Bayonetta and the group had already arrived in the next world as Bayonetta saw a window display of outfits and approached and imagined herself in them before seeing a glimpse of Viola falling into the clouds before the window cracked. "Kitty…" she said.
"Viola might be in trouble…" Marianne said. "I hope nothing happened to her while she was chasing Luka."
The group then began exploring as they found Paris in ruins.
"(HQ, do you read? Our weapons are completely ineffective! What are these thing…)" a member of the COS asked in French on a nearby police radio. "(HQ, come in! What should we do? What are our orders?!)"
The group soon entered a plaza-like area as a Virga spawned before them. The group quickly defeated it and continued on before the area turned purple as the image of a large bat-like demon chasing two Stratus appeared as a vision soon entered the group's minds. A Chaos Gear was seen in a glass case as two women stood before it.
"There it is. Our new prize." one of the women said, it was Bayonetta's mother, Rosa. though she wears the Robes of Banishing as her original incarnation, but they are split into shades of red and blue, and instead of a butterfly mask, she wears a monocle. "Mon fille, do a sweep of security." she said, turning to the other woman.
Rosa β4
The Witch of Steel
The other woman had to be the Bayonetta incarnation of this world. She had blonde hair in a ponytail, and her getup is not unlike that of a magician, with a dapper suit covered by a matching red and blue cape and hat.
Bayonetta β4
The Phantom Thief Witch
Just then, a cuff attached to a chain launched out and wrapped around Rosa B4 as it was revealed to be another version of Enzo.
"Ha ha ha, I have you now, Papillon d'Ombre! No one is above the law!" Enzo B4 said.
"A pleasure as always, Inspector Enzeau." Rosa B4 said, unaware that a pair of Stratus were stealing the Chaos Gear.
"'A pleasure,' she says. Let's see how pleasurable you find jail!" Enzo B4 said.
"Maitresse, there's trouble. We've no time for the likes of him!" B4 said.
"What! I'm taking you in too!" Enzo B4 said as the two Stratus made their escape with the Chaos Gear.
"After them. We must not let it fall into their hands!" Rosa B4 said, breaking free of the chains with a pair of gauntlet-like weapons as she and B4 gave chase.
"Get back here!" Enzo B4 called to no avail. "Merde! My wife hates it when I work late!"
Rosa B4 and B4 gave chase as a portal opened in front of the two Homunculus as they went through with Rosa B4 following.
"VRELP LONSHIN!" B4 chanted, summoning a large bat-like demon. "Find the gear, and maman!" she ordered as the Infernal vanished while she looked on in concern, the vision soon ending.
"Cool! So in this world, a Bayonetta actually grew up together with a version of Rosa!" Makoto said.
"And they're Phantom Thieves! So cool!" Shiki added.
"Mummy…" Bayonetta muttered.
"Oh, sorry Bayonetta." Makoto apologized.
"Huh? What are you apologizing for?" Shiki asked.
"Bayonetta…lost her mother. She died during the Witch Hunts." Simon said.
Just then, the area shook and looked as if it was glitching before a red portal opened in the sky and flying out of it were a pair of bat-like infernals, one red and one blue, who soon fused together into one very familiar demon to the group.
PRESSER OF DESTRUCTION
MICTLANTECUHTLI
"It's Mictlantecuhtli! I thought that bat demon looked familiar!" Ginseng recognized.
"Uh, did anybody know he could split into two like that?" Leilani asked.
"It looks like the two halves are brothers." Simon said. "The red one is the older brother, and the blue one is the younger."
Mictlantecuhtli then screeched out to the group, trying to say something.
"Uh, anybody speak bat demon?" Connor said.
"He's saying that he and his brother need help. " Marianne translated.
"Marianne is right." Natyal said. "They need our help to find her master's mother."
"Asking us to come along? Then we'd better be off." Bayonetta said as Mictlantecuhtli's symbol appeared on her back.
The group then headed into an underground parking lot and found it pitch black.
"So, where do you think in the Color-Verse this World belongs to?" Leonie asked.
"Let's see… in this world, Bayonetta and Rosa are Phantom Thieves travelling the world and reclaiming lost Umbran treasures. It sounds like your typical Standard Universe world akin to the Thieves we know." Kokonoe siad.
