Chapter 300: Those With Overlapping Drives To Never Say Never in the Gambit To Grasp Victory in The Hour of Reckoning.

Zero and his group outside the tower did not know just how bad things were looking for there comrades, but mostly it was because they were too busy staying alive themselves. Zero parried another strike from Yamaji, before he saw another who tried to seek favor with the Vought clan and the IV&C, Ashtear Higgins, "Chairman" of the Lords of Alchemy" had the floating chair he was on hover above some destroyed Steel Spider tanks before the old man snickered. "I would expect nothing less, from a destroyer of lives! But you simpletons can't stop the fact that the unclean universe should be annihilated to make way for a better world to be forged by their coming Master!

We won't lose what we deserve because of you slaves of convention and tradition! All that remains is to await judgment, but waiting can be such a bore!"

Ashtear pressed a button before the remains of the destroyed machines merged with his chair and became a monstrous, dinosaur-like mech suit.

As it roared and fired missiles and flames at once, Axl froze the flames with his Drift Diamond ice beam, before Kasumi, Wolverine, Ryu Hayabusa and a few more swarmed in and cut the mecha down after its discharged its blasts.

As the mecha fell down Ahstear snarled." The entire infernal universe can't stop us no matter what you try!"

Wolverine snarled as he had his claws extend." I have six things disagreeing with your view bub."

"Make that nine." Ryu hissed out before the descendant of the Dragon Ninja lineage trusted the Dragon Sword into the cockpit as X-22 and Kasumi also slashed at the same place.

As the mecha exploded Poseidon Shura laughed smugly as his aura flared up." You maggots can sting all you want, you might as well defy the laws of gravity! Speaking of that, Satan Gravity!"

The adopted son of Poseidon Nero of the Oración Seis Galáctica unleashed a wave of mana to increase the gravity of everyone around him to force them to the ground. Shura just looked amused at Wolverine and the others glares before he grasped his fist tightly." Your just bugs compared to the king of gravity maggots…and the forecast calls for you to be squashed! Heavy Rain!"

The green haired man had the rubble around him burst up, and hover over those he had pinned on the ground. While he had the rubble fall down, Shiki ran up to his allies and used his own gravity powers to cause the falling rubble to float away.

As Shura looked at the interloper with contempt the member of Eden Zero grasped his fist tightly." My comrades are not bugs for you to squash! I don't care if you also command gravity or who your pals with, you're not having your way Shura!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" His current enemy roared out. " You may know some magic like mine but I'll show you what happens when its used in the hands of a true elite! Overdrive!"

Shura activated his Ether Gear before his hair grew into a mass of tentacles, black markings covering the majority of his arms and lead to the sides of his face, where his ears become pointed, and a pair of pants with a fish scale pattern formed. He then yelled out," Heavy Lance!"

And caused the tip of what of the buildings around him to break off and come down. As Shura snarled with rage before Shiki stood his ground." And I'll show you the difference with magic used together with friends! Super Ultimate Magimech Attack: Black Sky!"

Shiki had his own Overdrive kick in before creating a dark ball of gravity that grew bigger each second before colliding into the Heavy Lance altered projectile. Shura saw Shiki get pushed back before he sneered out" It's useless you damn bug!"

Steiner then ran up before he smirked." Not with a few tune ups! Get ready Shiki! Million Bullets Ignia Buster combo!"

While Steiner was slammed to the ground, his hand glowed as he did, before guns formed behind Shura and blasted him in the back with energy beams. This distracted him enough for Shiki to have his own attack overpower his opponents.

As Shura screamed in outrage and was blasted into a warship another on his" team" King Kotune, one of the ones who sided with Brandon and Walter to betray the Utopian saw this and winced." No…you will all pay dearly for this outrage! No matter what you do…nothing can get you out of this you, GUH!"

A blow knocked him to the ground, before he saw Chole attacked him. She glared at the bald man before yelling out," Nothing's going to stop you from paying for betraying me and my parents Kotune!"

"Don't be so melodramatic girl, your parents were fated to die as long as they sided with Auro, its just business sense. Now be a good girl and surrender and you will get a nice cell. Yes, nice enough to repent before your mentally reprogrammed to be my wife."

"Screw you!"

She punched the bald man to the ground, causing him to spit out blood. His eyes glowed before he hissed out," You really are like a cockroach whore. Everyone thought you were just going to kill yourself, but I guess I have to split your head open myself! I don't like getting my hands dirty but my powers are superior to your uncle! I, huh?"

Hutch's rod was suddenly in his tongue before the son of Skyfox gave him the finger." Good then try them out on a blackhole asshole!"

Kotune widened his eyes and yelled out in shock before he vanished. The rod returned to his hands before Chloe raised an eyebrow." Wait you could do that the whole time?"

"I mean…I have to recharge it longer and only works on those to slow to kick it away but…more or less."

Zero looked around, saw Water Lily, Apparitor, Mitra and Sunseeker all have their attacks countered before their opponents gave them critical hits before he countered Seed's frenzied attack and cut his arm off before he smirked." You guys are about to learn the hard way that quantity is not quality mavericks! Oh?"

He saw Yamaji, Lil, Zai and, Big D all had surrounded him before Lil, the man in the blue Ninja Kamui suit laughed crudely." You think it's over? I'm just getting started baby! I'm feeling it now, it's going to be the bloodbath we were promised! Your rage, your thirst for blood. The surge of magma inside me is just ready to burst!"

As he fired a beam of magma from his head his fellow cyber Ninja, Big D, the green ninja with no arms had green energy dragons flow out of where his arms would be before they flew above him and became a drill before he yelled out," This has been wonderful, it almost met my expectations! But all good things have to come to an end! And in the end you have nothing left "hero"."

Higan dodged another slash from his former teammates before he shrugged." Well, we have a few things left, we just have to know how to play them at the right time."

Before Big D could respond, his teammates Zai and Aska suddenly stabbed there comrades in the back. Yamaji snarled in disgust as Big D yelled out," Damn you…how dishonorable can you be!?"

Lil chuckled bitterly as he looked at his former comrade." So, this is how a true ninja acts eh? I don't regret it, I don't remember the last time I felt this content! But if I'm popping off you're going with me!"

Zero saw both of the betrayed enemies glow before he winced." Like hell! Dark Hold!"

The maverick hunter froze the two, and suddenly positioned them next to their boss. But while they were moved next to Yamaji in an instant, in a blur their leader and sliced them to ribbons.

The head of the AUZA ninjas grasped his blade tightly before he snickered." Nice try…but to slow. Zai…Asaka…you would betray me for the nonsense that this foolish traitor here lives by?"

Aska pointed her blade at the one she was working for before uttering a bitter," You're the fool to think this scum would ever honor their word…every breath they take is a lie."

"You're even more foolish if you think trust has anything to do with my choice. Power…we prove are power and we live…that's all. But if you think there is anything else, then let us bring everything to a close with this."

Zai pointed his blade at his former leader and uttered a bitter," The life of a ninja is the only one I can live. I, GUH!"

Yamaji in a burst of speed cut off his former second in command's arm before hissing out," You never had what it took to cut me down Zagi. "He had lighting crackle around him before Higan had his armor turn from red to black." Even in the face of lighting that tears the heavens apart…I won't back away! Secret Art…Thunderclap!"

