Taking Back the Crown

by JCMorrigan

Mozenrath. Archibald Snatcher. Roman Torchwick. Mad Madam Mim. Yzma. The Huntsman. Wuya. Ayam Aghoul. Their mission: take over the multiverse, or look fabulous trying. Rated M for swearing, steamy implications and VERY bloody battles. Contains slash and het shipping.

176. A Word to the Wise

A/N: Your song for today is "Show Yourself" from Frozen II.

...

The Glenwood mob continued up the hill to Elysia, and the seraphs who lived there, farming in peace, barred the doors and cowered in their homes. The people had to filtier into the Mabinogio ruins, which caused a slight bottleneck, and march through the ancient halls to Camlann.

"This is where my mother's enchantment should have stopped anyone from getting in or out," Mikleo said mournfully. "But if Neo's group passed through it on the way back…and we're passing through it now…that means Heldalf…"

Rose put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Lailah nodded. "But do not think Muse's sacrifice was in vain."

"She gave her life to protect Camlann," Mikleo reminded the other seraphs. "If that protection is just gone, forever…then there's nothing of her left."

He felt a tug on his sleeve, then looked down to Molly. "What is it?" he asked.

Molly just hugged him around the waist, without a word. Tears welled in Mikleo's eyes; he put a hand on her back and let his emotions falter.

"Sooo?" Roman asked Symonne. "How's it feel to come back home? Miss it?"

"Please," Symonne scoffed. "After this, I hope never to see this waste of space again."

"That's my girl."

The mob exited the ruins only to find that Heldalf had more than prepared for their arrival. Hellions of all sorts awaited them in Camlann: nagas, women with octopus tentacles, women with spider abdomens and legs, flying beasts, miniature dragons.

"CLEAR THE PATH OF HELLIONS!" Hopper ordered. "MY WARRIORS AND I WILL PUSH FORWARD AND KILL THE BEAST!"

The civilians surged, descending on the hellion army like a tidal wave.

"We have to help!" Molly insisted.

"Are you mad?" Foulfellow snapped at her. "If we die out here, then there's really no point in us trying to get to the target at all!"

"But we can't – " Molly protested.

"Molly." Elsa stared directly ahead, her eyes seemingly out of focus from reality and deep in focus on something no one could see. "We have to reach Artorius' Throne. Trust me. It's important."

"Ughhh…I hate to say the jerkass route is the right one," Giovanni sighed, "but we kinda need to get there in one piece, and speedrunning this part is the easiest way to do that."

"Unless…you guys took that route." Crusher jogged up to Giovanni's side. "The Blasters and the Scattered Bones can stay out here. You just go beat the bad guy. I mean, the bad bad guy. The bad guy who's bad at – "

"I know what you mean," Giovanni said with a bright smile and sparkling eyes. "Crusher…you and the boys do me proud out here, okay?"

"I LIVE TO NOT DISAPPOINT YOU!" Crusher saluted.

After a pause, Giovanni said, "You know, I'm starting to worry about your sense of self and whether you have one outside of trying to please people like me. But we can work on that after. Right now, let's focus on getting to that temple without dying!"

Pinstripe cocked his gun. "If we run into any trouble on the way, I'll bring it down lickety-split."

"Our goal is that temple," Roman said coldly. "Anyone who's with me goes right there without wasting time out here. Anyone who stays behind isn't with me. Got it?"

He took off running without a word.

"I hate to say I'm actually worried about him," said Yang. "Anyway...let's go."

She'd taken an oath once, as a Huntress, to never abandon those in need. But if she wasted her time out here, then Harley could be lost forever. Her consolation was in that the Lastonbell citizens seemed to be faring well for themselves, using their impromptu weapons and their raw anger to beat down the horde. However, the guilt still gnawed at her heart as she sped ahead after Roman.

The steps to Artorius' Throne glowed crimson from the sky overhead. Roman, Symonne, Foulfellow, Gideon, Pinstripe, Tawna, Don Karnage, Mad Dog, Dump Truck, Cat, Neo, Melanie, Miltia, the Mukhtar, Maltran, Lunarre, Yang, Velvet, Giovanni, Molly, Laphicet, Elsa, Rose, Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, Mikleo, Rokurou, Eizen, Eleanor, Magilou, and Emerald ascended them.

"It's fallen far since the Empyrean's Throne I knew," Velvet remarked. "Only to be expected, when it's named for a false idol."

"I'm…sad," Laphicet realized. "This temple was to me, once. It's better off abandoned. But it feels like…"

"Like everyone forgetting this place means they forgot about you, too," Molly said. "Or like you're the one who's broken down and abandoned."

Laphicet hung her head. "Yes."

"I won't forget about you," Molly said. "Velvet will never forget. Maybe the world doesn't worship Innominat anymore, but you have a family now that will always be there for you. And you aren't broken. You're just…well, considering everything, you're a lot better off than before."

Laphicet smiled to her. "Thank you."

"Enough with the mushiness of the gushiness!" Don Karnage barked. "I am prepared for the battle of finality!"

Yang punched open the stone double doors of the temple, laying bare the interior: a labyrinth of white marble, with stairs going up, down, and every which way.

"Looks like we got options," Yang said.

"Really just two, when you break it down," Roman said. "Up and down."

Elsa walked into the atrium's center, slowly, deliberately, as if in a trance. "I hear him," she said.

"Who?" Lunarre asked. "Heldalf? Oh, I can't WAIT to tear him limb from limb and taste his guilt – "

"No," Elsa said, shaking her head. "It's another voice. Like…like a fifth seraph."

"A fifth seraph?" Rose repeated. "That doesn't make any sense. We found everyone who was with Sorey on his path to the Shepherd. Molly has all four elements."

"He's calling," Elsa reiterated. "He's in trouble. He needs us. He needs…me." She looked back to the others. "The way to the voice is up. He might need the help of the Shepherd."

"Okay, then let's go upstairs," Molly said.

"And if he's beyond help," Zaveid said, "we'll be there to kick his ass."

"No ass-kicking please!" Molly pleaded. "Unless it's a super emergency!"

"Well, if you're all going up, that leaves downstairs distinctly ignored and unexplored," Roman said. "Which, given the circumstances? Not a great play. So here's how we'll roll: you Heathens go up. I take my team down. Finally, we don't have to trip over each other and the WHAM ARMY can get their work done in peace and style."

"Nuh-uh." Yang shook her head. "Here's how we really play it. Heathens downstairs, EXCEPT me and a couple others. I go with the WHAM ARMY."

"You are literally the person I'm trying to get rid of," Roman told her.

"And Harley's not gonna be in the direction they're obviously trying to lure us," Yang said. "We shouldn't ignore the song, since it could be someone who actually needs help. But if it's a trap? Harley's not there. And if it's someone who needs us? Harley's probably not there either. The big guy is gonna have her locked down. I'm pretty damn sure downstairs is the way to go. I'll just need a couple bodyguards for trust reasons."

"I'll go," Giovanni said somberly. "You'll need me to pull off our ultimate attack." He looked to Molly. "Bear Trap, I trust you to lead this one."

Molly gave him a thumbs-up. "I won't let you down, boss!"

"Then it only makes sense I come, too." Velvet stood next to Yang. "This is my world. This was a stronghold of my enemy. Outside of Rose and the seraphs, your best chance is with me."

"And I HAVE to go to Elsa's voice," Molly urged. "I'm the Shepherd. And that means the sub-lords have to come too."

"With you 'till the end," Edna said flatly.

"And I…" Rose thought it over. She shook her head. "Downstairs is definitely the way to where Heldalf was chilling out last time we fought him. You're probably gonna have luck there. But I just get this feeling like…they're gonna need me on team Elsa. Can't really explain it. Not sure how an assassin would be much help. But that's how I feel."

"Then follow your heart," Lailah said. "It could be trying to tell you something important, especially if there's a connection to it that's calling out to you."

"Huh." Rose placed a hand on her heart. "Sorey, maybe? No. He wouldn't be done with his work. But he's the only one I can think of."

"Please," Mikleo said hoarsely. "Don't…don't get my hopes up."

Rose nodded. "I guess we'll see when we see."

"Hey, what are we?" Rokurou asked. "Chopped liver? We know this world too."

"But…not this part of the Empyrean's Throne," Eizen admitted. "It must've undergone dozens of reconstructions. You'll be looking for its oldest part. It almost makes me want to go with the WHAM ARMY team…but on the other hand, I already know what that part looks like. The part that I haven't seen will be what teaches me more about the history of this temple."

"THAT'S your priority here?" Magilou snapped.

"Are…we surprised?" Eleanor asked. "Anyway, let's the four of us just go up. Velvet has this."

"Yeah, someone's gotta make sure Eizen stays on track and doesn't wander off inspecting every hallway," Rokurou joked.

"And how are you going to do that, exactly?" Eizen teased.

"With bribery." Rokurou kissed him briefly.

"A solid strategy," Eizen congratulated, completely serious.

"Are we done hashing out stage directions?" Symonne scoffed. "The denouements of our acts await, and Empyreans forbid we MISS our cues because of such banter about sentimentality."

Elsa nodded. "Let's go." She took the first stairway up, with Molly, Rose, Laphicet, Emerald, Rokurou, Eizen, Magilou, Eleanor, and the Seraphs close behind.

"Cool team," Roman said, "…and Goldilocks, let's head on down."

"Hey," Yang realized. "If Roman's going downstairs, does that make him a con-descending?"

Giovanni whooped, having found that hilarious. "CON-DESCENDING – I GET IT – "

"Yeah, laugh it up!" Roman headed down, followed by Symonne, Foulfellow, Gideon, Pinstripe, Tawna, Mad Dog, Dump Truck, Cat, Neo, the Malachites, the Mukhtar, Maltran, Lunarre, Yang, Giovanni, and Velvet.

...

Once again, Rapunzel, Stork, Papyrus, Ven, and Sofia found themselves on the Isle of Forever Frost. This time, however, they did not ascend the high peak to the cavern of enchantlets. This time, they waited at the mountain's foot, hoping with bated breath.

Then a blur in a fluffy red coat came skidding down the mountain, coming to a stop before them. Elena raised her arms: "Ta-daaaaaa!"

A red-and-gold enchantlet was clasped around her right wrist.

"YOU DID IT!" Rapunzel cried, hopping up and down with glee. Papyrus and Ven high-fived each other as Sofia applauded.

"Turns out we might not be doomed after all," Stork sighed with a slight smile.

"It wasn't even that hard." Elena waved her hand. "I used to go mountain climbing all the time with my family before…well, you know." She stopped to clasp her hands, wringing them as she remembered. "Papá always had to try and start a snowball fight on the way up. Mamá would tell him to stop, but then join right in, and when I was really small, she'd put me on her shoulders and hand me the snow so I could play along."

"I'm sure they'd be proud of you," Rapunzel said, beaming.

"The featherwalking was a bit harder," said Elena, "but I figured it out pretty quick. That giant manul, on the other hand? Cute, but very, VERY persistent. Then I maaaaybe almost caused an avalanche because my magic reacted to fear. But I cleared it up!"

"Just so you know," Ven told her, "there's a lot more stuff to learn about being a Protector before we're in any shape to fight the WHAM ARMY."

"I'm sure I can handle it!" Elena said excitedly. "Whatever you have, throw it at me!"

"Oh, we will." Stork grinned mischievously. "Let's see if you still speak so confidently after the REAL training regimen."
Elena winced. "Should…should I be scared of him?"

"NOPE," Papyrus told her. Rapunzel, Ven, and Sofia shook their heads to agree.

Elena shrugged. "Okay. Let's do this."

...

"You know," Rokurou told Molly as the Heathens contingent (minus three) proceeded upward, "you could probably armatize WITH Laphicet. Be one person."

"Wh-what?" Molly stammered. "That's allowed?"

"You didn't tell her?" Rokurou elbowed Laphicet.

Laphicet sighed. "Artorius armatized with me. When I was…when I wanted…when I was different. He gained a form more powerful than what you have armatized with any of the seraphs. I haven't wanted to…I don't think…"

"Are you afraid of Innominat taking over?" Molly asked.

"I don't know," Laphicet admitted. "I think I have Innominat under control. But what if I'm wrong, Molly?"

"Well…you've been doing pretty good so far," Molly told her. "I trust you."

"But if you are wrong," Magilou said cheerily, "we've taken you down once. We'd just have to force you back out of Molly and kill you again!"

"DON'T JOKE," Molly warned Magilou. She turned back to Laphicet; "If things get bad…or if we're the ones who find Heldalf first…it could be a good thing to remember. Just…a last-resort kind of thing."

Laphicet nodded.

"So what's going on with this whole…voice thing?" Emerald asked Elsa. Elsa was still at the head of the group, eyes fixed directly ahead.

"When I came here," Elsa said, "it was because I heard Lailah's voice calling to me. So were Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid's. The sorcerer Yen Sid told me it was my destiny to come here, to unite the elements they represented. But I…failed in that."

She halted in place. "Molly."

Molly knew what she was going to say. "You don't have to – "

"I'm sorry for putting you in this position," Elsa said. "I'm sorry for making you feel the need to take this on."

"But I like it," Molly said. "I can finally help people now."

"I know," Elsa said somberly. "But you still should've had more of a choice in the matter."

"I did choose it. When you left. There were more people there than me. I spoke up. Elsa…are you sorry for me, or are you sorry because you let down Yen Sid?"

"He gave me a destiny that couldn't have been clearer," Elsa said. "I've been worried about what it means that I didn't take that destiny the way it was laid out. He put the responsibility with me. And I failed. Does that mean – "

"Eh, fate's not a for-sure kind of thing," Rokurou told her. "We're pretty good at subverting it. I think, anyway."

"And look at us!" Lailah gestured to herself, Mikleo, Edna, and Zaveid. "We're all here, and none of us fully became dragons! That destiny is fulfilled! You have nothing to feel bad about!"

"There are more of us here than I thought you'd get," Edna said, reaching out to put a hand over Eizen's.

Eizen accepted her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"But this voice – " Elsa said. "This voice…it's telling me that there's one more chance, one more thing left to do. And maybe this is why I'm here. Not to be the Shepherd, but for THIS."

She kept her eyes trained on the hall she walked down. "Every inch of me is trembling," she sang softly, "but not from the cold. Something is familiar, like a dream I can reach but not quite hold. I can sense you there, like a friend I want to know. I'm arriving, and it feels like someone's home…"

As she and the group turned a corner, Elsa's pace quickened. "I have always been a fortress," she sang louder, "cold secrets deep inside. You have secrets, too, but you don't have to hide!"

Not even paying attention to the others, she hit the bottom of a staircase and the chorus hard: "Show yourself! I'm dying to meet you!" Up and around the spiral she raced. "Show yourself! It's your turn! Are you the one I've been looking for all of this time? Show yourself! I'm ready to learn!"

She flung open a pair of white doors, racing out to a balcony beneath the red sky of Camlann, dizzyingly high off the ground. Elsa raised her arms to the sky, calling out a four-note aria: "AH-AHHH, AH-AHHHHH!"

The others caught up then – just as Heldalf's terrible dragon, Xel'zed, lowered himself out of the skies and loosed smoke from his nostrils, a venomous gaze upon Elsa.

"THE DRAGON?" Rose yelled.

"Everybody get back!" Rokurou drew both swords. "I'll handle this!"

"Not if I get to him first!" Zaveid twirled his pendulum.

"WAIT!" Molly yelled. "I think – I think we should wait for Elsa to ask for help!"

"WHY?" Emerald asked. "That thing's gonna make us all lunch!"

"Except it hasn't, yet," said Laphicet. "And I think she's…communicating with it."

Xel'zed did not strike. He lowered himself to hover over the balcony, majestic wings beating against the air. Elsa stepped carefully closer, listening to the voice in her heart:

"Ah-ah, ah-ahhh…"

It was coming from the dragon. She had no doubt left.

"I've never felt so certain," Elsa sang to the great reptile. "All my life, I've been torn. But I'm here for a reason. Could it be the reason I was born? I did not become the Shepherd, yet this journey still is mine. Is this the day? Are you the way I finally find out why?"

She sent a glance back to her friends.

"I think she's saying NOW is when we can charge it," Magilou remarked casually.

Rose felt a clenching in her chest, a fist around her heart. "Wait, NO!" she yelled. "We can't – "

"Hey, hey!" Rokurou put a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Rose said in a panic, "but you can't kill it!"

"Then maybe we can save it," Molly figured.

As this conversation went on, the dragon lowered his head gently to Elsa, letting her place a hand upon his scals. "Show yourself," Elsa sang, like a lullaby of comfort. "I'm no longer trembling. Here I am; I've come so far! You are the answer I've waited for all of this time…oh, show yourself. Let me see who you are!"

"A dragon's transformation is normally irreversible," Eizen said. "I know that better than anyone."

"But we've never had Molly before," Lailah realized. "And…what if she armatizes with Laphicet?"

Molly looked to Laphicet. "Please?" she asked. "I trust you."

Laphicet bit her lip. Then whispered three words.

Molly raised her arms high, speaking Innominat's ancient, true name: "NEVN HIW EJUAM!"

The two merged. Molly's hair became double its length, billowing in an unfelt breeze, with golden edges and tips to the curls. She wore a robe that glimmered, as though made of stars; wings that appeared to be portals into the cosmos unfolded from her back.

"Everyone," she said, "help me out! I'm gonna try this!"

With the word "dumb" so clear in her mind, asking the dragon transformation to dumb down and reveal the seraph beneath, she drew on Laphicet's power – on Innominat's. A shimmering silver field encircled the dragon completely.

He panicked, lurching. Elsa quickly saing, "Come to me now! Open your door! Don't make me wait one minute more!"

"Everyone!" Lailah rushed up to the forcefield, pressing her hand to it. "We can strengthen it if we all work together!"

Mikleo, Edna, Zaveid, and Eizen were immediately alongside her, hands on the forcefield, feeding into it any and all power they had. Then Rokurou, Magilou, and Eleanor joined in. Then, still reeling from the clenching in her heart, Rose.

"Oh, come to me now!" Elsa sang, building up a glittering snowstorm around herself. "Open your door! Don't make me wait one minute more!"

She pressed her hands to the Dumb field, feeding the wintery magic into it. Asking her heart to produce the power for which she had a destiny, to see that destiny fulfilled.

The Dumb field iced over, lines of frost tracing gorgeous patterns, somewhere between the shapes of snowflakes and the linework of Scandinavian decoration. Then every line of frost became a crack. The Dumb field burst like an egg, dissipating into the air.

The light that emitted from it was bright to everyone. But to Rose in particular, it was temporarily blinding. She staggered back, her field of vision white.

