of humor, I would not put it past him to use a fake hostage as bait to lure in the heroic types."

Doug eyed the sleeping kid carefully, and as he saw the purple pillow that his head was on, and the red arrow on his head he snickered." Last thing we need is tripping up over a fake out. That arrow does look weird as hell."

Jotaro's comrade Polnareff suddenly winced before interjecting with," Hold on Jotaro, we did see people in the past that got sucked dry attached to things mighty like this till they were nothing like husks, like Advol! We should at least try and see if this is not a trick or we are as bad as Dio!"

"Tsc…no matter what Polnareff…before we do anything looks like we got to get past them first."

Jotaro pointed up and half of the ground was startled to see four individuals floating around the top of the structure the kid was linked to. They were all clad in black robes, and all had their heads covered with complex Gothic golden helmets with horns and an ominous eye in front of their face.

Luigi saw the four floating men keep being in a prayer stance even as the Joestar family gave them furious looks before he gulped." Um…please tell me these guys just are fancy janitors."

"Far from it." Jotaro retorted. "They are Black Priests. They seem to be Dio's wizard soldiers, and are damn good at it to."

Airy suddenly gulped before adding," Its worst then that! I heard some of them talking with the commander that attacked my people, and they said they saw themselves as Field Surgeons of Rabum Alal!"

Link suddenly realized he thought he saw some of them float around when he was fighting Kylo Ren during the Incursion before he swiftly drew the Master Sword and had it glow." I think it's clear these are villains that must be stopped!"

Jotaro saw the Black Priests start to sit up in midair before he grit his teeth." Just do it quickly, I'm not joking about their magic!"

Doug suddenly had his energy explode before grunting out," Fine by me, not in the mood to waste with grunts! Thousand Steel Hurricane Kicks!"

The blond man swiftly jumped up to unleash a barrage of blur like kicks that hit all of the priests in the blink of an eye. Doug hit his targets so hard that their helmets were knocked off.

As he landed Doug heard breaking noises and grinned, only for that grin to fade as he saw what was underneath the helmets, for while they were men, they were all bald men who had no eyes or noses, just odd black symbols from an unknown language seared into their foreheads. As the men glanced down at Doug their wounds quickly patched up, before the up most one uttered," We seeee youuuu tresspassers."

Estelle backed up before she steeled herself and had a holy aura surround her." What the, are these men some sort of demons? It matters not, they must pay for their wickedness! Sacred Penance!"

The pink haired Enji swiftly unleashed her powerful Mystic Art attack, but as the cross shaped blast of holy energy head for the Black Priests, the bald men uttered a word in unison before the symbols on their heads glowed, and a sphere of green energy formed around their bodies, forming a sort of vortex that shattered Estelle's magic.

They all saw Estelle's shock before descending to the ground." A lesson for you, defedners of a soon dyiing existence. Iiiigore diiisciiiplllnes, the underpiiinninng of all thiings iiiiis much simpler. All that matters are words… All other thinngs are best left unspoken."

They saw Doug, Link, Mario, Yuri, Jotaro, Josuke and many of the others come at them from all directions and uttered a word that was forging to Doug's group. At once their foreheads glowed green, and a moment later everyone around them suddenly had their lower parts of the body under the ground.

The Black Priests saw Doug's defiance and just raised their hands, before the pillars around them started to open up." As iiit always iiiiis. Many cannot endure when the words of truth are spoken.

Your lives are not forsaken yet, the great one still wants to see you directly, and harness your energy for his purposes. But make no mistake, a day isss coming, convergence. And on that day, the finiinal word will be spoken."

Doug just grit his teeth before yelling out," That so baldly? Guess what? That final word is going to be you screaming in pain! Don't matter what magic you have, it won't be enough!"

The bearded man tried to power up only to find cables suddenly burst out from the pillars to try and steal his energy. Suddenly a new wild voice shrieked out a piercing,"SCREEYE! Once one is Lord Dio's prey, there is no escape!"

Everyone got on guard as the pillow on the boy's head suddenly had two yellow eyes open up, before the pillow transformed in to Antasma.

The purple bat like being flew above Doug's group and kept cackling." Your deaths can happen venever the Master wishes, but Lord Dio wants to see who is wise enough to side with destiny, and vho is foolish enough to decide to be cattle!"

Joseph just grasped his fist tightly before shooting back with," If Dio thinks the Joestar family would ever beg for his mercy then even after all these years he truly understands nothing!"

"Tsc…Lord Dio would never want a reminder of what caused him so much annoyance! However, the others are another story."

Doug just spat on the ground before throwing out," Dream on fang face, I'm not keen on being a blood sucker! I don't grovel to people stronger than me, so I sure as hell don't for wiseass's weaker than me!"

"Oh, you're a feisty one alright! But ve will see if your resolve stands, vhen you have to face your soul's true fear! I am Antasma, the master of nightmares! But you don't have to sleep to see my power, I can make nightmares become reality! Or to be more precise, I can transport you to your nightmares! Now, let your own fears destroy you!"

Antasma had a purple energy sphere and threw it into the ground. Suddenly four purple vortexes opened up, one under Doug, one above Aqua, one above Link, and a bigger one above Mario's group, Brave Vesperia, and the Joestar group.

Doug saw the sphere encircling him and struggled to power up." I outgrew fearing nightmares when I was freaking five dude! I, huh?"

A flash blinded Doug's eyes, and when the light faded Ben's friend saw he seemed to be in some place entirely different. The blond-haired man saw he seemed to be in a decrypted parking lot that looked like his hometown when he was growing up.

Doug blinked as he looked around at some of the new buildings around him before he released a bitter chuckle." And why the hell does this dump look like my home town back on Katrina?

What's wrong guys, so scared of me that you warped me all the way back to my home town? Heh…and what's this? They are using older ship models, this really the time back to when my parents broke up? C"mon, if you guys think you can make me break down with a little illusion, Genjutsu, or whatever you call it? I know who I am, and I know what made me who I am!

No matter what you throw at me, nothing's going to change that. But what is going to change is me pounding the hell out of whoever thought this joke was funny! No matter what is in front of me, it won't stop me! Just hope the others don't get tripped up, cause that would be a real pain."

Doug looked out for seeing if anyone was going to jump him as he angrily walked across the parking lot.

---

As he did, he was unaware that his comrades were in a much less tranquil spot. Mario, Jotaro, Yuri, and all of their group found themselves suddenly in a wide area with cracked rough purple soil, and an unstable purple sky that looked cracked.

Raven grasped his back before muttering," I know I always talk about my old bones taking abuse but at this point I seriously think I'll break something if I keep landing like this! Eh, one of you sweet gals would heal me right? Anyway, where are we, outside?"

Before Yuri or the others could answer Antasma shrieked out," Far from it ugly human! Velcome to the dream sphere. Though, since this one is more like a dream prison, velcome to your graves!"

Yoshi saw lighting strike down and empower the bat like being before he looked flustered." Yoshi confused, bat guy says we are in dream world but Yoshi does not feel tired at all."

"Well this sure does not seem like Subcon Yoshi." Luigi muttered." Still, I'd tangle with Wart without a second thought after seeing this! If this is a dream I really want to wake up now! We, huh? Whoa!"

The tall plumber heard a noise and glanced around to see a burst of fire heading his way. He and those around him quickly dodged it, and as the fire faded its source bellowed out a grouchy," You want it to end Green Stash? Sure, it will end when all of you losers get your ultimate super final game over!"

Everyone turned around to see a face that gave the group various degrees of shock. The man was a turtle like being with wild red hair, spiked horns and a wide jaw. The man was not wearing what those that knew him were use to, but was clad in a white tuxedo suit with a matching white hat and a purple bowtie.

Mario saw the new person flash his wide teeth before he threw out,"B, Bowser? What in Star Road are you doing here?"

Yoshi rolled his eyes before muttering," You better not have somehow sneaked into our ship because you thought this was a party Bowser! Wait, but Yoshi thought Bowser was on a honeymoon on, planet Mustafar?"

Bowser just laughed before throwing out," You think I would miss you guys getting your final curtain call? Besides, it's always a fast trip in a dream sphere!"

Jotaro just cracked his knuckles before uttering a damning," What is this, you some pimp from their world? I don't care, if you're in the way you're going to be beaten down!"

Luigi threw out an uneasy chuckle before he walked up." Hey easy their guy, Bowser's a pain but we are not enemies anymore! We reached an understanding right!"