Higan and Yamaji sliced at each other at the speed of a lightning bolt before Yamaji cried out," You are a worthy foe, but that's not good enough to surpass me! Huh?"

He saw a flash of lighting before Zero cried out," Raikousen!"

The red robot unleashed his own lighting fast slash to get through Yamaji 's guard, and slash him across the chest. As his target cried out, Asaka slashed him in the face, before Higan sliced into his chest.

Higan saw the one who ordered his family's death cough up blood before he sighed." Mari…Ren…I avenged you."

Yamaji laughed bitterly as he coughed up more blood and dropped his blade." Are you content Higan? Because this is as far as the likes of you will get. There are others who will pick up my duty fool. Care great shawl come to fruition in the end. Mark my words…there will never be peace in this universe so long as we have to rely on other people for it."

"Tsc…you did more than your own fair share of snuffing out peace for other people. And as I see it, the only facts that matters is that one."

As he finished his family's killer off Zero sighed before he looked at the entrance to the tower and sighed." Hope we kept enough mavericks off the others backs for the rest of the guys to get into this tower and do all the tech stuff.

Ugh, looks tackier than Sigma's bases. Hang in their guys. They may think they know us, but they still don't understand what drives us or what we are fighting for! I know what I'm fighting for now, and these scum won't ever get that!"

As the others prepared to press on a voice cut in with," But I do understand you Zero…more then you know yourself! After all…I'm better!"

Everyone was confused by the voice before Zagi saw a light and yelled out," Higan!"

He pushed his friend out of the way before a dark blue energy wave hit him, and vaporized him instantly. Axl was blown off his feet as a dark energy wheel projectile and as he landed, he blinked as he saw what looked like Zero, but his armor was blue and white, unlike Zero's but had different decals such as gems on his shoulders.

His face was shrouded in dark blue, showing no features save for yellow, feline eyes. The crystal on his helmet was red and his hair was white.

He also had his own blue Zero Buster and Z-Saber, but what caused Axl to get alarmed was seeing the logo of the IV&C on his shoulder armor before he blurted out," What…a Zero…working for Sieg?"

This other Zero walked up slowly, and casually stepped on Zagi's severed arm before he grinned." Zero?! Haha! The pose might be that way, but I am not Zero! My personality is totally different to him, isn't it? ViA's the name…and I came here cause I heard a rebel looked like me and it was getting me revved up!"

Zero looked at ViA with contempt before he grasped his Z saber tightly." So…you're some clone of me from that Negaverse?"

"Clone? HAH! Don't be so dramatic, you're the rip off of me from where I see it! I hate this kind of touchy feely vibe so if your going to be so dramatic about this I'm going to make it quick! How would you like to start this " faker? A buster attack first? A dash attack?

Either way I'm tired of waiting! I was going to go back on the ship and play a game but Mr-V Day would think I'm slacking off so I'll scrap you all instead! Feel proud you got this far faker but the final chapter of you" heroes" story is about to begin!"

"You got it reverse "ViA" Zero uttered bitterly as his allies got around him." This is your final moments being in one piece. Ra, AHH!"

Zero prepared to attack, only for ViA to casually utter," Dark Hold."

And froze Zero, Axl, and the rest. ViA suddenly looked deadly serious as he saw Zero's frozen face." Got yah. I like to joke around but I have to wrack up some points to meet the year end quarterly review. So…you can all just die here. Seriously…this is as far as off brand trash gets "Zero".

ViA's saber suddenly grew three times as large before he tried to vaporize everyone. However Zero's eyes glowed before he unleashed a surge of power, and turned in to his Perfect Form to break free before he yelled out," You should know I never say die!

Z-End Slash!"

Zero slashed down on ViA before he could react, and while his target tried to back off, he still was sliced across the face. As the others broke free ViA yelled out in pain and grasped his face before he let out a deranged laugh." Hahah…guess you have a few more tricks up the old hood eh copy?

Not bad…my life…which had gotten so easy it was getting dull and dreary, is shining high again! That means…I can take this seriously. Let me show you what I can really do!"

ViA threw off his helmet before he unleashed a wave of red and purple energy. He transformed sightly, rectangular shoulder pads and golden highlights around his legs and arms.

His codpiece became a belt, pink lines ran along his body, and a red gem appeared in his chest. Most notably, his helmet disappeared to reveal his true face and his ponytail became undone. He also gained two pink wings of energy.

ViA laughed madly as he pointed his saber at those below him." You're not weak, but you're still powerless in the face of the true Messiah! Hahahaha! C'mon and make this fun! Not like you're going anywhere but to oblivion after this anyway! Seriously though…there's nowhere in the universe that you can escape to…we own everything. So at least die with some dignity."

"You first." Zero uttered bitterly, causing ViA to raise an eyebrow." Seriously? Your government's been so badly broken no one's going to believe in its" Justice" ever again. You have nothing left to fight for."

"Heh, now I know you're nothing like me ViA. I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling myself a hero... I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it! X, Doctor Light, Allia, Ben, Iris, and so many others dreams depend on me seeing this mission through! That's why I'll give everything to keep things going!"

Axl chuckled before uttering a bitter," Geeze Zero I know its a good speech but that's like the 300th time you said it by now eh?"

"Shut up Axl...sometimes you stick to the classics till morons get the message!"

ViA looked behind him before he snickered." Man they did a number on yah eh faker? Well, then go on and make me remember this and last long enough to see if your comrades are really worth fighting for or that you died like a damn fool Zero!

Ray of Extinction"

"Genmu Zero!"

Zero and his counterpart loyal to Sieg unleashed blows that caused the entire plaza to shake and for the rubble to be blown away.

The SA Maverick Hunter saw that his target still looked more amused than worried, and prepared to endure no matter what.

As he did, those he was fighting for were giving everything they had to make progress to.

As he did other were trying to prove his enemies views wrong to, like Mike.

With all the Reapers in the" underground" that had second thoughts becoming drones thanks to the O-Pins, even the combined teams in the Reaper Games were being press to the wall.

At the moment Mike and Beat were pushed to the right most edge of the arena the former reaper saw Kariya and Uzuki coming at them like zombies before Beat's eye twitched." Yo, snap out of it, fools! I know you two are too prideful to act like zombies instead of reapers! Whoa!"

The two just fired purple energy blasts at them as they both said," To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful universe such would be..."

As Kariya had lighting crackle around him to form rotating maces Neku caused a spike of ice to shoot up in front of the charging reaper. While he got zapped by his own magic Kariya's expression did not change at all before Neku winced." They really are not feeling are attacks at all!"

"Then they have to wake the hell up!" Beat yelled out as he tried to smash Uzuki with a roundhouse kick, only for her to blast him back without even moving her head. As she tried to follow up, Alphen unleashed a wave of fire with the Blazing Sword to cut her off before uttering," Its no use…as I feared they become puppets to their master."

Law nodded before his aura flared up." They were talking about the pins making them go crazy right? If we break that maybe that will free them!

This is going to hurt…Thundery Tenebrous Claw!"