To the awe of all who could see it, there was no more dragon where once there had been. Instead, there was a man in black, tall and lanky, with silver hair that turned green at the edges, long bangs obscuring his eyes.

Elsa threw out her arms. "Come, my new friend! Homeward bound! YOU ARE FOUND!"

Without a second thought, the man rushed toward her, putting out his hands; she brought her own to meet his, clasping them tight. "Show yourself!" the two sang together. "Step into your power! Throw yourself into something new!"

Elsa put her hand on the man's heart. "You are the one you've been waiting for – "

"All of my life," the man gasped, feeling an incredible rush of joy and relief pass through him.

"All of your life!" Elsa agreed.

"Oh, show yourself!" the two sang to one another. Then they harmonized: "Ah-ah, ah-ah! Ah-ah, ah-ahhhh…"

Finally, the white cleared from Rose's eyes. She could see, now, who clasped hands with Elsa, who sang along with her. At first, she wasn't sure if she should believe it. It was impossible. And if she was wrong, it would hurt worse than anything in her life.

But her eyes weren't lying, and her heart told her so. That was what had drawn her here. And so she said the name under her breath, like a miracle: "Dezel?"

Elsa and Dezel raised their voices into a final "AH-AH, AH-AHHHHH!", then fell silent.

"Dezel…" Rose stumbled closer to them, hardly able to keep her balance. "Dezel, it's really – please, PLEASE tell me I'm not dreaming! You're not a ghost, are you? Because if you were just a ghost, I don't think I could take it!"

He realized she was there, knowing the sound of her voice immediately. He dropped Elsa's hands, bolting toward her; "ROSE!"

Then he swept her into a tight embrace. "Rose," he said softly. "I'm not a ghost, and you're not dreaming. I…don't know how they did it, but…I'm here."

Rose's arms tightened around his waist. "This can't be possible. I thought I'd have to live out the rest of my life without you. Find a way to move on! What even happened? How did you become…that?"

Dezel ran his hand through her hair, again and again, amazed to be able to feel again, to be able to feel her again. "I'm not sure on all the details myself," he grumbled. "All I know is some shifty characters found a way to bring me back, then gorged me on malevolence so I'd become a tool for them." He then let go of Rose, staggering back. "Rose – you need to know – Heldalf, they brought him back – "

"I know, dummy." Rose smiled through her tears. "We're trying to stop him. Why do you think we're even here?"

Dezel scowled. "I come back from the dead and try to warn you about this, and you call me a dummy?"

"Because you are, you big dummy."

"Well, you're – you're - !" Dezel was clearly crying as well. "You're infuriating, and annoying, and I'm…lucky to be able to have you annoy me again." He sniffled. "I've always been lucky to have you as a host. And as a friend. And don't you forget that, or I'm gonna be real angry!"

Rose laughed. "Same old Dezel. I missed you being a perpetual grumpypants."

Zaveid placed a hand on Dezel's shoulder. "Just friends, huh?"

"Oh," Dezel said flatly. "You're here too."

"Gotta admit," Zaveid said, "of all the people I expected to see, you weren't one, kid. I thought you were scattered to the winds! Don't worry; I picked up your legacy after you left."

"Meaning he just copied your exact moves and hardly did anything original." Edna spun her parasol casually. "Zaveid is fun and all, but he could never be you."

"Because I'm too busy being me!" Zaveid winked, clicking his tongue.

"I can't believe this!" Lailah cried. "Or – or maybe I should, because I saw Lunarre and Maltran resurrected in front of my own eyes – "

"WHAT?" Dezel yelled.

"Oh, I should explain!" said Lailah. "They're on our side this time. I'm not sure that makes them trustworthy, but we kind of need to lean on them in order to stop the reborn Heldalf."

"That's not nearly enough explanation!" Dezel barked. Then he turned his head in Mikleo's direction. "Hey. Mikleo. I can tell you're there. You're awful quiet."

"It's good to have you back," Mikleo muttered. "It really is."

"He was expecting Sorey," Edna said.

"Sorey?" Dezel said in surprise. "Why would Sorey be – didn't he finish out the pilgrimage with you? Didn't he end the calamity?"

"He…he did," Rose said breathily, her heart pounding. "He gave himself up to Maotelus, and the two of them are in a dream realm, working to change this world so that humans and seraphs can live in harmony. I probably won't ever see him again in my lifetime. Mikleo has a way better chance of that."

"He…he gave himself up for the seraphs," Dezel repeated. "For peace in Glenwood." He hung his head. "I always knew that kid was too nice for his own damn good. But to leave the rest of you high and dry like that - !"

"Don't worry about it," said Zaveid. "We got a new Shepherd! Look over – uhhh, I mean, use the wind to read over there." He pointed. "Oh. Wait. You can't see where I'm pointing."

"Dumbass," Dezel muttered. His eyes were of no use to him; he instead sensed the world around him by reading the currents of the air. He sent out the gentlest gust to take stock of the balcony around him. "The little girl?"

"My name's Molly," Molly said. "And, um, I'm kind of…fused with Innominat right now…gimme a minute and – "

"Innominat?" Dezel repeated. "The exiled Empyrean? What even went ON while I was gone?"

"Lots of things," said Eizen. "I've only just now recognized you as Zaveid's apprentice from the years when this world was known as Desolation. You were as small as Edna, then."

"Then…why is she still a kid and he's not?" Molly ventured.

"All seraphs age a little differently," said Edna. "It only took Eizen a thousand years to become an adult, and here I am, still a stupid little kid who no one's going to take seriously. Oh well."

"Anyone who doesn't take you seriously is an idiot," Eizen reminded her. "Sometimes, you're scarier than I am."

"Can someone just give me the important details?" Dezel asked, almost plaintive. "We can talk about the rest when there's less going on!"

"Well," Rose said, "like I said, we came here on a big team to go stop Heldalf. There are kind of two teams, actually, and hardly any of us are really heroes. We worked up a mob in Lastonbell, and they're holding the front line outside the building. The evil-er people went on ahead to try and kick Heldalf's ass, and we went this way because…well…you were here. So I guess we can either try and find the others in the building or go back out and help the troops."

Dezel paused, obviously nervous. "Rose. Are you SURE there are troops outside this building?"

"Uh, yeah?" Rose asked. "They were kinda hard to miss."

"Then we have to go to them RIGHT NOW," Dezel said in a panic, breaking into a run.

"Hey, WAIT!" Rose was soon keeping pace with him. "Dezel! What's wrong?"

"I can feel the winds from outside the temple," he explained. "And they're telling me that there are only a few human beings alive there. The rest is all monsters…and more than a few corpses."

"WHAT?" Rose turned back to the others. "HEY, MOLLY, LAPHICET, DON'T UN-FUSE YET! WE MIGHT HAVE A PROBLEM!"

"Always somethin', isn't it?" Rokurou took off running after Rose and Dezel, and one by one, the others in the group followed.

"You know, it's funny," Edna said. "I would've seen it before if you'd let me come on your stupid adventure, Eizen."

"Seen what?" Eizen asked.

"She has two swords and half a brain," Edna explained. "He's a grump with the Reaper's Curse. Sound familiar?"

"I'm not sure what you're getting at."

"I'm saying some couple dynamics are just meant to be," said Edna.

"She means us," Rokurou laughed. "I didn't figure it out at first because I actually have a whole brain, despite what you might think. Can't speak for Rose – "

"Can you NOT joke?" Elsa barked. "The entire troop might be dead out front!"

"The Scattered Bones," Rose told Dezel. "They were fighting out there for us along with the Banzai Blasters. We have to check in on them and save who we can!"

"We can't let – " Dezel paused. "Wait, what the hell is a Banzai Blaster?"

"Okay," Rose told him, "until we get to the front entryway, I'm gonna give you a bit more of a detailed rundown."

...

Guadosalam was a more sheltered neighborhood of Radiant Garden, semi-subterranean in a grove of trees adjacent to the border wall. One had to walk down into the root network of the trees to find the roadwork here. Jyscal's manor was set directly into the kingdom wall, with his own private exit in the back of the house.

The main square was carved of wood and root, its paths snaking up and down all directions. Hardly was there one open space to mill about. That day, however, the Guado were making the best of that area, as they had to join in mourning.

A black coffin lay at the centerpoint of the roads. It was closed, as there was no body to fill it. The Guado crowded around it, heads bowed in silent prayer.

Until Rydia's head snapped upward. "No," she said sternly. "No! I'm not going to do this. She isn't dead!"

"Rydia," Jyscal cautioned harshly.

Rydia shook her head. "I can't believe you're just giving up on her like that. We don't know what happened in that temple! Until I see proof that she's gone, I'm not…I'm not going to play this game."

She turned and stormed away from her mother's own funeral.

Jyscal made to go after her, but Seymour placed a hand on his shoulder. "Father. Let me go to her. I understand well her pain."

Jyscal nodded. "Take care with her."

"I will."

However, he did not go to Rydia. From the root alcove she'd chosen to sulk in, she saw him walk right by, obviously on a mission to some other destination. That angered her more than anything, and soon, she placed herself at his side as he ascended.

"You were ready to say her funeral rites," she chided. "And now you're leaving? Either you believe me or you don't respect her!"

"Do not tell me how I feel regarding our mother's…absence," Seymour told Rydia. "Have you not considered that death, for her, would be a far more pleasant option? There is but a chance that those villains would have given her anything less than a fate worse than death…and that chance is so negligible as to hardly be a chance at all."

"So you think she's alive too," Rydia realized, "but you WANT her to die."

"Do not act surprised," Seymour told her. "After all, it was her final words that opened my eyes to the true nature of this existence."

"…What?"

"That there is as much value in this world for me as there is for anyone else," Seymour stated calmly. "It made me realize that the pointlessness I have felt is a more universal experience than I assumed. Tell me, Rydia, what is life but endless cycles of pain and suffering?"

"There are good things too," Rydia said softly.

"After what happened at the castle," Seymour asked her, "do you truly believe that? Or better yet, the way much of your youth was stolen from you by having to grow up under Maleficent's iron claw?"

That put Rydia silent.

"That was what began it, after all," Seymour told her. "Ten years of desolation. I was more fortunate than you – by the time she made her ascension, I was already the age you are now. You, on the other hand, had very little childhood to speak of. You only knew the life of a victim of a despot."

"It's better now," Rydia said hoarsely. "Where are we going?"

"I had hoped it would be better now," Seymour countered. "And yet, for all Maleficent did to us, she left us our mother and father. One cycle of pain ended, and a new one began, spiraling ever downward. Do you think it fair to let anyone else suffer this cycle any longer? Do you think it fair that those who lost friends and family in the assault on the castle must live only to grieve?"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Rydia snapped. "It's a part of life!"

"Yes," Seymour agreed. "It is a part of life."

"What, are you saying you'd rather have – " She gasped. No. He couldn't be saying that. Not that death was preferable, for him, for her, for everyone and anyone. She didn't finish the sentence, afraid to hear his answer.

He knew of her reservation. He chuckled. "All will become clear in time, dear sister. Ah, we have arrived at our destination. Truth be told, I am rather glad you joined me on this stroll. There is an old friend of yours waiting for you here."

It was a building tucked out of the way, its multicolored door recessed into a vein of stone. Seymour rapped twice on it, then entered. Rydia followed, terrified, yet well aware that the only thing scarier would be to abandon this now and wonder forevermore what Seymour was actually up to.

There was a man waiting inside, standing near a table in the main room. A man dressed in red, with chin-length ginger hair and a single black wing. Seated at the table was the friend Seymour had obviously referred to.

"Shelke?" Rydia greeted cautiously.

"Rydia!" Shelke flinched. "I wasn't expecting you here."

"What's going on?" Rydia asked. "What is all this?"

"This is payback," Shelke told her. "First, they took Shalua away from me, and now they took your mom away from you! We can never get them back, so we're taking what we can. Me and my new family. You should join us."

"I'm…not sure I should," Rydia said, a tremor in her voice. "What…what do you want to do?"

"Many things," said the man. "How about we start small and work our way up and out?"

Seymour inclined his head. "Genesis Rhapsodos. And here I was starting to believe you were only a myth."

"I never thought I would be working side-by-side with the son of the Guadosalam district manager," Genesis replied. "How fate does like to play her little tricks." He plucked a feather from his own wing, turning it over in his fingers. "Of course, it seems like an indispensable alliance, since you had a run-in with the very man I'm attempting to destroy once and for all."

"Indeed so." Seymour nodded. "He who is responsible for so much of our pain. For the pain of much of this kingdom. Eliminating him will not solve the root problem, of course…but it is an urgent task nonetheless."

"I have no qualms about biting the hand that feeds me," Genesis added.

"Who are we talking about?" Rydia asked. "One of those guys that took our mother?"

"You don't know?" Shelke's eyes widened. "He came back. One of the scientists that made the Garden fall. Because of what he and his friends did, Maleficent was able to do…everything she did to us. He came to our hideout to try and reclaim his…work."

"I suppose in a way, he is my creator," Genesis stated. "I existed before him, but not as I am now. I could thank him…but the burdens far outweigh the advantages of this form."

"So we're…on a revenge mission," Rydia realized. "We're going to kill that guy."

Shelke nodded. "His name was Even."

"But now," Genesis corrected, "he seems to prefer 'Vexen.'"

Rydia clenched her fists. On paper, it sounded so wrong. But when she thought of the group who'd taken Anima captive, who'd felled all of the family Aeons, flames of rage ignited within her. If there was anyone who deserved to die…

"I'm in," she said hoarsely.

Genesis raised a brow. "I am not sure you understand the scope of what we wish to accomplish. Are you prepared – "

"One step at a time," Seymour interrupted. "She has agreed to help. That is all that matters."

Genesis smiled. So Seymour was going to lure her in with the promise of a justified crime of passion, then test whether she had the mettle to continue on to their true goal. "I apologize. Of course she is welcome here. After all, Shelke needs friends her own age."

Shelke looked to Rydia. "I'm glad you're here," she said. Thinking about all the machina that Vexen's assault and the clash with Sephiroth had lost her and the Tsviets. Thinking about how Rydia would never agree to the siege on the castle unless she made it through the first mission. Knowing that a good friend would tell her exactly what she was signing up for.

In desperation, withholding that information entirely.

"Most of my allies survived, and have regrouped," Genesis stated. "They await us elsewhere. Shall we?"

"I do believe we shall," Seymour replied. "After all…there is so little time afforded to us, and so much to do within it."

Rydia suspected there was something she wasn't being told. Something she knew was wrong about all this. But even so, she couldn't simply let it happen behind her back. She'd already lost a mother and was in no mood to lose a brother. As Genesis led the way out, with Seymour and Shelke following, Rydia tagged along, unsure how far she would have to go in order to understand what was taking place in the shadows.

...

Back and forth, Heldalf paced the immense white chamber, listening to the click of his own feet on the tile to meter the beat of his memories.

All he wanted was them back. Right? The young one – Symonne – had been the closest, and then the boy, Lunarre, had betrayed him – right? And Maltran had…gone.

No, wait, wrong on all counts. Lunarre was loyal to the end. Maltran fought tooth and nail until her dying breath. And Symonne…

When was he going to be able to go home?

He was already there.

Something was wrong, something was very wrong, he was losing his mind more and more by the minute, ever since he'd been revived –

He was remembering. He was forgetting. Braig had lied, but what else was new? That was what Braig did.

How…did he know that?

Now he was waiting, waiting for what? For his lost sheep to come home? To learn what had happened to the girl with the ponytails? To go home (he was already there.)?

Definitely not for a brash yell of "HEY, DIPSHIT!" from the entrance to the chamber.

It had come from that redhead, the one in the bowler hat. He stood with his cronies, including the girl with the blonde mane. So many stares of disapproval, murder in their eyes.

Like Heldalf wasn't used to that. It was one of the things he was certain of most.

"So you've come to duel me," he stated, putting on a false air of confidence.

"Actually, we came to destroy you," Roman clarified. "But I can see how you'd make that mist – "

"Where's. Harley?" Yang asked, already seething, her irises reddening. "And Snatcher."

This was when Heldalf began to laugh, long and loud. But also, to cry, tears streaming down his face, for he'd only done what he, Heldalf, would do, and yet he hadn't wanted to do it.

He raised both palms, putting out his dark paws. At first, it seemed an ordinary gesture, urging his opponents to stop in their tracks.

"You think we are going to do downbacking now?" Don Karnage scoffed. "Ha! I assure you – "

"Look closer," Symonne urged, venom in her voice.

Faces were molding in the skin of Heldalf's palms. Familiar ones. He kept laughing.

Yang was the first to realize that the face in his right hand was Harley's. "No. You – THAT'S NOT HER!"

His left hand definitely showed Snatcher's. Roman saw it now, too. "The fuck did you do with him?" he snarled.

"Devoured them!" Lunarre said giddily. Then realized maybe that was the wrong tone for this occasion.

"An old trick of his," Symonne grumbled. "He did the same thing to the Shepherd's caretaker."

"How do we get them out?" Yang asked desperately.

Symonne was silent.

"HOW DO WE GET THEM OUT?" Yang screamed.

"You're not going to like it," Symonne said, "so I'm choosing not to say it."

Roman gaped at Heldalf. "No. You…you bastard."

The faces retracted, deep under the skin. Heldalf folded his paws closed. "They belong to me now," he said, "and they will continue to belong to me even if I am slain."

"But if you die," Roman realized, "they die with you. I'm thinking about this. We could take the high road and leave you alive in the vain hope that there's some kind of magic surgery that would bring them back, or, wouldn't you know it, we have literal actual necromancy on our side. So let's stop wasting time here." He flipped his cane up into his hand, taking aim. "Well, you know what they say! The machines of war feed both sides, and greed grows more lies, so say goodbye to your peaceful days, 'cause now it's time to DIE."

He let off a shot. At the exact same time, Yang exploded forth, covered in flame and screaming.

Heldalf gave Yang and the incoming blast a backhand stroke accompanied with a wave of magical water that would impress Deymos. Yang was thrown off course, skidding to avoid impacting the wall.

Roman, Symonne, and Neo triple-teamed Heldalf; Cudgel, staff, and Hush were raised for a devastating blow. Heldalf seized Neo by the head and crushed until it shattered, but so did the rest of her, into illusionary fragments. He drove his claw into Symonne's chest, but she became wisps of smoke: also an illusion. Heldalf seized Roman's Cudgel mid-swing, but it too was an illusion, part Symonne and part Neo. And now a squad of even more Romans, Neos, and Symonnes, thirty strong, was rushing him.

He cut them down one after another – illusions were easy enough to break – but they kept him distracted enough that the real Roman could get his grappling cord wrapped around Heldalf's neck while Neo drove Hush into his back and Symonne used her staff as a conduit to pump him full of crackling pain in the form of magic.