"When we get back to our own world, think we should let Jack and his crew know about this little adventure?" Connor wondered.
"Nah. Doubt they'd believe us if we tell them." Simon said.
"Alright, fair enough. Now how are we gonna get outta this pitch black parking lot?" Connor said.
"C'mon, isn't it obvious? We gotta use the bat brothers." Hitomi said. "Those two can use echolocation to find their way around, can't they?"
"Yeah, they are bats after all." Balthus said.
"VRELP!" Bayonetta chanted, summoning Mictlantecuhtli as he released a cry that showed the underground lot, allowing the group to reach the other end as they made it back up to street level and saw several Stratus spawning.
Behind them spawned a tower-type Homunculi similar to Castellanus, only this one was decked out in advanced purple armor with the top segment composed of what appear to be satellite dishes.
Heavy Distraction Support Unit
NIMBOSTRATUS
It then released a wave of energy, causing the multiple Stratus to turn invisible as Bayonetta narrowly dodged one of their attacks. "VRELP LONSHIN!" she chanted, summoning Mictlantecuhtli as he released an echo wave, revealing the Homunculi's locations with a red outline around them.
(Cue- The Heavies *3rd Climax Mix*- Bayonetta 3)
"Not as sneaky as you think, huh?!" Travis asked.
"This guy operates the same way Castellanus did. Leave knocking it off its podium to Mictlantecuhtli and whatever Simon summons!" Kokonoe said.
"FONAAR!" Simon chanted, summoning Diomedes as he swung his bladed head at the Nimbostratus. He and Mictlantecuhtli worked together effectively to knock/cut down the segments of Nimbostratus's tower one by one until only its body remained.
Bayonetta tried out the use of the new weapons she got from World B3 on Nimbostratus then. Jeanne B3's microphone stand spear, the Ribbit-Libido BZ55, and B3's fans and talons, Simoon. She started out with rapid spear thrusts with the Ribbit-Libido before quickly switching to Simoon and firing blades of air from them, she finished her combo by masquerading with Malphas. "Tornado!" she called, launching mini tornadoes that swirled around the Homunculus as it was soon destroyed.
The group continued on through the streets of the ravaged Paris before the area around them shifted as Ginnungagap leaked through.
"It looks like we're on the clock. Better find that gear quickly." Bayonetta said before she and the group spotted Rosa B4 fighting several Stratus and Nebulosus. "Is that…" she pondered as Rosa chased after the Homunculi
"Looks like she's still kickin and fighting strong, better hurry before anythings done to her." DW typed.
The group followed after her only for a Cumulonimbus to fly out from underneath as it floated over the exit.
"Didn't anyone teach you not to interfere in family business?" Bayonetta asked.
"We can't fight it like this right now, keep moving!" Yuri said as the group jumped across the platforms, avoiding the Cumulonimbus' lasers before reaching the exit and continuing their chase after Rosa B4 before the Cumulonimbus blocked their way before it was soon defeated. The group then arrived at an intersection of sorts as they saw Rosa B4 with the Chaos Gear floating in her left hand, only there was something wrong as she had a tether similar to the Homunculi on her back.
The group slowly approached as Rosa B4 took notice and opened fire on them with a gatling gun attached to one of her tonfa gauntlets. The group narrowly avoided the barrage of bullets as Bayonetta circled around and activated witch time before aiming her guns, hesitating to fire before leaping into the air and divekicking down as Rosa B4 fused her gauntlets into a shield and blocked.
"Mummy!" Bayonetta called as Rosa B4 looked up, her eyes glowing green as Bayonetta leaped back before Rosa B4 fused her weapon again as it opened like a door before a crane claw popped out and tried to crush Bayonetta before she leaped back to the group. "What have they done to her?!" she asked, referring to Singularity and Tormal.
"It looks like she's being controlled somehow. Be careful, guys." X said.
(Cue- Battle for the Umbran Throne *3rd Climax Mix*- Bayonetta 3)
Rosa began attacking with her tonfa gauntlets, showing no mercy to her own blood, or another version of her.
"This is wrong. Why are we fighting a version of Bayonetta's mother?" Picolletta asked.
"Looks like Tormal and Singularity wanna play another sick game with us." Connor said. "But what are they trying to gain from it?"
"Focus on not getting killed by Rabid Rosa first, Connor!" Yuzuriha said.