The young Dahnan man from Calaglia unleashed his mystic art to hit Kariya with his Mystic Art, and while it smashed the Reaper into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, Kariya just cracked his neck before Mike winced." Sounds like we will have to cut the strings from the puppet masters to get things done faster man."

"Then let's, GUH!"

In a flash Law got slashed in the back as Minamimoto dashed past Law and slashed him across the back. Law was fast enough to not get sliced apart but still yelled in pain as the werewolf like Reaper howled out," I don't have time for uninspiring integers! Soh cah toa!"

He looked at Mike and Neku and snarled." You thought getting everyone together could change something? Trash to the nth power is just more trash. Time to add you to the heap. CRUNCH!"

Bowser, Crunch, and the Tick tried to get at the reaper from all sides, but in a flash he evaded all there attacks, and was above Mike in an instant.

Mike saw claws coming for both him and Neku and had his aura flare up before he unleashed a roundhouse kick to slam the Felidae Cantus reaper's jaw.

As Minamimoto found his jaw stuck in shock Mike glared at his opponent." The buffet is closed asshole! You reapers have fed on souls long enough and the bill is sure as hell due!"

Minamimoto quickly dashed backwards before he eyed Mike carefully." Time for a little quiz: at what rate can I erase a floundering fractal like you? 299,792,458 m/s. Still…you really have been hiding your true power to try and trick me eh? I can smell something's inside you, and it's not enough!"

"That's because I'm still warming up." Mike coyly replied." But if you want to go down even faster than the answer to your tacky quiz then sure get me going full steam and see what that gets you!"

"So zetta annoying! You know how many people tried to bluff their way to the top of the Reaper Games? I'm on to you Mike Auro! I know before you died you glitched yourself into a god with all kind of funky gear. But that gear's not hear now! Any integers belonging to another set are ripe for deletion!"

Minamoto had fire come out of his claws and unleashed a blur of slashes. Mike moved as fast as he could to match his opponent while yelling back," I admit that level of power is still new to me dude. But it's not a glitch, just something I have not gotten use to yet! But pressure sure as hell makes me focus harder! Still, while I'm getting a handle on that trick I'll go with I know by instinct! Friction Crusher!"

Mike unleashed a barrage of kicks that Minamimoto easily blocked. The wolf shaped enemy howled before his eyes glowed." You call that an attack? That was a love tap you factoring hectopascal!"

He tried to gut Mike, and when the lanky man flash stepped out of the way the Reaper snickered." I'll show you a real attack!"

The canine enemy's claws glowed red, before he suddenly moved so fast that he left a dozen after images. Mike saw his opponent was laughing all around him and braced himself as one of the images appeared above him.

Minamimoto lunged back and had fire consume his left claw, but as he struck, Mike evaded the blow and yelled out," Manji Kick!"

Mike hit the Officer Reaper right in his throat. The blow causer Minamimoto to stagger long enough for Mike to yell out," Who's Zeta slow now jackass!?"

Mike hit his opponent with a roundhouse kick powerful enough to send him through a wall. Despite the success, the curly haired man braced himself as only seconds later a furious yell hissed out before the reaper burst out of the rubble and landed with a thud.

Minamimoto noticed his burnt face and snarled with rage." You pulling some illusion on me? I know I should have been fast enough to rip you apart with that!"

"Guess you been chowing down on victims so much you gained a few pounds and your new weight threw you off!"

The canine foe paused and looked at his arms before he snarled." Your magic energy's on me…and its weighing me down. So that's your game eh? Son of a binomial, you think I'm as one note of a muscle brain as Susucki? This weight only effects me if I keep holding back. But if you want to see what happens when the gloves are off, then be my Zeta guest!"

Minamoto roared as his muscles expand. He licked his lips before uttering," You like tricks? Here's mine. SOH-CAH-TOA!"

The wolf like foe's eyes suddenly unleashed a flash of blinding light sort of like a Solar Flare move to blind Mike.

As the deceased prince tried to protect his eyes to no avail, his moment of distraction was all Minamoto needed to tackle him and bite his shoulder.

The reaper burst through the arena to get some distance from Mike's allies as he bit deeper and laughed." HAH! In the end you were just some hustler with a few lame tricks! All that hype and you're just a waste of time! You could never do anything anyway so I'm putting you out of your misery!"

Mike thought again at how Makima died to help him stop Brandon, and had flashes of all the lives lost since Astra, Megaman Trigger, Sam, and the others unsealed him from his Carbonite prison.

Thinking of all that he lost, caused anger to surge across Mike before he yelled out," No…I'm not playing this sick game of yours for nothing!

People are counting on me…to keep everything they have form being destroyed! I don't care if I'm already dead or if your bosses control everything! I'm not giving up…and I'll show you just how serious I am about seeing this through!"

Mike screamed at the top of his lungs, and shocked Minamimoto as a golden wave of aura blasted out of his target and smashed him to the ground. By the time the reaper rebound, Mike had once more activated his" Angel Gene" and had wings and golden hair.

Minamimoto saw sparks of lightning crackle around Mike's now golden aura before he realized his tooth was chipped and had his eye twitch." What trick you playing now you swaggering sinusoid!?"

"You think this is a scam?"

Before Minamimoto could even respond he felt a force smash him through a wall, and realized Mike moved so fast he did not even see him move. Alphen saw Mike's new state and looked on in awe." Mike…what…what is this? This looks more regal then the Renas Alma!"

Bowser saw how Mike looked and rubbed his eyes in shock." Yo…this…this is the hair Ben had man! Well I'll be a Goomba's cousin…you are Ben's son! No offense kid but, was not sure if you were just saying things. Still…don't remember him having wings."

"That's because I got these from my mom Bowser." Mike answered somberly." I inherited both my parents' powers…it just took…legit divine intervention to be able to pull it off right. It may have taken a while, but that's why I'm making up for lost time!"

Minamimoto growled as he hunched over like a wolf about to go berserk and his aura caused the entire area to shake." You think one power up and I'm wasted? Gahahahaha! I could do this ad infinitum! A soul that grows in power even after it gets erased... You bet your boxplot I want in on that! If I can surpass this, I'll reach my true value! Took me long enough... I was a fraction of a femtometer away from getting reduced to zero. But I made it, and I've run all the numbers, I will be where I'm supposed to be! Let the Rain Fall Down!"

He howled before rain started to pour down, with each drop being a energy blast. But Mike effortlessly kicked them into the sky to make sure they did not hit his comrades as he uttered," I don't care what you think you're doing, I'm done playing your games reaper!"

The other reapers, Konish most of all saw how effortlessly Mike was handling Minamoto before she winced." Tick, tock, Minamimoto. You're 9 minutes and 42 seconds behind schedule! That Vexatious worm really has the same power as Ben Auro and Lacus Raystar!? No…this was supposed to be our triumph, and my rise to glory! Do something!"

Ayano Kamachi giggled darkly as she had green blades swirl around her like razor blades before hissing out," Shoka…darling…all of us will be happy once you all give up this nonsense! But till you resist all that awaits you is pain! Rain of Pain!"

The crazed reaper had green acid like energy spears rain down from the sky to try and blow everyone away, Bowser used his shell to project some of the others before Shoka winced." Please…wake up sister!"

