Broken Universe: Unicron Saga

by dragonridley

Universe 3. In one of the many Universes within a Multiverse, a time of change was about to occur, and the head of this change, the figure who sees it all occur, is a simple Mobian boy named Chad. This is the beginning, the first signs, from a Dark Soul to a Planet Eater. A once old MSN story between friends.

30. Earth V: Hidden Depths

It was but a few hours before Cao Cao ended the life of the emperor.

He Jin stood at the gates leading out of Chen Cang, watching Yuan Shao and Sun Jian head off, with the Emperors carriage behind them and two of his finest men, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun.

But as they disappeared from view, coming up behind He Jin was Keaton, Dr Neo Cortex, Xehanort and Chaos. Keaton soon talked to him. "Are you sure this is all going to go the way you want it to?"

"I've sent Yuan Shu, Liu Biao and Dong Zhuo messages to ready their forces and secure the entire area. Cao Cao can either try to get through them, or flee to the dead Liang province. There is nowhere else to go for him. I've also sent a message to a certain powerful fighter controlling a small force to come and hunt down anyone opposing the Han."

Keaton then looked to Chaos. "And the Hero Base Faction?"

"We have an inside ally. He wanted Shadowlaw to strike their base at Zebes, which has been commenced. Those on this world will go to the rescue of the emperor and find Cao Cao a murderer. How they'll react along with Yuan Shao and Sun Jian, I'm not sure. Kei appears to have sided with them, but Eraqus remains divided. I've spoken to him again earlier, and he now seems more willing to side with us."

"I've also made sure any reinforcements Cao Cao has planned has been sent away. A few false flags about an attack at his home territory will do it." Xehanort spoke, as he rubbed his chin. "But I must remind you of the other two locations Cao Cao can run to in order to take a defensible position: Qin Chueng and Jie Ting. Surrounding the former will be simple and easily the quickest way to take him down and begin picking off those that still support him, but if he goes for the latter, even air strikes will be problematic with the mountainous terrain of where it's positioned."

Keaton smiled. "I have that covered. I've called up all of my available men bar those Grievous has following him aimlessly around in Liang province. Storm Eagle, Flame Stag and Vile will lead them to Jie Ting on the ground the moment Cao Cao has entered the place, giving him minimal time to regroup and prepare any sort of defense. Whilst they attack him, I've got our warships back in orbit to ready a bombard on the entire location. Dr Cortex here will signal for it the moment the three are in combat with Cao Cao."

Xehanort looked surprised after Dr Cortex nodded at his name being mentioned. "You intend to kill the three robots? They're members of Unit 666, highly prized and effective. The bombardment will almost surely destroy them, and you'll be left with an angry Grievous."

Keaton dismissed him. "Grievous is nothing to worry about. How will he even be aware the bombardment was set up by me? I'll just say to him it was the Shinra Federation and act angry at their actions, and he'll still follow me."

"It is good then that we've kept this conversation on a face-to-face level. He knows how to monitor com-link conversations, and if he was listening in via the com-links, he would turn against you instantly."

Chaos straight away looked to Xehanort, as Keaton focused back on He Jin. Xehanort simply placed his hand inside his jacket, and showed the corner of a com-link to Chaos, before placing it back.

Chaos smiled. Between Keaton and Grievous, Grievous was far more valuable anyway.

"What of Shadowlaw? Are their forces coming to help?" He Jin focused on the Keyblade user.

Xehanort smiled, rubbing his beard slightly. "Of course. Once we detect where Cao Cao is going we'll set up our array of forces to surround him with yours. Kel'Thurzard himself will be leading a part of it."

---

"Kei."

"Kei."

"Wake up."

Kei slowly opened her eyes, her back was giving off an aching pain as she soon noticed Dark Rich was standing over her. "D...Dark?"

"I knew not to go. I knew something was up. I've moved Mr Match and his Navi to another room to recover. They haven't woken up yet." Dark slowly helped her up off the broken table.

"Wh...what happened? What attacked me? Where's Chad?"

Dark Rich slowly looked around the room. "Chad was taken. As for who attacked you...I believe it was my father."

"Richard? Why?"

"I don't know."

Kei had now managed to stand up fully, taking in the view of the place herself. "...Maybe he knew I was close to figuring out something."

Dark glanced at her. "What?"

"Well, the fact Richard was using his Zerg mind controlling ability on Chad. When you grabbed the claw to stop it at the bar. It led to Chad being all messed up mentally, but before Richard struck, Chad recovered. That confirmed it."

Dark Rich seemed slightly impressed. "...Hm, so the beast was right then."

"The beast?" Kei asked, a little confused.

"...A stowaway on our ship. I've been keeping a watch on it. It's been slightly talkative. It knew the technique. It suggested Richard was doing something to Chad the moment it spotted them." Dark Rich slowly turned towards the doorway. "And I know it's listening in right now."

Kei looked over to the doorway...and noticed to her surprise, something shifted.

She could just barely see the outline of the beast, shimmering as it moved a little, clearly using some sort of invisible cloaking ability. It growled a little before it spoke. "So you can sense me even like this..."

"We're bonded by blood. I know that smell."

Slowly, the creature began to appear, no longer hiding, revealing it's hulking body, red glowing slit eyes, giant claws and menacing maw. "Well, now his taken Chad, Darkmega and Roll."

"Meaning?" Dark Rich asked, as Kei finally realized who this was before her, the 8th clone.

"...Chad and Darkmega I understand. Roll I do not. Chad and Darkmega are clearly important to the events going on."

"...Dark was this the Zerg you found?"

"Yes." The clone answered.

"Well, at least I don't have to explain about there being a hidden 8th clone created by Xehanort then. We need to talk about who we let stay on our ship though okay? But for now, can't we track where they went?" Kei now asked them both.

Dark crossed his arms. "Zasz?"

Kei seemed especially surprised it had a name. The beast known as Zasz meanwhile entered the room, looking down at the ground, looking at two distinct spots, it could detect where Richard first stood pretending to be Chad before melting away, then where he reappeared, before leaving with his Zerg veins. "I can pick up the smell of another being here other than him and Kei. It smells unfamiliar." It then focused on the tarot cards that had remained on the ground. "It carried those."

Kei knew what they were. "Zuo Ci's cards. He carries them everywhere he goes. He is a deity."

Zasz stood up fully. "Well, he may know what Richard is up to. As to where the boy, our 'father', went…I know where that is. The Zerg veins have left a unique scent."

"Pursue it then. I need to keep an eye on Kei." Dark Rich said to the being.

"Wait Dark, we can't trust this thing to—"

Before Kei could finish, the Zerg veins appeared around Zasz, covering the creature entirely, before it vanished.

---

'...You know your mind was messed up pretty bad.'

"Hm."

'The guy knows where to hit. His used the dark soul to twist you into a toy. Heck, his last mess around just made you believe someone else is doing all this to you.'

"Why though?"

'I have no clue. But his left you out cold and due to the damage his doing you've come to visit me again.'

Chad opened his eyes.

He was back in the strange room from before, the place where he saw his mobian self, his conscience, sitting at a metal chair, and he was laying on a comfy bed...and indeed, was again. He sat down, this time looking right at his mobian self. "Can't we fight it?"

'We can fight the urges and him if we know it's him doing it to us. When we're away from him without any connection to the dark soul it's alot easier. With him nearby it's almost impossible. The dark soul is dug in pretty deep thanks to him.'

"How bad is it?" Chad got of the bed and headed to the window, looking out at the black void which still carried green lines of numbers streaming down it.

'Extremely. Using the life soul alone won't help. I had a feeling a prolonged exposure to it might force the dark soul out but he seems to have expected that idea.'

"How?"

'That's the baffling thing. He shouldn't be aware of what it can do. I mean I can sense what it can do perfectly fine since I'm here with it...nice chick, needs some intelligence.' His mobian self got off the chair and stood there, folding his arms. 'But not even Zuo Ci said about its full potential. I don't think the deity knows...that it scares me that while the old man doesn't, our 'friend' does.'

"I vaguely recall seeing him behind Kei before everything went black." Chad turned towards his conscience. "Did we get taken away by him?"

'I dunno. The visual went dark soon after. Last thing we saw of the outside world was him flinging the out cold Kei away from us.'

Chad thought about this for a moment. "...Have I been here before?"

'You asked me before so you can guess the answer.'

"A simple 'yes' would've been fine."

'Next you'll ask why you can't recall the last encounters.'

"Why not?"

'Because you can't. They're locked in the special vault to avoid any recall of this place. I know there are ways of recalling, but its intrusive as all hell and not recommended.'

"...So can I go to other locations? Other rooms?"

'You probably won't have much time to do that...I can adjust the timescale, speed up your body rate to shorten the time difference from 1 minute here being 1 hour out there; to 1 minute in here is 10 minutes out there. But you come here to recover. If I divert resources to your inner projections it'll slow your recovery.'

Chad frowned a little. "You make it sound like I'm some sort of machine."

'Isn't all life in some ways, a machine? A compilation of programming?'

"Oh don't try and go all philosophical on me asshole." With that, Chad went towards a brown wooden door with a bronze handle on it, passing by the paintings that were still blurred on the red walls.

'So you want some extra time then?'

"Yeah...I'm curious."

He heard his conscience sigh. 'You want to find the life soul and try to hunt down the dark soul. Use the time you have here to fight back...' Chad looked back at him and nodded. His mobian self shook his head, before moving towards the bed and sitting down. 'The dark soul resides on the 0 floor of this place. The roots of our home. The whole floor is infested and twisted. The life soul is on the CM8 floor, eighth room. Remember the fact I said she lacks intelligence.'

"Got it." Chad opened the door and saw beyond a beautiful hallway, with red wallpaper, a blue carpet, numerous lights hanging off the white ceiling, doors to other rooms spread out evenly, all with golden numbers on them. He looked at the door of the room he was coming out of, and noticed it had the number 3 on. Down one end of the hallway were the grey metal doors to a life, as it a golden panel on the side with a single white button. Down the other end was a massive glass window showing the void outside. "Anything else I need to know?"

'Each room contains something. Fragments of memories being re-enacted, dreams, fantasies, people you love and hate, strong thoughts or things you wanted to remember. Everything has a place here. We're on the CO floor right now.'

"...So the life soul is only two floor below us?"

'Actually she's 13 floors down.'

"...How big is this place?"

'It's far, far bigger then you can possibly imagine, which is why I'm avoiding giving it a number. If you try to think about it all we might do more damage trying to project it all for you.'

"Right."

'Oh one last thing. Don't be disturbed if you bump into people you know...the elevator assistance is one such person.'

Chad closed the door, and headed towards the lift. Pressing the white button, he heard a faint hum from behind the door...and soon enough, they opened, revealing a lift interior which was literally covered in buttons on every wall and on the ceiling, all with different numbers and letters. Chad just stared in awe, as he stepped in...then he noticed who was standing there, welcoming him. "Hi! I've been waiting to finally meet you! I'm Anna 67!"

