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!

48. C248: Last Laugh of the Killer Instinct!

Chapter 248: Last Laugh of the Killer Instinct!

As dire as things were for Ben and Doug at the moment, little did they know that some of their comrades were in even more dire spots. As savage as the Chaotic Comedian made things out to be, little did Doug know that at the moment X's assessment about the fate of Aeris was spot on, and that they were alive, for the moment.

While all the showdown what happened to the friends that were not with them, in the end not everyone was transported to Scala Ad Caelum or Makai but remained in the New Pork City Brande.

However, when the others were whisked away to take part in the next phase of the Plana Legio Prix, those that were left behind saw that the segment of Magicant suddenly started to condense as the giant sphere was shirking more and more. Since the Enji and their friends hardly were keen on dying they did everything they could to fight back.

However, with no exit in sight and the entire reality slowly shirking till everything was crushed, things were getting dire. Despite this Shinryudramon refused to give up. Still in his Superior Judgment mode Ben's Digimon partner used his massive power and size to try and stop the walls of the realm he was in from crushing his friends.

The others wanted to help but could do little but add spells to keep Shinryudramon from running out of energy.

Aeris was one of the ones who was left behind, and as she currently heard the Digimon groan the Cetra winced." How you doing Shinryudramon? No matter how much it hurts, please don't give up!"

"Don't worry miss Aeris!" The hyper charged Royal Knight roared out." After fighting Zannacross and all the other crazy bad guys I'm not losing to giant walls! This, AH!"

Aeris and the other Enji saw Shinryudramon roar as they saw even more cracks of energy forming around his arms. While a cracking sound was heard Shinryudramon just chuckled weakly." Have to admit these walls are feeling really heavy but hey that just means I'll break a record when this is all over right? Still, now I know why Lacus said being hit by entire dimensions ranked on number one on the pain scale!"

From on board the Neo-Highwind Robotnik saw, and then scanned Shinryudramon before the self-proclaimed master of Robotnik's gulped." The weight of an entire reality is far heavier than any wall, it's just simple physics that no being, regardless of his or her power level can hold it back forever! Without Ben Auro's sword to cut through dimensions or Lacus or the others magic to warp between realms it,"

The former member of the Zannacross Empire was cut off as Cid slammed his seat hard enough to cut the scientist off." I don't care how much you checked the data man its off yah hear!?

We are getting out of this crazy world so sit down and drink your god damn tea! Shinryudramon is going more than the extra mile to keep us in the game so don't waste this time panicking! Wherever Cloud, Ben, Vincent, Barret, and the rest got sent to we have to hold on till they get back."

Cid glanced over his shoulder to see Rose, Jude, Reala, Garnet, Mint, and other white magic users with healing spells like the red haired Cheria Barnes try to heal the unconscious James and Master Myers before the pilot from Rocket Town grit his teeth." We have to hold on to make sure are buddies wake up again, cause they will wake up!"

Robotnik glanced at everyone before he sighed." Well, after everything we seen its true nothing is impossible. We just, need more time to figure out how to pull it off. It's a pity Shadow was one of the ones warped ahead, maybe Chaos Control could have gotten us to where the others went."

"Chill out Egg-Man." Tails muttered as he looked at his own monitor." No doubt Sonic is going to outrun some walls!"

"Don't worry Tails, not breaking tradition today!" The hero of mobius roared out as he, still in his Hyper from was running around the rapidly shrinking dimension to use his momentum to try and slow it down.

As he moved fast enough to leave after images the glowing hedgehog looked determined." I broke the sound barrier plenty of times, just got to add another cool part of the Sonic Jam Museum! Tsc, won't do any good to pull off what I did in in Little Planet if this place has no past!

Just, got to keep running to rupture something! Lilac, keep moving in synch with me and we might be able to create enough speed to help everyone out!"

"Just leave a trail and I'll follow it!" The hero from Shuigang uttered as she used the extra speed she obtained from the Chaos Emeralds to follow Sonic's trail, and succeed in moving fast enough to succeed to unleash enough momentum to slow the dimension from collapsing on everyone as much as possible.

Mario saw Shinryudramon struggle before he grasped his fist and jumped on the giant Digimon's right shoulder." Mamma Mia, don't a give up Shinryudramon! We got you're a back! We will do all we a can to make sure we don't get are final game over here!"

The heroic Plumber once more became both gigantic and covered in Metal as he swung his hammer to help Shinryudramon push back as much as he could. Kirby then flew to the other side as he grasped his Warp Star tightly." That's right…there is way too many meals for us to miss for us to be digested by this nasty Beyonder now! We got to keep pushing!"

Mighty Number Nine saw Kirby strike the other side with his Ultra Hammer, and as he saw the members of the Justice Force push back the Mighty Number grasped his fist with determination." Don't give up guys! I might not have been doing this as long as you, but I'll still do everything I can to keep hope alive!" Even in a place like this, there is enough stuff I can make Xel out of the remains to make a difference!"

Megaman saw the "Mighty No. 9" glow before some of the buildings below were transformed into giant girders to try and help Shinryudramon before the Blue Bomber nodded." That's the way to go Mighty! This may be crazier than just about all of Doctor Wily's traps, but we can't give up!"

The robot hero turned in to his Hyper Form as he and Protoman tried to help. But while the three robots' efforts pushed things back for a second, the reality continued to shrink.

As more of the hero's looked stressed a recovered Bugs Bunny walked onto the deck and cracked his neck." Alright doc, this is not funny anymore. No one tries to screw out Bugs Bunny out of a contract god or no god! Its not that's all folks for me yet! Tsc, just like when Mr. Swackhammer tried to get out of are contract by having all of Moron Mountain fall on me!"

The Enji watched on in confusion as the Chrono Phantasma Loony Toon wound up his fist, and threw a carrot off the Neo-Highwind. As the carrot just dropped to the ground Bugs saw everyone looking at him and smirked." Wait for it."

Cid prepared to throw a wrench at Bugs before suddenly a giant carrot burst out of the ground. As the carrot was sturdy enough to help the others keep the shirking dimension off them Bugs just grinned." The way I run this thing you'd think I knew something about it."

Aeris saw Shinryudramon and the others push back harder and grasped her staff with fortitude. "Keep it up everyone, don't lose hope till the end! No matter how big you gotten Shinryudramon, I'll use all of my power to keep you charged up!

Still, Ezan, I know you and the others are likely going through hell at the moment but, would be really nice if you guys could pull off another badass hero moment soon!"

The former captive of Shinra saw the walls that were the boundaries of the dimension ripple before a large moaning sound was heard, but that just made Ezan's girlfriend look determined." Still, I'm not just going to wait and prey, I did enough of that when I was in the life stream!

Ezan, Cloud, Ben, I know you and all the others are fighting with all you have so the very least we can do is just do the same, even if it is an entire collapsing realm. Just, kick the ass of any freak who's getting in the way! No matter what, we will make this demented Beyonder see that exterminating every soul in the universe just because it was not his is not some game!"

The woman chosen by the celestial one Minerva to protect her world saw Shinryudramon start to kneel and sent more white magic his way and tried to focus on doing what it took to survive and repress the fear she had of her loved one's fate to do so.

As she did little did she realize that the person she and everyone was fighting was seeing her and everyone else's struggle as nothing but a game.

---

Even as the hero's got split up into the various sections of the Schwarzwelt, King Atem was doing his best to not lose the demented "Shadow Game" the Beyonder roped him into.

While the ruler of the Lylat Kingdom quickly grasped that his genocidal host would not allow him to tamper with his own forces, the "King of Games" saw that the Beyonder did allow him some control over the course of the Plana Legio Grand Prix, mostly on how to decide which hero could go where.

When James killed Relius and Ben's group overcame the Jiren Ranger Squad and the threshold to the next Brande ripped open, it was up to Atem to decide which" Players" would go to which stage, in essence choosing who would fight who.

Atem tried to choose who he thought could cover each other's backs the most, but was dismayed at seeing the nightmarish surprises unfold for his champions such as Aqua being ambushed and brainwashed by the Chaotic Comedian, or Shinryudramon and the rest frantically trying to prevent the entire New Pork City segment of Magicant from collapsing on them.

At the moment the Beyonder saw Atem's dismay at seeing James, Master Myers and others being in critical condition, as well as the fights between Lacus and Zamasu's group, Ben against Mira, and Doug's group vs the Chaotic Comedian unfolding before the first scion of Cosmos and Zannacross laughed loudly." I knew it, I knew you would squirm like the worm you are little Lylat! To use to your kiddy games? To bad, you better believe this is the real big leagues! You really are a wuss that Cosmos and her angel shills just prepped up if you can't handle seeing your precious champions squirm a little!"

Atem saw how sadistically gleeful the golden colored man in front of him looked and mustered all of his willpower to not look scared." I told you before I've not hid from my duties as a leader. Its just even if I've seen them be hurt many times in the past, it still pains me to see those I care about hurt.

Furthermore…it distress's me to see my allies put into what seems like a rigged contest. Not knowing if my choices have any meaning or if it's all just a sick joke are just a few things I can't help but hesitate about."

"Tsc…if you had the instincts of a real winner you would know what to do! Guess you don't have as much faith in your guys as you say you do eh?

Sure, my Dimensional Nihilo Generals got the job by being the most vicious killers in history, but your dream teams supposed to be the best of the best that the forces of justice have to offer right?

Not my fault that justice and heroism and all that crap is failing to live up to the sell's pitch just like everything Cosmos thought was important!

You see can't con people with a scam that big for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of spin, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.

And that's just what happened, everyone's seeing all the stuff you angels and hero's have been selling is just one big con across all of history and they are starting to wise up!

You, and everyone that got hustled are about to learn that now that things are off the script from your precious stale good vs evil show, nature is going to get its due!"

"Your victory is hardly nature taking its course!" Atem shot back defiantly." And my friends are not going to lose to the likes of the fanatics you amassed!"

"Heh, guess your betting everything on that eh? To bad your team is mostly stacked with those wussy humans. Even the best of them are easy enough to screw over long as you know how to extort them!

After all, this all started because that weak-willed wuss Auro lost it so bad that he pushed his best buddy Fitter right into my camp! You guys all failed Doug Fitter and guys like him so bad that their anger was the perfect beacon to getting into your universe!

After all, you, Cosmos and all the other forces of light have been hustling the people since the start, and they keep getting let down so badly that they have breakdowns! Heh, you, Cosmos and the rest have pushed so damn hard to make the con keep going, but the harder you push the harder its all going to crash down! Though looks like your precious savior is going to break down first!"

Its at this time that Atem sees Mira cornering Ben and trying to turn him into a husk before the ruler of the Lylat Kingdom grasped the Millennium Puzzle tightly." No, fight back Ben! If you could overcome Zannacross himself I know you can't lose to a mere puppet!"

"Tsc, now who's being smug? Ben Auro may have beaten my d, that has been Zannacross but that's just because it was part of the" Game". Now that there is no more fate its all up in the air! And seems your precious buddy's not so sure now that good's not fated to win eh?"

"Tsc, Ben's had his doubts before, but he's always pulled through when it counts."

"But not always!" The Beyonder hissed out as his eyes glowed gold." I sure as hell got a good laugh watching that time when your precious savior broke down so bad he blew up a planet! And you still have the nerve to call him a hero?"

"Its not that simple. There were outside factors that pushed him into that path. Ben's regretted his actions and have tried to atone for what he's done as Darth Idious ever since! None of us are perfect, that's why with empathy we forgive to move forward."

"Your wrong, I AM perfect! Its your fault, all of you's fault for not getting that! "The Beyonder roared out." Your wrong, your savior's just been trying to hide what he's been ever since that day. You know what?

I think I'll help make him face the facts on how much of a big fat phony he really is! Since he's already trying to take over Ben's mind and Mira's a stiff at times, I'll have the darkness in Ben's heart rip his weak mind apart! Time to raise the stakes!"

The Beyonder formed a golden dice in his right hand and threw it on the game board. It rolled over to the part where Ben's "Card" on the board was before it landed on a side that had the Half Infinity symbol on before the dice shimmered with energy.

Atem saw a bolt of energy go into the hologram showing Ben and Mira fighting, and vie the Beyonder's power Idious then started to take control of Mira.

The ruler of the Lylat Kingdom saw Ben stare down the manifestation of the darkness in his heart before he grit his teeth." No…Ben long ago overcame the dark side in his soul, this cheap stunt is beyond petty!"

"That's what all sore losers say!" The Beyonder spat out as he had a vindictive look in his face." Just can't take that your champion is not living up to the hype eh? If he was not weak enough to keep these doubts and all that it would not eb so easy for his "Darkness" to strike.

Bah, light side, dark side, just more mumbo jumbo Cosmos and Zannacross make up to pick sides and spin things! Its just the weak, and the strong! But as amusing as they are humans keep showing they are frail as babies. Feeble in the body and the mind!

I'll keep a few toys around but I'm going to create a totally better species that does what they are supposed to do without breaking down like losers! Like, robots but not boring!"

Atem saw the glee in the Beyonder's face before he sighed." If you think you will create a perfect, flawless race then I assure you even if you do kill everyone in the present universe it will fail! Your wrong about mortals, I take pride when I say they are God's greatest creation! And they are better than you are Beyonder!

Yes, many are weak. They cheat, they steal, they lie, they destroy, they disappoint those that they care about, all while masking their sin as virtue as they weave webs of lies to distort the truth and make them feel better about their actions. But still…even if all that's true, they also give, they create, they sing, they dance, they love! Above all…they never give up!"

"That's just you throwing up your own sound bites and you know it!" The Beyonder spat out dismissively." I seen all of your human history little Lylat! You all gave up again and again and again and its why Zannacross and all his demons strung the entire universe around and its why I was able to get so many fans just by offering to shake things up! SO many of you just want things to change so bad your willing to do anything!"

"That's true, but despite this we still are here! Even if the darkness in man's heart has driven us to the brink of Armageddon time and again, are collective desire to live, and live in the light has brought us back from the brink every time! True, not everyone has made it, and sometimes entire cultures are devoured by the rages people have, but we still overcome,"

Before he could finish the Beyonder cut him off with an exasperation yawn." Boring! You shills and your thirty second speeches are so god damn boring! You may keep spitting the same crap out but its all just a lie! I seen your history, you all talk about the light but your kind really love the darkness! After all, as they say, the dark side has cookies and all the cool stuff!

You guys talk about how heroes are great, but the one's that always are really remembered are the villains! After all, a good guy's only great if he takes down a really hardcore bad guy!

And you all want to think you're the hero because they are the one's you're supposed to like, but the villains are the one's that get to do what people really want!

After all, the light's just doing what your told for the," greater good" while darkness, darkness is power! Darkness is good. Satan, Darth Vader, Frieza and all the other dudes that people still remember all these years later! To have your name be remembered, that's power.

And in the end that's what everyone really wants, the power to get what you want! See?"

