HuniePop: Dimensional Crisis

Chapter 12: Fall of a Hero

The skies over Melromarc were filled with dark rain clouds as puddles filled the streets from the amount of rainwater falling. To be painfully honest, the setting pretty much matched everyone's mood because we had lost someone who was dear to us. Max… our leader and our trusted friend… was gone. It had only been two days since he died and all of us had no idea what to do with him gone. In the hopes of easing the pain of our loss, Queen Mirellia had us attend a private memorial service in honor of Max's sacrifice and everything he had done for the country even though we hadn't found Max's body after the battle. The only ones who weren't in attendance with us for the memorial service were Tanya, who was still actively searching for wherever Max's body was, Ainz and his followers, who had returned to Nazarick to try and locate where Ichigo and her crew had gone, Adora, who had gone off somewhere unknown, and Nikki, who was taking Max's death the hardest out of all of us. However, her grief wasn't anything compared to the immense amount of guilt that I was feeling right now.

"…And so, we honor Max's service and his sacrifice to Melromarc. Though some of us here have not known him long, it was evident in his actions that he fought for the good of others more than himself. For he was a warrior with a heart based in justice. A loving father and husband. A leader who always stood by his team even in the darkest of times. Does anyone wish to share their thoughts?" Mirellia asked, prompting Kazuma to raise his hand.

"Uh, yeah... doesn't this all seem pointless? I mean, not to sound like an asshole or anything, but we haven't found a body or anything yet... so, isn't it a bit early to be doing all this?" he asked.

"Mother thought that it would help ease everyone's pain in the short term... even if he might not actually be gone," Melty replied.

"It also prepares us for the worst in case Max might ACTUALLY be dead," Mirellia added before we heard the door opening and turned to see Tanya entering the throne room, partially covered in dirt with mud all over her boots.

"There's nothing out there. I've triple-checked the entire area where you said he fell and his body isn't out there. My only guesses are some animals dragged him off or someone carried his body off after the fight was over without us knowing. Either way, I can't find him," Tanya said as some servants of Mirellia's quickly wiped the mud off of her shoes just so it didn't get on the carpet.

"Is it possible that the Dark Enforcers have him?" Mirellia asked.

"Maybe. I'm... kind of a bit out of my league here, to be honest."

"I think that all of us are at this point. I mean, Ichigo bulldozed right through us with barely any trouble. Ainz was pretty much the strongest out of all of us and she fractured half of his body," Subaru said.

"It is evident that Ezili's powers far outweigh those of Ainz's at this point, from what Adora has told me," Mirellia said.

"And where is the goddess herself exactly? Funny how she isn't here to mourn with us. If that's what we're calling this, that is," Audrey asked.

"Her battle with Ezili left her drained and there were some fissures in the multiverse that she had to attend to before they got worse," Mirellia stated before I left the throne room and went back to our quarters. On the way there, I heard the sound of Nikki sobbing and quietly peeked into her room to see her lying on the bed, crying as Lara was tugging on her shirt.

"Mommy? Why are you sad?" she asked. My heart sank at those words. I understood that Nikki didn't wish to have to break the news to Lara about Max's demise, but I also felt that her withholding the truth from Lara would hurt them both even worse if she eventually found out.

"Hey, Lara? How about you come with me for a while and let your mother rest, OK?" I asked. Lara decided to listen and follow me back to my room where Rose and Jack were already while we left Nikki to grieve by herself.

"Uncle Hiro… why is Mommy cwying? And where's Daddy?" Lara asked. I could feel my heart sink a little upon hearing that question and the sight of Max being brutally stabbed through the chest flashed before my eyes as I sat down on the bed.

"I... I don't know, Lara. Everything's just been crazy lately," I said in reply as I rubbed my head in frustration.

"Is Daddy OK?" Lara asked.

"Why do you look sad, Daddy?" Rose asked before I grabbed my head in sadness and distress before Zero Two and Melty entered the room and took notice of my distress.

"Lara, Rose... why don't you two go and play with Filo for a little while? Me and Daddy need to talk for a little bit," Zero Two said before both Lara and Rose went with Melty and Zero Two stayed behind and scooped up Jack before she sat on the bed with me.

"Darling... talk with me. You know you can always talk with me if you have any sort of problem..." she said as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"...It's all my fault..." I said as I started crying again.

"What?"

"It's my fault that he's dead. If we had just stayed in our home dimension when we had the chance, then none of this would have happened," I said.

"Darling, you don't know that. There's probably over a thousand probabilities that could've led to all this and we wouldn't understand how they led up to this because we don't have any control over time or space! But my point is that you have to stop blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault," Zero Two said.

"Except it was. Ichigo sounded so angry after she knocked me away. I just... froze. I couldn't react fast enough and... next thing I know, Max pushed me out of the way of her blade and then... she pummeled him so violently that it looked like she wasn't even in control. I had 5 different opportunities to step in and stop her... but I didn't move... I couldn't move. If I had just... been better," I explained.

"...Darling, do you remember what you told me the day that Jack was born? You told me that you had no regrets whatsoever. ZERO. You had no regrets when we stayed with Max to help him fight the Overlord. You had no regrets when we chose to settle down when we had no way home. And you had no regrets when our children were born. So why do you have regrets now? Max was like a brother to us. He's the kind of person who would put his life on the line so he can protect those he loves. He always has been. And he would want us to continue on and finish what we started even if he wasn't here to lead us. And right now, we need to dust ourselves off and figure out what's really going on here," Zero Two said as Jack happily cooed as I rubbed his little head. I always knew that Zero Two meant well, even if things weren't going the way we wished they were. It was true back then when we were still piloting Strelizia. It was true now. And she was right; something had to be done and we still had a multiverse to save. But we needed answers and we couldn't get them by sitting on the sidelines. I quickly got up and gathered my equipment while Zero Two just watched me in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"We need answers. So we're going to talk to the only person who can give us them," I said.

"What makes you think that she'll want to talk to us?"

"She came to our house to grant us shelter from the battle that lies ahead. And she still thinks of us as friends. She'll listen to what we have to say now that things have calmed down."

"And we're just supposed to go out there with no backup of any kind in case things go south?" Zero Two asked as I handed her equipment to her.

"I figured that you would say that. Which is why we need to make a quick stop at the Great Tomb of Nazarick before we talk to Ichigo. And last I saw, Narberal was still in town helping with relief services. Let's go," I said before we both made our way out of our room and made our way outside.

Ainz's perspective, The Great Tomb of Nazarick

Everything felt like it had been torn to tatters. Not only did we lose an immensely decisive battle, but we lost a great warrior and I looked like a complete weakling. I had done so much to become the most powerful being in all of YGGDRASIL and yet it wasn't enough against the powers of a goddess. I was completely stewing over such thoughts as me and the rest of the Floor Guardians were busy trying to track down where Ezili and her Dark Enforcers were hiding even though I wasn't paying much attention.

"All searches around the eastern plains have turned up empty. And the queen's soldiers haven't found anything in the areas surrounding either the castle or the Wall of the Ancients. And our detection magic can't seem to pinpoint where the Dark Enforcers are. It's almost as if they've disappeared off the face of the Earth," Albedo said.

"Is it possible that Ezili's magic is hiding them from any detection spells?" Cocytus asked.

"It very well may be possible. The extent of Ezili's dark magic is far greater than we could possibly imagine. Lord Ainz, what are your thoughts?" Demiurge asked me. Without thinking, I angrily slammed my fist on the arm rest of the throne, effectively silencing everyone in the room as I let out a sigh of distress.

"Lord Ainz? Are you... OK?" Aura asked as I collected my thoughts and looked back up at the Floor Guardians.

"...No. We were ill-prepared for this fight from the start. We were faced with an enemy far stronger than any of us. And an honorable man was given a less than honorable death. We should be doing more to stop this instead of just waiting for the enemy to bare their faces again," I said as my eyes briefly flared up and I gripped the arm of the throne tightly.

"Lord Ainz, with all due respect, the death of one human rarely makes that much of a…" Albedo started to say before Shalltear quickly hushed her, which Albedo did not take lightly.