Antasma suddenly cackled out before he flew above Bowser." Maybe you and the Koopa King have indeed reached such an agreement, but in this dream sphere, built on your collective nightmares, this Bowser hates you as much as he hated you in your most heated battles! Since Lord Dio decided none of you are vorth the effort I thrown you all in to a collective meta-verse formed out of all of your dreams, merged vith my own! Your worst memories will become my veapons! You all may have repressed your fears to various decrees, but your vorst fears will be unleashed, and consume you!"

Jotaro cracked his neck before he walked forward." You're the one that should be afraid Antasma. Your squawking is getting on my nerves, and I'm not about to let an eyesore like you stop me from settling the score with Dio! Go Star Platinum!"

The Joestar once more had his Stand appear to try and pummel the bat like villain, but before the punches could land a shirtless man with long purple hair in attired like a man from the Aztec era suddenly burst out of the ground to block the punches.

This new arrival saw Jotaro's outrage and snickered." You damn vermin have to die slowly for barking so loudly!"

"I'd say the same to you, you damn flunky!"

Joseph saw the malice in the new man's eyes before he gasped." Be careful Jotaro, that's no mere flunky, that's my old foe Kars, leader of the pillar men! He was the one who could alter his body in any way he wished, and I had to send him to space to take him down! Damn it, nightmare or not this is a pain."

The younger Joestar saw Kars suddenly have a blade form out of his legs and quickly stepped back to avoid being slashed at. The purple haired man then got into an elaborate pose before hissing out," At last, I will make you pay for making a fool out of the ultimate life form, Joseph Joestar! This will be a fun massacre, eh Wammu?"

One of the purple pillars behind Kars suddenly shattered before a man with attire like his, only taller, and wearing large earrings and a metallic head adornment similar to a crown appeared, riding a chariot with demonic green horses. The man named Wammu just glazed down at everyone before closing his eyes." It will be a night full of glorious deaths!"

Yuri saw various monsters appear out of the ground before he got into a fighting stance."Well, I knew this was going to be an odd mission but it keeps breaking my expectations! Not about to lose to a bunch of nightmares!"

"What's wrong Yuri? Afraid to admit that the path you gone down was only right because you deluded yourself into thinking you made the right choice?"

Yuri paused as he saw one of the men was a tall man with grey man and a scar on his face. Both him and Flynn tensed up as Flynn blurted out,"C, Captain Niren Fedrok? But, your dead!"

Yuri just looked tensely before adding,"And that's why it's some imposter without a doubt Flynn! Don't let these punks screw with yah!"

Niren took out his sword before coldly uttering,"You can act like a punk all you want, but you,"

"Shut up, you're not him, you don't have the right to act like your words have any weight on me! I stick to my path and go down it the best I can. Anyone that tries to get in my way is going down if they don't back off!"

Yuri saw his former commander charge at him before the two crossed blades. Flynn tried to join the fight but was intercepted by another minion, a skeleton swordsmen in what seemed like a matador outfit that despite his look quickly proved he was deadly with the sword.

The two's friends tried to jump in till suddenly a man with light blue hair in black knight like armor formed out of the ground between Kars and Wammu before he instantly pointed a sword at the members of Brave Vesperia." You will see who is inferior when you die at the hands of Oneiros of the Nightmare Specters! Fellow warriors, bring glory to Lord Dio!"

As the various living nightmares charged at Doug's group Mario saw Luigi and Yoshi looking afraid before he grinned." Don't a worry guys, if we could get through the ultimate battle between all good guys and bad guys to take down Zannacross then this is a nothing! Hey I think I seen that knight before in that battle! Well, or someone like him, does not a matter really."

While Luigi and Yoshi looked more confident, Bowser, or at least the nightmare looking like Bowser chuckled before he threw off his hat." You puny punks may have squeezed out of that last time Mario, but this time your savior is not hear to bail you out! Let's face it, in the grand scheme of things your all just C, maybe C- heroes at best! Now you're out of your league, and without Ben Auro to give you an extra continue this is the final smack down!"

Luigi got defensive as he mustered his courage to shout back," Hold the phone Bowser! If we are C hero's then you must be a D bad guy to keep losing to us eh? In fact since you were so bad at being a bad guy that you managed to avoid going down with all the bad guys that went down with Zannacross then you're so lame at it that you have a F in being bad!"

"It does not matter what happened in the past little green!" Bowser roared out as his eyes suddenly glowed red." The loser who lost to you may have been well, a loser, but I'm the best Bowser there is! I'm bad to the bone, totally without mercy, and totally beyond you twits! Time for you plumbers to be retired!"

Bowser's entire body suddenly rippled with dark energy, before his entire body became pitch black. The phantom of the King of Koopa's suddenly withdrew into his shell and spun around rapidly before becoming a spiky bolder.

Mario just looked firmly at his charging foe, and took out his hammer. Luigi steeled himself before he took out his own weapon, and the two brothers spun around before both hitting Bowser before he could collide into them.

The impact knocked Bowser all the way to the edge of the arena, and while Bowser tried to stop, Yoshi threw a bomb egg to push him off the edge. The three heard the copy of their old foe yell before Mario shrugged." He may have been more of a bad guy, but whoever that really is he's got a no brains! Let's take down the real guy behind, whoa!"

Just as Mario turned around he heard a blood thirsty roar, before a fist suddenly erupted out of the ground. The three heroes from the Mushroom Kingdom barley got out of the way as they saw Bowser was far from finished, and that falling off the cliff just caused him to transform into a giant big enough to the point where his toe was bigger than Mario.

Not only had his size increased, but he looked more demonic, now in his "Giga Bowser" state that the real Bowser got after using the dark power of Zannacross, the advanced Curse Seal of Necrocalcous crystal. The now completely black colored Bowser grinned at seeing not only the three members of the Justice Force, but all of their allies look at his new size with shock before he roared loud enough to shake the entire dream arena."GWAHAHAHA! That's right, I'm large and in charge! This Bowser does not do losing! You morons are going to suffer till you learn where you belong!"

Estelle and Rita saw Bowser try and smash Jotaro, and also saw and Jonathan fight off Kar's before Judith giggled tensely." I don't think these boys are going to say no eh girls? Something tells me it's going to take more than the usual methods to get them to take a hint."

Rita glanced up to see Antasma having orbs of darkness circle around him before her narrowed her eyes." I get what you mean Judith. Ben did say the Beyonder was fond of creating copies of people, everyone besides the bat freak is just a distraction! Got to press through them to take him out! Damn it, as much as a pain as this is, not good that Link, Aqua, and Doug are somewhere else! Got to get out of this to make sure they don't, whoa!"

The trio of female Enji suddenly saw Oneiros was above him and quickly blocked his slash. Raven just evaded being trampled by Wammu 's demonic horses before he chuckled bitterly," Let's just hope we can beat theses wise guys!"

Raven tried to shoot the replica of the Pillar man with his bow, only for his target to seethe out." Think such lowly antics can beat a true elite warrior? Think again, Divine Sandstorm!"

As the arrow came for him the tall man started to spin his forearms rapidly from the elbow joint, where the right arm spun to the left, and the left arm spun to the right. The rapid spinning swiftly created a massive wind storm.

Raven cursed as his arrow, and much more was sent his way, and while Wammu looked eager, Antasma saw the Enji's struggle and cackled madly." You cretins should vorry about yourselves! Don't vorry, if your comrades are willing to embrace the truth they might yet face salvation. They will be forced to embrace what the truth is just like you all. But you all don't have any option but a swift death!"

Antasma suddenly shimmered with dark energy before he unleashed a barrage of dark lightning bolts to further the onslaught. As intense a situation as the group was in, the ones they did not see did not even have others to have each other's back.

---

When Link was hit by Antasma 's light, after he blinked he found that he suddenly found himself in a temple.

The hero of Hyrule quickly glanced around to see no one else in the area before he winced." What trickery is this! Trying to divide and concur eh villain? That won't be enough to, huh? Wait, I know this place. This looks like, the Temple of Time, from the era when I had the Ocarina of Time! By the three Goddesses…did the Beyonder send me all the way back to Hyrule? Did, he send me back in time? If that's the case I hope that Supreme Kai of Time would not mind, huh? That's odd, I don't remember those statues being there in that time, or any time."

Link's sudden shift in attention was brought by seeing many statues on both sides of the temple that he did not remember. Upon a closer look he realized the statue was of his childhood friend from when he was living in Korok Forest, Sarah. Link realized the statue looked like a tomb of sorts before his eyes grew somber.

