A Story of Kalathanon

by Kalathanon

The Second book in the Kalathanon Series that started with The Legend of Spyro: The Kalathanon Files. New faces include, David Web, RWBY, Ezio, some D3, Firefly, Borderlands, and more.

64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64 A Hunting We Will Go

Character Doug

Dragon Company was busy, spread across creation as they were, and that meant Doug was busy. While K was the leader and the face of DC Doug was the one who kept everything running, well Doug and Sparks that is. They had just finished up dating the list of DC deployments to reflect Mal's crew working with Miranda and Cassity. Doug looked over the list, Jinx, Grish, Lydia, Serana, Anders, Marion, Johnson and RuGaard's family had joined with Fenix and Delta to go push the Daedra out of the Oblivion plains and acquire the resources for Serra. Charolite and Steve were last reported by Storm to be currently trapped in a version of Earth that DC couldn't get a stable connection to right now. That said Storm was working with the Leviathans to get a rift to that world so they could get Charolite back. Shepard had joined with Ripley and Langford to hunt down the Necromorphs so that took the USM Executioner and the Normandy out of the fleet for a bit. Ezio, Diablo and Leah were attempting to get in touch with his family according to Tom's report on the situation.

RWBY and family were going to be heading to Jayne's Town with the Doctor to see about a warning that the Time-lord had picked up from there. Meanwhile Spyro and his fellow Avalarian dragons were getting ready to return to Avalar and see about the situation there and lastly Tyreal was going to lead the Prime Council to the Library to see about the alert from there. That left Legion 141, Bad Co, the ACU Commanders, the Riders, Shelly, Star and the Rouge Shadow's crew, Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli, Adam and the Sith from the fallen Remnant, Jensen, Arie, the Freelancers, James, K,C, Tom, Blood-Raven, Xarle, Coris, Hawk, Fisher, Beast, Lurbruk, Ravalon, the SaDiablos, Jack, the Hunter's crew, Lil, Beth, David, Nikki, the Infinity, Torgue HQ, Kris, Allen, Lona, Wolfgang, G, N, Aurora, Igniculus, Reak Havock and Carter's Four either on the ships, the Ark or Remnant.

"Sparks," Doug said, "We have over sixty agents that are idle. What can you recommend we do about that?"

"Well I would suggest they start tracking down the location of the Magog-Cinder," Sparks said, "But since K is handling that maybe we can find places that the Magog's agents are working in and send out groups to stop them?"

"A solid plan," Doug approved, "We know from the station in the center of Harold's galaxy that this Magog-Cinder has her pawns, Roman, Emerald, Mercury, and probably more. We may not be able to track the head of this beast but maybe we can cut off the limbs."

"How would we track them," Sparks asked.

"Simple we look for them somewhere that they are not," Doug said, "We know that our versions of these people are on Remnant so..."

"We run scans for any energy signal that is similar to their souls from the other universes," Sparks exclaimed, "Okay so we can find them what do we do about them once we do?"

"Send in one of our teams," Doug replied, "I'm thinking that the SaDiablos, the Riders, and a team consisting of Wolf, David, Nikki, Reak, G and N would work. One team for each agent."

"I suggest that we send the Riders after Roman," Sparks said, "Roman is the most experienced and the Riders are the most experienced."

"The the SaDiablos can go after Emerald and team Havoc will go after Mercury," Doug said, "I'll make the arrangements."

"Team Havoc," Sparks asked.

"I think those six will agree with the name after all it is what they are good at causing," Doug said.

"They do tend to cause quite a bit of destruction," Sparks said, "well I am assuming that Reak can cause a lot of destruction, but I know the others can. Sending them after evil Mercury will be like fighting fire with fire you know."

"Oh I know," Doug said, "We should also get Roman, Emerald and Mercury to assist the teams that will be hunting their counterparts."

"What about Adam," Sparks asked.

"Finis is the Adam from the Magog-Cinder's Remnant," Doug said. "Still it is an interesting possibility, what if she already has multiple Remnants? The Sentinels can tell us the whereabouts of our current targets though I can use the scans to try and pick up any trace of more versions of us that may be working with the Magog-Cinder."

"That is not a bad idea," Sparks remarked, "You find where we will need to send the teams and I'll go get them."

"Suits me," Doug said as Sparks walked his ACU out of the control room on the Ark. Doug turned his attention to the Sentinels that were standing along the sides of the room. "Can you all direct me in the search for our quarry?"

"We can," one of the armored beings replied, "Which one would you like to know about?"

"Roman," Doug said.

"He is causing trouble for the Earth you know Jack Turner from," the Sentinels replied.

"Emerald," Doug asked.

"Ehb, Where the Legionnaires are from," The Sentinels answered.

"Mercury," Doug asked.

"Manhattan, in a version of Earth DC has not been to yet," the Sentinels replied we can give you the dimension and coordinates of this world."

"Please do," Doug said then once he saw the Earth Mercury was in, "Well this will be interesting." The version of Earth that team Havoc would be heading to was one where Fables had run to to escape from a tyrant that had come in to occupy their homeland. Doug knew the place well since he may have had a hand in bringing the Fables there. "Do you think that the Magog-Cinder is responsible for these Fables' displacement into this world?"

"It is possible," the Sentinels replied, "It would explain the interest that is being shown to this otherwise mundane Earth."

"Even if she is not behind the displacement Magog-Cinder will be interested in what ever is," Doug stated. We need to keep these two forces from meeting up if that is the case. Then again is she is the reason behind the displacement we need to weaken her power base there... I will go with Havoc I have a few contacts that will be helpful to them."

"Okay Doug the teams are all notified," Sparks said as he walked back into the chamber.

"Good," Doug said, "Notify Havoc that I will be going with them. I will meet them on the Pestilence."

"You want me to take over while you're busy," Sparks asked.

"If you're up to it," Doug said, "I'm transferring to the Pestilence so expect some lag in further communication." Doug shifted his mind's central placement within his massive biomass so that he was now operating mostly from his snakelike form that was on the Pestilence. "Arie, how are we looking," Doug asked the man at the controls.

"Hey man," Arie greeted, "Everything is in order, I just finished hacking into the systems and then patching that particular loop hole. What about you?"

"I will be going with Mercury, Wolf, Reak, G, N, David and Nikki to hunt down the corrupted Mercury," Doug said.

"Ah I hear yeah man," Arie said, "I'll head on over to the Ark then, run my set up form there."

"Hmm yes that is probably best," Doug said, "Where we are going there is not much to hack."

"Oh come on, I'm more than just a binging hacker," Arie said, "rewriting computer systems is my art form. Speaking of that I just finished making sure that the Pestilence's systems are safe from anyone who attempts to hack into them with infrared signals."

"What would infrared signals do to this ship," Doug asked.

"Nothing," Arie said, "But they would give whoever is sending the signals control over the stereo system which if overloaded could cause electrical fires across the ship and seeing as you burn pretty easily..."

"A noteworthy fix then," Doug said, "A shuttle is ready for you in hangar four by the way."

"You know I was half expecting you to have me come with you," Arie remarked, "But staying here keeps me safer that if I am with you."

"You'll be considerably safer," Mercury said as Havoc walked into the bridge where Arie and Doug were talking. "If we are going after the corrupted version of me then there is a good chance that he's got demon powers in addition to my normal skills."

"I think I will be going now," Arie said as he ducked out of the room.

"So," Doug asked, "Ready to go meet some Earth based fairy tales?"

"Which ones," Reak asked.

"Most all of them I would assume," Doug said, "Though I don't know which ones will be on our side."

"We never seem to know who is going to be on our side," G grumbled, "Just once could we plan something out?"