The Beyonder pointed to the still playing chapter black behind him, which suddenly split up into smaller images to show Anakin Skywalker slash off Mace Windu's hand in the first steps to become Darth Vader on one hand, saw a man named Julius Caesar be stabbed by the people he trusted on another, to Sephiroth ripping off the seals constraining his mother Jenova, to men with muskets attacking tanner men with more feathery outfits for the gold behind them, to a woman on a dragon over a medival city seeing a bell ring and yell madly before burning everything to the ground, to Superman's arch enemy Lex Luther willingly merge with his other enemy Brainiac to try and at last gain the power to kill the Kryptonian hero, to a malnourished man named Gollum biting off a hobbit named Frodo's finger to get a ring before tripping and falling into a volcano, to the time Vegeta let the wizard Babadi possess him to try and become more powerful then Goku, to many others.

Atem saw dozens of images of beings causing horrible acts for power, and tensed up as he saw his own uncle, Akhenaden Lylat, sabotage a deal his father, the previous Lylat king Aknamkanon Lylat, to secure power for himself, he grasped his fist tightly. "Your wrong!" Atem shouted back with defiance." I don't care how much of history you seen, people want more than just instant gratification out of life! People always want something more then immediate joy or that deeper sense called happiness.

This is one of the secrets by which shape the fulfillment of designs. The something more assumes amplified power with people who cannot give it a name or who do not even suspect its existence. Most people only react unconsciously to such hidden forces. Thus, you can only call it a calculated something more into existence, define it, and give it shape.

"Now your just making stuff up! I don't give a damn about this crap loser humans make up to feel better about losing!"

"That's because you clearly have not lived enough to even grasp what such a thing could be."

"Tsc, oh yah? Maybe you're just rambling like an idiot so I don't kill you right now!"

Atem saw sparks of energy crackling around the golden man's eyes and fingers before he took a deep breath." But if you did that, then you would lose the game yes?"

The Beyonder's eyes twitched, before he snorted." Bah, I'm not going to let the likes of you make me change MY game. Besides, its almost over anyway, and your precious champions are just about to fall apart because of how weak they are, like all loser humans!"

Atem glanced at Lacus struggling to not be absorbed by Zamasu, and Doug and Axel struggling with the possessed Aqua before he glared at his enemy." If you still think they are that predictable after they foiled you this far, then all I can say is be prepared to be fooled again."

The Beyonder saw Doug use his new move to free Aqua from the darkness controlling her, and also saw Kira intercept Zamasu before he grit his teeth." Bah, its just cheap stunts! You shills keep dragging things out but in the end nature takes its course! You will all see that my power, the real power, is what will always come out on top! So, enough stalling!

Get ready for the endgame little Lylat. If you don't moan I might even let you make a bonus move! That is, if your champions survive long enough for it to matter!"

"They will." Atem uttered calmly as he saw Doug and the Chaotic Comedian start to go at it." I'm willing to bet everything on my faith in the light not being misplaced. Doug, Ben, Lacus, everyone, no matter how brutal it gets, don't forget what you cherish most!"

Atem saw the Beyonder looking more and more agitated and kept quiet as he tried to figure out the best course of action. At the moment his thoughts were aligned with Doug, though the difference was that the member of Squad 7 was thinking more about his physical moves then his mental ones at the moment as the own personification of his darkness was trying to rip him apart.

---

Doug threw everything he could think of to overcome this mirror match from hell, but no matter what move he tried, the Chaotic Comedian seemed to have a counter ready by the time he launched the move.

At the moment the member of Squad 7 threw out his Thousand Steel Hurricane Kicks attack only for the Chaotic Comedian to respond with his own version.

The two parried each other's blows, unleashing many strikes strong enough to cause a shock-waves per second for nearly half a minute before the Chaotic Comedian gave a wild yell and suddenly had spikes of energy come out of his right boot.

Doug caught the first stab with his left grieve, and then kicked into the ground and caused rubble to get in his target's way. This slowed down the Chaotic Comedian enough for Doug to evade the next stab thrust, and allowed the martial artist to elbow the masked man in the gut.

Doug tried to follow up with a lunging punch to the head, only for his opponent to catch the punch with his right fist. Ben's friend found the masked man push his fist back, before the Dimensional General laughed crudely." Think you can trick me baggage? I know all of your tricks, and I don't half ass it! "Bro" and all the others tried to stop us earlier and could not get the job done because all the posers got nothing on the best fighter there is!"

"Tsc, any title a man gives himself is not worth jack!" Doug roared out viciously." Titles and glory follow on the road of a man's own deeds. Only title that is worth a damn is what others give you after they get an impression on you!"

"True that…and that's why I'll brutalize anyone that's left till the only choice anyone that's living has is to bow to the king! I don't show no mercy, not even to the part of me that I ripped out!"

The Chaotic Comedian tried to uppercut Doug as he said this, only for Doug to counter by jabbing his elbow down on the fist hard enough to crack his enemy's fingers.

Doug took delight at hearing his dark self's pain. And unleashed a quick series of blows to the other man's chest, which stalled him long enough to slam his fists together on the sides of his opponent's head. Seeing his target grunt in pain, Doug quickly cast Kaio-Ken to boost himself and tackle the Chaotic Comedian with enough force to smash him right out of the arena.

As Doug emerged back outside the outer hellish landscape, he kept kneeing his target in the gut." That's just the thing jackass, we owned Ben and the others last time but that was when we were sharing the ride. Without me you're not nearly as whole!"

"Tsc, that's one weak ass joke man. If I'm all the power and you're just the spare parts a man ditches from his ride when its weighing him down, even a dumbass can do the math and see who's packing the horsepower!"

"Guess this showdown is about what's really important!" Doug spat out." Rage's a mighty important thing for a man to have, but the fire's not going to do no good if the rest of the gear's not there to control it! If your all rage, no way your winning when you're not playing with a full deck! Hammer of Might!"

Doug unleashed his attack, but before it could go off the Chaotic Comedian grasped the side of his fist before the attack could land. The Enji saw his darkness laugh madly as he pushed back." That's just more loser talk! True, if your weak that's not enough, after all beta's that act like alpha's get the whopping they deserve. But if you have real power, you can plow through all that other crap! You use to think that to, till you let that fossil Gouken and all the Enji Masters make you soft!"

"Now I know your crazy! They might have been hard ass's at times but they were what made me more then just some wild dog. I never wanted to end up like some idiot like Akuma, a one-track minded freak."

"Heh, your right about that at least. Akuma was to old school! He only saw power as one thing, and it made him weak! Course you need strength to get anything done, but if you just focus on your big gun then your blind when some wiss ass pod shots yah! Guys like Akuma, Ezan, and all the other "elite" who treated fighting like it was some sport always made me, made US laugh.

Sure…freaks like them are so crazy obsessed about it that they can pull off some hardcore stuff. But it's all worth jack if it does not get any real results! In the end punks like Akuma and all of the other ones that only care about," Pure fights" are spoiled elites who got things handed to them on a platter!

We always hated those stuck up elites talking about all kind of crap while we had to do what it took to survive! To us it was not a game, we had to be able to fight back, or we got a whopping.

That's why all their stuff about the pride of a true fight, all of everyone's crap about honor and pride is just one lame ass con!

All that really matters is winning, having pure strength is worthless when a guy with street smarts can cap yah when your taking a dump! That's why I'm going to bust a gut laughing as every one of you "purists" see how useless all that stuff is when I destroy every last bit of it! And…"

The Chaotic Comedian swiftly headbutted Doug with enough force to launch him into the air. As he person he used to yelled out the jester faced enemy had dark energy surge into his right fist." And I tell you what…no better place to start…then the piece of me that was sucked into the grand con! Know your place loser!"

Doug saw his opponent charging at him like a beast ready to rip his prey apart before he took a deep breath and focused his energy into his right arm to parry the incoming blow with his gauntlet. The martial artist heard a cracking sound but held his ground.

The rowdy warrior of the light saw his enemy was shocked that Doug endured the blow before he quickly jabbed his target in the gut. Not wanting to give his enemy any time to rebound Doug gave a battle cry before rapidly smashing his knee into his dark half again and again. "Since you and I did share thoughts for a while not going to act like I did not share them. Gouken and all the others always acted like they were so much better than me that it struck more then a few chords.

Sure, they proved they knew how to fight, but no matter how much they knew, no one knew what I went through, how I had to live my life to get by. Guess that's a beef I never let go as that's never changed. Heh, sure as hell not keen on Ben and the rest laying out for every single person in the universe.

But on the other hand…I'm man enough to admit I shot down some ideas before I heard the first word. After growing up with my dad and brothers telling me to get in line I was hell bent on being strong enough to be my own man and call my own shots!

Still, I got caught up wanting to be my own man to the point that I nearly seriously thought that meant having to break the whole damn universe. But when I calmed the hell down I realized that sometimes people do in fact know what they are talking about.

Sometimes…its not a con and people do want to help. And sometimes, if you reach out you get more strength then you can get on your own! And Chaotic Comedian…I'm going to use that strength to kick your ass! Final…Shoryuken…"

Doug at last finished his barrage with a fierce roundhouse kick to knock his enemy into the air. This time he was the one to pour energy into his fist. Just as the Chaotic Comedian swerved his head back just in time for Doug to slam his fist into said head. As Doug saw his fist collide he grinned." HEAVEN! Now who's on, huh?"

The member of Squad 7's zeal quickly faded as he saw the Dimensional General's body flicker before unleash a blinding light. Doug cursed as he realized what he thought he hit was a clone rigged to unleash a solar flare.

As Doug struggled to sense where his target went he only heard a burst of unhinged laughter." Man, do you not realize how stupid you look baggage? Got all worked up when you look like a dumbass! Well, you bark to your betters then your going to pay for it!"

Doug tried a karate jab to the right, only to feel a force collide hard enough in to his right arm that he heard a breaking noise. As Doug was smashed back to the ground his attacker had a psychotic look form on his eye before he dove at Doug like a bullet of pure malice." You missed your cue to get off the stage baggage! So now your going to be ripped apart for being one slow ass learner! All that stuff your spitting out is just loser talk, cause you're a loser! I'm a winner, I'm the winning side, so now its time to give losers just what they deserve! Nihilo Edge!"

The being of rage and madness incarnate prepared to try and slash Doug in half with his attack. But just as his blade was about to reach its target, suddenly a massive lance of raw magma erupted in front of Doug, forcing the Chaotic Comedian to change course and slash at the attack. While he stopped the sudden blow he suddenly was hit from behind.

The Dimensional General snarled as he swerved his head and saw that the attack came from Axel. The former dark Enji gave the Chaotic Comedian a dismissive wave as he tried to press his giant ax of magma deeper into his target." What, I thought of a few new tricks to freak! Time you get it memorized your not nearly as awesome as you think! There was a time I was the one that cleaned up the traitors, guess I'll be nostalgic and clean out the rapid rouge pawn form the game!"

The Chaotic Comedian snarled as his eyes glowed red." Always thought to much of yourself eh? Just an idiot who keeps barking like you're not already useless and forgotten!"

"Are you kidding? Do you know how popular I am? I got loads of people rootin' for me! Sorry "Boss"…no one ax's Axel!"

"Tsc…more like you're a washed up has been that's been that struck gold one and has been trying to redo the magic ever since and been flopping hard ever since! Your as pathetic as a washed-up rock star who won't call it quits dude! And…"

With a surge of power, the Chaotic Comedian shattered the magma ax before he had a wild look in his eye." Times up forever…also-ran. GET LOST!"

Axel saw his enemy try and shatter him, only to have his Eternal Flame Chakrams burst up and become miniature stars as they burst at his target. As the red-haired man saw his target get pushed back he pushed back with all his might." Heh, I'll admit I lost my edge the last few years but, to be fair I did think my fighting days were over till your boss came crashing in to are universe!"

"Bah…that just proves that behind all the posturing you're just a wuss Lea! You jumped on board Xemnas's ship the first chance you got because you were hustled into thinking you could make the pain go away! Your just another shill who can't handle how things are! A loser like you just does not deserve to be on top!"

"Tsc, me and Isa were sore for a very long time after we lost everything just for being born in the wrong place. Xemnas and the others offered me a chance to get back at all the scum who took everything away from me.

But, as things went on and frankly, after realizing Xemnas and Ravxen were stringing all of us along I realized I was chasing a sham. Instead of keeping the fire of hate going till nothing's left I chose to have a life. And I'll ramp up the heat enough to surpass a star if that's what it takes to hang on to what I care about!"

The Chaotic Comedian saw Axel was starting to trap him in a sphere that was looking more and more like a sun. But as his attire was lit ablaze the Vollständig on his forehead surged with energy before his aura blew away all the flames. "A beta thinking he's as hardcore as an alpha, now that's rich! You can dial up the heat past a supernova dude, but my rage is hotter than everything in the old universe! Suck it loser! Hell's Punchline!"

The Dimensional General unleashed an energy charged punch that unleashed a shock-wave that was powerful enough to blow out all the flames around him. Axel managed to block the blow, but the force still knocked him into the air.

As the former Dark Enji tried to rebound he saw the Chaotic Comedian charging at him, and tried to counterattack only for the masked man to swerve his arm around to bring the bladed part down on Axel's right arm.

As the man formerly known as "The Flurry of Dancing Flames" cried out in pain the Chaotic Comedian quickly grasped him by the throat." Got it memorized how much of a joke you really are yet man? Time for the fire on all the losers to go out forever!"

Before the Chaotic Comedian could unleash the lethal blow Max suddenly burst up from behind and made use of some of his Close Quarters Combat training to put his target in an arm lock before he could notice.

As Ben's cousin saw his target glare at him, he snickered as he kept a tight grip with his CQC skill." That so man? If that's true then you go first! After all you're the loser who's making everything a drag because of the mother of all tantrums! I'd say your spree has gone on long enough as it is!"

The masked man snarled with disgust as his eyes widened." Nah…this show's just getting started! Because when it comes down to it all of you clowns put together don't pack the collective punch to take me down for the count! Heh, your another dude who can't get over that you're a has been! Maybe when I choke you with your own limbs you will get it!"

The Chaotic Comedian grasped his fist tightly to prepare to attack, till suddenly Zero lashed out with his Chain Rod to grasp the limb. The Maverick Hunter just grinned as his target glared at him." I had more then a few limbs blown off over the year's maverick, it's something I could do without! You may be overcharged but we can still break you down!"

Before his enemy could respond X and Axl both fired various energy blasts that intended to break their target's focus. As X saw his target snarl with rage the armored hero steeled himself." That's right, we all come together to take down all kind's of threats. Chaotic Comedian…your hate and cynicism may be the highest I ever seen in a maverick, but we will purge it all the same like the virus it is!"

Squall then jumped up before hissing out," That's right, despite are different backgrounds, we all finish the mission! Meltdown!"