This 'Anna 67' looked exactly like his girlfriend Anna, except for the fact she was a tuxedo suit, which had a few of the top buttons of the white shirt undone to show off her cleavage and a hint of her black laced bra, and had a badge on that was a silver 'C'. She was quick to shake his hand.

"H-hi. I'm Chad."

"I know that silly! We all do! So, where do you want to go today?"

"Uhh...floor CM?"

"Understood!" with that, the lift doors closed, and one button in this place lit up without Anna 27 doing anything. Chad soon felt the lift begin to move. Anna 67 seem stay...rather close as they waited. "So...Do you miss us?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Well it's been a while since you explored us. Anna. I bet you miss her."

Chad felt a little awkward right now, speaking to this...Anna. "Yeah, I do. I wish we had time to have some fun together again but ya know, Unicron and all."

"Well, I hope things get sorted out. I got hired to work on the lift to help remind you how sexy I can be...do you like my outfit?"

Chad glanced her up and down, feeling himself go a little red. "It...shows your finer points Anna."

Then the lift doors opened as it came to a stop. "Well, this is your stop. Take care alright? Always try to think of me-well, us, Anna, okay?" Anna 67 gave him a sweet smile as he got off the lift.

Chad looked back to her and nodded. "Trust me, I try to."

With that, the lift door closed. He turned back to the hallway...and it looked exactly the same as the one he left. "Wait...did we even go anywhere?" He said to himself.

He walked over to the room labelled as 3 and opened the door.

Inside was...well, an icy cave. He recognized it as the place before the Northern crater back of Gaia VII. But there were two bodies there that raised a cause of deep concern. Cloud and Zhang He's, both clearly had been shot and killed by an energy blaster of some sort.

Chad walked through the doorway and towards the bodies...before spotting something else, further ahead deeper in the cave.

There was himself, on the ground, heavily wounded. And before that version of him, was Darkmega...with Anna being held by him, a dark cyber sword at her neck as she looked down at Chad, crying. "Please Chad! Get away from here!"

"Anna...No...Please Darkmega, don't do this..." The version of himself on the floor pleaded, as Chad walked up next to him and watched it all going on.

It was surreal, watching it like this. Darkmega laughed as he ran the blade over Anna's neck, slicing it open and letting her floor to the floor, gasping and gurgling as blood quickly filled her lungs. The dark Navi stepped over, towards the Chad on the ground...and for a moment, the Chad standing there watching was sure Darkmega acknowledged his presence by giving him a momentary glance. "I've taken it all from you now, Chad. Just like you did with me. You should never have trusted those doctors. Now I'm going to finish it, say goodbye."

He raised his blade upwards, and with no resistance, he swung it down, stabbing right through the head of the Chad on the ground, who quickly went limp. The Chad standing there meanwhile, looked over to Anna, who was looking at him, her hand reaching out to him whilst the other was around her open neck, before she stopped breathing, and died.

That triggered something in him. He felt this swelling of anger as he looked to Darkmega, who had now turned towards him. "Now tell me. Why have you come? Did you enjoy watching her die?"

Chad didn't hold himself back. He slammed his fist hard into Darkmega's stomach, before smashing his elbow into the Navi's face, both strikes making the Navi stumble back in shock, before Chad struck again, hitting him right in the chest and knocking Darkmega to the ground. He quickly readied the Blade of Darkness. "You're not Darkmega!"

"Heheh. But I am. You were just too gullible to realize the truth." Darkmega got himself back up and readied his dark cyber sword. "How about we finish what we started back to Zebes?"

Chad smirked. "Yeah. Let's do that." With that he charged, swinging the sword, knowing Darkmega would block his attack with his cyber sword. But as they collided Chad yelled "LIFE SOUL!" As he called out, a white aura surrounded him, taking Darkmega completely by surprise.

"W-what the!? What the hell is that!?"

"A power you'll never forget!" Chad shoved him away using his sword, and as the Navi stumbled back the mobian boy raised his hand towards him. "LIFE BEAM!"

The beam of white light shot out, and tore through the screaming dark Navi, completely dissecting him in two as his torso and stomach were obliterated into bits by the beam. As both parts of his remains hit the ground, they broke down into data fragments and dissolved away.

Chad smirked, as he disabled the Life Soul. "Good fucking riddance, you evil piece of-"

He suddenly clicked back onto where he was, stopping himself and looking around, noticing his other self on the floor, dead.

...This was a dream he had once. It was after they got back to Junon Harbour and he had a go at Darkmega. Before he found himself in the teleporter room after handing the Matrix to Unicron.

He then looked at himself, at his hands. He was able to use the Life Soul here...perhaps because this wasn't his body per-say. The dark soul within him had no power over him at the moment.

Then he remembered how he just reacted to Darkmega.

...Did he really just kill him without a second thought? The guy who became a friend and was willing to back him thus far?

No. He was angry. Anna had been killed before his eyes. Of course he would react like this.

"I need to leave." With that, Chad left the dead behind and headed back to the door.

As he opened it though, he felt a rushing wind past him. He looked back.

And there again were the bodies of Cloud and Zhang He, beyond them further in, he could see Darkmega standing with Anna again, the blade to her neck, and him on the ground.

It was repeating.

He didn't want to be a part of it this time, and left. "Okay, so I'm certainly on a different floor. Let's go to number 8."

Once he got there, he opened the door and entered without a second thought.

This seemed to be a mistake. Inside it was a white, marble room with a balcony; a gold linen bed shaped like a phoenix...and there was also a giant white phoenix with golden eyes in the middle of this place, that fired a bright white beam at him that he just managed to dodge out of the way of as it went through and hit the hallway.

The bird was on its feet, wings opened looking down at him, clearly unhappy with his intrusion. "Whoa whoa whoa calm down! Friend! Friend!" Chad called out as he was ready to avoid another attack.

The creature seemed to slowly lower its head, and a move a few steps towards him until its beak was right near his face, with him leaning right up against the wall. "Me-me Chad Oswald. Y-you Life Soul. We friends. Understand?" Chad hoped talking simple would calm it.

The white phoenix seemed to stare him down.

"Me, just want to speak words. No hurt you."

The being refused to budge.

Slowly, Chad raised one of his hands, reaching out to the bird...it noticed and snapped at his arm. Thankfully Chad was quick enough to move his hand and arm away from the beak that probably could snap his bones. "Okay! A little too soon!"

The bird was already locked on him again.

"...I uh...um..." Chad was at a loss. He wanted to talk to it, but there was no indication it understood him. Still, he had to try. He came here to try and get it to help him without hurting him again in the outside world. "Are you angry at me?"

There was a faint growl coming from the creature.

That confirms it understood. At least he hopes so. "Is it because I came in without knocking?"

No reaction.

"Is it because I'm here and not out there, awake?"

Again no reaction.

"Is it because I didn't bring any bird feed?"

He could swear that its eyes narrowed at him after saying that, as if it was hinting it was getting pissed off again.

"We-well is it because of the dark soul?"

It growled in the same manner as before...a yes? "I, I can't help that. I can't exactly control myself and it's right now out of my hands. You can't blame me for having it."

"But I can blame you for using it." A mature female voice responded...from somewhere in the room.

Then, the phoenix seemed to glow brighter and brighter, a light filling the whole room and blinding Chad as he had to close his eyes and look away.

Slowly, the bright light faded away, and as Chad open his eyes, his vision blurry for a moment, he saw before him something completely different.

Before him was this beautiful maiden. With long silver hair; wearing a white, very slightly see through silky dress; pure skin; long slender legs and body with supple, large breasts; almost illuminating golden eyes and rose red lips. It was like how he always pictured what a divine goddess should look like...except she had her hand raised towards him, palm aimed at his face.

"...Oh...wow...This is what you look like?"

The woman answered him. "This is the form that I was blessed with the moment I entered your mind. If you are not careful, it may be the last thing you see."

'Great Chad. You've pissed off a chick who's the life soul.' Chad TRIED to think to himself...except he was already within his mind, and without him knowing, she heard him. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "A 'chick' am I?"

"...Oh god you heard what I was thinking didn't you? Divine being? Fair maiden?"

"How about you call me Life Soul, as you should? For that is my name."

Chad nodded. "Life Soul, got it. So...can we calm things down and, discuss things in a more, relaxed manner? I can explain myself better when I don't feel my life is on the line."

Life Soul was clearly unsure if she should, but after a few minutes more, she lowered her arm, and walked over to the balcony area, placing her hands on the railing, looking away from Chad as he gave a huge sigh of relief and leaned down the wall a little, before standing up properly and walking to the middle of the room. "Thank you."

"Do not thank me yet. You have to explain why you dared use such a vile power as that." Life Soul was clearly still unhappy as Chad gathered in her voice.

"Look. I haven't been thinking straight for some time alright? If you're talking about the time I used it against Chaos I didn't know that was it. I just...needed to kill him. I wanted to use you as well. Since you and Darkmega were alright when we cross fused."

She had folded her arms. "He is a separate being who did not intend to take over. That is different. The dark soul intends to. You've nearly allowed it several times. It has made itself at home."

"I intend to go down and face it."

...Life Soul turned her head, looking over her shoulder at him. "You intend to do what?"

"You heard me. I'm going to fight it while I'm here. But...I wanted to get your help."

"You already are aware you can use my power without me while you are here. I'm a part of your body, so you can use it freely."

"I know but I doubt I control such raw light energy like you. The dark soul controls an entire floor of this place. If you were with me, we might be able to beat it back...maybe contain it a little so I have more control outside?"

"Why?"

"..." Chad looked down at the ground, closing his eyes. "...I don't want to lose control. I don't want to be another person's slave. His twisting my mind. I know I won't remember anything here like before but Goddamnit, I have to do something to save us, to give us the slightest chance when I wake up."

He felt something within him, a feeling of tiredness, as Life Soul spoke. "It seems you've ran out of time."

Chad felt his legs weaken, as he fell to his knees. As he open his eyes, he felt his eyelids were very heavy, it was only a matter of time before he had to give in and let them close. "No, no no no. I can't wake up. I don't want to! I have to stop it, slow it down!"

Life Soul had now turned around fully, and walked towards him, as he looked up to her for a moment, before going down on his hands. His body just begging him to lay on the floor and rest. "An outside source is shaking you awake. You must leave."

"But I don't want the dark soul. I want it gone. Please help me stay."

"I can't."

"But...but..." He fell down, closing his eyes.

"I can help with the dark soul though. I believe you are sincere with your intention to fight it off. I shall go and weaken it where I can. I cannot kill it, but I shall attempt to subdue it."

"Th...thank you."

"Chad."

"I hope you can do well without me..."

"Chad!"

"I have to go now, my planet needs me..."

"CHAD!"

Chad shot open his eyes.

His vision was blurred for a moment, but soon coming into focus was Darkmega.

"D...Darkmega?"

"Finally. Goddamnit man I've been trying to wake you for the last ten minutes!"

Chad slowly forced himself to sit up...soon noticing he was on a cold, metal surface. "Well, I'm up now..." He started to look around.

