Alright! *Cracks my knuckles*. Time to get one of the big boys out of the way. I know my return is a bit low key due to the story I chose to come back to, but hopefully this one will make some waves that I'm back. Anyway let's begin! I own nothing except my ideas and OC's.

Ash and Pit both prepped themselves to leave, Viridi walking over to speak to them.

"Now, I got good news and bad news, which do you wanna hear first?"

"Good news" Both replied.

"Bad news it is, only one of you can ride the lightning chariot safely, so Ash, you're going to stake out Palutena's Temple until Pit arrives." Viridi ordered.

"That doesn't sound too bad..." Pit noted.

"Good news is after clocking the Chariot's speed, it can definitely pierce the barrier...providing you can land the charge." She added.

"Wait...land the charge? We're rushing the barrier?" Pit asked, panic slightly lacing his voice.

"Of course! Don't worry, at the speed you're going at you'll barely feel it!" Viridi waved off with a grin.

Pit sighed and Ash pat his shoulder with a chuckle.

"Good luck." Ash said as he teleported to stake out the temple.

Ash sat on a broken piece of flying rubble, staring at the barrier around the temple.

"Wonder what gotten over Palutena...possession perhaps? No she's a Goddess...but perhaps its best not to rule out anything yet..." He mused to himself, only to look up when he saw Centurions coming his way, Palutena's image forming.

"Bold of you to show your face around here, mortal." Palutena spat, not even bothering to use his name.

"Got nothing better to do." Ash responded, hands in his pockets, not even bothering to draw his weapons as the Centurions surrounded him and aimed their bows at him.

"What's stopping me from filling you with arrows right now?" She demands.

"Question, it's been three years since the Aurum invasion, correct?"

"Yes...what of it?"

"It took you three years, and you STILL haven't done any lasting damage to humanity? The only thing I can see is you've gotten only a handful of lands, for a Goddess you're sure bad at taking out humans, maybe you should return to your day job, Goddess of Light." Ash taunted, knowing he hit a nerve when the arrows were pulled back more than necessary.

"The Extinction of humans must be slow and agonizing, you don't know-"

"You're hesitating." Ash interrupts.

Palutena looked caught off guard. "What?"

"You're hesitating, you obviously want something if you haven't opened fire now, are you buying time? Or perhaps...the real Palutena is fighting back." He taunted, looking for any reactions.

"...Centurions! Open fire!" She orders.

Before the order could go through, Ash picked up Pit's energy coming in faster than he could keep track of, a sudden burst zipping through the barrier of Palutena's temple, destroying it.

"Ha Ha! Success! You still alive there, Pit?" Viridi chirped into the comm.

"And kicking!" Pit responded as he leaped off of the Chariot and landed on the temple, Ash blasting the stunned Centurion's away before flying over to meet him.

"What took ya?" He quipped with a smirk.

"Info dump. Sorry." Pit responded with a smile.

Phosphora zipped past them after the Lightning Chariot. "I'll hold on to the Lightning Chariot for you." She assured.

"Thanks, Phosphora." Ash thanked, making the lightning nymph turn a light shade of red.

"No problem, Spark." She responded with her own nickname as she left.

"Hello again, Pit." Palutena's voice echoed, making both turn to the destroyed temple.

"Lady Palutena!" Pit replied with worry in his voice.

"Now how did you make it through the barrier?" She asked almost patronizingly. "It seems you're not the helpless sniveling little thing you were before." Palutena spat.

"You have to stop attacking the humans!" Pit began, only for Ash to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Pit, don't bother. I managed to talk to her before, and words won't reach her." He said.

"But..." Pit tried to argue.

"I am not saying give up Hope." Ash continued with a smile. "Hope is your greatest trait, Pit. You inspire Hope. Now cherish that hope, and let us go save Lady Palutena from herself!"

Pit's eyes ignited with a renewed passion. "Right!"

The two rushed into the temple, Pit restarting the conversation. "So Viridi, tell me about the Chaos Kin you mentioned earlier."

"The what?" Ash asked with a confused blink.

"Oh right, you weren't there." Viridi remembered. "Well, you remember when Beerus showed up and made a mess of the Aurum's forces?"

"How could I forget, he was a beast." Ash muttered, recalling the slaughter of the Aurum by the God of Destruction.

"Well, his final blow hit the Lunar Sanctum, releasing its prisoner, the Chaos Kin."

"Chaos Kin?" He asked.

"Yes, little is known about the Chaos Kin except this. It takes its victims back to its nest, the Chaos Vortex, and consumes their souls."

"Well...that's disturbing." Pit said, Ash nodding in agreement.

"It melts them down then slowly chews away at them." Viridi went on, to the males misfortune. "Even more frightening is the Chaos Kin's ability to control the soul's owner."

"Wait, you think Palutena could be under the Chaos Kin's control?" Pit asked, catching that.

"I'd bet money on it, it all lines up too perfectly." Ash agreed.

"Well, you're gonna need to know what you're fighting, so here's what the Chaos Kin looks like." Viridi said, the two getting a mental image, Ash's eyes widening at the Chaos Kin's insect like appearance.