"Not really," Doug said, "That would make things boring and I really hate boring."

"How are we getting to this place," Nikki asked, "From what I understand it is in a dimension we have not been to yet."

"DC has not no," Doug said, "If we could just jump to any dimension then we could have gotten Charolite already. I however happen to have a history with some of the residences of where we are going. So I can get us there."

"Not without me you can't," Arizona said as she walked into the bridge. "I'm not about to let you go off on some adventure without me."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Doug said, "The Pestilence is not really stocked with food for your kind you all know so we will have to buy food when we arrive."

"Wait how fast are we going to be going," Wolf asked, "Or are you thinking something else?"

"I'm thinking something else," Doug said, "More like a portal. My friend, Bigby, I can lock onto him and create a portal for us to go through."

"And we're taking the whole ship why," David asked.

"We are not," Doug said, "It is simply easier for me to cast the portal here. Additionally my most mobile form is here. Now if there are no more questions..."

"Just one," Wolf said, "Won't I stand out a little?" He both pointed to and spread the wings of his Arch-demon body and his human body.

"Probably no more than me or Reak will," Arizona said, "After all we are going to be in the year nineteen eighty six."

"They didn't have robots in eighty six," N said.

"Or me for that matter," Doug said, "Let's just hope Bigby is either at home or at work when we arrive. Now I'm going to open the portal." Everyone took a step back from Doug as the yellowish-blue portal shimmered into existence. While not clean and polished like K's portals Doug's was just as functional. Looking through it Doug saw that Bigby, a large man with brown hair, tan skin and piercing brown-yellow eyes, was in the large chamber of the Business Office. He was with Snow, a regal woman with shoulder length black hair and blue-gray eyes and Ichabod, and elderly man with almost no hair and an outstandingly long nose that sat below his light blue eyes, the three were arguing about something.

"Friends of yours," Nikki asked.

"Bigby is, the man in the white button up top and the brown slacks," Doug said, "The other two are... indifferent?"

"Well might as well go introduce ourselves," Mercury said, "This will be fun." He then stepped through the portal, surprising the three on the other side. Doug followed close behind to make sure Mercury was not mangled by Bigby, who could have a temper at times.

"Who are... Doug," Bigby stopped his question to Mercury at seeing his old friend.

"Hello Bigby," Doug said, "I brought some new friends. You all are in great danger."

"We know that already," Snow said, "A head showed up on our doorstep last night."

"How did you get here," Ichabod demanded, "And who are all these... people?"

"Some friends," Doug said, "Mercury here, he has an evil twin so to speak who is working to cause some trouble here. We are here to mitigate that trouble however we can."

"Can he server heads without leaving a cutting mark," Bigby asked.

"I can not so I doubt it," Mercury said.

"How clean a cut are we talking about," David asked, "As in no markings at all?"

"Uh I can't handle this right now," Ichabod said, "Snow have my massage set to be an hour earlier." With that the skittish man left the room muttering back to the group, "Either get glamours to hide your non-human friends or keep them out of sight."

"What is a glamor," Wolf asked.

"It's a magic charm that lets the one it is bound to appear like a human," Snow said as she put her head in her hands, "Doug we really didn't need this right now."

"On the contrary he and his friends might be exactly what we need," Bigby countered, "Doug was the one to get us out of the Homelands after all. Besides you, in the silver and black, you said there was a evil you running around and causing us trouble?"

"Doug seems to think so," Mercury said, "and the name's Mercury."

"Yeah okay," Bigby said, "What about the rest of you anyone else got an evil twin?"

"Seeing as there is an almost infinite number of dimensions and universes in creation it is entirely possible that we all have evil version of ourselves running about," Wolf said through both his forms, "But I doubt that they are causing you any problems right now. I am Wolfgang by the way, or Wolf for short."

"Huh that might get confusing," a green monkey with wings said as he flew over and landed on the desk that Snow was standing beside. He was carrying a large book in his hands which he promptly dropped onto the table.

"Bufkin," Doug greeted. He noticed that the book was the record of all the displaced fables that Doug had helped save. "Why do you need that book, was the head one of your own?"

"She was a fable yes," Bigby said as he took a ring out of his pocket and handed it to Snow, "This was the only thing that we could identify her with, see what you and Bufkin can find I'll get Doug and his friends up to speed."

"Okay that makes sense I guess," Snow said as she took the ring and turned to the book remarking, "I don't mean to be rude but this matter is pressing."

Bigby nodded towards another desk more towards the back of the room and Doug and his friends moved over to it. "So I have to ask," N said, "Is that Snow White?"

"Yes she is," Bigby answered, "Doug what is the idea with bringing mundys into Fabletown?"

"I would hardly call immortals mundys," Arizona said.

"Immortal huh," Bigby said as he lit up a cigar, "Well that explains why you smell so different." He sat back in his chair and sighed, "Okay names."

"The one in the big mech suit is Arizona," Doug said causing Bigby to cough on his cigar.

"Your wife," Bigby asked, "and here I thought you were making all that up... Well I am mistaken then, continue."

"The smaller one with the more sleek suit is Reak. The four normal looking ones are G, N, David and Nikki," Doug continued indicating each member in turn. "Wolf and Mercury have already told you their names."

"About that," Bigby said, "Wolf what are you?"

"I am... an elder spirit," Wolf said, "Given renewed life and clarity of mind."

"Can your human body move independently of your dragon body," Bigby asked.

"Of course," Wolf said, "Can your left and right arms move independently of each other?"

"Hmm interesting analogy," Bigby said as he extinguished his now spent cigarette. "Doug I don't have the money or time to get you, Arizona, or the dragon part of Wolf glamors, but you three could be just as helpful in here as you will be with me out there. This is the first murder we've had in a very long time and I'll need someone other than Crane to be coordinating everything. Snow can do it but if you three would stick around here and help her and Bufkin that would be appreciated."

"Why does Reak get to go," Arizona asked.

"He is still human sized," Bigby said, "You are sixteen feet tall."

"I can explain the suit to anyone who asks," Reak said as he cleared his visor of it's tint allowing his face to be seen through it, "I could be testing a new technology or something like that."

"It makes sense," Mercury said, "and we really don't have the time to argue about it. If my evil twin is out there then you can bet he is behind this murder in some way. We need to be out there trying to figure out what he will do next."

"He is you," Doug said, "What would you do if you had killed someone?"

"First I would have a scapegoat, some third party that I could lay blame on if I needed to," Mercury said, "It could even be that I would have had that person do the killing and since I don't know how to sever a head like the way you described this one being severed I would assume that it was done by a third party. Our first course of business should be finding this third party."

"I like how you think Mercury," Bigby said, "Even if we find the twisted bastard who did this there may be more people involved than just the one who struck the blow."

"There almost always is," David said.

"Bigby we found something," Snow said. Bigby got up and motioned for the group to follow him over to the main desk. "Here," Snow said as she pointed to a description of a girl. "Her name is Faith, also Donkyskin and Allerleirauh. She has a husband, Prince Lawrence, you should probably..." The phone rang causing Snow to have to interrupt herself to answer it. After a brief conversation she hung up. "That was Toad, he says there is something going on at the apartments and he wants you to come and check it out."

"I can't be in two places at once," Bigby said. "Lawrence can wait."

"Not based on what I saw in the mirror," Snow said, "He is in trouble."

"We can go check on this Lawrence," Nikki said, "That way you can go see about your friend."

"That will work," Bigby agreed, "Snow let's go see about Toad, Doug can you and your friends hold down the Office while we are out?"

"Of course," Doug said, "You will probably want to go to Lawrence's place when you are done with Toad, David and Nikki are not technically Fabletown officials yet."