It seemed they were inside a humongous warehouse, made of dark blue metal walls, floor and roof, with a few large circular light blue lights beaming from the ceiling, lighting the area for them. There was a faint sound of humming coming from around them, and the odd clanging of metal being slightly moved and shifted. "So...What's this place? Are we on Earth V?"

Darkmega stood up and put his hand out to Chad...Chad was momentarily hesitant, looking at him then at his hand. The Dark Navi sighed, closing his eyes for a second before opening them again. "Look, you might not like me right now, but we're stuck here for the moment. This isn't Earth V."

Chad still decided to get himself up by his own ability rather than taking a helping hand. Once he was up he stretched a little, and looked around once again, moving away from Darkmega. "Huh. Wonder how we got here...Do you know?"

Darkmega shook his head as he walked away from Chad, heading over, as Chad noticed, rather large metal doors leading out of this place. "I think I know. But it depends."

Chad followed him. "Depends on what?"

Darkmega grabbed the sides of one of the huge doors and managed to just about pull it open slightly, before heading through. "If you know what Cybertron looks like."

Chad was rather surprised at hearing that. "Cybertron? Why would I need to know what that machine planet looks-" He was talking as he went through the gap in the door, arriving outside it seems.

He stopped speaking as he stared off ahead as Darkmega was.

They stood on a shining metal, technological world; a planet of towering future cities without end and vast metallic plains, spiraling metal mountains and bottomless neon-lit chasms, and above it all, a blue, star lit sky. But the cities have long since been darkened, the lights long since switched off as no one came to this world anymore.

Except in the far off distance, several black warships were hovering above the remains of Unicron's head, lit up, with several huge cable connecting it to this world. Around the head were clear signs of encampments having been placed down, little figures due to the distance, marching back and forth in blackened power armor.

"...Well?" Darkmega looked over to him.

"Yep. This is Cybertron."

---

Cao Cao's horse rushed through the downing rain.

The plains were now in utter chaos. The remnants of the Han forces were on the verge of being wiped out, with still no sign of He Jin or his sister to be found. The only generals those men had that they could've focused on, were the men Cao Cao had first encountered before his charge to the emperor.

Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun. Both were seen as He Jin's third and second in command, respectively. Both were known military generals with good heads on their shoulders.

Both were swiftly slain by Terra as they tried to block Cao Cao's path to the emperors' location.

Still, their positioning and the lack of any other officers of the Han raised questions to Cao Cao as he led his small rider force back to where his main army was located. 'To have them both guard northward, to have Yuan Shao and Sun Jian advance too far ahead, as well as have barely any of their forces present...There are alot of obvious holes in this marching escort. Something keeps feeling off...'

His mind soon focused elsewhere as he had to bring his men to a stop. Riding up to him from his right was Terra in his Keyblade armor and on his Keyblade gilder, along with a handful of men on the modernized hover bikes. To his left on horseback was Xiahou Dun, along with Xiahou Yuan, Xu Zhu and hundreds of infantry eventually catching up. Finally before him, appearing in a flash of green light, was Mephiles.

He looked to them all. "We're to meet much further north then this. Is there a problem?"

Xiahou Dun spoke first. "Things don't look so good. The Unversed are almost wiped out."

Cao Cao looked worried. "Already? But they were set up to surround and hold out against the likes of Sun Jian and Yuan Shao."

Mephiles nodded before he explained. "Ronni followed that through as you instructed, but it seems Yuan Shao and Sun Jian were suspecting an ambush. Their response time has been fast, and the heroes are already joining in to clean up what's left."

Terra removed his helmet, looking at Xiahou Dun and Mephiles, before turning to the Wei ruler. "And I prayed I would be the only one with bad news...Your planned main deployment force at Han Xing has withdrawn. Cao Ren, your brother, had heard reports that there's an attack within the Wei territory, specifically at Xu Chang, the place that nearly all of your family reside in. He apologized dozens of times before leading everyone away. Whatever we have out here now and at Qin Chueng is all we have now."

Cao Cao was annoyed. His laid out plan is suffering major hiccups.

First he wanted to the Unversed to scatter Yuan Shao, having him go into a state of panic, forcing Sun Jian to act for both his and Yuan's forces. Second, he set up an army of sixty thousand to march into the plains and bring order whilst picking off the remnants of the Han, led by his brother Cao Ren.

Cao Cao couldn't believe it. "To have slain our main target but for everything else to fail...how?"

Terra easily guessed it. "We've been had. He Jin knew that you would have a reserve on standby and sent them away, whilst warning Yuan Shao and Sun Jian to keep themselves ready."

"But how did they know lord Cao Cao would even dare this?" Xiahou Yuan turned to the keybladers.

Terra just looked to Cao Cao, who looked at him back.

The answer was now clear to them with the one message they had both read before.

"...It seems that your spy was found out before he came to you."

Cao Cao cursed himself. "They planted him with that letter, knowing I would act. It seems He Jin does indeed know me. But why would he let his top generals die as well as the emperor?"

"Well, wouldn't it seem more of a set up of no one of value was lost during it?"

"So what's the plan? Fall back to Qin Chueng? Jie Ting?" Mephiles wondered.

Cao Cao moved his horse ahead of them all, with them starting to follow him, Mephiles easily keeping up on foot. "If he knew I would do this, Qin Chueng is going to be soon attacked and overrun. Xiahou Dun, send word to those at that fort, Guo Jia, Zhang Liao and Jia Xu to withdraw at once and make their way to Jie Ting. If we encounter the enemy there, we'll have to go with a hostile takeover. Jie Ting is far more defensible and is the site I have laid out a desperate plan should all else fail. Mephiles, can you tell Ronni to send the signal?"

The mobian nodded. "I have already done so the moment you mentioned Jie Ting. A brief psychic communication."

" With your men almost gone, are you willing to still tag along?"

"I have been told by Ronni to remain by your side until the He family are no longer a threat. I shall do so."

"Good, I need you to head to the people of the Hero Base within the battlefield, take Xiahou Yuan with you. Get them back to Jie Ting at once."

With that, Cao Cao, Xu Zhu and Terra rode off one way, whilst Xiahou Dun with a few other riders went in another direction, and Mephiles and Xiahou Yuan in a third direction, the rain still rushing down around them, the sky littered with flashes of lightning.

Once the Unversed were gone, Cao Cao knew they would begin the hunt for him.

Escaping further into the plains, passing Qin Chueng proved simple enough. The Unversed still put on a show despite their impending doom. But in the midst of their escape, they had to come to a halt, as they saw a group of people standing directly in their way.

A group Terra didn't expect to see. "Wait...are those...?"

It was his Galactic Federation troops, gathered along with the remnants of the Keybladers he had saved before...it was who else that was with them that worried him.

Eraqus was in front of them, Keyblade in one hand, looking sternly to Cao Cao and the others approaching, stopping only a few meters away. The Wei king did not look impressed. "I recognize some of those people. They belong under the leadership of Terra. Why do they follow you?"

"I am Master Eraqus. One of the last survivors of the Keyblade wielders." The master answered. "I have told them of my intention of returning to the Galactic Federation, and I have assured them I will convince Terra to do so the same."

"I'm assuming if you knew we would come this way, our enemies know our intention to move in on Jie Ting?"

Eraqus nodded. "Dong Zhuo has placed Hua Xiong to guard the place while many of those that support the Han have gone several other locations to assure you don't escape at all. If you take Jie Ting, you'll be surrounded."

"I see. So then it leaves just one thing..." Cao Cao looked behind to Terra. "What are your intentions?"

Terra was clearly concerned with this sudden development. He once again took his helmet off and dismounted his Keyblade glider, which morphed back into his Keyblade, walking past Cao Cao and standing between him and Eraqus. "Master, why would you return to the Galactic Federation? They've been beaten."

"Perhaps so, but there's a better chance there then with the likes of those who support of Shinra Federation."

"A better chance?" Terra motioned to Cao Cao. "This man gave our people a home, shelter, food. He saved us from Grievous' and Keatons failure. Gaia IX could've been my end."

Eraqus nodded. "I understand that, but you must also understand that man has slaughtered his own leader. He has betrayed his own people and now everyone on this world is after him and those that support him, including those of the Hero base."

Terra sighed a little, looking straight into his masters' eyes. "I know. I helped with the killing. I took out the Han's generals to pave the way."

Eraqus was stunned. His student allowed it to occur? "You...Terra, you had allowed him to kill an innocent man who could decide the fate of this world?"

"The Han is the problem here master! I've seen what He Jin has been doing, what the Han has been playing at! We're setting things right!"

The Keyblade Master tried to implore his student "If the Han collapses the forces that worked with it will have no leader left to direct them! Shinra will take over!"

Terra heard someone get off one of the horses, and walking up beside him was Cao Cao himself, with his sword in hand. "Lord Cao Cao?"

"I shall deal with him." The Wei King answered sternly. "It is clear he needs to be shown what I am capable of."

Terra quickly tried to stand in his way as Cao Cao was about to advance. "Wait! This is master Eraqus! Please let me handle this!"

Cao Cao looked at him...and Terra slowly conceded, stepping away, watching him as he walked towards Eraqus.

The Keyblade master had his own weapon at the ready. Those behind him watched with concern. "You would try to take me on? For what purpose? To prove to Terra that your better then me?"

Cao Cao came to a stop, several feet away as he got ready with his sword. "I intend to prove myself to one person. That, is you."

Eraqus lunged at him, swinging the Keyblade, the weapon Cao Cao easily parried away before having to step aside to avoid a second attack then ducking for the third, rising his blade upwards to try and strike at the wielder of the strange weapon.

Eraqus easily stepped back to avoid it, then raised moved one of his hands off the Keyblade handle, in the palm of it a ball of flame formed, unleashing it on Cao Cao and knocking him back; his feet sliding in the mud as he felt the intense orb of flame strike his clothing and the arm he raised to protect himself.

Then Cao Cao found a wave of ice striking him, causing him to shout in pain and move back even further to make some distance. Eraqus took this moment to throw his Keyblade; spinning and striking Cao Cao, sending him to the ground as the blade returned to it's master. The Wei king was quickly back on his feet and charged, now trying to get his own strike in, whilst Eraqus was appearing come and relaxed, blocking the flurry of strikes with his blade, causing small sparks to fly each time.

Cao Cao was a one handed user of his sword, whilst Eraqus held his weapon with two; Cao Cao tried to use his spare hand to unleash a quickly formed icicle from it, only for Eraqus to avoid the jagged fragment of ice with ease, though he looked surprised. "Magic? Your people know of it?"

As Eraqus resumed the fight, making Cao Cao go on the defensive and just about holding off each attack against him, Cao Cao answered. "We are wielders of material arts, which include the elements of the world we stand on. Allow me to show you one that'll end our battle quickly!" With that, he shoved Eraqus back as the Keyblade Master tried to strike him again, before yelling out. "MUSOU!"