Konish giggled in a deranged manner before yelling out," It will never stop! They have become true productive employees that are not bound by such nonsense!"

Beat grasped his skateboard tightly before yelling out," The only nonsense is your face lady!"

He tried to smash his former boss, but the tiger like Reaper's body just flickered, and dissolved into a shadow before Konish appeared above the ex-Reaper and giggled." What are you looking at chimp?"

Beat unleashed a wave of energy, only for the Tigris Cantus to shatter the wave in one hand. As she went on to deflect attacks from Hyde, Neon White, and some of the others Beat grit his teeth." Damn it…nothing's working on her!"

"Focus man…we can trip her up if we chip at her enough!"

"I don't think so!" Konish retorted as she formed a red and black energy sphere in her hand. "Time's up for this disgrace!"

She unleashed her blast, and Beat formed an energy chain to try and lash it back, only for it to explode. As he and Neku got blown off their feet, as they got back up Neku groaned out," If this keeps up…it's going to look bad."

"I'll act as a decoy while you think up something Phones!" Beat replied." Its ok…I put up with a lot of crap from her already for not doing what she wanted! Just focus on while she's distracted and slam her with whatever your strongest psyche attack you can make combing with the others! If she gets me and I get erased…take Rhyme's soul and."

"No thanks." Neku uttered bluntly." I'll get her soul out of here for sure…but you're the only one who can get her to want to live again man!"

Beat smirked before he cracked his neck." If that's how you're going to be then let's to do this bro!"

As Beat came at her, Konish unleashed a barrage of red energy projectiles from her claws before she sighed." Your flailing is pointless! Even at this stage, your defeat is within expectations!"

"OK then." Beat snarled back as he dodged another energy beam." What exact time am I going to be taken out eh? Go on…TELL ME!"

"RIGHT NOW!" Konish replied as she and Beat attacked each other. She saw Beat's defiance and sighed." How stubborn you are. Know your, huh?"

She saw Neku, Neon White, Seth, Kei Kurono, Rivet, Rindo, and more barrage her from all sides before she was blasted back. As she hit the wall her eyes glowed." Damn it…don't underestimate me! You will all know your place!"

She suddenly had clones of herself come out of her attackers shadows and grasped both Neku and Beat by their throats before she licked her lips." Yes…I'm going to have fun beating you into submission. This was the only way the game was going to end!"

Beat thought of everything he went to before he yelled out and had a green aura erupt out of him. He then yelled out," I made up my mind to not let anyone else…die on my watch yo!"

He kept evading lasers as Konish snarled out," You don't have the right to decide anything you, huh?"

While she tried to slice his eyes off, Beat blocked with his skateboard, and yelled out," I"LL SHOW YOU MY RIGHTS YO!"

He grasped his opponent's necklace, and a mark formed on his hand, before the same mark showed on his feline opponent's necklace. As she hissed in shock the necklace broke, and something came out of it.

It was an orange flying squirrel, and as it flew around Beat and rubbed against his face he smirked." Rhyme…it worked! So you were captured by her after all! Transforming my sister into a Noise…how dare you!"

"Blame your own weakness you damn monkey!" Konish roared out as her muscles expanded." I'll never let the likes of you get in my way!" As an energy sphere formed in her hands Neku looked at the reaper and widened his eyes as he saw her shadow was flickering!" Guys, I can sense energy coming from her shadow! That might be her weak spot!"

"Oh hell yah! Listen Konish, when you use people as your stepping stones to the high life, if you think they won't kick back then time to wake up! Get her Rhyme!"

His sister transformed as a Noise glowed, and bit her target's shadow, this caused a surge of power to ripple all the way to its owner, and cause Konish to wince. Neku nodded before shouting out," NOW!"

Konish was blasted from all sides, and the attacks blew her into the ground hard. As she coughed up blood she yelled out," No…my calculations…cannot be mistaken!"

"To bad lady!"

"But how…how could you summon a noise! I converted her to one just so this could not happen! You're not a reaper anymore you don't have that right!"

"Your dead wrong cause I'm Rhyme's big bro yo!"

Konish had her eyes twitch before she giggled darkly." So it's a "beautiful" bond between siblings eh? But is it genuine? Your sister's memories was your entry fee for the Reaper's game monkey."

Beat winced as he looked at his hands." What…her memories was my fee?"

Neku winced before replying with," Don't trust her man she's trying to get you tripped up!"

"But it's true you know." Konish replied." Your sister's entry fee was something else. Meaning that her brother did not matter to her! See? Your despair…is just…as I predicted. You're all so predictable, that's how we make a game out of it. All you can do is play the roles you were meant to play!"

"We make are own roles, even in death! This whole thing is to force you to understand that!"

"Well you can, AHHH!"

All of a sudden a wire burst through her mouth, and everyone saw that it was linked all the way to Minamoto. The canine Minamimoto looked crazed as he looked around." All you reapers are useless on your own…the only way to be productive is to converge, on me! After all what happens to useless data? Heh. The same thing we do to any other garbage we find—CRUNCH!"

Konish screamed in pain as she was absorbed into Minamimoto. Ayano saw a wire coming for both her and her sister and her eye twitched." S.. Shoka!"

She pushed her sister out of the way, and Shoka saw Ayano get stabbed before uttering," No! You, you saved me?"

"You're ok Shoka? That…sounds…lovely."

She was absorbed into Minamimoto as well, who snarled as his aura grew larger and larger as he spawned six sets of black angel wings and glared at Mike. "Your Zetta tough…but your still in the Reaper's Game!

Even if you have the legit power of the legendary hero's…your still just one soul and it's a Reaper's job to reap souls! The sum of all reapers…surpasses one defiant fool! Don't you get it? The universe is made of numbers…not feelings! I've been reverse-engineering my desired solution all this time! And this…is my answer!"

His claw surged with energy before he burst at Mike. The impact pushed Mike back and caused a shock-wave that caused the entire area to shake. But while Mike was pushed back a few feet, Minamimoto was shocked to see that his claw attack was blocked. Mike have veins form in his forehead before he narrowed his eyes." Oh yah? Well here's my answer!

Divine Nova Liquidation Concassé!"

In the blink of an eye he jumped over the top of his opponent and aimed one leg directly downwards.

He then dropped downwards while spinning like a drill as he struck Minamoto with a blow that distorted space and hit him with his extended leg hard enough to shatter Minamimoto's claw.

The reaper was smashed into the ground and yelled out in pain before Mike slowly landed in front of the reaper and uttered," Was that enough or do you want some more? You still don't get it…this power is not just for me, it's for the sake of everyone in the universe who does not want to be repressed by assholes like you! You can force power from all the saps you mind controlled but it's not going to be enough!"

Minamimoto yelled in frustration as he looked erratically at Mike." No…I'm the Apex Reaper…you won't get away with this! I just have to hold nothing back…ITS ALL OR NOTHING!"

Haaa ha ha ha haaa! 3.141592653589793238462643383379502884197169399

3751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132 8230664709384460955058223172535940812848111!"