The group fought back against Rosa B4 as they avoided her attacks and struck right back.
"Slash through! Pale Bringer!" Hyde said as he rapidly slashed at Rosa with Insulator before finishing with a rising upper slash.
Rosa B4 then summoned multiple doors before jumping into one of them as they all circled in on the group at high speed before stopping and surrounding the group.
"Back to back! Don't let her get the jump on us!" Connor said as the group stood back to back with each other. As soon as Rosa B4 popped out of one of the doors, Starlight summoned her Starlight Shield to block the attack before being knocked back.
After that, Rosa B4 got a little more serious and slammed both of her tonfas together to make a door. "Un! Deux! Trois!" she called, appearing from left, right, and above before coming through the door in a Demon Masquerade form that resembled some sort of mechanical marionette. "Welcome to the happy puppet show!" she declared before attacking as she laughed maniacally, separating herself into separate parts and whirling at the group in a frenzy of blades.
Diomedes soon appeared as he dropped a naginata of some sorts into Simon's hands. "This is Thrace, wield it with pride, young Umbran." he said before disappearing.
"Let's even the odds. Charge forward!" Simon said as he took the form of a demonic centaur knight with long bladed fingers on both hands. "Accept your defeat as you fall here!" he said before disappearing as multiple slashes appeared and occured in the blink of an eye around Rosa B4 as Simon soon reappeared and reverted.
"Had enough?" Leonie asked.
Rosa B4 had far from it. "RIOR LADNA!" she chanted as a large door popped up behind her as she snapped her fingers before backflipping towards it as an Umbran Armor flew out which she grabbed onto and flew away on.
(end song)
"She's getting away!" Leonie said.
"Oh no she's not." Bayonetta said. "VRELP LONSHIN!" she chanted, summoning Mictlantecuhtli which the group got onto as they began chasing after Rosa B4 before multiple police cars were seen driving after them.
"Damn it! No wings can save you all from justice!" Enzo B4 called on a megaphone.
"Just let us handle this!" Bayonetta said as she blew a kiss.
"Have you gone mad? That's it! I'm taking you all in too! Just wait!" Enzo B4 declared.
"Yak-yak-yak, just shut the hell up already!" Simon called.
"Ugh… Enzo on the other side of the law may be worse." Bayonetta said.
"Definitely much worse." Simon said.
(Cue- The Hunters and the Hunted- Bayonetta 3)
Mictlantecuhtli flew right after Rosa B4, who was already way ahead of them on her Umbran armor as the bat demon blasted at any Homunculi crossing their path. Meanwhile, Enzo B4 and his massive squad backup were chasing them from below.
"Kiss your freed goodbye. Papillon d'Ombre!" Enzo B4 said. "One of you get me a rocket launcher! That should stop her in her tracks!"
"That guy is a real pain in the ass." Ragna said.
"Just you wait, Papillon! In the name of Enzeau, I swear I'll clip your wings!" Enzo B4 declared parts of Ginnungap leaked through as several large stalactites stopped him and his squad from pursuing further.
Stoj blew a raspberry at Enzo B4.
"Au revoir!" Ash called.
The group continued their chase before Rosa B4 leaped off her Umbran Armor onto another intersection plaza area.
(end song)
"RIOR LADNA!" Rosa B4 chanted as a summon circle appeared in the center and rising out of it was the sight of an all too familiar clock tower. It is adorned in the symbols of the Umbra Witches and topped with a red crescent moon not unlike found in other Infernal Demons. And the massive eye atop its spire revealed one thing…it's alive.
SPIRE OF THE FORBIDDEN
UMBRAN CLOCK TOWER
"No way…" Simon said,
"That giant clock was an Infernal the whole time?!" Hyde asked in disbelief.
"No I don't think so… It must've ended up in Inferno along with any Umbra Witches inside it." Simon said.
Simon was right on the mark. The Umbran Clock tower was an Infernal Demon… in some sense. Having pieces of itself sent to Inferno along with the souls of the Elder and countless Umbra witches inside it during the witch hunts,
The Umbran Clock Tower then dropped down a set of stairs at the bottom as Rosa B4 walked up before turning to the group as it closed up.