"Good point," Snow said as she handed David a piece of paper, "This is the address we will meet you there once we are done checking on Toad."

"Right David," said as he and Nikki walked out of the Business Office's main room.

"While you are out we can look through the records for any sort of weapon that might be able to cause the type of damage you described," Mercury said, "Is the body available to look at or has it been buried?"

"It's still downstairs in the Wishing Well Chamber," Snow said, "If you go look at her please don't do too much damage to the body."

"We won't," Reak said, "Bufkin right? Will you show us to the body and then gather any records on the weapons that you all have access to?"

"Of course sir," Bufkin said as he flew into the air and waved for them to follow.

"Well Doug it seems you've gotten wrapped up in our troubles once again," Bigby said as he and Snow departed.

"So it does," Doug said to himself, "So it does."

Character Roman

"Woo ha ha ha ha," Roman yelled as he rode in on Storm. He, Storm, Eragon, Saphira, Murtagh, Thorn, Arya and Varok were coming in for a landing outside of the White House. "I love that feeling."

"What of freedom," Storm asked.

"No of power," Roman replied as he jumped off of Storm, "Now you know when to come back and get us right?"

"I'm a Seer of course I do," Storm replied, "Now you all be careful, after all you are fighting yourself."

"Same old story then," Murtagh said, "We're all used to that battle."

"Fighting ourselves is something we seem to do a lot in DC," Storm agreed, "even if it is mentally most of the time. I will see you on the other side." With that Storm flew up into the sky and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Hello there Riders," Hilda said as the Necromancer emerged from the White House, "Who is the new face?"

"Roman Torchwick, at your service," Roman said with a tip of his hat, "Well actually it will be the other way around if you know what is good for you."

"Oh and why is that," Hilda asked.

"Because there is an evil version of me running around in your world and I would bet he is up to something nasty," Roman said, "I can find and stop him with the help of our friends here."

"An evil you huh," Hilda said as she led Roman, Eragon, Murtagh and Arya inside. Saphira, Thorn and Varok were just to large to go inside so they remained outside, at least physically. Roman was certain that they would keep up with the events through the minds of their Riders. "Well we may have a lead for you to follow up with then," Hilda said, "Domingo, and Jack are inside the Oval Office discussing the event already."

"The event," Arya asked.

"A surprising turn of events," Hilda said, "Jack can explain more." She indicated a door that had two guards on either side of it before the necromancer left the four. Roman tipped his hat to the guards as he and the Riders passed through them and into the Oval Office. Roman's first impression of the room was not great, it was round with a much to large a window right behind where the President sat making it easy for a sniper to line up a shot.

"Ah here you are I saw you come in but I have been busy," Jack said as he indicated Domingo and the mound of papers that was on the desk between the two. "And now we have this." Jack pointed to a projection that was on one wall of an oil tanker. "The Vesper, an oil tanker carrying over a billion dollars of oil, goes missing."

"This is not the first one to go missing either," Dom said, "Two others, one which was bound for my compound have vanished."

"You can't find any trace of them," Eragon asked.

"Nothing," Jack said, "They were not wrecked otherwise we would see the oil spill. Someone is making very large shippers of oil vanish."

"If it is expensive someone will be selling it and buying it," Roman said, "Sounds like you need some criminal contacts."

"Right," Jack said, "Who are you again?"

"Oh right you may not have met," Murtagh said, "This is Roman, he's a... creative solutions developer in regards to distributing wealth."

"Ah a thief then," Dom said, "It takes one to know one as they say."

"In this case very literally," Roman continued a little annoyed at Dom's comment. "We are fairly certain that an evil version of me is behind these disappearances. This outbreak of oil tankers being snatched up reminds me a lot of when I stole an entire kingdom's worth of dust, I would nab airships right out of the sky and pluck boats from the water with ease. Oil is your worlds version of Dust, almost all of your technology uses it in some form so I can assume that Magog-Cinder is having the evil me work on a very similar scheme to what we did in Vale. That means I will know where I would strike next."

"In that case where should we focus our attention next," Jack asked.

"Once the supply that is in transit is dried up then we hit the production facilities," Roman said, "Refineries and such the goal is to starve the populace of a vital resource so that they have to do what we say if they want any of it."

"What you're saying is that someone is targeting the world supply of oil," Dom asked.

"It makes sense," Murtagh said, "Without oil this world would come to a grinding halt, vulnerable to a take over."

"Even if the supply of new oil is cut we have billions of tons of oil in reserve for... just such an event," Jack said as he trailed off. "The oil reserves, what about the reserves would the other you go after those?"

"If I knew about them I certainly would," Roman said. "It sounds like we have two potential targets then, the refineries and the reserves. Considering that evil me has the man power to make entire ships vanish it is likely that both targets will be hit, so does anyone have a suggestion for a second team to cover whatever we are not?"

"You realize that there are hundreds of refineries around the world and more than one reserve in the US," Jack said.

"Of course I realize that but the military can handle the grunts that will be thrown at the minor targets. We need to focus on figuring where evil me will show up to personally take command of the situation," Roman said with exasperation. "He, like us, can't be in two places at once. Which is why I need another team. One goes to the largest refinery and one to the largest reserve."

"In that case I have someone local to here that you could call," Dom said, "He and his team specialize in precarious jobs."

"And just how do you know this team," Jack asked.

"I may have had them do a couple of jobs for me in the past," Dom said.

"Illegal jobs," Jack pushed.

"I'm a dictator you capitalist pig," Dom exclaimed, "Of course they were, but I can tell you this if those ten could get me F-22 Raptors without anyone ever noticing them I'm sure they can guard an oil refinery."
"Hu yeah that makes sens... wait. What?" Jack practically yelled that last part, "You stole an F-22 Raptor?"

"Ten of them actually," Dom said sheepishly, "I needed the extra defenses you know?"

"Can you two deal with this later," Arya asked, her powerful voice calming the tempers of the two political leaders down. "Jack, Dom please, can we just focus on the missing tankers and what to do next?"

"Hmm, fine," Jack said, "but this is not over. Okay out of all the refineries in the world which one is most likely to attract your attention Roman?"

"The biggest one of course," Roman said, "Same goes for the reserves. Since there is only one of me though I will have to pick which to target, probably the refinery but the reserve is a good bet too. I'd send your other team to the reserve."

"Not happening," Jack said, "You will go to the reserve and Dom's... friends, will go to the refinery."

"It is more likely that I would target the refinery," Roman said, "Why."

"Because the reserve is probably secrete and Jack doesn't want Dom's criminal friends to know where it is," Eragon said cutting Roman off. Roman just grumbled under his breath at being cut off. "So where is the refinery and the reserve?"

"The refinery is in India," Jack said, "Jamnagar refinery, run by Reliance Industries. The Reserve..." Two hours later at an undisclosed location somewhere in the north west of the US. "Is here. Welcome to Ithitchata the worlds largest reserve of oil." As Jack said the lights went on across the massive underground facility illuminating many many stacks of oil barrels that were lined up like rows which stretched out of sight towards the back of the complex. The inside was so large that even Saphira, Thorn and Varok could enter.

"That is a lot of oil," Varok commented as the group just stood in the massive door way.

"Maybe we should wait outside," Thorn said, "One spark and this whole place might go up."

"Then we have to be in here to keep that from happening," Jack said.

"We stay in here and the first shot evil Roman fires will roast us all," Eragon said.

"No I would be looking to steal the oil not destroy it," Roman said, "If we stay in here then it will be a melee. Something that I think we can easily win considering your draconic strength and speed."

"We are stronger than the average person," Arya said, "But we will probably not be fighting the average person. If demons are not involved in this somehow I would be very surprised."