"Albedo, for once in your life, have a little bit of sympathy for someone who risked their own neck for the benefit of others…" Shalltear said as I stood up.

"Either way, Lord Ainz is right. Something must be done or none of us will survive and we cannot just let the enemy have time to prepare another attack. We must strike!" Cocytus said.

"OK, but how do you propose that we launch an attack on Ezili and her minions? We wouldn't know where to start since we don't know where they even are!" Mare stated.

"Perhaps it is more of a matter of drawing them out rather than wasting resources simply looking for them," Demiurge suggested.

"And how exactly do you suppose that we draw them out?" Shalltear asked before the doors to the throne room opened and Sebas walked in with Hiro and Zero Two following in behind him.

"Forgive me for the intrusion, Lord Ainz, but these two have an urgent need to speak to you," Sebas said as I walked toward them.

"Nice place you've got here. We would've called ahead, but we didn't exactly have your number," Zero Two joked, prompting Hiro to give her a look in response before he looked up at me.

"You came to speak. So, speak," I said.

"We need your help with something. Zero Two and I... we were planning to try and get some information from Ichigo at the Wall of the Ancients," Hiro explained.

"And you came to us because why exactly?" Albedo asked.

"Because we need some help getting to the top of the wall… aaaaannnddd we might also need protection in case things go south. Not that we think of you as personal bodyguards or anything like that. It's just that we want to be prepared in case if she decides to go batshit insane," Zero Two stated. I just stared at the two of them in response as Hiro tried to avoid eye contact with me (which was mostly understandable given my appearance, but still...).

"I'm unclear. Why is it that you wish to obtain information from Ichigo when she clearly has chosen a side?" I asked.

"...Ichigo was our friend once. We fought alongside of her a long time ago. To see her ally with Ezili simply to destroy the multiverse... to see her kill our brother in cold blood... it just doesn't add up. I need to know why she's doing all this and why she's not fighting alongside us," Hiro said as he tried to hold back tears. I could tell that he was extremely hurt by the death of his friend. But to hear him talk about Max like he was his brother would've moved me to tears a bit if I wasn't stuck as an undead.

"...Very well then. We will grant your request. But the only question that remains is how we summon Ichigo..." I said.

"Crap... we didn't think that part through..." Zero Two replied.

"I'm pretty sure we can think of something on the way there," Aura replied with a chuckle as she led Hiro and Zero Two out with me and the rest of the Floor Guardians following.

Ichigo's perspective, Unknown Location

Two days. Nothing but two days of complete silence. The job had been done. Our enemy was dead. So why was there more that had to be done? What exactly wasn't Ezili telling me? All of these thoughts were clouding my mind as I was laying low with Malty, Clementine, and Elsa while Sylvia and Mary were out doing recon and Ezili was off somewhere doing... something. Thankfully, the abandoned castle we were staying in was far away from the prying eyes of our enemies and it was well hidden as well. But Clementine and Malty were soon starting to get completely restless as Clementine started doing target practice on the walls of the castle and Malty took her anger out on some rocks. While they were doing that, I just stared at Nomad's helmet, the only spoils of war I obtained from the battle, in anger. Due to the intensity of the battle we had, the helmet now had a large crack running down it, exposing a bit of the inside of it.

"How much longer are we supposed to stay down here? I'm getting antsy just standing here," Clementine asked before she sliced another rock clean in half.

"Until Ezili returns, we need to stay hidden for the time being. Be patient," I replied.

"You're one to talk! Do you think nobody's noticed that you've been stewing over there for the past two hours?! What's more is that your enemy is dead and yet you're not aiming for any of OUR enemies! Are you and Ezili going to fulfill our promises to help take back our lives or were your promises nothing but wind and air?" Malty snapped, prompting me to give her an angry look in response.

"All that I can promise you right now is that I won't rip your tongue out if you shut up right now," I responded before Ezili suddenly appeared in front of us in a wisp of black smoke.

"I apologize for the delay. I had some business to attend to. How is everyone here?" she asked.

"Tense. I have Mary and Sylvia doing reconnaissance just so we can make sure that we weren't followed. But, setting that aside, I need to speak with you in private, Ezili. Alone," I said, signaling the others to leave the room, although Malty did so begrudgingly.

"What's troubling you, my flower?"

"You told me that the crisis would end when Max was killed. And yet, I've seen no evidence of that being the case. So, do you care to tell me what's really going on?" I asked.

"I will admit... it is strange that nothing has changed since the Chosen One's death... it's as if his presence is still there and yet, not there at the same time..." Ezili replied.

"So, what exactly do we do now?"

"We move forward and try to repair the damage that's already been caused. After that, I can't be certain of what will happen."

"And Hiro and Zero Two? What will happen to them?"

"It depends upon you. If you feel that you can reach them, then I will not stand in your way. However, if you fail to convince them, then I cannot guarantee that they will be spared from whatever judgement awaits them should they choose to continue to stand against us. Regardless of what choice is made, I will not force you to make either choice," Ezili said before Sylvia and Mary entered the room looking a tiny bit rugged and covered in a bit of dirt.

"Report," I said as the two approached me.

"There was only one patrol out there. They got the drop on us, but we were able to dispatch them with barely any trouble. However, there is something else that you should know... As we were doing a sweep of the Wall of the Ancients, a flare went off at the top of it. From the looks of it, it seems like your friends were the ones who set it off," Sylvia replied.

"Hiro and Zero Two? What are they doing on top of the wall?"

"Apparently, they want to speak to you. They said that it was 'past time that you talked'," Mary replied. My interest was certainly piqued by the prospect of the two of them finally wanting to talk instead of fight. Had they finally broken free of Max's control now that he was gone? Were they finally ready to come home after so long? Whatever the case was, I didn't waste any time in prepping my gear and started to head out.

"Ichigo, I would advise caution when going out there. It may very well be a trap," Ezili warned.

"They couldn't stop me before, Ezili. I'll be fine," I replied as I left the safety of our hideout to finally talk with Hiro and Zero Two. Finally, after all this time, would they be able to understand how hard I worked to get to this moment? What I had to do to uncover the truth?

Earth-2139, 3 years ago...

Almost two years after Hiro and Zero Two had allegedly gone missing, the only thing most of us could do was move on. But what the others didn't know was that Ikuno and I had been working on a secret project that would hopefully uncover the truth of where Nomad and Haywire actually went. But the project also served another purpose: it would allow us to gather resources from other worlds to help us rebuild. Since the Dimensional Gateway's completion, the Bird's Nest had grown considerably larger due to the number of buildings we had made, there were several technological advances that we made with what we had found, and we had new, clean energy sources to use for power in the place of Magma Energy. However, only me, Ikuno, Haichi, and Nana knew about the Dimensional Gateway and had been sworn to secrecy from our fellow Parasites… even our own Squad. One day, I thought that it would be necessary to check in on Ikuno again, seeing as she spent most of her days tending to the gateway and discovering what lied beyond the boundaries of our dimension. Little did I know that today would finally be the day where the truth would finally be revealed. When I first entered the Gateway room, the first thing that greeted me when I walked in was a chair with wheels on it that had a pile of books in it, which seemed a bit bizarre, but not entirely bizarre. As I pushed the chair out of the way, I saw that Ikuno was sitting in her normal spot at the console for the Dimensional Gateway, which had and assortment of items sitting on it, ranging from a small computer tablet of some sort that was red on one side and blue on the other to a small statue of what appeared to be a klaxosaur. Even stranger was that Ikuno looked a tad bit younger with her hair being a darker shade of purple around the tips like what she used to have. As I got a bit closer to inspect her, Ikuno suddenly turned to face me, first with surprise before she gave me a smile.

"Ichigo! What a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you here this early!" Ikuno said.

"I thought that I'd just drop in and see how you were doing. From the looks of things, it looks like you've been busy..." I replied.

"Oh, yeah... Sorry about the mess. I was just doing a bit of 'dimension hopping' to see what kind of cool things there were and I kinda got a bit carried away... Still, you wouldn't believe what kind of cool things I've come across as I was browsing through!"

