Prologue

The Nightmare Begins

Every day, I remember the screaming. I remember the violence, the horror and the death that happened when the Heavens fell. The sky was torn open as angelic monstrosities descended from the sky, the town around me burning as literal eldritch horrors also arrived, ready for human flesh. My only recourse was to tighten my cloak, fire up the Tao Mandalas with magic and keep fighting. "Oh look, the human is trying to resist. How cute.", one angel mockingly remarked. "Talk all you want. You're still going to die either way.", I responded, leaping at the invaders. I unleashed a powerful gust of wind strong enough to slice open human flesh which the angels unwisely blocked, ripping their wings apart. Undeterred, I then summoned forth a high-pressure wave of water, this also cleaving the angels in half, killing them. The last thing I remember happening afterward is being impaled by a tentacle from one of the eldritch monstrosities. "Jack!", a familiar boisterous voice shouted out- the voice's owner, a blonde haired and blue-eyed hunk of man wielding a hammer able to control lightning soon teleported in via a radiant multicoloured pillar of energy. "Thor, this was a mistake. Tell the other Avengers to retreat in the Chimera; you and them need to get out before the Earth is destroyed. Before our enemy YHVH appears and loops time again.", I pleaded. Coughing up blood, I then looked up to the sky where golden and white cracks of energy were quickly appearing in the night sky. "Actually, on second thought-", I began before a blast of bluish-white energy struck me, killing me in the process.

Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jack Sebastian Arnold and I was born in Peterborough in England. I have brown hair and grey eyes. Anyway, on with the story. Waking up in my room, I saw that the time was 9am. "Yet another nightmare.", I groaned. Putting my glasses on, I walked over to the shutters covering my windows in order to let even a brief sliver of light into my perpetually dark room. Opening the shutters, I looked upon the green sky and smiled weakly. "Seems the zeppelins are making the rounds again.", I observed. Content, I closed the shutters before making my way downstairs to get some breakfast.

Upon pouring myself some Krave to start my day (in case you're not aware, Krave is a cereal with chocolate inside), I turned on the radio to see if there was anything worth listening to on the news. I flipped channels on the radio upon hearing an extremely fatigued newsreader exposit on an utterly boring topic: the impact of gaming and the media on violent behaviour. Finding nothing interesting to listen to on the radio, I took my breakfast and entered the living room. As I was just setting my breakfast down, I heard a strange voice speak. "You must remember-", the voice said before it mysteriously vanished. "That's that strange voice I've been hearing again.", I muttered. "No matter. My parents are out on holiday on a cruise leaving me to hold down the fort. Hopefully they'll get me a present seeing how my 19th birthday is next month on October. Maybe I can tell them about the voice then.", I continued. Turning on the TV, I saw what seemed to be a rather interesting programme about an alien invasion led by a malicious entity calling itself "God" (specifically using the name "YHVH") and the efforts of seven brave heroes to repel it. I however couldn't help noticing how weird they looked- one of them wearing mechanical plate armour holding a giant sword, another dressed like a typical Viking raider holding a comically oversized axe, another wearing armour that made him look like a dragon holding a lance, yet another looking like a Chinese monk from wuxia films ready to fight with nothing but his bare hands, another lightly armoured fellow holding a bow, yet another looking like a ninja holding twin swords and a final one wearing a hooded cloak that made him look like a typical fantasy sorcerer holding what seemed to look like a typical stick you'd have a dog play fetch with bursting with electricity. What was also odd was that both the heroes shown and the overall premise seemed very familiar to me, as though I'd experienced it before. What was odder still is that I seemed to recognise some of the people flanking the seven, one of them being a man with white hair wearing black armour and a blue mantle with what also seemed to be a sword made of fire alongside his regular sword, a man with long black hair wearing a black tunic that exposed his chest and a golden bracelet on his left arm holding a katana in his left hand, a rather young looking man with long red hair with yellow tips wearing a white half shirt and white trousers also holding a sword in his left hand and a young man with short brown hair dressed in red leather and holding two swords with a blue sphere on his left glove. Alongside them were a man with spiky white hair and red eyes with red markings on his face wearing spiky red and black armour holding a very sinister looking scythe, a girl with short (like shoulder length) platinum-blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a red beret, black half-shirt with no bra underneath and a red skirt holding a red sword with a serrated edge and a youngish looking boy with dark brown hair with a red streak in it wearing a black outfit with red elements and holding another katana with a black and red hilt. "Wait, why do they seem very familiar to me? Isn't it supposed to be fiction? Or maybe have I encountered them in another life I'm having these strange dreams of?", I said to myself, confused. Something clearly wasn't right. Several other figures also came onto the screen: a man with short and spiky white hair and mismatched red and green eyes (the left eye being green and the right eye being red) wearing a red jacket over a black yukata holding an axe, a woman with blonde hair in a bun with one strand being spiked up and green eyes wearing a blue gown with silver armour over it holding a sword with a golden blade, a blonde man with greyish-blue eyes wearing a red jacket and a black jumper with grey shorts holding a cool mechanical looking red sword with a glass circle near the hilt, another man with brown hair and gold eyes wearing a blue jumpsuit with what looked like a blue and gold diving helm behind him and a green X on his chest holding another red mechanical sword that looked like it was burning and another man with black hair styled in a ponytail and blue eyes wearing (you guessed it) yet another red jacket with a black jumpsuit underneath holding a third red mechanical sword.