"And you would be correct to assume so," a voice whispered as the lights started flickering.

"You just had to say it didn't you," Varok commented with a sigh, "Great what new evil is this?"

A white armored figure started walking towards them from out of the gloom, as it approached them Roman recognized the armor as that same type that Main and Sigma wore. "Main, Sigma is that you," Roman asked, "Cut it out, I don't have time for this sh..."

"We are Meta," the whispering voices hissed as the creature before the group growled and pulled out it's Brute-shot.

"I don't think that is Main or Sigma," Murtagh said, "Jack get out of here." The doors behind them locked before Jack could leave. "Never mind then stay behind me." Jack pulled out a pistol and chambered it before getting behind the armored man and his dragon.

"Your grenades won't help you in here," Roman said, "Not if you want to keep the oil." The Meta switched his grip on the Brute-shot so that he was holding it with the blade facing forwards in a similar fashion to how K uses his soul-blades.

"None of you can use any of your special powers either," the whispering voices replied as the advancing creature growled again.

"Even with that it is eight on one and three of us are dragons," Saphira snarled.

"We are eight," Meta said. Then it rushed them. With one hand it knocked away a swipe from Thorn before uppercutting him with the Brute-shot blade, leaving a large gash running up his chest. Meta brought the strike around and planted the blade into the ground, using it as resistance to hold himself in place while he kicked Thorn into the doors. Meta pulled a pistol on the now exposed Jack but Roman hooked the arm with his cane and caused Meta to fire harmlessly into the ceiling. Murtagh struck out at Meta but Meta brought the Brute-shot up and deflected the blow while spinning Roman around and throwing him into Jack, sending the two sprawling.

Roman picked himself up and looked back towards the fight to see Meta getting knocked back by Saphira's tail and Eragon going in and landing a strike across Meta's chest. An energy shield of some sort deflected the strike and Meta went invisible.

"Not going to work," Arya said. She muttered a few phrases under her breath then spun around and brought her sword up to block the Meta's downward strike as he jumped at her. Varok headbutted Meta out of the air. While he was being flung towards the door and Thorn the Meta fired four rounds into Varok's head from the pistol. Varok roared in pain and fell back behind Saphira and Eragon. Thorn bit down on Meta when the creature landed beside him but to the red dragon's surprise his teeth didn't go through the armor and Meta fired a grenade into Thorn's mouth causing him to release the creature.

Arya had fallen back and was using her energy to heal the wounds that the team was suffering. Saphira and Eragon charged in and knocked the Meta away from Thorn as the red dragon recovered. Jack shot at Meta but Meta blocked the bullets and redirected them into Eragon who was knocked back with three holes in his chest. Meta deflected a bite from Saphira and was going to stab her throat when Roman fired Melodic Cudgel's hook and restrained Meta's arm. Meta spun out of the hook while kicking away one of Saphira's paws before stabbing her in the chest and punching her off of his blade. Murtagh, Roman and Arya charged the Meta. Meta however seemed to drastically increase his speed and knocked them all back while stabbing Murtagh through the gut.

Now Roman, Arya and Jack were the only ones left standing against this monster. The Meta advanced on the three. Roman noticed Eragon getting up behind the Meta so he rushed in to keep Meta distracted. Roman struck out with Melodic Cudgel and was countered by Meta. Arya was beside him now also attacking. Again Meta seemed to speed up to be able to outmatch both Roman and Arya. Knocking both of them back again. This time Roman felt weaker as his Aura had absorbed an upper cut from Meta and Arya was on the ground with a gash across her chest. Meta then roared as the end of Eragon's sword sprouted from it's shoulder. Eragon lept over Meta while extracting his sword from the monster and then inverting the blade so he could stab it through the chest. Meta punched Eragon away, leaving the sword, Brisinger, still in Meta's chest. Jack took advantage of this opportunity and hit the meta with his last four rounds in his pistol. The Meta's shield was back up now however and the bullets were deflected.

"He can't use all of his powers at once," Roman thought, "damn should have noticed that before he almost killed everyone else. So he's got, shield, invisibility, time distortion or something, super strength..." Roman was pulled out of his thoughts as Meta rushed him. Roman was backing up as he was blocking the onslaught of strikes from Meta. Meta was getting faster and faster as the two were fighting until turrets dropped down from the ceiling and started firing at the creature, then it was gone. The lights in the facility came back on as Jack walked over to check on the Riders. Everyone was shaky as they got up, having to spend so much energy on healing each other.

"Got the defenses online," Jack said, "Had to wait for the power to come back up high enough to run the auto turrets."

"You could have told us about those sooner," Murtagh raged.

"And tip off that thing," Roman countered, "I don't think so, we're alive, and the oil is safe. We also know about our enemy's newest weapon, whatever it is."

"It isn't human," Eragon said, "the hits I landed on it should have rendered it as helpless as we were from the same type of wounds. It just shrugged them off."

"We were at the disadvantage in here," Saphira said, "Without our fire and most of our magic... maybe we rely on those to much?"

"Maybe," Varok agreed, "Whatever that creature was it has unnatural abilities, and it doesn't seem to rely on them overmuch, only using them when it needs to."

"It was definitely altering time," Murtagh said, "But only enough that it was slightly faster than us, except for when those turrets came out I think it may have stopped time briefly to allow it to escape."
"It also can't use all of it's powers at once," Roman said, "When it was altering time the shield was not up so Eragon's sword was able to hurt it. At least I think it hurt it and if that shield was unbreakable then it wouldn't have gone invisible or altered time to avoid some of our attacks."

"But what is it," Jack asked.

"I think I know," Arya said as she was helped off the ground by Eragon. "It said that it was eight. The armor is definitely Spartan armor and the configuration is like Main's. What if this Meta is some altered corrupted version of him?"

"Similarly it could be an altered version of Sigma," Varok said, "He also has a robotic setup that is configured similarly."

"That is one person each, how do we get eight," Thorn asked.

The group was silent until Roman spoke up, "What if it is more than just Sigma inside the suit?"

"I wish Church and the Freelancers were here," Arya said, "They might be able to tell us more about this Meta."

"For now let's just keep in mind that it is very powerful," Roman said, "Also let's not get cornered in a room full of explosive and flammable material with it."

"Agreed," everyone else said. Jack's phone rang and he answered it as he went to open the doors. Once outside Jack informed them that Dom and his team were in position at the refinery.

"Good," Roman said, "Now for the really important question. How did the Meta get into the reserve?"

"Through the doors," Jack said as he ended his call with Dom, "That's why they closed behind us, it had a virus or something that controlled the doors and the lights, basically anything electric, within the compound."

"That sounds like an AI," Saphira said. "Storm must have known about this thing, why would she have not told us?"

"Because she doesn't need to," Eragon said, "You're both right it is Main and Sigma and six other fragments. The Reds and Blues fought the Meta, they told us about it. This has to be the same thing."

"But that Main and Sigma are now on our side and they are not evil," Murtagh said.

"Then this must be another one," Roman said. "Let's Hope Dom and his team are prepared to deal with whatever they are getting hit with.

With Dom and his team.

"Ahahahahahahaha," Dom yelled at the evil Torchwick and his men as the attackers scrambled to get to cover. Dom and Hoxton were both firing Vulcan mini guns while Chains and Wick were coming around the side of the pinned down attackers with shotguns and akimbo .45s. Clover and Bonnie were alternating sniper fire while Wolf, Dallas and Houston were adding the fire from their LMGs and assault rifles to the suppressing fire. Jacket and Dragan were driving up behind the pinned down troops with a SWAT van which they had 'acquired' recently.

