Chapter 45
Invasion
Floating over the British Isles, Noah smirked. "The time is now! The invasion has begun!", he cried out excitedly. "But how will we find that ingrate?", Joshua asked. "That's simple. We use process of elimination- we invade every town, village and city to see if Jack is there and keep going until we find him.", Ivy replied, smirking. "But still, that leaves a large margin for error. For all we know, he could have already escaped Cyber Space leaving us on a wild goose chase.", Shadow said. "That actually makes a lot of sense.", Hanabi said. "Still, sense or no sense, we need to find Jack anyway and kill him.", Revali said. "I just hope he sees sense in the end. Still, that's on him and not us.", Rex said. "Father…", Glimmer said. Anxiously looking at the cyan portal behind them, Nikol then said, "But we'll be able to call through our heavenly friends, right?". "Indeed we shall, son.", Shulk said. Suddenly, A let out a very shrill scream. "What is it, Madam Consul?", Sumia asked. "YorHa's soldiers.", A said, pointing her katana at a long line of gynoids wearing Gothic Lolita dresses. Like 2B, they were all wearing black blindfolds. "So, they're here to test us, are they?", Lanz asked. "I don't think they are.", Noel said. "How do you mean?", Magilou asked. "I don't think here to test and aid us. Rather, I think they're here to stop us.", Velvet replied. "That is correct.", one of the gynoids said. "By order of His Majesty the Sovereign, we shall stop you from invading the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and aid His Majesty in stopping YHVH.", another one of the gynoids said. "Wait, you mean His Majesty Yuito Sumeragi, right?", Rinwell asked. "No, we mean His Majesty Jack Sebastian Arnold.", another of the gynoids replied.
"Wait, you mean that ingrate Jack is the Sovereign and not Yuito? What are you saying?", Dohalim asked. Walking forward, Alvis said, "Well, Jack decided to take back what he said about Yuito being the better Sovereign candidate. Besides, Yuito doesn't have the necessary equal disposition to all four types of Dahnan astral energy needed to become the Sovereign anyway. Jack is also the strongest of the Dominants too, so there's that.", Alvis replied. "Alvis, why did you betray us?!", Shulk asked. "Oh, I didn't betray anyone. I just decided to serve my master and my master is Jack. Besides, you guided him to my Core Crystal anyway after Jack completed his training as well and refused to leave until you saw Jack resonate with me and summon me as his Blade.", Alvis said. "Wait, I did?", Shulk asked. "Yes, you did.", 2B said, walking forward. Suddenly, Ethel said, "Wait, where are our Ferronises?". "Oh, about that. You see, His Majesty devised a programme capable of dissolving and rendering Ferronises inoperational if they ever crossed the dimensional boundary from Aionios to Earth and insisted on uploading the programme to your Ferronises under the guise of installing antivirus software. But it was no antivirus, instead being a powerful virus intended to disable the Ferronises and Levnises in your employ.", 2B said. "But the aircraft carrier they were docked on to, that's still OK, right?", Rita asked. "Indubitably.", Alvis said before he, 2B and the other gynoids warped away. Suddenly, Tails then cried out, "Anti-aircraft carrier missile detected at 12 o'clock!". True to his account, a giant missile covered in red and black cyber energy then struck the aircraft carrier, causing a giant explosion only to be followed by a volley of similar missiles bombarding the impact point. "We're hit! I repeat, we're hit! Aircraft carrier going down!", Zeon yelled over the intercom. "Everyone, brace for impact!", Shulk cried as Lanz created a giant red hemispherical barrier from his greatsword.
Waking up very groggily, Noah looked at the burning remains of the aircraft carrier whilst Taion yelled, "Come in! We are down, in a field with a mountain in the distance. I repeat: come in!". "Mio?", Noah asked as Mio rushed to him desperately. "Oh, you're alive! Thank our Lord!", Mio said with a strong sigh of relief. "What happened?", Noah asked. "Well, chum, after we were shot down, we landed in this country state called Dovedale. We managed to survive thanks to Lanz's barrier but we don't know about the rest. According to Melia, the others managed to teleport away randomly to other parts of the UK but we don't know where they even are.", Zeke said. "Then I guess we need to find our way to Jack quickly.", Noah said. "About that, my love, Shulk is trying to haggle what the people of this land call a lorry off a man. Not only that, but Nikol is taking his sweet time fixing up the vehicle to take us to Jack's lair quickly.", Mio said. "So we're not in a good situation, are we?", Noah asked.