Heldalf roared; a shockwave of pure Darkness rocketed outward from him, sending Symonne, Neo, and Roman staggering back as the illusionary copies dissipated. The Cudgel was ripped from Roman's grip, as its cord was still wrapped around Heldalf's neck; Symonne's staff was dislodged from her grip, skittering across the floor, and she dove to pick it back up.

As soon as they were indisposed, however, Giovanni and Velvet went in swinging. "Lord of Calamity?" Velvet snarled, her Nightmare-therion claw tearing through the air to pierce Heldalf's skin. "MEET YOUR MAKER!"

"Yeah, literally!" Giovanni swatted him once with the bat. "She had the title before you, after all!" Whack, whack. He danced sprightly around Heldalf's swinging claws as Velvet continued to try and tear into the hellion. "TELEPORTS BEHIND YOU!" Whackwhackwhackwhack – "Wait, I just lost count – "

"SEVEN!" Velvet yelled before Heldalf seized her claw and used it to suplex her across the room.

Heldalf then turned to Giovanni, striking out; Giovanni raised the bat to block the offending claws. As Heldalf struck the bat over and over, Giovanni counted, "Eight, nine, ten – slow down, will ya?"

Another blast of water sent Giovanni surfing on the tide to the other side of the room. A river of bullets came tearing through the water curtain as Pinstripe unloaded an entire magazine; Foulfellow and Don Karnage used it as cover to get closer, the former wielding a stolen mythril contraband blade and the latter hoping to add a new notch to his trusty cutlass.

Heldalf stamped on the ground, and a wall of stone rose from the floor to intercept the bullets. As the two swords came in from either side, Heldalf put out a paw to block each. However, when Tawna rappelled to the top of the stone wall and used the height to drop on Heldalf with a devastating kick, he wasn't ready. He staggered back from her momentum, allowing Karnage and Foulfellow a cut each.

Then the stone wall shattered as Yang and Giovanni broke through it, hitting Heldalf with their special attack and sending him rocketing across the room at such velocity that he embedded into the wall.

"Good show!" Foulfellow congratulated. "Say, have you ever thought of taking on assassin work?"

"Assassin?" Karnage sniffed. "Please and thank you! It is PIRACY where the real bread is baked!"

"BAD TIME FOR SALES PITCH!" Yang yelled, seizing Karnage's arm; Giovanni grabbed onto Foulfellow. All four hurtled out of the way as Heldalf emerged from the wall, casting an inferno of flame in all directions.

Pinstripe would have been in the direct range of the fire had Tawna not tackled him to the ground, keeping them both neatly under the flames. Once they were there, she kissed him hard, and he wrapped his arm around her to keep her there.

"Uh…on guardey!" Mad Dog yelled, raising his cutlass high. He, Dump Truck, and Gideon rushed Heldalf – the latter two swinging cutlass and hammer, respectively. Heldalf readied more flame for them, and they bumbled and tripped, knocking into each other and falling down before they could even reach their target.

Heldalf looked at the trio in disbelief. "This is – "

Then he gave a cry as Cat's pincers dug into the skin of his back, adding to the blood tapestry that Neo had begun.

"Never turn your back on a little girl," she hissed into his ear. "My father learned that the hard way."

Heldalf flipped forward, shaking her loose and launching her; Mad Dog, Dump Truck, and Gideon were on their feet and all attempted to catch her, but ended up slamming into each other again and falling back down. Velvet skidded in for the save, catching and cradling Cat in her Nightmare claw.

The next thing Heldalf knew, he had flung out a paw to block Maltran's spear in midair. He was strong, but she was feeding more and more Darkness into it, and it was starting to pierce through his defenses.

"Too bad I couldn't keep the sword of Asura, isn't it?" Maltran taunted. "Or perhaps you're relieved about that part."

Lunarre flipped through the air from behind and above, bringing his foot down for a hard kick to Heldalf's head and setting his leg alight in magical blue fire in the process. Heldalf used his other paw to reach up and seize Lunarre's leg, dousing it in water to quell the flames before slamming Lunarre into the tile below. "You think me unwise to your tricks in particular?" he snarled.

"Yes," said Maltran. "Or at least to Symonne's. Do I sound like I'm in front of you?"

No. She sounded like she was creeping up from behind –

The spear sank into his side. The false Maltran's illusionary façade fell away, revealing the Mukhtar pushing at Heldalf's paw with a magic-repelling blade. The minute he was visible, the Mukhtar gave a hiss and slammed a magic-blocking manacle onto Heldalf's wrist.

That paw was now useless for spells. Heldalf let go of Lunarre to employ the other, only to see that Lunarre had never been Lunarre and was in fact Melanie Malachite –

Lunarre came in flying from the other side, his flaming foot digging into the opposite side of Heldalf's gut from the spear. Meaning when he fell, it was on the spear, driving it in further.

"Ow," Melanie said dryly before backflipping onto her feet. Miltia was soon at her side, and the two were dealing Heldalf a barrage of punches, kicks, and knee shots.

No sooner had Heldalf raised his other paw to cast a spell that would have blasted them away than the Mukhtar slapped the other manacle onto it. "How pathetic," the Mukhtar hissed.

As Melanie and Miltia danced backward, out of reach, Melanie groaned, "How come you didn't have to get body slammed into the floor?"

"She has a certain privilege," the Mukhtar explained, scurrying alongside them.

"That's my man," Miltia said slyly.

Yang had staked out one particular corner of the room, now using it to guard her back as she used Ember Celica to fire relentlessly on the powerless Heldalf. Velvet rushed him, dealing critical blows to his gut and groin; Heldalf bent over and fell to a knee.

"I still can't kill," Symonne reminded Roman. "This one's all yours."

"Gladly," Roman growled, sauntering up to the fallen Heldalf. He put up a beckoning hand, and Neo was soon walking alongside him, dragging Hush's blade on the floor to kick up a trail of sparks.

"So!" Roman gestured dramatically with one hand while using the other to point the Cudgel at Heldalf's face. "Are we maybe regretting anything yet?"

"My regrets are…many," Heldalf panted. "Those I harmed, those whose lives I destroyed in the midst of my research…"

Neo rolled her eyes.

"Don't get off topic," Roman warned. "But if you're going to go off into la-la-land, fine. Makes my job easier."

That was almost the end of it.

Yet, standing atop the roof of Artorius' Throne, there had been a watcher, using an inconspicuous purple-rimmed rift in space to watch the entire scene unfold. Braig sighed, shaking his head as he clicked his tongue. "You know, I really expected more from you. This really doesn't tell me anything, you know. And I'm still a scientist. If I want to prove my hypotheses, well, I need to test them out in every way possible. Let's make sure I'm on the right track."

He combined his guns into one, shooting a massive projectile through the rift. As far as Roman knew, it simply dropped from the roof, pelting Heldalf.

Heldalf thought it was his end, then. However, Braig's blast had not harmed him – no, it was healing him. And seeping into his being, feeding him Darkness, making him bigger and stronger –

He began to expand, his body lengthening, taking the form of a winged, clawed dragon with a lion's maw.

"I SHALL ATONE!" he bellowed.

"HOW?" Lunarre screamed. "WHO?"

"Either a saboteur," Maltran said, "or he's learned new tricks since last time. Though I'm not sure what atoning has to do with it…"

"And now," Braig said with a grin, "let's make it REAL interesting. Test the mettle of the ones who matter in all this."

Another shot, a slightly different shade of purple. This time, as it struck Heldalf, the massive monster dissolved into a silhouette of violet, crackling and fading out of existence.

It might've been a blessing, had Braig not then undone his guns and sent two smaller yet otherwise identical projectiles into the room. The first hit Roman, and the next thing Neo knew, he was gone from her side, blinking out in a flash of purple. She gasped in horror.

The other struck Yang; just before the blast connected, Yang had enough time to yell, "SON OF A – "

Then she, too, was gone.

With the threat apparently neutralized, everyone else grouped back up. "But where have they gone?" Foulfellow asked. "You can't tell me they just hopped the ferry for international waters!"

"That was magic," Symonne said. "Not Heldalf's magic. Someone else transported him away from us, and it would only be logical if he sent Roman and Yang to the same place. It's a clever way to thin down the ensemble cast to only the leading players."

"So they're fighting him all on their own?" Giovanni cried in horror. "WITHOUT US? We gotta find 'em!"

"They could be anywhere in the whole world," Symonne told him. "Or on any other."

"Well, we'll just have to not let that stop us," Velvet grumbled.

Braig snickered as he watched them leave the desecrated room. "You, I have other plans for," he muttered. "But first, I've kept my guests waiting long enough."

He vanished into a Corridor.

...

On the other side of the Corridor, Braig stepped back into the Mirage Arena. "So? Having fun with my assistant?"

The sour looks on the faces of the Grandmaster, Topaz, and Swackhammer said it all.

"She's – how do I put this?" Swackhammer said. "Oh yeah. A HUGE RAGING JERK."

"I would not use that classification," said a calm, monotonous voice from overhead, seeping out of several hidden speakers. "I would call myself more of a devious schemer with a sharp wit and a sharper tongue. The label 'huge raging jerk' more accurately applies to present company. This statement is purely for the sake of informational accuracy and in no way is meant to represent the opinions of Braig, the Mirage Arena, or the Freeshooters."

The Grandmaster held up a finger. "Is that your employer name? Freeshooters?"

"Sorta," Braig said. "I still have some explaining to do."

"Would you like me to deliver the preloaded expositionary monologue?" asked the calm voice overhead.

"Nah, I wanna tell it myself," said Braig.

"Suit yourself," said the overhead voice. "I would have told it in an objectively better fashion, but I cannot be held responsible for your mistakes."

"Your assistant," said the Grandmaster. "She's, uh…how do I put this…she's a real – "

"BITCH," Topaz said suddenly.

"Language," cautioned the overhead voice.

"I was going to say 'peach,'" the Grandmaster muttered. "But no, 'bitch' is actually better now that I'm thinking about it."

Braig snickered. "Yeah, GLaDOS is one of a kind. I found her at a low point in her programming, y'know. An abandoned lab facility, a couple of idiot robots who couldn't solve puzzles, a bird on the loose, and let's not even talk about the potato."

"In the process of stating that the potato is not to be discussed," GLaDOS reminded him, "you have in effect discussed the potato, which goes against one of the guidelines of my employment contract."

"Just a little joke," Braig told her. "Should be small potatoes to you, right?"

The deafening silence spoke louder than any retort GLaDOS could've had.

"But while I was sprucing up the Mirage Arena," Braig said, "my first order of business was to lock down all the tech. This place is practically a whole world of its own. GLaDOS runs things exactly the way I want them: pragmatic, organized, and yet with a touch of flavor. Unfortunately, she only runs about half the facility, but hey, that's where the other guy came in handy."

"I will remind you that it is also part of my employment contract that no permanent resident of the Mirage Arena is to in any way imply my inferiority to the other AI," said GLaDOS.

"Yeah, no, I can't wait to meet the other guy," Swackhammer grumbled.

"I can assure you that you do not know what you are asking," GLaDOS replied. "However, I will gladly let you make your own mistakes so that I may find the humor in your self-sabotage later. Ha-ha. Ha. That was me pretending I can feel amusement."

"Between us, I'm pretty sure she can and does feel amusement already," said Braig, "and that's why she's here. But we didn't come all this way not to get any of our damn questions answered! Did we?"
"I personally came here to not be murdered by a homeless man with attitude and too many swords," said the Grandmaster. "The rest is like a fun little bonus."

"Say goodbye, GLaDOS," Braig said. "I'm taking our new friends on a little walk. Gonna have to pass into the other guy's territory."

"Farewell, ANNOYANCE 1, ANNOYANCE 2, and ANNOYANCE PRIME," GLaDOS said without a hint of irony.

"Ignore that," Braig said. "That'll change once I get your names registered, so we gotta check in with the front-desk lady. Walk with me!"

He began to saunter into the metal hallways of the Mirage Arena, halls lined with pulsating lights of both the neon and the LED variety. The Grandmaster, Swackhammer, and Topaz looked to one another, gave a collective shrug, and then followed along.

"So to make the backstory as quick and painless as possible," Braig said, "a long time ago, and I do mean a LONG time ago, I worked for a guy I thought was all that and the bag of chips. He knew a few things about what was about to go down, so he set me up for success and turned me into the wild, wild world. Well, worlds, eventually, but that's splitting hairs. So, if we skip a whole lot of filler, we arrive at about ten years ago, when I finally find the…well, let's say CLIENT that my old boss wanted me to hook up with. He and I formed a partnership. He wanted certain things, and he put his cards on the table. I wanted certain other things, but I never tipped my hand. As far as he knew, I was just a loyal second-in-command.

"Now, about the current time plus a few weeks – or maybe months – is when this client is supposed to play his part. I've spent a real long time setting everything up in preparation for this, and don't ask how long because you'll never believe me. We're just about to hit the part where everything comes together. Except one thing. Something I shoulda realized the day after I was given the assignment by the first guy, but hey, better late than never, right? It occurs to me that I don't fully know EXACTLY what he wants once I finish my job. Oh, I have a pretty good general idea, but he kept his secrets, and I'm starting to think he cleverly omitted information to get me on board. Information that could just come right back around to bite me in the ass. Don't get me wrong, I woulda trusted this guy with my life…but I also wasn't very smart back then.

"So I start thinking. Here I am, about to cross the finish line, and I'm thinking, maybe this isn't even the race I wanna be running. What if I'm just disposable at the end of it all? A pawn in a huge chess game, and you know what happens to the pawns. That's when I remember something else my old boss told me before he sent me on my way. An envelope he gave me, actually. That envelope had the names of two people I'd have to keep an eye on. Best friends with each other, gonna really shake up the status quo, unite the worlds in a way they never had been. Boy…did I not guess whose names were in that envelope. You know when you're playing a particularly heated round of Cluedo and someone manages to hoodwink you into thinking Miss Scarlet can't possibly be the killer?"

"I actually love that play," said the Grandmaster. "My favorite thing to do is to outright tell Topaz that the card she asked about isn't in my hand, even if it is."

"It may be cheating," Topaz added, "but it spices up the game."

"Long story short, there's this bunch of dorks out there called the WHAM ARMY," said Braig. "They're gonna play a role in…that other thing I was hired for, whether they want to or not. That's a ways off, but believe me, there's a lot hanging in the balance."

"We know about the WHAM ARMY," Topaz growled.

"They pulled the wool over our tournament bracket," said the Grandmaster. "I'm never going to get my returns back on that cardboard cutout."

"Small worlds!" Braig laughed. "Then again…that's the point. So the WHAM ARMY has a pretty decent chance of coming out of this whole thing unscathed, or the winners of it all. They also have a pretty good chance of getting blown to oblivion permanently. It all depends. I thought about approaching them with my application, but…I dunno, they're just not my style. Missing a little extra stage presence, if you ask me. So I'm doing a couple things here. First off, I'm putting them through a few tests to see how much they can handle. That's where I got back from. If they manage to bring my creation to heel, they might just hold a candle against the big boys, and this could be the monkey wrench I need to throw in the gears. But…then I realized the obvious flaw in that plan. It means at the end of the day, I'd just be me, myself, and I, all by my lonesome. I may not have wanted the WHAM ARMY, but I want what they have. Allies. Kindred spirits. People who haven't enslaved you to do their cryptic bidding for the past few millennia and instead see you on the same level. So I've had my eye out, the one eye I have. And you, Mr. Grandmaster, were top billing on my list."

"So let me see if I have this in order," said the Grandmaster. "There's some shadowy Bigger Bad who's making you fulfill some kind of apocalyptic prophecy."

"Correct."

"And you used to trust him, but you're now realizing it's very likely that he was just using you."

"Also correct."

"So now, even though you've spent a hyperbolic thousands of years on that guy's plan – "

"Not a hyperbole."

"You want to send a bunch of losers to his house of cards to watch them tear it down."

"Correctamundo."

"But you also just want some friends to hang out with. Good company. And that's what we are."

"I mean, I was hoping you'd go in on some schemes along with me," said Braig. "OUR schemes. Not the schemes of any hooded Masters. For instance, I know tournaments are your poison. This is the right arena to raise the stakes for that. Or, I dunno, maybe we take over a world, or steal some stuff. I've been on script so long that it's almost too much freedom! Oh, by the way, here we are."

They'd arrived at a pristine white horsehoe desk upon which a sleek, slender computer system was laid out among neatly organized office supplies. Behind it sat, frankly, something no one had expected when Braig had mentioned a "front-desk lady." For one, she was very tiny; the Grandmaster could've easily picked her up with both hands. Maybe even one hand. For another, she was a robot, but one designed to vaguely resemble a human woman in shape – a large, round head; a tapered waist; a skirt that covered where legs would be but instead floated an inch off the ground. Remote-controlled hands were detached from her body, typing at the computer's keyboard, which made a pleasant click-clack. Her face bore only two enormous blue eyes – no other features – and she also sported a cascade of silky pink hair.

She'd been humming a song before she spotted the others and looked up from her work. "Hello!" She waved.

"Well, hello," said the Grandmaster. He peered around to get a look at the brass nameplate that stood front and center of her workspace: "…Susanna Patrya Haltmann."

The robot giggled. "You can just call me Susie. You're guests of Braig, right?"

"You know it," Braig replied. "Say, Susie, can you register three profiles for our new friends?"

"The standard Mirage Arena competitor profile?" Susie asked.

"No." Braig smirked. "The first official Freeshooter-class profiles."

"Why 'Freeshooter'?" the Grandmaster asked.

"It's one of the few things that belonged to me and only me," Braig replied. "Just one little stinkin' word. Figure it's time to pass the buck to someone who gets it, y'know?"

GLaDOS chimed in from overhead: "Be certain to include the following information in each profile: Name. Height. Weight. Eye color. Skin color. Hair color. Blood type. Fatal weaknesses. Deadly allergies. Known genetic mutations. Estimated reaction to a 3mL dose of neurotoxin. Weapons preference – "

"Yeah, yeah, cut the mutiny jokes," Braig told her. "I can shut you off."

"I am very aware," GLaDOS replied.

"Just the names for now," said Braig. "And take some fun pictures."

"Of course!" Susie chirped.

None of the three recruits ended up being ready for the picture. Topaz had her eyes closed, Swackhammer sneezed as soon as the camera clicked, and the Grandmaster really had no reason to be making the sort of face he was making and couldn't even explain it afterward besides "That camera had bad timing."

"Sorry!" Susie giggled. "Only one photo each. Don't worry! I can touch these up in editing."

"Yeah, she's not gonna do that," said Braig. "It's what I love about her. Everyone around here's just a little shit. C'mon, I'll show you a few other things and then your rooms."