Finishing my breakfast, I returned to the kitchen and placed the bowl I used to hold the cereal in the washing machine. Something definitely wasn't right. I went back upstairs to my room, thinking a nice warm shower would clear my thoughts. The warm water touched my body and soothed my light brown hair, allowing me to relax. As I lathered my body and hair with shower gel, I kept thinking about how I seemed to weirdly recognise the people I saw on the TV, even though I hadn't met them before. Indeed, I recognised some of them from some of the RPGs I played devotedly on my PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, but it was as if I actually knew them personally. "Weird.", I said to myself. The premise of the show (I believe the name was Requiem of the Heroes like I saw in a Radio Times listing for broadcast on BBC One) also seemed familiar too. I also remembered that I encountered some of the characters in an MMO for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and mobile called Heaven's Fall that was co-developed by CyberConnect2 and PlatinumGames and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment featuring the Tales Series, .hack, God Eater, Digimon, Soul Series, Pac-Man and Tekken franchises and had a near-identical premise to the show. Maybe that's where I recognised them from. Regardless, something strange was certainly afoot.

Getting out of the shower, I dried up with a dark grey towel on my towel rack and stepped out of my toilet (which was part of my bedroom) and decided to get ready for the day. I then got myself dressed, putting a dark blue pair of underpants, a pair of black socks with dark grey toes, a lavender t-shirt and a white pair of trousers. I then combed my hair which had gotten messy from my somewhat erratic sleeping the previous night (then again I was dreaming about what could have possibly been another previous life I didn't remember) and put on my glasses. Whatever the case, something odd was happening and I needed to get to the bottom of what exactly was happening. I put on a pair of black Chelsea boots and a whitish-grey hoodie which I then zipped up before disconnecting my iPhone 7 and placing it in my black backpack which I slid out from under my bed. I then exited my room, being careful to close the door before me. Stepping out of my house, I then put my hand in front of the entrance door (the door leading out to the garden had already been locked by my parents before they went on their cruise) and called up a digital interface before touching the red lock button, locking the door. As I stepped onto the pavement, I caught a very brief glimpse of a girl with short lilac hair and bluish-purple eyes with wings in her wearing a pink hat and a white dress with pink and blue designs, who then looked directly at me like she was beckoning me to come with her. I stepped forward nervously (since after all I didn't know if she would a kind dear or if she was faking a kind demeanour like I saw on her face). Soon, the glimpse vanished just as quickly as I saw it. Before I could process what had happened, I then found myself in the library of Arthur Mellows Village College in Glinton where I studied English Language and Psychology at A-level alongside undertaking a Science BTEC. "Wait, why am I in AMVC again after I graduated?", I asked right before I noticed a mysterious pedestal with an orange sphere on it. Walking up to the pedestal, I then saw another vision, this time of a colossal evil robotic angel lunging at me only to be stopped by magical lightning, causing a giant magical explosion. The sphere then floated up and hovered towards me, as if it recognised me from somewhere. Deciding to just roll with it, I extended my hand and took the sphere, promptly putting it in the pocket of my backpack. I was then teleported just as mysteriously teleported to the college's playground where I saw a mysterious dark figure cloaked in a black and dark grey hooded cloak. Feeling a strange sensation, an orange glow appeared in my left hand before turning into an unfocused orange circle.