"That's the bug that sent me to another world!" Ash realized.

"So the Chaos Kin is the reason you left?" Pit asked.

"Not left, it flew right into me and just...everything went black." He couldn't help but shiver a bit at the feeling.

"So, the Chaos Kin is responsible for all of this, huh...? Then I have more incentive to take it down." Pit said while punching his fist into his hand.

The two cut their way through Palutena's temple, Pit remembering Ash's words and took out the Centurion's with little attempt to reason with them, the two arriving in a room with jail cells.

"Things get a little twisted up this way." Viridi informed. "There are multiple jail cells above and belowground."

"I'll say its twisted!" Pit said, looking around in disgust. "Skyworld never needed jail cells before."

"I think she means its a maze, pit." Ash cleared up.

"O-Oh..." Pit sheepishly responded.

"Thank you, Ash. Familiarize yourself with the surrounding passages to keep from getting lost." She advised, the two making their way into the prison when they heard a...familiar voice chime in.

"Sorry I'm late! Thanks for clearing the way for me, Pitty Pat." Hades chimed.

"Hades!" Pit growled out.

"Oh great. It's Mr. Personality." Viridi snarked.

"I don't get payed enough for this." Ash groaned in protest, the complains annoying Hades.

"Hey! I've come with juicy information!" He argued.

"Then spill it, if its so juicy." Pit responded.

"Context, Pit." Ash muttered.

"Just want to get this out there, the Chaos Kin doesn't work for me." Hade informed. "It seems it built up quite the grudge being locked away in the Lunar Sanctum."

"So when Beerus struck it, it got loose." Pit hummed.

"Good think Ash managed to reason with Arlon, or else it would probably have bothered us during the Aurum situation." Viridi reminded.

"Ugh, that would have been a nightmare." Pit groaned, imagining having to deal with this AND the Aurum.

"Oi, Pit." Ash called to him, gesturing to the door with a keyhole.

"Alright, key time, how are we going to do this?" Pit asked.

"How about the breadcrumb trail?" Ash suggested.

"Either of you carrying any bread?" Viridi asked.

Both checked their pockets for anything that could work, both shrugging afterwards.

"Didn't think so, try a string, one of you stays here to keep watch and make sure the other doesn't get lost looking for the key."

"Your turn Pit, I already warmed the bench beforehand." Ash called. Pit groaning and sitting down, a string of magic forming on his foot and Ash's, who left, the string growing automatically to keep up with him.

Ash ran into the prison, using his sword to slice apart Centurions that got in his way, spotting a strange orb in one of the rooms and fired a bolt of lightning at it, causing it to break into multiple orbs and killing the enemies in the room.

"Whoa!" Ash yelped, dodging a stray orb. "Close one." He muttered, walking in and coming across the key. "Found it!" He cheered.

"Alright! Hold on tight!" Viridi said, making Ash blink.

Ash had only time to get a tighter hold on the key as the string retracted, knocking Ash to the floor and pulling him along it, making him shout in surprise as he was pulled all the way back to, and crashed into the very surprised Pit.

"Ow..." They both groaned in pain.

"Hey, saved you time." Viridi justified.

"Not my back though..." Ash complained, both getting up and opening the door.

"Will you look at that! The mice made it to the cheese!" Hades snarked. "Good job you two!" Viridi motivated. "But you're out of the frying pan and into the fire." She reminded as the two continued on, fighting Centurions. The two found themselves on a narrow passageway, a strong breeze was blowing and they could SEE it sliding against the passage. "Long way down..." Pit muttered as he looked down below.

Ash grinned as he had an idea. Grabbing Pit's toga and pushed him forward a bit, before yanking him back. "Saved your life!" He teased the now scared out of his wits angel.

"ASH! Don't do that!" Pit shouted, ignoring the two cackling gods.

"Sorry, couldn't help it." Ash responded with a grin. "Come on."

The two made their way through the strong winds, using their weapons as holds to stab into the passageway to keep their balance and position, eventually making it to a race track with an Exo Tank.

"Shotgun!" Pit chirped, rushing over and hopping in.

"Piggyback." Ash said with a smirk, hopping behind Pit and holding on. Pit revved up the Exo Tank as enemies appear, charging in and moving down the monsters and centurions that appeared, a gate opening nearby and Pit driving through.

"You'll need to use the Exo Tank to cut straight through the area up ahead." Viridi chimed. "Whatever you do, don't slow down. Just go for it!"

"Gun it!" Ash shouted.

Pit used the tank's boost jump to leap over the gap, sliding to a stop on the other side.

"Nice one!" Ash cheered with a grin, both getting off.

"Excellent job, Pit!" Viridi agreed.

"'Excellent' might be overstating it." Hades remarked, both ignoring him and as they continued on, the two getting surrounded by various Centurion troops. "I suggest you quite while you're ahead." Palutena warned.

"If we're ahead, why would we quit then?" Ash taunted.

"We can take it!" Pit agreed, the two leaping into the fray, Pit's bow taking out the archers and strongarms, while Ash froze and consequently broke the Juggernauts that shot at them, the two cleaning the area up in record time.