"Does that include something that somehow made you a few years younger?" I asked, making Ikuno blush a bit.

"Oh... that. Actually, the strangest thing happened as I was cycling through dimensions... there was this strange, small green rock floating out in the void of space and when I reached out and touched it, it gave me a small shock and, just like that, I was de-aged by a few years. And right after we discovered the cure for the Parasites' age acceleration! Pretty cool and weird at the same time, right?" she said with a chuckle and a smile. I was honestly a bit surprised that a tiny green stone was capable of doing something like that.

"That's... that's really great to hear. Listen, I came here to ask... Were you able to locate the Prime Universe?" I asked.

"Oh! Actually, I did. I came across it when I found that 'wheelchair' thing over there. The weird thing was it wasn't that hard to find after we got the Dimensional Gateway up and running. And what's even stranger is that I managed to get a ping on the source of the disc Haywire used way back when," Ikuno said before she pressed a button and a holographic display of the Prime Earth appeared above the console.

"Have... have you been able to venture there? Like... psychically walk through the portal and seen what was on the other side?" I asked.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really cross dimensions unless I really have to, Ichigo. The only times that I've done so was when I needed to find a specific item and, even then, I needed permission from either Haichi or Nana to do so just because crossing dimensions is risky!" Ikuno explained before my eyes fell upon a suit at the far side of the room. The suit looked like one of our pistil suits from our piloting days, except it looked a bit simpler with some kind of advanced tech attached to the back of it.

"What's this?"

"That's the suit I use for excursions. Why do you ask?"

"...Ikuno... listen... I NEED to figure out just where Nomad and Haywire went after VIRM was destroyed. I need answers and I feel that they can be found in that dimension! I... I need to know..." I pleaded.

"I mean... I'm not really sure... but I can accompany you if you're OK with that. Let me just talk it over with Haichi first before we do anything. Don't touch anything until I get back, OK?" Ikuno said before she got up and left me alone in the room. My thoughts were completely divided between listening to Ikuno and waiting for her to get back and just firing up the portal and finding out the truth for myself. All that I wanted was to know where Nomad went after VIRM's destruction, but I also didn't want to betray Ikuno's trust. I was torn between both decisions to the point where I suddenly felt a cold chill run down my spine for some unknown reason and I looked towards the pistil suit and the Dimensional Gateway's console. All that I simply had to do was punch in the coordinates from the console and then step through the portal and find what I needed and then come right back. I could easily do that within the few minutes that Ikuno was gone, right? I decided to just go right on ahead and donned the pistil suit before I punched the coordinates into the computer and the Dimensional Gateway slowly hummed to life before a blue portal appeared within the middle. For a brief moment, I was a bit hesitant to actually go through the portal as I didn't know what would be on the other side nor did I wish to betray Ikuno's trust by doing this, but after reassuring myself that it would be worth it, I stepped through. The first thing that greeted me as I appeared on the other side was a bunch of bright lights that blinded me for a few seconds before my vision adjusted and I saw that I was in the middle of a city of some sort that had trees and strange metal poles with lights attached to them planted on either side of a large pathway of some kind. It looked almost like the Bird's Nest except a lot larger than I thought possible.

"Whoooooaaaa. Far out, girlfriend…" a voice suddenly said from behind, startling me. I turned to see a black-haired woman in a red dress sitting underneath a tree before she got up and stumbled toward me with a big smile on her face while she was holding a bottle. I don't know what this woman was doing before I got here, but it was easy to tell that something was wrong with her.

"Loooove the kinky latex suit you got going on… Where have you been all my life?" she asked in a funny voice as she started groping me, forcing me to pry her off and swat her away.

"Look, I don't who you are, but I'm busy with something at the moment and you have no right to touch me like that," I said angrily, only for the woman to smush her face against my breasts in response.

"Oh, come on, cut me some slack, will ya? My girlfriend broke up with me and I'm just looking for a rebound! Hey, you want a drink? I swear, this shit will rock your whole world before I rock you even more, girl!" the woman replied before she suddenly started sobbing for no reason. I honestly had no idea what was going on nor did I wish to involve myself with her any further, so I just helped her get back to her tree and covered her up with her coat as she dozed off. As I was covering her, I noticed that I had a tiny watch-like display on my left arm that was steadily pulsating. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was tracking a signal that was coming from within the building in front of me, at least two floors up. Once I helped the woman out, I walked up to the building and got to the second floor by jumping up and hoisting myself up with the railing on the balcony before I silently slid the door open and quietly crept inside. Lying in a bed right next to the door were a married couple, the husband of which looked very familiar to me. It wasn't until upon further inspection that I realized that it was the same man I had met back when APE attacked Kokoro and Mitsuru's wedding, which left me completely shocked. I thought at first that it was just a mere coincidence that he looked just the same as him, but a bit of moonlight glinting off of something inside of his closet and when I went to inspect, I saw that it was Nomad's helmet. I was left completely speechless despite trying to stay quiet regardless, but it was only for a second as my wrist device was pulsating more frequently than before. I silently made my way around the bed, being careful not to bump into anything and alert the couple to my presence until I got to the dresser next to the bed and opened the drawer, revealing a small blue disk that looked very similar to the one we had long ago. When I touched it, it brought up a holographic display that was so bright, it almost woke the couple up if I didn't cover it up. Once I was certain that they were still asleep, I took another glance at the disk before I started fiddling around with it. After a few seconds of navigating through the device, I suddenly found a menu with a "copy" option, which I thought would copy all the data that was stored on the device to my wrist computer, but when I pressed the copy option, the disk suddenly began to hum and glow a bright blue, forcing me to cover it until it stopped. However, when I opened my hands, the disk split in two like a cell going through mitosis and I was left with a perfect duplicate to use for myself. But this journey of surprises wasn't finished just yet. When I silently put the original disk away, I heard a loud groan coming from outside and quietly opened the door to see who was out there. And what I saw defied any and all explanations possible. Sleeping on and next to the couch, in the flesh... were Hiro and Zero Two. Both of my beloved friends were laying right in front of me, alive and well, just as I once remembered them. The sight of them alive made me so happy that I was driven to tears. However, as I started to approach the two to wake them up, my wrist computer suddenly started beeping and it showed me a warning that I was about to be teleported back.

"Nononono! HIRO!" I yelled before I suddenly got warped back to the Bird's Nest, where Haichi, Ikuno, and Nana were waiting with a few other scientists.

"NO! Send me back! I HAVE TO GO BACK!" I screamed hysterically as the scientists quickly grabbed me before I felt a slight pinch in the back of my neck and I passed out. When I came to, I found myself in a hospital bed with Ikuno and Goro sitting beside me as a heartbeat monitor was steadily beeping.

"Hey there. Try not to move too much, OK?" Ikuno asked.

"Where am I? Why am I here?!" I yelled.

"Ichigo, relax. The doctors needed to make sure that you didn't get anything foreign from the other dimension. That's why you're here," Goro said calmly as I tried to get out of the bed.

"I need to go... I needed to go back right now!" I said.

"Go where?"

"Back to the Prime Universe! Hiro and Zero Two... they're alive!" I yelled, only to be met with looks of disbelief from the two.

"You saw Zero Two and Hiro ALIVE? In the other dimension?" Goro asked.

"YES! Goro, I saw them both alive! There were with Nomad!" I said.

"Nomad?"

"YES! All three of them were there! And there was also a woman whom I believe was Haywire! We can go back and bring them home!" I exclaimed, only for Ikuno to sigh in disbelief and frustration in response to my claims.

"Goro... could you give us the room for a minute?" she asked, prompting Goro to get up and leave us alone. I wasn't sure what Ikuno was upset about, but it most likely had to do with the fact that I went behind her back and used the Dimensional Gateway when she told me to wait.

"Ichigo... there's no easy way to say this but... I found out something two years ago about how dimensions work... When I went on an excursion to one of the other dimensions, I found another version of me. She worked as a doctor in a war-ridden world much different from ours. And that's when I realized something: There's a different version of us that exists on each Earth, each with different personalities, occupations, histories, all that. I think that who you saw were just Earth Prime's versions of Zero Two and Hiro," Ikuno explained.