Turning my direction directly to the dark figure, I asked him, "Hi, my name's Jack. Who are you?". The figure responded with a very deep voice, "Hmm, maybe he is the key." Confused by this, I asked, "I don't understand. Why are you calling me the key?". The figure then glitched out unexpectedly before suddenly disappearing as though he was never there to begin with; consequently, the orange glow in my hand disappeared as well. Before I had any time to understand what had happened, I then found myself in the Roman Baths under, well, Bath. There, I saw a vision of a golden hedgehog with red eyes fighting a giant mechanical centaur wielding a giant red sword in a volcano in a volcanic island in the sky. That vision suddenly changed to that white-haired man wearing a red jacket who I saw on the TV fighting a black werewolf with a black mane of hair and two wolf heads where his shoulders would be fighting in a strange white world in front of a mysterious floating gate; accompanying the white-haired man was a man with neatly combed blonde hair and green eyes wearing a blue coat wielding a magical katana that could secrete ice from its blade; after that vision I saw another vision wherein the white-haired man with a flaming sword who I also saw on the TV fighting a man with long black hair and a scar down one of his eyes wielding an icy katana not entirely dissimilar to what the blonde haired man was wielding- here, the white haired man was wearing a smart white outfit with a blue band making him look like a King and the two of them where covered with a bright multicoloured aura. That vision faded as well. "Well, that was weird and a complete non-sequitur.", I said to myself. Walking further into the baths, I saw a weird looking ancient shrine with a giant green emerald with cute small blue fairies with yellow spikes on top of their heads surrounding it; alongside them was a giant (well by their standards anyway; it looked otherwise around my height) being made entirely of water with green eyes. Before I could get any further, I then found myself at the Leicester Space Centre.

"Again with the random transitions from place to place.", I grumbled. Here, though, I saw two figures- one of them being a golden man with deer horns and another of them a black and purple man with devil horns. Deciding to introduce myself, I said, "Hi, my name is Jack. Who are you?" The golden man turned around; with a deep and authoritative voice, he responded, "Oh, you could certainly be the one to stop YHVH and its forces." "Indeed he could, Brother.", the black and purple man said. "I'm sorry, could you explain please?", I asked, confused. Suddenly, the two cast a strange magic spell creating a golden and purple circle under my feet; before I had any time to react another golden and purple circle floated down and covered me, causing me to glow with a strange golden and purple light. Another strange voice, this time female and electronic, said, "Identity confirmed. Jack Sebastian Arnold, the Thirteenth Mage Hero, finally active. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Protector of the Multiverse; you are the key." Wanting to know what happened, I asked, "So, what did you do to me?". "We have made you immortal.", the black and purple man responded. "Wait, does that mean I can't die?", I asked. "You catch on fast, don't you? Yes, you're immortal, meaning you cannot die. Not even the cursed blood you hold within you can end your life.", the black and purple man said. "Moreover, not only can't you age past your current age, but you also exist outside the rules of the World.", he continued. "What do you mean by 'the rules of the World'?", I asked. "I'll answer that question.", the golden man said. "Our world (which exists adjacent to your world in the Multiverse) is called Nintentopia. It is a world where the rules of reality are heavily and primarily founded on what you would call RPGs, or role-playing games." "So it's what TV Tropes would call an RPG Mechanics Verse, huh?", I asked. "I do not know what TV Tropes is but yes.", the golden man said. "And you're telling me that this Nintentopia place is under attack by this person named YHVH, right?", I asked. "Correct.", the black and purple man responded. "Thing is, I don't get why you had to give me immortality and prevent me aging past 18. Wouldn't it have been simpler to just give me bullshit main character powers and send me on my way there?", I said. "You might not remember this, but you died in battle against YHVH no less than 168 times in the past. Well, I say died in battle, but it would be more accurate to say you've been trapped in a false reality by YHVH and the only way to really escape is to kill them. Not only that, but said evil God is threatening the stability and dimensional integrity of every world and we fear it is only a matter of time before YHVH destroys all worlds currently in existence and replaces it with a world without freewill where everyone worships YHVH endlessly.", the black and purple man responded. "That's quite a tall order.", I said.