The Enji Captain unleashed the defense reducing spell to try and weaken his enemy further, and as he did Doug's dark side saw Shadow, Cable, and Hellboy all fire various projectiles into him to try and scramble his power in various ways.

As he felt all kinds of sensations the Chaotic Comedian just laughed harder." Oh man, I can smell the desperation on every last one of you, even the god damn robots! Heh, one way or another most of you here were dogs made to serve one master or another! But there is no leash on me! The only master I have will always only be me! And even if the whole damn universe tries to keep me down, just gives the backlash the hell of a punch!"

Max saw his target's aura was growing before he snickered. He made a hand gesture before his shoulder blade burst out again to stab the threat in the shoulder. As energy discharged into the Chaotic Comedian the bounty hunter grinned." For a guy who thinks he's so slick you sure seem to just resort to trying to blow everything away like a baby throwing a tantrum! But we're on to your act jackass, and scrambling your aura is just one step closer to ending this for good!"

"You wish." The Dimensional General hissed out as the Vollständig shimmered again." Your trying real damn hard, but a true champ has more then one ace up his sleeve!"

The Chaotic Comedian had his one free hand twitch, before out of his jester mask a stream of acid burst out for Max.

Ben's cousin quickly swerved out of the way, and that was all the time the Chaotic Comedian needed to bash everyone before they could even react. Doug saw Max and the others fall to the ground he spat on the ground." Damn it, how come I only get to be this slick when it's my dark half trying to blow everything up? Tsc, but if he can kick that much ass, I can kick even more ass! Just, got to figure out the right punch."

Max coughed up blood as he staggered back up, and tried not to let his anger blind his senses." Damn it, I did not get a get back to life pass just to blow it! I may not be able to get the main goal done, but I'm sure as hell not failing everyone again!"

"Course your going to fail." The Chaotic Comedian spat out before his aura erupted enough to cause the entire area to shake. "Cause your all failures! Your hopes, your dreams, your efforts, they are all jokes and its time for the final punchline!

Now, it's been fun bashing the lot of yah but I have a lot of people I have to own before the day's done so I think I'll just vaporize most of you now then go and drag the baggage and what's left of Aqua and Ezan to screw over the rest!"

Max saw the Chaotic Comedian begin to gather a massive amount of energy in his palms before he grasped his fist." Damn it freak, think you can kick me away like trash."

"Oh but I am sucka! Cause that's all any of you are! Shadow's some toy created out of those Black Doom freaks, Zero's some old timer's pipe dream, Squall is part of one old dude's dream army, Zidane's a monkey freak from another old geezer, and I don't know about the boys Max brought along but I'm guessing your all screw ups to!

Face it, the big bad Max Bruder is just a chump who died like a bitch the first time and now is going to super die knowing how much of a failure you really were! And I'm going to laugh my ass off seeing the look on your face when you realize there is nothing you can do to stop me! Though, it'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic. Oh, hell, I'll laugh anyway! HAHAHAHAHAH!"

As the Chaotic Comedian unleashed enough power that his aura was weighing those like Squall down even King Atem from his spot looked fearful that things were looking dire.

The ruler of the Lylat Kingdom clenched his teeth as he saw that those in front of the Chaotic Comedian looked to injured or worn down to resist." Damn you Beyonder! Making me helpless, powerless to watch my comrades die…this is not a contest, just a joke!"

"Hey I called this a game so it's a game not a joke!" The Beyonder spat back." Besides, who said you can't do anything? You lasted this long little Lylat, so I'll be nice enough to let you cash in on your points right now to try and tip the odds so can't cry that I rigged it!"

Atem saw the Beyonder looked eager like a child before he raised an eyebrow." This is, a sincere offer?"

"What I just say? I don't want my game's being to boring so I'll let you send of your pieces a power up! But you only racked up enough points for one, my premium Soul fire potion!

And the price, is that they will die when they use it! C'mon, these are supposed to be the most heroic hero's you got right? Then surely one of these chumps will be glad to throw there life away to "Do the right thing!" You can't save everyone little Lylat…so you have to show your pals who is the weakest link if you want to even stand a chance to win!"

Atem was about to seethed out a rebuttal before he widened his eyes and looked at who was fighting again. He glanced at the Chaotic Comedian's attack before he gave the Beyonder a cold look." You swear that only one will die?"

"Hey, no promises after the purchase but that's the deal I'm making!"

"Very well…I'll take your offer."

"Heh, knew you were not such a nice guy…nobody that want's to live is when the chips are down!"

Atem saw a new card appear on his table before he swiftly drawled it. He glanced at the card and uttered," Now then, I'll play the Black Luster Soulfire Ritual!"

Just as the regal man slammed the card on the board Max and the others were trying to evaluate the situation when the Chaotic Comedian looked like he was about to unleash his blast.

Ben's cousin cracked his neck as he glanced back to see Aqua was still healing Ezan in the distance." Well this is a drag, but can't expect Aqua to cast a barrier when she's still recovering herself.

Damn it, I swerved out of worst spots then this, but most of the time relied on Tri-Edge. From the looks of it if Ben or the others want to step in there going to need some really perfect timing."

Axel was about to respond when suddenly the sky in front of the group glowed and Atem said," Help might come quickly Max, but you will have to be quick!"

"That you your majesty?" Max uttered cagily." Or is this the clown trying to squeeze in more trolling?"

"Its me Max." Atem replied as a holographic image of him appeared in front of the Enji." The Beyonder is saying I played the game well enough to give a bonus power up, and at the moment your group could use the boost in raw power the most. He said the cost of this Soulfire potion is that it kills the person that uses it, understand?"

Max saw the others looking wary before he snickered." Gist of it. Well now…a deal with the devil? I'm game for rising the stakes!"

"Who said I was giving you a time out to rebound? Nah man...all of you have delayed your max ownage long enough! So time to, huh? Tsc, this a joke?"

The Chaotic Comedian heard something behind him and snarled with feral rage as he swerved around and swung his fist. The masked man was gleeful to see his fist impaile Doug in the stomach, and as he heard the screams of pain he widened his eyes." Man you placed one horribly thought out bet baggage! You thought you were better then me and now your last moments are going to be thinking how stupid you really are! So, huh?"

The vile man was about to punch through Doug till he saw the man's image flicker. Suddenly the image faded and it was revealed to be Axl, not Doug, for the Next Generation reploid used his transformation function to take up Doug's look to sneak up on his target.

Just as the Chaotic Comedian looked shocked Axl raised his guns and blasted his target in the face. As he was released the Mavrick Hunter cried out," Thankfully I don't have the same weak spots Doug does. Guess who's the idiot now eh?"

As Axl kept firing he saw his target just roar in rage as his aura blew away the incoming projectiles." To bad you don't have the power to make your curve ball worth a damn you piece of,"

Before he could counterattack the real Doug slammed him in the back of the head. As he saw his dark half fly down Doug cried out," So sure about that jackass?"

The member of Squad 7 fired off a Masako, but the Chaotic Comedian roared with rage before catching the blast.

Max saw his enemy throw the blast away before he glanced at the hologram of the ruler of the Lylat Kingdom." Well only thing I know for sure is that better to roll the dice before we don't have the chance!"

Atem nodded before his image faded, and the ground in front of Max erupted into a torrent of red quarter like fragments. The leader of the Diamond Dog unit saw the fragments fuse together into a large red pellet before he shrugged." Well, been conned before but don't have many options here. Still, wish I had a sword left. Then again maybe I do. Hey, Hellboy, you still got that thing Rodin made for this gig?"

"Yah…but what do you want with it dude?" The demon with the large hand retorted." Clearly I want to use it as a mike dude. C'mon Anung Un Rama…you're a jack of all trades devil but I know you rather shoot the bastards in the face with your girls like "Good Samaritan" anyway."

"Sure…but "Dante" was not even complete Max!"

"Yah…and now I have the thing to complete it!"

"Well, I'd say it could kill you but that's a moot point in about, ten seconds. Don't drop the ball man!"

Doug saw Hell-Boy throw a demonic hilt out of his pocket, and as Max cached it the member of Squad 7 raised an eyebrow." What you doing Max?"

"Hopefully something dude. Not like now's the time to play it safe. All right, time to mix man and devil! Heaven or Hell, lets rock! Sin Devil Trigger! Ignite…Dante!"

Max stabbed the sphere of red energy with the hilt of the sword, and then shocked everyone by stabbing himself in the gut. The hilt glowed blood red, before an explosion of energy erupted out of the hilt. Max suddenly absorbed that energy and screamed loudly.

As his body glowed more and more the Chaotic Comedian just gave another psychotic outburst." Man, you wanted to die before I can give you the full course? You're not getting out of this! Nihilist…BURST! "

The madman unleashed a massive projectile at the group, but Max suddenly screamed at the top of his lunges before red aura consumed him. He then dashed at the energy blast, and unleashed an explosion of power that to everyone's shock was powerful enough to knock the Nihilist Burst away. Then the aura faded, and everyone saw that Max had transformed.

His body was surrounded by large ram-like horns with a second smaller set extending from the top. He had reptilian feet, and his knuckles had a curved silver edge, which tapered off to an outward point on either side.

Segmented purple bands wrapped around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arches behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.

His chest and head glowed with incandescent orange.

His whole body was wreathed in demonic flames as two pairs of wings were now flapping about.

The solid parts of the body seemed to be a combination of metal and black demonic stone: any areas of exposed "skin" were covered in square scales.

Over his face was a mask that resembled the one he use to worn when he donned his alter ego Janus.

Max was now holding a sword as large as his previous blade, though this one looked like a large two-handed sword made mostly of a dark substance resembling solidified lava, with claws running up its length, talons for a hand-guard and a red jewel on its pommel.

As Max gave a demonic roar Doug rubbed his eyes." What the hell is this? Damn it Max I don't think we have time for last minute revelations this late in the game!"

To his shock Max chuckled as he landed on the ground and slowly got into his fighting stance." Chill dude, its cool. I'm not suddenly a demon, but the sword Dante that my bud Rodin made was after working with the legendary devil hunter Dante for his new project.

The sword allows the user to gain a hell of a lot of power. Normally, the cost of becoming this Demi-Fiend like state is the user's life but good thing I'm already dead eh? Heh, lucky for me the Beyonder did not read the fine print in his own rule."

Axel looked at Max's new face before he cringed." Seriously man? Your power level's nearly as high as Ben and Lacus and you're just using this now?"

"That's because it's a one-time deal dude!" Max threw out casually." First of all, you need to amass a ton of energy just to use it. Ever since I knew we were fighting a being on the level of Zannacross I had Dante stored up getting the energy from dudes like Galactus and all the other God's of Destruction's to get enough juice to be worth it. And even then, it was not till the Beyonder was nice enough to hand a chunk of energy to be the main battery! Good thing he forgot the loophole eh?"

Doug saw how casual Max was looking before he took a deep breath." That's a hardcore play dude. Still, even if your undead Max, you sure this won't screw you up? Damn it, I just saw Yamamoto do a play like that and I don't want another guy blowing himself up for nothing!"

"Have a little faith eh dude? Don't worry, I was already training to be a Visored…a " Soul Reaper" who could harness supernatural elements to transform. Heh, figured it would be a way to get a shot at beating Goku or making sure I was strong enough to beat down Kira if he pulled something one day, but this is a hell of a more productive part to it. Sure, if I use it to long I risk something like burning through the grace of my soul but eh, we are screwed either way right? Might as well go on my terms! I'm not done leaving my mark on the universe yet, and no matter what I won't forsake my pride as a warrior!"

The Chaotic Comedian saw the fire dancing around Max's new blade before he snickered." Now this is rich dude! You so desperate to be a badass that your selling your soul or some crap like that? Forget it dude…your time as a badass has past. Hell, your alread a has been! Soon you will be a has nobody!"

"Tsc…that does not even make sense jackass."

"It means your going to be dead in every way possible when I'm done with you! Someone like you tried his entire life to mess with his betters and failed, should just get the hint already!"

Max looked at his fist, before he grasped it tightly. He grasped the Dante sword tightly, before his new weapon split open in the middle, increasing in length while generating a second blade of fiery red energy." True, I bit the bullet before Kira did and was not able to properly avenge my comrades.

But that's ok, because I kept Ben alive long enough to finish what I started! And while I'm sort of undead at the moment, I plan to do what I can so I'm not just dead-weight to my cousin, and pull off one more kick-ass moment to show off!"

"Man, you really are a loser!" The masked man spat out with contempt." Pride, honor, like any of that means anything real! As long as that retard brain of yours is still working you will never understand that power is everything! All your lame "codes" are just,"

"Tekken Tachikaze!"

"GUH!"

In a second Max proved his dramatic transformation was not just for show as in the blink of an eye, Ben's cousin was able to warp over to the Chaotic Comedian and punch him in the throat.

Max wasted no time unleashing a furious barrage of blows. And as each blow from the knuckle part of his new armor connected, each punch released immense explosive force on impact.

Ben's cousin pummeled the Chaotic Comedian till he went through a pillar, which caused the madman to break free.

As Doug's darkness gasped for air Max saw him glare at him and snickered." If talk is cheap then why are you still talking? I told you wraith, your gig is done! Sin Sturm Und Drang!"

Max quickly preformed an enhanced version of one of his earlier moves, now having his wings have blades extend before spinning around like a top with three blades of energy spinning around.

The Chaotic Comedian quickly burst back to avoid the attack. As he saw Max home in on him he laughed madly." Well at least you're not half assing it dude! Glad this is not to lame; but it will just give me more of a rush when I crush your last hope!"

"Don't think you can get away from me! You're not laughing this off! Ombra Crusher!"

While still keeping up his current attack, Max also unleashed a barrage of blue energy projectiles that homed in on his target. The Chaotic Comedian is able to bat away the blasts easily enough, but realizes that it's slowing him down enough for Max to close in.

The realization causes the crazed Dimensional General to sneer as his fist surged with energy." Always been a rapid dog that bit off more then he could chew! This joke's stale as hell, so know your place poser! Final…Hell…Knuckle!"

Max saw his enemy charging at him with more and more energy surging around his fist each second before he grasped the Dante sword tightly and growled out." I'm no joke you pain in the ass joker! I'll make you learn that the hard way! Blazing Sin Judgment!"

Max broke out of his spin and raised the knuckle before unleashing an energy infused slash. Doug saw Max's attack greet his dark counterpart's blow with enough force to rock the entire area.

As Doug stood his ground he saw how driven Max looked before he looked at himself." Damn Max…your getting as hardcore as you can get out their man. Guess, the stakes can't get any harder and all. Still, even if its my own damn anger, should not let a joker like that make a fool out of me!"

"Chill man." Axel threw out as he got in front of Doug. As the martial artist raised an eyebrow the former member of Organization XIII threw out a slick grin." I know that's odd coming from me, but seriously dude now's not the time to have a hot head!

You know what I mean! This joker knows you more then anyone else! If you don't want to lose the game, then you got to get it memorized that you have to play your own game eh?"