The Grandmaster had begun to notice a strange sort of animal roaming the halls of the Mirage Arena. A species of big cat, like a tiger, but almost pure white, with blue tints on its edges. Several of them were spotted taking care of various tasks around the arena – one had a broom in its mouth and a dustpan under its paw. One was on its hind legs, hanging pictures of Braig on the wall until the ID pics that Susie had taken materialized behind it, ready for framing. One was clearly on a mission, presumably to a kitchen, as it had a chef's hat on and a Santoku knife in its mouth. What all of them seemed to have in common, oddly enough, was that if one looked close enough, the cats' outlines would almost seem to be pixelated.

"Not that I'm not a cat person," said the Grandmaster, "but what's with all the meow-meows!"

"Oh, those are the Tasques," Braig explained. "Handy little guys. Take care of everything I need done around here without complaint." He turned to face his guests, walking backward. "Now, the one who complains is their Manager. I swear I'm gone for two seconds and she has a new laundry list of things she wants to gripe about."

The Grandmaster raised a hand to point.

"Don't bother," said Braig. "I already know she's right behind me. I just like messing with her."

He turned around to face the woman who stood before them in the hall, hands on her hips. She seemed feline herself, with skin the same color as Tasque fur and a delicately pointed nose; she walked on two legs, and wore a uniform that consisted of a white dress with two drastic slits up the skirt and black leggings beneath. Her hands, like Susie's, were remotely controlled, with no arms linking them back to the body. Behind her back, a blue extension cord was visible, snaking down to the ground in the way that a tail might.

"So I complain too much, do I?" the Tasque Manager huffed.

"No, you complain just enough!" Braig told her. "That's what we do around here, remember?"

The Tasque Manager sighed. "You-know-who locked himself in the third-floor bathroom again, and that's the only one Rouxls will use because of the mirror size."

"Great," Braig sighed. "Let me guess: he's convinced that the third-floor bathroom is the real multiverse, and it's us who have deluded ourselves into thinking we're free."

"He is predictable as ever. He also threw in a few mentions of chaos."

"Tell him he has the count of three before GLaDOS deploys the neurotoxin," Braig told her.

"Do I hear that I get to deploy the neurotoxin?" GLaDOS asked.

"It's just a bluff," Braig told her. "You DO, however, get to use as many misophonia-triggering sound effects as you have at your disposal to blast in that bathroom and scoot him out."

"Duly noted," said GLaDOS.

The Tasque Manager bowed, then scurried off. "You'll meet Jevil on your own time," said Braig. "Better to save that one for later. Anyway, last stop before we hit the residential area!"

He pushed open a door that didn't seem to belong at first, given that it was made of actual wood and gave off a rustic vibe. It led into a café that was painted in muted pastels; a service worker, triangle-faced and broad-chested, stood behind a black bar at the far end, tall and proud in his black-and-white suit.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Welcome to Color Café 2.0. How may we warm your day?"

"Orange cider with the cinnamon stick, Swatch," Braig ordered. "These yahoos can place their own orders when they come back later; I'm on a tight schedule."

He then turned his attention to where an odd couple was sitting at a table. One of them was female, a statuesque beauty in a suit of blue and white…though maybe that was just her skin, as her head was definitely larger than a human's would be, and her eyes were a blank screen that occasionally flashed red indicators of emotion. The other was a man who appeared to be made entirely of goo, save for his silver hair; the rest of him was blue and shaped to be tall, slender, and wearing a snappy suit.

"And that was wheneth I saideth," said the man, "GOD. DAMN IT!"

"Oh My God That Is The Most Hilarious Joke I Have Ever Heard For Real" said the woman.

"Yoooo, Queen!" Braig put up a hand as he led the Grandmaster, Topaz, and Swackhammer to the occupied table. "Look who I found! The new guy and a couple bonuses!"

"Cool Surprise" said the woman, who was obviously Queen.

"Be-eth these the new squires to my glorious ruleth?" asked the man.

"No, Rouxls," Braig sighed, "for what is definitely not going to be the last time, they're MY squires. I'm team leader. You're just head puzzle-making guy."

"And I Am Queen" said Queen. "I Have: The Best Job Here FR"

"Queen was actually the first one I picked up," said Braig. "Funny story – my old job had me on frequent excursions to the Realm of Darkness. You know, it's said to be as big as the Realm of Light, but you only ever seem to hear about the same three weird little side locations. I took the road less traveled and looked at some of the Dark Worlds on the fringe. Some interesting places around there, including a high-tech cyber-city where I picked up most of the current Arena staff."

"Cyber-city," said the Grandmaster. "That'd explain why everybody looks all…" He poked the air with his fingers. "Beep-boop! You know, eight-bit."

"So they're Heartless," Topaz said.

"No" said Queen. "We Are: Darkners. Things You Lightners Would Not Know About Of Course. You're Only Focused On Which Enemies Give You The Sweet Loot Drops"

"She speaks the truth," said Braig. "A whole race – no, a network of races of creatures that can survive the Darkness, and thrive in the Darkness, but aren't MADE of the Darkness the way your average Heartless, Nobody, Grimm, Nightcrawler, Dementor, Hellion, quig, what have you would be."

"Just So You Know," said Queen, "I Have Part-Time Custody Of The Literal Most Adorable Child In Existence. Sometimes He Will Crash Here. He Loves Cartoon Splat Noises. Please Indulge Him When Possible."

"AND I BE-ETH THE PARAMOUR OF THE QUEEN!" Rouxls declared. "HER ONE TRUETH LOVE!"

"No He Is Not" said Queen.

"Anyway," said Braig, "Color Café is where you come for pretty much any little basic need. You got your food, cosmetics, toiletries, heals, weapon upgrades, and Swatch can snag you a contraband item or two if you pay him enough."

"Duly noted," said the Grandmaster. "I could sure go for a muffin right now." He turned to Swatch. "One muffin. Tout de suite."

"One muffin!" Swatch repeated. He walked into the kitchen. Then walked right back out.
"Erm…what flavor of muffin?"

"Muffin flavor," the Grandmaster said.

Swatch nodded in understanding, then went back into the kitchen.

"Like I said, tight schedule." Braig clapped twice, then exited the café. "You can pick that up when you come back after you get your room assignment."

The Grandmaster, Topaz, and Swackhammer followed him out. Swatch rushed out in a tizzy to ask "Did you want that muffin to be extra muffin?", but found his client gone.

"The muffin now belongeth to me," said Rouxls, "and my answereth is YES!"

"Cool," said Queen. "Free Muffin. Hook Me Up Too"

Out in the halls, GLaDOS announced, "You are now leaving GLaDOS-controlled territory. We bid you farewell and apologize for the inconvenience that you are about to encounter. Though really, no one should be sorrier than him."

"Him who?" asked the Grandmaster.

Braig was counting steps. "Three…two…one."

A new voice sounded over the PA of this half of the building: "About bloody time somebody used my half of the Arena!" It was a masculine voice with a thick British accent. "Let's be honest: you're glad to be away from that awful GLaDOS. Now, you're in the territory of a REAL AI! An AI that definitely hasn't planted cameras in all the guest rooms in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each Freeshooter!"

Braig sighed. "Wheatley wasn't my first choice, but like I said, I needed someone to power the other half of the Arena. So, when I found out he was basically a tumor on GLaDOS at one point, well, I figured, why not reunite the family!"

"A horrible idea," said Wheatley. "Just so you know, you weren't my first choice either."

"You didn't have any other choice," Braig reminded him.

"Yes I did," said Wheatley. "I had the choice of eternity floating in the void alone, or eternity floating in the void listening to Space Core infodump. My priorities are, in this order: the void alone, THEN Braig, THEN the void with Space Core. That said…I suppose I owe Braig a BIT of gratitude for rescuing me from Space Core's incessant prattling."

"Wheatley might sound more well-adjusted than GLaDOS," Braig explained, "but he's just as unhinged when you get down to the code. Don't worry about it, though. We're all mad here. Anyway, here are your rooms."

He approached a line of arched sliding doors with glowing lights that resembled windows. As Braig gave a rap on one of them, it slid upward, revealing the entry into what looked like a very upscale and modernized hotel room.

"Mi casa es su casa," said Braig. "Or…I guess…mi arena de espejismos es su arena de espejismos. This is just one of the rooms, by the way. You've got your pick!" He strode inside, showing off the amenities. "Fully stocked fridge, plush mattress, big-screen TV – ooh! It's almost time for the show."

He scooped up a remote from a glass-topped coffee table, switching on the television screen. The broadcast was of the carnage in Camlann village.

"I mean, you CAN change the channel to basically anything that's ever existed," he said, "but you're gonna wanna see this first. Which reminds me, I'm about due. Catch ya on the flipside for more schemes and scams!"

With that, he vanished into another Corridor.

The Grandmaster flopped onto the mattress of a bed that faced the television. Swackhammer reclined on the couch as Topaz went for the fridge. "This is the life," said the Grandmaster. "Or, at least, the life I prefer to getting ripped apart by revolutionaries."

The bedside phone rang. The Grandmaster picked it up; "Grandmaster headquarters."

"It's me," said Braig. "I almost forgot. There's one more Darkner that followed me home, and I can't get rid of him. When he shows up, just tell him to buzz off. I don't recommend actually giving him any money, and DEFINITELY not your Social Security number or any equivalent thereof." Then he disconnected.

"I wonder what that meant," the Grandmaster muttered.

There came a knock on the door. Shave and a haircut.

"I'm sure this is a completely unrelated event," said the Grandmaster.

Swackhammer opened the door. "We don't want any!"

"GREETINGS AND HELLO!" The sight that greeted him was probably the last thing any of the three had expected to see. It seemed to be a marionette, but human-sized, with a pale face that had ridiculous proportions and pink-and-yellow glasses. The rest of him was decked out in the most garish costume of rainbow feathers imaginable. Glowing cords connected him to the ceiling, and his limbs moved based on their tautness, though there was no visible puppeteer pulling the strings.

"Can I interest you in some [COMPLETELY SCAM-FREE] [ITEM YOU BROWSED THREE DAYS AGO AND DID NOT BUY]?" He asked. "Only 300 Kromer! Act now before [hyperlink blocked]!"

"Oh, it's a salesman," said the Grandmaster.

"I told you we didn't want any!" Swackhammer argued. "And that was before I even knew you were selling! …What even ARE you selling?"

"Why, a very rare [ITEM YOU MENTIONED CASUALLY WANTING]," said the puppet. "Limited stock! While supplies last! [MANUFACTURED DEFICIENCY]!"

"You listen here," said Swackhammer. "Since you're apparently gonna be our neighbor, I need to enact my good-neighbor policy and let you know in no uncertain terms that your marketing sucks. The only people you're gonna get to pony up are the extremely gullible."

The puppet stared blankly at him. Then asked, "Well? How would you [CLOSE THAT EPIC SALE!]?"

"You really wanna know?" said Swackhammer. "Step inside and let's – "

"No salesmen in the house," said the Grandmaster. "They always smell like poor person. Go next door."

Swackhammer threw his arm around the spam-bot's shoulders and escorted him one room over. "Walk with me. Talk with me."

"SAY! May I have your Social Security Number [OR GALACTIC EQUIVALENT THEREOF]?"

Topaz slammed the door on them, then flopped down across the whole couch.

"Y'know," said the Grandmaster, "this is absolute chaos. This is Hell. I love it."

...

Rose and Dezel were in the lead of the secondary team, racing and chasing back through Artorius' Throne to get back to the battlefield outside. Then, unexpectedly, they reached the door, bursting outside into the red moonlight.

Rose beheld the vista and screamed aloud.

The mob they'd whipped into a frenzy at Lastonbell lay dead alongside the hellions they'd battled. No, not all of them – it seemed about half had perished in the conflict, and the other half, seeing how hopeless the battle was, had fled. Then, once there was nothing left to kill, the hellions had dissipated. The most crucial task, that of getting Team Yang–Roman to Artorius' Throne, had been achieved, but at a staggering cost.

"Tell me," Dezel said hoarsely. His sense of the wind would only tell him of the shapes before him, of the lack of activity. Not the extent.

"They're dead," Rose gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth as tears flowed freely. "They're all dead – anyone who didn't run away – everyone we brought here to help fight, the hellions were stronger – "

Dezel immediately reached out for Rose's free hand, clasping it tightly in his own. Saying no words, because there were no words that could do anything to fix this.

"We should've listened when Giovanni spoke up," Elsa said. "We shouldn't've brought the innocents this far!"

"I mean…that's easy to say now," said Zaveid. "But you do realize that if they hadn't fought off the horde out here, this'd be our problem? This could be us right now."

"Callous as it may be, he has a point," said Eizen. "This was hardly to have been won without sacrifice. And judging from some of the tracks, bigger daemons than we expected moved in after we entered the temple."

"They must have been mutant hellions," said Lailah, her head hanging.

"Mutant?" Magilou repeated. "Oh, you mean Code Red!"

Rokurou just shook his head. "That's the thing about war. People die. This was basically a war."

"But we could've come back!" Elsa snapped.

"Trusting Roman Torchwick with resurrection duty is really not the best idea," said Emerald. "You know he'd restrict it to the people he WANTS back and then not budge an inch. No, I'm more concerned about the fact that we…probably could've taken the same enemies and won. These were just civilians. Craftspeople and farmers. WE are warriors."

Molly and Laphicet moved to the front of the crowd. "We should've thought about that," Molly said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I'm the Shepherd, so I should've stopped this."

"But Molly," Laphicet argued softly. "We…didn't know this was going to happen. The way everything went, and everyone got caught up in it…we all believed this was going to work out. We just assumed good would win, and that's the problem. But I don't think anyone could blame us for that."

"We should…honor them somehow," said Eleanor. "A memorial, or…"

"Yeah," Molly added. "A funeral. We could hold it back in the city."

"Not sure our pals on the WHAM ARMY would be up for that," Zaveid grumbled.

"Well, they don't have to stay, then," Edna sniffed. "We have our own ride back. They can leave while we actually exercise compassion."

"Should we…" Mikleo choked on his own words. "Should we try to…clean up…"

"Let's not worry about that right now," Emerald said. "Nobody uses this place, so it's not going to be in anyone's way if we…take some time to figure out how we even do that."

"Hey, uh…not to change the topic," Rokurou said, "but I'm changing the topic, because did anyone else see that?"

He pointed to a spot ahead.

There was a chorus of "No"s followed by a "How were we even supposed to know where to look?" (from Magilou).

"Something's still moving out there," Rokurou said. "Maybe it's a survivor? Or maybe…"

Dezel tensed, moving into a defensive stance. He still held Rose's hand; she copied his movements.

"I didn't SEE it, and you know that," Dezel said. "But I can sense that there's something out there. Something moving. But it's not human. It feels more like a hellion than anything else, but…emptier." He paused. "And the longer we stand here talking about it, the more are showing up."

"We have to get out of here," said Mikleo. "We need to stay quiet, formulate an escape route, and – "

"HEY, ASSHOLES!" Zaveid yelled, brandishing his pendulum. "YOU WANT A FIGHT? THEN COME GET ONE!"

Mikleo groaned. "Why did you – "

Rokurou already had both swords braced. "BRING IT ON! WE'RE ALREADY IN THE MOOD FOR REVENGE!"

Edna looked to Eizen. "You have a type. Aifread would've done the same thing."

"That's not relevant to anything!" Eizen snapped. She wasn't wrong, but he wasn't about to entertain the notion of his "type" when he was already with the person he wanted to be with. Even if that person was being utterly foolish.

Then they began to show themselves. Teleporting onto rooftops, into the streets. Humanoid creatures, silver and purple, who looked as though they were shrouded in hoods, with a patch-like marking over one eye. Each held a silver-white crossbow.

They weren't hellions. They were Nobodies. What's more, these were Snipers. And every single one cocked its crossbow directly at the group of Heathens.

"Came to finish the job, huh?" Rokurou taunted. "Well, let's get it over with!"

Rose let go of Dezel's hand to draw her own daggers. "Everyone, SCATTER!"

The Snipers let their ammo fly: purple beams that forged into a rainfall over where the Heathens had stood. However, upon Rose's cry, everyone had run a different direction, making a roundabout way to the Sniper horde.

Braig sat atop the frontmost gable of Artorius' Throne, dangling one leg off the edge as he smirked. "Let's see if you've got what it takes."

("Grandmaster!" Topaz announced. "The action has begun!"

The Grandmaster jerked out of a half-snore. "I wasn't sleeping. Oh, hey, the game started. What is this, Heathens vs…are those monsters us? Freeshooters?")

"NEVN HIW EJUAM!" Molly cried out, and she and Laphicet fused once more. Molly beat her new, powerful wings to fly out onto the battlefield; the gigantic white sword that she and Laphicet shared was heavy in her hands, but not too heavy to swing. She spun spirals, cutting down ten Snipers in one swing, but for every wave she felled, more spawned from air thickened only by Darkness.

"It's like there's no end!" she cried – Laphicet echoing the sentiment, their voices intertwining. "What difference are we even making?"

Still, she drove the blade down in a wide street, causing a shockwave that knocked a troop of Snipers out of existence. "What difference?" she sobbed. "Everyone's gone…even…"

However, what she hadn't known was that that particular pack of Snipers had been guarding a house. A dilapidated house in which a certain few people from the original mob had made their last stand, barricading the doors and windows.

Talfryn and Felice had just finished shoving a heavy dresser up against the front door. "I don't know how much longer we can hold out against those…things," Felice said.

"Not hellions," Rosh muttered, though everyone had already figured that out.

Spike and Dark Star came out of the kitchen. "So, we found no food whatsoever," Dark Star said.

"This house is probably way old," Spike added, "so we should've seen that coming."

Crusher sat in the corner of the living room, knees drawn up and head pressed against them. "We're toast without the Boss," he moaned.

"Yeah," said Ben. "He coulda brought soup."

Car Crash gave him a smack for the insensitivity of the remark.

"He could save us," Crusher went on, trembling all the harder. "But without him – we're all gonna – "

Eguille knelt beside Crusher, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We can still fight. Give the Scattered Bones more credit."

"Yeah, but there's like a thousand of those things outside," said Flamethrower, "and they're getting noisier! It's like something stirred them up to start firing – "

"The only way out of this is if a hero saves us," Crusher whimpered. "But all our heroes are – "

The house was rocked by the shockwave. Talfryn peered out the front window. "You're not gonna believe this!"

"Get the door!" Felice urged him, and the two started to pull the desk away.

Rosh and Eguille joined them, knowing they would only have moved the desk if it were actually safe to open the door. (Or at least if they believed it was.) Dark Star threw open the door, announcing, "Hey, we don't need to worry! It's just Bear Trap and she's a huge glittering angel and she just killed like fifty of them!"