As memories of his times with Sarah flashed by and he wondered when the statue was made, he noticed the statue next to her looked like someone as well and realized the woman was Malon, the girl from the Lon Lon Ranch who introduced him to his favorite horse Epona.

Just as Link wondered if someone had made statues of those who had helped him after he defeated Ganondorf the first time, he saw a statue of another blond-haired girl he knew, Ilia, his close friend from the time he was in Ordon Village.

As Link stared to get alarmed, his alarm only increased as he saw another statue of a regal looking woman he blurted out," Minda? Even if there were those that were aware of the Twilight Princess, by that time the Temple of Time was in ruins! Wait, and I see Din, Nayru, Marin, and, wait what?"

Link was even more shocked when at the end of the row of statues he saw a large man with rooster like red hair on the left, and a statue of a blue colored woman. The sight caused him to blurt out,"What the, Groose, Fi? Not even the best in all of the Lylat Kingdom had enough resources to find much left from the time of Skyloft! What kind of farce is this?"

Suddenly a detached female voice responded with,"This is no farce champion of Hyrule, this is a memorial, to all that you gave up for your duty."

Link saw the glass painting of Zelda on the top of the room ripple, before a woman stepped out of it, Cia. Link saw the scantily clad woman with a bird like headdress float down he instantly got on guard."And this would be your memorial? I don't recall your face, but your attire reminds me of the like that Veran wore! Are you another one of this Dio 's champions?"

Cia sighed before retorting with a detached," He and I share ambitions yes, but I'm your champion, or more like your my champion, Link."

"What madness is this? I have never met you before in my life!"

"But I know all about you, hero of the Tri-Force! Yes, I been waiting for so long I did not think that it would be possible till the world was reshaped for my desire to be met. But you returned! I knew you would, the champion of Lorule could never fall so quickly, even in a warzone as chaotic as Battle World!"

"Woman… I know the magic of the Beyonder is vast so I'll forgive confusion but I'm the champion of Hyrule, not Lorule. It's a big universe and I been told many planets share stories but I'm not who you think I am. I have no time for games, my comrades need me."

"Why…so you can be a pawn yet again for fickle angels? I can forgive your confusion, every time Hylia and her agents whisked you away in time there was a period before your true self, awakened."

Link struggled to not lose his composure before he pointed the Master Sword at the woman." You know of, Zelda's past? And what of it? All it shows me is that your someone with vast magic that is obsessed!"

Cia suddenly frowned before she snapped out with,"I'm obsessed with seeing you free from her shackles! I am Cia, Sorceress of the Tri-Force! Once, I was known as Lana, a celestial one who served Hylia, all the way back when she was known as the "Goddess" to the savages that worshiped her.

She was always full of herself, she was so afraid of bloodshed that when the demon Demise invaded she took her pets to the surface, and rather than take direct action she forsaken her angelic grace to become reborn as "Hilda" and created the "Goddess Sword", what would become the Master Sword, to give her champion the chance to prove the worth that her pets had. That champion, was you! But it was all just a delusion.

That pathetic Hylia made you her sad little puppy dog, being sent through time through one era after another to clean up her sin! She even had her own reincarnations lose her memories so it would not be too boring for, while you had to bear the weight of her delusions! What else but insanity, but sheer cruelty can explain making someone do the same thing over and over, suffer endlessly for a fantasy?

Link, I want to free you of your pain, so you can find true happiness from the destiny forced on you! But that can only happen when you embrace the truth! And that is that Hilda, Hylia, or as you call her now Zelda, or whatever she calls herself is a cruel witch!"

"And that happiness is with you I presume? I won't deny the burden has been heavy, I had to say good bye to countless friends, including many that I saw as family, if not even closer. However, any time my resolve faltered I remember what was at stake, and gladly did what I could to not let everything have been in vain!

And despite how many years it took the efforts Zelda, I, and all the others have made have not been fruitless! After all, not only has Ganondorf been vanquished forever, but Zannacross himself, the embodiment of darkness has been defeated. At last not just Hyrule but all worlds have a chance to enter the golden age that Zelda has sought since the start!

I won't let this malformed burst of madness ruin all of that! If you were ever really a friend of Zelda in any shape or form then you would have understood what she stood for!"

Cia suddenly unleashed an outburst of mad laughter before she grasped her scepter tightly." How sweat, your devotion to her would be touching, if it was not so sickening! It's because I knew her before even you, that I know she was, is a fool!

But she was just like all the others who got to intoxicated by the nature of sinners, just like Chronoa and all the other angels who were content with keeping the status quo!"

Link widened his eyes before muttering,"Wait, you knew the Supreme Kai of time? She did say, there were others that tried to alter time before."

"The sad thing is that I was content stomaching that drivel for far too long, but just as I was fed up I arrived in Battle World. Even then at first I thought it was my duty to help Hilda fight, till I met Lord Dio. He…he got me to realize my dreams could be realized, if we worked to break through the shackles of Hilda, and all the others!

When we emerge as champions, Rabum Alal will allow us to remake things to how they should be! And how things should be, are you and I ruling over the plebeians as King and Queen!"

"I know the Beyonder 's power is vast, but regardless of how much of this madness is your own, I would never go along with such a selfish scheme! I never desired to be the king of the people, just the one that defended them from the ambitions of tyrants! I won't give in to weakness now that everyone has been liberated from the grasp of the darkness! Well…this arbitration aside."

"Hahah, is that what you really think? Even if you eradicated Demise, and Zannacross, and all other beings of darkness, will humanity really evolve into anything better or is that what everyone tells you to make you feel better? After all…is it not true that the spawns of darkness were not free on their own, but by the weakness of man? As long as you defend such people, how can you expect anything better?

Prejudice, passion, and superstition, these are the things that drive the masses! You will be chasing a fantasy without success till the end of time itself, till you at last wake up! Join me champion, join me and be free!"

Link glanced at the Master Sword before he muttered," It is true that people did not change as much as I liked to have hoped each time I, awoke. However, I have faith that it's just a slow process! I don't understand all the parts of the grand plan Cosmos, Zelda, and all the other angels have, but what I know without a doubt that their will is no farce!"

Cia just looked down and giggled darky."Is that your heart's true will? Or just what you tell yourself? I to repressed my subconscious desire, till Lord Dio helped me liberate my true desire! I'll do the same to you darling, I'll prod your true desires for you so that you can embrace your inner self!"

The masked woman raised her specter before it unleashed a red light. Link suddenly saw his shadow ripple, before out of it emerged a shadowy doppelganger of the swordsman. Link saw this Shadow Link get into a fighting stance before he narrowed his eyes." I fought myself before, this won't be any harder than the time I vanquished my dark reflection the time after the Thunder Bird!"

Cia just flew above Link before looking more frantic." True as that may be, this time you must fight all of your repressed, dark emotions!"

With a wave of her wand the shadow Link glowed, till it divided in to four different dark copies. The hero from Hyrule braced himself as he saw that the four copies of himself had small differences, before Link noticed that each Shadow Link looked like himself from a different point in time, one looking like when he wore the Fierce Deity Mask to fight Majora, one where he wore the Twilight Ruby armor against Zant, one from when he helped the Oracle of Seasons and Ages, and one from his time when his legacy truly begun, when he was given armor by his peers at Skyloft.

The member of the Justice Force then uttered,"I've seen Ben's usage of Shadow Clones, numbers won't save you! For Zelda's sake, I'll vanquish as many shadows as need be!"

Link swiftly unleashed an enhanced whirlwind slash attack to knock all of the Shadow Links back at once, and suddenly jumped into the air before unleashed a beam from his sword to fire it right at Cia's face.

Before the beam could hit his intended target the Shadow Link nearest to him fired off a blade beam of his own from its blade, canceling out Link's attack.

Cia saw her target's shock before smirking." You can vanquish shadows endlessly, but can you truly vanquish your own dark feelings? Can you overcome your own regrets? The harder you repress those feelings, the more powerful their wrath is! Theses shadows have all of the moves and combat instincts you have, but are not weighed down by your delusions! Pawn of Hylia, at last you will be mine, one way or another!"

The four Shadow Links all fired blade beams at Link at once, and their target dashed to the right to avoid them. As he saw the four shadows charge at him he sighed." Well…we will see if they truly not just have my skills, but my wits as well!"