"What… No, it WAS them! They had horns! I can show you! We can just fire up the portal and we can…" I started to say before Ikuno suddenly cut me off.

"Haichi has restricted you from using the Dimensional Gateway until further notice. We both noticed from Day One how obsessed you were with the Gateway and how you always wanted to find Zero Two and Hiro, but this is where the line has to be drawn. As much as I hate to tell you this, Ichigo… Hiro and Zero Two are GONE. They aren't coming back. Believe me, I wish that wasn't the case, but it's time to face facts…" she said. No… that couldn't be true! I know that saw them with my own two eyes! I just had to show her!

"I know what I saw, Ikuno! I need you to trust me!" I started to say before Ikuno suddenly shot up out of her chair with an angry look on her face.

"Trust you?! After you went behind my back and used the Gateway after I told you to wait?! I don't know what it is that you're trying to prove, Ichigo, but it's not healthy either way! You have a whole life here and it should be spent with your boyfriend instead of chasing down ghosts or whatever! You have GOT to move on from this!" Ikuno pleaded. I started feeling conflicted again, this time between her words and the knowledge of Zero Two and Hiro being alive and within reach. I HAD to bring them home, no matter what.

"Ikuno... please... I'm not making any of this up... Zero Two and Hiro are alive... I have to bring them home... whatever it takes. PLEASE help me make our family whole again," I pleaded back. Ikuno only let out a sigh of frustration and reached into her pocket before she pulled out the disk I acquired from earlier and placed it in my hand.

"Look... If you wanna get yourself involved in this wild goose chase, that's fine. But I won't have any part of it. All that I ask is that you not distance yourself from the rest of us. It can really ruin what you already have right now," she said before she left me alone in the room to stare at the disk. I knew that it would all be worth it in the end. They would understand. They all would.

Zero Two's perspective, Top of the Wall of the Ancients, Present Day

"You know what? This is a bad idea," I said as I was seated upon a pile of rocks while Darling was pacing back and forth along the wall.

"How so?" he asked.

"I mean, we're on top of a giant wall where our friend was murdered and we about to talk to our so-called 'friend' who may or may not kill us if we tell her that we're staying to continue the fight against her. Any way that we look at this, it's not gonna end well for anyone," I said.

"We have to try. Ichigo needs to understand that Ezili's goals and her own aren't the same like she thinks. We... we owe it to Max to see this through and finish this without him," Darling replied. As if I hadn't heard that last line repeatedly for the past hour or so.

"You know, you keep saying that, and it's really starting to concern me. Darling, I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself, but you have GOT to stop beating yourself up over Max's death. You know damn well that he would give his life to protect the people he loves."

"Then why does it feel like he died for nothing?"

"Look, I feel the exact same way as you do. Max really felt like a brother to me. And his death is weighing heavy on everybody, not just us. We ALL feel the same as you do, OK?" I said as I stood up before Darling suddenly brought me in for a hug as the tears started flowing again.

"It's not just that Max is gone… it's also because… what Ichigo did… that wasn't the friend I knew from long ago… Ezili's turned her into something else… made her violent and bloodthirsty… I just want her to stop and realize what she's becoming…" he said through some light sobbing. Honestly, this was the saddest that I had ever seen Darling up to this day. He was so torn apart by both the death of our friend and Ichigo's behavior that he wasn't sure what to think anymore. In fact, I doubt that any of us knew what to do right now. But I couldn't stand seeing Darling so upset, so I quickly put both hands on the sides of his face and then rested my forehead on his to try and comfort him which actually managed to calm him down a little as we held each other.

"Darling... do you remember when you and I called each other hurtful names? How much it hurt us both? Don't think that you're the only one who hurts the most after everything that's happened. And everything Ichigo's done? It hurts me to see my friend doing such things when she doesn't know which side she's really fighting for. But I know that we made the right decision to help people. And I don't regret making that decision with you," I said. My husband didn't say anything in response. Instead, he gave me a kiss on the forehead and held me close before a loud boom suddenly went off. Looking towards the horizon, we saw a flying figure heading straight towards us and we both firmly held hands until the figure touched down in front of us. It was our old friend-turned-enemy Ichigo, having come to make us yet another offer. All I could do as she looked at us with disapproving eyes was clap sarcastically.

"There she is. The so-called 'hero of the hour'! Still following the batshit insane goddess she thinks is helping the world!" I yelled out. Not to anybody in particular since nobody was really listening.

"Do you think I can't hear that sarcasm in your tone, Zero Two?" Ichigo asked, prompting me to stop clapping.

"No, I suspected that you did," I replied as Darling angrily stared at our old friend.

"...Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like I'm some monster."

"How else do you expect me to look at you?" Darling said, his voice seething with hatred.

"Listen... you don't understand what Nomad was... he wasn't the man you thought he was," Ichigo said.

"Funny, considering that you mercilessly beat his face to a pulp and he was restraining himself," I said.

"Is this why you asked me to meet you here? So you could cast accusations on me?"

"I want to know why you did it, Ichigo. What did Ezili tell you about Max?!" Darling yelled with anger.

"That he was a warmonger. That he was fated to build an army that would gain control over the entire multiverse and kill millions. That's why he stole you from our dimension. To mold you into the perfect weapons he needed for his army. I had to kill him to free the multiverse of his madness," Ichigo said.

"WOW. That's the most bullshit explanation I've ever heard," I said in disgust.

"It's the truth. He's been manipulating you from the start!"

"THAT'S ONLY WHAT EZILI HAS BEEN TELLING YOU! AND IT'S ALL A LIE! Max didn't steal us from our dimension! We ended up in his dimension after we destroyed VIRM! We had nowhere else to go and he took us in when we didn't know where to go! He wasn't a warmongering criminal; he was a hero! You took him from his wife! His daughter! HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL WHEN YOU KILLED HIM?!" Darling yelled as tears.

"I took no pleasure in killing him. But someone had to put a stop to his madness somehow. I wish that things hadn't gotten to this point, but it was the only way to undo the damage that he had caused," Ichigo said as she looked out at the horizon.

"Well, if that's the case, then why is she keeping you around? If he's dead, doesn't that mean that she doesn't have any use for you anymore?" I asked.

"…There's still a lot that has to be undone. But I can't have either of you standing in harm's way any longer. It's time for the both of you to return home," Ichigo said as she held her hand out to us. When I looked back up at Darling, I could see that he was completely torn between the decision of complying with Ichigo's demands or remaining here to continue the fight. I wanted to just tell Ichigo to screw off and leave us alone after everything she had done. But it wasn't my decision to make. And I knew that he would make the right decision either way.

"And what if we say no?" Darling finally said as he clenched his fist. As I predicted, Ichigo didn't like that answer and gave him an angry look in response.

"This isn't optional, Hiro. Your only choice is to come home before it's too..." Ichigo started to say before a sudden plasma bolt impacted the area beside us, throwing all three of us off the top of the wall and sending us plummeting towards the ground below. Thankfully, we made the wise decision of not coming alone and it paid off when Ainz teleported in and caught us with whatever psychic spell it was that he had in his arsenal before we got halfway.

"Are you injured?" he asked as Darling and I rubbed our heads in pain before Darling started scanning our surroundings.

"No, but what the hell hit us?!" he asked before a sudden blue blur rush straight past us and into Ichigo before she could recover, slamming her into the ground with enough force to create a large crater. After Ainz brought us to the ground just as Ichigo got back up, a sudden barrage of rockets hit her and launched her backward into the wall before someone grabbed her by the throat at blinding speed. To our shock and horror, the attacker was none other than Nikki, who had an enraged look in her eye and was out for blood. Ichigo quickly created a shield to block Nikki's mace when she went for the head, but she was vulnerable to her mechanized spider legs, which she stabbed Ichigo in the sides with before she flew up and dragged her against the wall as they ascended before Ichigo created a plasma cannon and shot her off. However, Nikki didn't stay off for long as she circled back around and slammed Ichigo right into the wall, making it crack before she tossed her right into the ground in front of us. For a brief moment, none of us did anything to try and stop her, mostly out of fear that she'd turn her anger on us, but when Nikki broke through Ichigo's shield, Darling suddenly rushed forward and put himself between the two to try and break up the fight.