"True that Axel. Guess its not easy to out play yourself. But, got to think outside the box. Well, maybe Max will have that covered, but since this bastard's as stubborn as me, and even more hardcore I'm not betting on anything till its over."

The group of men watched carefully to see what their best move was as Max and Doug's darkside burst all over the area as blurs of energy. Max was unable to break through his enemy's attack, but in his new state the Chaotic Comedian can't break through the Dante sword either.

Now that they were both currently masked, the Chaotic Comedian snarled at Max's defiance as his eyes widened." Your really hardcore eh Bruder? Your stubborn all right, but you're not kickass, you're a dumbass fighting for things that mean nothing! Cut the arrogance, there's nothing exceptional about you."

"I could say the same about you jackass! With Doug your able to be kept in check, but without being tethered to him you're just a piece of garbage, forsaken by society.

I bet you feel bitter after being rejected by your peers and excluded from the community, don't you? You just can't stand to be on your own! You're no different from a kid whining about not wanting to be left out and burning everything down to get back on them!"

"Hahah, think you're the comedian eh dude? You sure do say some funny things.

Do you think I'm the only one who's pissed off at being left out by the cons the shills keep spinning to keep us down? Who isn't alone in this society? The time when our connection to others was the basis of our selves is long gone in this culture that your cousin and his pals wanted to ram down everyone's throats!

There's no place for communities in this society where everyone is watched over by the system and lives within the system's standards.

Everyone stays in their own little cell, and the system tames them by giving them each their own personal serenity. Its all just a con for the alphas to be tamed by the beta's. It's a sham, and every last part of it deserves to be burned!"

"Well maybe that's how you feel Comedian, but you overplayed your hand thinking one freak like you could decide how it was going to be for everyone! Sure, my cuz did get carried away because he jumped to far deep to far fast like that one summer vacation he tried impression that girl.

But even so…the dreams he wants to make become reality are still better then yours! So now then…time for this mad joke to burn away for good! School…of the Undefeated of the East!"

Max wound up his right fist, and as the Chaotic Comedian saw his opponent gather energy in it, he swerved around to try and cut him off." That old move again dude? No way that old trick's going to fly!"

The masked man suddenly warped behind Max to try and attack him in the back, only for a vortex of fire to burst up to force the Chaotic Comedian back. Max eagerly swerved around as his target was swept back before he snickered." This dog's still learning new tricks sucker! Sekiha…Majin Kizan…TENKYOKEN!"

Max swiftly unleashed a new variation of his ultimate energy blast. This time his attack came off as a giant golden energy fist that was spinning around. The Chaotic Comedian tried to counter, but found that smaller flames that looked like replicas of the Dante sword burst out to barrage the enemy and swarm him like the Kizan Shyoukouzin attack.

With the smaller attacks pinning him down the Chaotic Comedian he saw the larger projectile smash into him and laughed madly." Oh man…this is rich! You seriously think you can win dude? Hahhaha...HAHAHA!"

Everyone saw the blast crash into the left magma lake before unleashing an explosion strong enough to vaporize a entire chunk of the Brane of Magicant, causing Zidane to whistle." That packed more of a punch then all of the Bahamut summons put together! Still…you think that put him down?"

Squall saw the entire pocket dimension shake before he shrugged." Depends on if the Beyonder will let us get a win out of this."

"Based on how its been so far Squall." Doug chipped in grimly." If we push hard enough to seal the deal that cosmic brat will throw in the towel. Well, I like to think myself of stubborn but time to see how much that stubbornness can take when its stats are maxed out by a wild god."

As the explosion faded everyone braced themselves, and Doug cringed as he heard the mad laughter was still going. Max landed on the ground and grasped the Dante blade tightly as he saw the Chaotic Comedian stagger out." Damn it, no matter what it takes I'm going to shut that laughter up! Just…got to pull off my next move wisely. Can't waste my "ammo" if I can't reload this gun."

Max heard the laughter get louder as he saw his target stagger out. The Chaotic Comedian's entire right arm was burned and melted, yet he was still standing, with his Vollständig surging frantically with energy.

Doug saw his dark half give him a crazed look before the madman cracked his neck." God damn, that packed one hell of a after taste! Oh that caused a buzz all right man, but that's just making me enjoy this even more! After all, no pain, no gain!

Thought that would stop me? Hell no loser, cause no matter how hard you huff and puff, you still can't blow this badass down! Cause your not part of the true power dog! That's right, I am the true face of life, I am power personified! And your dead wrong about no one else wanting to be on board my destiny!

Their can only be one top dog, but better to be on the winning pack then go down with all the losers! This is all going down not just because of one guy, but because everyone across the universe is waking up and seeing that the elites lied to them for all of history! And we want what is ours, even if that means everything will burn!

If you Kek's think you can get in the way of nature taking its course then just see what happens when you try and stop it! No more playing around…let me show you just how powerful the wrath of nature's winners putting their collective foot down is!

If the pawns of the light try and match a Joker, they'd better be prepared to be dealt from the bottom of the deck!

This trick is a hell of a mess, but its perfect for devouring losers to nothing! Time for mob rule baby!

You thought this little devil act was hardcore eh Bruder? Devil is double is deuce loser! ...and joker trumps deuce! Gelos Legion!"

The Chaotic Comedian smashed his left fist into the ground, before his aura flared up. Moments later the ground around him erupted, before a pillar of raw darkness burst out.

Max saw the twister coming for him and just cracked his neck as he saw that the fragments were all skull heads, each an individual demon head." Must have broken something with that last attack, because your seriously crazy if you think throwing a pile of cannon folder is going to help you now!"

Max spun around again and just burst through the tornado of demons. He tried to attack the Chaotic Comedian once more, only for another cyclone of laughing souls to burst out and grasp Max form behind.

Ben's cousin felt his energy being drained the moment the darkness touched him, and the current devil hunter quickly swung Dante down to shatter the entire tower.

As he did even more souls broke out to propel the Chaotic Comedian into the air Max and all the others saw their enemy be propelled above them, surrounded in a hurricane of cackling souls.

As the Dimensional General saw everyone's looks he unleashed another outburst of psychotic laughter." See sucker? I'm backed by all the people who want to keep it real!

Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you: the soul of the average man. Physically unremarkable, it instead possesses a deformed set of values. Notice the hideously bloated sense of humanity's importance. Also note the club-footed social conscience and the withered optimism.

It's sure as hell not for the squeamish, is it? Most repulsive of all, are its frail and useless notions of order and sanity. If too much weight is placed upon them... they snap. How does it live, I hear you ask? How does this poor pathetic specimen survive in today's harsh and irrational environment?

I'm afraid the sad answer is, "Not very well." Faced with the inescapable fact that existence is mad, random, and pointless, one in eight of them crack up and go stark slavering buggo! Who can blame them? In a world as psychotic as this... any other response would be crazy!

And that's just what I have here, a ton of crazy souls ready to devour anything in their path!

And before you ask this is not Chrono Phantasma mooks being spit out, these are all real people who were pissed off enough at society to want it all to burn and help me light the match! The weak are useless, unless they have enough sense to submit to their superior and do what they are told by the alpha in the pack!

After all what is a king, really? Among other things it's a powerful card, the king of the hill! The highest valued face card in the deck. Not infallible, to be sure, but potent. And the joker card?

On its own? It has no inherent value. It's defined by what is played against. Dangerous in its potential more than anything. But if you hold the two together in a hand, they can hold nearly any value. They can shift and adapt to any threat they face. And so can I. The joker triumphs any card you beta's have!"

Axel saw the hurricane of demonic souls get larger and larger before he rolled his eyes." So throwing out a ton of cannon folder is seriously your trump card? Damn it Doug your dark soul's just nuts at this point. Oh well, if he's losing it then let's end this!"

Axel surrounded himself with magma before he burst at the cyclone. As he did parts of the legion of souls burst out and unleashed surges of red light.

Axel felt something collided into him hard enough to stop him in his tracks, and before he could figure out what happened a new, cold voice uttered." What a utter farce. I thought you outgrew those marks on your eyes Lea…and yet you're still a fool!"

Axel was shocked as he saw that the soul that broke off had turned into a man in a black raincoat like uniform with blue hair, a X shaped scar, and a large claymore in his hand.

He was Saix, former official second in command of the Organization XIII of Dark Enji and Axel's former best friend, that he had to kill in a bitter showdown in Neo Pandemonium when everyone was frantically trying to prevent Lacus from being devoured by Zannacross.

Axel saw his former comrade glaring at him before he let out a gasp." Isa? The hell is, no , think I'm a sucker? This cheap trick is not going to slow me down now! The hell?"

Axel noticed that what looked like his former pal had pale white skin, and had a unnatural grin on his face. As his former teammate looked at him he grinned wildly.

"You always were running from the truth! But you will succumb to fate now traitor!"

"As if…I beat the real you! I won't lose to a fake! Time to, AHH!"

Axel prepared to strike underneath when suddenly he felt a powerful shocking pain erupt across his right arm. As the limb felt numb he heard a giggling noise and looked up to see a blond woman in the same outfit as Saïx with yellow needles in her hands.

It was another of Axel's former comrades, the "Savage Nymph" Larxene, the cruel woman who pretended to be Ben's boyfriend before breaking his heart and going on to cause trouble till she met her end at Brad Fowltror's jaw.

As Axel glared at her Larxene gave Axel a haughty sneer, and like Saix she also had pale skin and a unnatural grin." Man what is this Organization rehash? What's the matter? Try and keep up dumbass! You thought you were smarter than us but you're totally going to be ripped to pieces! Chao!"

Axel tried blocking the lighting the Larxene clone unleashed, before Saïx smashed him in the chest with his Claymore.

As Axel fell to the ground he coughed up blood and chuckled bitterly." Welp…whatever they are they are not just something in my head. Huh?"

Another soul came at him, before it turned into his former boss, Xemnas, also with his own wide grin. The sliver haired man glared at Axel the moment they locked eyes, before enteral blades of energy came out of his hands. "Their was a time when I entrusted you to deal with traitors Axel, but your betrayal outstrips all others. What a complete farce. Any last words to your superior? Submit to, GUH!"

In an instant Xemnas was cleaved in half, as Max charged right through him. Ben's cousin saw other fragments of the Legion Cyclone morph into various creatures from the other's past, from the Devil Doom enemy Shadow fought, to Zero's former lover Iris, to Squall's former arch rival Seifer Almasy, to Doug's master's crazed brother Akuma, and every last one of them had pale skin and deranged grins.

He saw a soul take the shape of the last enemy he fought before he died, the demon lord that conspired with Kira, Xiza Belphagos, and just sneered." Damn it, you think forcing us down memory lane again is going to stop us!? This trick is just stalling! Time to, GUH!"

Max slashed through the copy of the man he hated, only to find a painful impact erupt across his chest. As Xiza faded, he saw that suddenly the Chaotic Comedian's fist was in his gut.

The man with a jester face had utter madness in his eyes before he pushed the spike deeper." Even a cheap trick that you seen before still has its uses if it cons a sucker long enough to waste him! All the rage of the past AND the present is part of my deck has been!

You kept saying I'm nothing but one joker, but your wrong! With that baggage no longer dragging me down I'm all but a god of laughter, rage, and power personified, strength absolute! I'm the one that laughs at those in pain, jeering at every loser that dies! In my new world, I'll be laughing over everyone! Its so close, the fire of the true alpha is going to burn through every last beta! All that's left is to fry the last few remains of the foundation for the old universe!

The real joke is your stubborn, bone deep conviction that somehow, somewhere, all of this makes sense! That's what cracks me up each time! But guess you will get the joke, as your very soul is ripped apart!

You may already be dead, but even a zombie stays down when his head's ripped out! Well, lets see eh you stubborn son of a, huh?"

The Chaotic Comedian was about to try and rip Max apart, till suddenly a pillar of ice erupted underneath him and froze his right limb. The dimensional general saw not only was his limb frozen, but the entire section of the hurricane of souls, before he saw the ice spell came from Aqua.

The blue haired woman was breathing heavily, but despite her wounds, she still stared defiantly at the Chaotic Comedian." Not again…I won't be to late again!"

Max saw Aqua's defiance and just chuckled weakly." Damn girl, you still messed up from this dude's drink? Cause I'm already dead! Stop pushing yourself before you join me damn it!"

"You know what I mean Max!" Aqua shot back." I won't be to late again, a few minor wounds is nothing compared to failing those I cared about when I could have done something!"

The Chaotic Comedian gave the lover of who he spawned from a deranged look before he cackled out," Oh man, you crack me up girl! It's a riot, you think we would love someone who was like us, but then we would keep being one upped by a poser! So the chick who piss's us off half the time keeps drawing us back in. This bad joke's…just got to die once and for all!"

The Chaotic Comedian prepared to rush Aqua, till Doug, already in his Kaio-Ken state tackled his dark counterpart. Doug put so much power into the charge that he plowed his target through a wall or two, and when he heard his enemy snarl Doug just kept punching the masked man in the gut.

As the barrage of fiery blows caused shock-waves Doug seethed out," Not again you bastard! You're not taking one more person that's important to me, yah hear! Your part of my mess, so I'm ending this now!"

Doug tried to punch the Dimensional General in the face with all of the power he had only for the Chaotic Comedian to swiftly catch his fist, and have his muscles expand before he slowly pushed Doug's fist back hard enough to make a cracking sound.

The being of darkness got right in his counterpart's eye before muttering," Oh…I hear you loud and clear you dumbass! I'll give you this baggage, this ends now! The part of me that needs anything but power, I'm burning it all so I'll never be weak again!"

"Damn it, you will never be anything again if you pull off what you want! A man never learns anything if he never lets anything but his own thoughts in, I know that now."

"Wrong loser! If your already perfect you don't need anything else, just got to burn away everything else to make sure the weak don't infect us!"

"Now I know your just a crazy freak, I sure as hell never thought I was perfect!"

"Now that we have the power of god we, I am! You're too modest because of all the crap the shills forced down are skull, but I'm going to take what is mine and blow away anything in my way like a true champ!

Whenever you were calling the shots you always been to wishy washy and unsure of what you want because your letting the weak put thoughts in your head! But me…I'm not confused one lick about what I want for a single god damn second! And that's why, the trash is being taken out once and for all! FINAL HELL KNUCKLE!"

Doug saw the Chaotic Comedian have energy swarm around his fist, before he saw Aqua looking mortified below and felt like his life was flashing across his eyes." No…your wrong…never been clearer what I want in my entire life!"

His enemy just gave out a battle cry and smashed his fist through. The blow caused a tremor, but to the Chaotic Comedian's shock he realized Doug eluded him.

He swerved around to see Doug glaring at him and just cracked his neck." Just have to drag this out eh? Don't matter if you boosted yourself one last time or this is another person's magic, just man up and take your death like a man!"