Link swiftly took out his bow and fired an ice arrow, at the ground below him. As he ran the arrow froze the water near one of the shrines that had moving water, and just as one of the Shadow Links ran over the arrow the ice suddenly erupted around it, freezing it in a large block of ice. Link saw two of the other shadow Links head for him before he suddenly fired his hook shot at them.

They dodged and the hook shot latched on to the pillar behind them instead. However, they realized to late Link did not plan poorly, as he suddenly cast a spell to have his hook shot magnetize the pillar it latched onto, before he hurled the massive metal construct faster than they expected, smashing the two of them through the wall.

The last Shadow Link charged out of the dust before attempting to slash at the hero, only for Link to parry the strike with his shield, and use the shield bash to knock the shadow off target before he swiftly reequipped his bow and unleashed a light arrow at the shadowy hostile's face.

Cia saw Link swiftly unleash a bomchu to shatter the Shadow Link frozen in the ice before she grasped her scepter tightly." No, when did you know such tricks?"

"Even in a time of peace I did not want to be to rusty," Link proudly retorted," Otherwise I would send a poor example to warriors around me. Thus, I tried to expand my moves, and it seems expanding my magic spells came in handy. Cia…no matter what you say your obsession will always be a deluded fantasy!"

"Your wrong!" Cia shouted frantically." I'll get what I deserve at last! That damn Hylia programmed you good, but I'll break those shackles yet! This might require the work of a specialists after all, do what you promised, Modeler Morpheus!"

Suddenly a pillar of dark energy burst out in front of Cia, before a man clad in dark armor with long blond hair walked out. He glanced at Link before narrowing his eyes." As long as this furthers Lord Dio's will, your request will be granted Cia. Foolish warrior, it's time for you to have your final dream."

"Dream on villain!" Link cried out in defiance." No matter how many reinforcements aid you Cia, I won't back down!

The doctrine of that angel has been ingrained deeply into your soul. Thus, I'll purge that soul to its pure state! Morphium Coma!"

Link charged at his new foe, before Morpheus suddenly clapped his hands together and swiftly released a purple light. His target on instinct blocked with his Mirror Shield, only to see that the light had turned solid and grasped on to his shield, and had taken the form of a flower.

As Link raised an eyebrow the flower suddenly had veins erupt out of it to bind Link before he could react. The Hero of Time, Twilight, and more suddenly felt drained as he saw more flowers sprout over the vines covering his body. As he struggled to try and slash them off he muttered," What is this…some sort of mutated Deku seed? I…cut…through worst!"

Morpheus crossed his arms before responding with a proud," Maybe, but it won't matter if you have no power to do so. Your now consumed by the poppies of the nightmare, for each colored flower that blooms, they steal an emotion from the one that they grown in. Soon you will be an empty shell, one Lady Cia and Lord Dio can reshape to better suit their purposes."

Link's eyes blazed with fury upon hearing this as he tried harder to cut through the vines."You fiend, I'll never allow you to, huh?"

The swordsmen suddenly felt an emptiness surge through him before he staggered back, causing Morpheus to snicker." Yes…the anger has been purged through your body…soon the rest will follow."

Suddenly the shadow links reformed and gathered around Cia.

Cia saw Link's dismay and giggled erratically." It will all be over soon, you struggled harder than anyone should have, but it was all for a delusion! See? Your shadows are not enemy illusions, but your own heart's darkness! They won't fade, neither will your doubts! Your devotion is enticing, but embrace your inner self, admit you just want it to be enough! Embrace, to be free!"

Link struggled as his emotions were rapidly being sealed while he looked at the Master Sword again." No matter what you say, I will never say it was enough! If nothing else, I know fighting for my friends was no farce. I can only hope they are faring better then I at the moment, I concede I could use some reinforcements…soon."

The welder of the Master Sword frantically tried to hold on to the will to fight, to hang on to hope his allies might come, to any feeling at all.

---

As he did one of his comrades was in even more emotional distraught, and that would be Aqua.

At the same time that Link found himself in a new setting, Aqua went through the same experience. However, the blue haired Enji did not find herself in a familiar surrounding but in an area with a wet floor, with ominous steam preventing Aqua from seeing too far out in any direction.

She quickly tried to sense Doug or anyone else, only to find no one. She grasped her blade tightly before walking forward."Did, the enemy split us up? No matter where they sent me, I won't be kept here! I have to get back in time, I can't be too late, not again!"

Aqua prepared to run when suddenly a calm male voice laughed before throwing out a bravado filled,"Man Aqua you got to ease up their! You can get so worked up it can be a drag at times."

The blue haired woman felt a chill down her spine before she swerved around to see that the voice came a man with a long coat with brown hair to his sides, a small scar over his right eye.

The man was casually holding a massive sword over his right shoulder, and as Aqua looked into his eyes the man gave a lope sided grin. Aqua blinked to make sure she was not seeing things before she muttered,"Max? What…what kind of joke is this?"

Ben's cousin just casually looked around before retorting with a dry,"This look like a joke to you Aqua? Did someone put a clown nose on me when I was not looking?"

Aqua paused before her resolve hardened." That's not what I meant! You, you should be in heaven! No…don't tell me that the Beyonder already started that Incursion, that all realms are starting to be destroyed!"

"C'mon girl, I was never a big picture kind of guy. I just know something is up and, it will be a drag to let it go on so guess we better kick some ass to put things back in order right? May still be confused on things but looks like I hit the jackpot finding you."

Aqua saw Max's face and realized it did seem to be just like how he acted before and lowered her guard a little."Well…crazier things have happened. Could it, be a memory of you? If…that really is you Max, I, we could use are help. We are going to need everything we can to get through this. That being said…I don't know where we are at the moment."

Max suddenly put his hand on Aqua's right shoulder, while it was causal in tone Aqua felt reassured by its warmth before he grinned." Well not like I have a map of the place but might as well check the tunnel where I came from eh? C'mon. So, my cousin and the other Enji are with you or something?"

Aqua smiled, and struggled to not look to happy as she walked past Max."Yup…Ben's still taking his job seriously, Lacus, and all the others are with him to, like Doug. We are all separated now though."

"I see. Sorry I have not been on Heaven chat much, time flies when your dead and it's been fun chilling with the top fighters in history and all. Still, Doug eh? He did seem to have the most guts out of Ben's team. I mean not as much as yours truly but close enough."

Aqua's eyes begun to fill with sorrow before she lowered her head." He always did respect you a lot Max…he and you do have a lot in common. I admit, I was drawn to the same things that drew me to you.

Though…as time progressed…there have been harsh truth's that can't be overlooked anymore about how we understand each other. We both assumed wrongly about each other, maybe I expected him to be too much like you."

"Well someone as epic as me only comes along every generation so that's understandable. Still, he unfaithful or something? Need me to kick his ass to get him to grit his teeth?"

"We don't have time for that kind of drama right now. Besides, far as I can tell he has not been that unfaithful…yet. Still, his heart is clearly drifting, and I don't know how to stop it. I know he's frustrated about things, and something is making him bitter, but I just don't know how to stop it, not without completely discarding my pride at least. Still…if there is any hope for us to salvage the relationship he has to meet me part way. I'm just worried, worried I'll be too late to find a way to save him, like I was with you."

Max suddenly burst out laughing before he cocked his head."I'm starting to wonder if you're the fake here Aqua, being all moody is not like you at all! C'mon, courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality remember? Seriously though being this indecisive is going to set you up to get ambushed, don't dwell on what you can't control right?"

"I know your right Max. It's just, when the Enji found me on Kagi, I was helpless to do anything, you were already dead. Even before that, if I just saw the sighs sooner, maybe I could have seen what Kira was up to, to help him before the Zannacross Empire corrupted him.

Maybe, I could have saved him, you, Tosen and the others. And yet even knowing this I can't seem to find a way to reach out to Doug, almost as if he can't be reached."

"Aqua…I never realized how much regret you kept in your heart. Still…you want to know something?"

Max suddenly leaned forward to get right in Aqua's ear. The two former teammates got right up to each other before Ben's cousin whispered,"Your right!"

In less than a second Aqua saw malice flash in the man's eyes, and on instinct she cast a barrier around herself, just as Max suddenly swung his sword down, with the intent of slicing Aqua in two. Despite his speed, Aqua was quicker, and the man's massive sword was blocked by an energy barrier.

Max saw the blue haired Enji looking determined before he snickered."Damn girl, your heart may be slow but guess your reflexes still are sharp!"