"Whoo boys this is going to be a huge payday," Hoxton yelled as the team continued to outmaneuver and outgun the evil Roman and his men, keeping them away from the refinery.

Back with our Roman and his team.

"It sounded like they had things under control when I talked to them," Jack said.

"Well good," Roman said, "If we can keep other me from getting control of the oil we can probably push him out of hiding and then I can squeeze information out of him... and then kill him for trying to impersonate me."

"He is you though, just from a different dimension," Arya said.

"Right fine then," Roman said, "Kill him for sicking that Meta creature on us."

"We should set up an operations camp here," Murtagh said, "Since the Meta is likely to return to try and finish it's mission."

"I have to head back but I will send supplies and additional equipment out your way," Jack said then when he turned to leave. "Oh come on it stole Air-force One!"

"Well that can't be good," Roman commented, "New plan, we are finding that airplane."

Character Janell SaDiablo

"So this is Ehb," Sureal said as the SaDiablos and Emerald walked out of a portal Janell created. Before them was a large city built out of stone. The remarkable feature about this city was that it was acting as a bridge across a massive body of water. The group was concealed behind some trees so that the guards on the walls did not notice their peculiar arrival and Janell wanted to keep it that way. With a wave of her hand she carried the entire group, Dameon, Saetan, Luciver Sureal, Graysfang, Emerald and herself, along one of the energy lines of Ehb and deposited them in an ally within the city.

"This must be Stone Bridge," Saetan remarked, "Anjali mentioned this place being the center of the Legion's power."

"Then maybe the Legion will have information on the other me," Emerald said. "If they do though we have no way to prove to them that I am not the me that is causing them trouble, I should probably stay out of sight until we find out what the situation is here."

"A good plan," Janell agreed as she cast an invisibility spell over Emerald, "Now you can be heard but not seen, if you stay quiet you can stay with us, just don't knock anything over or run into anybody."

"I can do that," Emerald's disembodied voice replied, "as long as I am invisible then I can also be your ace in the hole, in case situations need to be tilted in your favor."

"Invisible thief and rouge," Graysfang said, "I like your style."

"That's because it is my style," Sureal said, "Except I usually go for the less literal version of invisible."

"Well we probably shouldn't just stand around in this ally," Daemon said, "It is not normal for so many people dressed as we are to remain in an ally with a wolf."

"Let's stay together," Luciver said as he looked out from the ally, "We don't know much about this world, apart from what the Legionnaires told us. Looks clear lets go."

"Reinhardt said that the Legion's base is centered at the court house," Emerald said, "We should head there."

"You know it will take some time getting used to you being invisible," Saetan remarked, "The courthouse does sound like the best place to look for information though."

While her family and friends conversed Janell felt along the energy lines of the world. She quickly discovered that Ehb was just one part of a massive continent, however this could be explored later if needed. The Sentinels said that the other Emerald was in Ehb so Janell refined her search to try to locate the courthouse. She felt a large confluence of energy near them and figured that it was probably the building. People seemed to like to build governmental structures on the convergence of the energy lines of whichever world they were on, whether this was an innate sense that people have or if it is something that the people of Ehb sought out on purpose was unknown as of this time. Either way Janell now knew where they needed to go.

"I think I know where the courthouse is," Janell said, "assuming that people here build their governmental buildings on the convergence of the energy lay lines then we are only about half a mile from where we wish to be."

"Lead on then my Queen," Daemon said.

"Uh you two are hopelessly romantic," Emerald remarked as Janell took the lead.

"If I recall your boyfriend betrayed the very same Magog we are hunting now so that he could convince DC to help him find you," Sureal said, "And those two are hopelessly romantic?"

"I never said I approved," Emerald said, "But Marcus's decision did work out for the best."

"What is it with your names anyway," Luciver asked, "Is it Marcus or Mercury, same for you is it Cleo or Emerald?"

"Well It's both I guess," Emerald said, "Our birth names are Emerald and Mercury but when Cinder started to... change we had to trust each other more than her, to that end we took up the names Marcus and Cleo. It was supposed to help us stay closer together but in the end I had to get out and Mercury stayed behind to cover for me. That's why he got assigned to the Mother of Invention project."

"He did all that to protect you," Saetan said, "an admirable trait, remind me why are you two thieves and enforcers again?"

"It happened to be what we were good at when Cinder found us and with no family to rely on for support, we didn't have much choice," Emerald said.

"Hush," Janell said, "There is a crowd up ahead, It seems that whoever is in charge of this town is not popular with the people." As the group rounded the corner of an inn the courthouse loomed in front of them, or more prominently the gathered mass of rioters that were pushing the four guards back to the doors of the building.

"Looks like we're here just in time for an intervention," Daemon said.

"Oh no," Emerald breathed, "The people... look at them, they have demon scars on them. The other me must be controlling them and the only way for her to do that is..."

"Is if I am a Magog myself," a copy of Emerald said as she landed in front of the group. Without another word she unsheathed her comas and started firing at the seven. Janell raised a barrier and stopped all the bullets without even blinking.

"You'll have to do better than that," Janell remarked while quirking an eyebrow.

The other Emerald smiled saying, "At least this won't be boring." Then her comas extended on chains and slashed at the group. Their Emerald's own weapons came out to stop the attack and the two became deadlocked as they fought over the tangled chains of their weapons. Graysfang rammed into the Magog-Emerald separating the two but also drawing the attention of the demon enslaved people. The mob of at least a hundred people forgot about the courthouse and turned towards the seven.

"We've got this," Luciver said as he, Saetan and Daemon stepped up to face the possessed attackers. "You all take care of the Magog."

"Got it," Janell replied as she Sureal, a now visible Emerald and Graysfang approached the Magog. Magog-Emerald focused in on her counterpart and hissed. Emerald just smirked and started firing. Graysfang lunged in as the Magog was distracted with deflecting the bullets. He got a grip on her leg and pulled the Magog off balance. Sureal followed up with a dagger through the chest and Janell directed beams of energy to chop up the Magog's weapons before lifting the creature off the ground and crushing it. The pulpy mass fell to the ground with a splat and the four turned towards Saetan, Daemon and Luciver to see how their fight was going. The three had taken care of the mob with beams like Janell had used on the Magog's weapons.

"Well that was easy," Luciver said.

"Why would you say that now you jinxed it," Emerald exclaimed. As she finished saying this an explosion knocked them to the ground as the four guards that were holding the mob off from the courthouse all warped into Emeralds.

"Okay, now I'm starting to get annoyed with you," the Magog-Emerald said as the four forms advanced on the seven.

"Now that might be a problem" Daemon remarked, "If she can take over other people..."

"If she could take over anyone she would have taken over us," Graysfang said.

"Then we have to trap her and not kill her," Emerald sarcastically remarked, "That's okay I always wanted to have copies of myself to talk to."

"Really," Sureal asked.

"No are you crazy," Emerald replied, "Let's knock her back down to one body before we try anything though."

Janell and Daemon squared off against one of the Magogs with Luciver and Saetan taking another, Sureal and Graysfang a third and Emerald wanted the last one for herself. Janell threw up a shield around herself and Daemon while Daemon lashed out with his black lasers. The Magog was ready for them this time and blocked the lasers with a shield of it's own. Daemon quickly altered tactics and switched to defense while Janell took up the offense. Knowing what her husband was trying to do Janell started altering the landscape around them while throwing various blasts of energy at the Magog to keep it on the defensive. Slowly Daemon got closer to the demon and when he was within reach he and Janell switched rolls again, Janell went defensive and she speed up Daemon's time frame so he moved much faster than the Magog. Daemon was in and out in a moment, which was all the time it took for him to deliver the deadly toxin that his black-widow claw produced. The Magog-Emerald didn't even seem to notice what had happened at first until it tried to attack them and stumbled as the toxin took effect. With a gasp it collapsed to the ground where it writhed in agony before becoming completely paralyzed.