Around Cao Cao erupted a dark blue aura, emitting a brief shockwave from it that made Eraqus keep his weapon on a defensive stance as he felt the wave pass him. Before he knew it, Cao Cao was right in front of him, swinging his weapon with such force and speed that Eraqus was pinned on the defensive, unable to even try and retaliate, having to take steps back to try and even get a chance to see where Cao Cao was going to strike at him next. "Ngh! Where is this power coming from!?"

Terra watched intensely, as did all those around these two fighters as Cao Cao locked blades with the Keyblade Master, leaning over him slightly as Eraqus tried to hold him back, his entire body a slight blue hue thanks to the aura. "My power, flows from desire!"

Cao Cao moved his sword back, and with one mighty swing managed to knock the Keyblade sideways, causing Eraqus to stumble, before he was kicked down by the Wei King, who was suddenly standing above him, sword ready. "TAKE THIS!"

"CAO CAO NO!" Terra quickly got his Keyblade ready and was running over, but came to a dead stop soon after.

Eraqus had found the tip of Cao Cao's blade just an inch or so away from his face, as the Musou ability wore off.

He stared up at the Wei leader, who was just staring at him back. Both were tense, both were feeling their hearts beating at an incredible pace, as the rain continued on around them, a clap of thunder echoed in the distance.

"...I will tell you something, Eraqus." Cao Cao finally spoke. "I will not lead this world into the hand of the Shinra Federation."

Eraqus watched, as the blade of Cao Cao's moved away from his face and stabbed into the ground nearby.

"This world does not belong to them. It will fall under us, the Hero Base Faction. I will tell Rufus myself of this. Your people will be safe here."

"...You cannot guarantee that."

"No, I cannot. But I will fight for your people, for those on this world to be able to stand on our own again. The Hero Base is a unique opportunity for us to have our say within the grand scheme of things. They already have a few bases belonging to them, and Zebes is theirs."

Eraqus looked down at himself for a moment, then to his Keyblade besides him.

"...You have lost nearly all of those of your home. I want those who are left to seek this world out, and rebuild their lives here. But for that to happen I need you with me."

Terra was listening intently. "...Cao Cao..."

Cao Cao stood away from Eraqus, giving him plenty of room to stand up and even leaving his sword besides his toppled enemy. Slowly the Keyblade master got onto his feet, holding his weapon at the ready, though as Cao Cao could clearly see on the man's face and body stance, his intention to fight had greatly diminished.

Eraqus then noticed, a few a first; then more and more of those that had followed him here were walking by him, heading over to Cao Cao's forces, and standing with them.

His people were convinced, as well as those who had wanted out of the Galactic Federation. He felt his grasp on his weapon weaken, as he gave a deep sigh and lowered it. "It appears you have a way with words, Cao Cao..."

He made his Keyblade disappear. "I do feel you are leading us to death...but it does seem all other options will do the same. I suppose to bet on the one Terra has sided with is better than the one who may have already betrayed me before."

Soon he was with them, as they all continued on their way back to Jie Ting. Cao Cao had returned to his horse, whilst Terra was walking besides him, the pace of the march was much slower with the new additions. "...Thank you."

Cao Cao looked down at him.

"I honestly feared for his life at that moment when he was on the ground."

"So you should have. If you did not react and call out, I would have killed him. Your reaction convinced me otherwise."

---

Back out in the plains near Chen Cang, the last of the Unversed were being picked off.

Charlie struck the final one with one of his sonic booms, slicing it perfectly in half before it dissolved away. He seem pretty tired, but was glad that was it, and as he could see around him he wasn't the only one happy with that fact.

Jak hoisted up his energy weapon over his shoulder, turning towards Charlie. "Phew. Glad that's over with."

"Now we just need to find out what casualties we've had. Clearly these creatures are getting bold." Sun Ce walked up to them both, as others slowly gathered around.

Ken meanwhile, had noticed something in the distance. "Hey…There's a lot of guys in yellow marching off back towards Jie Ting. Aren't they Yuan Shao's colour?"

"Yes. They are." Slowly coming towards those of the Hero Base Faction and his army, with many of his remaining soldiers in tow, was Sun Jian. "…Cao Cao has killed the emperor."

"What!? Father, he is not a man who would—" His other son, Sun Quan, started to argue.

"It's been already told throughout Yuan's ranks and those of the Han who are now going with him…I saw him commit the act with my own eyes."

"…Then what do we do?" Jak looked to the Wu Ruler. "Should we inform Dr Wily and Dr Light? We're gonna be in the middle of it all."

"We must focus. Plan to attack alongside Yuan Shao against Cao Cao and those who will stand by him." Sun Jian got off his horse. "I know this is not what any of you expected. But we can't allow Cao Cao to leave alive. He's a powerful individual."

Optimus Prime then spoke. "We must first seek out the reason for his action Sun Jian. We cannot condemn him a traitor just yet."

"And why not Prime?" Megatron turned to the Autobot once-leader. "Cao Cao doesn't have to explain himself if he felt the ruling faction over his world is no more of use to him. I did not have to explain mine when I wanted Cybertron to fall to my knees!"

"Your actions created a war that lasted until the creation of the Galactic Federation. Were it not for them and they're swarming of our world, we would still be fighting."

Megatron looked annoyed at that reminder.

"I do not think Cao Cao has acted without a strong reason." In the midst of them all, Zelda made her way to where Sun Jian was, carrying a rapier weapon. "I have been watching him closely. He cares for this world and it's future in our Universe. I have to admit myself, in the midst of my loss, I have been watching the acts of the Han. To them you rulers of these kingdoms are just tools."

Sun Jian had to admit to himself, these tactics for the Unversed were leading to lives being thrown away. "While I agree the Han has been rather dismissive of our people, it is the crisis of a threat from off our world that deeply concerns them."

"Concerning them enough to throw everyone but those they favor at the invaders?"

"Princess, you do not understand our ways. I know the Han can appear that way, but they are prioritizing for the survival of everyone. They know those they send first have the greatest chance of victory. They did not know of the enemy's potential."

That's when everyone spotted Xiahou Yuan riding up to them, along with Mephiles running beside him. As he brought his horse to a halt he looked at those of the Hero Base, and Sun Jian's men. "Oh…this ain't good. Kinda expected you to still be working with Yuan Shao and chasing Cao Cao to Jie Ting."

"You!" Sun Jian quickly turned his own horse towards Mephiles. "You worked with Cao Cao to kill the emperor!"

"Wait a sec! Is that Shadow?!" Sonic quickly pointed out.

"I'm right here." Shadow was standing next to him, frowning slightly at the fact Sonic even said that. "But his appearance is strikingly close to mine…" He started to walk out of the crowd gathered, getting a much clearer view of Mephiles.

"Hm. Another Universe, another ultimate lifeform." Mephiles commented on spotting Shadow.

"Another…You're like me?"

"In far more ways than you can imagine. I just lost a few parts along the way. But that is not the concern at this moment. Cao Cao wants you all to come to Jie Ting at once. We are to make a stand against the He family, and the Han."

"He still intends to fight them!?" Sun Jian couldn't believe it. "His been branded a traitor and wants to throw everyone here against our world!"

"That's not it Sun Jian! This is our chance to set things right for our world! We're going to beat the Han and secure our independence!" Xiahou Yuan tried to explain.

"He sided with the invaders!"

"For good reasons! He worked with them because the Han is corrupt! You gotta believe me!"

Sun Jian continued to refuse, pointing out the crime Cao Cao has committed, whilst Zelda felt something, a calling…She looked to the top of her hand, and glowing there, was the symbol of the triforce. "…So, destiny is calling for me…it will be at Jie Ting…"

Sun Ce turned to her. "Zelda?"

She made her way over to be in between Xiahou Yuan and Sun Jian, stopping their talks for a moment, both looking at her, as was Mephiles. "We must all go to Jie Ting Sun Jian, we must work with Cao Cao."

"Excuse me!?"

"Tell me, did your emperor speak to you?"

Sun Jian paused, staring at her.

"Did he tell you of the purple dragon? The blue phoenix? The green dragon and the red tiger?"

"…How in the heavens would you even know…"

"I have a gift like your seers of this world. I can see things that are coming. I know of those four signs from this world, and I know that things are to be decided at Jie Ting…it is to be where Diamas waits for us."

"But we don't have to side with Cao Cao!"

"We must. Diamas is working against us. And I fear those of the Galactic Federation and Han are to blame for him being here. Please."

"If that's the case we have to work with Cao Cao. Diamas is Unicron remember?" Anna pointed out to Sun Jian and those around her.

"Sun Jian. I know the Han is working with Diamas and the Galactic Federation to wipe you guys out."

That was a voice Anna, Medi and a few others were not expecting to hear.

Coming out from the middle of the people to show himself, was Chad. "I've seen Keaton talk with He Jin, and trust me you don't have a place in their plans, none of us do."

"Chad!?" Anna ran up to him. "You're okay!? What happened to you? Where's Kei? When did you get here?"

"Darkmega woke me up. Told me where you lot were. I thought I just hide in the crowd, wondering if you guys can stop jabbering and get back to Jie Ting to defend it from our real enemies, not Cao Cao. Dr Wily told me he retrieved transmissions between Shadowlaw, the Federation and the Han. Seems like they want to put us all in the dirt."

That seemed to be enough to convince many of those there. Sun Jian was momentarily reluctant, knowing that Cao Cao still murdered the emperor of their world, but hearing that, resigned to the fact that right now, there was more going on than that. "Men of Wu. We march to Jie Ting. Those of the Hero Base, follow us."

With that, they all started to depart, with Mephiles and Xiahou Yuan gladly following. Only Anna, Medi and Chad were left behind. Medi had now gone over to Chad. "Your rapid recovery is quite a surprise Chad."

"What can I say, I just seem to always time things just right. Now I need to have a quick word with Anna, if you don't mind Medi."

"Huh?"

Chad sighed in annoyance. "I want time alone with Anna. Hey, put her down will you? I can't be bothered to play nice with things getting tense. Time's running low."

Medi and Anna both looked baffled at Chad…untill Medi suddenly saw a black coated figure before her in a flash of red, with a hood that was down, showing a young woman in her 20's with long pink hair and red eyes facing her, looking almost emotionless, seconds before some kind of invisible force smashed into Medi's stomach, winding her and causing her to black out after the blow, falling into the girls' arms, before she slowly laid her down on the ground.

"W-who is this!?" Anna turned to Chad…who had changed into Richard, smiling evilly.

"Well well Anna, just us now." He said, approaching her.

But he quickly stopped, as the pink haired woman looked over to him. "They're coming."

"Hm?"

Anna took this chance to try and run, but whatever invisible force that took Medi down suddenly grabbed her and stopped her from moving. It felt like it was coiled all around her. "Those annoyances that know what we are."

Anna could feel whatever it was start to choke her, causing her to try and gasp for air. Richard noticed this. "Don't kill her. I need her alive for the task ahead. Move back and I'll deal with the pests."