(Cue- Kraken *Emerged*- Bayonetta 3)
The Umbran Clock Tower revealed an array of weaponry in each section of the tower including mechanical claws, giant Gatling guns, grenade launchers, and a bell which can trigger Witch Time when it is rung.
"Holy crap, this thing's armed to the teeth!" Connor said.
"This Infernal is unlike anything we've ever seen." Dhar said.
The Umbran Clock Tower then fired a fusillade of missiles at the group.
"Incoming!" Ignatz said.
Just then, Simon felt a sensation on his back, something coming to his mind in that one instant. Instinctively, he then shouted out an incantation….
"CANILU!" He chanted as rising up in front of the group was an Infernal resembling a gorgon's severed head, its main features are obscured by a red, crescent-adorned veil. Protruding from the back of its head is a long, thick snake tail. Kept together in a scaly, ornamented headband are seven other slithering heads. Each head has gold plating, and red blades on their snouts, each possessing sharp teeth, a skinny blue tongue, and an eye inside the mouth. It then let out a mighty cry as the missiles were deflected back at the Umbran Clock Tower. The clock tower quickly retaliated and shot them all down using its Gatling guns, as the new Infernal presented itself.
SPINNER OF DESTINY
HYDRA
"Hey, it's Hydra!" Makoto said.
"What's she doing here? I'm not sure SImon ever formed a contract with her yet…" Noel said.
"It was destiny that led me to you all." Hydra said. "I am here to offer my services to the young master here. Do not fret though, for I am not under Singularity's control."
"That sounds cool to me. We could use all the hands… or, heads, we can get." Connor said. "Right Simon?
"But of course, it's always good to have another singer on the team." Simon said.
"Excellent. My services are now yours, young Umbran." Hydra said as her symbol depicting her head and multiple tentacles appeared on Simon's back.
"Alright, let's wrap this up." Yuri said.
The group continued fighting the Umbran Clock Tower before Mictlantecuhtli charged up with lightning before diving down as he clashed with the Umbran Clock Tower's claws before piercing through as the group skidded on him on the road before jumping off as the Umbran Clock Tower slowly vanished as Rosa B4 was seen falling from it before hitting the ground.
(end song)
Mictlantecuhtli's symbol disappeared from Bayonetta's back as she ran over to Rosa B4 with the group following behind. "Mummy…" she said as she held Rosa B4 up as she regained consciousness and looked as if she was struggling before pushing Bayonetta off as she stood up and grabbed her weapons before dropping them.
"Forget about me! Destroy this abomination…now!" Rosa B4 said.
Bayonetta hesitated, aiming one of her guns at the alternate version of her mother, hesitant to pull the trigger. At that moment, Tormal showed up behind Rosa B4.
"So, the unstoppable Umbra witch has a weakness after all." Tormal said. "You can kill anything put in front of you, but you can't kill your own mother, can you?" he asked.
"How dare you and Singularity force Bayonetta to go through this!" Lysithea said.
"It was this world's Rosa's own fault for leaving her daughter behind to fall into our trap." Tormal said. "Leaving those you consider your friends and allies behind…it's all so easy to do, isn't it? To betray those close to you."
"Oh, like you did? I'm sure you know all about betraying people. You were with a Hero alliance in your dimension, weren't ya? Before you betrayed them and almost wiped out your whole dimension?"
"You have it all wrong… I didn't betray them. They betrayed me first!" Tormal said as his face turned demonic at the end for a moment.
(Music Shift: Odio, the Lord of Dark - Live A Live Remake)
"I'm sorry, what?" Connor said.
"The Hero Alliance in your dimension… Betrayed you? That can't be true!" Noel said.
"It is, deny it if you wish." Tormal said. "Let me tell you my story. It is long overdue. You are right about the claim that I served in my dimension's own Hero Alliance. Just like yours, we traveled the Multiverse, visiting and helping other worlds, until that one fateful day. When everyone discovered who Ace was in his past life."
"Who I was in my past life?" Ace asked. "You mean… I wasn't always a Prince of Devaloka?"
"Telling you about it now would be too shocking for you. But the fact of the matter is, on that day, in the Earth Kingdom in the final Battle against the Titans, you people in the Alliance in my dimension did nothing to prevent a horrible tragedy."
"What tragedy? We saved the whole multiverse from the Titans! I know, I was there!" Connor said.