"Nikki, stop! You don't wanna do this!" Darling pleaded.

"MOVE!" Nikki replied angrily before she created a giant high-powered cannon that she aimed right at him without any hesitation. I quickly rushed in and got him out of the way before Nikki fired a high-powered laser that nearly hit Ichigo and destroyed part of the wall, which slowly began to crumble and crack until the entire section we were in front of began to come down. Luckily, Ainz wasn't the only source of protection that we had (at least by our knowledge) as we suddenly found ourselves in one of Naofumi's Shield Prisons until the sound of falling rocks stopped and the Shield Prison came down and we turned around to see Naofumi, Raphtalia, Audrey, Tiffany, Aqua, Darkness, Subaru, Rem, Emilia, Tanya, Visha, and Albedo standing behind us with their weapons ready as Ichigo emerged from the rubble and took a good look at our team in anger. However, Nikki didn't give her any chance to attack and slammed her back into the rubble as Darkness and Rem tried to pry her off.

"Nikki! Stop this!" Darkness pleaded before Nikki shot her off and tossed Rem into the dirt as she tried to choke Ichigo to death.

"You think you're some kind of hero?! You think that we need your help?! That we need you to save us, you murderer?!" Nikki screamed as Ichigo struggled to get her off until she finally landed a solid hit that knocked her backwards.

"It's too late for you. You can't escape your own judgement. None of you can," Ichigo said before she finally flew away. I managed to shoot her right in the leg with my pistol, but that was the only good shot I could get in and when Nikki tried to pursue her, Rem quickly snagged her with her Morningstar and kept her grounded as the rest of us tried to calm her down.

"Nikki, stop! You need to calm down!" Tiffany said as Nikki tried to break free of Rem's chains.

"I'll calm down when she's dead! Why can't you just let me!" Nikki screamed as she struggled.

"Nikki, killing Ichigo won't bring Max back! And he would never want for you to go down this path!" Darling said.

"Who the hell are you to talk about what he wants and doesn't want when your 'friend' is the one who killed him?! If you had just taken her down when he was still here, then he'd still be alive!" Nikki screamed before another silence fell over everyone and she began to cry with despair as tears came to Darling's eyes.

Nikki's perspective, Melromarc Castle, a few minutes later

It was like I was being stabbed through the heart repeatedly at every turn. My husband was gone and his killer was still on the loose and my friends were doing nothing to help me avenge him. Max was everything in my life. And now he was gone. I had no idea what to do. As I was sitting in the hallway, my head hung low, Tiffany approached me with Audrey by her side and put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention as she kneeled down to talk to me.

"Nikki... are you OK?" she asked as I looked up at her, my eyes all watery.

"What even is OK anymore? My husband is GONE. And yet, no one is doing anything other than just sitting here waiting for the inevitable to happen instead of going out there and killing Ezili and her cronies," I said coldly.

"And how the hell do you suggest that we do that, Nik? We don't even know WHERE they are," Audrey asked, prompting me to stand up and stare at her in anger.

"How about you go and make yourself useful by going out and actually looking for them instead of just standing here bitching like you always do?!" I yelled.

"Hey! I get that you're upset because Max died, but you need to stop taking your anger out on the rest of us when we're doing everything that we can?!" Audrey retorted in anger before Tiffany got in between us just so we wouldn't fight.

"Guys, listen! I get that things are tense right now, but we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves! Nik, I know that you're taking Max's death really hard, but so are the rest of us. He was our friend. He's done so much for us and… just seeing him go is like…" Tiffany started to say before she trailed off. She might've thought that she knew what my pain was, but she didn't. It was like my heart had been ripped in half and torn out of my chest, leaving nothing but a big, gaping hole with nothing inside.

"Look, don't give me your pity. You don't know anything about how I'm feeling right now. Right now, all that we need to do is track down Ezili and her cronies and take them down... whatever it takes," I said.

"And what exactly do you intend to do when we DO find them? Turn them to blood and ash until nothing's left? Look, I know what it's like to be angry at those who've taken almost everything from you and, believe me, killing her won't make you feel any better even if you think it will," Naofumi said as he walked towards us alongside the rest of the Guardians, safe for Ainz.

"Look, Nicole, the loss of your husband was indeed tragic. I mean, he risked his own life for all of us and no one here isn't upset that he died dishonorably," Rem added as she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Should we seriously be poking at the hornet's nest here? She could easily kill all of us if we don't shut up right now," Kazuma said, prompting everyone to look at him with upset looks like he was being insensitive.

"Seriously, Kazuma? Why do you have to make everything about you?" Megumin asked.

"What the hell do you mean 'make everything about me'?! She's going through a tough time at the moment, so the best thing to do is to leave her be, right? I'm being considerate here!" Kazuma argued.

"Look, bottom line: If we don't finish what we started, then thousands more are going to die. We all knew the risks when we chose to do this. Max did too. And we owe it to him to finish the mission before this gets any worse," Tanya said just as Adora walked in with Ainz, Hiro, and Zero Two walking behind her.

"Tanya is right. Max understood the risks that came with taking on this assignment. And he always put the safety of others above his own. If we are to honor his sacrifice, then we must continue on without him and see this through to the end," she said. I will admit that she was right about Max. He always cared about the safety of others and he demonstrated it the most when he was taking care of either me or Lara during the past five years. I remember how paranoid he used to be when he got calls from the kindergarten school Lara was at simply because he was afraid something had happened to her. And he was like that when I was pregnant. However, that didn't make me feel any better even as I stood up.

"Look, I get that you're all trying to help me get past this, but that doesn't change the fact that my husband is GONE. He meant the world to me and Lara. And now my own daughter has to grow up without her father by her side. Do any of you have any idea how badly that's gonna fuck her up?" I asked, causing an eerie silence to fall over everyone before Adora stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Nicole, I deeply understand your pain. And you have every right to be angry, especially towards me. I never wanted this fate for your husband nor did I wish for things to be like this. But you know as well as I do that Max would lay down his life knowing that you, your daughter, and your friends would be safe…" Adora started to say before she suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching her forehead as she gritted her teeth and fell to her knees as Rem, Raphtalia, and Emilia rushed over to her to help her before she suddenly looked back up at us with a worried expression.

"Adora? What's wrong?" Emilia asked.

"There's... been an immense power surge within the multiverse... far stronger than anything I have felt before... Such an event signals the emergence of a powerful being within the multiverse..." Adora explained.

"This being... are they friend or foe?" Ainz asked.

"I can't be certain at the moment. But there's no doubt that Ezili must have felt the power surge as well. Which means that we can move in on her Dark Enforcers while she is occupied," Adora said.

"How? We don't even know where they are," Subaru said before Zero Two pulled a small GPS device out of her pocket with a smile.

"Well, lucky for all of us, I managed to get a tracker on Ichigo back during the fight at the Wall of the Ancients. And seeing as it's still active, it means Ichigo hasn't found it and we can just pop over to her place and give her a good whack on the head to get her to come to her senses," she said.

"OK, but how exactly are we sure that things won't end the same way as earlier?" Naofumi asked.

"Because this time, we'll do it together as a team. Nobody will be getting in each other's way, nobody's going on any murderous rampages or whatever, we just go in and take them down, plain and simple," Zero Two said.

"And you shall have my support as well, should Ezili remain with her Enforcers," Adora added as Zero Two handed the GPS to Tanya.

"Tanya, you and Visha head out to the location and we'll warp straight to you when you radio us. We're gonna give them a fight they'll never forget…" Zero Two said.

Ichigo's perspective, Unknown Location

My body felt like it was in constant agony as my wounds were in the process of being healed by Sylvia and Malty. I couldn't believe that that a complete nobody actually managed to blindside me and toss me around like I was nothing. Once the healing magic was done patching me up, I slowing made my way back to the table that had my exosuit disc on it and then put it on before I took a deep breath and tried to straighten myself out.