"Okay kill the others," Janell said, "This one will be alive for a while yet, maybe we can keep her from jumping into anyone el." Janell was cut off as a shot rang out. It sounded more like an electric discharge than gun fire. After checking to see if everyone was okay Janell looked to the poisoned Magog-Emerald only to see that the body was disintegrating in an orange glow.

"I don't think you will be doing that," A deep voice stated as a Spartan in gray and green armor that had a semi-rounded angular helmet appeared on top of the courthouse. Everyone here is dead now, Magog, we can leave." The three remaining Emerald copies reformed into one and then teleported up to the solider.

"We can kill them Locust," the demon said.

"That is not our objective," the man replied as he pulled out an orange and black spiky cube and smashed it into the ground causing both of them to disappear. Janell quickly scanned the area to see if Locust's words were true. She was both horrified and relived to find that there was one person left alive.

"He's wrong this way," Janell said as she rushed over to the courthouse and blew the doors down when they wouldn't open. She ran through the large entry room to the back where she knelt down beside a brown haired woman in silver plate armor with emblems of the sun on it. The woman had been shot multiple time in the chest, her plate armor not being able to stop bullets, and though unconscious she was still alive. Janell started healing the woman and noticed something odd about her. This woman radiated heat, not the heat of a fever or of sickness but a soft warmth that seemed to be a hint of what fire might lay buried within the woman.

"Janell what is," Luciver asked as he and Daemon stormed into the room, "Oh, I see. Well we will be outside tell us when she wakes up."

"I will," Janell said as she went back to healing the bullet wounds. There were seven in all and Janell had to carefully extract each bullet so as to avoid damaging any other tissue or organs. During this process Janell noticed another thing that was odd, the woman seemed to be healing herself from the inside out. It was not as fast as Janell was healing her but it was fast enough that Janell took notice of the anomaly. It took more than a half hour to heal the woman but Janell was thorough when she was done her patient was breathing evenly and deeply again instead of the ragged, shallow breaths that she had been taking.

"You do amazing work child," Saetan commented from his place on the throne that was at the end of the stone room. He had a desk pulled up to the chair and was pouring over maps and books of records to try and figure out the Magog's plan.

"Well I had a good teacher," Janell replied to her father with a smile.

"Who, was someone else there when I was raising you," Saetan joked. He really was not nearly as good with healing as Janell was and they both knew it. Janell laughed a little before the clinking of armor drew her attention back to her patient. Janell knelt down and placed her hand on the woman's should as she started to wake up.

"Uh, ah... An Anjali is that you," The woman asked before coming fully awake, her blue eyes snapping open then shrinking to slits as she looked at Janell, "Who are you? Did you heal me?"

"I am Janell and yes I healed you," Janell said as she stood up and offered her hand to the woman. "You were attacked by a demon and a mercenary of some kind."

"Well you have my thanks for coming to our rescue," the woman said, "I am Jeyne Kassynder, I and... where is everyone?"

"Maybe you should sit down my dear," Saetan said from the throne drawing Jeyne's attention for the first time.

"We did not get here in time to stop the attack," Janell said, "Only to have a brief encounter with those responsible. I am sorry but this city is dead. My family and friends have been seeing to the dead."

"No they can't all be..." Jeyne said but she trailed off as she noticed all the blood that still stained the walls and floor. "I was supposed to rebuild the kingdom... and now only more destruction follows in my path."

"It is not an easy task to build a kingdom," Saetan said, "I am Saetan, Janell's father, You mentioned Anjali upon waking, I assume you mean the Legionnaire and her friends?"

"Yes, do you know her," Jeyne asked.

"We do she is a part of the same organization that we are," Janell said, "Sadly she and the others are tied up trying to keep four different kingdoms from falling."

"That sounds like her," Jeyne said, "Always trying to help as many as she can. None of them are here though so I have to work with what I have, you said you have family and friends that were tending to the departed?"

"Yes, my husband, brother, two old friends and one fairly new friend," Janell said, "all of them are quite capable fighters."

"Good I would like to meet each of them when they get a chance," Jeyne said, "and you, Saetan was it? I see you are already looking over the maps to try and determine this thing's next move. Allow me to assist you as I have traveled across the wold and know it well."

"Your help would be appreciated," Saetan said as he waved her over. "Janell dear would you go see if the others are done and if so let them know our survivor is awake."

"Already on it," Janell said before warping to Daemon via the lay lines. He, Luciver, Sureal, Graysfang and Emerald were all standing by the lake/river that Stone-bridge was built around.

"Janell," Daemon greeted, "I take it our new friend is up?"

"She is," Janell said, "She knows Anjali and the Legionnaires as well. Her name is Jeyne Kassynder and she was apparently trying to rebuild a kingdom."Then this happened..."

"I take it she is still in shock then," Sureal asked.

"Surprisingly no," Janell said, "It seems to have galvanized her. She and father are looking over those maps and records you brought him to try and figure out where the Magog will go next."

"I should be there then," Emerald said, "If this creature has any of t-the other me, left in it then I
should be able to predict it's movements."

"Are the bodies taken care of," Janell asked.

"Feeding the fishes," Graysfang replied as he looked towards the water.

"Well I guess that is about the best we could have done for them," Janell said before wrapping all of them in an energy web and carrying them back to the courthouse where Saetan was just finishing explaining how Janell teleported.

"That is an impressive ability," Jeyne remarked as she looked at the six people who just appeared in the room. "and you can warp anywhere with this?"

"Only Janell can," Saetan said, "The rest of us have to use the lay lines to move about."

"I use the lines most of the time," Janell said, "they are easier to travel along. Jeyne this is the rest of my family and my friends. Daemon here is my husband, Luciver there is my brother, Sureal and Graysfang are some old friends and Emerald, in the green and tan is one of our new friends. The creature that attacked here is also based on a different version of her so she can help you predict where it will go."

"Okay then," Jeyne said, "Two questions why does your brother have wings and you don't and why is one of your friends a giant wolf?"

"It's wolf Prince thank you," Graysfang retorted.

"Why is that the first question everyone asks me," Luciver asked to no one in particular.

"Well they are one of your outstanding features," Emerald answered.

"Look I'm adopted," Janell said "Luciver gets the wings from his mother's side okay?"

"Oh okay no I get that I get my Archon side from my mother," Jeyne replied, "But wolf prince really, and was that a telepathic message?"

"That's Graysfang for you," Sureal said, "Capable of thinking stuff right into your head."

"You're an Archon too," Emerald asked as she walked up to join Jeyne and Saetan by the maps, "I thought only Anjali and Ghost were Archons."

"Ghost," Jeyne asked.

"Yes he is of great interest to us," Janell said, "He is a male Archon."

Character Adam Taurus

"So Roman get's to go gallivanting about on dragons and we get to do what," Moroni asked as he, Imhotep and Adam walked through the Raven.

"We get to talk with Shade and see about planning an assault on the Magog-Cinder's Remnant," Adam said, "Don't worry, we will be plenty busy."

"I hear that the rest of the survivors of that planet will be meeting us as well," Imhotep, "Your counterpart included."

"Correct," Finis said as he strode up to the three from behind, "Just keep one thing in mind, none of us are like the friends you've known from this Remnant. We are different... well all but one."

"Ruby," Adam commented, "Even despite all of this Shade is still Ruby."

"And she is the primary reason that any of us got out at all," Finis said, "But you will meet the others soon enough and some you have already met."

"I've not met any of them I don't think," Imhotep said, "But I am not terribly social either."