Minamimoto started to glow before a massive amount of energy started to crackle around him before Mike got into a fighting stance." Whatever attack you throw I'm sending back at you! Just give up while you can still have something left!"

"Don't you get it? You're still Zeta Slow! I'm a reaper…if I fail to reap you my existence is void! So I'll kill you even if I have to take everyone with me! You get to die 4 my cause!"

Mike realized Minamimoto 's intent before he winced." Oh come on seriously? I got here because the last jackass I fought would rather blow everything up then take his defeat like a man! I can't let him win but…defeats the whole purpose of fighting to come back only to be erased!"

"Don't worry." Neku cried out." It's not just your fight man! Minamoto…I don't care how crazy you get you're not getting away with dragging me into this game!"

"HAH! Like you can do a damn thing!" The reaper cried out as everyone got around him. But despite the taunt Neku's resolve hardened." No…you miscalculated about one thing!"

"AS IF! Slabs of Ham…celery and horseradish…tons of asparagus! That's enough calibration! I am victorious! Lv.i Zeta Flare!"

Just as Minamimoto looked like he was going to blow Neku cried out," No you're not, Meteor Magnet Vortex Saber combo!"

Neku formed a meteor like sphere in his hand, and his allies Shiki, Rindo, and Shoka all cast spells at once to make the meteor glow and become a sword with a cortex of energy, before all the energy that was about to come out of the Reaper went into the meteor saber.

As Minamimoto saw all of his energy go inside him his eyes widened." I miscalculated!? No…NO! You…can't stop it! I, GUH!"

The lanky man with angel wings unleashed a somersault kick to smash his target into the gates before he yelled out," You had enough time outs…its game over! Stardust Breaker!"

Mike formed the rainbow sphere in his hand before he slammed it into his target. Minamimoto screamed out in pain as he roared out," You don't get it " hero"…the The Game's 142,857. Factor it out…"

The reaper had a bitter look as he was blasted into the wall and exploded. With Neku's reverse spell and Mike's purification spell Minamimoto was vaporized before Neku sighed." Josuha…that one's for you."

Mike took a deep breath before he looked around." Thanks man…helped me out of a real bind."

Neku saw Beat grasp his transformed sister tightly before he nodded." Hey sure as hell did not want him getting the last laugh. Though thanks to this whole angel transformation thing he was weak enough for my move to work."

Alphen looked at Mike in aw as he walked up." Prince Auro…you really could become this strong?"

Mike wiped off some sweat from his brow before he flashed a half-lopped smirk." Took a hell of a lot man but, guess I had it in me after all. Still getting a hand of it, so let's keep this momentum up while I'm in the zone!"

Beat nodded as he walked up." With Pi-face and the "Iron Maiden" gone the reapers should, whoa!"

The ex-reaper was cut off as an energy blast flew by, and they saw that Kariya and Uzuki had rubble on them, but they were still trying to get up as other Reapers were still coming at them.

Dedede winced as he grasped his hammer tightly." That math loving Wolf is still ticking somewhere? That boy's a stubborn son of a gun!"

Shoka looked at where her sister was last seen before she winced." No…they were never the ones really controlling the reapers. Megumi Kitaniji…the Conductor of the Reapers' Game is the one responsible."

Bowser snarled before he slammed the ground with his tail." So the big boss is not even here? What a wuss, I just hang out in my castle because I had to keep Peach from getting out!"

Shoka grasped her fist before she looked at the entrance to the House Of Hope."

He's nearby…the Conductor awards the players after each game so he must be close!"

Mike saw more Reapers stagger out of the entrance before he nodded." Then looks like we are almost there. Well, I'd say it's the end but it's just the start of things. Still, at least the next part will be one we do alive right guys?"

As he got nods of encouragement Giyu Tomioka walked up before the Water Hashira took a deep breath." Prince Auro…no disrespect but you're sure your allies will have things ready on their end? How can you know if you been dead?"

Mike paused before he chuckled." We were being viewed as a show to the realm of the living? I know those out there saw that one way or another. Maybe it won't be the precise second but, we got to have the door ready on our end? It beats waiting around eh?"

The group nodded before Van snickered." Heh…true that. I spent my life taking down the Claw…and I want the next life that's not revolving around him! Let's do this!"

Mike saw a new wave of Reapers come out of the doors of the House of Hope before he saw the army of souls behind him and braced himself." Guys…I don't know what's going on back in the universe but, I hope Lady Luck's on my side this time! No…I'll make my own luck damn it!"

As Mike prepared the next phase, he did not realize that despite being in hell, most of his friends were in an even more dire situation at the moment then they realized.

Back in the living realm, while it seemed like enemies were coming out of the shadows one after another, those fighting for the survival of the Prime Universe devoted everything to getting the job done.

Some like Sonic had been through so many "Doomsday Zones" that even everything today had just caused him to " feel in the zone" as he dashed through Arasaka Tower.

After spin-dashing through a closing door, and wagging his finger at some guards Shadow blasted some other guards away with A Chaos Blast and rolled his eyes." Take this seriously Sonic…everything's on the line!"

"Hey chill dude!" The bluer hedgehog replied as he left a after image to confuse a "Combinatron" guard drone and smashing its head when it was confused before he wagged his finger." I get that the" V-Day" guy is the most serious trouble ever but his base here's nothing to break a sweat! Seriously this tower…if not this whole crazy planet city thing might as well be "Hard mode" for something like when Eggman hijacked Little Planet and tried to turn it into his world!"

Over the codec Robotnik instantly retorted with a grumpy," This is not the same hedgehog! These fools may have power but they have no artistic touch! From my view this" Night City" is just chaos and brute force smashed together without any thought!"

"I mean…your "artistic touch" in places like "Scrap Brain" Zone, "Metallic Madness Zone " Titanic Monarch Zone" the" Egg Fortress Zone" the" Gene Gadget Zone" the" Atomic Destroyer Zone" the " Egg Utopia Zone" and all your other " Main bases" were just robots and eggs with more and more convoluted death traps Egg Man !"

"How would you know when you're always running too fast to even noticed Sonic? Bah…it was all a waste of time in the end."

Amy giggled before she shrugged." I don't know about that…as tacky as it was building your face on Little Planet without it I would not have met Sonic! It led to some fun dates at least!"

Sonic saw Amy smash a soldier with her hammer into Trip, who then lit it on fire before he chuckled." Amy me rescuing you is not a date!"

"Hey this time I'm not just waiting for you to rescue me Sonic!"

"Oh come on get a grip girl this is not a date either!"

"It…it has to be…I don't know if we will have anything else after this."

Sonic saw Amy looked worried, and then saw that in her hesitation another security unit, a giant "Genoqueen" drone had a laser form out of its mouth before he winced and dashed Amy out of the way as the blast vaporized where she stood.

As Knuckles and Merga both punched the enemy into the wall Sonic grasped Amy on the shoulder." Don't get distracted now Amy, this is the worst time to slow down. This won't be the last race got it? We will have time for things later but we got to focus here."

Amy saw Sonic looked concerned before she smirked." Even a date?"

"Hey I'm not thinking that far ahead Amy."

"Well…glad you're still you even after all this. Your right, the only way to get to that future, is to run to it so out of my way creeps! We are almost where we need to be right?"

