What is Thy Desire? Chapter 10: Ow, a rwby fanfic

Ch. 10 - "Ow."

A/N: I've got to say, Grok. You have an unusual taste in Commands.

As a reminder to the rest, I have a Discord server where a few fans of these adventures gather: XbgBg38

And I stream a portion of the writing process on my Twitch account. Just look for KoHsimison.

On with the madness!

The what?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black text written on the scroll at her feet gather into one spot, while her arms wrestled with the threads latched around her neck. The set burned inward as the outer threads were consumed. But more joined threads punched through the fire and wrapped around her body. She could move around, but nothing she did could pull the threads off. She grabbed a batch and added her own fire to the Contract's. It made no difference.

In front of her, a stocky, short-haired man of ink rose from the scroll. A pair of glasses rested on his face, while he held a sword in his hands, the blade's tip pointed down. When his feet formed below, the black liquid sank inward as flesh, color, and definition emerged.

His short hair brightened from black to dirty blonde, his skin went further into a healthy peach, and green eyes glared from behind weathered black frames. His shirt remained black, but it was an older style than the glasses. With strings around the cuffs and around his neck, it would have been at home in the 1100s. Which clashed all the more so with his pale green sweatpants of cotton and polyester. That technology wouldn't appear until the 1900s. Oh, and he was barefoot.

More surprising, he wore jewelry. A necklace carried a steel kite shield with a golden cross on it. On his left ring finger was a golden band with five gemstones of white, blue, purple, white, and red embedded in the metal. Two of which were birthstones of aquamarine and sapphire.

His sword was wooden. It was a training blade in a curved style that wouldn't exist in Mistral for a thousand years. Hard, black fabric wrapped around the hilt below an oval, plastic guard.

As the last of the ink disappeared, he stepped toward her as he wove the sword into an overhead swing. As the blade rose above his head, purple fire erupted from the guard and sheathed the blade. Although on fire, the wood was not consumed.

"Hyah!"

The wooden sword did what her divine strength, which had shattered a moon, could not. It sliced through the threads with the ease of knife versus paper. The blade went down and pulled back up as it cut through another batch of threads. After those first two dramatic moves, he attacked with more efficiency, small, surgical strikes that cut away the rest of the entangling threads. Although it was fighting smarter, it didn't take much to notice that he was, at best, an amateur with the sword. He had more enthusiasm than true skill.

More packed bundles pushed through the barrier from multiple angles. The Avatar could cut through any bundle, no matter how thick, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. He seemed to realize it too as he scowled. He did an about face, and pointed his sword at the boundary of eternity. The purple fire gathered into a single, tiny star at the very point of the blade. "First violation redeemed!"

The purple star shot into eternity.

"Reveal yourself!"

The spirit realm shattered with a purple flash. The unending white broke in two as the half in front of them dropped with its "ceiling" falling to eye level as every bit of white fragmented into sharp pieces before fading away. Left behind was eternal darkness as the border between the two halves formed a jagged line between.

Although freed as the onslaught ceased and the remaining threads burned off of her, Crimson was speechless. She was supposed to be the one to create impossibilities, not witness them! At first, she wasn't sure what the purpose of the Avatar's attack was. There was nothing but darkness. Then, she noticed them.

Threads.

Millions. Billions. Trillions. More. They criss-crossed the entirety of existence. She couldn't see in the light half, but she wasn't sure if that was because they weren't there or because they were hidden by the white nature of this plane. The Avatar tilted his head up, and she followed his gaze. He stopped. She stopped. Panic struggled to run rampant in her soul.

The threads did not travel randomly. They came from a single location. Converging on this singular spot above their heads was a being of gray. The threads collected behind her and formed an intricate web. The figure herself glared down at them. For it was a feminine figure, though much of her was obscured by a heavy set of gray robes. Only two parts of her were uncovered: her chin, including her mouth, and her hands. Her fingers manipulated threads, while her thin lips twisted into a hateful snarl. "How dare you!"