The girl nodded and moved away, with Anna floating close by her, now being able to breath a little easier.

That's when, close to him, several multi-colored shimmering vortexes appeared, which slowly vanished, and in their place, stood eight men and women. One a Turian in red shining armor; one a male Power Saiyan with blue hair, a blue jacket on and red trousers; one a female power Saiyan with a black version of the Saiyan armor on and long jet black hair; one was a girl Navi, as shown by her water droplet crest icon, wearing a light blue version of roll's outfit and had white hair; two were Klingons, seemingly male twins that could only be told apart by the fact one had a full grown beard whilst the other did not, both carrying the signature weapon of their race, the bat'leth; One was a female human with black hair, a red tank top and shorts on readying her fists, the last one ahead of them all was none other then a certain time traveler with light purple hair, a black trench coat with a fur lined collar and a sword hoisted on his back: Trunks.

He quickly declared who they were to Richard, who appeared bemused. "Hold it right there monster! We're the Time Patrol! We know what you're plotting!"

Richard kept a small smile on his lips. "Time Patrollers. I know who you guys are. Is this really—" He motioned to those with Trunks. "—All you're going to send my way? I'm offended."

Richard could hear someone, a woman, then speak to Trunks, through some kind of com-link the boy had on him. "Trunks! Be careful! We don't know what power this Chaotic Entity has!"

"Heheheh, you don't know what power I have, and you dare stand before me like this?" Richard flexed the claws on his back a little. "I'm guessing that voice belongs to Chronoa? Is she enjoying hiding out in Universe 1?"

Trunks was stunned Richard knew about her. "Wait, how in the hell would you even know…?!"

"Because I've seen it all Trunks. I've seen all that came before us. Chronoa knows what that means."

"…Oh no. This is worse then I could see in the scroll. He's not just a Chaotic Entity, he's an Oblivion-Reborn Entity! His mind has been opened to all the knowledge of the past!"

"O-Oblivion-Reborn!? But Death is suppose to make sure those don't escape! How hasn't he found this one?!" Trunks was worried now.

"Because this is a mixture of both a Chaotic and something brought back from Oblivion! We've never encountered something like this before!"

Richard seemed proud on hearing that. "That's right. I'm fused with Chaotic power and someone that deities and even gods are blind to sensing. From somewhere else, I would be called…Corrupted. Perhaps you better call me and those that follow me that from now on, if you're trying to figure out a new cate—"

The Turian charged forward, a lightsaber appearing in his hands and coming to life, emitting a blue energy as he swung it…only for the weapon to shut off and hit the ground as he went limp, a claw from Richard's back having shot over the Overminds shoulder and penetrated the Turians skull after passing a brief, flickering blue energy barrier that tried to form. Richard didn't even flinch.

"—gory." He moved the claw out of the Turians head and let the body drop down to the ground. "Well that was too simple. These are amateur recruits, aren't they? What? Is everyone else too busy to help out?"

Trunks was horrified at what just occurred. "He, He just took out Kuril in one strike..." He focused on Richard, started to panic a little. "But I can't sense any power from you, how did you break through his advanced shielding so easily!?"

"Trunks! His power level is unreadable! That's the chaotic nature of his energy in full effect! Stay alert!"

Richard placed his hand on the Dark Wolf, and pulled the blade out, pointing towards Trunks as a purple shimmering aura appeared around him, extending further and further outwards towards the Time Patrollers, before it slowly receded back, and seem to be absorbed into Richard…turning his claws into a deep purple colour. "Hm…Ready to face the unknown Trunks?"

---

After half an hour for Cao Cao's army, they found themselves getting closer and closer to the fortress of Jie Ting, it's mighty stone walls towering before them...Eraqus now decided to warn them about something, as they noticed the large metal gates were firmly shut. "A man by the name of Yuan Shu had taken over here just as I left. He had sent many of his officers elsewhere to look out for you, and those that remained were Yuan Shu himself, this brute by the name of Ji Ling, and some scrawny man by the name of Yuan Yin. They may be prepared for us."

Cao Cao knew Yuan Shu well enough. "Yuan Shao's half-brother...an arrogant fool with a lack of sense. We should be able to rush him and crush his force with little difficulty."

As Cao Cao finished saying that, something flew over the top of the wall of Jie Ting, a roundish object, spinning and hitting the ground, rolling towards the hooves of Cao Cao's horse.

As it came to a stop Cao Cao had a look at it. "…Well Yuan Shu, this isn't how you expected us to meet again, is it?"

Indeed, there on the ground was the decapitated head of Yuan Shao's brother, pale and eyes rolled at the back of said head.

Then the gates started to open.

Coming out to meet them, walking through as his troops pushed the gates open, was Hua Xiong, holding his mighty spear and looking serious as Cao Cao motioned at everyone to start walking towards Jie Ting, only coming to a stop as they approached Hua. "Lord Cao Cao."

"Hua Xiong? Your loyalty is to Dong Zhuo, is it not?"

"It was. But when he declared those of the Hero Base faction our enemies…I could not commit to that. Those off our world have been kind and welcoming to me, while those on this world fear me for my loyalty to that man." He gave a courteous bow. "My loyalty is to the Hero Base now and those with it."

"So you took out Yuan Shu?" Terra asked.

"I could not do it alone, and those left with me and those remaining of the Hero Base could not move against him without losses. But someone brought his army to here and tricked Yuan Shu into letting him come in before turning on him. All those that served Yuan Shu have been slain."

"Well, who helped you then?" Eraqus now joined in.

They saw who soon enough, as he was coming out of the gate, with several dozen black heavily armored men on horseback, while he rode a red horse whose hair appeared to shimmer like flames and had demonic red eyes.

Lu Bu made his way other to Cao Cao and the others. "You fools took long enough to get here."

Cao Cao was certainly surprised. "Lu Bu? You of all people helped overthrow Yuan Shu? I thought after we moved to the Hero Base the political matters of our world were no longer worth any of your time?"

"It still isn't Cao Cao. Don't get the wrong idea." Lu Bu turned himself and his horse around slightly, looking over to Jie Ting. "I planned to ignore all orders from that pig Dong Zhuo. Training my men was my priority and keeping them away from the Unversed. But things have changed. An ally of mine has been injured in these turn of events and his servant asked me to intervene."

"With you on our side the odds are much more in our favor." Cao Cao smiled now.

"I'm not staying." The warrior answered. "I've done my part. I'm going to move my people away from here back to Chang An. Then I need to find the boy named Chad."

"That boy who took out Unicron?"

"Yes. My ally's servant is concerned with his wellbeing."

That's when, to the shock of Cao Cao's and Eraqus' people, landing on top of the gate in a wave of red lightning, screeching out before looking down at them all, was Griffon. "What in the hell is that!?" The Wei ruler exclaimed.

Griffon spoke out. "Lu Bu! Hurry and move your forces out of here! I sense the descendants of Anna are now in danger! I can sense one on Cybertron!"

"Damnit! Where is Chad!? What about the Chaotic entity!?"

"I am unsure on both! Chronoa has assured me her Time Patrollers know of its location! I shall check around where the other descendent is! Sephiroth is going to check Cybertron!" With that, the large bird-like beast launched itself off the gate and flew away.

Lu Bu turned away from Cao Cao and the others and started to head back to Jie Ting to gather his men when Cao Cao called out to him. "Sephiroth? What's has he got to do with this? What is a Chaotic entity? Are we unable to assist?"

"A Chaotic entity is something beyond your understanding! You have your petty civil war to finish Cao Cao! I shall deal with this!" With that, Lu Bu had gone back inside Jie Ting with his horsemen…and within minutes a brief white flash of light covered the city…before every single one of Lu Bu's black armored warriors and himself were gone.

"What…what is going on?" Terra turned to the Wei ruler, who himself struggled to fathom it, before shaking his head.

"We must focus on the now. Everyone gather inside and close the gates. We won't have much time before the battle begins."

Soon they entered the city, closing the gates and letting their people recover. Whilst doing so they were met by Kei and her crew, who explained what had happened on their end of the matter when it came to Chad on Cao Cao mentioning Lu Bu's goal on finding the boy.

Cao Cao then decided to contact the doctors to find out if they could find Chad, but neither of the families of Light and Wily are currently responding, something that was concerning to him. Then more of his men eventually arrived, having escaped from Qin Chueng. Xiahou Dun brought them in, updating Cao Cao on the state of that small fortress: it had been quickly overrun soon after they left, by Liu Biao's army, who obviously had the intention of destroying those there.

"…In total it seemed like over fifty thousand men could be under his command right now. It's obvious he'll be sending them here soon enough. It's also been reported to Guo Jia both Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao are heading this way too…It's not looking good." Xiahou Dun was standing there with his scimitar over his shoulder.

"And we barely stand at over ten thousand…still, we have overcome worse odds. It's a shame Yuan Shao is going to go against us. What of Liu Bei and Grievous? Any news on them?"

"Nothing."

"Sun Jian and those of the Hero Base Faction?"

"Last seen out in the fields near Chen Cang. No one knows if their siding with us or against us."

Cao Cao folded his arms. "…Then our only guaranteed help is coming from the mountains west of here. I just hope they accept the sign and come."

"Cao Cao?"

"Tell me Dun, have you seen Zhang Jiao lately?"

"That crazy religious nut? No, not since the Unversed were finally named. He just left us soon after."

"He retreated to his followers' temples close by. No doubt praying for the gods to answer and banish the demons that were attacking our world."

Xiahou Dun focused on his leader. "So why are you telling me this?"

"Those unversed served a powerful being. One that is capable of pretending to be those gods. I told Mephiles to send a message to that being…And she's giving one to the yellow turbans."

Xiahou Dun was stunned. "Cousin…You're expecting a band of misfit peasants to come and aid us in a crisis like this?! THIS is your idea of reinforcements?!"

"That 'band of misfits peasants' can number in the hundreds of thousands if Zhang Jiao managed to gather them altogether. Remember their rebellion, how their numbers dwarfed our own. It was by the sheer skill of our armies and our tactics that halted them, as well as the peace talks Liu Bei managed to create with Zhang Jiao. But, if we had to continue fighting…we would've eventually lost."

"He won't be able to gather anywhere near that much by the time we need him."

Cao Cao nodded. "True…" He started walking away towards the main castle of Jie Ting. "But Zhang Jiao is a sorcerer. That alone can be key in turning the tide of a battle."

He wanted to go and speak to Kei Yuki and Eraqus, but as he got close to the doors leading inside, one of his soldiers ran up to him. "Lord Cao Cao! I bring urgent news!"

"Go ahead."

"My lord! Blackened ships have been reported seen in the skies far to the north and south of here, landing down! We're not sure of what side they are on!"

"…No doubt help Keaton has gathered. Thank you. Return to your post and inform me of anything else."

---

To the south of Jie Ting, those ships certainly were allied to Keaton.

They were Shadowlaw vessels, dropping off their black armored troopers to ready themselves for the upcoming conflict.