Aqua saw Max's eyes start to glow red before she gave him a deathly glare."Whoever you really are I'm no fool! I knew the enemy seemed likely to lure me with a nice illusion to lower my defenses. For one thing, the real Max was not as weak as you!"

Max…or at least the figure posing as Ben's favorite cousin just snickered as a dark aura formed around him." Deflect from the truth as much as you want Aqua…but no matter how legit I am, the stone-cold truth is that it is your fault that I died, and that Tosen, Kira, and the others fell to the darkness!

The weakness of your heart caused this, and as that regret consumes you your weakness is so great that your repeating the same mistake and are powerless to do a damn thing about it!"

Aqua had her own aura explode before shouting out," I'm not going to just wallow in despair and give up! I may have not seen everything but I see the crises now, and I'm not going to just give up. Sure as hell not going to let cheap illusions like you unravel me!"

Aqua suddenly had her barrier burst, unleashing a shock-wave that blew Max into the air. With one moment of remorse, Aqua unleashed a Flare spell to blast the figure that resembled her friend. The Enji waited a few tense moments to see if her attack worked, when she got her answer as a blast of lighting suddenly crackled out of the cloud and collided into her.

She quickly screamed in pain, and as the lighting kept colliding into her body a new, colder male voice cut in with a sharp," All these years…and youreyes still are to clouded to see vital shatter points…Aqua Trian. After all, for all your passion, admiration still is the furthest point from understanding."

Aqua saw a figure emerge from the smoke that looked far different then Max. The man now looked like someone clad head to toe in a fancy spotless white, blue and grey military outfit.

From the many elaborate medals decorated on his armor to the sword at his side to the perfectly trimmed style of his hair, to the unnatural glowing yellow eyes the sight of this man sent a chill down Aqua's spine, for it was another one of her former teammates, Kira Myers, the son of Master Myers, and the Enji who lead the Titan special forces, before revealing to be in league with the Zannacross Empire, and then as Darth Judicar attempted to betray Zannacross himself to try and remake existence in a world without gods.

Aqua saw Kira slowly walk forward while still unleashing lighting form his hands before she winced." Kira…is all of this, the work of your Absolute Hypnosis? No…as twisted as you became you did not want to see the universe totally destroyed…you, he proved that when he helped us stop Zannacross!

Besides…this illusion was far sloppier then Kyōka Suigetsu! Max, Kira, whatever shape you take you won't unnerve me! I have my regrets but I also know I was only human! Kira was the one that set me up, bar divine intervention there was nothing I could have done to save Max!"

"You tell yourself that…but in the depths of your heart you knew, if you were focused, you could have changed things. After all…you never told anyone but the day before I and Shin were captured, you saw that traitor Aizen acting oddly, but you were to focused on flirting with Max to act on it. You told yourself endlessly nothing could be done, but deep down you knew that if you did what you should have, Max and you could have stopped Aizen, and then Shin may not have died.

Then Tosen, Xehamaru, and myself may not have turned to the dark side, and the war might have progressed far differently with far less casualties, Max possibly being one of them."

Aqua screamed in dismay as one of her deepest repressed memories flashed through her eyes, before she muttered." You think I knew at the time that flirting with Max would have caused something so horrible? I had no idea Captain Sōsuke Aizen was a traitor back then, it could have been anything! I…I'm only human!"

"You drown yourselves in delusions to ease the sting of your failure, just like so many other humans. However, your wrong, the elite are able to repress their personal feelings when the time is right, and you were unable to.

Your weak Aqua, maybe not the weakest but, your weakness caused great despair and you know it! That's why in the depths of your heart you know you will fail once more, because you don't have what it takes to pull it off."

"Aqua grasped her fist tightly, and endured the pain to bring up her Rainfall Katana and intercept the lighting to send it back at its caster. Kira swiftly blocked the lighting with his own sword, and as he did Aqua cried out," I won't deny my weakness, but I also swore to myself to learn from my mistakes! I'm not as unprepared as you think, Sennen Hyōrō!"

Aqua swiftly raised her blue blade into the air, and large ice pillars burst up all around Kira. As Aqua's former teammate jumped up into the air another pillar erupted underneath him. He slashed it in half, only for the ice pillars around him to come together at greater speed then he thought, colliding into him and creating a massive pillar.

Aqua glanced at the figure frozen within the ice construct and sighed." Is this what it means to face your demons? Damn it…Zannacross did something like this to, but that did not stop me either! I will not let this stop me from what I need to do!"

Suddenly, the ice started to ripple, before a female voice uttered," Your wrong and you know it, because in the depths of your thoughts, you know that only a heart as delusional as yours is weak and hollow as enough to be an demons."

Aqua looked in horror as someone that looked just like herself stepped out of the ice, sans from having a dark aura at her. Aqua saw this impersonator instantly get into a fighting stance before she narrowed her eyes." Your lying, my heart is strong, I'll prove it!"

Aqua charged to slash at the enemy with her face, only for the dark Aqua in front of her to parry the blow in a stance just like her's. The blue haired Enji quickly found one blow after another parried and jumped back before she unleashed a powerful ice spell, only for the Aqua Phantom to unleash a spell just like it to counter act it.

As ice rained down everywhere the phantom Aqua had the purple aura around her shimmer before she jumped up and waved her hand.

Hail swiftly dropped down from the sky, and each moment the hail fell down each drop expanded in to a massive spikey ice constructs that looked like spikey maces. Aqua swiftly cast a spell to have a reflect barrier to repel the enemies magic.

As she saw the sky become covered with ice she steeled herself." First Max, then Kira, then my own phantom? Whoever you really are you are creative. However, no matter what shape my shame takes, it won't be enough! It can't be, too much is on the line. I…huh?"

The blue haired swordswoman got shocked as ice suddenly crept out from the ground and started to freeze her feet. The Phantom Aqua then descended before muttering," Give it up, you know your too weak to be able to save anyone in the end, so just fade away already. Your done!"

The Phantom Aqua suddenly fired a flower of ice from her Rainfall blade, and as the flower hit the top of Aqua's barrier she saw ice burst out of it.

The Enji used all of her energy to expand her barrier to push back against the increasingly expanding ice and also slash at the ice rising up her leg before she winced." Doug…for how distant we are these days I know your too stubborn to fall to anyone's games! You…Axel…and all the people with us are strong! I know, we can get through this, we have to!"

The Phantom Aqua sneered at the original's struggle, and since Aqua was franticly fighting to not be done in by herself, she failed to notice the large purple sphere that was serving as this realm's light source giggle.

Form within the sphere was in fact a blond-haired woman glad in dark armor, another one of the Dream Specters, Portrayer Phantasos.

Phantasos giggled in a detached tone as she saw Aqua unleash a quake spell to have the ground around her rise up and shatter some of the ice, only for her phantom to try and stab her.

Upon seeing Aqua get cut across the face by her Phantom she narrowed her eyes." This woman has a nice amount of regret, she might be able to be broken yet. But in the end either way, what matters most is that the prime objective is not disturbed.

This girl has skill and talent, but the one who beat Azrael could be useful enough to help us beat not just the Joestar family, but the threats on the other worlds as well. Lord Hypnos has never been wrong in his assumptions before, no matter how defiant theses fools are, the unrelenting will of Lord Dio will chip away at that stubbornness till they are all forced to embrace what they truly are! I wonder if I will win a prize for winning first? Only one way to find out."

Phantasos snickered before she suddenly had the Phantom Aqua divide into two.

---

As Max's old teammate frantically tried to stay one step ahead of her malevolent reflections, her boyfriend was currently going through many of the same feelings, in his own way.

After carefully looking at his surroundings Doug saw that without a doubt he was back both on his home world of Katrina and the place where he had the most years of his childhood, East Riloxi.

The blond-haired man looked around and saw his entire town seemed to be there, when he tried to leave he just ended up back at the other side of Rioxi, causing him to spit on the ground." Seems like someone wants me to stick around for the show. Course since there is no show going on seems like someone's keen on trolling me. Well…just have to show this smartass what I think of trolls because I'm not in the mood! If they think I'll hesitate to break my home town they don't know what I feel one damn, huh?"

Doug heard someone yell, and realized it did not sound like any of his comrades, and looked down. For a moment, he thought it was someone else captured by Dio's forces, till he saw where the voice came from and realized he was looking at himself, from when he was six.

It only took a few moments for Doug to remember what this was about, and saw his younger self run form the block, being chased by an older kid, that was his oldest brother Mark. The younger Doug was holding something as he was running from Mark before he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.