The voice was strange. The chin and hands were supple and full with youth. The lady's voice was that of an old crone.

"Wha-, what, who is that?"

The question came from her tomcat. She wished she could answer that question.

The Avatar pointed his sword at her as the purple flames reignited. "The laws are clear!" He shouted back at the gray lady. "You insisted on retaining a part of your consciousness instead of fully merging with this dimension. Ergo, you can be forced into a singular form again!"

Laws? What laws was he talking about!? Crimson was so confused.

"How!?" She screeched, hands bunching into fists. "How do you have that much power!? What bargain did you make? What sacrifice did it require!?"

"Tch! I serve the Almighty! I didn't make a deal with a devil."

More terms she didn't understand. Then the Avatar's voice spoke in her mind. "Crissi, I'll try to distract her as long as I can. I'm restarting the session. I have to skip the last one again, but the big thing is do all of the Commands as stealthily as you can. Here comes the first one."

The Gray Lady spoke again at the same time he whispered to her mind. "You have no right to judge me! You have no idea what I went through! What I had to do. I deserve this. I earned this! This dimension. Is. Mine!"

I transfer and modify the bond system to the male clone ("Tom"). The new Bondmates are The Hearthfire, The Specialist, The Illusionist, The Shadow, The Blackwing, The Wildling, The Sniper, The Instructor, and The Brawler; conditional on Griff making it to the modern age, the Specialist, The Instructor, and the Brawler will be transferred to him. (No new bonds will be formed)

It was really weird to hear the Command said in the Avatar's "normal" voice. Masculine, yet slightly high-pitched, a far cry from the unisex and emotionless voice of the Contract itself.

The Command itself was almost a minor note compared to everything that had just happened. She was being freed. Her soul would be her own from now on… at the cost to her clones. "I'm sorry," she offered to both with her telepathy before enacting the Command.

This being, this threat made no move to stop her as she transferred the bonds from her to Griff and Tom, mentally explaining the change to them.

"Curious", Griff replied in his own mind. To keep things equal, Crimson connected them all to this ad hoc network. "This Cosigner is quite the matchmaker."

"Focus," Tom countered. "None of this matters if this… person? This woman decides to destroy us. How do we fight back?"

"And look what you've done!" The trio glanced over at the Avatar. His voice, to their surprise, rang with genuine anger. His hands tightened around his sword's hilt. "How many!? How many worlds, how many timelines, how many times have you doomed, ruined because you empowered evil!? Stopped him from securing victory because it wasn't your way!"

"It has to be right! He's the one who keeps defying me! If he would just stop fighting me, then that would be the end of it! It's his fault, not mine!"

Have I violated the Contract myself with my Command, or is there an outside inﬂuence trying to overpower it by trying to prevent my Command from coming through? (Whatever the case, we will all learn something about it.)

Crimson could not disagree with the Commander, but she desperately wished she understood what she was learning. This lady seemed to rank higher in power than the Brothers and herself by a full order of magnitude. And this woman had merged herself with this universe at some point. Maybe she wasn't stronger per se. Maybe by being a part of the universe itself made it seem she was; that this strange merge meant this dimension itself was arranged against them.

That was disturbing. Crimson had come to fight the Brothers, who created Remnant. She had the power to obliterate planets, but she didn't have the power to destroy an entire universe.

Given how ominous all of that was, the fact that someone was defying this lady was shocking! "Who are you talking about?"

She had explicitly connected the Avatar to the same telepathic network. She had noticed that he hadn't answered any of Tom's questions. Why? Why didn't the Avatar answer?

Instead, he shouted, "You can't blame him! How else was he going to react when he realized he had a chance to save everyone? If you had just let him-"

"He will learn! This time will be the last time!"

"How many times have you told yourself that!? He's on the verge of insanity!"

The plan I mentioned was the beep boops; alas, they came too late to help with Fin.