"Well good thing this is no," Moroni was interrupted as a red rift opened and two very different women walked out. Adam recognized both instantly and he couldn't help but let his hand move to Wilt's hilt.

"Neo, Raven," Adam said flatly as he indicated for everyone else to get behind him.

"A-Adam," Neo asked surprised, "You didn't tell me he was with them."

"Where else did you think he would be," Raven replied, "Relax Taurus, I'm not here to fight you and neither is Neo. Actually I'm dropping her off so she can help you in this ridiculous endeavor."

"If we need the help why don't you join us too," Moroni asked. This caused Neo to laugh a bit which Adam found odd since Neo hardly ever laughed. Well hardly ever laughed normally, psychotically at times sure but normal laughter almost never.

"I would but unless I finish off the rest of the scourge demons in my personal dimension they will just keep repopulating and eventually spread to the rest of creation. I will join you when I am done with that task. Neo thank you for the help, I know I may have pressed you into service at first but I really think you've changed from the first time I met you."

"Yeah speaking of that how do you think Yang will," Neo started.

"My daughter can be more forgiving than people think," Raven said, "More so than me. That said you hurt Yang or Ruby and I will personally take your pretty head from your shoulders. If you are nice to her though then you and me, well I did come to like you after these months of fighting beside you and I would really hate to have to kill you."

"R-right," Neo said as she backed away from Raven.

"Neo I'm sure you will do fine," Raven said, "Just talk to Yang, I'm sure she will listen once you mention me." With that Raven walked back through her portal and it closed behind her.

"So... she was weird," Moroni said again causing Neo to giggle a bit. "Well then, hello I am Moroni and you are?"

"Neapolitan," Neo replied with a twirl of her parasol and a curtsy. "But as I'm sure you've picked up on, I go by Neo most of the time."

"I have to ask," Adam said, "You've always been smug but giggling, when did that start?"

"What not even going to introduce us," Finis asked.

"You're Finis," Neo said, "and you are Imhotep, Raven and I have been watching bits and pieces of DC's adventures on our planet and with RWBY in particular. As you may have noticed, Raven is somewhat protective of Yang and Ruby oddly enough. Anyway I'll deal with the sisters' and their friends reaction to me later right now I am here to help you fight to take back on of the Remnants so let us not waste anytime. Huh you know when Raven pulled me into the rift with her all those months ago I did not expect to come back to join with you, Adam and certainly not with a were-Grimm version of you, a mummy and a hot Cherub."

"Ha I'll bet you didn't," Moroni said as the five continued moving towards Shade's meditation chamber. "Wait what was that last part?"

"Nothing," Neo said. Adam however noticed a slight blush to her cheeks. This was definitely not the side of Neo that he was used to. Then again he was used to the killer side of Neo's split personality. This giggling, flirting, side must be the normal Neo. The side that comes out when she wasn't having to fight for her life, or for the fun of it, or to complete a job. Now that Adam thought about it, he really only saw Neo when she was fighting and didn't really know her other personality that well.

"If you were watching us why were you not expecting to see me," Adam asked.

"You don't show up when we look at the world from Raven's pocket dimension," Neo replied, "I assume it has to do with your more unique abilities."

"Adam over here," Esh called. Esh was the Yang of Shade's Remnant and as such she mirrored Yang's personality and dress quite closely with one key difference... she was always angry and that meant she was always on fire. Even now the metal of the ship around the smoldering Esh was radiating heat. "You're late, and who is the girl?"

"I'm Neo," Neo said.

"Wait you don't recognize her," Adam asked.

"If I did would I have asked you for her name," Esh replied.

"Well then Neo you may very well be our ace in the hole," Adam said. "Neo here helped me and Cinder for a long time on this Remnant. If your Remnant never had Neo and us team up then your Cinder might not know what to expect from her."

"Assuming that the Magog part of that equation doesn't carry over the memories from your Cinder about her then you may be right," Esh said, "Either way we are delaying when we should be talking with Shade now come on inside."

"So glad I can be of assistance," Neo remarked with a roll of her eyes.

"You know I think that a lot to," Moroni said.

"It's kind of like being the side dish to the main course," Imhotep added. "The one that nobody touches until there is nothing else left."

Adam diverted his attention from the conversation of his friends/acquaintances to Shade as the group entered her meditation chamber. The rest of the remaining team members from the Fallen Remnant were also gathered. Shade, Yishi and Esh were joined by Schneestrum to account for RWBY. Schneestrum was Weiss's counterpart and even as a Sith still wore white robes. Adam guessed that some things were just so ingrained that nothing could change them. The other team was made up of Maven, Falion, Vendetta, and Rage. Vendetta was obviously Coco as she still had the rock star look and feel that Adam's version of Coco carried. Rage was, of all people, Ozpin or Shade's world's version of the Headmaster anyways.

"Is, are," Adam started.

"We are all that is left from Beacon yes," Shade said as she placed her scroll back into her monolith and turned to Adam. "There is a ship for each kingdom's survivors, Atlas, Vacuo, Mistral... even adding all of us up though we are maybe forty people."

"From the whole planet," Neo asked appalled.

"As far as we can tell," Yishi replied, "Even with the Sith ships we have not had the power to get close enough to find out about those who stayed behind."

"So what is the plan then," Imhotep asked, "If you can't get close what changed?"

"You all," Rage said, "Specifically you Adam. You are a void a wound in the force you can echo powers that are directed at you, even redirecting that power back against the one who sent it against you in the first place."

"The demons that rule our world exclusively use attacks that your skill can turn back on them," Finis said, "But you are not the only reason we think we can mount this assault. Beast could be invaluable in our fight as can your companions that are beside you now. Anyone who these demons have little or no experience fighting against is a good thing."

"It is the main reason we will not let any other teams from Remnant come with us on the mission," Schneestrum said, "The demons will know how to fight them because they have fought us."

"Well if it is people with different or odd fighting styles you are looking for," Moroni said, "I can think of a few more."

"Who would you recommend," Maven asked.

"The Necromancer Tom and Bad Company," Moroni said, "They are the least conventional out of all of us. I can guarantee that they will keep the enemy on their toes."

"You've obviously never seen Neo there fight," Adam said with a slight chuckle, "I'd say her style is even more unconventional than those five's and Raven's more so than her's."

"In that case I will send for Tom and Bad Co. to join us," Shade said, "Neo is welcome aboard and I regret that Raven is currently busy. If you can think of anyone else who is both available and unpredictable please let me know before Bad Company arrives."

"I can think of a few more," Adam said, "The Reds and Blues from Freelancer."

"Then I shall request that they join us as well," Shade said, "Once these groups arrive we will depart. Make sure you are ready."

"What about Beast," Imhotep asked.

"He has already agreed to this fight and is in the cargo bay," Falion said, "Taking up almost all of it too."

"Beast is that giant demon body isn't he," Neo asked.

"That is him yes," Adam confirmed the to Shade. "Why bring him?"

"The demons that are the overseers of our Remnant are like him," Shade said. "Through them the corrupting influence is maintained across our world. Once they are gone the people, if any remain, will be free... we will be free."

"It will be thirty minutes before everyone can get on board," Finis said.

"Then once they are on we are leaving," Shade said. "Revan I want you and your team, Neo included, to stay with Beast. You may want to make your way to him now as he will be deploying from the cargo hold. Oh and take these, I believe they might belong to you." Shade handed Adam two lightsabers, his old lightsabers from when he was Darth Revan. Adam took the weapons and strapped them to his belt.

