/\\ Two Years Later - Floor 198 \\/
Trekking through an abandoned and slightly flooded city while in Wisconsin, Illinois, a dirty green-haired half elf riding my shoulders. I had most of my tamed monsters with me now as my Family, Eldritch, and Dimensional Divinities were fully active. Restricted due to the Dungeon but active enough for me to bring stuff to me from outside, but leave, which I wouldn't since if I did, I'd die. Feeling a small hand pat my head, and seeing one point towards an alleyway. I sighed.
"Thanks Cecilia, Riveria break and prep for artillery. Because I don't know about you, but I'm tired of this floor, and it's Winchester's. Who'd have known my world would bite me in the ass due to entertainment..."
Zuno and a few of my monsters snorted at that, finding my annoyance with my past entertainment amusing. Unholstering a Colt 1911 with enchantments for killing creatures who I've learned the true name of. I aimed at the alleyway and fired, causing a version of Dean Winchester to dive out of it as an explosion went off behind him.
"Hello again, you're not going to try shooting or stabbing my kids AGAIN, are you? Because you may be a level ten, but I'll kick your ass, I've got the bullshit power of family on my side."
Dean looked at me awkwardly, as his denim jacket was being used to try hiding his lips as he coughed.
"Look… I know I overreacted and tried to kill your son because of this specific character's admittedly copied instincts and PTSD…. But I need your help dealing with the Horseman of Death. The ACTUAL one who sorta invaded the floor as this copied setting's Death because he wants to apparently meet his prospective new boss."
Studying the mimic type monster, currently in the form of Dean Winchester. I noted all his copies and habitual traits due to becoming Dean. He was telling the truth, so I lowered my gun and spoke, making him sag with relief.
"Alright, I don't understand exactly how he'll be my subordinate, given he's an entity that far outstrips me. But I'm willing to meet with the Horseman. Only because I know you've been arranging convenient caches of children's items from these settings, Tartarus."
Smiling wryly, Dean's eyes temporarily gained a soft red glow as he held his hands up before his chest.
"I may hate God's Dakota, but they broke rules and so did the World Laws by sending you this deep when you're not ready. While I haven't adjusted anything, I have specifically allowed your Divinities to be used. Both as an apology and because unlike the time immoral siblings of mine, you don't try abusing or cheating me. You're rather fair and up front about when you're going to cause a problem, and well, because of all those past instances. I couldn't let my most liked Adventure, and his trapped family, suffer when everything is out of yours and my hands.
Plus, I'll admit it's been a while since I've last seen a Demi-God or Mortal child grow up since becoming the Dungeon. So watching your kids has been refreshing, and I don't want to intentionally hurt their growth by lacking what they'd need. We God's do, after all, find children important above all else. So I've tried arranging convenient supplies for primarily children for you to find on each floor. I even see a certain little Half-Elf wearing the shirt with that Fate counterpart of mine printed on it."
Hearing the God turned Dungeon, I couldn't help but chuckle when an accusatory finger was pointed at Dean. Cecilia was mute but very expressive and determined to love monsters like overgrown kittens. That the mighty Xenomorph Queen was cowed by her, by treating it like a cat on the last floor. I had to take the Queen after that for she was insistent, my divinity regarding animals triggered but was mostly muted.
So in a subspace of my own forming Divine Domain made from my Divinities activating. A towering Xenomorph Queen and two hundred of her hive were making themselves comfy in a dark cave. The fact I could now just face hugger or call forth adapting monstrosities to torment people was exciting! Because I could suppress a God and face hugger them, creating a Demi-God Xenomorph! And fuck was that tempting to do with someone like Ares, who was just being an absolute laughingstock most of the time.
I mean, how incompetent does he have to be to lose to a small city with only twelve level fours? Twelve level fours completely slaughtered his army of eight thousand. All for invading a city called Dërumä that was six months by walking from his own borders and LOST. So creating a war themed Demi-God Xenomorph was tempting if he was that inept at being an actual threat.
It would seem though, while musing about murdering God's with the copied, but very real, Xenomorphs we reached our destination. Death was sitting outside at an open air café drinking black tea, as he idly gazed at the flooded streets and fallen leaves around him. Passing Cecilia off to her mother, who had the boys and my monsters, besides Pandora, with her. I would pull a chair out across from Death with Pandora on my right shoulder, a scar across her beak and left eye. Dean sat beside us, while my family and monsters sat a few tables away.
Death seeing me lowered his drink from his lips and bowed his head, a soft smile on his aged face.
"Good to meet you, Dakota Carter, as you must already know, I am Death. A Horseman of the Apocalypse. But I assure you I am not here to fight or kill you, no, your death isn't to be by my hands, another has that right. Yet, it won't be until much later on, until after ten centuries have passed. I am here instead on behalf of myself and my siblings, who have been pointed your way by another version of you running around as an Executioner. Would you please hear my and my siblings' request?"