And all of that power can't help me here. The juxtaposition frustrated her. She was more powerful than she had ever been. More powerful than the Brothers combined several times over. It didn't mean a damn thing to this gray lady.

"Why aren't you answering us?"

"He will be fine! All he has to do is give up this fantasy and accept his fate!"

I have not given your free will enough respect: I cancel my commands that modify the features and give you the choice of what your appearance is.

That was too fast, she noted. Normally, she had a minute or two to react to a communication Command. That was barely thirty seconds. Was the Avatar wielding the Commands to stave off their questions? Worse, she did have to listen to the Commands. She couldn't just brush them off. The compulsions wouldn't let her ignore them.

Well, except this one. Although it was a Command, it wasn't a command. Yet, it promised a freedom that she rarely enjoyed of these Commands. But this was only one Command compared to several that had enforced all of the cat features on her. Did it have any effect or was this one simply fighting against a tide that had already won?

"You're the one living in a fantasy!" The Avatar swept a furious arm to the side. "He's died dozens and dozens of times. He's died a hundred times! Why on earth do you think death number 100 is going to change his mind when the last ninety-nine didn't!?" Across the telepathic network, his voice, frustrated but measured, announced, "You must remain a woman, you must keep the cat ears, but you may lose the tail and can choose any other feature. …now."

"He's learning!" The gray lady's hands balled into fists. "He knows that there are rules in place. He will figure out that he can't accomplish all he desires!"

This was the situation that Crimson was asking to choose her appearance. There were two questions: one, was this permanent, and, two, would Gray notice? To the former, she didn't think so. There was still a final call to go through. At that time, The Commanders might flip-flop on the issue. The second question was the more important one. Did she risk alerting Gray over removing the tail? Did Crimson hate having a tail that much? To the point of jeopardizing the Avatar's plan?

Put that way, there was no choice.

The tail stayed, while Crimson chose to not adopt any permanent features right now. She would have another chance after the final call, along with choosing whatever surviving Door she wanted.

Command: You know what? Why not? You become acutely aware of manually breathing. Curse be upon thee.

Command: You are not forced to remain in this perpetually—that being said, if you do not already know any good breathing exercises and techniques after losing your omniscience, then learn them.

"His mind will break before he learns!"

With one Command (a mean, to be sure) canceled by another, Crimson had a moment to think. To try to ask the Avatar for another question. Surely, he wouldn't jus-

Command: I feel pity, You cannot become directly aware of your creations or clones, unless something that is outside of your influence were to make you aware.

I cancel the Command.

"He figured out the loops! He will figure it all out!"

So far I am interested what the crimson griffin will lead to overall; not much else to say about the third god-like being (or at least a similar being that can fight literal gods), until I see where/if it goes anywhere. (I don't have work after Saturday so I can spend time viewing more.)

"He thinks it's his Semblance! He already has PTSD of several varieties! He's developing clinical depression! His mind can't. Take. Much! MORE!"

For the event, I am still seeing how Crimson and now his contact holders influence the main plot of the show (if I am understanding them sending another into the future to create a modern day cult) before I make any suggestions.

"You don't know that! It will work this time! It has to!"

I cancel Merry's command relating to the Grimm and removing other stuff from Remnant.

I reinstate Merry's canceled command.

"ENOUGH!" Gray screeched. She reached out with her hands. Fingers connected to threads. The weave echoing into eternity behind her flexed as every thread twitched.

The Avatar flinched.

Command: "I worry the brother gods can't repent in one lifetime, so make it so that they reincarnate as twins (from the same mother) when they die every time until the soon-to-be pantheon decides they have repented; have it so that they are born without their memories but slowly regain them after they become 25."

Halfway through sending the Command, Gray flung a hand toward them. Threads flew. The Avatar twisted around and hopped forward, blade swinging. It sliced through a trunk of threads as thick as a power pole. It bought a few seconds as he rushed through the rest of the Command.