As he fell Mark just laughed and cracked his neck." That's what you get for being a coward Doug! Just take your beating like a man and give me it!"

Doug grasped what he was holding in his hand, a giant black and white cookie before he turned around and whimpered." You have no right to this Mark, I bought it at the bake sale!"

"Shut up Doug, I earned the treats this week, I'm the one who got the home run at the game!"

"This is mine! I saved up and did a chore for old man Nelson to earn this!"

"Damn it, all your getting is a knuckle sandwich for forgetting who is on top of the food chain here!"

Mark tackled Doug and landed a few punches on his face. Doug tried to fight back but this being before he started learning martial arts the best he could do was kick his older brother in the groin.

This made Mark angry enough to punch Doug hard enough for him to spit out blood. Doug's older brother was going to go on when suddenly an older male voice yelled out,"Would you guys quit that racket! What the hell is going on?"

Mark looked up to see a tall muscular man in blue overalls stomp over to them and give a look hard enough to make the brother's flinch. Doug used Mark's distraction to get out of his grasp and yell out," It's what it looks like Pa! Mark trying to take my snack away from me!"

"Damn it boy, do I have to remind you what I said about not giving me any grief when I get home from work?"

Mark just glared at Doug before muttering," Its Doug's fault Pa! He was trying to keep something he did not deserve!"

Doug winced as his father glanced at him." That so boy?"

"Mark's wrong! I bought this with my own money! I did extra chores for old man Nelson and everything!"

"Maybe, but did anyone give you permission to buy that snack boy? You know the rules Doug! Money's tight, till my promotion at least. That's why the special stuff goes to those that earn it!"

"I did better in grades this month then Mark did Pa! All he did was hit a homerun! Not like it was a real game or any."

Doug's father suddenly walked up and slapped him hard enough to cause him to fall in the ground. As Doug saw his younger self start crying, he grit his teeth at seeing the memory of his father bark out," You disrespecting me boy? Just because you don't get why it's important it don't mean it's right!

Mark made the family look good Doug! I don't care if you think it don't matter, if my boy impresses the town and makes us get more respect then it's a big deal to me! A good son helps his father look good Doug, just because you like being with your ma more don't mean you can disrespect me!

You quit fooling around if you know what's good for yah Doug, stop messing around with sissy stuff like karate and be a real man before the impression kids at school have on you sticks!"

"But I don't care about those kids, I hate them! I hate it here, I want to be with ma!"

Doug's dad twitched before he spat out," That's not how the settlement works boy! Even if you're a pain in the ass your still my boy, and I'm sure as hell not going to give Manny any more excuses to squeeze money out of me so I'm going to raise you to be a true man! But if you don't listen then I will do what it takes to get you to see straight boy!"

Doug just looked bitterly at his father, and after seeing Mark just look smug he whimpered and looked down." You can say its right but you're just being a jerk! Next time I see Ma I'm going to make sure I don't have to live here anymore! I'll live with Uncle Mitch or anyone else over a crazy deadbeat dad like you!"

Doug's father got enraged as he grasped Doug so hard that he lifted his son up before the blond haired boy realized it. Doug saw his father turn red before he seethed out," You pick up those words from your mamma? Tsc…she did not think she was so much better than a "hick" like me when we got hitched, and she was not drunk when she did that despite what she said! I'm going to have to teach you to respect the natural order boy. I,"

Suddenly a female voice cut in with," Supper time Stanly! You all get in before the mutton gets cold!"

Doug saw his father pause, before he looked around and realized some of the neighbors were looking at him in the distance. He then saw that one of them was an off duty cop before he winced and put Doug down.

He then turned around before spitting on the ground." We will discuss your punishment after supper Doug. If you behave I might let you off easy. Spin this however you like but it's your fault for not taking responsibility and acting how a real man should be! This is just how things are, the sooner you stop trying to avoid what life is about the easier it will be in life, a man's at peace when he knows who he is."

"If you think my place is going to be with you then forget it! I'm going to get out of here to be free one way or another pa!"

"Hah…you can try but one way or another you will be were you belong boy!"

"Just because we are poor now don't mean nothing can change! People win the lottery all the time!"

"Tsc…you just don't get it Doug. Even with money, people like us can't escape who we are. This is something you learn when your older, take it from me! Don't matter if you become a millionaire, to the eyes of the elite folks like us will always be trash and if we try and climb up to their level they just cause us posers and smack us down. A man's true freedom is being free of lies, and knowing his place. The sooner you come to peace with that, the less drama your life, and those around you will have, like me!"

Doug just got back up and spat out," I'm not a tool like you are pa! I'll find true freedom yet, I'll show you who's right!"

Doug looked defiant as he could before suddenly running in the direction of a friend's house, as he did his father just snickered,"You can keep throwing a fit but till you except how things are your just going to make things more of a pain, and at this rate you're going to be hungry while doing it because brats don't get to eat! Get in before the dinner gets cold Mark."

Doug saw his younger self run out of the area before he just chuckled bitterly." That crusty bastard thought he was the authority on life, but sure as hell showed him who knew what was best in the end. After all, one guy saved the universe, the other just spent his life being a drunk tool! I do wish Donnie was able to record Mark and the other's reaction when they found out I became a Enji. Always wondered how much it would take for Pa to admit he was wrong. Hell I, huh?"

The Enji saw the entire area around him ripple, before he looked up and saw that while he was still in his hometown, the area had become even more worn down. He then saw his father and brother running out of the house, both looking far more older and stressed, along with other members of Doug's father's family.

Ben's friend glanced up and saw the sky was blood red before Doug's much balder father muttered," What the hell is going on in the sky?"

A much fatter Mark retorted with a tense," They said on the news they were fighting the final battle with the Zannacross Empire. Something about stopping that dark god from coming back. Doug's up with his fancy Warrior of light pals and that chosen hero trying to save us all, or so I hear."

Stanly just moaned before throwing out," Damn it all, that's all been government propaganda to milk more tax dollars out of us! Just a story from the deep state I tell you what!"

"But Pa I thought they stopped the traitors?"

"That's what they want you to think! Glen Brick exposed their fancy story! I have work tomorrow I don't have time for some fancy holo, huh?"

Everyone in the area was shocked as a demonic armored man appeared in the sky, a man Doug knew too well, Chaos Zannacross Necron. Doug was in fact dead at the time, killed by the newly revived supreme god of all darkness.

Just after Zannacross forced Cosmos to merge with him, he had projected himself across the entire universe to declare his rule.

As everyone in Doug's town saw Zannacross appear the ruler of the Zannacross Empire declared," I am Chaos Zannacross Necron, master of all the universe! For a very long time I was denied my rightful place by the fools who understood nothing but their own impulses! But thanks to those who saw what the true justice of existence is, my rightful place has been restored and now at last the destiny of this broken universe is at hand!

Listen very carefully mortals, your future hinges on just how much you can comprehend. Your savior Ben Auro has failed, he, and all the other heroes who dared to stand in my way are now nothing more than dust!

Furthermore, it's my great pleasure to inform you all that Cosmos is no more, there is now only one true god of existence and that would be me!

after the ultimate climax between the master beings of light and darkness in the end darkness proved itself to be superior! Yes, every deity any one being in the mortal realm has worshiped or believed in is nothing to my power, I have more power than every being in the universe combined, I am invincible!

And that means my subjects that you have two options, submit to my will or be erased with the rest of this cosmos! If you're not aware by now, I have virtually absolute control over the universe itself, and that includes heaven, hell, and all other realms in existence! There is no escape from this reality, not in your dreams, not even in death!

Your kind has lived in your delusions and your fantasies for countless eons but the dream is over, now there is no escape to the reality of how sinfully worthless you all truly are!

Yes, you worthless mortals have disgusted me for too long, and now it's time you all get just what you deserve, and that would be a dooms day cataclysm that will bring what you all truly desire, a final release from your fears of the burden of living! Yes, this time it's the truth vermin, this time the true final rapture of all existence is upon you all!

As we speak, I am erasing and consuming all there is, and I won't stop till there is nothing left! Nothing will stop Armageddon; my new era of darkness will soon be realized and for that all unworthy beings will die!

And to show you how real this is, it's time to show just how little time you failures have! You see, I know a lot of people clam such things but the difference between them and me, is that this is not a threat, this is a fact! And to prove this is a fact, behold!"