"Alright! It's finally time to save Palutena!" Viridi said, the gate to her temple opening.

"'Save Palutena'? Don't you mean 'Crush Palutena'?" Hades asked. Ash noticing Pit's grip tightening on his bow. He remained silent for the longest time before he spoke, with an unusually deadly tone. "Go home, Hades. Just. Go. Home." He said, walking through with Ash. The two seeing Palutena appear and walk towards them, her staff in her right hand and the Mirror Shield on her left wrist.

"So, you're here to fight me?" Palutena asked.

"No..." Pit trailed...only to shake his head. "No, we're here to save you!" Pit declared, the two getting into combat stances as the platform raised itself into the air.

"The Chaos Kin is close by. I can feel it." Viridi said. "You have to locate and destroy it. However, be sure not to hurt Palutena."

"Alright, Pit, you look for it. I'll stall." Ash ordered, shifting into his Niuzao form, his body shifting with the change.

Ash shook his head, his hair now a whitish-gold, with onyx pupils staring back at Palutena under the glowing locks. He has a tough black and yellow leather armor which has an Ox pauldron on his right shoulder, black ebony gauntlets with plating on the top, strangely they were fingerless gauntlets. His pants are made of the same leather, with plate armor at the knees. On his belt were brew bottles, some having strange writing on them. His shoes have tough plate armor, and were an ebony black, a black leather face guard, covering the bottom part of his face. In his hand, was a ebony black polearm, which was as tall as he was, if you didn't count the blade part. It had a strong ebony pole which Ash's hand gripped, with brown wrapping going along the top. On the top were two spear blades in the shape of Ox horns, which jabbed upward and could trap something between them, mainly a head. Ash grunted before twirling the polearm, kicking up a whirlwind, before slamming the bottom into the ground beside him, cracking the platform beneath it.

"Let's go." He grunted, his voice deeper.

Palutena, initially caught off guard, spun her staff and opened fire with blasts of light. Ash swinging his polearm to deflect the blasts, any leftovers flying off of his body. Pit staying back and scanning the area around Palutena, taking time to observe the situation. Ash barely actually struck at the Goddess, instead merely being a brick wall for her attacks, deflecting or outright no selling anything she threw at him. Pit noticing Palutena's face growing to one of frustration, a cloud of dark energy forming above her. "There!" Pit called out, taking aim and opening fire. Palutena crying out in pain and clutching her head.

Ash saw the opening and dropped his polearm, rushing in and restraining Palutena, gripping her in a hold. "Pit! Open fire!" He commanded, Pit taking the chance and pelting the cloud with everything he had, eventually the Chaos Kin burst out to reveal itself. "There you are!" Pit growled out.

Ash leaped back as the Chaos Kin charged at him, hiding behind Paluena and using her body as a shield. "That's low, you coward!" He hissed.

Ash smirked a bit and grabbed Pit. "Then let's even the odds." He said before chucking Pit over the stunned Chaos Kin, Pit caught on to Ash's plan and opened fire on the Chaos Kin from behind, Ash rushing in when the Chaos Kin turned around and grabbed it by its tail. It turning with a wide eye as Ash yanked it away from Palutena and bodily slammed it into the ground multiple times, taking a brief glance to see how it was before finishing it off with three more slams.

The Chaos Kin weakly sat in the ground, the vague noise of an apparent whimper coming out of it. Palutena falling to the ground and clutching her head, Pit rushing over.

"Lady Palutena?" Pit asked, concerned. "Pit..." Palutena muttered weakly. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt you..." He quietly said back.

Ash turned to walk over to them, changing back to his normal form. Not noticing the Chaos Kin weakly twitching.

"Looks like its over..." Ash muttered, talking to Viridi. "Think you can get Arlon to trap this thing again?"

"Yes, I'll send him over now- Look out!" She screamed, Ash turning as the Chaos Kin rushed past him, Palutena only having a moment to look before the Chaos Kin hooked its tail into her chest and tore out her soul, turning her to stone. "NO!" They both shout in horror, rushing after the Chaos Kin as it tore open a hole in the air and rushed in. "It's going into the Chaos Vortex!" Viridi shouted.

"Viridi, you have to help me fly. Now!" Pit ordered. "O-Of course!" Viridi stuttered, Pit's wings lighting up as he and Ash both leaped at the portal, Ash trying to stab and wrench the portal open, only for the portal to shrink and reject them, sending them flying back. "Now what?!" Ash demanded.

"Out of the way! Coming through!" A voice shouted, the two had only a moment to see before Dark Pit rammed the Lightning Chariot into the portal, forcing it open full force. "Pittoo?!" Pit exclaimed in shock. "No time! We have to save Palutena, NOW!" Ash roared, Pit nodding in agreement, both rushing into the portal.

To be continued.

And there we go, hope I came back with a bang. I feel happy cause I didn't have to take a break or pause ONCE. It all just flowed out. I feel like a new man now! Anyway I should be working my way around to other stories. But some may be later than others. R&R This is Oathkeeper0317 signing out.