"Did you think I didn't know what you were up to!? Every single message that crosses into my dimension travels through my ears!"

Only for another trunk to smashed into the Contract's initial barrier. Fire erupted around the grouped threads before crashing into Crimson. She cried out as she was pinned to the ground. The Command's compulsion surged and retreated with failure.

"I was content to let your intrusion to go unaddressed, so long as it didn't affect my plans! I watched and waited. I did not care that you killed the Brothers because they had already served my plans. Your buffoonery was even entertaining to a degree." Gray's other hand swiveled downward.

The purple blade cut through the trunk pinning Crimson down.

The air above the Contract erupted into fire as the rectangle area of influence the Contract watched over was filled with descending, burning threads. To her surprise, the Avatar threw himself out of the way before she was buried.

"But no more! It's clear now that you and your wretched cohorts won't stop meddling with my dimension! I will destroy this accursed Contract and banish you to this age where your meddling will die away, long before it can become consequential!"

Crimson couldn't move. The fire didn't hurt her, but the second an inch of a thread burned away, the rest of it simply moved forward to keep her front completely and utterly covered in threads. The Command fruitlessly demanded her to try to complete it, twice more.

It was strange. Her face was submerged in burning string, but Crimson could see everything happening outside her burial. The Avatar's blade chopped again and again into the threads above her. Every time he struck, more threads simply dunked in from above. Tom and Griff pulled fruitlessly, their hands unable to move the threads even a millimeter.

"Because you have entertained me, I will spare your lives." Gray was growing calmer, more assured of her control of the situation. "Now, how do I strike at this Contract directly?"

She saw the Avatar step back as he gritted his teeth. His hands loosened as he let the sword swing down, until it aimed at the ground. He lifted it higher. "Second violation!" The blade point stabbed toward the ground.

"Redeemed!"

The sword pierced the ground.

The purple fire detonated.

It mushroomed in all directions. The threads evaporated when the purple fire washed through them. The fire flew through Griff and Tom without harming them. The flames did not disappear after freeing Crimson. They formed a sphere around them with a diameter of 54 yards. Everything within was washed with a purple filter. The purple flared brighter as the fire growled louder. The dots of flaring were here and there. Then, suddenly, the entire sphere lit up. Outside the sphere, she could hear Gray angrily yelling.

She's failing to break through, Crimson realized. A second later, Tom was above her, offering her a hand. She took it, and he helped her back on her feet. A small distance away, the Avatar stared where they had last seen Gray. He stood, arms crossed, with his wooden sword, glowing with purple light, embedded into the ground.

He glanced over to them. "Another Command resetted to the end. Resuming session but don't leave the barrier."

Command: "Revive Fin as a mortal who reincarnates the same way as the brother gods, (without the twin part obviously) so that he can also repent."

The Avatar watched, face neutral, as Crimson growled in utter frustration. This time, there was nothing to stop the compulsion from fulfilling this Command. She held out her remaining hand in front of her.

The tunnel of color and darkness reappeared, its mouth a few yards away from everyone. Stepping out of it was the mutated form of Fin. As he padded out, his inhuman body transformed. The draconic body with hints of the feline hopped its front up to stand upright. He might have originally been Crimson's clone, but his human features conformed far more to the Brothers than to her. He was closer to Darkness' build than he was to Light's. His large, thick mane ran down his back. It was the same color of red mud as was his robe. His eyes were more oval than almond with pale pink eyes. A mustache traveled around his mouth and down to frame his jaw.

The glare he aimed at Crimson ended quickly as his attention shifted to the sphere of purple fire all around them. "Made another mess of things, I see."

Everyone looked toward a shriek of agony as one part of the sphere lit up more than the rest. "Stop interfering!"

"Keep things moving," the Avatar warned.

Frowning, Crimson stepped toward Fin, finger outstretched. "You are to repent of the evil you've done. You will live out on Remnant to make amends. Until you've finished repenting, you will live on Remnant, reincarnating until its done."