They had landed close by two other forces who were gathering in the same area, knowing a battle will soon go down. Yuan Shao's army, and the army of Dong Zhuo.

Both men stood side by side, as one of the black vessel produced the face of Shadowlaw, Xehanort, who marched out to meet them, as the pouring rain that was washing over the land started to ease off, and the evening sky becoming visible once again. "Dong, Yuan. Kel'Thurzard has deployed our men as suggested. A man named Dr Gero and my master will both handle the Shadowlaw forces in the north. I will personally be leading those here."

"I'm glad to see we get some aid from you. I trust you're a capable man when it comes to fighting battles?" Dong Zhuo asked.

"I know how to lead. I personally doubt the pair of you though."

"What did you just say!?"

Yuan Shao had to step in front of Dong Zhuo a little to avoid him making a scene.

"You are more likely to flee out of all of us. You value only your life, whilst Yuan Shao here, despite his boasting, breaks under the most smallest of difficulties. I will take command. I will give you orders. I expect you two and your men to listen to me."

Dong Zhuo was getting pissed off. "How dare you! You're just an outsider to our world! Don't you dare think we would even listen—"

"Enough Dong Zhuo! We're allied for the same cause! We must keep things together!" Yuan Shao sternly reminded him.

The fat bastard certainly wasn't pleased with all this though. "Hmph! Not like we'll need him anyway! I've already got Lu Bu moving in on Jie Ting, and Yuan Shu along with my champion Hua Xiong currently control it! Cao Cao will exhaust himself fighting them off, and when it does, all we need to do is move in pick off whatever is left!"

Xehanort chuckled a little. "Unlike you, my master has sources within Cao Cao's army. Jie Ting is already back in his hands. Yuan Shu is dead, Lu Bu left and Hua Xiong has defected from your cause."

"WHAT!? That treacherous lout! Lu Bu I should've known he would pull this on me, but Hua Xiong is one I will not forgive!"

"Indeed you should have. Now ready your forces. We're to strike in-sync with the northern armies. Cao Cao won't be able to handle two fronts with what forces he has, even if the Hero Base faction works with him."

Yuan Shao then needed to ask something, as Dong Zhuo stormed off, still angry about the loss of his champion. "Speaking of those people…I, am hoping I can tell them to stay away from this feud. I am a part of their faction and I am not ready to discard them. Sun Jian will join us. I hope with him we can—"

Xehanort turned away. "Forget them. Sun Jian can't be trusted. They won't stay by our side and will defy the Han. You know you're on the right team now, don't you?" The Keyblade user looked back to Yuan Shao. "You like your wealth, and titles. As the leader of the largest black-market organization in the territories of the GF and SF my master can offer a lot of things they can't. We can make you take a more prominent position then a lackey to those fools. You do as we say Yuan Shao, and dispose of them if they get in the way? You'll never know such a thing as a lack of funds, ever again."

Yuan Shao didn't answer. He returned to his army, who were still tired out from rushing from Chen Cang to here. Whilst many of his officers were organizing his forces and giving out what supplies they could to get the men back in shape for the next conflict, Guo Tu and Tian Feng were both waiting for him as he returned to the wave of yellow dressed forces. "My lord? Is everything alright?" Tian Feng asked.

"…I want to here your opinions on something."

Guo Tu looked to Tian Feng, and both were thinking the same thing at that moment, as Guo then faced his leader. "You want to hear what we think on this conflict, don't you?"

Yuan Shao silently nodded, placing his hands behind his back and looking to the ground, seemingly thinking himself.

Guo Tu decided to speak first. "Well, we are one of the stronger armies here, with numbers that clearly are intimidating to Dong Zhuo and come second to the Han. Cao Cao may be within a strong fortified location, but we have able officers around us and are working with several forces. We can easily deploy our forces to assist, then hold back and watch as the battle ends with a simple decisive victory for us. The Han remains in charge, and we have spaces open to be their new elite force, with Cao Cao out of the way."

"What of Sun Jian? Of the Hero Base? Liu Bei?" Yuan asked.

"…Well, there will be unfortunate casualties my lord. If they choose to side with Cao Cao we must face them. This is our world we're fighting for my lord. Picking outsiders and lower ranked allies over the Han would be foolhardy."

"Would it?" Tian Feng now spoke up. "My lord, the Yuan family is known for it's wealth and titles within the federations and on our world. But we need, deserve, to be known for more then that. On Gaia IX you showed value to listening to others, value in the lives of others outside our army. The Han is, in many ways, a failing force that has been slowly dying for years. All of our kingdoms have been holding it up. Do you think He Jin can honestly take the place of the emperor?"

Yuan Shao thought about that. He was one of the few made aware by He Jin of Cao Cao's goal.

"We should side with Cao Cao. We can surprise attack Dong Zhuo from this position and secure one side of Jie Ting in a swift blow. We know the fat tyrant will not change his stance, so it's better to pick him off now. My only concern is Xehanort and his forces, we may have great difficulty there, as we will be isolated from Jie Ting until we can break through."

"…Unless we send Yan Liang and Wen Chou to the frontline of the attack on Jie Ting prior to defecting." Guo Tu suggested. "They could bring about their forces and we can strike Xehanort from two directions, just as the Han plans to strike Jie Ting in the same manner. But whereas we would suffer minimal losses siding with the Han, if we side against them, we'll have a dangerous battle on our hands, and may lose many of our men and officers if things go south."

Yuan Shao looked at them both, then sighed deeply. "I, am unable to decide…send Yan Liang and Wen Chou to the frontlines when the battle commences, tell them to support Xehanort, and keep an eye on their com-links should the situation change…We will not advance any other troops besides theirs until further notice."

"Sir, if I may." Guo Tu looked a little concerned "Sending those two at the frontlines might be a poor choice. They hold respect for those of the Hero Base. Should the heroes side with Cao Cao you may lose both of your champions, as Dong Zhuo lost his."

"They won't betray me. Now tell them. I need time to think."

---

Anna could only watch in sheer confusion and horror on what the hell is going on before her.

There were seven of these people calling themselves Time Patrollers, who seemed dead set of battling Richard…or whatever he was after the Turian was dismissively killed by him.

Now there was only one remaining, the other six were hacked, slashed and mauled to death. The last, that boy with light purple hair, which was now a bright yellow, had a shattered sword on the ground, blood pouring from his forehead, claw wounds across his body, and just fired a massive ball of yellow energy towards Richard.

Who just slapped it away with one of his claws, the ball of energy flying away and erupting in the sky.

The aura that had receded into his claws and changed them into that new colour of purple…whatever that aura was that he absorbed made him almost untouchable. Everything these time patrollers had either failed to make contact despite seemingly being a guaranteed hit, or he just moved aside, knowing what the moves were and what their range and angle was. The only sign something was happening to him was after a while, just one of the claws seemed to have crystallized, covered reddish-purple stones and no longer moving.

Trunks was clearly exhausted. His arms having gone limp and he was tilted forward slightly, panting and sweating. "This…This can't be right! I can't even…"

Richard heard Chronoa again. "Trunks you have to retreat! Please! We've lost the others and we can't lose you as well!"

"HHHAAAA!" Trunks suddenly managed to gather some strength as Richard stood there waiting for him. He dived towards the Overmind, and threw one final punch.

It should've made contact, it should've hit.

But it seemed to phase through Richard's face, speckles of purple and red energy blinking in and out around where his fist was, whilst Richard was smirking at him…before the Dark Wolf and two Zerg claws punctured the Time Patroller. All three piecing his stomach in one strike, causing Trunks to vomit blood and be slightly lifted off the ground as his hand moved away from Richard's face, which seemed to return to normal.

"You can't hurt me, Trunks. There's only a few that can harm me, and certain powers…you don't have anything." Richard pulled the blade out and made the claws move back, letting Trunks hit the muddy ground face down. "I'm unique. Broken even. Heheheh…broken."

He bent down towards the time patroller, who's yellow hair faded back to light purple. "Go home, back to Universe 1, back to Conton City. I'll let this defeat haunt you."

He turned away, heading towards the pink haired girl and Anna as his claws turned back to their original colour, the crystallized one seemed to just have the stones break apart and dissolve away before touching the ground. Far behind him now, Trunks seemed to be covered in a green light, before disappearing. Richard knew Chronoa got him away from here. "Well that was an interesting distraction."

"You sure it was wise to let him go?" The girl asked.

"He ain't no Oswald like the one in Universe 2. He won't be a bother to me if we meet again. Now let's get Anna to Cybertron and proceed with the plan."

He suddenly went momentarily rigid.

He looked down to his right side of his stomach, noticing a piece of it had been blasted off, soon restored by his Zerg DNA.

Someone had shot him. He looked to where it must've come from…

Medi was back up now, and had formed a Mega-Cannon, the weapon pointed right at him. "Huh…A Medi that fights…"

"Let go of Anna, now." Medi was glaring at him and the pink haired girl.

Richard turned to her. "And why should I? What are you gonna go? You're not built for combat, you're a medic."

She fired the cannon again, striking him in the chest. Despite the small hole it left, he hadn't moved by the shot's impact. "I've adjusted myself should an occasion like this arise."

"Should an occasion like this—ohhh." Richard chuckled a little, as the hole healed. "I see, I see. So it did make a difference, what occurred two years ago and who the casualties were. So is Darkmega aware then?"

Medi didn't answer, instead she fired the weapon several more times. Now Richard was prepared, as he easily dodged each shot, beginning to run towards her as he did.

But as he got close she used an Area Steal chip to teleport behind, forming a wide sword and long sword in each hand and thrusting them forward, stabbing him in the back.

Richard was now certainly interested. "Well? Did you tell him? Did you say what you saw?" He spoke before Zerg veins surrounded him, making him vanish before her.

She disabled the swords and formed a Vulcan cannon on one arm, quickly turning around behind her and spotting Richard appearing there, firing the numerous bullets to his chest and stomach, the energy shots creating a smoke cloud as they hit.

When she stopped firing, she didn't wait to see him. Instead she once again used an Area Steal, getting away and readying a wide sword again.

Richard launched out of the smoke, Dark Wolf in hand and Medi managed to stop it stabbing her, blocking it with the sword. "Did you tell him you actually saw Jasmine die?"

"That doesn't matter!" Medi shoved him back, and formed another wide sword in her spare hand, swinging it downwards, which Richard simply sidestepped, before kicking her in the gut. He tried to swing his own sword down at her head, but she managed to recover from the winding hit used both blades to hold it at bay. "I'm a Navi who accepts the loss of others!"

"As you should for someone who has to care for others who could die at any moment! But doesn't it annoy you?" Richard moved the Dark Wolf away, and Medi took the chance, swinging both wide sword and stabbing them into the sides of Richard.

He was grinning. "Doesn't it anger you a Hu-Navi can grieve and feel the actual loss whilst you're just a collection of programming? You can just turn it off and move on, but they can't if it's too strong?"

Medi pulled the blades out and went for his head. He just ducked and then moved back, as she started to swing wildly at him, making him used the Dark Wolf to parry each strike. "Hu-Navis are unique! They can't control everything like we can!"