"You're lucky that Ezili gave us access to healing magic, Anomaly. If we didn't have it, you would have been in a bad shape the next time that we'd have to fight..." Sylvia said as I sat back down.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Sylvia. Where's Ezili gone since I was out?" I asked.

"Nobody knows where she's gone. But, at this point, do we even need her anymore? She goes off and does whatever while we're stuck here, waiting for the enemy to attack again until she finally returns..." Malty stated, making me rub my head in irritation at her whining.

"If you have a better idea of what's going on within the multiverse, Malty, then feel free to share with the rest of us..." I snarled, silencing Malty as everyone looked at her expectedly until Mary spoke up.

"Actually... I don't mean to be that person, but Malty does have a point. Where exactly does Ezili go every now and then? And why isn't she sharing it us if she trusts us?" she asked. I did admit that Ezili disappearing every now and again was a bit suspicious and a little concerning. She was open to me about most things… what was it that she WASN'T telling me. Before I could give Mary an answer, a portal suddenly appeared behind me, making all of us jump, and Ezili floated through with a concerned look on her face.

"What happened? Where were you?" I asked.

"Attending to other matters. How did your efforts to sway your friends to our side turn out?" Ezili asked, making me grit my teeth, partly in response to her deflecting my question, but also because of what went down earlier.

"It probably would have gone great if their so-called 'allies' hadn't interrupted us. They ambushed me. Completely blindsided me. But what I'd like to know is what the hell was so important that you failed to notice that I almost DIED?" I asked in anger as Ezili gave me a somber expression in response before she lowered her head a little.

"You are aware that I've told you that there is still a great deal of damage done to the multiverse itself, yes? I have been stretched thin trying to undo the damage and I cannot be everywhere at once as much as I wish to be. But there is a more pressing matter that has arisen... there has been an abnormally immense power surge within the multiverse. Somewhere... somehow... a being of immeasurable strength has arisen. Whether this being is an ally or not has yet to be determined, but we must investigate the surge and..." Ezili started to say before her eyes went wide and she looked towards the ceiling.

"What is it?" Elsa asked.

"They're outside... They've found us..." Ezili replied.

"What?! How?!" Malty asked before I noticed a tracking device that had been planted on my leg and quickly took it off and smashed it, although everyone else had noticed.

"It doesn't matter. If it's a fight that they want, then they'll have it. Ezili, do you know where the surge is coming from?" I asked.

"I do," Ezili replied.

"Good. Mary, Malty, go to where the surge is coming from and find out what's happening. The rest of us will stay and fight them off until you get back," I replied.

"Why?! Why can't we all just go through together?!" Malty asked.

"Because I'm not leaving until I get a straight answer from Hiro..." I said.

"Ichigo, I don't believe that you shall get a different answer even if you..." Ezili started to say.

"I don't care! The whole reason I agreed to help you was because I have a chance to bring my friends home! Besides, you said it's MY decision, right? RIGHT?!" I asked, causing Ezili to go silent for a moment before answering.

"You are right. It is your decision. But I would still advise against this. They seem pretty firm in their decision."

"Unless I hear it from them directly, I'm not changing my mind. I won't stop until they are both safe…" I said before Ezili opened a portal and handed Mary a purple stone.

"Mary, Malty, through this portal is the Earth from whence the power surge came. Should you encounter trouble, grip that rock tightly and yell 'Return' and it shall bring you both back to us," Ezili explained.

"Wait, you aren't coming with us?" Mary asked.

"There is a possibility that my sister might be investigating the surge, but there is an equally large possibility that she is with the 'Guardians' to provide them with support. She no doubt thinks that I am investigating the surge myself. That is why I must remain here," Ezili replied, prompting Mary to nod in response before she and Malty went through the portal while the rest of us prepared ourselves for the fight ahead. I was not going to be denied. The path that I had chosen was the righteous one. It's just that nobody understood the decisions that I had made. It was the same now as it was before it even started...

Earth-2139, hours before the Crisis began...

I vividly remember the day when it felt like the whole world was against me despite what I knew. I had spent the past two years trying to perfect the suit I had acquired from Nomad and Haywire's home dimension, and I was close to finishing it. However, in the two years that I had been working, Ikuno had repeatedly been telling me to simply let it go and to stop what I was doing. She said that I wasn't acting rationally and that if I kept this up, it would ruin the relationship that I had with our family. And if that wasn't bad enough, Goro started saying the same things to me and he even tried to sabotage my work. Even though I loved him, I could hardly believe that he would do such a thing, especially when I trusted him so much. As the months went by, my bitterness turned to anger and I learned more and more about who Nomad really was through visions I received every now and then, which made me even more determined to bring Hiro and Zero Two home, whatever the cost. Unfortunately, as I was finally putting the finishing touches on the armor disk housing my new suit, I heard the door open behind me and turned my head slightly to see Goro walk in with the rest of the Squad, safe for Ikuno, no doubt to uselessly try and talk me out of my work.

"Heeeeyyy, Ichigo... Seems like you've been really busy these days... You look a little tired. Maybe it's time to call it a day and take a break?" Zorome said, prompting me to give him a scoff in response.

"No, Zorome, I don't think it is time for me to take a break. I believe that it's time for you to leave," I replied coldly.

"Ichigo... you need to stop what you're doing. I don't know what it is that you're trying to prove, but you're scaring us," Kokoro said.

"What exactly do you have to be scared of? I'm only trying to bring our friends home…" I said.

"Ichigo, listen…. I don't know if I can be any more clear than how crystal clear that I am... but Hiro and Zero Two are..." Goro started to say before I slammed my fist on the table in anger at hearing those words for the hundredth time.

"DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME! You weren't there! You didn't see what I saw! They're alive! They're within reach! And yet, here you all are, standing AGAINST me instead of WITH me like we always have..." I shouted in anger.

"Ichigo... please just hear me out... you need help. We just want what's best for you and right now, you aren't in your right mind. All we want is to help..." Goro pleaded as I stood up and turned to face them.

"Help... me? Now, after all this time, you want to help me? Even after all the things you said behind my back and the times you've tried to sabotage my work to prevent me from bringing our friends home? No... none of you want to help... you just want to stand in the way... Our friends are out there... their minds being twisted and manipulated... and here you all are... saying that I am the one who's SICK AND NEEDS HELP?!" I yelled as Goro held out a hand to try and calm me down.

"Listen. I don't know what it is you think that we've been doing or who's been telling you what, but everyone here is concerned for you. Please... Don't do something that you'll regret..." he pleaded. I stopped for a brief moment at Goro's pleading and started to question my motives, but I then noticed that Futoshi and Mitsuru were both holding stun rifles, reigniting my anger.

"You've already done that yourself..." I snarled before I attached my new and improved armor disc to my chest, which spread across my body and covered it in an immensely durable black metal until a helmet formed around my head, shocking the Squad.

"What… Ichigo, how…" Goro stammered.

"Surprised, Goro? I imagine that you would be, seeing as you tried to destroy MY work. But what you destroyed was a failed prototype. THIS… is the final result of my efforts…" I replied as my right arm slowly morphed into a cannon.

"Look, Ichigo, I don't know what sort of crazy episode you're going through, but… you've lost your damn mind!" Miku yelled as I heard Futoshi and Mitsuru powering up the stun rifles.

"And all of you are oblivious to what's been going on. The multiverse is in peril and if something isn't done soon… we will all perish. That's why I've been hard at work all this time. I should kill you all just for standing against me rather than with me… but I won't… because you are my friends. You've just been misled… However, with that said… I won't let you stand in my way any longer," I said before I took aim with my arm cannon and fired off a concussive blast that launched everyone backwards into the wall and out of the doorway, allowing me to leave before I headed toward the Gateway, killing any APE soldiers that tried to stop me, even though it was pointless since they couldn't. They would not stand between me and the mission that laid before me. No one would. However, once I got to the room where the Gateway was being held, the first thing that greeted me when I walked in was Ikuno, who was standing in front of the control console and holding a stun rifle that was fully charged.