Fin's mouth twisted into a sharp grin as Crimson's finger touched his forehead. "You're giving me immortality? You think this is a punishment?"

In truth, Crimson thought this was an awful idea. While Fin no longer possessed the godlike strength to destroy the planet, he had centuries to indulge himself at the expense of others. He was, after all, without conscience. Would he ever regret being made immortal? What was she forced to unleash upon Remnant? She hated the Commander who demanded this. She couldn't help but notice a frown on the Avatar's face as he watched Fin from the corner of his green eye.

This is a terrible idea, Tom declared in a clear echo to her own thoughts.

I don't suppose we could ask a Cosigner to stop this? You won't be allowed to interfere, and neither I or Tom will have the power to undo this "curse". What is this pantheon that was mentioned in the last Command?

Crimson didn't know and didn't trust this new system being put into place. Alas, it was a Command. She was interrupted as the shrieking reached a crescendo. One part of the purple sphere brightened, until it was pure white. A hand shoved its way through. Crimson's hesitation ended when the Command pushed her on. Crimson energy washed over Fin as he received conditional reincarnation. It didn't stop Crimson from watching as the hand lead the way into the sphere.

Gray herself walked through.

Walk was the wrong word for the sizzling-filled shove through the wall of flames. She was no longer gray. Her robes, her hands, her skin were all charred black. She shivered constantly. Crimson had no idea how damaging the fire was to her, but it was clear that Gray moved in utter agony. She hissed as she regarded the five of them. "I won't allow it!"

The Avatar slid in front of them. He threw his hands out. Two cylindrical blades of light shot out of his palms, the left red and the right blue. His hands wrapped around short hilts of white. They had indentations for fingers curved into them. The way he held his new sabers, they appeared to be weightless. "Send him!"

"NO!" Those blackened hands thrust towards their party. Threads shot from the fingertips and lunged at them. In the purple light within the sphere, the threads remained visible. At the last second, they arced around the Avatar outside of blade range, stretching around him along both flanks. Instead of choosing one side over the other, he threw his blades and sliced through the two clumps. The flying blades halted mid-air before flinging themselves back into his hands.

With a gesture, Crimson reluctantly sent Fin to Remnant.

"Next one!" The Avatar shouted, while Gray unleashed a primal howl of rage.

Treat this Command as a Suggestion: Once you get to Remnant, you should get yourself a journal—or of the sorts—and use it to write your thoughts, current events, or simply draw (I find that putting thoughts to paper can clear the mind a bit, or at the very least put ramblings somewhere to look back on; From Yip the Goatherd).

Gray threw her arms upward. Threads multiplied as they shot out of her fingers. In seconds, ten became twenty, became forty. The Avatar charged forward.

The Command was conditional, strange as it was. They hadn't reached Remnant, though Crimson did not find this Command disagreeable. As the Avatar ran, Crimson tried one more time to do something to help. She fired a fireball at Gray. It hurtled past the Avatar. Gray let it explode against her as she wiggled fingers. Threads came alive as one batch snaked toward her, and the other batch hunted the Avatar.

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

I countermand the cancellations.

His charge slowed as he hacked at the hostile threads. The fact he treated them as dangerous to his being unnerved Crimson. If he could be harmed, if he could be killed, who could stop Gray? Was there nothing she could do?

Griff and Tom formed a barrier of their own bodies between her and the incoming batch. She couldn't fault their nobility and their strategy. They had been completely ignored during this entire fight. It was obvious Crimson was the target. If they could protect her for even a few seconds, it might make a difference. She understood, but she wasn't willing to risk their lives on a bad gamble.

She teleported in front of them as she summoned her ax.

I reinforce one command Yip has made or will make in this batch; if all of their commands in this batch are reinforced, then I reinforce one of their commands further (this command will only be sent if Yip has at least one command in this batch that is not actively reinforced 5 times).