Before they could say any more, the two people disappeared. Wandering over to the Leicester Space Centre's cafeteria to think on what I'd learned, I then saw a young catgirl with ashen white fur and yellow eyes wearing a white and light grey hoodie, a white miniskirt with a red bow, long black tights, just as long white boots and a white t-shirt with black stripes partly exposing her midriff (her navel wasn't exactly visible). She also had a blue and red crystal on her chest. "Hello, who are you? My name's Jack.", I said, wanting to introduce myself. "Uh, hi Jack. My name's Mio.", the catgirl said. She had something of a Welsh accent too. Wanting to make conversation, I then asked, "So, what are you doing here at the Leicester Space Centre?". "Oh, nothing much. I heard that there was someone here that might prove to be a "key" and I decided to look for them.", Mio responded. "By the way, where are you from?", I then asked. "I'm from a distant country named Agnus. We have very advanced weaponry there; the Levnises and Ferronises are capable of flight and moving autonomously on their own. We're at war with a country named Keves; the Levnises and Ferronises they have, though generally technologically inferior to ours, are capable of moving as long as someone is piloting them.", Mio responded. "Well, I'll leave you to what you were doing then. I hope you find that key of yours you're looking for", I said. We then parted ways.

Sitting down in the cafeteria, I then mulled over what I had learned. Apparently, there was a world named Nintentopia, its physical laws were primarily based on what one would expect from an RPG-Mechanics Verse, it was in danger from a being named YHVH and that same being had apparently trapped me in a false reality for some reason. "Why is this sounding so familiar to me?", I wondered. "Could I have visited that world in a dream…or had I actually physically visited the world and gotten trapped there?", I asked myself. Regardless, I then encountered another vision, this time of a man with black spiky hair wearing a red coat, a pair of small black glasses (I was also wearing glasses, but the rim was khaki instead of black), a white shirt and black trousers and holding a giant beam katana. "Enough with the extremely confusing visions already.", I muttered. Then, I found myself in Ilfracombe, with Mortehoe just up the road and Morte Point just beyond the fence there. "Something…or someone must be trying to show me something. Just what though?", I said to myself before I spotted a giant robot with a black and dark grey colour scheme and a circle with three rods by the beach. I rushed down there, only to see a blue hedgehog with green eyes, long peach arms and legs and wearing a pair of red shoes with a white strap running up it. I wondered how he could do so, before I looked closer and saw that the giant robot was expelling blue circles that were boosting the hedgehog up its body. "That's the way, Sonic!", cried out a young two-tailed fox with yellow fur (aside from a white tuft on his chest and two tips of white fur on his tails) with blue eyes and white shoes.