Death spoke exactly like the Supernatural's Death, and his voice was polite the entire time. His eyes looked at me as if I were an old friend, while an itch to kill me was there in his eyes. Nodding my head, the Horseman placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head once more.
"Excellent, we Horsemen would like to find employ under you and not the "Char Council" or whatever you silly mortally inclined entities call them. Why we wish to do so is because… they've been getting a little too hostile and demanding, which puts us in binds or even peril of dying temporarily for a good hundred years or more. We would like to work with an entity that holds no motive to restrain us other than when we need to fulfil our roles in shepherding the apocalypse and ending a world as needed. You, while not your Executioner counterpart, are an Entity which wouldn't do to us what our employers do.
An entity who is close to stabilizing an entire alternate universe by becoming a God, so Cthulhu doesn't destroy it by waking up. An entity who has no qualms about destroying a world if needed, and don't try to lie to me, I'm Death, and I KNOW what I say regarding people like yourself.
However, War, Pestilence, and Famine do not share my foresight of all things tied to death, and thus would like to give you a TEST. A test within your current test which will truly trigger your Death, and Genocide Divinities as well as help your "ISAC" become whole for what they have in mind leads to your primary supernatural abilities origins. Only upon getting there you will not have access to any other divinity besides family, as we wouldn't dare deprave you of something that keeps them safe.
We may be depraved focused murderous tools of destruction and death, but we value each other as family before anything else. So touching that divinity wouldn't sit well with us one bit, that is paramount to SACRILEGE for us, especially since it lets you protect them with the ferocity War admires. Your monsters, however, besides young Pandora and Umbra, will be sealed within your Divine Domain unless certain restrictions are lifted temporarily. Sorry, even though you just got them all with you, other than those two it would be grossly unfitting to have them wandering around as we would essentially be sending you to a copied world without monsters like from this universe."
Blinking, I process those words and slowly wrap my head around those words. As if I heard right, they'll essentially be making me purely mortal again, and sending me and my family to a floor that will become EXACTLY the entire Tom Clancy Universe focused primarily on the Division and Dollar Flu with possibly the Archaean from REACT mixed in. Looking at the Dungeon controlled copy of Dean, I pointed at Death and asked if that's precisely what I just understood.
"It's not a breach of your original test, and it is doable, frankly they don't even have to inform me the Horsemen are entities that can destroy me with but a pinky if their true selves were to show. So I will be admittedly letting them do their little side test, which will turn the entire one hundred and ninety-seventh floor into a fully copied world that I would have no control over. You will essentially be sent into an alternate world contained within myself until you pass the Horsemen test to unlock your Death and Genocide Divinities. Which will then mean you must decide if you wish to employ them as your first Vassal's as a God when they all appear before you."
"Riveria, what's your opinion on this? Because it involves you and the kids as well. I am curious though why Pandora is allowed to be there though, as Umbra is tied into my very DNA, so that's a given."
Looking back at Riveria who was bouncing Seigfried on her right knee while Lulana and Cecilia sat on her shoulders. The Elven princess humming softly as she gazed at the kids and me before speaking softly with pragmatic affection, a smile on her lips as she spoke.
"If I am understanding things right, then what is being proposed sounds like a calmer time than what we've experienced so far. It may also give the children some more age-appropriate friends for a while, even if they'd be fake in the end, Dakota. It also would benefit you to unwind and live as a more normal person again in a world that isn't like what we've experienced through copies based on what you know. It may have Archaean's and a worldwide disease, but those are rather tame compared to what we've run into due to you."
Death lights up with a predatory smile at Riveria's words before looking me in the eyes and talking once more. The Horsemen eager for my acceptance.
"All excellent points, Lady Riveria, that is a side benefit we wanted to give you all after fighting for your lives with your children in tow for two years now. We would set the copied world four years before the start of the world's original setting and the tie in of the other factions your husband knows of. During those for years, your family would essentially get to live like a family did in your husband's original world and not worry much about dying. As for young Pandora, she would be allowed as she is technically tied to the Archaean race, and sealing her away would hinder your soul and the test we have for you. With those points now addressed, do you wish to take our little test to help you along and see if you can be our new employer?"
Sighing, I looked at Death and shook my head.
"Fuck it, my wife's in, so I'm in, and it would benefit the kids."
"Then let me assist in giving you a fast way to your next floor and testing grounds before this setting forces me out of control. I'll be watching over you all and praying for your success."
At that moment, Tartarus pulls a colt from Deans jacket and aims at his head, blowing Dean's brains out and causing a glitching staircase to the next floor. Death looks at the deceased Dean and frowns before pushing the dead copy from his seat and through the café wall with a light shove. Whistling as Death vanished into a murder of crows, my monsters dipped into my casting shadow if they weren't given permission to stay out. Getting up from my seat, I took my wife's hand, we ascended the glitching staircase with our kids and Pandora.