The Commanders were going at it again. Well, they weren't making her do anything, so she would take the opportunity to be free. The lead threads coiled as they closed the gap. The scroll still at her feet set the lead threads on fire as they crossed the threshold. She swung her ax.

It bounced off the burning threads.

She yelled in frustration before the first clump latched against her shoulder.

"How do I destroy this accursed thing?"

A serpent swam through Crimson's being. She cringed, shuddered, and jerked back and forth to free herself of the presence and the sensation. Griff and Tom shouted encouragement as they grappled with the threads stuck to her. She barely heard them as she felt the heated voice of Gray in her mind.

"You didn't have to sell your soul for this bargain? Damn your god! Wait, maybe this is the key to ending this thing."

Crimson writhed as something was ripped out of her.

Everything froze for a second as green light mixed with the purple. Griff's and Tom's eyes widened, and Tom's jaw dropped. Hanging in the air without being attached to a ceiling, a torch with emerald fire lazily swung back and forth. The Soul-Bonds Door, complete with revised titles, stood to Crimson's left with no wall to hold it. A Door of Knowledge focused on Ozma's thirteenth life settled on her right. It would have vanished into the white background of the spirit realm, were it not for the purple flames highlighting it. Crimson stared in utter disbelief.

The Metaliteral Hallway had been forced to manifest in the open. Well, the Offerings were here without the hallway to be the structure around them. They formed parrallel lines as the Doors and Torches clumped to stay within the sphere's boundary lines.

Griff and Tom understood the impossible had happened, hence their shock. The Avatar took one glance toward the assortment of Doors, winced, and redoubled his efforts to cut through to Gray. He was almost there.

Gray studied the Doors and the Torches with singular intensity. "No, this is not the Contract itself. But all of these powers are a threat I should destroy."

"Stop!"

The Avatar slid his blue blade a couple of inches from Gray's neck. She paused as did her threads. The threads pushing against Crimson gradually burned away as everything came to a tense standstill. For the first time, Crimson noticed that Gray was breathing heavily. Not from fear but from contained pain. Not a word was said as the Avatar restarted the session.

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

I countermand the cancellations.

I reinforce one command yip has made or will make in this batch; if all of their commands in this batch are reinforced, then I reinforce one of their commands further (this command will only be sent if yip has at least one command in this batch that is not actively reinforced 5 times).

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

Gray's index twitched. A thread moved. The Avatar pushed the glowing cerulean a tad closer. It nipped the edge of Gray's hood. She hissed as she jerked her head back. Not for the first time, Crimson wondered if the robes were not a true accessory but another part of Gray's living form. In which case, the robes might as well be a second skin for her.

It put all of the burnt 'clothing' into a new light.

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

How many of these are there? Crimson wondered. The last of the threads holding her finished burning. Gray's eyes passed intently over the doors. She's reading them, Crimson realized.

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

If Merry or Pika have or make any uncancelled commands in this batch, then one is to be canceled. This command shall only be sent if its condition is already fulfilled.

"I countermand the cancellations"

"Bickering children," Gray snapped in an aggravated whisper.

She has a point, Griff observed across the telepathic network. It was a casual thing. The Commanders and their annoying feud had oddly calmed the tension down a degree or two.

Pantheon Command: "Create a pantheon for select cosigners and announce it as the creation of a pantheon of minor gods to Remnant."

Only to ratchet to a higher heat!

"NOOO!"

By instinct, Gray stepped forward, hands reaching as the threads came back to life. Her fear of the Avatar's saber briefly forgotten. She would have cut her own neck in half with that lunge.

Would have… except the Avatar jerked back, sparing her life.

"You idiot!" Tom shouted.

Crimson didn't have a chance to bemoan the Avatar's blatant surrender of their advantage. The Command demanded execution. Lifting a hand as threads rose with threatening intent all around her, Crimson created four temples across Remnant. One on Sanus, one on Solitas, one on Anima, and one on Menagerie. Although that was insisted on by the Command, the exact location was not defined.