As Sonic engaged in battle with the giant robot, I also saw that the two-tailed fox wasn't alone. Alongside him were a red echidna with a white stripe on his chest, purple eyes, two gloves with spikes on his hands and "hair" styled in dreadlocks and red and yellow shows with metal on the top and a pink hedgehog wearing a red dress with a white trim, white gloves and red boots with a long white stripe on them. "Come on, Tails, he's got this one.", the echidna said derisively. "Oh, don't be like that, Knuckles.", the pink hedgehog said. "Come on, Amy, I'm just saying since Sonic's victory is assured, we don't need to concern ourselves with the fight.", Knuckles said. "And what if he falls in the water after defeating the robot and drowns? Even I know he can't swim.", Amy fired back. "Look, he can perform a boost to get himself away from danger and can stomp on the ground to prevent Ring loss. Because of that, Sonic's in no real danger anyway.", Knuckles explained. Before I could approach them properly, the giant robot launched a wave of giant red energy launching me in the air. I landed near the York Minster, where I saw a young man with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a purple jumpsuit with a shoulder pad on his left shoulder and a pair of brown boots holding a comically large sword with two holes in it, a giant man with dark skin and short black hair with a cannon for a right arm wearing a brown leather jacket, green trousers and a tight black leather vest with metal belts on it alongside purple boots and a very attractive woman with long raven hair and brown eyes, a white tank top bearing her stomach and navel, a black pair of shorts, short black socks and a pair of red shoes alongside long sleeves on her arms covered by a pair of red leather gloves. Along them was a small yellow mouse with red cheeks and a tail shaped like a thunderbolt. "It's OK, Pikachu. We'll find your friends, I swear.", the man with blonde hair said. "Still though, Cloud, what if we don't find them?", the woman asked. "Don't be like that, Tifa. There have got to be other Pokémon around here that Pika must've gotten separated from.", Cloud said. I then attempted to get close to them, only to find myself in the London Underground. "Goddammit!", I exclaimed, annoyed.

As I tensely explored the Underground waiting for something unusual to occur, I then spied a glimpse of a young-ish looking girl with short silver hair and golden eyes wearing a long dark blue scarf, a maroon dress that looked somewhat like a qipao with a golden belt around it, long black sleeves on her arms, long black tights, long golden boots with red ribbons and a blue ribbon in her hair. Steeling myself for anything weird, I nervously approached the girl, wondering what would happen if I was mysteriously teleported to another place in England. As I got closer, I discovered that the girl was accompanied by a bird with white and orange feathers and that the girl was holding a strange book coloured brown with a golden shape on the front and blurb. She then proceeded to look at me and smiled.

"Hi, my name's Jack. Who are you?", I asked. "Hi, Jack. My name's Micaiah.", the girl said. "By the way, do you know where I am?", she asked. "Well, Micaiah, this is the London Underground, a massive train network underneath London, the capital city of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.", I responded. "Wait, Great Britain and just…Ireland?", Micaiah asked, confused. "Yeah. At least in my world, Ireland (well the south, anyway) never declared independence, so the country's officially named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.", I explained. "Interesting. Very interesting indeed.", Micaiah said. I then felt a strange chill, as if something otherworldly and eldritch was beginning to surge. Micaiah then glitched out, as if she was never there. "That's the second time it's happened today. Just what is happening?", I said. I then saw visions this time of a vast expanse of green with a giant loop de loop, then a vast desert with Mio, the man I saw on the TV, a man wearing a black leather coat who looked like he was made of metal, a young woman with short brown hair and wings in her hair wearing a green hoodie, a young girl with blue fire in her hair wearing what seemed to be a sports bra and shorts and a black man with bushy brown hair wearing glasses and a white jumper with a long orange scarf, and then a vision of an equally vast expanse of ice and snow under a perpetually dark sky with the white haired man I had seen on TV now wearing a midnight blue outfit with leather covering it alongside a woman with long pink hair and blue eyes wearing a fancy old-fashioned dress with a cut out part to expose her back alongside a young girl with short black hair in a bob cut with a strand of hair next to her right eye and amber eyes wearing a blue hooded cloak, black short fingerless gloves, a light blue minidress and blue stockings alongside a pair of long black boots with a baby owl with white feathers and yellow eyes alongside a man with short grey hair and piercing blue eyes wearing a white shirt with a blue collar, orange trousers, a giant metal gauntlet on his right arm, a leather belt around his waist, a leather guard around his chest, a short boot on his left foot and a longer boot on his right foot.