"I find it hard to believe that you found them," Adam said, "But I think they may come in handy after all I did modify them with certain unique abilities. Come on let's go meet Beast." With that Adam led Imhotep, Moroni and Neo out of Shade's chamber and to the cargo hold. The four arrived to find Beast stretched out across the entire floor of the massive room. His two burning embers of eyes snapped open and he looked up at them on the catwalk as they entered.

"Well at least someone comes to talk to me," Beast rumbled, his voice echoing off the walls like a distant thunder. "Didn't think it would be you three though and who is the spunky looking one?"

"Spunky," Neo rolled the word around before declaring, "I like it. I'm Neo, an acquaintance of Adam's."

"You were Roman's partner weren't you," Beast asked as he closed his eyes again, "Cinder told me about you, she and I talk a lot, you know since we both were possessed by an evil force for a long time. I'll bet RWBY will be happy to see you."

"Really," Neo asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Well they've forgiven everyone else who fought against them," Moroni said, "I don't see why you would be any different."

"Exactly," Beast confirmed.

"I have been meaning to ask you about that," Adam said, "Now that Lucifer is on our side what do you think about him?"

"Well if he hadn't have possessed me then I guess I wouldn't have ended up in such fine company as I am now," Beast said, "Still I'm not overly excited about him being in closer proximity to me. Why would you care about that though?"

"Well you were there at my beginning, the end of Void and Despair," Adam said, "That battle when James came back and Carver joined him. You were the turning point that started me becoming me, I guess I feel like I owe you after that."

"Tell you what," Beast said, "We make it out of this mission alive and we can call it square."

"How difficult can that be," Imhotep asked.

"Because if there are more of me guarding this planet then we are going to be in for a rough fight," Beast said. "You see I shouldn't even exist, I am a body that Lucifer used, once he left I should have died like any other body does when the soul leaves. I am empty, but the creatures we go to fight, they will all be filled with demons."

"If you were an empty shell you wouldn't be here," Adam said, "I suppose you are a lot like I was, a fragment of an idea, the lost part of a mind so grieved by loss and pain that it had to split."

"What part of Lucifer's mind would I have been then," Beast asked.

"The part that knew what he was doing was evil," Neo said, "like any split personality no matter which side is more dominant the other side recognized the horror of what it is doing..."

"That sounds like personal experience talking," Moroni said as he bent down and put one of his feathery wings around Neo.

"S-something like that," Neo said as she accepted the Cherub's comforting embrace. "Hey you really are hot, you must have an average body temperature of almost a hundred and twenty."

"Ha ha ha, she's a resilient one isn't she," Beast chuckled, "I'd like to think you're right about me, maybe I'm what is left of the side of Lucifer's mind that could tell right from wrong, or at least cared that there was a difference. You can't be nearly as young as you look to have such a mature train of thought."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Neo said as she pushed Moroni away and waved her hands around as if she was trying to disperse the heat from his wings in addition to a few feathers. "Yes I may look to be in my early twenties but I'm actually almost twice that age. Though compared to any of you I must look like a baby, I can't even imagine how old you all are."

"Well I'm technically only forty two," Adam said.

"But you have the experience of at least three lifetimes," Imhotep said, "And very long lifetimes at that."

"That's a fair point," Adam conceded.

"Everyone we are ready to depart," Yishi said over the ships intercom, "Prepare for battle, we will be above Remnant in just a few minutes."

"Oh good," Neo said as she adopted a terrifying smile, "Time to go to work."

"So am I the only one scared of the crazy lady in the room," Beast said.

"Don't worry about her," Adam said, "This is the Neo I know, a ruthless combatant that can face down just about anything and make it look like the simplest thing in the world while doing so. Besides if it is crazy people your worried about I think that M there gets a little blood-lust too when he is in a fight."

"What can I say," Moroni replied as he checked his ax blade, "It's important to like what you do and we kill monsters."

"Finally someone who understands," Neo remarked, surprising Adam. Neo almost never talked while she was in this pre-combat stage and she never talked for reason other than to answer question directly related to the mission.

"Well they are going to get along just fine I think," Imhotep said as red lights came on across the cargo bay.

"Well that's my cue," Beast said, "You four coming with me?"

"That is why we are here yes," Adam said.

"Well then you may want to hold onto something," Beast said, "the way we are getting down is by being detached from the ship and falling to the ground."

With Shade:

"Hey do you think we should have given them parachutes or something," Maven asked.

"What why," Shade replied.

"Well we are just going to drop them into the atmosphere and hope that Beast can break out of the cargo bay once they land," Maven said.

"Oh right," Shade muttered, "Nah they will be fine I'm sure they have their own landing strategies."

Back with Adam:

"Wait we're being wha," Adam was cut off as the Cargo bay dropped off of the ship with a lurch and fell towards the Dark Remnant. Adam instantly went into action as did Moroni. The two cut their way through the top of the cargo bay to find themselves plummeting towards the ground. Moroni hooked the cargo bay with his ax and spread his wings before nodding to Adam. Adam drew his twin lightsabers and sprinted down the length of the structure weakening it as he went with the sabers. Once he was at the end he turned and sent a massive force push back at M. Moroni took the hit and used the additional power to rip the cargo bay apart, splitting it into pieces where Adam weakened it. Beast broke free of the flying debris and landed a few moments later with a ground pound. Imhotep swirled down to the ground in a sand storm and Neo was riding one of the larger metal chunks like a surfboard and was using her umbrella as a guide to direct her fall. Moroni flew over and picked Neo up carrying her to the ground while Adam unleashed a force nova just a few feet above the ground that redirected the energy of the fall and allowed him to land without hurting himself.

"That was fun," Beast remarked. "Now time to find things that look like me and kill them."

"When we get done with this I'll want to have a chat with Shade," Adam stated as he dusted himself off. "But first the guardians. Where should we start look...ing." Neo walked past Adam and blinked, her pink and brown eyes swapping color as she did so. She then pointed to the east with her umbrella before resuming her walk in that direction.

"Is she always this cryptic," Imhotep asked.

"Only when she is on a job," Adam answered, "Come on we'd better follow her, she is usually not wrong in my experience."

"A take charge woman," Moroni said, "I already like her better than Roman, we could change our name to NAIM." This even caused Neo to stifle a laugh. She looked at Moroni with a somewhat quizzical expression, her eyes had both turned white until she blinked and resumed her march.

"So what is with the eyes," Beast asked, "Do they normally change color?"

"In Neo's case yes," Adam said, "Though I don't know how it works. I have to say though M you managed something I never heard in three and a half years of working with Neo, her making a sound while on a mission."

"What can I say I'm gifted like that," Moroni said.

Neo stopped them in the middle of a large plateau. Looking around Adam saw that it was where Beacon once stood. Neo pulled out her scroll and quickly typed a message to someone before smirking and sitting down.

"What was that about a take charge woman," Imhotep asked.

"We're not resting," Moroni said, "We're waiting and judging from the shadows that are growing darker around us we won't have to wait long." Almost on cue five creatures like Beast descended to surround the group.

"Okay five on five," Beast said, "Normally I'd say that is fair but seeing as it is us verses them I'm pretty sure we've got the upper hand."

"Joke later," Imhotep said, "How do we kill these things?"

Neo demonstrated how a moment later as she shattered, or more precisely her illusion shattered and Neo appeared on top of one of the creature's head with her sword drawn from the umbrella and plunged deep into it's skull.

"Well the bodies are easy to kill now to see if the hundreds of demons that are in there will get their bodies and fight us," Moroni said. Sure enough as the creature collapsed it fell apart into a hundred other demons, which Neo immediately started started killing as if they were chaff before a tornado.

"Follow the leader," Moroni said as he flew up to attack his target.

"Yeah I guess so," Adam agreed as he threw his lightsabers at his chosen opponent.