So, Crimson buried the four temples a quarter of a mile into the crust.

It did not appear to make Gray feel any better. While Crimson created, Gray flung one hand towards her. The threads launched a new assault against Crimson's protection. At the same time, Gray's other hand lashed out toward the Avatar. He cut through four threads in one wide, double-swing.

The fifth one sliced off his right arm.

The Command didn't give Crimson a choice to stop, but shock reverberated through her. The thread severed through the Avatar's bicep. His arm flew away with his blue saber flying out of the hand's now-limp grip. As shocking as that was, what was left behind was stranger. Instead of blood, viscera, and bone, there was only black ink. It dripped like a leaky faucet, spilling oil onto the white and purple-lit floor. Despite the grievous wound, the Avatar responded with a frustrated twitch.

Five seconds had passed.

Temples created, Crimson projected her voice to the entire planet. "Here me, Remnant, minor spirits have come to your world." The first threads burnt against the scroll's barrier. "That is all."

Wills com-

The Command was cut off as the first coil of threads punched against her hip. At the same time, the sound of slamming doors resounded into the eons. While Crimson had been the primary target, the threads had other targets. A single thread each possessed the strength to close a Door or extinguish a Torch. In seconds, the Metaliteral Hallway was ransacked as dozens and dozens of powers, abilities, and boons were thrown to the gluttonous green flames. Knowledge of entire centuries burnt into the void as did possible years of life.

Yet, not all.

Doors and torches chosen by the Commands resisted these single threads. The 'Faith-Power' Door, the Soul-Bonds, and the Torches of Time tied to the current era, sixteen centuries hence, and Ozpin's torch held firm. Ten Doors of Knowledge, starting from the Divine Age and moving forward ten of Ozma's lifetimes rounded out the last of the survivors.

In less than a minute, Crimson's rewards for prevailing over the Brothers had been ripped from her. As wood vanished and iron disappeared, the Metaliteral Hallway shrank to a mere fraction of itself as it re-centered on her position. That was where she was wrong. One other door had survived. Zooming from the edge of the sphere to stare her right in the face was the hated Permanent Contract Door. The black-and-white door remained, to her immense relief, unopened.

"Third violation!"

Struggling against the threads slowly burying her, Crimson managed to shift enough to look around the Permanent Contract Door. The Avatar had recovered and rushed against Gray. She was distracted, having deemed the Avatar out of action long enough for her to obliterate the Metaliteral Hallway. Her arms stretched out in front of her as her fingers danced, threads obeying her will.

"Redeemed!"

She was wide open to attack, but the Avatar did not strike at her head or body. Instead, his red blade cut through her right arm at the elbow. A cacophony of shattering crystal screeched through all of existence as its prime architect added her own screams of torment to the melody of misery. Her form, like the god forms of the Brothers, Crimson, and her clones, was glasslike. Her arm fell to the ground, further splintering into smaller pieces. Gray's other hand gripped her stump of the arm as she stumbled away from the Avatar.

He didn't pursue to deliver a finishing blow. Instead, he watched Gray wail with a growing expression of guilt. His head snapped to Crimson. The threads had fallen lifeless with their mistress too lost in her own suffering. "Next!"

Reduction of soul bonds command: Command: "I modify Bond's soul-bond system to be removed of all functions except for levels of bonds and bond radar."

A Command that she would have rejoiced over earlier was poor comfort here. At least she'd be able to make the lives of Griff and Tom easier. It was a brief modification, and she could feel relief radiate from Tom, Griff less so.

She really wished that the Permanent Contract Door would stop staring at her.

The Avatar was back to rapid-firing Commands.