Snapping out of the vision, I then passed by four equally strange figures- a young man with teal hair and blue eyes wearing a black suit of armour with a salmon pink design, a black cape, black gauntlets and black boots, a girl with long white hair and purple eyes wearing a black and gold dress with a red cape and red stockings and black high-heeled boots, a man with slightly messy blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a black suit, black gauntlets, black boots and a blue cape and a black man with messy black hair and green eyes wearing a black suit, black boots, a yellow cape and a single earring on his left ear. Looking carefully, I saw the girl holding a mighty axe, the blonde man a lance and the black man a bow while the man with teal hair was holding a sword that looked like it had been forged from bones. I tried to get their attention, only for the girl to somewhat give me a fleeting look before they disappeared from my sight entirely.

Riding one of the trains to St. Pancras (since the neighbourhood of London that I'd landed in was Knightsbridge), I saw that the map of the Underground looked like it had been horribly glitched. Reaching for my phone, I then saw that the date and time were also impossible- the date was the 67th of November whilst the time was 87:34. The time then jolted to 56:12 and then 91:87; this was proof enough to me that something really wasn't right. Arriving at St. Pancras, I walked out of the station to see that the city was morphing; it was a city one moment then it was a volcanic wasteland in another. I looked around if I could see anyone- a policeman, a security guard, a regular citizen- anyone at all. Of course, I then saw the four people I saw in the Underground that I passed by (no, not Micaiah in case you were wondering).

Walking up to them, I said, "Uh, hi. My name's Jack. What's yours?". "Nice to meet you, Jack. My name's Claude von Riegan.", the black man said, having a very relaxed and friendly voice. "I am Dimitri Alexandre Blaidydd.", the blonde man said with a very knightly and composed voice. "Blay-did?", I asked. "No, Blay-thid", Dimitri said. "Oh, honestly. By the way, my name's Edelgard von Hresvelg.", the woman said with a very dignified voice. "And who is him?", I asked, indicating the man accompanying them. "Oh, he's our Professor.", Claude said. Before I could introduce myself to him, I then encountered (you guessed it) yet another vision, this time of Sonic running across a field of green before jumping onto a strange tower. This was then followed by a group of six heroes (one a samurai in white armour and a long silver mane wielding a nodachi, another a cat in a hood wielding two swords, another a werewolf transformed into the form of an old man wearing a dark green suit, another a man with spiky green hair holding a dark green magical whip, another a woman with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes in a hood wielding a heart-shaped rod and the last a woman with pink hair wearing a stereotypical witch outfit confronting a black and dark red monstrosity that had the appearance of an eight headed snake. This was in turn followed by glimpse of a man with messy black hair accompanied by a literal cartoon cat wearing a yellow neckerchief in a sterile white laboratory. "What are these visions trying to show me?", I asked, before I found myself in front of the Izaak Walton in Dovedale.

Fearfully stepping inside, I asked, "Hello? Anyone home?". Getting no response, I walked further in. Looking at the lounge on the ground floor, I saw that it had been mysteriously replaced by a giant painting showcasing a giant eldritch monster with tentacles accompanied by a King in yellow; upon stepping further to read the plaque, I saw that it described "King Hastur and His Vassal Cthulhu". "Yes. You are the key.", a voice behind me said. I turned around apprehensively to see the same dark figure I saw at Glinton. "OK, seriously, who are you and why do you sound like Steve Blum?", I asked, annoyed. "I believe that there's no avoiding it now.", the figure replied before turning up his hood. To my surprise, Reader, I saw that the figure had blonde hair and cyan eyes but otherwise looked exactly like me (well, aside from the figure not wearing glasses). Very confused, I asked, "Who are you?"; the figure responded, "Why, you.". Completely lost, I then perked up, asking, "I have a long-lost twin brother?!". "I'm not your brother; I'm the real Jack. You're just a faker.", the figure replied. "You're calling me a fake? I think you're the fake one around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake.", I shot back. "I'll make you eat those words!", the figure said, firing up a blue blast of energy in his right hand. Before he could attack though, I then heard a piercing tone from inside his cloak. "You gonna get that?", I asked. Ignoring the tone, the figure menacingly advanced before receiving a telepathic message that I could also hear. "Toby, stop what you're doing and report for duty! Our lord YHVH requires a status report!", the voice said. "Fine!", Toby growled before apparating away. "Weird. Wait, this isn't going to be an actual trend in this story, is it?", I then said to myself.