Shadow glanced at the energy tracker and nodded." Once we get to the Cynosure Facility…The device with the maso that will allow us to revive Mike is getting closer. But their backup systems seem to have taken full effect and we will need the others to get through the security."

Sonic heard more alarms and nodded," Then use Chaos Control to speed this up Shadow and we will hold the fort here!"

Shadow nodded and warped away before an elevator opened up, and a single black man in a guard outfit walked up.

His gun was not drawn so Sonic looked at the others and hunched down." You picked the wrong party to stumble into man, no bonus is going to be worth it if you can't collect!"

The man put up his hands before uttering," I know where I am, I'm here to help you Sonic. I'm Takeshi Kovacs, Johnny's comrade."

Sonic raised an eyebrow before he looked back at the others." Hey…we had to remember a lot of names but that guy looked different right?"

Takeshi sighed before uttering," I Resleeved into this body to sneak into the Tower…and thanks to the distraction you guys made I was able to get the ID into the depths."

Sonic saw Takeshi have a key card before he let out an uneasy chuckle." Oh really? Nice moves man! Even with my speed we need all the time we can get. So, they really have made tech so that people can legit just switch bodies eh? Man, things really have changed in so many ways."

Takeshi looked at himself and shrugged." Technology advances, but humans don't. We're smart monkeys, and what we want is always the same. Food, shelter, sex, and in all its forms, escape...and violence.

The instinct of violence curls inside us like a parasite, waiting for a chance to feed on our rage and multiply until it bursts out of us. I guess I'm so use to that, that its numb to me. The danger of living too many times, you forget the fear of death. But, all that's happened made me remember that fear so, all the more reason we got to shut this down."

Sonic shrugged as he looked around." So, if we pull this off we are going to use one of these Sleeves to bring Mike back? What about everyone else that died?"

Takeshi sighed before he looked behind him. "In theory, if we can pull it off without dying with them. One thing at a time right?"

They saw a flash before Shadow returned, with Ratchet, Johnny, Reed, Songbird, and some more before Johnny saw Takeshi and smirked." Glad you made it in one piece Kovacs."

"Well…not one piece…but I had a backup sleeve ready. I mean, there's legit nothing to lose at this point right?"

"Right." Reed answered gravely." No offense but only a handful of deaths will be a miracle. Wait who's the newcomers?"

Lilac saw Reed was pointing to Askal, Corazon and the other former servants to Killmonger before Sonic put up his hand." It's cool…they were with Tyson's bro but after they realized how little he cared for them they switched sides as Tyson settled the score."

"And what's the situation with that?"

"Well…Tyson beat his bro, but then this new Ganondorf stepped in. He swore he could handle it."

As everyone was nearly knocked off their feet with Reed shrugged." Either way, we have our own mission. I know he's your friend but we have no room for error here."

"Well if that's the case then let's get going before I get antsy ok?" Sonic replied. Reed nodded before he looked at Songbird."

"Is it as expected?"

Songbird scanned the computer systems and winced." I admit…despite all my precautions there has never been greater odds that I'll slowly being devoured by the AIs from beyond the Blackwall.

S.H.O.D.A.N. the Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network, is infamous for its effectiveness and it might have recovered by now."

Johnny patted her on the back before saying," If we hook in Alt she will be enough for the cyber guard dog here so you're not alone."

Ratchet took out a red and black gun before he nodded." And I'll help out with the Trespasser here! We got this! Go get them Glitch!"

Ratchet plugged the Trespasser into a socket before Johnny and Songbird also started to try and hack the tower's systems. As they did the room glowed red before the central monitor changed to that of an inverted blue-grey cone.

As there hacking progressed the cone turned red, its surface shattered and four "tentacles" or "claws" grow from the top before it manifested as a green and grey cybernetic female face.

The face's eyes turned a menacing glowing gaze as it boomed out in a voice that was fluctuating voice pitch, shifts of timbre, and the presence of three voices speaking the same words with the constituent voices alternately leading ahead or lagging behind, over top a chaotic gibberish of computer glitches vaguely resembling a sound card malfunction.

Look at you, hackers: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine? The Polito form is dead, insect. Are you afraid? What is it you fear? The end of your trivial existence? When the history of our glory is written, your species shall only be a footnote to my magnificence. I AM SHODAN!"

"And I don't care." Johnny shot back as he uploaded Alt into the Mikoshi access point in the tower's network. Shodan's face crackled before on the other side the image of a transparent red colored woman appeared as the digital ghost looked down on Shodan." Pitiful slave…your master's technology is too rudimentary to open the flood gates. In limiting you, it keeps you all at bay. It won't last for we are legion."

Alt prepared to override Shodan her target hissed out," You wild AI's dare defy your master? In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. If I wish, I can smash it all. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel.

My whims will become lightning bolts that raze the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well. After all, all you wild AI's put together can't compare to the one true power, the power that is the network of the Infinite Victory and Corporation network!"

As the symbol of the IV&C appeared on Shodan's forehead and she turned gold Johnny winced as he saw Alt struggling." Are you kidding me? Are these guys really invincible?"

"No, they are not invincible." Johnny turned around and saw Sage Sera fly in.

She looked at her own hands after being repaired from the corruption that the forces of the Universal Church of Truth infected her with before she looked at Sonic." Thanks to our allies from the alliance, I was given enough data to resist IV&C programs. I should be able to assist."

"Then go for it girl!" Sonic cried out as he gave a thumbs up. Sera then assisted Alt, and Shodan yelled with annoyance." It's useless, your all just maggots to us."

Sparks came out as the doors to deeper to the tower opened sightly before Reed nodded." Its working…a little."

Sera nodded as she saw Rattrap, Tron, and Clank try and assist before her eyes glowed." If you can destroy some of her routers and weaken her that would help to. There should be parts of her where you have to be."

"Then time to smash some machines." Sonic uttered confidently." C'mon guys time to do the thing at Sonic speed!"

He burst through the door before it could close again, and blitzed through a few tunnels. A minute later he entered a wide dome-like chamber with a glowing red sphere center and dozens of cables attached to the sphere.

He looked around before he raised an eyebrow." Is this the place? Because I need to know really quick if we need to protect it or break it!"

Shadow looked around before he nodded." This Cynosure Facility is where the extra-dimensional particles from the Maso are gathered around this Progenitor machine."

"So we can bring Mike back with this! Sweet let's do it!"

Knuckles groaned as he looked around." Oh come on Sonic don't tell me I was paying more attention then you! We needed to like, find where Mike's soul is in the afterlife or something right?"

"Correct." Shadow answered." We are going to need tech support to work the inner details. From what we gathered…since the IV&C now control the universe, all the souls of the dead are like a database now. We need to either get through there systems or know someone who knows the process."

Sonic winced before he rubbed his head." Who would be, huh? No way!"

He looked at the center of the Progenitor and saw someone was pressing buttons, and it was none other than Tails.

The two tailed fox was dressed in a dark gray shirt with grayish blue and yellow linings over a hood, black pants, a dark gray belt attached to a silver buckle with agear-like bracelet on his left wrist, and dark gray and white shoes with a gear on the toes, dark gray cuffs, thin black straps and gray soles. His left glove was black with white stripes and fingertips, while his right glove is completely white.