"So unique they can kill your operator and then sleep with you? You're willing to make love to him and be with him because you can't understand what you've lost, you've been MADE to not understand!"

He finally got his chance, dodging one blade as she made a lunge for him on hearing that, he swung the Dark Wolf and sliced into her left arm, making her stop her attacking for a second and try to check the wound, before he swung the weapon again, this time slicing her diagonally down her chest and stomach…she stared in shock, before the wide swords were disabled, and she fell to the ground.

Richard turned away, and headed back to the pink-haired girl and Anna, who was desperately trying to reach out to Medi, who was producing data fragments from her major and small wounds. "Alright, we need to move before anyone—"

He then saw it in the distance. Griffon. "Oh come on! That's it! We're moving right now!"

He used the Zerg veins as the summon drew close, and before the being could strike, Richard, the girl and Anna were gone. "No! She has been taken by the Chaotic entity as well! I must inform the others at once!"

Griffon briefly glanced down at the ground, at the bodies of the Time Patrollers and Medi, before giving off a cry and flying away.

Medi saw him go. She saw Richard take Anna.

Her crest icon on her hat was flashing red, meaning she was running low on energy, as well as having taken significant damage. She looked down to her chest wound, placing her hand over it and feeling a rush of pain on contact.

She knew it was serious, but she couldn't risk using battlechips now. If the recovery chips use too much energy to attempt to heal, there was no terminal nearby for her to transmit into.

She pulled the com-link out. "Dr Light…Dr Wily…I need help. I'm badly damaged and require aid."

Medi noticed there wasn't any static…nor response. "Dr Regal? Megaman? Charlie? Anyone?"

She looked at the com-link, having now noticed something worrying.

It was damaged. She kept it in a pocket within her dress. Richard's last strike must've…

She gave off a sigh, placing it down on the ground. "Looks like, I'll just have to wait and hope…"

---

On Cybertron, Chad and Darkmega were making there way through the vast, massive metropolis of the machine planet, the once proud home of the cybertronians, which was now nothing more than an eerie ruin, with the only sound around them being the humming of machinery, signaling the world being alive.

Chad wasn't in a talking mood with the dark Navi. He was both unhappy having to have him stick around, and focused on looking out for any possible ambushes. They've been thrown near Unicron's location for a reason by someone, and he suspected they'll find out sooner or later.

Darkmega was annoyed Chad wasn't talking. This was a chance for them to try and get their head together once again before they face Unicron, yet it was clear Chad was going to have none of it. It was after they headed down yet another street in the midst of these towering buildings, both knowing that in the distance, Unicron awaited them, he chose to talk. "Chad, we're gonna need to have THAT talk at one point you know."

Chad didn't answer.

"I'm serious. You know as well as I do that Cross Fusion only functions well if our synchro rating is good."

Chad knew what he was talking about. Cross Fusion requires both parties to get along well enough that they want some of the same things or have a strong bond. If their bond is strained fusion might not be possible or can cancel out in the midst of use. Navi's like to call it 'synchro rating'.

"So if we don't get along, we can forget fighting off Unicron again, alright? ...Are you listening?"

Chad answered him. "Trying to listen out for a trap or something following us other then your attempts to trick me back to working with you closely."

Darkmega quickly turned towards the mobian. "For the love of—I haven't done anything! I'm trying to make you realize I'm on your side! YOU turned against me! It's all in your goddamn mind Chad!"

Chad now stopped himself. "You're not on my side! I know you Darkmega! I know what Dark Navis are!"

"So what about Unicron huh!? What about Twinkle Park!?"

"So what about the—" Chad stopped and quickly raised his hand to Darkmega whilst looking back at where they came from.

"What the!? The fuck man! I'm trying to fix our issues here but now you're just—"

"Darkmega shut the hell up please! Something is back there! I just heard it!" Chad hissed.

Darkmega listened carefully…He could hear the faint hum of the machines. That was it. "…You sure you heard something?"

"I'm not stupid. I certainly heard something behind us…" Chad turned and looked, noticing just lights, buildings, shadows, a few sets of light blue glowing teeth visible from a corner of one said shadow—

Chad looked straight at them. There were three sets…and they started to move. Whatever these things were, he could barely see the outline. They were on all fours, their hands, or rather claws appeared to be deformed and large, and they bodies were bulky and covered in mutated scales, jagged, crystallized and clearly not normal.

The only thing that still stood out the most were those teeth, jagged and sharp…and had black drool landing on them. If Chad had to guess, these monsters were looking right at them. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Chad quickly fired a red beam from the palm of his hands, which the three creatures launched themselves out of the shadows they were coming briefly in the night lights of the city, confirming what Chad noticed before, and also registering the fact if they had any eyes, they must've been pitch black like the rest of their body, before vanishing into more shadows of the buildings, growling being heard from them now, their running was quiet, hard to hear.

Darkmega quickly got a Dark Cannon ready in one hand. "So…any ideas what the fuck they are?"

"Things we should try to kill! CHAOS CONTROL!" Chad fired a beam again, spotting one of the black beasts opening its mouth, showing the teeth again. The beam seemed to make contact and the creature seem to screech as it flew back, striking a metal wall, but besides that, it seemed to move away unharmed, being briefly seen sprinting from one building's shadow to another.

Darkmega fired a few shots towards where it had gone to, but with each explosive hit, there was no sign that he managed to hit the creature, alerting Chad to the fact he hadn't detected its movements this time.

…Nor did he pick up on the one that had come up behind them and jumped on him just as he turned around to try and see if there was anything.

He suddenly found himself on the steel ground, in blind panic his hands were now on the side of a massive glowing maw of teeth, an intense wave of heat coming from the sharp fangs of this beast, trying to hold it back as the black slime dribbled on his face. Thankfully a blast from the dark cannon Darkmega had knocked it away and caused it to retreat into the shadows with its kin.

Chad forced himself up, readying the blade of darkness. "Those things…I think their teeth are irradiated or something. Either that or their teeth are actually flames."

"How about we run for it and see if we can lose them?!" Darkmega started running down one of the streets. Chad had to agree and sprinted after him, trying to look out for those signature teeth.

They kept running, zig zagging down roads, turning at random to try and lose whatever the creatures were. The problem was Chad kept looking back, and each time he saw the three beings leaping from shadow to shadow, keeping up with them. "Darkmega I don't think this is gonna work for us!"

Then Chad heard something new. A clang of metal, followed by a roar, from one of the nearby rooftops. He quickly came to a stop and looking up the massive buildings, listening out further. Darkmega came to a stop and ran back to him. "Chad!?"

Another clang of metal. Something was up there somewhere. "I think someone might be up there! I got an idea!" he reached out to Darkmega, but stopped, looking at the Dark Navi, the feeling of hate creeping in.

Darkmega just grabbed his hand. This snapped Chad out of it. "CHAOS CONTROL!" in a flash of green, they both vanished.

Only to appear on one of the flat rooftops of this metropolis…and to find Chad having to stop a green energy scythe with the blade of darkness, whilst Darkmega squealing in terror and using the dark cannon to halt the gaping maw of Zasz. "THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA OSWALD!"

"Wait what in the fuck!?" The wielder of the energy scythe quickly pulled it back and took a few steps away from Chad and Darkmega. Whoever it was they were wearing a full set of GF armor. "Where the hell did you guys just come from?"

Zasz spat the dark cannon out, growling and moved back itself. "At least I have found you two…"

Chad soon figured out where he saw that type of weapon before. "…Have we met?"

"Chad I got an angry Zerg over here!" Darkmega quickly reminded him.

Zasz stood on it's feet, towering over Darkmega. "I have no quarrel with you Darkmega or Chad…my focus—" Looking over to the trooper. "—is the stench coming off him!"

"That makes two of us Zerg!" the trooper answered with, holding his scythe ready. "I don't know why you're here but the moment I saw you I knew you needed to die!"

"Then killing you is my top priority before I focus on the retrieval of these two!" Zasz roared out after saying that, returning to it's hunched position, getting ready to pounce.

"Well, this isn't how I expected all four of you to meet, but I guess it'll do. Should've known the scent of him would become your priority straight away Zasz."

That came from someone else entirely, causing Zasz to halt its plan to attack and look over at the speaker, along with everyone else.

It was a human, at least it seemed to be, wearing a black coat with a silver zip in the middle, and a hood covering over it's head and somehow, keeping it's face hidden in darkness, its arms folded. When it spoke it sounded male.

As he unfolded his arms and seem to plan on walking over towards them, one of the black beasts appeared, leaping up from the side of the building, claws out, teeth wide open, coming down towards the newcomer.

The black coated figure simply seemed to point a finger up where the creature was coming from…

And a Chaos beam shot out, obliterating the beast entirely as it gave a final cry of pain.

"…And three, two, one…" The figure said aloud. Before the other two beasts leapt up from the side of the wall behind the figure, trying to ambush him.

He just spun around, aiming his hands at where they were and fired a pair of Chaos beams, destroying them…whilst the four with him just stood there and watched, he seemed to flex his fingers a little after, looking at his hands before sighing. "I suspected they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Although, I'm surprised he sent these weak ones against you." He turned, looking at Chad. "Underestimating people was always his thing though."

"And who the hell are you supposed to be? First, I fight this Zerg spawn, then appears the brat from the space station who seemed to save my dark self, and some sort of dark Navi is now with him, and now you and those things!" The trooper was clearly getting frustrated.

"Those 'things' I just killed were Chaotic Zerg. Mutated hell spawns that are a result of something with Zerg DNA that can create others whilst fucked up thanks to chaotic energy. Those teeth are made of Phazon, very nasty if they managed to nibble on you. As for who I am…I'll explain shortly, but I suggest you cast that feeling of hate aside for your Zerg companion…granted the last time I knew you that was almost impossible for you to do, but I think you have a better chance here."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to take us to someone else, then, I'll explain things. Chaos control!"

Chad, Darkmega, Zasz and the trooper all found themselves covered in a brief green light, before appearing in…what could be describe, as an abyss.

There was, high, high above them a small light, casting its rays down into this dark, deep metal place they were now within. There were walls nearby, very, very dimly lit by small blue lights, so weak they did nothing to the darkness surrounding them.

Chad and the others glanced around bar the hooded, who seemed to be waiting for them to notice something, which Chad soon picked up on and spotted, several meters away on the ground. "Roll!"

Chad rushed over to the body of Roll, who he quickly held and shook a little. "Hey! Wake up Roll!"

…She didn't respond. She was weakly breathing as he soon noticed on observing her body, but that was it. "Roll, hey! How did you get here? What happened?"

The trooper quickly came over, disabling his energy scythe and bending down near Chad. "It's the Navi who helped me…let me have a look at her." He said as Darkmega went to join them.

"There's no need Dr Richard." The hooded figure told them all. "She's been damaged. Nothing but a major repair sequence will fix it at this point."

Chad straight away looked at the trooper. "Dr…Richard?"