As Zannacross extended his hand Doug's stepmother whimpered and grasped Stanly tightly."What…what does this mean? Did, the devil win?"

Doug's father had his eye twitch before muttering,"Don't get crazy, this is all a trick, its all, huh?"

Doug's father suddenly saw his neighbor moan, and a few moments later he moaned before his entire body glowed bright red and shattered into fragments. Doug's father, brother, step mother, his younger brother Donnie and others all saw those around them shatter before Zannacross laughed again." Can you still doubt my power when on my whim a quarter of the entire population of living beings in the entire universe have just died the instant I willed it?

And I could have the rest of you join them if I wish, but the thing is, if everyone is dead for the apocalypse, it would be quite boring if no one is left alive to realize it! That's why I am leaving the rest of you scum alive so I can witness just how trash truly acts in the very last moment of existence!

After all, it's not like any rebellion you have will end in anything but an even more painful demise for every last one of you! So now, give in to despair, let the true fate of humanity weigh down on your final moments!"

Mark suddenly screamed loudly before he grasped Doug's father." Pa, what are we going to do? I can't die yet, not still being a v, before getting married and all!"

Doug's father grasped his son tightly before screaming out an erratic," Don't panic now boy, we have to be strong! We…we have to get to the shelter! I told you it would come in handy one day!"

"That, Zannacross just said he killed all the angels, he can break that,"

"Don't argue with your father now boy! He doesn't care about honest folk like us as long as we don't cause trouble! We just have to get away from all the people freaking out till things blow over! Let's go!"

Doug's dad quickly dashed off till another neighbor grasped him by the shoulder." You got to let me in with you man! I don't want to die!"

"Now who's paranoid eh Ralph? I'm not risking everything for a moocher like you! My family's first bastard!" Doug's father swiftly punched his neighbor to the ground, only to see many pairs of desperate eyes looking at him, causing him to look even more frantic." I'll kill you if you don't back off! You had your chance but this is my shelter, mine! Mark, you and the others defend the family!"

Doug's brother quickly slugged another man before shouting out," I'm not going to die damn it! If you're in my way your first bastard! I don't care who is the big man in the sky, long as I get to live I'll prey to him! I just want to live, I, AHH!"

Mark suddenly felt a pain in his heart, and cried out in pure rage before his eyes turned red, at the same time as Doug's father and a few others in the area. They began to foam at the mouth before their entire bodies begun to turn pitch black.

A few moments later their bodies became more demonic, till Doug cringed as he realized he knew what they were, the red eyed "foot soldiers" of the Zannacross Empire, beings of pure darkness and hate, the Necrocalcous. The Necrocalcous that was once Doug's father just howled after completing his transformation, and his wife shirked in terror before she tripped over." Stan…Stanly? No, this has to be a nightmare!"

Doug's transformed father just twitched, before he turned around and looked at his wife. Doug's step mother wondered for a few moments if her husband heard he, before he suddenly stabbed her through the heart with his now claw like hand.

At the same time, Mark sliced a neighbor's head off, as Doug's brother Donnie, the only one in his family who did not transform, run away in terror with his at the time girlfriend. Doug's father glanced at Donnie, and was about to advance when suddenly a squad of soldiers and police men flew into the area on hover jets.

The leader of the unit saw all the dead bodies and grasped her gun tightly." Damn it all, they are everywhere! Even if its doomsday we won't give up are home yet right guys? Kill the demons with everything you got, we got a Enji coming for back up! Snipe them Drake!"

The soldiers all quickly fired high powered plasma guns to casually blast Doug's father, older brother and many of his relatives to pieces. Doug saw his father's head twitch, before shattering into fragments of dark energy before he was motionless for a few seconds, and just snickered.

He then looked right at the sky with his face beet red with anger." Damn…it was even more messy then Donnie said. Still…think I did not know this already when it's my own damn memories? Getting a close up did not change how I feel, it's just pissing me off that your wasting my time with these games! I get it, most of my family was bastards, scum that died like the trash they were!

I admit…I know I was good but not special. Sometimes, I wondered if Gouken found Mark by chance, would he have become the Enji and I would have been the good for nothing hillbilly that would have died without anyone giving a damn? No…they all made their choices, that's why that's them, not me!"

Suddenly Doug's father's head reformed before howling out,"Your wrong Doug, your of my blood, and no matter how much you try to run from your kin this is who you are!"

Suddenly everyone turned to Necrocalcous, and they all suddenly ran around each other and begun to spin around like a vicious mob of pure hate. The tornado of Necrocalcous all glared at Doug while shouting out," Doug…join your family, the family you turned your back on!"

All the Necrocalcous charged at Doug like a flood of raw hate, and Doug just had his energy explode before yelling out with raw rage.

He punched the charging mob of Necrocalcous head on, shattering most of them with one punch. However more just took their place and tackled Doug, all while saying,"You left us, you should have helped us!"

The member of Squad 7 had his aura explode to blast all the minions of darkness off him before he seethed out," You did not give a damn about me till I left so you could blame me for all your problems eh? Screw that, to hell with all of you! Bursting Machine Gun Punch!"

The blond man unleashed a barrage of punches so fast that it was like blurs as all around him got shattered with his punches. When he saw no more people were coming at him he just looked at the ruins of his father's house and spat on the floor." You never gave a damn what I had to say and never tried to make up for it out of spite! Damn bastard, it was your own damn fault you died as monsters!

Not my fault I have the same blood as you, that was God's fault! Still...its only after all this that I see you were at least right about a few things old man. Now that I'm in your shoes, I saw that even being a god damn legendary hero still was not enough for some people. To those damn elites, no matter what you do you will never be good enough as long as your not one of them! All those smug people, blaming common folk for just being who they are, like they are so much better!

Even if they did give in to the darkness and all that crap, only someone from afar can judge someone who could not be picky about being good or evil if they wanted to survive! Guys like me have to suffer because those people, from the managers to the god damn, gods treat people like me like they are playthings! If I could only show everyone what it means for, huh?"

Doug saw the fragments all of a sudden fuse together, and turn in to a darker shaded version of himself. This dark version of Doug, with yellow eyes just flashed a wild grin that was a mocking version of Doug's own." C'mon Doug, embrace who you, who we are! Give in to your darkness already, and you will feel a hell of a lot better! You can deny the others, but you can't deny me, you can't deny your true self!"

"Like hell I'm you!" Doug shouted back with raw contempt." For one thing, I don't have lame looking eyes like you! Spare me the drama show punk, I an't like Ben or Ezan or the others, I don't go around trying to keep my dark side in the closet or some crap like that! I am who I am, and I hate posers!"

"If you won't embrace your true self then you have to suffer first! Ma, GUH!"

Doug saw the shadow version of himself prepare his most powerful energy attack, and in a burst of speed burst over to smash his shadow self in the throat the moment he raised his hands to gather energy. Doug saw himself go flying through a house and just spat on the ground." Think I don't know the weak spots in my own moves poser? Quit fooling around and this will be easier."

Doug's shadow burst out of the ground, before his image flickered and his took another shape.

As his enemy flew above him Doug glanced up to see an armored man with wide teeth chuckling at him before he cracked his neck."So you're the punk who put up this slide show? Thanks for showing your face, I was in the mood to break something!"

"Foolish human, if you can't stand the rules of reality then just go to sleep forever! I, Vision Icelus of the Dre GUH!"

Doug showed how little in the mood he was in for small talk before in the blink of an eye he flash stepped in front of Icelus to smash him in the face hard enough to be rocketed through a second house.

As the house of memories fell to pieces Doug just chuckled darkly."Did I say I gave a damn about learning the name of someone that's about to get owned hardcore? The only thing I care about from you is knowing where your boss man is so I can take him down and end this drama!"

Icelus coughed up blood as he got up before he glared at Doug." You did kill Azrael, I'm not foolish enough to think I can beat you in power. But, I won't lose to a simple minded thug like you! Your brute power won't be the power of the Dream Specters!"

Icelus had a square of golden lines form beneath him before he suddenly descended into it. Doug saw his enemy looked gone after that and just raised an eyebrow." Seriously going to hit and run dude? You can hide but I'll just bust this whole damn, huh?"

Doug felt a sudden shift in the air around him, and as he swerved around he saw the same square of energy that his enemy made before open right in front of him, and unleash a burst of painful energy that hit Doug right in his left shoulder.

The blond man winced in pain and instantly went to counter the enemy, only for him to vanish the moment he landed his blow.