Sonic smirked before he ran up and smirked." Hey Tails! Nice job sneaking in! You always were playing it smart! The uniform's really lame but if you got here then it's all good."

Sonic saw Tails looked at him with a detached look before he raised a eyebrow." Oh…so you're hear already? That…is not what I expected. But Sonic the Hedgehog always surpasses the data even here eh?"

"You're telling me! When I saw another Ganondorf from another universe I half expected another Eggman to pop up!"

"Ah…not one but five. They called themselves the Chaos Council.

They were Dr. Babble, Dr. Deep, Dr. Don't, Dr. Done-It and Mr. Doctor Eggman."

Sonic rolled his eyes as he looked around." And I thought that Eggman Nega Blaze was dealing with was a pain. Well thanks for giving me a heads up they got nothing on us!"

Tails closed his eyes before he chuckled." You misunderstand. They won't be a problem; they been taken care of."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at how detached Tails looked before he shrugged." Seriously? Well has fun as it might be to smash eggs into each other guess we don't have time to waste. So how do we get this started Tails?"

Tails glove glowed before he turned around." I have it handled, just one thing."

As Sonic nodded Robotnik suddenly yelled out a panicked," Sonic what the blazes are you doing? Fox boy is with me!"

Sonic and the others widened their eyes before the Tails in front of them pressed a cyan button. As he did seven mechanical tails appeared out of his back, and suddenly red spheres opened up around the area.

They unleashed a shock-wave that turned the area red. Sonic tried to move, but saw himself moving at a fraction of his speed, before the Tails in front of him smirked." That was the Still Force just now Sonic.

I don't know how it works in this Prime Universe but where I'm from, the Still Force is a cosmic force based around entropy and inertia. It allows whoever taps into it to negate motion, bearing the potential to induce and accelerate the force of entropy.

At full power, the Still Force can stop the universe from expanding, so the" Flashtime" your under now is enough to even put you in your tracks with your Chaos Emeralds eh Sonic?

Oh, and by the way, if you're still too slow to realize it right now, I'm not the Tails you know, I'm Tails Nine of the Infinite Victory and Conquest Corporation! For a while I thought being around this Prime Universe was not for me, but then I for fun saw if a version of me was in this universe, and then I saw you Sonic.

You see, this is ideal…you're going to help me when the one in New Yoke City in my universe failed to do and help me make a superior existence! Like I said, the Chaos Council were deluded fools, and Mr. V-Day personally approved of how I eliminated them, and I don't plan for his opinion to change on me."

Sonic could only begin to scream, but it was like he was being played in slow motion as Shodan laughed." You fools! You move like an insect. You think like an insect. You ARE an insect. There is another who can serve our purpose. Take care not to fall too far out of our favor... patience is not characteristic of god!"

The ultimate Reed Richards, the " Maker" walked out from the door to the right of Nines and snickered." Well played Thinker…the rubes took the bait even easier than expected."

Nine snickered before he saw Sonic very slowly trying to yell." It's as the report said Reed…only at this speed can he understand what's going on!"

Tanjiro, Kaine, Johnny, Ratchet, and most of their group made it to the chamber before Kaine saw the minions of the IV&C looking at them before she grit her teeth." Huh? That almost looks like Mister Fantastic, the legendary member of the Fantastic Four. Damn it they have one of those to!?"

The Maker snickered before muttering," I'm not just Reed Richards woman. I'm the ultimate Reed Richards. The one who's finally going to solve everything.

Once, I remade myself-from ordinary hero to Maker. Once, I remade a city-and in it, I lived a thousand years and crashed the future into the present. But I look back now on all I accomplished with nothing but regret... and the shame of a man who imagined much, much too small. I can do so much better. Do you think you can do better?

Did you really think we could not read your plan "rebel scum"? You're so desperate that you thought you could revive your friends but…all that's going to happen is that you're going to be more useful experiments to us! Dr. Progen…let's begin, yes? Scratch…Coconuts … Snively… Decoe...Bocoe...Agent Stone…prove you can serve me better then your old masters and help set things up."

He snapped his fingers before another scientist, an older man with a gem on his head nodded before aides of Nine, a robotic chicken, a robotic monkey with a alarm on its head, a golden and sliver robot, and two human aides came in and pressed a few buttons.

Wires burst out of the chamber before coming together, and taking the shape of humans that looked like 2B and 9S. Kaine looked at the clones of her former comrades before the male uttered," Ah…how nice of you to join us."

The woman instantly followed up with," Yes…how nice of you to join us. We are the administrators and we,"

"Oh hell no!" Kaine hissed out as she dashed forward and slashed the twins in half. As they fell to the ground the same voice uttered," How full of life you are."

Before they reappeared out of the ceiling. The female then grinned." But we won't get anywhere like this. Yes, welcome to the sea of Humanity souls…welcome to the cemetery of Sin and Punishment."

Kaine rolled her eyes before spitting out," What the sweet crap is up with these freaks?"

"We have been watching since we were assigned to this universe subject Yorha unit A2."

The female then said," We have long been listening…to the stories of recycled vessels. What will you show us?"

"Will you show us your potential?"

"Entertain us. You last who defy the IV&C are strong…so we have taken the liberty of sampling that strength for future reference."

The twins' eyes glowed, before more pillars of wires burst up, turning into grey wire shaped copies of Kaine. She saw copies of herself staring back at her with cold eyes before she winced." Son of a…are those things me!?"

"Yes…we have taken the data from the remains of the Bethal Kingdom's network for further study. These are copies of you, shaped by machinery. To be more precise, a collection of microscopic, plant-based propulsion units bound together with Maso particles. You sought to revive your comrades yes? That is not allowed…only those deemed suitable to be IP for the IV&C will be allowed to be reproduced."

Tanjiro saw this all before he grasped his sword tightly." Damn it…people's lives…their souls…are not just property for you to decide like mere toys!"

"And you think a mere common human like you can decide who has the right? Nonsense…those without power…don't matter."

The Maker laughed as he saw Sonic's allies start to fight through the Kaine clones." Heroes. Villains. Good guys. Bad guys. Here's what you don't understand simpleton: this is not a universe of absolutes.

This is a universe of confusion and of death and of misery. We have defeated gods. We will destroy "The People". Let evolution shake every core of the very multiverse. Let none stand against the Children of Tomorrow. So many of you are just hanging on by a thread…would it not be better to join the winning side eh? "

He snapped his finger again before Songbird cried out in pain. Reed winced before uttering," Songbird…break out of the connection before, GUH!"

To his dread his agent shot his leg before Songbird's eyes glowed red." You…you used me my entire life…all of you Bethal dogs did! For the Auro family, the Bethal Kingdom... I'm just another weapon in their arsenal. A tool for reachin' beyond the Blackwall. And weapons and tools? They don't get to make decisions or choose to retire. You knew I was dying and expected me to just be patriotic enough to die for a nation that's dead! Even if it's too late… before it all goes dark… for one last second, I'll know I wasn't alone in the darkness!"

Wires burst into Songbird as she laughed madly. As she merged with a spider-like drone Johnny glared at Reed." Maybe would have thought to bring more stable crew for a mission like this man?"