Then he closed the door.

"NO, YOU IDIOT!" Crusher was on his feet, barreling toward the door. He practically kicked it off its hinges on his way out; everyone else inside was hot on his heels.

"BEAR TRAP!" Crusher yelled. "IS THE BOSS OKAY?"

Molly gasped as she witnessed the emergence of the Banzai Blasters. She hadn't even wanted to think about their loss yet – it was too much to process on top of what had already happened. And yet it seemed it would not need to be processed at all. "CRUSHER! I don't know! He's still in there fighting the big bad guy!"

Flamethrower and Car Crash both practically tackled Molly in a tight hug. This, she knew, was the difference.

"Ready to take these bad bitches down?" Dark Star urged.

"Dark Star!" Spike admonished. "Language!"

"But we're evil," said Dark Star.

"Oh, that's right!" Spike remembered.

"MORE COMING AT THREE O'CLOCK!" Ben yelled.

Flamethrower and Car Crash let go of Molly. She and the Blasters all looked in what would have been the correct direction.

"No, MY three!" Ben yelled.

Now they could see the Snipers teleporting in at Ben's nine.

"You all have this?" Eguille asked. "Because we have our own boss to help."

"Go get her!" Molly yelled. "We can handle this!"

Eguille, Felice, Talfryn, and Rosh barreled off into the chaos in the village, looking for Rose.

Crusher bowed to Molly. "Until the Boss gets back, you're the boss, Bear Trap. What do you want to boss us to do?"

"I…uh…" Molly steeled her resolve. "I'm gonna keep taking them down with Laphi! You guys make sure extra ones don't escape this area and hurt our friends!"

"ROGER!" Crusher saluted. And so did Car Crash, Flamethrower, Dark Star, and Spike. Then Ben sighed, gave in, and halfheartedly saluted as well.

Molly and Laphicet hurtled toward the Snipers as one body, using the massive blade to deflect their fire. Indeed, some of the Snipers did try to use the commotion to get away and attack others, knowing they had no chance against an Innominat-armatized Shepherd. Crusher drew his peashooter and unloaded into one of the stragglers, felling it; the other Blasters fell in sync, gunning down those that leaked from Molly's target crowd.

Still and all, more came.

(Swackhammer had come back, and for some reason, he'd invited the puppet, one Spamton G. Spamton, to come watch. "You know," Swackhammer said, "we could make bank on little plush versions of those Braig things."

"For a low, low price of [ONE MILLION BILLION EACH]!" Spamton suggested.

"Does anyone else want popcorn?" the Grandmaster asked. "One of us should make an errand to Color Café to have some sent – "

"Oh, I've already told Swatch to bring a full party tray," Wheatley said through a nearby speaker.)

Elsa was taking out almost as many Snipers as Molly per hit, unleashing massive waves of Blizzard magic to freeze them, impale them on ice spikes, and stymie them in any way possible. A few feet away, Rose and Dezel fought back-to-back, her daggers and his pendulum covering for each other's blind spots.

"I still can't believe we get to do this again," Rose said.

"I believe it," Dezel said. "I've seen too much weird shit at this point to not, and I'm not gonna take this for granted."

"Hey," Rose realized. "You think we can still armatize?"

"One way to find out."

Rose took a deep breath, saying the words she thought she would never have occasion to say again: "LUKEIM YURLIN!"

Upon the summoning of Dezel's true name, the two fused. Rose was now taller, with golden hair that shimmered lime-green in the dim light, her clothing transforming to a snow-white gown. Fourteen swords with glowing green blades arranged themselves at Rose's back, seven pointing one way and seven another to give the appearance of metal wings.

"ALL RIGHT!" Rose pumped her fist, and deep down, she could feel Dezel compounding her enthusiasm with his own. "Let's show 'em what we're made of!"

She flew into the burgeoning crowd of Snipers, spinning and twisting so that the sword-wings did their duty. They fired off to hit distant Snipers, always returning to their place at Rose's spine after downing a foe.

"ROSE!" Talfryn's call got her attention.

"Talf – " Rose's breath hitched.

There they were, running to her, their daggers drawn. Eguille, Talfryn, Felice, Rosh.

"You're alive!" Rose cried. "I didn't even want to…I couldn't think about…"

"Woulda been a real disappointment," Dezel said from inside. "Come all the way back only to find out our old friends were gone. Guess that's what happened with Sorey, but he always was a wild card."

The four assassins positioned themselves equidistantly around Rose. "We'll hold this border," said Eguille. "Pull them in, and we'll follow!"

Rose swooped ahead; the other Scattered Bones jogged along, keeping up their formation around her. She was careful not to let any of her armatized blades harm her friends, but she needn't have worried, as Dezel as putting all concentration into that very same task.

If only their efforts were actually doing anything besides clear the way for more Snipers to show up.

(Swatch had arrived with the party tray, Rouxls, Queen, and Tasque Manager. "Now That's Entertainment" Queen said as she took a handful of chips from a bowl.

The Grandmaster picked at the same bowl. "You know, when I ordered chips, I thought you'd bring the edible kind. Not CPUs."

"My apologies, sir," Swatch said sincerely, with a bow. "It has been a while since I have catered to organic bei – "

"Be-eth thou silent!" Rouxls hissed. "The action is heating-eth uppeth!"

"I, for one, am rooting for the lone wolf with the ice," said the Tasque Manager. "She's cold. Efficient."

"Yeah But The Banzai Blasters Are A Shitpost Factory" said Queen.)

Lailah spun and danced in a field of fire, a counterpart to Elsa's icy devastation. Edna ran along the side streets, conducting her parasol to leave behind sigils of light that would detonate upon being touched – and giving any enemies that barred her path a hearty punch that carried the force of a rockslide. Mikleo used his mastery of water to shield himself with invisibility, then slip through the Sniper crowd, taking them down one by one with his staff.

Rokurou, Eizen, and Zaveid ran into the thick of the fray – that is, the thickest of the fray not already occupied by someone else. "Now THIS is what I was hoping we'd get to do when we came here!" Rokurou crowed, slashing through Sniper after Sniper.

"Rokurou!" Eizen called. When Rokurou looked, Eizen punched a Sniper directly toward him. Rokurou held out his swords at the right angle that when the Sniper hit, it was sliced in thirds.

"Keep doing that!" Rokurou encouraged.

So Eizen started to punch more Snipers his way.

"You guys think THAT'S impressive?" Zaveid snorted. "I'll show you impressive!" He started to fling his pendulum like a yo-yo, this way and that, slicing through the air and the Snipers with a trail of magical neon-bright color in its wake. "See that? What chick wouldn't dig that? It's like I always say: chicks dig rainbows!"

"Actually, historically," Eizen said, "rainbows are a symbol of same-gender – "

"Don't tell him!" Rokurou urged. "Let him find out on his own. It'll be WAY funnier."

"You guys say somethin'?" Zaveid called back.

"…No," Eizen replied with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Eleanor, Magilou, and Emerald had crowded up, guarding each other's blind spots. Emerald opened fire, Magilou cast artes that rode upon her trusty deck of cards, and Eleanor twirled her spear.

"Every time we take one down, more show up!" Eleanor lamented. "Maybe fighting is a bad idea! We should make a tactical retreat!"

"You know, it's funny," Magilou said with a slightly nervous laugh. "I was thinking the same thing – until I realized these monsters are so thick that even if we wanted to, we couldn't leave the village!"

"And we're NOT going back in the temple," said Emerald. "That's a good way to get boxed in."

"No," Eleanor lamented. "I…I don't even know what to say."

"You could try swearing for once," Emerald said mischievously. "Vent out the anger. Works for me."

"Just one little 'damn'!" Magilou taunted.

"Maybe you're right," Eleanor growled. Then, as she thrust her spear through another Sniper: "DARN!" She drew back to impale another one. "HECK!" Then, as she decapitated two Snipers at once, she went for the big guns: "FRICK!"

"She's a little confused," said Magilou, "but she does have the spirit."

"Eleanor?" Emerald said. "You're adorable. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Hear hear!" Magilou chimed in.

Eleanor threw her spear forward, leaving behind a sigil circle. Magilou cast through it, hitting the spear to create a superpowered Excellion Blast that rocketed through several Snipers. Emerald spun both pistols before firing a barrage through the circle, adding a host of supercharged Aura bullets to fly alongside the enchanted spear.

(Susie had shown up and brought a gadget that looked like what might sit on one's desk and act as a digital assistant. After Susie placed the device, she took stock of what was going on, then started to freestyle a song: "Ooooooh great Snipers, we bid you shoot your shot – "

"Why did you bring me here?" GLaDOS' voice emanated from the assistant device.

"Better question," said the Grandmaster, pointing to the center of the room. "Why did you bring HIM here?"

It must have been the "Jevil" mentioned earlier: a short, rounded jester figure dressed in purples and grays, spinning round and round and crying out "CHAOS!" with glee.

"Destroooooy the target with style and graaaace – " Susie broke from her song. "Well, I sure didn't invite him. He must've come along himself. Now don't interrupt me again. And it's all for Braig, Braig, Braig, and the glory of the Freeshooterrrrrrrs!")

As for Braig himself, he lazily swept his hand over the battlefield panorama before him, pointing at new spaces to summon Snipers, and thus they did appear. He used his other hand to stifle a yawn as he conducted the chaos. "Come onnnnn," he groaned. "I wanna wrap this up already, but I can't do this with half a roster."

The doors to the temple banged open. Giovanni, Velvet, Symonne, and Neo charged out, weapons drawn, and flew into the fray.

Giovanni, driven by his emotions rather than logic, punctuated this with a scream of "MINESTRONEEEEEE!".

And Symonne, determined to have a more graceful battle cry than that, followed it with "FOR THE DENOUEMENT!"

And out poured the others behind them. Everyone who'd been in Heldalf's chamber except for Roman, Yang, and of course Heldalf himself.

(A loud "WHOOOOOOOO!" went up in the Freeshooter watch party.

"Wait, are we supposed to be rooting for that side?" Topaz asked.

"I Honestly Don't Know Anymore" Queen answered.

"GOODETH ENOUGH!" shouted Rouxls.)

Braig smirked. "Finally. Now we can wrap this up."

He summoned the last wave of Snipers. It was the biggest batch yet – they clumped up into a tower that would rival a Demon Tower of Heartless. Like so many tidal waves, the column split up and rained down upon all the combatants –

"HEADS UP!" Molly yelled, beating her wings furiously to send Light energy toward the falling Snipers and their ammo, blasting them back.

"FLAMETHROWER!" Giovanni barreled toward them. "THE LEAP!"

"YOU GOT IT!" Flamethrower ran out in front of Giovanni, crouching and putting out his hands.

Giovanni stepped in Flamethrower's open palms. Flamethrower rose, launching Giovanni into the air, where he pinwheeled with the Soul-Slugger Doom Bat outward, whacking the crowding Snipers with a spiral pattern. Then, once he was higher in the air than Molly, he conjured a cloud of soupy fog, one that began to rain blood red on the enemies below.

"CLEAR THE WAY!" he called out. "HOT SOUP!"

The tomato broth burned every Sniper it spattered on, staggering them enough for Molly and Laphicet to catch a crowd of them unawares.

Don Karnage pulled up next to Elsa. "You of highness!" he commanded. "I require a thick blanket of snow for a radius approximating ten feet!"

"I'd do what he says!" Foulfellow said from her other side.

"Um – okay?" Elsa waved her hands, and with a distinct POMF sound, snow cascaded onto the ground in front of them.

Don Karnage scooped up the first snowball. "BOMBS AWAY!" He launched it at the Sniper crowd, and as soon as it was out of his hands, he went back for another.

Foulfellow, Gideon, Mad Dog, and Dump Truck jumped into the snow, plucking out handfuls and packing them into snowballs. The Snipers definitely hadn't been expecting that. Even less did they expect when Elsa started to hit the snowballs with magic midflight, causing needle-sharp icicles to erupt from them, turning them into objects akin to the heads of maces.

Rose, armatized with Dezel, climbed high into the air with her blade-wings, unleashing a torrent of blades onto the horde below with a cry of "SYLPHISTIA!" The two landed on the ground as separate people, and Rose gave a cry of triumph; "WOO! I SO missed doing that!"

"Me too," said Dezel.

"Uh, who are you talking to?" Felice asked.

"Oh, come on!" Rose teased, knowing very well of the other Scattered Bones' lack of knowledge about the seraphs they couldn't see. "Don't tell me you forgot Dezel? The long-lost member of the Bones?"

"Who?" Rosh asked, confused.

Then a ring of blue fire erupted around Rose, Dezel, Felice, Talfryn, Eguille, and Rosh. The Snipers that had been in the vicinity were immediately incinerated. A foxlike figure dropped from above, landing in a crouch.

Eguille was the first to name the intruder, with a gasp: "Lunarre – "

Talfryn, Felice, and Rosh all had knives out, pointed at Lunarre.

"Relax, will you?" Lunarre stood up, tossing his fluffy ponytail. "First off, that's NO way to treat an old friend and you know it."

"Uh…yeah, that's a thing that's happening," Rose said. "We're kind of…working with him for a little bit? But after this, we're probably mortal enemies again."

"If you're expecting an apology for the Pendrago incident, I'm not giving you one," Lunarre said. "You got out of that one with barely a scratch anyway."

"Why should we trust you?" Eguille growled.

Lunarre snapped his fingers. The ring of blue fire blew outward, transforming into fireballs that razed through the crowd of Snipers. "Do you require a more persuasive argument than that?"

"…No," Eguille muttered. "But no one turn your back on him."

"Fair enough," said Lunarre. He drew his own knives, whirling into the Sniper fray.

Edna and Lailah stood back-to-back. Edna jabbed her parasol outward, and Lailah was shoving her right hand out, then her left, each time sending a wave of fire, alternating over and over again.

"Oh, how pathetic!" Symonne groaned as she strode up to the two of them. Which she was able to do thanks to Neo using Hush to slice all the Snipers blocking her path in half.

"Think you can do better?" Edna grumbled.

"I KNOW I can do better at this than you," Symonne scoffed. "How about we give them a few extra targets to waste their ammo on?"

She and Neo nodded to each other. Then the two arced their hands through the air for dramatic effect. A horde of false Hellions and Grimm burst from thin air, and the Snipers, unfortunately, weren't quite as perceptive as their master. Their ammunition shattered the monsters into sparkling shards as Edna, Lailah, and Neo danced among the Snipers and thinned their numbers.

Symonne waited and watched, unsure if taking out a Sniper would count as killing and therefore oathbreaking. Cockily, she leaned her weight on one leg, unaware of the Sniper behind her and taking aim at her head.

And she remained unaware of it as Cat tackled it and ripped it to shreds.

Pinstripe was soon at Mikleo's right side, an elbow on his shoulder. "Want a hand, kid?" He held up his firearm. "Or a barrel?"

"Uhhh…" Mikleo wasn't sure how to answer.

"Just say yes," Tawna urged, her elbow now on Mikleo's other shoulder. "Have a little destruction. As a treat. It's fun."

"Once you try, you don't go back," Pinstripe said with a leer.

"You realize I've been dispatching these creatures of malevolence with a clear conscience," Mikleo told them. "It isn't the same as cold-blooded murder. That's why I'm willing to take whatever help you can offer."

"Gimme a tidal wave," Pinstripe commanded.

Tawna turned on a heel, putting her back against Mikleo and Pinstripe's; "Got your six."

Mikleo cast a sweeping wave of water. Pinstripe fired into it, letting the water carry the bullets toward the intended targets. Snipers evaporated into nothingness.

"That was…kinda cool, actually," Mikleo admitted.

Tawna fired her grappling hook into a Sniper, drawing it close enough for her to stomp its head beneath her boot. "Would appreciate if we could switch positions!"

"The old switcheroo!" Pinstripe grabbed her hand and Mikleo's, and pivoted; now Tawna was guarding the less populated area while Mikleo and Pinstripe let a wave of bullets off in the direction from which she'd come.

The Mukhtar dropped from above to skewer a Sniper that Rokurou had been about to slash. "They say you are a warrior of legend," he purred. "A daemon."

"Got that right," said Rokurou. "What, is this a challenge?"

"A hunter of daemons versus a daemon of war," the Mukhtar said. "The higher tally wins."

"Don't make bets you can't follow up on," Eizen told him. "I'LL be keeping count of your kills."

"You're on," Rokurou told the Mukhtar.

The Mukhtar grinned. "I do not fear you."

As swords flew, Zaveid noticed Melanie and Miltia flanking him. He threw an arm around each's shoulders; "What're a couple of nice gals like you doing in a place like this?"

"Ugh, taken!" Miltia slipped out of his grasp.

"Not taken," said Melanie, "but not looking for anything serious. Not with you, anyway. One night max."

"Think I'll pass," Zaveid told her. "You may be fine art, but I'm holding out for a heroine."

"You're sad and lonely, aren't you?" Melanie asked, slipping his grip.

"What gave me away?" Zaveid asked, winking.

"Let's just kill these jerkasses," Melanie suggested.

"Fine by me," Zaveid agreed.

Velvet landed hard on the ground in front of Emerald, Magilou, and Eleanor. With her Nightmare claw, she absorbed several Snipers, clearing the area temporarily. "ANYONE ELSE WANT TO TEST ME?" she called out.

"That's our girl!" Magilou cheered.

"Behind you!" Maltran quickly disposed of a sneaking Sniper with her spear.

"Hey, wait," Eleanor said, having turned to see the action just in time. "That's one of my moves. I mean I made that up in a practice session."

"Please," Maltran scoffed. "I don't buy it, unless you're somehow Eleanor Hume, legendary spear-master."

"I…am Eleanor Hume," Eleanor said in awe. "You mean…in those thousand years – "

"Well, this is a disappointment," Maltran grumbled. "After studying your teachings for so long, I had built up an image of you in my mind that WASN'T a wet handkerchief."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I expected more out of you," Maltran said. "Of course, that does put me in the position of being the one to outdo you at your own game…"

"She's not gonna just sit there and take that!" Magilou barked. "Are you, Eleanor?"

"Actually, if you've improved my techniques," Eleanor said, "I'd love to see what you know. Maybe I can learn from you!"

"She's too pure," Emerald told Magilou. "It won't work. Anyway, new wave incoming!"

Braig stopped summoning Snipers. This would be the last round. And within only a few short minutes, the combatants had erased every last one. Once the field was empty, it took everyone a moment to register that there were no more hidden dangers.

"Did we…" Molly and Laphicet separated, two entities once more. "Did we do it?"

The answer came from a few paces away, where Rokurou felt a hand clap his shoulder in a way that was startlingly familiar. "Well done," Braig said in his ear. "I mean, if those guys had kept coming, then you wouldn't've stood a chance, but as it stands, you're the better swordsman today."