"This has gone far enough, Ichigo," she said.

"On the contrary… it's only just begun…" I replied.

"What's begun?! What in the hell are you talking about?!"

"The multiverse... someone is out to destroy it... and if I can't stop him, then none of us will survive.

Hiro and Zero Two... they're both in danger... I have to save them..."

"Ichigo... of all the things that you've been telling me these past few years... none of them have ever sounded this crazy! You've lost your mind!" Ikuno yelled.

"I haven't felt saner, Ikuno. But there is much to do, and I need to leave now while there is still time..." I said as I took a step forward, only for Ikuno to threateningly point the rifle at my head as if she intended to shoot me in order to take me down.

"You aren't going anywhere. You need help. You need a doctor to fix whatever the hell's going on in that messed up head of yours! You can't leave!" Ikuno yelled.

"…And who's going to stop me? You? You've been my friend for so long and now you choose to stand against me even though I'm right?" I asked before Ikuno suddenly fired a shot that grazed my helmet, causing me to stagger a bit.

"If I wasn't your friend, then I wouldn't be doing this. If you wanna use the portal, then you're gonna have to kill me. And even then, good luck, because the portal's been coded to my DNA, so you can't even use it even if you wanted to. Now, STAY DOWN," Ikuno said in anger as she kept pointing the rifle at me. As I was recovering, I took a moment to look around the room to try and plan out a way to disarm and incapacitate her, but Ikuno was inching closer and closer by the second and it felt as if my body was refusing to move just so she could get close enough for me to strike. Once she was close enough, I felt that there was no other option and silently created a thin blade that I used to swiftly slice the rifle in half and then plunge straight into Ikuno's waist, spilling blood onto the floor as she dropped to the floor in shock and disbelief while she held her waist in pain. While she was on the floor, a few wires from my wrist attached to the console and started downloading the schematics for the Gateway and modified them into a special sort of cannon for me to use.

"I have no intention of killing any of you, Ikuno. You're all my friends. But I won't let anyone stop me from doing this. Someone has to stop that monster. I promise it'll all make sense when I get back. I promise that all of you will understand… and I promise that our family will be whole again…" I said before the wires detached from the console and my right gauntlet morphed into the Gateway Cannon, after which I created a portal and walked through just as Goro ran into the room to try and stop me.

"ICHIGO!" he yelled as the portal closed behind me and I found myself in a cave of sorts that had pieces of metal and rock, as well as a few human bones, strewn about with only a single hanging light illuminating the place. As I was looking around, a purple glow from the other side of the room grabbed my attention and a strange purple-haired woman wearing a purple gown emerged from the shadows and levitated over to me before she landed in front of me and stared at me with her mystical purple eyes while I just stared in disbelief at what I was seeing. It was the woman from my visions... completely in the flesh and smiling at me.

"You've arrived at last. It pleases me to finally meet you, Ichigo. I am Ezili, Goddess of Darkness and Protector of the Multiverse," the woman said as she extended her hand and placed it on my shoulder while I just stood there speechless.

"You... You're the woman from my visions..." I said.

"Indeed I am. And now that you are here... let us begin. There is much to do..." she said.

3rd person perspective, Earth-12/Earth-13, present day

"Nik, this is Tanya. I think we've found where the Dark Enforcers have holed themselves up," Tanya said as she, Visha, and Demiurge stood atop a cliff that was overlooking an old, worn-down castle that looked as if it had fallen into disrepair a long time ago and was struggling to stay standing.

"I must say... it is rather odd that the Dark Enforcers chose THAT of all places to hide," Demiurge stated as a portal opened behind them and the rest of the Guardians walked through, ready for battle.

"I think it's probably because they thought hiding in millennia old ruins was inconspicuous and out of the way," Tanya replied.

"Whatever their reasons, it won't shelter them for long. What is our plan of attack, Nicole?" Ainz asked as Nikki moved to the front and her right arm morphed into a high-powered plasma cannon.

"Nothing but a full out assault. Plain and simple," she responded in anger.

"Ah… so we're just gonna charge straightforward into the enemy and hope for the best? Glad to see we're pretty desperate…" Kazuma stated sarcastically, prompting Darkness to jab him in the stomach with her elbow.

"You know, if we wanted your opinion, Kazuma, we would've asked for it. You really don't need to crap on everyone else's ideas," Zero Two replied.

"No… Kazuma is right… we mustn't blindly let anger drive us to our demise. We should at least have a more methodical approach if we are to take down Ezili and Dark Enforcers here and now," Adora said.

"Well, either way, it seems like they already know that we're here," Tanya said as she pointed to the valley in front of the castle, where the grass was starting to turn black and zombified soldiers started bursting out of the ground in droves before they stood upright and brandished their weapons while the Guardians looked on.

"Here we go again…" Audrey grumbled as her fists went ablaze and the rest of the heroes prepared for battle.

"Fret not. Their numbers aren't as great as they were at the wall. It should be easier to dispatch them here than before," Ainz said as Hiro walked to the front and stood beside Nikki while he primed his shotgun.

"Nikki, listen… I…" Hiro started to say before Nikki cut him off.

"Hiro… just don't… If it comes to it… if she won't listen to reason… then Ichigo needs to die…" Nikki said, prompting Hiro to reluctantly nod in response before the heroes descended onto the plains in front of the ruined castle while the undead roared and came charging toward them. However, Nikki was quick to respond and created another plasma cannon before she put both cannons together to create a huge high-powered cannon that fired an immense plasma beam, which tore through most of the army and would've decimated the castle behind if it hadn't been protected by a barrier made of dark magic that surrounded the structure. As the heroes ran in and wiped out the rest of the undead army, Ezili, Ichigo and the rest of the Dark Enforcers held their ground within the main hall of the castle, waiting for the enemy to burst in. As they heard more crackling and thundering outside, Ezili let out a pained grunt as she struggled to keep the barrier up while the Dark Enforcers kept their weapons out and prepared to fight at any second.

"You're certain that the barrier will hold?" Sylvia asked.

"Ungh... for the moment, yes... But my sister's magic is capable of dispelling the darkness, so it will fall eventually. Hopefully we will be gone before that happens if Mary and Malty return..." Ezili said as another explosion went off and the Enforcers saw cracks forming on the barrier through damaged parts of the castle.

"If they don't get back in time, then we'll do what we can to hold them here until we have a chance to escape..." Ichigo said before a loud explosion rang out from behind them, signaling the appearance of a portal that Mary fell out of, her body soaking wet, her right side stained with blood, and purple helix lines surrounding her body.

"Mary! You're back, what happened?" Clementine asked as Ichigo rushed over to Mary and helped her up while she tried to figure out what the cause of the helix lines were.

"Did you find what the cause of the surge was?" Ezili asked.

"N-no. The second that we got there… we were caught in this… immense storm. The ground was quaking so much… there was so much screaming, but we didn't see anyone around us… we didn't know what was going on…" Mary said shakily as Ichigo pulled up a holographic diagnosis on her equipment, only for a purple skull symbol to show up, much to Ichigo's frustration.

"What happened to Malty?" Sylvia asked.

"We both got jumped by someone… neither of us saw her coming… she knocked Malty out and I was forced to retreat… I don't know what happened to her after I left…" Mary responded.

"I can still sense her soul... she isn't dead..." Ezili said.

"Then we need to go and get her before whoever has her does something to her... not that she's proven herself useful," Ichigo grumbled under her breath before Ezili suddenly doubled over in pain and the barrier outside shattered and then dissipated. Before any of the Dark Enforcers could react, the entire front of the castle suddenly exploded, spreading fire and debris everywhere as Ezili raised a shield to protect herself, Sylvia, Elsa, and Clementine while Ichigo shielded Mary. As the smoke cleared, the Dark Enforcers looked toward the new hole in the castle where the Guardians of the Multiverse were standing with weapons in hand.