The masked man was about to attack till he saw that Doug's eyes where suddenly sliver. As a sliver aura swept across Doug's body the member of Squad 7 uttered a calm," That's what I was about to say to you asshole. You caused a hell of a lot of damage, so get ready to pay your dues!"

"Now that's rich, a Deadman walking making threats to me? Forget about it!"

The masked man unleashed a variation of Doug's Bursting Machine Gun punch attack, but to his shock Doug calmly evaded every blow, and after a few seconds swiftly punched his enemy hard enough to cause a cracking sound.

The Chaotic Comedian moaned in pain and grasped his gut before he quickly staggered back. As he saw Doug was still looking calm he snarled with rage." What joke is this? This some sort of illusion trick? Forget that, I'll bust out of whatever con you try and hustle me with!"

"Nah dude, this is no con." Doug calmly retorted." This is me devoting everything I have to one thing, getting the job done!"

"That's it baggage, your being dragged off the damn stage! Nihilist Burst!"

In an instant the man with a jester mask unleashed a massive red energy blast nearly right in front of his other half's face. However, Doug closed his eyes and swiftly thrusted his palm forward, shocking everyone by causing the Nihilist Burst beam to shatter.

The Chaotic Comedian saw Doug crushed a fragment of the blast into a smaller orb, then calmly disintegrated it by just flicking his hand. But before he could say anything Doug cracked his neck." Before you ask…that was no illusion, just instinct."

"That's bull and you know it! I smashed your brain to many times baggage, cause your thinking instinct is something its not!"

"Nah…just that it has a deeper meaning if you push hard enough!"

Max saw Doug's aura turn silver, purple and blue aura consisting of rippling, fire-like energy, complete with sparkling particles traveling upwards, and as Doug's eyebrows turned sliver, he raised an eyebrow." The hell is this? Nearly looking like Doug's using the last form Goku busted out when he fought Ben!"

"Got that right man." Axel added." Its, that Autonomous Ultra Instinct Trunks talked about! Though it was when he was turning into the Chaotic Comedian last time we thought it was linked to his darkness! Maybe it was because even after the split he got some of the Beyonder's energy into him to break past his limit?"

"Its not just that Axel." Aqua uttered proudly as she limped over to her friend." Doug's always had a strong will. But with everything on the line, he pushed himself to be what he really wanted to be, and here we are. Doug, I knew you could do it!"

Max saw Doug staring down the Chaotic Comedian with a deadly serious expression, saw Zero, Squall, Zidane, Shadow and the rest of the group look at the Enji with aw and grinned." Right on man. Knew you could get your groove and be the real person you want to be."

The Chaotic Comedian saw Doug seemed to look thinner from the effects of the Ultra Instinct's true form before he snickered and his muscles expanded." So, your just selling out all the way eh man? Doug, thinking a part of me would sell out to the shills so much makes me want to hurl.

Your trying to pull off some zen thing after how much we hated morons like Kira who think people are robots if they just try hard enough to switch off their emotions? Bah…all that peace of mind stuff is the biggest joke of all! Like peace ever exists…it's just trolling yourself with a lie! Well this lie has gone on long enough…its ending now!"

The Chaotic Comedian burst at Doug like a speeding bullet, but to his shock he seemed to go right through Doug. Just as he wondered if Doug used a spell, suddenly he felt painful sensations erupt all over his body.

Doug heard his opponent curse out loudly before the combined impacts the speed of light smashed him into the nearest pillar.

The Enji saw his dark side burst back at him in an instant with more of his masked cracked. Doug saw his opponent twitch with rage before he raised his fist." Dumbass, I know I thought like you did for a while, but I see what Gouken meant now.

It's not about being an idiot who thinks he has no emotions. It just means it's doing what you have to do right now to get the job done and nothing else! The Fist of Nothingness…combined with the Ultra Instinct! It's the total opposite of what you want, to never have to change again! Its embracing that things never stay the same!

It's the power to act without being attached to emotions and thought, free of fear, anger, pride, and ego, to draw upon the contents of one's heart intuitively without obstacle and hesitation, and to be aware of the world and to know one's place and meaning within its vastness, to flow with all of creation without the need of worry, desire, and doubt.

This power is not about destroying, not completely. This is the power to push forward in life, not run away from it!"

The Chaotic Comedian looked like he was going to snap as he grasped his hand tight enough to draw blood." SHUT UP! Power is power, everything else is just a joke! The desire for all power leads to conflict! And that conflict…leads to the ultimate rush! That's the only way to feel truly alive!

That's why no matter what trick you pull out of your ass I'll never lose to you! You, you're just the part of me that can't stand to be on your own!

Who isn't alone in this society? Your buddy the savior talks about uniting everyone's hearts in some utopia, but it just isolates everyone's will till they are a slave to the man!

There's no place for communities in this society where everyone is watched over by the system and lives within the system's standards.

Everyone stays in their own little cell, and the system tames them by giving them each their own personal serenity.

I know you hate that idea more than anything Doug, you had enough hate for it for me to pull off a solo gig! It's because no one accepted your justice.

No one understood your anger, either.

So, you turned your back on trust and friendships, and you even abandoned the only place you could belong to in order to come this far.

And yet you laugh at my solitude? No, you highly value one who doesn't fear solitude… who turned your solitude into a weapon…ME! The only problem is this dog don't need its master no more. Long as you need anything else but your own strength, you're the beta Doug!"

The Chaotic Comedian burst once more and tried to slash into his target with his Nihilo Edge, only for Doug to casually block the blade with his right index finger, and shatter it with a elbow thrust. Before the masked man could even curse out Doug smashed him in the face.

The sight of his dark side stumbling back just caused the member of Squad 7 to cracked his neck." Man all this alpha male crap really is just one dated joke. You're the one who's so weak that you can't man up and give room to anything but your own pride, my pride. Well, in the end time to see who's fist pack's more of a punch!"

"Oh I'll show you, the fury of the rage of those who won't be leashed vs the wuss's who are to weak to be real men! THE TRUE POWER WILL BREAK ALL THE LIES!

The Chaotic Comedian gave a nearly a beastly roar as the legion of souls burst at Doug to attack from all directions. Despite the souls taking the shape of the many enemies Doug fought in the past, from the demon lord Zandoris, to STARS traitor Albert Wesker, to the dark Enji Xigbar, to more attack him from all directions.

However, Doug showed his mastery once more as no facade as he effortlessly evaded or parried each strike without having to turn around once. As Doug saw his dark soul looking shocked his fists shimmered with light." I don't care if you see your wrong or not, I'm shutting you up for good! Mystic…Rengeki…Shoryuken!"

The member of Squad 7 unleashed his most preferring punch attack, but the Chaotic Comedian was able to parry the strike. The Dimensional General snickered at blocking Doug's new attack, but his laughed quickly turned into a yell of pain as suddenly Doug's aura came alive, and split off into a sliver shadows that hit the Chaotic Comedian.

To the being of madness's shock, the shadows were quite solid, and thus the Chaotic Comedian felt a dozen Shoryuken's smash into him rapidly. Once more the madman's entire body twitched rapidly before the shock-wave blew him away.

Doug was motionless for a moment, and took a deep breath before he suddenly swerved around, just as a fist burst out of thin air, the result of the Chaotic Comedian's Hell's Punchline spell. As the owner of that fist formed around it, and saw the result, Doug saw his darkness seethed with rage." There is no way you will EVER beat me Doug! I'm your rage, I'm your hate! I"LL ALWAYS BE STRONGER THAN YOU!"

"You should know more than anyone…I don't by what people try and sell me as a fact!"

"YOU WILL WHEN I KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD THAT I KICK IT OFF AND BEAT YAH TO DEATH WITH IT! FINAL, HELL!"

The Chaotic Comedian prepared to smash Doug with all of his might, but to his shock Doug slammed his palm into his face before he could react. The warrior of light's opponent felt nothing and just laughed crudely." Ah…already on empty eh? That's too damn bad because the pain,"

"Sanjuu no…White Haze…Kudan!"

Doug first hit the Chaotic Comedian with his right palm, like he was going to use the Sanjuu no Kiwami. However, the moment his fist touched its target, the limb glowed sky blue.

In an instant the Chaotic Comedian was frozen solid, and a second later his fist unleashed the second part of the blow, unleashing a shock-wave to blast the frozen target. Doug saw the Chaotic Comedian's mask break off as his frozen target was blasted yet again.

The Enji heard his enemy unleash a muffled cry and just snickered as he saw the frozen mask land on the ground and shatter." Even if that was true jackass, I'm not going at it alone anymore. I'm man enough to fight with everything I and my pals have to win!"

As everyone looked on in shock Zidane raised an eyebrow." Hold the phone here…what just happened? Since when could Doug freeze someone by punching them? Hell that almost looks like one of your moves Aqua!"

"That's because…it is Zidane. Or at least, a variation of my White Haze Punishment spell." Aqua uttered in awe." Doug tried to use various spells in training sessions, but he never seemed to master any of those moves to try them in a serious fight. But, guess Doug practiced more then I realized."

"Heh, either that or the Ultra Instinct's give him well, the instincts to pull off some killer custom combos girl." Axel retorted dryly." Point is, Doug's in the zone! Well, unless he's another freaking immortal being shattered while frozen solids got to be a knockout blow right?"

Before anyone could answer a cry of utter hate in the distance alarmed everyone before Max rolled his eyes." Dude how do you still not have it memorized when to not jinx it? I mean now he's going to just pop out right,"

All of a sudden, the ground started to shake, and as Max gave Axel a dirty look the former Dark Enji winced. Doug saw a massive pillar of blood red energy erupt in the distance and just took a deep relaxed breath." No matter how hard a tantrum you throw, you're still owning up to what you have coming!"

The Chaotic Comedian slowly flew up from the hole he was in, and was entirely covered with blood as Doug had smashed him through another one of the blood rivers, right into a large spike sticking out of the lake.

The Vollständig on the Dimensional General's head was surging brightly, seemly working over time to neglect all the damage being frozen, then being struck while frozen, had inflected on him.

Even so, his body was still full of dents, but even with part of his chest impaled vie the spike, he looked more furious then hurt.

The Chaotic Comedian was grasping his face tightly before he glared at Doug with a look of raw, unbridled rage as he laughed in his most deranged tone yet." That was stone cold, you worthless baggage! This joke's not funny anymore…ITS NOT FUNNY! I'm THIS close to at last smashing down the old order to make thing to how I should be! My own damn weaker half is not going to screw me over!"

Doug had his aura flare up before he walked forward." If you're still calling me the weaker half guess your going to be in denial till you die. So, get ready to die jackass, you're the loser here. Y, huh?"

The Chaotic Comedian dropped his hand, and everyone could see that behind the mask, Doug's dark soul either had the skin on his face ripped off from the blast, or never had it to begin with.

As the burnt man glared at everyone he seethed out," I'M NOT A LOSER! This little trick won't help you! You, star boy…ALL of you shill's tricks never last! And the only thing that lasts is power! That's why I'll never lose to you!

Because I'm pure power! To hell with all of this…your all pissing me off too much for me to care about anything but blowing you all to hell! No matter what I'm going to win…WINNN! That's all that matters…ALL THAT MATTERS IS WINNING!"

Doug saw the Chaotic Comedian's muscles expand before his aura condensed into a sphere. Suddenly all of the souls summoned by the Madness Legion spell were sucked into the Chaotic Comedian.

As the very landscape seemed to be being drawn into the being of madness Doug narrowed his eyes." Still stand by what I said. No matter how much you flip out its not going to help. Sometimes, there is more to life to winning as long as you're not afraid to care about something other then yourself!"

"SHUT UP! I'll KILL YOU! I'LL SHUT YOU ALL UP ONCE AND FOR ALL TO PROVE MY REASON IS THE STRONGEST ONE THERE IS! EVERYTHING DIES BUT POWER! DEATH" S PUNCHLINE!"

Doug saw the Chaotic Comedian make the same hand gestures for his Nihilist Burst attack, but his power erupted to become a sphere of energy. The sphere surrounded him, and grew larger and larger before it became a miniature sun. The sun formed the shape of a laughing skull before it descended in Doug's direction.

The Enji saw that smaller blasts were raining down and that a demonic laughter was roaring out from the projectile till Doug grasped his fists tightly." Even if it kills me, I'm not going to be defined as a mad jackass! Gouken, this is for you! DENJIN…MASEKO!"

Doug's aura shined even brighter before lighting crackled across his hands, and he unleashed a platinum and sliver variation of his energy blast. The Denji Maseko roared right for the Death's Punchline energy sphere, and the collision shook the entire pocket dimension.

The Chaotic Comedian saw his attack being pushed back and just laughed harder." You can't beat me hear baggage, yah hear? THIS IS MY WORLD! And in my world, there is only one champ! You're never going to outlast me baggage, pain does jack to me! And I'll keep feeding off the despair of all the suckers here. One way or another, YOUR GOING DOWN!"

Max saw that the Denji Maseko was slowly being pushed back before he cursed in annoyance and fired off as powerful a blast as he could unleash.

Zero, Axel, X,Zidane and Shadow all also attacked the Chaotic Comedian from various directions, and saw smaller energy spheres shoot out to intercept each attack. Squall even summoned the massive Guardian Force Eden to help with its gigantic Eternal Breath blast. But even this only made the Chaotic Comedian more psychotic." Man what a riot! No matter what you do, NOTHING"S GOING TO."

Before he could finish he was frozen solid. He broke out a moment later, but saw he was losing ground now and saw Aqua froze him again while he was distracted.

The blue haired woman just gave him a defiant glare." I told you before you were going to cool off, and I don't care how big a fit you throw you will take what I say seriously!"

"THINK YOUR SO GOD DAMN FUNNY!? Always having to know your place again and again, this time your all going to learn who's meant to be on top after I break your god damn universe!"

The Chaotic Comedian had veins form on his head as he pointed his right hand at Aqua." Think your better than me? The last thoughts you have are going to be just how wrong you were about, GUH!"

Before Doug's dark-side could launch another attack, a vortex appeared around his right arm, causing the limb to suddenly be ripped apart. As the villain yelled with fury he looked around in shock, and saw in the distance that the attack came from none other then Ezan.

Aqua had just finished healing Ezan's wounds in time before coming over previously. Despite being in near critical condition, Ben's rival still had enough energy to upon seeing the situation unleash a Kamui spell.

As his target looked at him Ezan grasped his face but laughed bitterly." A warrior never lets down his guard. Thanks so much for reminding me of that fact before you die. Now scum, this is the true checkmate!"

Doug saw that the Chaotic Comedian was weakened from Ezan's attacks before he narrowed his eyes." Hey Chaotic Comedian I got a joke for yah! Who hear is a dinosaur? You are, because your now extinct! I don't need your kind of thoughts guiding me any more bastard! GET LOST!"

The martial artist poured everything he had into his blast, causing the Denji Maseko to rip right through the Death's Punchline sphere.