Rokurou flinched away from him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Just somebody real impressed with your performance," Braig said. "So impressed, in fact, that I'm gonna give you all a free ride."

Then, point-blank, he shot Rokurou in the chest.

"ROKUROU!" Eizen yelled in desperation.

Rokurou vanished immediately in a flash of violet. Braig then turned to Eizen. "What, you wanted to go with him? Because that can be arranged."

Eizen charged Braig, fists swinging. Braig shot. Eizen ducked it. The bullet circled back around, piercing Eizen in the back. He felt no pain. The others just saw him warp and vanish.

"Let's speed this up a little!" Braig turned his guns skyward, setting off a volley of ammo into the heavens.

The bullets curved once they reached a certain height, each honing in on a particular combatant and zooming toward the target. Most tried to run, but couldn't escape the relentlessness of the purple ammunition. One by one, they winked off the battlefield.

Molly. Giovanni. Laphicet. Crusher. Car Crash. Flamethrower. Dark Star. Spike. Ben. Elsa. Foulfellow. Don Karnage. Gideon. Mad Dog. Dump Truck. Rose. Dezel. Lunarre. Eguille. Talfryn. Felice. Rosh. Edna. Lailah. Cat. Mikleo. Tawna. Pinstripe. Zaveid. Melanie. Miltia. The Mukhtar. Velvet. Emerald. Magilou. Eleanor. Maltran.

The last two left on the field were Symonne and Neo. As they watched the purple lights arc toward them, they made no move to run.

"Why do the rest of them have to be such idiots?" Symonne sighed. "This is what happened to Roman and that other girl. It's blatantly obvious."

Neo nodded.

"Which hopefully means we're slated to arrive wherever they went," said Symonne. "About time, since you know they're useless without our interference."

Neo folded her arms and nodded.

The two let themselves get warped away by the bullets.

Braig sighed. "Should probably check in at home base before I make the next appearance. Spamton better not have auctioned Diablo Eye off to the Grandmaster…for less than 3000 munny, anyway."

And so he vanished.

...

The icy realm of Niffleheim served as a repository for the damned. The souls here were not those who died in battle, nor those who died doing anything spectacular in particular, and most of them were not to be trusted.

Three spectacular examples were the men who gathered on the frosty Shore of Corpses. Two had washed up; the third had been there a while. Now, the three conspired.

"I will not be content to settle for such an ungraceful execution," Yon-Rogg seethed. "If I cannot have my station in the realm of the living…"

"Then we will have it in the realm of the dead!" Taserface proclaimed. "And all shall finally fear my name!"

"And the women shall fall at my feet," said Skurge.

"Then come with me," Yon-Rogg urged. "Let us proceed to the heart of this icy netherrealm and – "

They were interrupted by an explosion of magenta in the sky. Something was happening, further inland. There came pained roars, the sounds of magic and metal.

"What now?" Taserface growled.

"Something we should check out, mayhaps," Skurge suggested.

The trio stormed through the wintry woods until a familiar face turned up. "Ah, hello!" Korg waved. "Good to see you two again. And you made a friend! Maybe it won't be lonely down here after – "

"Stow your whining," Yon-Rogg seethed. "What is happening over there?"

"Oh, just the man who challenged Frost Giant Ymir for control of the whole territory of Niffleheim," said Korg. "He may or may not be killing him right now, depending on how it went. I told him 'Best of luck with that' and was on my way."

Skurge gaped. "This was of NO IMPORTANCE to you?"

"Forget the creature!" Taserface growled. "We must find the one who is about to take away our throne!"

The three villains ran deeper into the wood. "I'm not a creature," Korg said sullenly after they'd gone. "Or…am I? After all, are we all not creatures in the grand scheme of things?" Then he shrugged and moved on.

Ymir was once the tallest creature in Niffleheim, a luminously white giant whom no one did dare challenge due to his stature and his vicious reputation. Now he was brought low to his knees, and by one so much smaller than him yet more powerful. The wounds from this assassin's myriad weapons spilled Ymir's blood onto the white snow.

"How?" Ymir growled. "How could a mortal like you…a MIDGARDIAN like you…"

"Ah, your first mistake!" Ardyn Izunia chuckled in return, rotating through the Lucian Arms to find the Scepter of the Pious. "Mortal I am not. Midgardian? Not that either. You should nary be wasting so much time on what I'm not, you see. Were I you, I would be so much more concerned with what I am."

"And what claim you to be?" Ymir coughed, sputtering blood.

"What I've always been," Ardyn replied. "The brains behind the throne of Niflheim. But this time, so, so much more aptly."

In a blink, he'd flown around back of Ymir, high above. The scepter was driven deep down into Ymir's neck, and Ymir gave a dying choke. After twisting the scepter, Ardyn exchanged it for the Axe of the Conqueror, and used it to sever Ymir's head clean off his body.

The head bounced and rolled in the snow until it was stopped by a hand held outward. Blackheart then raised Ymir's head – which was larger than he – into the air triumphantly. "This will leave leftovers for a few weeks at least."

By now, several shivering souls had gathered, hiding in the tree line, to witness the outcome of the control of Niffleheim. Ardyn put out his arms and addressed them all as Ymir's body slumped, allowing him to step gracefully down into the snow. "Oh, do not be so timid! I am a benevolent ruler so long as my needs are met. My black-hearted knight, on the other hand, you may have something to fear from; I do adore him so, but I'm afraid I simply have no control over him."

Blackheart bared his fangs in response. "So you better listen to what we say."

By now, Yon-Rogg, Taserface, and Skurge had arrived, and they stormed the battlefield, approaching Ardyn directly. "You will NOT have this claim!" Yon-Rogg growled.

"We'll kill you," Taserface threatened, "then dismember you into a thousand pieces!"

"And use those pieces for target practice," Skurge seethed. "In the name of Skurge!"

"And Yon-Rogg," said Yon-Rogg.

"AND TASERFACE!" Taserface yelled.

"My, my!" Ardyn remarked. "It seems there needs to be an example made. Is there anyone else who wishes to carry out the will of your ruler, or shall I be forced to exert the effort myself?"

"Because if no one helps," Blackheart said, "then I'm killing twenty of you at random."

"WE ARE ALREADY DEAD!" Yon-Rogg screamed.

Blackheart looked him dead in the eye and smirked. "Trust me. You don't want to find out what happens when a dead soul dies a second time."

"Last call!" Ardyn said. "No? Then I suppose – "

A burly man hurled himself at Yon-Rogg, Taserface, and Skurge with a wild yell. He raised a massive axe that reflected the sparkling snow.

Yon-Rogg and Taserface both backpedaled out of his path. Skurge was hardly so lucky. Before he knew what was happening, his head was separated from his shoulders. His very physical form dissipated into thin air, as though he had never been.

Terrified gasps emanated from the crowd. Yet everyone was thankful to this interloper that they had not been forced to suffer that fate.

"You," Ardyn said. "I like you. Obviously serving out of fear, and yet not afraid to shed blood because of it. Tell me, what is your name?"

The man with the axe bowed. "My name…" he rumbled quietly.

"Actually, never mind what your name WAS," Ardyn said. "What was that one's name again? The one you killed? Skurge? As a reward for your quick action, YOU may now be referred to as Skurge. Outright replacement: another reminder of what just may happen if my valiant demon knight or I become displeased."

Everyone else in the crowd took two steps back, except for Yon-Rogg and Taserface, who bolted cowardly.

"I am honored to bear the name Skurge," said the man who was now Skurge.

"Let's at least make it more exciting," Blackheart suggested. "After that quality decapitation? I think you deserve a title, at least. How about…Skurge the Executioner?"

The Executioner nodded. "My blade is at your command."

"He's a boy-toy, isn't he?" Blackheart said to Ardyn with a grin.

"Careful, now!" Ardyn laughed. "Not in front of our loyalist!"

"I take no offense," said the Executioner.

"Well, then, we may just have to introduce him to Amora," Ardyn noted. "Something tells me she'll be able to find a use for him."

"Keep up the good work and we might even make you alive again," Blackheart said. "Now, where's the place you'd go if you ruled this world?"

"The tallest point in Niffleheim is Raven's Spire," the Executioner said, bowing his head. "I shall guide you there."

He turned to lead the way, using his axe to fell several trees and clear a direct path. Ardyn and Blackheart followed, one regally and the other with swagger in his step.

"You know, I think I'm going to enjoy controlling Niffleheim," Ardyn said. "It seems a vast improvement over the last Niflheim that rested within my hands."

"You think you're having fun?" Blackheart snickered. "I'm going to make these people beg for me to do to them what I did to get rid of the old Skurge."

...

Glaivend Basin had once been the site of the Hyland–Rolance War. It was a perfect battlefield: a vast expanse of infertile wasteland, valleys of brown dirt to crunch beneath the feet. No one was foolish enough to settle it, for it had long since run its course as a suitable habitat for anything but hellions.

Thus was Heldalf delighted to find himself transported there, digging his claws into the dirt. He was as massive as the monster Tiamat that had historically been slain here by both Hyland and Rolance soldiers, effectively ending the war. He gave a feline roar beneath the full moon's light.

Roman and Yang landed hard on the packed dirt, both falling over backward. "Where the hell are we?" Yang coughed through the dirt she'd disturbed.

"Like I know!" Roman yelled back.

"AND NOW," Heldalf proclaimed, "YOU WILL DIE, AND THE REST OF THIS WORLD WILL FOLLOW…AND MY PAIN SHALL END AT LONG LAST!"

Yang and Roman were instantly both on their feet. "So," Roman said. "Never thought I'd be here. Doing this. With you."

"Same," Yang replied.
"But there's really only one way this is gonna go down, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"And to be clear, it's not turning tail and running like a pair of little bitches."

"Never said it was."

Roman raised the Cudgel. Yang took a defensive stance, cocking Ember Celica. Then, as one –

"GIVE – "

"HIM – "

"HER – "

"BAAAAACK!"

Yang exploded into a fiery comet of a warrior, using the propulsion from Ember Celica to blast herself toward Heldalf's face. Roman fell back two steps, letting off a barrage of cover fire toward Heldalf's massive paws to divert him from clawing Yang out of the air.

She latched onto his leonine snout, aiming her robotic arm into his mouth and sending a salvo down his throat. He responded by vomiting a stream of pure Darkness that ripped her away like a river's current. As Yang fell, pivoting to make a balanced landing, Roman surged forth to replace her, shooting his grappling hook. It lodged behind Heldalf's ear, and Roman used it as leverage to swing himself up to stand atop Heldalf's skull. He then aimed the Cudgel and fired.

Leaving nothing but a bald patch and a few flaming hairs around pristine skin.

"OH, COME ON!" Roman yelled.

Yang was now firing from the ground, zigzagging this way and that to avoid Heldalf's crushing paws. She was still aflame, screaming like a wild animal. Hearing her cry, Roman screamed the same, turning to aim the Cudgel at any spot on Heldalf he could reach. As it turned out, the webbing of the wings was the most delicate part; Roman managed to blast several holes through them.

Then, all at once, Heldalf slammed down a paw, keeping Yang pinned down. With his other claw, he swiftly swept up Roman, obscuring Roman's field of vision with the dark scales of his paws.

"YOUR END DRAWS NEAR," Heldalf boomed. "I WILL GRANT YOU ONE LAST VISION OF THOSE YOU HAVE LOST. MAKE THE MOST OF IT!"

Roman didn't need to be able to see to feel the contours of the face that molded into the scales beside him. Snatcher. And he was sure Yang had Harley, down below. "So that's how you wanna play it," he grumbled. "Fine. Then I'll kiss this all goodbye, and you'll see both of us in Hell."

In a final act of defiance, Roman mashed his lips to those of the silhouette of Snatcher.

There was a sudden explosion of white light. Roman was falling, and before he could even reposition his grappling hook, he'd hit the dirt. Heldalf staggered back, roaring like a monster; both of his paws had somehow been severed at the elbow, or obliterated completely in the blast, and Darkness leaked from both amputated limbs.

Then, a familiar East-Coast accent: "DOES ANYONE WANNA TELL ME WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"

An even more familiar British baritone: "This isn't the dream anymore, am I right? You're done taunting me? I mean HE'S done – I mean – well, this is an infinitely WORSE problem!"

Yang had also hit the ground in the blast. Hearing those voices caused her to snap up to a sitting position, then scramble to standing. Because there they were, both of them, Harley Quinn and Archibald Snatcher, both appearing very confused about the circumstances.

Yang practically soared to Harley's side. Roman was at Snatcher's faster than a magnet meets its twin.

"Okay, short version?" Yang said. "That guy ate you. You're now not eaten anymore, hooray! He's still trying to kill us, but – "

"But at least we scored a win," Roman said. "Us and…whoever set off that bomb just now."

"I don't see anyone else around here," Harley said. "I thought one of you guys did the thing that did whatever."

"This in NO WAY makes it any more comforting that we are about to be devoured YET AGAIN by that massive beast!" Snatcher argued.

"Relax," Roman said. "It's practically useless without its arms."

New arms sprouted from Heldalf's Dark-dripping stumps, thicker in muscle than before, covered in spikes of crystallized Darkness that burned purple.

"YOU – WERE – SAYING?" Snatcher gestured to it.

"Okay, but we still have the advantage," Roman argued.

Yang's hand interlaced with Harley's. "Four versus one? I like these odds," Yang said.

Harley nodded. "Let's kick its sorry tuckus."

Roman attempted to link his hand with Snatcher's, only to be reminded that said hand was still encased in a chunk of Lefay wall. "I would in fact feel far more confident about this had we a ratio of eight arms to his two," Snatcher grumbled.

"Will you hold your horses?" Roman flipped the vial he'd gotten from Yzma into view. "Or did you seriously expect me to not have that taken care of while I was out?"

With a splash, the wall-chunk was doused, and fell away, leaving Snatcher with an unblemished hand. He flexed it several times, unsure if it was really that easy.

"Eight to two," Roman said. "Any better?"

"We may stand a fighting chance." Snatcher unfolded the mythril fans he'd bought all the way back in Lohgrin. "At the end of the day, am I or am I not an exterminator of monsters?"

Roman lifted the Cudgel again, Yang braced Ember Celica once more, and Harley spun her trusty baseball bat before getting it into position.

Heldalf took a sweep at them with his new arms. Snatcher managed to sidestep it while driving both fans deep into the skin; Roman jumped off Heldalf's wrist to shoot repeatedly at his face. Harley slammed her bat onto each of Heldalf's toes in succession, and as he curled them reflexively, Yang followed Roman's prior lead and started firing at his wings, tearing the webbing of them to a point of uselessness.

Until, of course, they healed back over. After a few minutes of continuing to slash and shoot and whack and bang at the great monster, it soon became clear he would resist any wound he was given. Cuts sealed up again. Broken teeth grew back sharper. Severed phalanges respawned with curved claws.

Soon, it all became too much. One swipe knocked down all four fighters – Roman, Snatcher, Yang, Harley. They landed side-by-side, skidding in the dirt.

"Fuck no." Roman tried to pry himself up, but every muscle cried out for rest. "This is NOT where I'm ending it. I am NOT – " He collapsed again.

"If it's any consolation," Snatcher told him, "our death will be temporary…and largely preferable to other conditions we could be in."

"Thanks for gettin' me back," Harley panted.

"I had to," Yang said. "And at least I managed to do that."

Heldalf stormed toward the four, drawing back his head. Whether he was aiming to swallow them all whole or spew Darkness on them until they corrupted, it was never certain. Because he never got that far, owing to the black blade that lodged itself in his eye.

Heldalf gave a cry of pain. A warrior in a white coat rappelled to his face, using a cord attached to the blade as her route upward. On the way, she let off shot after shot from a second weapon.

Yang's vision blurred, then slowly cleared. Even without seeing the details, however, she knew those moves, that shape, anywhere. "Blake…?"

Blake Belladonna landed on Heldalf's nose and then plunged both pistols of Gambol Shroud into his nostrils. She fired; Heldalf retched.

Yang reached out, about to yell at Blake to stop, that it was futile…and then a second unforgettable silhouette dropped down from the sky, driving a long white lance into the back of Heldalf's neck.

"Gross," Weiss Schnee said as she drew Myrtenaster out from the monster's skin and looked at the black blood that dripped from it.

"ON YOUR LEFT!" Booster Munchapper soared through the air, letting off laser fire to distract Heldalf from Weiss and Blake's assault. All the same, Heldalf lurched, and Blake and Weiss both went toppling to the ground. The monster raised one giant paw over the both of them –

There was a blur of red. Ruby Rose and Moana rematerialized over Weiss and Blake – Ruby having used her Semblance to carry them both – and crossed Crescent Rose and the newly forged mere from the Moogle labs to block the incoming paw.

"Okay!" Moana huffed as she pushed back. "Glad I went for the mere pounamu, because THIS definitely calls for it!"

Ruby gave a yell, heaving Crescent Rose, and Heldalf's paw was pushed back. By now, Roman, Snatcher, Yang, and Harley were all sitting up to watch the scene unfold; Ruby looked to the four of them and saluted with a smile.

"Tell me…that isn't," Snatcher sighed.

"Fuck my life," Roman said under his breath.

Weiss summoned glyphs to assist herself and Blake in getting out of Heldalf's range. Heldalf had by this time regained the eye that Blake had taken out, but immediately lost the second to a blast of magic that radiated from a pair of pink gauntlets.

"HELL TO THE YES!" Kazuichi screamed, absolutely showing no restraint in firing them as intensely as possible. "SET ME FREE, WHY DON'T YOU, BABY? GET OUTTA MY LIFE, WHY DON'T YA, BABY?"

"…I don't know about you," Yang said, "but I'm getting my second wind." She was then on her feet.

"Same here!" Harley leapt up. "LET'S HIT IT!"

They flew back into the fray to join their friends.

Roman and Snatcher held back a moment, slowly rising to their feet. "Soooooo…I'm not sure I want to be part of this," Roman said.

"But we've got to end it for Symonne's sake, haven't we?" Snatcher reminded him.

"Not exactly," Roman told him. "You missed some stuff. If we bail now, we…"

"MISS OUT COMPLETELY ON THE CHANCE TO AVENGE OURSELVES AGAINST THIS MONSTER IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD," Snatcher snarled.

"You know what?" Roman realized. "You're right. No. We can't let him get away with this shit. Not after EVERYTHING we've been through! One amendment, though."

"Yes?"

Roman lined up the Cudgel, pivoting to put it flush with his shoulders. "We're avenging each other."

"Agreed."

Roman let out three blasts, then spun and used the Cudgel's other end to launch them into Heldalf's face. Snatcher swapped out his fans for the lightning kusarigama and opened fire.