The trooper stared at him, then over at the hooded figure. "…You know?"

"I know all four of you." The figure then looked to Zasz. "I know who each of you are. At least you know why you desire to fight him now, and why he does with you."

Zasz looked away, slowly nodding, before joining the others. "So you know us, being, but we do not know you."

The figure nodded. "Yes. And I can't tell you who exactly I am. But You need to work together if you're going to overcome a threat that is rising in your universe."

Darkmega had a few questions. "Hold up. Who is this Dr Richard? This Zerg thing? What's the matter with Roll here that a few recovery chips won't fix?"

The figure seemed to think for a moment, before placing his hands behind his back. "Well Darkmega, Dr Richard shouldn't come as a surprise to you personally. You already knew the truth about your Richard."

It didn't take long for Darkmega to figure that out, as he turned to look at the trooper, who removed his helmet, revealing himself to look almost precisely like Richard, except for two noticeable differences. The colour of his irises were a light blue, and around his right eye, was a red monocle that was similar to Wily's and Regal's. "Well the 'Doctor' part is just to keep with family tradition, you don't have to say that bit out loud. I know a lot about electronics, robots AND Navi's though, it's what happens when you hang around with my family and spend a few years in isolation with data logs."

Chad was stunned. "Y-You're Richard…but…"

Darkmega answered the confusion that he knew was beginning to form around Chad's mind. "It's his light self, Chad. The Richard we know, the Richard we've seen with the Zerg claws, is the dark self. He is a Dark Soul."

Chad went from shock, to anger. "You knew, and you didn't goddamn say?"

"Chad would it have made a difference? He's still the Richard you know and was friends with. I doubt you would've turned on him."

"I would've been more cautious if I knew!"

The hooded figure shook his head. "Believe me when I have to agree with Darkmega here. It would never have made any difference to you. You would've made yourself believe he could be saved, like Darkmega."

Chad glared at Darkmega a little more, before focusing on the figure, still holding Roll in his arms. "I would've done something."

"You would've done nothing. That's the way it always goes. Just tagging along for the ride. Now with the Zerg here." The figure motioned at it. "That is a she, and her name is Zasz. She's the hidden 8th clone of Richard, the Dark Soul one. Although she's much more different then the one I saw before, not only because that one was spawned from a dark soul rather than a cloning facility."

The other three looked to the Zerg. "You've met us all before then." Zasz concluded.

"In a manner of speaking, a different time, a different place, a different set of scenarios. I'm surprised you haven't ask the most obvious question."

Chad, on cue, seemed to do so. "Where are we?"

The figure looked around, then up at the faded light. "The depths of Cybertron. The long empty heart of this world. A place where Primus once slept, before Unicron helped him move to Templus to find a new, cozier place to sleep…It's lovely and quiet here. I like it. It's a far cry from the place I once visited, that was never silent, that wouldn't ever sleep…"

Chad slowly looked down to Roll. "So…What's happened to her?"

"He doesn't like her very much, at all." The hooded figure looked at her himself. "I'm surprised he didn't mangle her just to show how horrible he could be to her. But I suppose he wants her alive for now."

"Who doesn't like her? What did he do?"

"He who wanted you, Darkmega, Dr Richard, Zasz and Roll all here. I'll call him, for you, the Dark One. Whilst you can call me what I deserve to be called…Nameless. He's severed and damaged all her senses and feelings. She can't hear, see, speak, taste or touch. She can't even move her limbs now. An almost lifeless corpse."

Chad held her a little closer now. "…Why would he do this to her?"

"He wants you angry. He wants you hunting him. Like others had done before."

"…Where is he?"

"He now resides within the body of the Dark Soul of Richard, leading him down a path which he never would've known otherwise."

"So 'Nameless', why is he within that particular body?" Zasz wanted to know.

"Because it carried his means of transport. He's been waiting for a long time to begin this plan. Along with his many allies." The hooded figure turned away. "They know what he plans, what he plots, they've been waiting for this to come to pass as well."

"How many allies does Richard, well, the Dark One that's inside Richard, have?" Chad stared at Nameless.

"..." The hooded figure looked up at the faint, distant light above them, the only think within this darkness, slowly reaching up to it. "...A long time ago, nineteen of us tried to fight him, in a place called Abyss...all of us fell. One by one they died before me. My first wife, my second wife, my best friends, my family, those who wanted to help end this nightmare once and for all, to seek proper closure." Slowly he lowered his hand, looking at it, clenching it into a fist. "All of them fell before I gave in, before I was finally defeated."

Darkmega felt bad for him. "Wow. I'm, so sorry...That must've been horrible."

"It was. It's now worse knowing that they're out there again, across all the Universes. I know three of them are around somewhere on Cybertron right now, watching things unfold...Blue, Lucy, Ruth...I've seen them wearing the same outfit as me. Heh, probably he gave them those to mock me trying to hide away. To try and make a difference…"

"Who were Lucy, Ruth and Blue to you?" Dr Richard asked in curiosity.

Nameless looked away from his hand at the ground, before slowly grabbing the sides of his hood, and pulling it down, revealing a man who looked in his forties, with a neat trimmed goatee, medium brown hair and deep blue colored irises as he turned to look at them. "...Ruth and Lucy were my wives. Blue is my brother-in-law."

Chad stared at him…and something felt…similar now. "Who are you?"

"I am Nameless, as I said. I like you, am of the Primus bloodline. I lived my life many, many years ago, seeking peace beyond this. But that dark one called me back to the living. He cast me down, but Death allowed me a chance to go after him."

"So why? Why are you letting us know of all this instead of just dealing with him now you know where he is?" Chad now asked.

"…Because despite all my battles, all my power, all of my abilities and strengths…I have lost the one thing that could defeat him. My power and brute strength is worthless to him without it. He only sees those with that gift as people he wishes to fight." Nameless chuckled. "Don't get me wrong. I can hurt him, I can destroy parts of him, but I can't kill him. He'll always come back."

He then pointed to those before him. "But you have a chance, some of you will pave the way to that opening, and the others will finish the job. And this is a problem you can't ignore…because what he has done to Roll is minor…compared to what he wants to do to everyone you all know and care about."

Chad looked down to Roll for several moments, before nodding and looking at Nameless. "Got it. Where will he be?"

"At Unicron's head. If everything goes the way he suspects, then Diamas will be there as well along with Chaos…you'll have to deal with them before confronting him."

Dr Richard got his scythe ready. "Then send us near it, and we'll take care of this."

"I can't I'm sorry. It took my energy to get you here. But—" Nameless pointed to, what vaguely could be seen at the walls, was the outline of a tunnel "—You can get back to the surface that way."

Chad wanted to curse his luck that they had to take a long detour. "Alright, if I leave Roll here—"

"Bad idea." Nameless quickly said.

"Huh?"

"If she's left here, the Dark One will come for her again and finish what he started, I can't stop him."

"Relax, I got something we can use." Dr Richard then pulled out of his armored pockets, a red PET device with a crest symbol on that was of a blue flame. "I used to have a Navi in here called Burnerman but I've had to…use him, for spare parts. We can transmit Roll into here and keep her safe."

Chad nodded, and after aiming the PET towards her, Dr Richard managed to download her into it's system, with her breaking down into data fragments and flowing into the device, appearing on it's screen now. He gave the PET to Chad. "So we haven't been properly introduced by the way."

Chad took the PET and placed it in his pocket. "I'm Chad Oswald."

Darkmega then spoke. "I'm Darkmega, the dark self to Megaman."

"And we now know who we both are to eachother." Zasz concluded the introductions with, before heading off towards the tunnel on all fours.

The other three soon started to follow suit as Dr Richard spoke. "Well my full name is Richard Wily. Call me Dr Rich for short. Grandson of Wily and Son of Regal, but I'm guessing you already knew."

"The eyepiece was a major hint." Darkmega answered, looking over at Dr Richard as they slowly vanished from view for Nameless.

Nameless soon found the place quiet again…

But he knew they would come soon. He enjoyed the quiet, but it would make his mind play tricks, it would make him hear the whispers all over again, the whispers of those in that dead grey mansion he had to stay in for so long.

This time the whispers didn't last long, as a voice he knew soon spoke out beside him, the person appearing from a mass of Zerg Veins close by before approaching him and looking over at the tunnel. "So you let them nick my toy did you? That wasn't very nice 'Nameless'."

It was Richard. Nameless knew that just by his arrival alone. "Come here to check? Or for a fight?"

Richard looked over at Nameless, chuckling a little, before he looked solemn. "Just to check, not a fight."

"You haven't battled me since that day."

"That's because you've been there. You've seen what it's like. You're the only other one I know. I can respect that."

"…Why do you want that to occur? Why do you want them to come to you?"

He felt Richard's hand gently go on his shoulder. "You know why. Deep down you do. We've been around the block over and over…It needs to stop. We need to change course. End the cycles."

"This won't stop it."

"No…" Richard then moved away from Nameless, and as he walked away, the Zerg veins formed around his body, covering him entirely. "But this'll weaken them more so, every divergence weakens their power. We'll eventually be free."

With that, Richard was gone, leaving Nameless in the dim light, circled around him. "…We'll have to see which way this ends, as every divergence has two choices."

---

Diamas stood on a hill as the darkened clouds above him hovered in a near state of stillness.

Walking up beside him was Kel'Thurzard. Beyond them in the distance, was the mountains containing Jie Ting.

Diamas held his Master Sword before him, it's tip embedded in the ground. "So…is that them?" Diamas was looking at wave of red armored troopers in the far distance, heading into the mountains.

Kel'Thurzard nodded. "Yeah. The heroes are in with that lot…Zelda, is in with that lot."

"Then I must go and fulfill my mission." Diamas lifted up his sword and put it within its holder, and started to walk away.

"Diamas wait!" Kel'Thurzard called out, making the Hyrulian stop. "We need to talk before you commit to this."

Diamas looked back at him. "What is there to speak of? I will get the triforce, and I will become Unicron."

"…" Kel'Thurzard felt something, a pang of guilt, something he hadn't done for a very long time. "I want to make sure that I am clear with what I said to you before at our first reunion. I will support you in your endeavor. But it doesn't have to end with Unicron."

Diamas looked a little surprised. "You are thinking of an alternate to me returning to power?"

"You said it yourself. That machine twisted your thoughts. To see you again as you are has, helped me look back on my own time. I have committed acts of crime that no punishment can ever match. You reminded me of the time before that. Despite what others may wish of you, I would prefer you remain yourself."

"Three million years was a long time ago Kel."

"Thanks to my undeath state, I remember it all clearly. Every day of my life. Those days before Primus turned his back on us were some of the best I had…I'm not saying I can go back from being the monster that I am, but I'm saying you don't have to be that again."

Diamas stared at his ally. The way Kel'Thurzard spoke was not his usual confident, smug self at Diamas knew. "…I understand. When the time comes, I will think on your words." With that, he wandered off down the hill, as Kel'Thurzard got on his com-link.

"All units, commence the attack."