Deciding to investigate why I'd been having these strange visions, I then climbed the staircase onto the first floor, upon which I saw a menacing statue of an eldritch spider before passing by it to see an equally eldritch statue of a giant pillbug. Passing by that statue, I then saw a third statue, this time of an old man in a wheelchair. Before I could read the plaques on any of them, I then found myself in front of the Key Theatre back in Peterborough. Looking up to the sky, I then saw the green sky darken (which was weird because according to my phone, the time was 1:30 in the afternoon now) and a Hellish green portal open. Crackling with green electricity, out of the portal descended four angels wearing white and golden armour, one of who had red skin with spiky blue hair and was wielding a flaming lance, one with blue skin and normal blonde hair wielding a typical sword, another with plum skin and blonde hair and a more feminine looking angel with green skin and long black hair holding a flower. "ALL CITIZENS OF EARTH, STAY WHERE YOU ARE! THIS PLANET IS NOW UNDER THE GOVERNANCE OF THE LORD OUR GOD WHO ART IN HEAVEN AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!", the red skinned angel bellowed. "I'm sorry, but who are you?", I asked. Turning their attention to me, the plum skinned angel roared, "YOU UNCLEAN PIECE OF FILTH, HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO THE ARCHANGELS!". "Wait, what do you mean by unclean?", I asked. "Well, normally, we would have to kill you immediately for your insolence, but I think our Lord would forgive us at least introducing ourselves to you before your execution. I, incidentally, am the Archangel Gabriel.", the green skinned angel said. "I am Archangel Michael.", the red skinned angel said. "I am Archangel Uriel.", the blue skinned angel said. "And I am Archangel Raphael.", the plum skinned angel said. "OK, so you do have names. And one of you is named after a Ninja Turtle. That I can kinda get behind.", I said. "You are the Cursed One, Filth.", Michael continued. "For the Kingdom of Heaven to continue prospering for all eternity, your death is required.", Uriel said. "But why do I have to die for a kingdom I've never even heard of to continue existing?", I asked. "That you do not have to understand. All you need to do is die.", Michael replied.

Then out of nowhere, I suddenly felt a strange sense of pain. Suddenly, a bolt of green lightning came down from the portal and struck me. I screamed at the electricity criss-crossing around me, as if the lightning was affecting my very soul. Writhing on the ground, I scrunched my eyes only to suddenly open them as they started to glow red. As my body started to glow dark orange, I saw my left hand covered in a dark orange sphere which proceeded to cover my whole body. Rapidly hyperventilating, my expression was one of complete fear as I saw my backpack mysteriously disappear except for the orange sphere which then turned into a wooden staff before also disappearing. My body was now covered entirely by the dark orange sphere now, which then floated up into the air before erupting into a pillar of black and dark orange fire. Once the fire dissipated, I then found myself in a strange black hooded robe with dark orange designs. Not only had my entire clothes except for my glasses and Chelsea boots changed, but my once lean and thin body was now larger and more muscular. My pale and undeathly complexion was now also healthier too. Examining myself in confusion, I asked myself, "What? What?" What?!". I then turned my attention to the Archangels, who had apparently been shoved onto the ground at the exact point the sphere of dark orange energy covering my body burst into flame. "So you have a Semblance as well. Not particularly surprising.", Gabriel said. "Wait, you mean like the special powers those RWBY characters have that derive from their very souls?", I asked. "We do not know what RWBY is, but yes.", Uriel replied. "Still, the fact remains that you are an Unclean One and have to die for the sake of our Lord.", Michael said. "Wanna bet?!", I growled. Then, a strange sense of euphoria came over me; not knowing what tricks the Archangels had up their sleeves, I took a stance, ready to fight.