"At the cost of Tsuki and Corona's existence?" Tormal asked.
"That's right… to erase the Titans' powers, Gaia and the Olympos XII used all their power in a formation together. And at the end of it, they faded away into sleep for a thousand years." Natalie remembered.
"Had Titamon's awakening been stopped, it could've been prevented. But nobody did anything to stop it, and the Olympos XII ended up having to sacrifice themselves." Tormal said. "Everyone knew how close Corona and Tsuki were to Ace, he considered them as family, and yet…! You all didn't bat a single eye! You all didn't do anything to help him find a way to bring them back, or even save them from that accursed Sealing Formation!"
Tormal was silent as he composed himself.
"And that's when I realized in that moment, that the Hero Alliance cared nothing for each other. After all, what are we but an amalgamated gathering of people from other worlds?"
"And lemme guess, you decided to destroy your own dimension because of the thought that everybody else betrayed you?" Hilda asked.
"Not a thought, a definite fact. But that wasn't what led to that. The last straw was…you cut my brothers down." Tormal said, shocking everyone. "It wasn't enough that they abandoned my brother's friends… they killed them. Vows of friendship, brotherhood…it was all a lie! And so, that was when I descended into darkness. Becoming one with it, renouncing former names and titles. Gone was Spade Neptune, the Dark Mystic Knight. In its place, I claimed… the Dark Templar, Tormal."
"(So that's what led him to this dark path…)" Zi-O thought after listening to his story. "(Damn… I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Tormal. And yet… your actions are too sinful for redemption.)"
"So then why come to our dimension? Why torment Spade?" Roy asked.
"To show him the truth. I met Singularity, and after we worked together to drive my dimension to near extinction, he helped me reach this colorverse. But time had not progressed to that fated day yet. Your dimension was years behind mine. So I sought out Spade and manipulated him into killing the Shadow Knights, make it seem like they were out to do away with him. The reason why? I wanted to show him that at any moment in time, he would be betrayed by someone close to him."
"So that's what you're after with Spade. You don't just want to torment him, you want to imprint on him. In other words, you want him to hate you so much, he becomes you." Orie said. "Then again, that's what you admitted to on Onigashima. Along with destroying our dimension. You could've done that easily by Kaido's side. Why give that up?"
"Kaido's plan to declare endless war on the Colorverse was not the level of destruction I desired from it. What I truly waited for was Singularity to finally invade. Of course, he was occupied in all that time because he was battling the Bayonetta of my dimension. And now, here we are. So then, 'heroes', what will you do now? Here Rosa stands before her daughter from another world, as the latter cannot pull the trigger. What will you do? Will you prove my point right and do the deed for her? Will you take the fall?"
"No, they won't." Bayonetta said. "I'll do it!" she said, firing a charged shot straight through Rosa B4's chest, destroying the Homunculus attached in the process along with her umbran watch as she dropped the Chaos Gear before taking a few steps back into the clouds.
"Thank you, Cereza…" Rosa B4 said as she held her right hand out before falling into the clouds as she was erased. Bayonetta closed her eyes as she looked down in sadness.
Tormal looked on as he witnessed Bayonetta doing the deed anyway. "I didn't expect you to do it yourself."
"Guess you were wrong about us backstabbing Bayonetta." Connor said as Bayonetta went for the fallen Chaos Gear.
"Yes… but betrayal comes in many forms." Tormal said. "For instance, how do you think the Bayonetta of this world will react, knowing her mother was just killed by an impostor?"
And that was when Mictlantecuhtli swooped in and grabbed the Chaos Gear as Bayonetta grabbed Rosa B4's weapon and opened fire on the Infernal as it dodged before splitting into two.
"And I thought we were becoming friends." Bayonetta said.
"We gotta go after him!" Hilda said.
"Wait, what about..?" Makoto asked, turning to where Tormal was to see he was gone.
"Dangit, why does he always keep popping in and out?!" Peacock asked in frustration.
"Leave 'em for now, P. There's only one version of Spade we've gotta worry about right now." DW typed. "He's gotta be here in this World somewhere. Call it a Octo-Ink-Vampire sense."
"...! Dark Water's correct." Rime realized as she sensed something. "He is in this world as well."
"Then let's go find him." Connor said.
"Spade…please hold on." Ace said, holding his pendant.