Meanwhile, Knuckles punched his way through various gynoids in Ashbourne. Much to his great displeasure, more spawned in to replace the ones he destroyed, the gynoids also brandishing mechanical swords, axes and lances aplenty. "Die, damn you!", Knuckles roared, unleashing a powerful burst of flame. "Now, now, Knuckles, not in front of Tails.", Amy said, deflecting a powerful shot with her hammer. "Still though, to think YorHa's soldiers are so tough. Makes me wonder when we'll get to tear that ingrate to shreds.", Sonic said before punching a hole through a gynoid's stomach and unleashing a burst of wind to tear her asunder. "Before that, Sonic, we'll need to fight through this…Ashbourne village.", Tails said, blasting a gynoid's head off with his Electron Cannon. "Still, it's funny, isn't it? You can be as violent and hardcore as you want when fighting against robots and it'll still be relatively family friendly too. Wonder why that is.", Dimitri asked, thrusting his lance Areadbhar through a coterie of sword-wielding gynoids. Inspired by his valiant heroism, Edelgard then charged up a fiery maelstrom through her own axe Labraunda, with Claude firing a windy arrow through the maelstrom with his bow Failnaught, enhancing the fire and turning it into a tornado of flame that tore through and melted various lance-wielding gynoids. "Damn pussycat dolls.", Clive said, promptly wreathing himself in hellfire and thrusting through various axe-wielding gynoids. Observing the battle from on high, Revali sighed in admiration.
As he slashed his way through various gynoids in the London Underground, Byleth then manifested a fiery wing that, though fickle, still managed to melt through the gynoids easily at the cost of immediately fizzling out afterwards. Before he was speared through by a lance-wielding gynoid, Mario unleashed a burst of flame that easily blew up the gynoid. "You gotta keep aware, friend.", Mario said. "You too.", Byleth said, slashing through a gynoid readying up a ranged shot from her Pod. "As much as I like this friendly competition, we need to locate where Jack is and kill him.", Ike said, using his sword Ragnell to unleash a blue flame that easily melted a gynoid brandishing mechanised gauntlets. "But still, why are they just going down like little bitches?", Lyn asked. "Good question.", Kratos replied. Suddenly, a green burst of wind erupted from Lyn's body, taking the form of talons that covered her hands. Lyn, not someone wont to look a gift Pegasus in the mouth, promptly used the energy to create a giant green tornado that cleaved its way through the Underground. "Wait, you're a pseudo-Dominant?", Roy asked. "I don't understand it myself, but apparently non-Dominants who are still connected to a specific Eikon's bloodline are capable of partially tapping into the Eikon in question's power. However, only the Dominant of that specific Eikon's bloodline can properly tap into the Eikon's power.", Lyn replied. "I understand it. For instance, I am descended from the Motes of Darkness and can partially tap into Odin's power but only Jack can properly tap into Odin's power, being his Dominant and all.", Micaiah said. "Wait, you're descended from the Motes of Darkness, Micaiah? Colour me surprised.", Eirika said.
Advancing through the Leicester Space Centre, Ragna and Jin slashed through various gynoids with their powers. Wreathing himself in darkness, Ragna turned his right arm into a dark red claw that then unleashed a large beam of black and dark red energy. Jin, not missing even a single beat, promptly gripped Yukianesa tight and froze the darkness, turning it into a beautiful array of black and red icicles that Jin promptly fired at the gynoids, piercing them easily. "What is with these gynoids? Can't they see that Jack will bring nothing but calamity to all?", Noel asked before shooting a gynoid in the head twice with Bolverk. "I don't think they really want to understand. Tragic, really.", Diamant said, gripping his axe and infusing it with red fire before bringing it down, drowning various gynoids in a gigantic flood of flame. Narrowly dodging the flames, Alfred and Timerra then unleashed a giant blast of energy from their weapons- Alfred generating the energy with his sword and Timerra shooting it with her lance. Ivy promptly swooped in atop her wyvern, unleashing bolts of light upon the gynoids. This was then followed by Naoto forming his blood into a gigantic scythe, his eyes turning red and his hair turning white as he did so. He then rushed forward, reaping and harvesting with the scythe, infusing it with dark energy as he did so. Rachel then unleashed a giant gust of wind, blasting away the rest of the gynoids as a new batch spawned in. "Will this ever end?", Alfred asked, exasperated. "Now, now, Alfie, there's no need to be like that.", Ivy said. "Sorry, Madam Consul.", Alfred said. "Still, they must be fighting fiercely for a reason.", Naoto said.