New species command: "Create a species of cat-goat hybrid humanoids in the Dragon Continent, and-"

"ENOUUUUGGGGHHH!" Gray shrilled. It was clear that she was not used to pain as Crimson was. Yet, even in that haze, Gray recognized a Command that threatened her vision. Crimson readied herself for the next wave of threads. As did the Avatar as he marched toward Gray, blade brandished.

-modify the Dragon Continent to fit their needs."

Gray's hand reached out…

…and wrapped around the hilt of the Avatar's wooden sword.

Threads came alive in the same moment. Several clumps that had gone slack laid right outside the scroll-barrier. Griff and Tom had picked up and/or kicked a bunch away, but not fast enough to get them all. So when Crimson raised her hand to create this hybrid species, the nearest clumps lashed out against her. They caught her before she could start the Command.

Gray yanked the Mistralian sword out of the ground. The sphere of purple fire dissipated. An ocean of threads waited on the other side of those flames. That ocean rushed towards them all. Sword in hand, Gray sprinted toward Crimson.

"Fourth violation!" The Avatar reared back his left arm, saber pointed at Gray. "REDEEMED!"

A sword was not a throwing weapon. It was too long and the balance was wrong for that kind of attack. Yet, this red saber didn't get flung through the air as much as it fired itself as a bullet. It impaled itself into Gray's back, stabbing right through and out of her stomach.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Gray collapsed to her knees, cradling her body as the ocean of threads went limp.

"Contract!" The Avatar shouted, eyes on the stilling ocean around them. "Enact emergency clause: 'Jerusalem has fallen!'"

The surviving Doors and Torches re-configured themselves into a circle around Crimson with Griff and Tom by her side. The Doors started to glow with green light. All except the Permanent Contract Door which waited outside the new shining ring. The doors started to spin around her as a voice spoke in her head, "Please, designate your new, physical form."

The Avatar pointed. "Yip!"

Crimson had completely forgotten about the blank, feminine body standing away to the side. Purple light rolled over her. After a second, the blank features began to define themselves. Crimson didn't have a moment to watch as she had to deal with her own body. Well, it wasn't a hard decision. It had been practically made when Tom was created. "My former appearance."

The ocean roiled as it returned to life. It rolled forward in a slow, hesitant wave. The Avatar took one look at it all and ran toward their group.

Gray had a headstart. Pulling herself off of the ground, every movement writhed in agony, Gray lumbered forward. The closest threads surged against the new barrier.

They bounced off entirely as the doors picked up their pace. As did Gray when she reached out with a hand to push through. Another cry of pain. The Avatar came to a stop right outside the spinning circle of green. Gray threw a hateful glare at him, then Crimson, before resting her eyes on the Permanent Contract Door. She lunged forward as the ocean closed in. The Avatar noticed it and rushed after her. She reached the door.

To Crimson's horror, Gray turned the knob.

"Fifth violation!"

She pulled the door opened. Three X's blazoned across the door's face.

"Redeemed!"

Arm glowing red, the Avatar judo chopped. He smashed, but did not sever, Gray's last wrist. It was enough for her to flail backwards in pain. The Avatar pushed against the door, but it didn't budge. The green Doors cut through the 'air' faster and faster as it became harder for the human eye to track their speed. The Avatar gave up trying to close the door. Instead, he rotated his hand on the wood, from right to left. The title of the door changed "The Permanent Contract" to "The Suggestive Contract". The triple X's became XV. For a second, the image glitched.

It was getting harder to see anything now. The active doors zipped around to leave after-images behind. The Avatar turned around to face them. "Crissi! Fight Fate with Faith!"

"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!"

The last thing Crimson saw was three threads slicing through the Avatar's body, one through his waist, one through his chest, and the last through his neck. Spilling more ink onto the ground, his head rolled backwards off of his neck, while his chest fell forward to heap onto his legs.

Then nothing but green light filled her vision.

In an instant, it all went away. The green light. Gray's screeching. The rumble of fire and thread.

Replaced by the cheerful music of morning birds as Crimson opened her brand-new gray-steel eyes…