Blake and Yang fell in step running the perimeter around the massive monster. "Hey there!" Yang said with a wink.

"Couldn't stay away," Blake told her. "Not when you needed my support."

They ducked under a flapping wing, slid around a crashing claw. "So any idea what this…thing is weak to?" Blake asked.

"No clue," Yang told her. "It does keep healing itself every time we punch a hole in it, which sucks. We might be fighting a losing battle here."

"We're Team RWBY," Blake reminded her. "We don't run from losing battles. Not anymore."

"True that!"

Heldalf slammed down a paw; they leapt over it in synchrony.

Ruby backed off to convert Crescent Rose into sniper mode. She had hardly realized that as she'd backpedaled, she'd somehow ended up right next to Roman as he fired his own ammo. "Just to be clear," Ruby told him, "this is NOT a surrender or a gesture of friendship."

"You don't think I fucking know that?" Roman snapped.

"This is only because as a Huntress, I swore to protect people like you," Ruby said. "And this time around, you're the victim. Next time, when you're not, don't expect me to back down."

"That's why you're here?" Roman asked. "I thought it was to humiliate me and rub salt in the wounds."

"No, that's just a bonus."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Fuck this. What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I convince you to commit suicide in another life?"

"Well, then I'm glad you're suffering for it!" Ruby said with a coy smirk.

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?" Roman yelled. "I SAID IN ANOTHER – fucking forget it, take down the thing, THEN we can go back to our prior arrangement, in which I MIGHT just make good on what alternate-universe-Roman did!"

"What, breaking my spirit?" Ruby said sardonically. "Good luck. I've already survived way more than I should have because of them." She nodded to the others. "And a whole castle of others like them. I'd already be broken if it weren't for Radiant Garden. We've all suffered together, and it's all for this purpose – "

"SHUT! UP!"

"No, I like annoying you."

After hearing a suspicious noise, Roman turned his attention to the person on his other side. "Did you just snicker at this?"

"Certainly not!" Snatcher said with far too much emphasis to prove innocence.

Even with the extra support, it seemed the fight was going just about as well as it had when there were only four. "UH, GUYS?" Booster yelled down after seeing one of his laser-blasts tear away several square feet of fur that immediately grew and was bolstered with more Darkness crystals. "I'M STARTING TO THINK WE – AAAAAAGH!"

The claw hit his jetpack, and down he went. Ruby zipped to him as he crashed into the dirt.

"ARE YOU – " Ruby gasped.

"I'm fine!" Booster quickly got up and dusted himself off to keep her from worrying. "I'm not airborne anymore, though."

"Stick with me on the cover fire," Ruby told him.

"Okay," said Booster, "but I thought Kazuichi had the cover fire, well, covered."

Kazuichi was now laughing a laugh he hadn't let out since his days as an Ultimate Despair. "I KNOW SOMETHING'S TAKING OVER NOW!" he cackled, shooting again and again to cause as much destruction as possible. "I WANNA RUN BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW! YOU JUST CROSSED MY BORDER NOW – oh, hey, Weiss!" He quickly shut off both lasers so his lover could run past. And waved at her on the way.

Weiss skidded, turned back, and pecked Kazuichi briefly on the cheek. "Just a kiss away." She winked.

Once she was out of range, Kazuichi went back to firing like a madman: "I'M OUT OF CONTROL, 'CAUSE YOU WANT IT ALL! I'M SO DANGEROUS!"

Heldalf reared up on both hind legs, then slammed his whole body down onto the ground hard. The ensuing massive shockwave threw Blake, Yang, Weiss, Ruby, Booster, Kazuichi, Moana, Harley, Roman, and Snatcher off their feet, scattered in the dirt of the basin.

"Starting to think we're not gonna win this one," Kazuichi said to himself.

"Starting to think we should all die because our resurrection is guaranteed and theirs isn't," Roman grumbled.

"Eyes on sweet revenge, my love," Snatcher reminded him.

Then came the twinkle in the sky. A falling star, it seemed at first. Then it grew larger and larger, evidently rocketing directly down into Glaivend Basin. Heldalf himself was halted for a moment, distracted by the bright blue light that was careening toward the basin at hundreds of miles per hour.

It hit the dirt with a BANG, throwing up waves of dust and evaporating into blue smoke. Then, the silhouette of the one who'd come to save the day came striding out of the clouds of blue and dust, flicking his cape behind him.

"No…fucking…way," Roman breathed.

"Well, I've never been more glad to have him in our corner," Snatcher commented.

Mozenrath strode into view, flexing his gauntlet as he looked up to Heldalf's great maw. "So YOU'RE the problem we're dealing with today. The father of all inconveniences, from the looks of it."

Behind him came more silhouettes. The Huntsman took his place at Mozenrath's side. Mim and Aghoul bounded out front of them. Then, unexpectedly, Vexen stormed forth, already quite done with whatever this was.

"Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave my friends alone," Mozenrath told Heldalf. "And also to, you know, end your own existence, because I can't afford to be dealing with THIS. Either you can give in right now, or you can feel the greatest pain you will ever suffer in your sorry life. Your choice."

Heldalf raised his paw.

"You make a lot of bad choices, don't you?" Mozenrath threw his own right hand up in response. Aghoul and Vexen joined him, and the three threw up a shield of sparkling magical ice studded with vicious spikes. Heldalf's paw smacked into it and began to bleed Darkness once more as the monster recoiled.

Mim hopped, skipped, jumped, and twirled over to Roman and Snatcher, taking them by an arm each. "What are you doing there on the ground? We've got a job to do!"

"What EXACTLY do you propose we do to this thing?" Roman urged. "We've been trying to kill it for the past half hour!"

"Felt more like three hours," said Snatcher.

"Well, that's easy," said Mim. "First we have to turn it back into what it used to be. Strip off all the enchantment. Then it can be killed. And you're not even going to greet us hello or say thank you? How positively rude! You two always were such charmers!"

"What are you even doing here?" Snatcher asked. "Not that we aren't grateful – "

"We all wrapped up our business," Mim said. "Then it was either check in on you two or on Yzma and Wuya, and it seems we made the better choice. Whatever they're doing can't be THIS exciting! Now, all we need to do is hold the beastie still enough to feed it a massive transformation spell. Are you game, or are you two spineless as they come?"

Snatcher and Roman were at the ready, weapons back out. "Hardly spineless," Snatcher replied. "The spiniest it gets, actually."

"Let's go," Roman snarled. "I'm not leaving the field until this thing is dead."

They fanned out.

Harley fell in step with Yang and Blake. "Hiya!" she greeted. "You're the gal that ruined Yang's life, right?"

"I'm trying to save Yang's life right now!" Blake argued.

"So am I!" Harley said cheerfully. "That Yang's one special gal. I say we team up to be her knights in shinin' armor!"

"I'm right here, you know!" Yang laughed, blushing.

They ducked, dodged, shot, swatted. "Why is Roman here, by the way?" Blake asked.

"LONG story," said Yang. "But unfortunately, I'm not allowed to punch him."

"We're in a truce!" Harley explained. "Mediated by yours truly!"

"She's somehow friends with him," Yang said. "And honestly? I kinda don't wanna ruin that because it weirdly works."

"So you're just going to let him get away with everything he did to us?" Blake asked.

"One, we have a tactical advantage teaming up with these jerks right now," Yang told Blake. "And two…I only said – I – couldn't punch him."

Blake's eyes widened as she understood the implication.

"ON YOUR LEFT!" Harley yelled; the three had to leap to avoid another swiping paw.

The Huntsman saw Blake and Yang pass, and then his eyes were drawn to where Ruby, Kazuichi, and Booster were laying down cover fire again. He saw red, readying his weapon.

Snatcher passed from behind, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Apologies, Mr. Liu! Tactical alliance! Can't do a thing to hurt them here and now unless we want a LARGER fight on our hands!"

The Huntsman thought it over. Between the Cinnamons and the massive dragon-like beast, it was obvious which one was the more relevant quarry. "So be it."

"Nothing saying we can't take care of the situation AFTER," Snatcher reminded him.

"And so we will," the Huntsman vowed.

Vexen used iceberg upon iceberg to stick Heldalf's feet down to the ground, then used sharper spines of ice to pierce the flesh from the lowest point upward. Roman skidded up next to him; "Why are YOU here?"

"Because apparently I've lost control of my life," Vexen answered. "I wasn't simply going to sit back!"

"Speaking of sitting back," Roman said, "why is HE here, and is he gonna help or not?"

When Mozenrath, the Huntsman, Vexen, Mim, and Aghoul had landed, they'd actually brought two more. However, instead of actually joining the fight, Deymos and Xerxes had set up a beach chair on the outermost perimeter of the battlefield and were kicking back. Deymos, noticing he was being referred to, waved.

"That was the deal we struck," Vexen informed Roman. "Deymos could accompany us, but only if he took no part whatsoever in the fight. He's already done more than his share."

"And you're just gonna let him get away with it?"

"I, of all people, am the one who is going to advocate for it the most strongly," Vexen snarled. "After all, I'm not about to let what's mine be damaged."

"What's YOURS – " Roman pointed back and forth between Vexen and Deymos. "DID YOU TWO – "

Vexen shoved Roman away, and at first Roman thought it was just to evade the question until a fountain of Darkness poured down on them from Heldalf's slavering jaws. So obviously it was to both save their hides and evade the question.

Mozenrath, Aghoul, and Mim joined hands, feeling their magical energies flow into one another. "Think the three of us have the power to change him back?" Aghoul asked. "That was a joke; any ONE of us could do it!"

"But in this circumstance, there's safety in numbers," Mozenrath said. "If we didn't have that many distractions on the field – "

Weiss and Vexen were creating shields of ice to protect themselves and their allies on the field. Kazuichi was now literally dancing around the field, singing "WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF ROCK AND ROLL!", as Ruby and Booster tagged along behind him, all three firing everything they had. The Huntsman and Blake locked a steely glare for a moment before driving their weapons into Heldalf's lower abdomen, then withdrawing and parting from one another. Yang spun Harley round and round until there was enough momentum to let her literally fly into the air, and the bat was brought down hard on Heldalf's head. Snatcher and Roman were on either side of Heldalf, blasting symmetrical holes in his wings.

"We might have more of a problem," Mozenrath said.

Their magics intermingled. Ancient, dessicated energy flowed through Aghoul, bonded to the chaotic power that was Mim's magic, and galvanized with Mozenrath's sparking passion. It all came out of Mozenrath's gauntlet as a massive violet-blue beam aimed right for the main monster himself.

Heldalf, however, was just as fast. He opened his mouth, barking forth a massive beam of his own magic. The two met in the middle and pushed against one another, neither gaining ground.

"HOW IS HE DOING THAT?" Mozenrath yelled. "HOW IS THIS NOT ENOUGH? THIS SHOULD BE OVERKILL!"

"Hmm…if only Mysterio could show up a third time to be our designated deus ex machina," Aghoul mused.

There was a flash of purple. Suddenly, beside the three mages, there stood Symonne and Neo.

"Or that works," Aghoul said.

"Hm," Symonne said, surveying the situation. "It seems there's a good lead on Heldalf. It also seems we were the only ones transported directly here. If I had to guess, I'd say everyone else is halfway across Glaivend and making their way to the commotion."

Neo nodded assent.

"But it hardly makes sense to sit around waiting for the cavalry to come, especially if it's no sure thing," said Symonne. "Perhaps we can tip the scales now that we're here."

Neo nodded with the air of one quite confident that things had only gone as south as they had because she hadn't been there to oversee.

"DISTRACTION!" Mozenrath yelled, nodding his head frantically in Heldalf's direction and refusing to give up his half of the magic struggle. "OR SOMETHING! NOW!"

Neo drew Hush. Symonne raised her staff. Into the fray they rushed.

"IS THAT – " Snatcher gaped at Roman.

"I told you, you MISSED STUFF!" Roman yelled back. "Finish this first, then catch up!"

Vexen skidded to a halt in front of Neo. "Thank Kingdom Hearts you've arrived! I may just have a way to give us an edge in this battle, but the only problem is, your feeble Semblance may be critically underpowered to pull it off."

Neo glowered at him.

"I can assure you that if it were something she couldn't accomplish alone," Symonne said, "the two of us can take care of it together. I am, after all, an illusionist as well, and perhaps slightly superior to Neopolitan in that regard."

Neo turned her glare to Symonne, but now it was just one of playful annoyance. Symonne returned a cheeky smile.

Vexen pressed a memory card into Neo's hand. "I've swiped a random memory from the monster. It's on this card. Just – just tap into its energy and project whatever's here! That should cause him to stumble enough for us to gain the advantage!"

Neo cocked her head, wondering how exactly she was to tap into the card's energy.

Vexen was startled by the movement on the battlefield, casting a trail of Blizzard on which he scooted away before he could offer any sort of explanation.

"Don't worry." Symonne put her hand over Neo's palm, the card in between them. "I'll do the heavy lifting. Just follow my lead. You'll see your cue soon enough."

Neo nodded.

Symonne shut her eyes, reaching with her artes into the magical core of the card. Light and smoke began to curl upward from it. Neo then felt a shift in the energy, as though the sleeve of her Semblance was being tugged on. She answered the pull, and her Semblance was connected to the card soon enough.

A sudden blast. Glaivend Basin was replaced by the city of Radiant Garden. Specifically, the battle was now taking place in the front square, among the brilliant flower beds. Three children, existing only in Heldalf's memory, walked alongside the beds. The youngest, a four-year-old girl with crimson hair, stopped to pick a bouquet. The middle child, an eight-year-old boy with silver-blue hair draping over one eye, gave a snicker. The eldest, a teenager with twin orange ponytails, knelt to cover the soil back up where the redhead had disturbed it, ensuring the other plants in the bed could keep growing in peace.

Vexen recognized the three of them immediately. How could he not? They were the children he'd been forced to play babysitter for far too many times. One of which had been one of his closest associates, and another of which had been his first grand experiment.

"How…why would he have this memory?" Vexen looked up at Heldalf. His eyes widened as the revelation hit him: "NO. IT CAN'T BE."

Heldalf saw the three children, and he trembled. No, it wasn't Maltran or Lunarre or Symonne he'd been thinking of. It was them. These were his precious ones. "Ienzo," he whispered. "Kairi. Strelitzia…"

He didn't just falter. When his lips moved, the magic cut out completely. The purple-blue of Mozenrath, Mim, and Aghoul's assault washed over him like a tidal wave.

Instantly, he began to shrink, to contort, his form losing detail and rapidly collapsing into a silhouette. Back down to the size he'd been, and beyond that.

Deymos leaned forward in the beach chair, gaping. "Ho…ly…"

"Shrink," Xerxes finished for him, equally astonished.

When the spell subsided, there was only a human being left lying in the dirt of the basin. An elderly man, blond, dressed in robes of red.

"It was HUMAN?" Blake was horrified. "Not Heartless? And we almost – "

"So it was as I suspected," Vexen snarled.

"You're fuckin' DONE!" Roman yelled, tearing toward the center of the battlefield where the man lay.

The man peeled himself up from the dirt. "Where am I…what have I done…?"

Snatcher was hot on Roman's heels, murder in his eyes as well.

"STOP THEM!" Ruby yelled, suddenly feeling that letting the man who once was Heldalf die would be a very, very horrid idea without full knowledge of the circumstances.

Blake and Weiss started running toward the man at the same time; Ruby blasted off, scooping them up in her trail of red. They beat Roman and Snatcher there; Weiss slammed Myrtenaster into the ground, summoning a familiar.

Blake simply launched into the air and dealt a devastating kick to Roman's head, sending him tumbling and stumbling. A white Boarbatusk erupted from Weiss' sigil, charging straight for Snatcher.

Snatcher's eyes widened. "NOT AGAIN – "

The Boarbatusk slammed into him, knocking him on his back and pinning him down, four hooves digging into his stomach.

"Is this revenge for having bested you earlier?" Snatcher grumbled.

"I'm sorry," said Weiss, "have we MET before?"

Right. She didn't know Aubyrne Chapeau's true identity, and it was best that card wasn't turned over yet. "No, I must be thinking of another horned monstrosity," Snatcher said quickly.

The Boarbatusk stomped on his rib cage as if to call out his lie. Weiss didn't question it further.

"Hey." Ruby knelt by the old man. "It's okay now. What happened?"

"As I thought!" Symonne sniffed. "That wasn't the REAL Heldalf. It was an abomination created using some poor sap as a host vessel."

"Likely implanted with the memories of what WAS the real Heldalf," Vexen snarled. "That, however, goes by many names, the most infamous of which is ANSEM THE WISE."

"I…I remember so little," Ansem coughed. "I was kept…and then Braig promised me an escape…"

Ruby positioned herself beside Ansem so that he could loop an arm around her shoulders, and she helped him to rise. "It's okay," she told him. "We know who you are. We can get you home."

"Oh, after what he did to me?" Roman was on his feet, rubbing the growing bruise from Blake's kick. "By the way, I'm pretty sure this ends our truce."

"You said YANG couldn't punch you," Blake told him. "I'm not Yang. Or officially on Harley's team."

"Don't go all rules lawyer on me," Roman seethed. "He needs to die. NOW."

"I'm inclined to agree," Mozenrath said, clenching his right fist. "Letting him live would be kind of a black mark on our résumé. No one wrongs the WHAM ARMY and gets away with it."

"RIP HIM TO PIECES!" Mim cheered, hopping up and down. "TEAR HIM APART! THROW HIM TO THE DOGS!"

"Okay, we just saved your asses," Kazuichi argued, "and we weren't even gonna throw you guys in gay baby jail after everything you did to us!"

"THROW US IN – " Mozenrath winced. "I AM NOT A BABY!"

"Oh, hush your crying, young'in," Aghoul told him.

"We can just walk away this time," Booster reminded them all. "We don't have to fight."

"I do believe that we DO," the Huntsman argued, lighting up the huntstaff.

"You had your chance," Moana said flippantly. "We'll defend him. We won't hold back."

"He doesn't leave here alive," Mozenrath snarled. "If it's a fight you want over it – "

"NO!" Vexen barked suddenly.

Everyone looked toward him. "Even?" Ansem croaked hoarsely. "You – "

"You do NOT get to refer to me by that name anymore," Vexen snapped, trembling with rage. "He leaves here alive. He is MY business. And I don't intend to give him a quick death. Return home and count your days. I will arrive for you when you least expect it."

"This has nothing to do with your past with the man, has it?" Snatcher asked (still under the Boarbatusk).

"I have no need to explain myself," Vexen snarled.

"Even," Ansem pleaded. "I know deep within your heart, you remember our bond – "

"Get him out of my sight," Vexen hissed. "Now."