I walked into the kitchen. Pouring myself some Krave for breakfast, I then opened the washing machine to see my robes now clean. Dismissing the robes by turning them into data, thus adding them to my inventory, I then sighed. "Something on your mind, Your Majesty?", Alvis asked. "Alvis, how close are the gynoids from preventing the invaders from approaching Peterborough?", I asked. "Well, Your Majesty, given the technology you salvaged from both Link Joker and the EXA-DB, I daresay we can keep spawning in an endless number of gynoids to keep Peterborough safe. Incidentally, if you're going to perform the ritual to change the Grail's spawn point from London to this house, then you need to do so as soon as possible.", Alvis said. "I'll do so after I have my breakfast.", I said. I then dug into the Krave, eating as much as I could to at least sustain my body and keep me full. Putting the bowl in the dishwasher, I then walked into the living room and fired up my Tao mandalas. As the mandalas took on a sinister crimson colour, I gathered dark energy around myself. "Good. Good. Very good. Now, obey me. Change the location of the Grail's advent to Peterborough, not London.", I said. The dark energy then coalesced into a dark red sphere, which then proceeded to expand to cover the house before shooting up into the pale pink sky. Suddenly, the energy disappeared, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief. "You always were a talented mage. Never forget that.", 2B said.
Sensing a burst of dark energy, Arashi promptly perked up. Smirking, she said, "Jack, you sly dastard.". "What is it, Lady Arashi?", Juniper asked. "Oh, you don't need to call me Lady. We're equals in the Order of the Eagle, aren't we?", Arashi said. "I suppose we are. Still, you sensed it, didn't you?", Juniper said. "I sure did. Seems His Majesty has performed the Spirit Line Transfer ritual, transferring the portal to the Sacred Realm from London to Peterborough. Didn't know he had it in him.", Arashi replied. "Still, we need to be vigilant. YHVH could act at any time.", Hanabi said. "Like right now?", Tager asked, indicating the pale pink sky. Looking at the sky with dread, Hanabi said, "No.", as the sky promptly glowed a bright golden colour, as if it was gathering energy for a powerful attack. "How can YHVH do this? Last I checked, he was recovering from the curse Jack inflicted on him with his Force Lightning.", Juniper said. "Wait, what?", Chrom asked. "Oh, you didn't know. When Jack was placed here by Dr. Eggman, Mastema promptly turned the Dream Cradle into the Nightmare Void which YHVH used as a bespoke torture chamber to torment Jack, chiefly by forcing Jack to relive his past with it getting worse each time. Now, on Jack's 169th and final loop, YHVH descended into the Nightmare Void in an attempt to kill Jack for good, only for Jack's Force Lightning to awaken and badly cripple YHVH, forcing him to subsist on Morph-X just to survive. Of course, the Force Lightning wouldn't have awakened had those shit virtual adoptive parents YHVH created with the Phantom Ruby not abused Jack. Of course, Jack is sensitive and receptive to the Dark Side of the Force, you see.", Sage said. "You sure know a lot about Jack, don't you?", Kokonoe asked. "What can I say? I am his caretaker, after all.", Sage replied.
Looking at the sky, Reyn said, "That don't look good.". "Why not?", Linka asked. "Indeed, our Lord shall now bathe Earth in His Divine Light and purify the land.", Fiora said as Dunban drove the lorry through various barricades planted by the gynoids. "But this isn't Earth; we're in Cyber Space.", Sena said. Realising what Sena said, Fiora then said, "…Oh crap.". Noah then looked on in horror as the sky then unleashed a giant burst of golden light, the power actually nuking the land underneath. The lorry then against all odds miraculously survived the blast of energy, with Noah watching as the lush green countryside was replaced with a burnt hellscape with fire bursting out from the ground. "This is the world our Lord wishes to create?", Taion asked, an expression of quiet horror on his face. "How could he?", Sena asked, crying. "I don't know, love.", Eunie said. "But still, we need to spread the Flood of Light so that YHVH may remake the world and remove all sin from it.", Sharla said.
As I watched the golden burst of energy raze the land, an expression of horror and anger formed on my face. Thankfully, though, my house was unharmed. I staggered to my ensuite toilet, vomiting in the sink from the destruction I watched. "Your Majesty, are you OK?", Alvis asked. "No, I'm not.", I said, angry at YHVH's mindless destruction. "I will make that thing pay for what it has done.", I said as black and dark red electricity crackled around my body. "Yes, that's it! Unleash the darkness within you; don't fight it.", 2B said. "And I will make that beast's minions pay as well for letting things progress to this stage. Mark my words; they will rue this day.", I said. "Your Majesty?", Alvis asked. "Inform the rest of YorHa. The time has come to make ready for war. We shall exterminate all of YHVH's forces today.", I said. "Consider it done, Your Majesty.", 2B said. Suddenly, I found myself standing in front of the ruins of Aragon Court whilst wearing my black and dark orange hooded robes and my black Chelsea boots. I turned my back to the ruins only to see the heroes come. "And so it begins.", I said.
The story continues in the next chapter.