"Knock knock! Who's ready to get bitch slapped?!" Audrey yelled before the Guardians and the Enforcers clashed, with Adora fighting Ezili, Tiffany, Audrey, Tanya, Albedo, and Raphtalia clashing with Sylvia, Ainz, Darkness, Emilia, and Filo trading blows with Clementine, Naofumi, Rem, Aqua, Kazuma, and Subaru brawling with Elsa, and Megumin, Ram, Visha, and the rest of the Floor Guardians of Nazarick taking on Mary and a group of undead soldiers while Nikki charged toward Ichigo and knocked her into the ruins of the throne room with Hiro and Zero Two following them in. As Nikki and Ichigo crashed into the throne, the helmet that once belonged to Max clattered onto the floor in between the two opponents, who took a quick look at the helmet before Nikki lunged toward Ichigo and wrestled her to the ground, only for Ichigo to create a plasma cannon to knock her off. However, as she was getting back up, Zero Two jabbed her in the back with her electrostaff and electrocuted Ichigo for long enough so Hiro could land a solid punch on her jaw, which knocked her away and briefly disorientated her before she stood back up and stared at her former friends.

"Why? Why are you fighting ME? Why can't you understand that I'm trying to save you?!" Ichigo yelled before Nikki tackled her to the ground and stabbed her hands with a couple of spider legs, causing Ichigo to yell in pain before she sprouted her own spider legs and threw Nikki off while Zero Two went in for another strike, but was easily tossed aside as Hiro grabbed two of the spider legs and tore them off, giving him a chance to get Ichigo into a chokehold.

"Ichigo, stop this! You aren't thinking straight!" he yelled. Ichigo angrily responded by headbutting him, which knocked Hiro to the ground as she created a sword and nearly stabbed him with it, only for him to quickly dodge so Zero Two could sweep her legs with her staff, allowing Nikki to come in from behind and land another solid hit on Ichigo, which gave her a chance to grab her with her spider legs and pin her to the ground as she created a sword and prepared to end it once and for all. However, as Nikki was looking down at how helpless the woman who killed her husband was, her thoughts turned toward what the others, especially Lara, would think of her. She wasn't like this normally. She knew that killing Ichigo would only eat away at her conscience if she did go through with it. In the end, she couldn't find the strength nor the heart to kill her. But she knew that she could still put a stop to her madness another way and she placed a hand on her back so she could copy the data from Ichigo's suit, including her weapons. Just as she completed the download, Ichigo managed to knock her off, only for Nikki to fire a high-powered laser that forced Ichigo to create a shield to protect her from the laser. But she was still vulnerable from behind and Zero Two and Hiro took advantage of that by coming in from behind and landing a series of blows with the combined efforts of her electrostaff and his gauntlets, which forced Ichigo to create a plasma barrier. However, Nikki then created a weapon that fired a continuous beam of energy until Ichigo broke the barrier in anger, unleashing a massive concussive burst that knocked her attackers back onto the floor as she stood up and picked up Max's helmet in disgust while Nikki, Zero Two, and Hiro struggled to stand back up.

"Don't you see? Don't you see what that monster turned you into? A pair of soldiers that carry out every last order even after he's gone... but that's not what you are! You're my friends... my family... and if we don't undo everything that he did, the whole multiverse will collapse and none of us will survive! Why can't you see that I'm trying to save everyone?!" Ichigo asked as she gripped the helmet tight.

"Save us? By helping that twisted goddess and that whole rogue's gallery of villains throw everything into chaos? You know, for a so-called 'hero', you're in the company of a lot of dangerous people who've killed a lot of innocents," Zero Two crossly stated.

"And you aren't? You're fighting alongside a warmonger and a psychopath. Why are you so damn persistent to fight against me when I'm the one trying to set things right?! What the hell was that monster to you, anyway?!" Ichigo yelled as her claws cracked the visor on the helmet.

"Because he was our brother. He took us in when we had nowhere else to go... even though he didn't know us that well. He was an inspiration to us. He gave us a home... a family... even though we were far away from ours. I never wanted things to be like this with you as they are right now... we would've wanted to help you... but not like this. Not when you're teamed up with a goddess who's twisted your mind and lied to you about everything that is or ever will be... not when you've employed a bunch of lunatics to do the dirty work and kill whoever gets in your way. We want no part of that... not with a murderer like you..." Hiro said as tears came to his eyes. Ichigo only stared at her former friends with a look of anger that turned into disbelief and then sadness as she looked down at the helmet and then back at them before she angrily dug her claws into the helmet and then ripped it in half, causing sparks to fly out of it. Nikki, Zero Two, and Hiro were left stunned as Ichigo dropped the halves of the helmet onto the floor and angrily stared at them before Mary and Elsa suddenly burst through the wall and landed at her feet, followed by Ezili, who was transporting Sylvia and Clementine into the room while Ichigo created a portal cannon and fired it behind her before all of the Dark Enforcers except for her went through.

"I came here because I wanted to save you... but it's clear to me that this is your choice. So, let me offer you some advice: Stay. The hell. Out of my way. If you stand against me, then I will no longer hesitate to fight you. Whatever happens next will be on YOU," Ichigo snarled before she went through the portal and disappeared, leaving the heroes to stare in defeat as Nikki picked up the halves of Max's helmet and held them in shame.

Nikki's perspective

Pain. Pain was all that I felt as I welded Max's helmet back together as best as I could. It wasn't perfect when I finished, but it didn't really matter at the moment since I was so racked with grief. Just looking at the helmet made me tear up at the thought of my husband being gone for good. However, despite the fact that we had been unable to stop the Dark Enforcers, I didn't come up empty-handed, seeing as I was able to download every bit of information from Ichigo's suit down to her weapons and I had even placed an invisible tracker within her software so we could follow her wherever she went within the multiverse. But... I could tell that everyone else was still a bit uneasy about moving on without Max to lead us. As I was stuck staring at Max's helmet, I heard a slight knock on my door and turned to see Zero Two, Hiro, Adora, and Lara all standing in the doorway.

"Hey. You hanging in there OK?" Zero Two asked as Lara came and sat beside me.

"I don't even know what OK is anymore," I replied.

"You figure out where Ichigo was headed next?" Hiro asked.

"Not yet. I still have to run through a few programs and figure out how all these weapons work... there's a lot of data to unpack here... Plus, we should try and let the rest of the team recuperate before we go anywhere else..." I said.

"If that is the case, then I'm afraid I must take my leave now. The destruction of the multiverse has become so widespread that I must now give it my full attention in order to keep it from progressing any further. And I must discover what the cause of the surge was. I shall meet up with you whenever I can, should you need my assistance," Adora said. I only gave her a half-hearted grunt in response before she left us alone, though I felt horrible for how I responded.

"Well... just let us know if you find anything," Zero Two said before she and Hiro left while I was left alone with Lara, who was still clueless as to what was going on.

"Mommy... did you find Daddy? Is he OK?" she asked, causing my eyes to well up with tears as I broke down and sobbed and embraced Lara in a sorrowful hug while I dropped the helmet on the floor.

"No, sweetie... Daddy's gone... and he's not coming back... I'm so, so, sorry sweetie... I wish that it weren't true but..." I started to say before I suddenly heard a constant, rhythmic beeping and looked around for the source until I noticed that it was coming from Max's helmet, which was glowing red periodically on the inside to the rhythm of the beeping.

"What's dat?" Lara asked as I picked up the helmet and then put it on to see what the beeping was about. And then... what I heard next... I had never felt so ecstatic in all my life...

"Nik... It's me. I'm not sure if this message will get through, but I had to try anyway. First off, I want to say how sorry I am for... well, for sacrificing myself like that. Maybe Hiro told you, maybe not, but Ichigo's anger got the better of her and... she was gonna kill Hiro. I couldn't let that happen, especially since it wasn't his fault, what happened. What Ezili's done to Ichigo... it's cruel by every definition. But I'm mostly sorry that I left you and Lara like that. More than anything, I want you and her and any one of our friends to be safe. With that being said, I'm sending you this message to tell you that... I'm alive... and I've found help."

To Be Continued...