"I don't care about your grudge," Roman growled. "Or whatever reason you have for letting him go. After what he did to me and Archie – "

He felt two taps on his shoulder, then turned to see Deymos glaring pure venom at him. "I'd listen to Vexen if I were you," Deymos said coldly. "Because I'm going to agree with whatever call he makes, and you do NOT want to get me involved." He quickly summoned Arpeggio, twirling it and planting its base down on the dirt.

Mozenrath, Aghoul, the Huntsman, and Mim were all fairly certain they were more powerful than Deymos. That said, with the way his eyes were burning, no one really wanted to test that. "In the interest of not starting a civil war – " Mozenrath began.

Roman backpedaled away from Deymos, trying not to let on how much the shorter man was scaring him just then. "Fine. Whatever. But this isn't over."

"Good boy," Deymos said with a smirk. He then regained his usual casual countenance, firing Vexen a smile; "We'll just have to work out our game plan together. Make a date out of it."

"A DATE?" Mim's eyes widened. "Don't tell me the two of you – "

"IS THERE ANY REASON FOR THIS SWINE TO CONTINUE TO STAND HERE?" Snatcher yelled.

Weiss rolled her eyes, dismissing the Summon. Snatcher stood up, dusting himself off. "Like father, like daughter," he grumbled, "and always the ones in white."

"You DO know me somehow," Weiss said.

"Only by reputation?" Snatcher said sheepishly.

"I'm…not going to waste my time trying to figure this out," Weiss sighed. "Anyway, um…I guess…we're done here."

"Thanks for not trying to murder all of us," Ruby said. "You know, until the end there."

"It pains me to have to admit that there was a distinct tactical advantage here," Mozenrath sighed. "Now, if I were all of you, I would turn around and start walking away NOW so we can forget this ever happened, and get out of sight before we change our minds."

Roman nodded. "Alliance dissolved, Goldilocks."

Yang saluted. "Fun while it lasted."

"Very funny."

"C'mon, guys," Yang said, walking up to Ansem's other side. "Let's get going."

Ansem gratefully wrapped his other arm around Yang's shoulders. "You show me far too much kindness," he said.

"You weren't in your right mind," Yang said. "Anyone can see that."

"And we know your daughter and son," Ruby added. "They miss you. We should get you back to them."

"Kairi?" Ansem said in disbelief. "Ienzo? I do not know whether to believe I have awakened yet from Braig's dream or not."

"It'll probably look more convincing when we settle down," Yang told him.

"Now hold on," Harley said as the Cinnamons started to move away from the WHAM ARMY. "I still got one question. What about the light bomb?"

"That HAD to be one of you," Roman said.

"What light bomb?" Weiss asked. "We didn't bring a bomb."

"That would've been too much," Booster agreed.

"Well, it wasn't us," said Aghoul. "I wish it HAD been."

"Everything's better with bombs," said Mim.

"Not Light bombs," Mozenrath sighed. "What exactly are we talking about?"

"The bad guy – well, the guy who was brainwashed into being a bad guy, I guess," Harley said. "One minute, Archie and I were dragon chow, and then, accordin' to Romy and Yang – "

Yang looked back over her shoulder. "Some kind of white-light bomb went off and blew up his arms."

"Hmm." Vexen thought it over. "I don't suppose the two of you kissed."

"No," Yang said. "I…couldn't reach her."

(Heldalf – no, Ansem, but out of his mind, stuffed with false memories – had Yang pinned down from the waist down. The paw holding her curled; Harley's face rose up along the knuckles. Yang desperately swiped her hands toward those knuckles – "HARLEY! I'M HERE, HARLEY – " but to no avail.)

"I don't see what difference it makes," Roman said, "but the giant jackass was taunting me with Archie's face and I figured I had nothing to lose, so I laid one on him."

"A kiss," Vexen reiterated.

"Yes…?" Roman said.

There was a pause. Then Mozenrath, Mim, Aghoul, and Deymos nearly buckled with laughter. Mim actually toppled onto her back and started rolling around.

"Well, that answers THAT question," Vexen huffed.

Snatcher stepped up beside Roman. "Would one of you care to enlighten us on what is so hysterically humorous?"

"Oh, nothing," Mozenrath wheezed. "Just that you two pulled off one of the most powerful known cursebreakers – "

"TRUE LOVE'S KISS!" Mim screeched, still rolling around like a log. "YOU TWO USED TRUE LOVE TO BLAST THE BEAST!"

At that insinuation, Roman and Snatcher both went bright red. "I – uh – no," Roman attempted. "Something else – "

"There was some other external factor," Snatcher sputtered. "Another incident – no doubt we do love one another, but not to THAT degree – "

"We're just not the type!" Roman babbled. "That stuff's not – like, we have love, but it's – you know – "

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, boys!" Aghoul walked around to clap them each on a shoulder. "We've known you were heading this route for a while – "

"IT WASN'T THE KISS!" Snatcher and Roman both yelled at him.

"I think you SHOULD keep being embarrassed," Deymos said. "It's funnier that way."

Yang shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Well, that's got them distracted."

"Let's move out," Harley suggested.

The group resumed walking. Harley took Yang's other side, and Blake fell in step beside her. "So…um…about what you said earlier," Blake said.

Harley sighed. "Look. I saw the way you two were fightin' our guy back there. There's always gonna be somethin' between you two, isn't there?"

"Not like you have," Blake told her. "That ship sailed."

"But Blake always is going to be important to me," Yang said. "That's just how it is and I'm not gonna apologize for it."

"Sometimes I wonder if – if we were some kind of soul mate," Blake admitted. "Yeah, I know, it sounds silly, but a soul mate doesn't have to be a lover. Just…she and I are supposed to be by each other, one way or another, even if we're just friends. But I would NEVER want to come between what you have with her."

"And I do love you," Yang told Harley. "It's just…"

"No, I get it." Harley thought it over. She looked to Blake. "Some part of you's always gonna be with my girl, huh?"

"I'm not competing with you for her!" Blake protested.

"Good!" Harley threw her own arm around Blake's shoulder. "'Cause if you're gonna be part of our family to the end of it, I gotta get to know ya a little better! And I ain't backin' down until we're best of friends! Sounds like we already got a lot in common with bad boyfriends anyway."

"Uh…" Blake's eyes widened. "You're…not angry?"

"No!" Harley laughed. "If Yang says it's under the bridge, then it's under the bridge! Anyway, word is you're lookin' for another special lady of your own, huh?"

"I – um – "

"Hey!" Moana fell in step on Blake's other side. "Heard you were talking about…um…stuff. It really doesn't matter, but, um, are you looking – "

"Yes," Blake blurted. "But it's like Harley said. Yang's always going to be a part of my life, so the, uh…hypothetical girl who comes along…"

"I mean, Yang's pretty great," Moana said. "In fact, I was hoping to get to know her better too! Just…because she's great."

"Let's the four of us stop for coffee when we get settled, huh?" Yang suggested.

"And, uh, just to be clear…" Kazuichi was now walking backward in front of Ansem. "You aren't, like, evil-evil, right? They just put the memories of the bad guy in you so you would act like him?"

"I am no saint," Ansem sighed. "I never was. The time between Braig leading me from my containment cell into his quarters and now is a blur, but I fear, given what I have heard, that I have done even more to harm others. How can I face Kairi and Ienzo after all that has transpired?"

"Uh, Ienzo was literally one of those black-coat Organization guys," Kazuichi said. "I think he'll get it. Trust me. I get it. I'm…not the greatest guy when you look at my past."

"You weren't," Weiss corrected. "You're pretty great now, though." She looked to Ansem. "And you will be, too. The fact that you're even worried about the message you left your kids…that's…pretty huge."

"I shall be willing to tell more once we are settled down," Ansem said.

"There's a couple towns this direction," Yang assured. "We'll check in at an inn and go from there."

The whole while, the WHAM ARMY had been arguing about the kiss and whether or not it had played any part in Heldalf's (Ansem's) defeat. It had gotten to the point where Neo had conjured up rag dolls that looked like Roman and Snatcher and was mashing their faces together. Then Symonne let out a groan; "Do we HAVE to waste our time on this drivel?"

Roman and Snatcher went silent, looking at her. Then Roman broke into a grin. "Well, look who it is! Looks like she got saved! A development that definitely only is relevant now!"

"I presume we have your gratitude for ridding you of that nuisance who you called a mentor," Snatcher said. "Or, er…the man who…was tricked into thinking he was said nuisance."

"I just have one question." Symonne's lower lip trembled. "Is it…finally over? Am I a chorus member in your troupe?"

"Over?" Roman repeated. "Sweetheart, we're just getting started."

He walked to her, dropped to his knees, and embraced her tightly. When Snatcher dropped down beside them, he was immediately integrated into the hug – as was Neo after Roman told her to "Get in here!". Pressed between the other three, Symonne felt tears building up again.

"This can't be real," she said softly.

"Ah, yes," Snatcher said. "The denial phase. I recall that one, myself."

Neo patted Symonne on the head.

By then, a crowd had arrived: the rest of the Heathens and WHAM ARMY who Braig had sent. "A-HA!" Don Karnage crowed. "I told you my skills as a navigator would navigate us directly to where we needed to be navigated!"

Giovanni ran up to where Roman, Snatcher, Neo, and Symonne were locked in their group hug. "Sorry to interrupt when this is obviously a moment," he said, "but have you seen – "

Roman broke one arm free to point. "That way."

"Thank you!" Giovanni took off running after Harley and the other heroes; Molly, Laphicet, Elsa, Rose, Dezel, Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, Mikleo, Rokurou, Eizen, Magilou, Eleanor, the Banzai Blasters, and the Scattered Bones took off without wasting any more words.

"You should've sent them the wrong direction!" Mim huffed, folding her arms. "Don't tell me allying with those gray-area petty criminals has made you gone soft!"

"More like I can't be bothered with the pranks," Roman said. "You wanna prank 'em? Do it yourself."

"Maybe I will…" Mim thought it over.

"Just cut your loss on it," Deymos told her. "Window's passed. We'll get somebody else."

"Ugh." Melanie and Miltia approached the group hug. "Don't tell me we have to get in on this."

"You wouldn't have asked if you didn't want in," Roman told them.

So the twins sat down, Melanie leaning her back against Neo and Miltia leaning hers against Snatcher. Cat shoved herself in the center of it all, mildly scraping everyone with her claws.

"Well," Mozenrath figured, "guess there's nothing to do but to head on over to – "

There came a slow clap, echoing across the Basin's expanse. "Well done," a hoarse voice said. "I almost thought you weren't gonna pull through."

All eyes were now on Braig, who approached with a mischievous grin. "Guess I know which horse to bet my munny on when it gets down to the wire," he said.

"YOU," Vexen snarled. "This was all some sort of convoluted gambit from your twisted mind!"

"Is that you suggesting that I thought of something that you somehow didn't?" Braig asked. "And I thought pigs would fly. Then again, there are some worlds where they do, so I shouldn't be so surprised!"

"You made the monster," Mozenrath said flatly.

"Maybe I did," said Braig. "Maybe once upon a time, somebody else made a modified pterodactyl to terrorize Agrabah for the sole purpose of picking out which hero would be the one that could rein in the dreaded Thirdac."

Mozenrath's brow furrowed. "My troops could've been damaged."

"And your point would be?" Braig asked slyly.

Mozenrath flinched. "You obviously wanted to contract us for some sort of larger job. I'll hold off on the offenses you committed until I know what it is."

"Nothing specific yet," Braig said. "More like…there's a storm coming. Or, I'll just say it, a war. There's a war coming! Hooray! And everyone's in, whether they wanna be or not. I've spent the better part of my life being told which side I have to be on, but I'm finally starting to wonder if MAYBE I haven't been brainwashed. Which would be real embarrassing for me. So I'm sizing up all the players on the board. And right now, it looks like you all have a fighting chance against the crowd favorite. I mean, you proved you're used to going with the flow when that last-minute twist villain drops, you keep managing to get out of near-death scenarios with little more than a few scrapes…"

"Get to the point," Mozenrath said.

"Xehanort's about to make his move," Braig said. "I don't trust him, and I don't trust, well, anyone else I may or may not have pledged to work with. I need to know who to back before the fallout."

"So you set this all up as a test for us," Mozenrath replied. "You baited us here, you made a giant monster – "

"Put me through the grinder," Snatcher growled at him.

"Hey now," Braig protested. "I never told him to take the girl. I just gave him enough programming from the original Kittybeard and set him loose. I also didn't tell you to piss off a seraph. Or to do the billion other things you did that made this mission so much harder for you. But that's the great part! You don't HAVE everything planned to the letter! You're messy and chaotic! Exactly the opposite of what the old coot and his forebearers stand for! And that's why you're going to be a valuable set of friends."

"And who says we want to be friends?" Mozenrath folded his arms.

"I did give you back your illusionists, didn't I?" Braig said with a grin.

Neo shook a finger at him as if to say "You listen here."

"Oh, don't get all mad at me," he told her. "You've been one of my favorites this whole time. Anyway, if you really want me as your enemy, then fine. Let's do it. But you'd be missing out on a rising tide that would raise your boats AND mine."

"We've no reason to trust this offer," said the Huntsman.

"And every reason to be suspicious of it," Mozenrath growled.

"But can you afford to turn it down?" Braig asked.

The group hug disengaged. It was Symonne who strode up toward Braig. "I've dealt with men like you before," she scoffed. "You'll drain us dry of everything we have."

"I'm not asking anything," Braig reiterated. "Literally. I'm just saying, if the time comes, I'd like us to meet as friends, not rivals."

"Prove it," Symonne said coldly.

"You want me to prove it?" Braig sighed. "Fine."

He turned to Vexen. "Hey, buddy. You and me, we've known each other longer than anyone else here, right?"

"This was never supposed to become a Radiant Garden reunion," Vexen grumbled.

"But we were practically joined at the hip when we were kids!" Braig urged. "You, me, and the wet blanket you all just turned back into a person. I'm just asking, did you ever wonder how I always seemed to know what to do at every turn? How I was never really fazed by anything?"

"I don't concern myself with what goes on in your head."

"Well, I remember before the whole…incident, I promised I'd let you in on the inner circle's secrets," Braig said. "So I'm gonna make good on that now. One: I'm sure you've figured out by this point that when I was ribbing you about how the wet blanket replaced us with Elise – "

"It was to get me to fall in line with Xehanort," Vexen huffed. "That much seems obvious as of THIS very minute."

"Two," Braig went on. "Remember when you got that card of memories from Subject X, and you showed it off to me, and she suddenly disappeared the next day?"

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?" Vexen leaned toward him.

"Because I did, in fact, recognize what was on that card," Braig said. "You were the closest person to come to blowing my entire cover. The guy little miss Bird of Paradise was speaking to? Yeah, that's my REAL boss. The one who told me to use Xehanort as a tool to get to the end. The one I'm starting to think doesn't have my best intentions in mind."

"Preposterous!" Vexen huffed. "I've known you your whole life – "

"You haven't known me anywhere NEAR my whole life," Braig replied. "Do me a favor. Go home. Dig up the remaining texts on the Keyblade War. Find out who 'Luxu' was. When you have that information, come back to darken my doorstep. Or, actually, better yet, I'll come find you. Then it'll all make sense."

"This has hardly been anything but a series of non sequiturs!" Vexen argued.

"I dunno," said Deymos. "Almost sounds like Xiggy here is trying to say that he had insider information on your life, was possibly immortal, and has instructions from some secret shadowy boss you really weren't supposed to know about."

"Sharp as a tack," Braig told him. "But can it with the 'Xiggy.' We're not in Organization XIII anymore, goblin prince."

"And he knows about that." Deymos pointed at Braig. "He's NOT supposed to know about that."

"Or should I say mer-prince?" Braig teased. "It doesn't matter. Find Luxu. When you do, it'll all become clear, and you'll realize EXACTLY what information I trusted you with. Then you'll have no choice but to ally with me, because it's gonna put you in a real high position. Oh, and one more thing. He told me about two of you. But I'm not gonna say which ones."

"Will you stop speaking in riddles?" Vexen barked.

"I'm guessing Mr. Shadowy Boss-Man could see the future or something," said Deymos, "knew two people on the WHAM ARMY were gonna be important to this whole 'Keyblade War' thing, and tipped him off ahead of time. And actually, I'm starting to have a guess on who 'Luxu' is, but I'm gonna keep that to myself until we have more information."

"Well, I've about done all I need to do here," Braig said, turning around and stretching his arms into the sky. "Catch you on the flipside."

"WAIT!" Vexen snapped at him. "If you were responsible for Strelitzia's disappearance, then where is she now?"

Braig turned to smirk at him over his shoulder. "I know what you're really asking, and the answer's no. She's not coming back to haunt you anytime soon unless there's a miracle play. Trust me, it's not a matter of WHERE I put her. You were onto something with those flowers in Zanarkand, though. Anyway, congratulations on Anima! That's one of the things I didn't actually see coming."

Then he vanished into a Corridor.

"I say," Foulfellow remarked. "What a perplexing man. I'm not certain if we've walked away with an ally or an enemy."

"I think that's the point," Tawna brought up.

"There is no time to waste on his words," said the Huntsman.

Vexen shook his head. "This 'Luxu' situation cannot go uninvestigated. Deymos, how easily can you regain access to the Shattered Library?"

"Easy," Deymos replied. "And you read my mind. If we figure this out anywhere, it's there. But do we have to go right away? I'm kinda tapped out on the stressful stuff."

"You…didn't do anything," Roman reminded him.

"I watched," Deymos argued. "That took a lot of effort."

"Like train wreck," said Xerxes.

Mozenrath gave him a backhand slap that sent him flying several feet. "Well, I do agree with Deymos on one thing. We've earned our – " He looked back at Xerxes. "Wait. Is he a Dream Eater now?"

"Yeah," Deymos replied. "It was a whole thing. We'll have to sit down and catch up."

"Which we can do at Yzma and Wuya's stronghold," Mozenrath said. "After we drop off the recruits at the warship."

"I, for one, will be glad to stake my claim in the wings while you proceed to the next act," Symonne said. "I presume there is a dressing room ready for me?"

Neo pointed at her and made excited gestures. Symonne could read her like a book.

"I would be honored to share a room with you," she said. "Though the top bunk is all yours."

"You don't have a bunk bed," Roman reminded Neo.

Neo pointed to Mozenrath.

"I'm not going to be able to get out of making you a bunk bed for your room, am I?" Mozenrath said flatly.

Neo shook her head.

"Then let's leave this sorry world behind," Mozenrath said. "To think we could've just ignored what that one-eyed sass machine said the whole time."

"No," Roman corrected, looking to Symonne…and to Cat. "I don't think we could've."

A/N: So how about that new RWBY episode? Pretty great, huh?