The now one-armed villain saw his enemy's blast consume him, before he screamed with fury." NO! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WIN DOUG! NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES…I WILL WIN! I'M A WINNER…I AM!"

The Vollständig unleashed one more glimmer of light before the massive platinum energy blast roars to the edge of the Makai zone, and unleashes an explosion that lights up the entire pocket dimension. The ground shook for several seconds, and as the tremors faded Doug braced himself.

But after several tense breaths everyone saw that nothing was coming out of the new hole massive hole in the Brande itself before Doug formed a half-lopped smile." Well, not sure what the official jury has to say but sounds like a I hit a home-run to me. Heh, glad I showed myself who's boss. Now, just have to, ugh."

Doug tried stepping forward only for the cost of using the full Ultra Instinct to catch up on him, and he did not even have the energy to complete the step. As the Enji fell to the ground Aqua suddenly caught him before he landed on his face.

The martial artist saw the blue haired woman look relived before she smiled." Easy now big guy. You pulled off a rather badass trick but its ok, you don't have to keep the tough guy act up forever."

Doug saw Aqua was breathing heavy." Hey now girl, I'm the one who should be telling you to take it easy."

"Piff…don't be so conservative Doug. Don't act tough and hide your wounds, its ok to be honest for a bit ok?"

"Heh…well since I put you through a lot I'll let it slide. Just, glad I was able to overcome my screw ups without it taking you down. Already caused enough people to get dragged into my mess as it is."

As Aqua looked concerned suddenly a weak snicker broke the silence." Don't flatter yourself Fitter…I'm not one to be dragged down that easily."

Doug swerved around to see Ezan dragging his feet over to the others before the taller man chuckled." So that last move was you eh Ezah? Tsc, despite everything else your one stubborn guy rich boy."

Ezan grasped his face before he sighed." Its nothing complex, the mission still had to be complete.

That being said, I concede its because Aqua was able to heal my, extensive injuries. Still, you did well to overcome that abomination. Your outburst, was surprising."

"What, shocked I could pull something out like that?"

"I'll concede, I did not quite think you were the kind of man to be able to unleash such power. But like with Auro…my eyes have misread the situation before."

"Aqua, am I dead or is Ezan seriously giving me props?"

"Its no illusion. I'll admit, are styles may differ, but you proved today you're a true warrior. Only a person of that caliber could utilize such skill."

"Heh…wish it did not take that long for you to throw that out but I'll take it dude."

As the two shook hands Max chuckled." Glad you were able to understand each other as warriors, and men. Guess we showed this Beyonder freak that the soul of real fighters doesn't give up that easily eh? Seems like we won this round to me. If we are allowed to win at all then don't know what else we could have done."

X, Squall, and Axel were all about to say something, before the ground started to quake. As Doug braced for the Chaotic Comedian to return he saw that the ground in front of everyone was breaking away to form a vortex of energy.

X saw the sky started to crack to before he raised an eyebrow." This does not seem like an attack. In fact, this is how things more or less looked last time before we ended up here. But two paths…are we supposed to choose? If we choose the wrong path, we,"

Zidane cut off the Maverick Hunter as the tailed Enji grinned." Don't be so cynical dude, I think I'm sensing the energy of the others above! That must be where they were!"

"Knew they would pull through." Doug uttered with poise." Ben and all the others may pull bonehead moves, but I know my bros have what it takes to pull through the likes of this!"

Before anyone could response everyone saw a massive light shine from the upper vortex, and an explosion erupted out a second later. As another shock-wave lit up the entire pocket dimension Max grasped his fist tightly." Sounds like the Beyonder's going to do whatever he can to make sure he wins this game. Ben, don't let this nutjob of a god trip you up!"

"Don't worry Max." Doug retorted." If I can keep a grip on things, then I know my bro will with how dead set on not letting anything stop him from protecting what he's fighting for. Its time, all of us show this spoiled brat of a god how things go down eh?"

Max gave a nod before the light got brighter. Little did Doug know that Ben was not nearly as confident about what he was fighting for at the moment.

---

We once more reel back time a bit to where we left Ben off last time, suddenly once more staring down the darkness of his own soul.

Regardless of if it was just Mira mimicking Idious or his personality of madness breaking out with a new host body, Ben quickly saw the persons killer intent was sincere after he had to move at full speed to avoid getting decapitated.

Ben saw blood drip down his chin and grit his teeth before having swords swerve around him and dive at Idious at all sides. Seeing this caused Idious to laugh madly as ebony and blood red swords of his own formed around him to parry the swords.

As more flying blades danced around the area Idious raised an eyebrow." Man, its fun getting to try out this ultimate power faker! What…thought you would have an edge this time? Come on now…any power the faker pulls off the real deal can throw out with style!"

Ben was about to charge at the pale man in front of him, only for a storm of swords to burst up underneath him. "Maybe so Idious!" Ben spat out as he tried to defend himself from waves of energy blades on all sides." But I put you down before, so with all that's going on I'm sure as hell putting you down again!"

Ben tried to gather energy only for Idious to suddenly punch him in the head.

Idious just laughed harder as he jumped on his storm of swords like he was surfing it." That sure of yourself eh? You are so damn proud of yourself for winning control over me back in the Tower of Destiny. But like I just said, not so damn sure about things anymore eh? God gave you a sneak peek of what your future, your precious dream of utopia amounts to! Not quite the happy ever after we were thinking of eh?"

"Damn it…the One Above All said that's only a possible future if I did not change course! That does not mean its my destiny!"

"Sure roomie…deny it all you want but you know that you were building everything up for this to be the thing that would prove you could do what all the other hero's could not and fix life itself to make a true paradise! And yet when we saw the truth that awaited the future we were betting on, in the end it was a fake.

Instead of being the savior, you're just a counterfeit, bound by worthless ideas his entire life. After seeing what all those morals and values really amount to, still in denial about what you, what we really are?"

"Stop twisting things! Now that I know the truth, I can change things. I will change the future!"

Ben then warped to where one of his own swords was and tried to attack Idious from behind. But the being of darkness just snickered as one of his swords swerved to point its tip in Ben's direction and fired a gold and black energy blast. As the attack knocked him into the ground Idious slammed down on Ben's gut to crack the ground beneath him.

As the leader of the Justice Force coughed up blood Idious leaned down to get in his face and sprout a sadistic grin." And how are you going to do that when the first angel and Cosmos ended up being as clueless as us on how to bring true peace eh? Now that you know you don't have any real shot at pulling it off you sure you want to be the savior of the universe?"

"I don't want to save the universe…I will save the universe! And if I have to bust through you to do it, then so be it! Erupting Dragon Fist!"

"Heh, I thought that would be your come back, since that's the only one you have! Hellish Outburst!"

Idious spat out as he tried to counter Ben's punch attack with his own.

The two attack's canceled each other out, and as Ben was knocked back one of his enemies flying energy blades sliced lightly across his left leg.

The golden-haired warrior winced in pain, but saw Idious charging at him and slashed back. As the two exchanged dozens of slashes per second, Idious spat out," Your so one note, that's how Doug was able to figure you out so easily! You simply been repeating the same wish's in your head for most of are life! You been in awe of hero's, of the respect they had!

Hero's were the most powerful dudes that were also the most loved, and you were greedy enough to want both! You wanted to be like them, you wanted to be wanted like them!

You simply borrowed your ideas from Master Myers, "Cloud Sensei", Max, and all the hero's that you wished you were growing up! You thought if you could mimic them long enough, you would be the person you thought people liked, and forget just who we are at are core!"

"Your wrong!" Ben seethed out as he elbowed Idious in the knee and tried to cut into him with the Divine Mugen Nova. As he pushed his dark alter ego back he screamed out." I wanted to be a hero to protect others…and bring justice for those who were not able to grasp it themselves! If I wanted to just get rich or something it was easy enough to just do something like what Ricky did. Sure I wanted to be respected by others, but unlike Brad, I wanted it to be from pride, not fear!"

"You don't have to lie to me Ben!" Idious spat out as he gave a strong enough headbutt for his counterpart to stagger back." That's a half true you keep repeating to feel good about yourself.

But in the end, you wanted the best possible way to get attention! Refusing to see the flaws, you kept charging forward, crossing your fingers that it would all work out! Sure, you stopped Zannacross but then you realized that winning the ultimate battle was the easy part when your immortal!

The wish of making everyone happy is just a fairy tale. No matter which corner of the universe we looked up or what or what corner of history we dug up it was becoming more and more clear that it was all just a pipe dream!

And if you can't keep going without that dream, then just let me take the" Spotlight" as you drown to death carrying that weight! After all, if your dreams and desires are fake, then I'm the real you after all!"

"Like hell you are Idious!" Ben roared out before he preformed the Spiral Light Slash spell. As he attacked Idious from all sides the Enji cried out," I did not come here to lose, and I sure as hell am not going to lose to myself!"

"Tsc, you keep reaching for that dream, even after knowing it won't come true?"

"The Matrix Homeostasis Connection might have been a mistake, but trying to make things the best level they can be is never a mistake! My friends, and everyone who had faith in me, for their sake I won't betray their trust! I won't betray Lacus's faith in me, I won't betray her and just become another monster like Brad!"

"And of course it all comes down to Lacus! Hell I don't have to do a damn thing! If you walked out and saw that Zamasu or the Beyonder or whatever killed her I would be able to just walk in and take the pilot seat and not even have to lock the door because you would never come back! Sure you want to place all your bets on her when she might get bored of you no matter what?"

Ben tried to retort only to gasp out air, causing Idious to kick him in the gut before slashing him across the chest.

As the owner of the Divine Mugen Nova jumped back his counter part laughed darker still." You could not even spit out another comic book quip because you know what would happen if you lost her. I mean hey putting all your emotional eggs in one basket works fine, just look at how great that worked out for Darth Vader!"

"You want me to lie and say I would be just fine? Losing Lacus would hurt more then anything, but, I refuse, to just lose all my convictions like they were worthless. After all…there are others that count on me to."

"Tsc, maybe if you can say that like you mean it I'll take that joke seriously. C'mon…sure you have all the Enji Knights and are Justice Force club on speed dial and all but how many of them are more then just work friends?

How many would you trust would have your back, even if you were not the savior? You worked so damn hard to be the ultimate hero, but somewhere along the way you pushed down the fear that being a hero was your entire density.

Without the power and the glory, would Lacus have ever turned from Brad to you? Would anyone want to be around a stumbling boring guy like you without your power?

No matter how much you try and escape it, call it are damn family genes but that insecurity still just won't go away eh?

After all, despite all the Enji mantra's you give on the tours, despite everything the part of you, the part that's ME, wonders if its all a sham.

Cause in the end, how much of that is just a story? All that blood is thicker than water stuff? You and Max made up in the end, but he still did not trust you enough to work with you, and died because of not trusting you till it was crunch time on that damn Halo.

And then we have our dear old pathetic walrus of a father, not to mention the rest of the family. He may not be the worst, but he sure as hell will never win any awards. Its not as traumatic as having a dark lord as a father sure, but so many of them just don't understand how much it chipped away at us, again and again being dragged down by someone so clearly blinding himself to anything but his mood-swings.

The despair of drowning in their erratic insanity drove us to become an Enji right?

And that despair, was because we were isolated, discarded like trash! Sure, others had it worst maybe, but the isolation we felt for most of are years of High School made you desperate enough to risk your life in a war rather than dying as a miserable unloved nobody like some of your pathetic relatives.

After all, the way things were back then, the weight of that isolation was seriously more crushing each year eh? We felt so powerless, so worthless! Don't act like you forgot!

Even after all these years of being loved as the savior the years you felt like a powerless invisible unwanted nobody still burn brightly in the depths of your soul!

We…did not always understand others verbal cues well. It put us at a...disadvantage. But, we tried, and tried, but it still was not good enough. We knew there were ways to react better, but our body's instincts just again and again did not respond like we wanted.

We tried to be there for are friends, but at the time, since we had no real power, we were discarded like trash again and again.

By high school people mocked us for being so "Twitchy", but how were we supposed to be confident when things seemed fine only to turn wrong on a whim? Heh, remember Tommy?

Tsc, one day said he was there for us when are grandmother was dying of cancer. And then the next day because of one bad joke we said, he called us horrible and discarded us like trash, like we were nothing!

How were we suppose to feel anything other than devastated when are so called friend never apologized once, and instantly threw us away like we were worthless?

The fact that others said we should have been able to not be blind to how things are just made us feel even more worthless, like we were defective. But, we had to prove them wrong, we had to prove we were not worthless. So, we wanted to be someone of worth, a hero.

And so, we did, we became the best hero in the universe! And because of that you had to be living under a rock to not know your name now! But, even that was not enough to erase the anxiety in your heart, those family genes are rooted deep into the soul! People loved you now, but would they keep loving you if you botched it?

Did they really love you, or just your power? Lacus is a freak like you, and after all she did only someone like you could understand her.

But the others, the others would slowly but surely fear you just for being something they were not. It already happened with Doug, the others would turn one way or another. After all…it's what people do right? The unity Master Myers, Cosmos and all the others dream about has always just been a fantasy! So that means, its worthless!"

Ben saw Idious's blade get closer before he closed his eyes to reflect over what he heard. He had flashes of bitter experiences zoom by his mind, before he remembered all the good times he had with his friends and glared back with resolve." Its not worthless Idious!

The painful times you talked about were real all right, but that does not justify making everyone suffer! Even, even if it's not the natural law of the cosmos that good wins over evil, that light shines over darkness, helping others is still the right thing to do, because that's what I believe!"

"Tsc, because you're have not wised up enough to realize the old rules don't apply anymore! What, want to obsess over honor only to die like a sucker like all those saps from House Stark in that Westeros heap?

You wear your honor like a suit of armor Ben. You thought it kept you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move.

You grew up inspired to be some of the legendary hero's, but in the end just look at how many were rewarded for what they did? Seyia lost his mind, Luke Skywalker died a broken failure, instead of being the hero we thought he was, Goku became so obesssed with fighting that he became worst then the enemies he fought. Kal-El was one of the few who got a good ending. But as we saw with Superboy Prime, he had a lot of angry spin offs! So few hero's across all of history got a good end, because no matter what, in the end the mass's only really see hero's as sacrfices.

You thought it was worth it because you thought people cared. But that's just what they say, when in the end all they care is who can win and be good enough at it to make things seem nicer then they are so they don't have to feel bad!

Back when you were a weak nobody, being a nice guy was all you could do. After all, we had no power, no connections worth a damn. So if we acted out, we would be crushed like a bug without a second thought. Groveling was all we could do, because we bought all that karma stuff.

That if we just hanged in their we would be rewarded for are patience. All good dogs go to heaven and all that right? Well, it paid off in some ways but, not in others. Good won over evil when we beat Zannacross…however we found out that was not a real change, just the mass's saving their own hides, only to go back to business as usual. We seen humans and all the others the past few years make it clear that peace is something most will only do when you force them!