Michael was the first to attack, rushing at me with a fast and aggressive lunge. Raising his spear, he prepared to thrust his weapon only for me to counter with a strange orange mandala that had suddenly appeared in my hand. Not knowing how to actually fight, I then unleashed an orange burst of energy that transformed into a wave of water. "How did I do that?", I wondered aloud before I found myself toe-to-toe with Uriel. He slashed at me with his sword, only for me to dodge, upon which I briefly perceived time appearing to move slower than it actually was. Time then returned to "normal", after which I then threw a punch that threw a nearby tree branch which Uriel effortlessly vaporised with a blast of light. Uriel then unleashed a beam of radiant white light which I somehow repelled through a gravitational sphere manifesting around me. "OK, I can control gravity and have control over the four cardinal elements. What else?", I thought. Irked, Uriel rushed at me, only to be stopped in his tracks by a fireball I unleashed from another punch. "Don't think you've won yet, Filth.", Uriel snarled. Leaping at me again, he performed a more powerful slash, only for me to apparently block it with just my soul alone; my body turned orange instinctively only to unleash a blinding white light after the sword made contact. I then formed mandalas in both hands, then unleashing a powerful tornado which I could surprisingly see, the tornado in question being coloured green when wind is usually invisible to the naked eye. In came Raphael, forming a giant axe from golden light which promptly dispelled the tornado.

As Michael, Uriel and Raphael rushed at me, I then formed a sword of my own, albeit formed from orange energy; steeling myself, I slashed at the three Archangels, unleashing a blast of energy which pushed them back. Raphael then rushed at me, moving at what honestly seemed like the speed of light; at this, I stomped the ground causing a giant stalagmite to burst out, stopping him in his tracks. Forming a giant fiery orange lance in my right hand, I then rushed at the Archangels ready to kill them. Gabriel launched various beams of light from her flower which I effortlessly dodged; some by simply leaping out of the way, others by jumping and literally running on top of them, using them as platforms Mario-style. I smirked, a dark red and black flame covering my body. "You insolent piece of filth.", Michael growled. I chuckled, raising the lance and preparing to skewer the Archangels with it. Or, that's what would have happened had Michael not stabbed me with his own lance, causing me to cry out in pain as another orange glow covered my body only to completely shatter, causing the lance in my hand to disappear. "You b-bastard.", I growled as I coughed up blood from the wound. Unimpressed, Michael then thrust the spear further, shoving me onto the ground. Before the Archangels could deliver the final blow (not that they could anyway due to my immortality), I then saw an adult woman with long greyish-brown hair wearing a suit of silver and purple armour riding a Pegasus arrive, prompting the four Archangels to retreat. "It's OK, you're safe now.", the woman said. "Who are you?", I asked. "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is you getting immediate medical attention and I know just the place to take you.", the woman continued. Of course, I was in no position to argue anyway, what with the woman's beauty and my injuries. Then again, though, I had apparently taken so much damage that I then fell unconscious. I don't really remember what really happened afterward, aside from the fact that after I woke up, I found myself in a healing pod with the woman who saved me and a doctor with short light brown hair and brown eyes wearing a white labcoat and a dark blue dress showing off her cleavage. "You did good bringing him here, Sumia.", the doctor said with a very sultry and seductive voice. "Oh, it's nothing. Thankfully, I'm just lucky the Floating Hospital was able to take one more patient, Manuela.", Sumia said. "OK, I'm about to start the healing sequence.", Manuela declared before the people in the ward mysteriously disappeared. "Oh no.", I said. As if right on cue, the Archangels then appeared in front of my sight, albeit the view was distorted from the viewing pane looking out from the inside of the pod. "You knew you can't escape from this, Filth.", Michael said with utter bile in his voice. "OK, what are you going to do now-?", I began to ask before the pod was filled with sleeping gas knocking me out. Before my consciousness fully drifted away, I heard Raphael say, "Since you have failed to repent for the crime of existing when we told you, your punishment will now be to spend as long as we decide in this pod in utterly unbearable and constant agony. That is what you deserve for existing, Filth.". Finally falling unconsciousness after seeing Uriel call up a red UI, I then heard a large explosion, destroying the hospital. My body trapped in the pod and the rubble of the hospital then fell through a sinister black and dark portal, unknown where we would end up.

The story will continue and properly begin in the next chapter. For now, though, the Prologue is over.