To his annoyance, Doug heard Icelus laugh from what seemed like all directions at once." I'm one of the elite servants of Lord Dio you simple minded ape! No matter how great your instincts are, I have the power to move through space like you move through air! Just beg for mercy already, a mere mortal like you can never win!"

Doug just closed his eyes, and got into a fighting stance. Icelus saw him from his rift in space and just sneered." Think your too good to beg to me dog? We will see about that!"

Another rift opened up behind Doug, and at the same time Icelus burst out to try and stab the Enji Knight's chin from below. The moment Doug felt a disturbance in the air he moved his arm to intercept the strike. He got stabbed in the lower part of the limb, but an instant later grasped his attacker's arm with the other arm.

Doug instantly squeezed hard enough to break the limb, and as Icelus screamed out in pain Doug just smirked."Now who's simple minded? Time for a hard core Cross Counter!"

Doug swiftly infused all of his energy in to his fist and punched Icelus so hard that he vaporized the man upon impact. As the blond man swept the remains of his enemy off him he just spat on the ground."Piff…you can move around between everything from the rifts in space to the rifts in cheese but you still got to hit me. The moment you did, you opened yourself like a chump.

Fancy tricks can't help you if you don't have the reflexes to pull it off! Heh…just another point for the common man one upping the snobbish elite's tricks with good old fashion grit! So boys, you seen what I did with your tool friend here so are we going to settle this like men or do I have to huff and puff and blow this whole joke down! If you think I can't do it then just, huh?"

Doug suddenly saw the entire area ripple, before he saw a red light in the right, and saw the kid from the bed from earlier, still linked to the machine. Doug looked around to make sure no one was coming before he chuckled." Well what you know they listen once in a while eh? Guess they learned not to waste time on tricks! Fine by me!"

Doug took out a potion to heal his wounds before he looked at the kid and walked over. He saw that red energy kept rising out of his body before he winced." Not sure how real you are kid with how much of this is just the big man's toy but, real or not, long as you're a real kid, it sucks to be swept up in the bigshot's games like your just some pawn.

All my life I wanted to be free from their games…to be able to make my own terms no matter who did not like it! That really too much to ask? Whatever…I don't know how long you will have freedom kid but, at least you will not be a pawn to this Dio prick's game."

Doug wound up his healed fist and prepared to smash the machine. As he did. Out of nowhere his left leg suddenly got pierced by a purple tentacle. As Doug winced the kid in the bed suddenly smiled, before he uttered in a quick paced British accent,"How truly noble of you, but I assure you I don't need to escape anywhere. After all, I'm right where I want to be. Heaven's Door!"

The kid suddenly opened his eyes and pointed his right hand at Doug, before the appendage that struck Doug's leg glowed purple. From their a surge of energy went into him as the the tip of the tentacle wrote on Doug's limb like it was a pen. The blond-haired man was about to curse when suddenly a seam of purple energy rippled across his body.

To his shock, Doug saw his chest open like a book cover, and saw the innards of his chest look like pages of a comic book. The kid saw Doug's shocked look and just grinned." So now, sorry for the boorish first act. Icelus is, ah right, was indeed rather drab but he had his uses in luring you in to a false sense of security. Ah yes you must be rather confused by now.

Antasma can put on the act but the reality is he is the understudy, I'm the true master of making nightmares become reality! You can call me the Bedman, and you're hear because you prove to have quite a lot of rage to you, enough rage that me and my associates figured you could be a rather nice asset if we could figure out what made you tick, hence the elaborate trap to get you to open your heart.

Yes…I was not sure at first but you do seem you are full of quite a lot of prime material, Doug Fitter! Yes, soon as you embrace your true nature, you might just be the key for Battle-World going my side's way."

Doug let his fury explode before he cursed and prepared to punch Bedman. However, before he could his fist froze, before his fingers turned to comic strips. Bedman laughed at his shock before his bead suddenly bent upward so Bedman could look at Doug eye to eye.

The ominous kid waved his hand, before to Doug's horror the top of his face opened like it was a book cover, revealing the innards of his face were now comic strips as well, causing Doug's odd new enemy to snicker,"I'm quite aware that all of this higher-level stuff may be above your comprehension but listen well.

Thanks to my Heaven's Door spell, all of your feelings and memories are an open book to me. To be precise, it allows me to read people's experiences by words and pictures. In addition...I can write in to your memories.

My high and mighty superior is quite curious about what makes men like you tick, what has made this universe turn. You, Doug Fitter, seem to have more of this passion, this desire to find" True" freedom then your peers and its intriguing.

To be frank, I care little for what Antasma, Cia, and the others what. Your friends can win or lose for all I care. I want to see, what the core of such drive amounts to.

So, like it or not, we are going to have a little experiment. No matter how much resolve you have, I will dive into the deepest parts of your psyche. Show me your past... that oh so tragic past of yours! Show me Doug Fitter, what your soul's true form really is!"

Author's Notes: Ah well I know we had a lot of things in this chapter but to clear things up,

The Black Priests are another group of enemies from the Marvel event that had the Incursion, they seemed like fitting evil wizards to throw in.

Bower's " Pimp Suit" is from the new Mario Odyssey game, not sure how it will play out but figured might as will give a nod. The new form of Bowser is based off some of the more recent RPG's like Dream Team and Color Splash.

It is a shame that they seem hell bent on making the Mario RPG's nearly as bland and repetitive as the platform games theses days, between Mario Paper Jam, Sticker Star, and the total disgrace that was Color Splash, I'm thoroughly sick of Paper Toads.

I would like to think that Nintendo learned their lesson but if the rumors are that the next Mario game is a team up with the rabbits from Rayman, I'm, not quite confident at the moment.

Niren Fedrok was from the First Strike prequel to Tales of Vesperia and was Yuri and Flynn's commander.

Meanwhile Kars and Wammu are some of the main villains in the second arc of Jojo, Battle Tendency. They left enough impact to get a nod I suppose.

Cia was one of the main villains in the Hyrule Warriors game. I changed a few things but in that game she was also a woman who saw Link's adventures through time and after being tempted by Ganondorf tried to attack across different eras in a mad attempt to make Link hers.

I changed a few things to fit in with the Time Patrol agents from Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse I suppose, with how bland Breath of the Wild was plot wise I figured she was a nice element. Big as that game is, its plot, left a few things to be desired.

Ah yes...I"m aware since Cosmic Wars came out Nintendo made a " official" timeline for the series, one that had three timelines that clearly showed their was more then one Link, even if they seemed to instantly dismiss it when Link Between World's came out. Even so in my story Link is the same guy who's been through every Zelda game with the same memories.

Skyward Sword was just even earlier and the only ones he did not go through were Wind Waker and after it, Link Between worlds, which in this story is a mixture of " Alternate" history, and Breath of the Wild, which is so out of touch with the rest of the series its frankly impossible to have it be anything but the Zelda game in the far most future.

The segment with Aqua was inspired in part from the recent game with a few of my own elements to it.

Meanwhile, the Dream Specters are from the series Saint Seyia Lost Canvas, they were the elite agents of Lord Hypos, one of the major villains in the entire long running series.

The dream worlds are a mix of the Dream Worlds in Mario Dream Team, a bit of the "Shadow World" from the Persona series and, a dash of the Inception movie lol.

Ah yes the the Amala Network was from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. In that game the short version is that its what let you warped between areas quicker, and the long version is that it was the network of souls between the remade" Vortex world" that was a major plot point, figured it would fit in here. While I"m at it the Matador Fiend was in fact a reoccurring enemy from the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. While random, he could be a powerful boss.

Bedman is one of the recent antagonists from Guilty Gear and introduced in the recent SIGH game. Despite his odd looks he is one of the more powerful beings in the series, even being able to overpower those like Slayer without to much hassle.

While his entire story and not motives are not clear yet I gave him a few ideas of my own, for one the Heaven's Door move was not a move from that game but in fact a ability form someone in the fourth segment of Jojo, Diamond is Unbreakable, the cast member Rohan Kishibe. In the series this move came from a STAND, Rohan was a writer and in that series Heaven's Door caused his target to become a living manga of sort, one where Rohan could write, and rewrite at his pleasure.

The bizarre but deadly move seemed like a good fit for Bedman so I gave it to him, if pressed just think of it as a by product of the unstable replication of the Beyonder lol.

Well, I know it was a lot this chapter but hope you like how things are unfolding and hope you like it enough to leave a review. Till next time.