So, if they are going to act like selfish brats, then the only choices are to let it be a free for all, or lay down the law and show that disobedient children will be punished till they know their place!"

"Damn it Idious, people frustrated me without a doubt. Still, I never thought I was god! I never thought I had the sole right to decide who is good enough to live and who deserved to die!"

"Yah yah I know with great power comes great responsibility and all that but let's just be real here! You mean you never said you thought it, but you had thoughts, in the depths of your heart you for moments wondered if you should just stop being nice to ungrateful maggots and give them what they deserve!

Don't feel to bad about it, so many would say they would be the best ruler ever, but if the power of a god fell into their laps, want to guess just how many would just " Thanos Snap" everyone they hated out of existence in ten seconds flat?

So, don't feel bad about it, its just human nature and by either hard work or dumb luck you have the power to get your way over all the mass's!

What, you think if you just play by the rules everyone will respect us enough? Please, you know that's not true! You know no matter what you do, at best people will just use you endlessly as their lapdog like Kal-El and some of the others, or screw you over like how Ezan told us that Ardyn and the Class Zero suckers all got screwed over even when they did every damn thing they were suppose to!

We know they will never learn! we know they will never change as they are! Why should we have to bow to ungrateful leaches, when again and again people expect us to give a damn when people only gave a damn about how much we were suffering if we were useful to them?

These people have proven they are not worth saving! They are just fine and dandy about sitting around saying," This is fine" even if things are on fire as long as they get to feel good about themselves! The verdict's already been laid down…so you can either be in denial and be a blind servant of fools, or give them what they deserve so there will be true justice!"

Ben realized Idious had pushed him to the edge of the "Verge of Chaos" pocket dimension. As the twisted parody of the Divine Mugen Nova in his opponent's hand cut across his face, the member of Squad 7 cried out," All my life…I wanted to see justice realized. And that's because, so many people did not give a damn about justice, only their own justice. I thought, if I could become a hero that I could change that.

And I did. But, it also showed me just how corrupt most people truly are. So many people, they fear and hate the weakness in themselves and blame anyone and everyone other then face the truth.

I always liked history, because it was true, real, solid. But the past few years I faced the fact that even history is not set in stone. After all history for most is written by the winners. The enemy has their own history, their own truths.

Everyone goes through life depending on and bound by our individual knowledge and awareness and we call it reality. Its because of that difference that wars, and all the other bad stuff keeps repeating.

To truly save people from all of that suffering, I thought by bridging that understanding it would bring a new age of happiness. I thought no cost was to high if it brought an end to suffering, but I did get so worked up on thinking how great the Homeostasis's Matrix Connection would be that I thought did not really think any problems were a big deal."

"Heh, and it took Doug getting so pissed off that he was ready to destroy the universe over rolling over till you realized its not as great as you wanted to think of it eh "Roomie"? After the past few years, you just assumed anyone who did not think the plan was a maverick who needed to be corrected.

Because in the end, anyone who was not on board with you was the enemy, or crazy like Brad? Just admit it, you hate Brad so much you wanted to purge the universe of anyone even close to like him so you never would have to be reminded of him again! Heh, don't get me wrong, I hated that boor to but at least I'm honest about it, cause I'm your hate unfiltered!"

As Idious laughed madly Ben struggled as he looked down." Your right Idious…I hated Brad so much that, subconsciously I thought the universe would be better off if people like him, people that only cared about themselves were removed forever. Still, the One Above All gave me a blunt look at how my endgame could end up, and that' its not so black and white.

As easy as it is to dismiss war loving races as nothing but savages who only cared about their own impulses, people could see people I thought as innocent as the devil to. Of course, people who scapegoat others for personal pleasure are just racist trash, but it's not always that simple.

I realized now…by assuming that people who did not think like me were the enemy that had to be pacified for the greater good, I would end up no better then Kira and all the other tyrants who used lofty goals to push their own desires on everyone."

"Aw…don't feel to bad "buddy"! After all, you latched on to Cosmos and all the other angels to pass it off as peace and justice for the sake of total harmony to hide that you were going to make the universe totally how you and those in your" Pack" wanted things to be and brainwash everyone else into submission.

Not sounding so heroic now without the spin eh? If there is no higher moral authority, if its all about who has the power to say what is right, then I guess you are no better than anyone else!

Well, you may need lies and spin to mask your true nature like the faker you are, but I'm just dandy about killing and torturing entire galaxies to get what I want! So, like I said, since I'm the true side, let's get this show on the road! Hellish Outburst!"

Idious grasped his free hand tightly as it swarmed with red energy. The pale faced man gave a wild yell as he prepared to smash through Ben, only for his target to catch the blow. The collusion caused the ground to cave in, and while the blow was so powerful that Ben's hand caught on fire he stood his ground.

The Enji managed to give his enemy a deadly serious look intense enough to make his opponent flinch." I admit I was wrong about a lot of things Idious.

But even if my goals were not as heroic as I liked to admit, that does not mean I'm just going to give up and let you run wild! It may just be my persona desire to protect those I care about, but even if there is no natural law that makes it morally superior, it does not dismiss how much I care about those close to me, or the fact that so many people depend on me!

Lacus believes in me, and so does Hiryuumon, my mother, Moz, James, Doug, Cloud Sensei and all of the others! That's the only reason I need to keep fighting!"

"Sure, for now bucko!" Idious hissed out." But you don't know for sure if they will betray you, like all the others!"

"Its true I don't see the future, and I don't want to be the kind of guy who goes nuts about what the future could be either! Even if people can betray me, if I betray them first out of fear of that then I'll be giving up on those bonds!

Maybe things can't last forever but I'm not going to be the one who gives up on what I care about first! I'll keep fighting to make things work, no matter if it's on friendship, love, justice, or peace! I'm never going to give up on being a hero just because everything is not set in stone Idious!"

"Putting together one more burst of goody good spiel to psych yourself up to the end line just long enough to get screwed over? Congrats, you played yourself!

Say you déjà vu through beating me again. What does that prove? Was it a triumph of your ideals? Tsc, like hell!

You acting more stubborn then a mule fused with a Chocobo does not prove anything about your ideals. It's not really embodying them, it does not prove that you make "the right choice"! Winning does not prove your ideas triumphed so much as that your ideals are all talk and your just another strong guy who did not feel like losing!

To think that's considered a "win" for ideals simply because your spouting ideals means nothing, it just proves how you're just the same as Brad and all the others who think might makes right, and that the ideal that trumps all is power!"

"Its true ideals are not being proven right just because you punch someone till they say what you want. But, if you're not willing to fight for what you believe in few will think your serious about them.

If I'm not willing to fight for what I say I care about, how can I get others to take it seriously? If I want people to follow my ideals, I have to show I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.

So, if I want others to truly believe in what I care about, then that means that I have to take down anyone, from my own dark emotions to an unstable brat of a god get in the way of making them a reality!"

"Don't you get it? No matter what you do, you will never inspire these idiots! They are to lazy and just hate us for making them feel bad while they try and put another spry tanned idiot in charge that will screw them over while making them feel good about their worthless lives!"

"Maybe so, but I'll rather keep fighting then just give up! I'm all about living, but better to live with honor and pride, then keep living as,"

"No, to live is all that matters, to hell with all the frauds who say otherwise to feel good about themselves! I'm not going to die for the sake of all those hypocrites!

Damn it, you really are so damn broken, playing the same song again and again. If your going to just dance to the same tune cause you're too weak to embrace the truth then I'm canceling you once and for all! Shin Darkness Hell Slash!"

Ben saw his enemy 's aura erupt as a building sized amount of red energy surged around his opponent's sword. But Ben was undaunted at his enemy's sudden fury, and just smirked back." Idious, don't think just because you're my heart's rage your also my heart's willpower! Shin Divine Flare Edge!"

Ben had his blade of light collide with the incoming blade of darkness, and the collision of enhanced swords was enough to cause the very fabric of the pocket reality to crack.

Idious saw Ben's defiance before his right eye twitched." Its useless! I know all your moves since I am you! And since I have the killer instinct between us, that means I have the killer edge!"

"Maybe normally Idious, but that won't help you if I improve something on the spot!"

Ben's hand swerved enough for him to form a new golden energy sword; a one-handed long-sword comprised of eight segmented blades. Ben pointed his new blade at Idious, and as his dark soul raised an eyebrow he fired something out of it like if it were a gunblade.

Idious saw nothing come out for a few seconds and laughed, till an invisible force slammed him hard enough to blast him into the other edge of the chamber.

The moment Idious hit something solid Ben had golden energy blades burst out to pin his enemy's limbs.

Idious coughed up blood, and just laughed in a crazed manner as he slowly raised his head." Damn, throwing out a gun-blade that fired invisible blasts? I should have thought of that! Not bad…but still not good enough! Its useless really, no matter what kind of move you bust out you can't really keep me down! Cause you define me Ben, I am the darkness in your heart! To destroy me, would be like stabbing your own heart! shattering your own soul and all that jazz!

No matter how hard you try and repress me, I'm still the shadow you cast and you can't get rid of your own shadow! You will never be able to break these chains, because this is are bond Ben!"

"Maybe its impossible to destroy one's darkness entirely Idious…but I just have to smash you down to get you out of the way, no matter what it takes! For the sake of everything, I won't lose myself to my emotions!"

Idious saw Ben was gathering energy into his sword before he looked completely unhinged. The being that use to be the original Dimensional Nihilo General yelled with fury before his aura shattered all the swords.

Darkness begin to seep out of Idious before he pointed at his counterpart." That's what this has all been about eh? You don't trust the emotions people have one bit, so like all the other so called" wise guys you want to keep as tight a lid on people's hearts as possible.

If you were paying attention you would know things would burst back the harder you try and press down on something, and its going to blow up on your face again and again!

We danced to this song before, but this time you know its not the final anything! As long as things are alive it will never be over. So, like how people are going to keep reaching for what they want till they die, I'll never stop trying to take the spotlight to get what's mine faker!"

Ben saw the madness in Idious 's eyes before he closed his own. He grasped the Divine Mugen Nova tightly before shouting out." I admit, I was overwhelmed when I realized the truth depths of what I would have to endure. But no matter how hard it may be, if it's a choice between enduring or giving up its not even a question!"

"Maybe not consciously faker." Idious hissed out as his eyes glowed red." But sub consciously you will have doubts unless you go through with purging your own emotions to try and be a being of pure logic.

I mean, that's how I got my get out of jail pass now in the first place. Since I know the door is open, don't think I'll submit nearly as easily as I did back in the Tower of Destiny! Now, time to lay down the verdict! Final…Mugetsu…"

Ben saw his dark counterpart extend his hands, before a massive veil of black mana erupted upwards and darken the sky. The leader of the Justice Force saw the darkness start to amass in front of Idious as twin spheres of raw energy before he stepped back." If that's the case, then I'll just have to put my foot down to hit you hard enough so you don't come back! Ultimate…Shinryuken…"

Idious saw Ben prepare his own ultimate energy blast. And as enough light came out from the member of Squad 7 to cause the pale man to blink he laughed with psychotic glee." Hahahah, here we go again! It's the song that never ends "faker"! Yes, it goes on and on my" friend"! Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they will continue singing it forever just because!

Hahahahah…come on man give it all you got! But the problem is, you care about all those things shackling you, while I only care about making sure I don't go down with the ship!

That's why I don't care if I overload this blast so much that I break out of this cell and vaporize all of your little friends below before they know what hits them! Will Lacus save them all with her adorable force-fields? Only one way to find out so let the, huh?"

Idious was about to fully charge his attack, but as he saw Ben prepare to fire back, suddenly the golden-haired man vanished in a poof of smoke. A battle cry above caused the being of darkness to swerve his head up and see that Ben used the flash of light to put up a shadow clone, as he jumped up from above.

As the two locked eyes again Ben cried out," I think I'll just crash the whole plan instead Idious!"

Ben shocked his enemy by jabbing the Divine Mugen Nova into his enemy's energy blast before it could be fired. Idious saw his attack start to get unstable before he raised an eyebrow." The hell is this? I'm supposed to be the insane one faker! You can't deflect an attack like this, no way you will be able to dodge at this range! Even if your faking out with a clone the explosion will reach every corner of this special zone!"

"Maybe, but at least that will mean you can't get away either! See that's the problem when you make your intentions loud and clear Idious, you can be figured out! I know you only care about yourself, but I care enough about Lacus and the others to make sure she does not have to worry about you, no matter what! Better to die with honor, if I have to choose between dying as a hero and living as a villain I'll choose option A!"

Idious laughed again, but this time it was a tense one as it was the first time he looked anxious." Trying to psych me out or something "roomie"? Please…as your shadow, I know you want to live as much as I do!"

"True, but Doug's made me see that death is better than some kinds of life!"

"Come on now, did I hit your head to hard and your losing your mind faster than Grandma Auro? Just think about it…if you kill yourself here, Lacus and the others will sure as hell be lambs to the slather for the Beyonder!"

"Touched that you care, but I have faith that she will find a way."

"Damn it, you're really going all in on the heroic sap eh? Its useless, when light and darkness collide like this they will cancel each other out! You're going to accomplish nothing you here me?"

"Maybe…unless I do this!" Ben showed he still had the one-handed long-sword in his other hand, and promptly stabbed the projectile in front of him with it. Idious saw his spell waver more before he snickered." Another piece of light won't do any good you, huh?"

Idious was shocked to see some of his spell be absorbed into the new blade, before he saw dark energy seep into Ben's hand. Ben started to have darkness form around his hand before his eyes narrowed." That's true, and that's why I'm using my own darkness to absorb yours Idious! I thought as the ultimate hero of justice, using darkness would not be fitting for the symbol of peace.

But yet another thing I was forced to think about is the proper balance between light and darkness in a person's heart. Some are afraid to use anything close to the darkness because of the risk of being consumed by it.

The Jedi, the Green Lanterns, and so many others tried to banish any hint of darkness. I was just like that, after how much you traumatized me.

But now I realized I can't deny the dark parts of my soul if I want to be honest about things. If I want to be the champion of all life, then I have to be strong enough to use all aspects of it, and not fall apart because of it! So, I'll use my darkness and my light! That means, I'll weaken your spell with my darkness, before shattering it with my light!"

"Idious saw Ben was deadly serious before he grit his teeth." You, your serious? Now I know you lost it. That will just push the controls even closer to my grasp!"

"Not if I'm controlling you to! I have to be honest about what I care about and what I want to do, that's the only way I'll truly able to best help everyone! No matter how hard it is to pull that off I'll do everything I can to try! So, take this Idious, my love, my anger, and all of my resolve!"

Ben spun around the dark energy he absorbed and slashed with the smaller blade, before then thrusting the Divine Mugen Nova right into Idious. The pale man screamed in pain as he was impaled. He saw his aura start to seep into Ben's shadow sword before he widened his eyes." You, you really are serious about making this everything or nothing?"

"Idious, one way or another we sure as hell had a journey together. But this is the end of the line for you, your going to have to just get use to being a spectator! I'm not going to fake anything anymore."

"Well, if that's the case you better make sure its not a short ride or roll over like a sap! No matter what you say…I'll always be waiting for you to slip. Who knows, at this rate…I''' be in charge before you even realize it! Its not going to be boring! Heh, after all that's what life's all about eh? Heheheh…HAHAHAHA!"

Idious gave one more burst of mad laughter before the mask on the right side of his face cracked.

The eyes on the man's face returned to Mira's right after, and the man who called himself the Enji Slayer screamed in pain as he looked at Ben." How…how could you think this is worth defending Ben Auro? A heart…the soul of a mortal is just pain! It, it must take immeasurable strength to even function, yet along grasp happy….AHHH!"

Just as Mira retained his sense of self, his sense of pain overwhelmed him as the attack Ben stabbed fully went unstable and exploded. Ben saw every cell of Mira be erased before he closed his eyes. "Pain…is what makes someone human Mira. To handle the pain is what makes us value the pleasure. Any pain is worth, making sure those I care about live on. Lacus, I."

Before he could finish the projectile fully ignited, exploding with enough force to vaporize the entire Verge of Chaos pocket dimension. It is at this time that Lacus and the others just saw the vortex form below Scala Ad Caelum.

Just as the Enji were about to investigate the massive explosion of light roared out above them. At this time Lacus looked up to see the flash of light. She instantly felt the surge of conflicted energy and extended her wings." Is that the, Beyonder? Wait, this energy…no!"

The angelic Enji flew up without even talking to the others and trusted her instincts. Seconds later she saw Ben falling, with his left arm and half of his chest vaporized. The brown-haired woman screamed out her lover's name as she caught Ben. As they locked eyes the winged warrior uttered," Ben! What happened? Mira did this to you?"

"Lacus…knew you and the others would not lose to that blowhard. Sorry…things got more complicated then they seemed. Mira played pretty dirty, so I had to get really drastic to take him down for good. Since you guys are ok, seems worth it. I just, GUH!"

As Ben coughed up blood Lacus grasped him tightly." Ben…just explain after I heal you ok sweetheart? Have to hurry before you bleed out!"

Ben saw Lacus pour holy energy into him, and as he felt a pleasurable pulse restore the parts of his body that were vaporized in the last attack before he squeezed his lover tightly." Lacus, I love you so much. I'm just so sorry you're still having to go through all of this and I was unable to keep my promise to you. I know you had to put up with a lot the last few years. You deserve better…I."

Lacus suddenly put her free hand over Ben's lips to quiet him. As he looked shocked, she winked." Let me guess, whatever happened with Mira it involved him doing something to make you doubt yourself and all that eh?"

"Well, that's the abridged version. It's just, I know between recovering your strength and endless tasks for the mission the angles gave us to bring about universal peace we had more work then fun. I know, I still can miss stuff that makes things more of a drag then it could be. I know, that I used my title as a hero as a crutch to get away with not being the life of the party.

You deserve the best and,"

Lacus suddenly hugged Ben tightly as she giggled." You are the best. Oh Ben, I almost wish that jackass was still alive so I could get in a few kicks for messing with you. I love you full well knowing that smooth talking was not your forte so to speak.

But come on, I thought you figured out the public life was not my natural habitat? Sure, my family drilled social grace into my skull, but I never loved it as much as mom or Sarah did, or how Brad use to love drawing a crowd around to hear him brag.

I mean, I want to make use of what I can to make things better, but I never enjoyed it. What I do enjoy, is being able to be myself without having to worry about being judged. And, I get that through you silly.

Even if you sometimes fumble, your heart's always been in the right place, cause you always been their for me. Sure there is more to work on but, don't forget the important stuff, ok?"

Ben saw how compassionate Lacus looked before he smirked." Heh, you got it. Sorry, maybe my head got jumbled from the blast."

"Well just let me know if your feeling weird, we kind of are on the verge of the final battle of the universe and all."

"Course love. Just needed to get my thoughts clear before the showdown."

"No problem. C'mon, lets get them tiger."

"You bet. First…any thing happen while I was away? Did you find where the others went? Did, did they?"

"Well, Kira found us and did help a little with taking down Zamasu. As for the others, I don't know. I, hope that, oh?"

Before Lacus could go on the duo saw the vortex below grow bigger, till they were able to see what was past it. To them they only were able to make out a large red land mass, but on the other end Doug's group could look up, and X zoomed in with his inorganic eyes to spot Lacus flying above before he grinned." Guys, I see Ben and Lacus. They are ok."

Max chuckled, before using a flash step to get in front of his cousin in seconds. As he appeared he saw how weary Ben looked and rolled his eyes." The hell cuz? Worn out already? Not even at the final inning!"

"Hey Max. Sorry, the enemy threw a hell of a curve-ball at me. Pulled through, just took a bit out of me to hit back."

"Heh, still to, GUH!"

Max coughed up blood from his own injuries and chuckled bitterly." That soul fire potion packs a hell of a punch all right. Don't mind me, guess that last dance was more hardcore then I realized."

"Just glad you're a, well, not quite alive but around to talk about it Max. So, the rest are with you? What happened?"

Shadow flew up before looking around." We were in a far less, neat place then you guys seemed to be. There was a lot of sick stuff, and it was all one large game the Chaotic Comedian was playing."

"The Chaotic Comedian?" Lacus blurted out tensely." Figured he was not done yet. What happened?"

"What happened is that I shut down his show and kicked his ass hardcore Lacus." Doug uttered as he flew up. As his friends looked at him the member of Squad 7 smirked." He trolled a hell of a nasty game. But I was not putting up with it. He pushed me enough to bust out a mastered Ultra Instinct and show him who's boss. Was a pain in the ass putting so much effort but, push comes to shove, was not going to drop the ball now."

Ben saw Doug looked weary but confident before he grinned." Trust me man, I know how that feels. You guys able to pull through all right?"

"I would not say we came out unscathed Ben." Aqua uttered as she arrived." But, nothing that's going to keep us down."

"Glad that's the case Aqua. Was worried about Master Myers and the others but glad everyone pulled through."

"Hold the phone bro." Doug threw out." I thought Master Myers, James and the others were with you? Cause they sure as hell were not with us."

"They were not with us." Ben uttered tensely as he got back up." Damn it, we better do a head count. Sounds like neither of these places were very big so where could they,"

Before Ben could finish everyone heard a cracking sound before the group looked up to se a hole in the sky of Scala Ad Caelum. Kira looked at the cracks before he closed his eyes." I believe the answer to that would be above us my former apprentice."

Ben and co watched on as the cracks got bigger, till suddenly a giant carrot fell through the cracks. As the Enji raised an eyebrow everyone heard a loud yell, before Shinryudramon, still in his massive Superior Judgment mode fall down.

From the look on the Digimon's face Ben quickly saw it was his partner, though he still was confused at his massive size. That confusion turned to relief as he saw Mario, Sonic, Aeris, the Neo-Highwind and others fall through the new hole in the sky before Shinryudramon blurted out," Boss! I knew you guys were ok! Just glad we could see you all again!"

Cloud saw Cid stabilize the aircraft before he took a deep breath." Well, that answers that thankfully. So the others had their own battles to eh?"

"Well, not quite Cloud." Aeris uttered as she flew down to her friend." Not sure what you guys went through but after you all left the Beyonder seemed to think we were not needed and just tried to have the whole dimension collapse on us! We held it back as long as we could but it was looking kind of bleak. But then a miracle happened and a hole in space blew right out underneath us!"

Ben raised an eyebrow before he chuckled." Ah, that's what happened eh? Well, glad I did not nearly die for nothing. Still, is that why you're so big Shinryudramon? What happened to your hands?"

The Royal Knight looked at the cracks on his hands and just shrugged." Don't worry about it Ben. Like you, the bad guys were tricky, but it just made me push back harder! So hard I managed to Digivolve again with a little help! No matter the cost, it was worth it to protect everyone."

Ben raised an eyebrow at this but before he could inquire more a tense voice uttered," Aeris!"

Ezan landed down in front of the Cetra and with weary breaths uttered," Your, your alive. That's good."

"Well of course I am silly." The flower girl replied." Though it was kind of close! I was seriously counting on you to use your eye hax to open a portal for us but you totally dropped the ball on that."

"My apologizes…are obstacles kept us preoccupied longer then I would have liked."

"Heh, you call having your face ripped off by the Chaotic Comedian preoccupied rich boy?" Doug threw out teasingly. As everyone looked at him the martial artist gave a sheepish shrug." That laughing bastard trolled Ezan by wearing your face and pretending to be all strung up.

We could not sense magical energy so Ezan could not see the trap, till he ripped his freaking eyes out. Thankfully Aqua was able to get to him in time but hey, guess even super elites get sloppy once and a while eh? Heh, legit glad you still have your face Aeris."

Aeris looked at Ezan with shock as she gasped." That's true Ezan? He, ripped your face off? Wait, you seriously could not tell the difference between me and him and got ambushed like that?"

"I…make no excuses. It was a critical error and a disgrace to my training. Its just, when I saw your face like that. Without being able to sense if it was the real you I,"

Aeris suddenly kissed Ezan before she smiled." Its ok silly. Just proves your human after all. Just, stay close to me from here on now ok?"

"Affirmative."

"That's right doc, we better stick together for the big smackdown!" Bugs threw out. As the rabbit munched on another carrot Ben raised an eyebrow." Um…wait who are you? Guys…did one of you get turned into a rabbit?"

Cloud chuckled before he went over." Its ok Ben, we have bigger things to worry about. So, unless the Beyonder decides to…you know I'm not going to jinx it and say it out loud but the point is it seems like its time for the showdown. Ben, Lacus, you guys ready? Might be the most intense situation since the showdown with Zannacross. Maybe even more if unlike Zannacross the Beyonder does not really grasp the cost of his actions."

Ben grasped the Divine Mugen Nova before he responded with a solemn nod." I'm ready as I'll ever be Cloud Sensei. Since before the Incursion happened, to be honest I been the master of my own mirage.

But I can't remain blind to reality anymore if I truly want to change things done. From now no, I'm going to live my life without pretending, or assuming things.

The Beyonder thinks that either because of his time of birth or his power he has the right to make his every whim reality, but its time at last he's forced to see no one has the right to force there way on everyone! No matter how much he tries to deny it I'm going to force him to wake up!"

Before anyone could respond the ground begun to shake once more. The entire area begun to shake violently before the Brane below begun to glow black. Pillars of raw power begun to erupt as mad howling was heard in all directions. Kira saw the face of the Beyonder slowly appear out of many of the objects around him and swiftly took out his sword." At the very least, it seems he's not blind to the reality that his champions have lost. His rage seems to be so great that its twisting this entire reality, this" Phantom Field" he forged to reflect his emotions.

That means, the time has come for the primary objective of the mission Ben Auro."

"Guess your right on that one Kira." Ben uttered grimly as he took a deep breath. He saw the very air begin to howl before he realized the entire reality, which in essence was all part of the Beyonder's body begun to radiate raw hate.

He looked at Lacus and all of his other friends before Doug broke the silence by casually spitting in the vortex below. "Piff…for all the light shows it's just a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum that he's not getting his way.

But no matter how godly he is, he's not getting out of what he's due…the beatdown he has coming for being such a pain in the ass. So I don't know about you but I'm about ready to wrap this up and pull off one hell of a feast. How about you bro?"

Ben saw Doug's confidence and grinned back." Sounds good to me Doug. Welp, was hoping I would never have had to say it again, but it is what it is. So, get ready everyone, time for the final battle to decide the fate of the universe."

The two friends fist bumped before preparing themselves for what one way or another could be their final battle.

Authors Notes: Welp, hope you enjoyed the showdowns today, before we end off here is some notes to make what might be unclear a tad more clear.

First off, hopefully it was not to random but wanted to give Max more to do then be a " Yamcha" in the fight hence his " Sin Devil Trigger." The blade Dante and the form itself is mostly based off of Dante's new powers in Devil May Cry Five, but its also inspired by the powers the Visored group from Bleach had.

In Bleach The Visored were Soul Reapers who have obtained Hollow powers, To gain access to their Hollow powers, a Visored dons a Hollow mask. This allows them to augment their Shinigami abilities with Hollow powers, as well as giving them access to some of the more generic Hollow abilities.

Their spiritual pressure likewise changes into a mix of Hollow and Shinigami. This process of donning one's Hollow mask is referred to as Hollowfication.

Just replace hollow's with demons and volla. I also added a dash of stuff from the Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga game, in which the cast could transform into demons.

Max's Tekken Tachikaze was inspired vie the power from the Soul Reaper Captain Kensei Muguruma.

As for the Soul fire potion itself, that came from the DC Comics "Death of the New Gods" event that took place before the "Final Crises". It was the event where both the gods of New Genesis and Apocalypse were killed off by there creator, the Source, who in essence is the god of the DC realm.

In the story Darkseid stated Soulfire has been an experiment Desaad had been working on one time that failed to produce the desired results so it was abandoned. Darkseid later used it against the Source.

The Source had been killing New gods and capturing their souls because as a power source the souls of New gods were unique and unrivaled. This power greatly multiples with each soul. Two souls would not be 2x as powerful. It would be more like four or five times as powerful.

Darkseid discovered the Source's stash and stole the souls . The soulfire formula granted him access to the power of those souls making him even if not superior to the Source, the creator of the New gods and a supposedly omnipotent being.

The battle with the Source was underwhelming as far as these powers go, but it was enough to tear a hole in reality and Superman admitted Darkseid was beyond him at the moment. Darkseid even defeated the Source and stated he was not supreme. Darkseid only lost because of the necessary story reason Orion's soul was able to tap into the same power forcing Darkseid to flee.

Not quite the same in this version but its more or less a potion that let Max tap into the souls that the Dante blade absorbed to boost him, and it would have killed him if he was not already dead.

Any who Doug's complete Ultra Instinct is more or less the same as Goku's, just partly inspired by Ryu's" Awakened" powers in Street Fighter 5 with nods to Gouken like the Denji Maseko.

I know he unlocked the power without to much hassle. However, to be fair Goku randomly unlocked it out of nowhere after getting beat up a lot lol.

Ben's new blade of darkness is inspired by the new final weapon Haseo got in Hack/G.U. Vol. 4 Reconnection, Gate of Ouroboros as it symbolizes Ben now fighting with both his light and darkness at once.

And, that should be the gist of it. Hope everyone likes how things concluded, extra hope you liked how they concluded enough to leave a review. The final battle is right around the corner, won't be AS fast as it could be because still doing other stuff for the project to get my book published but, I assure you it will not be too long. So stay tuned next time, because the final battle to truly decide the fate of the universe, again, breaks out in Chapter 249: Final Jeopardy for the Universe! Beyond the Time of Good and Evil!