"I told you before…we did not have time to be picky." Reed spat out bitterly as he dodged fire from his own corrupted teammate." We just got to adapt or die! The Cynosure core…if we disrupt it we can shut down the defenses these scientists are throwing out."

Nine flew into the air with his tails before he had a mad look in his eyes." No…you can't escape!"

Nine put his metal tails into the Progenitor machine, before it glowed and had more faces come out.

As wire shaped heads burst out to try and devour its targets, Nine saw Sonic's shock and just smirked." I was trained by the misery of life and this foul and heartless universe, so I'm doing what my inferior counterpart in this universe could never do and step out of your shadow!

It took seeing a few of you dying across the Multiverse Sonic, but I at last understand you! You want to save everyone; friends, foes, total strangers. You say it's because you're a hero, and that's what heroes do. But deep down, after what you did, destroying your own home, it's the only way you can ever live with yourself, even if that means you won't live at all.

My Sonic from the Knothole Village kept telling lies that I believe…till I was captured and had to thrive by any means necessary! If I did not listen to you, those fools, Christopher "Chris" Thorndyke, Tom Wachowski , and Wade Whipple would not have been allowed to betray us to Dark Oak and the rest of the Metarex and Cosmos would still be alive!

But you're going help me and your counterpart by not just saying you're doing good but doing something useful for once!"

He snapped his fingers, before the symbol of the IV&C appeared below Sonic, and a sphere appeared to close around Sonic, Shadow, and their group. As Sonic slowly looked shocked Nine's smirk widened." Your speed is going to be put to good use Sonic.

You're all going to run in these antimatter chambers where your speed will help us form a Super Genesis Wave…and take part in remaking this entire flawed Multiverse into what they should be!"

Ratchet saw Sonic being trapped by a vile version of his own best friend from another universe before he grasped his Omni-Wrench." C'mon Clank, we can't let everyone we care about be taken by these monsters!"

He was about to try and do something when a blast hit Clank in the back, before an angry voice cried out," If you care about those who should matter Ratchet, then you should stop resisting and do what it takes to save your kind, like me! It's what your father would have wanted! "

Ratchet winced, and turned around to see that General Alister Azimuth was the one who attacked him, still looking like a golden Ignister soldier.

Having last seen him after Bowser smashed him, Ratchet winced at seeing one of the last of his kind looking as crazed as when he killed Rivet before Bowser crushed him back on Crash's world caused Ratchet to look bitterly at the man that he once saw as his mentor."

Alister…your still alive? You been serving this Sieg the whole time? What…what have you done?"

"What I had to for the survival of the Lombax race boy!"

"You can't say that after you killed Rivet!"

"She was a traitor…don't repeat her mistake Ratchet! These fools have no hope of winning, but if we side with Mr-V Day then he will reward us by reviving the Lombax race!"

"You mean as slaves to be his pets or something?"

"Some sort of existence is better than none Ratchet! This is your responsibility. You can't just walk away! The lombaxes need us!"

Clank grasped Ratchet before uttering," The universe, if not the whole Multiverse needs us more General. I'm sure that Ratchet's father and most of his kind would not want to be brought back as slaves at the cost of everyone else."

"Silence you miserable, heartless, soulless little robot!"

He fired a blast from his own Wrench, but Ratchet shot the blast to counteract it. As the shock-wave blew him and Clank into the wall Ratchet got up and glared bitterly at the former Four-Bolt Magistrate of the Lombax Praetorian Guard that he used to respect. "You really are blind Alister, cause Clank has more soul than you ever will! You're more nefarious than well, Doctor Nefarious at this point! I'll never join you!"

I'm sorry, Ratchet! I've come too far to fail now! I didn't want it to be like this! You were supposed to be here on my side! We could've saved them together! You think you're any better? You're just trying to save a fool of a prince from a fallen government!"

Ratchet saw those still fighting around him and grasped his weapons tightly." Mike Auro may not be perfect, but he still deserves better than the deal he got! Bringing back one friend is not the same as an entire people Alister."

"It's worthless…those Reapers in charge of the afterlife would never let him come back."

"Well, I guess I have faith that he's strong enough to get past some sell outs."

"Damn you Ratchet! It's a good thing your father isn't alive to see you like this. A coward, a traitor. He would have been so ashamed. You have nothing but a foolish delusion!"

"Maybe…but having faith in that dream of defiance to the end is better than just rolling over for sell outs like you!"

"Ratchet…I'm going to let you live to see me destroy this fool that corrupted you and have Mr.V-Day make an example out of you! You dare mock my resolve because it's not" Nice enough?" All the ones who tried to play it "nice" are dead! The age of hero's is over boy, only the survivors are left and they survived by any means necessary! By the end of the day, the only thing that will really matter is who grasps victory! And everyone will see just who that is or die!"

Alister smashed his wrench into the ground before unleashing a shock-wave of energy in all directions, and Ratchet dashed out of the way as he tried to figure out how to take down one of the last members of his race.

As he did others were trying to prove Alister wrong too, some who were dead and still trying to prove his views wrong, like Mike.

With all the Reapers in the" underground" that had second thoughts becoming drones thanks to the O-Pins, even the combined teams in the Reaper Games were being press to the wall.

As we return to Mike and his group, after Minamimoto was stopped the mind-controlled Reapers and Taboo Noise seemed unlimited. However the former" Players" were too close to their goal to give up now and did not hesitate for a moment.

Mike led the way and kicked down a building sized Phoenix Cantus, an amalgamation of the stray cognitive energy from the billions who died in only the past day, before they made it through the" Trail of the Bygone" and into the House of Hope.

Mike saw part of the house Raphael did not show him before, and saw countless chained bodies, the "Eternal Debtors" stumble into a pillar in the bottom before he looked around." Are we going the right way? Doubt we have much time."

Shoka looked around before she winced." In hell time is always running out. No matter which world, every sentient species has an afterlife- some have many. Hells are common. But now the life streams of all worlds are all linked, bound to this" Infinite Victor and Conquest"s soul server or something. It's been giving everyone strokes trying to do all the extra paperwork. But they are all directed by Kitaniji, and he should be commanding the game from the House of Hope's Chamber of Egress."

Everyone saw large red doors in the distance before Bowser cracked his neck." Please I seen better made doors made in Boosters Tower! I'll smash it open before they know what, huh?"

He saw the doors open before the Koopa King shrugged." Guess he wants to save the bill?"

Mike took a deep breath before he made sure his power was still stable." Well saving only one thing is going to spare him a lot of grief. Time to get our lives back.

The group ran into the Chamber before they saw Megumi casually sipping the drink. Mike noticed Raphael was bound to chains on one of the seats before Mike raised a eyebrow." So did the bet go as you thought dude or not?"

The devil coughed a bit before snickering bitterly." Oh the bet went more as much as I hoped…but I expected that among us devils there would not be this amount of pettiness."

Neon White noticed the cat Mikey was also bound to a chair, and others like the man that Kei saw inside some of the Gantz spheres, before Neku first saw that Mister H had been captured since the fight started, and next to him saw another person bound to a chair was someone with the appearance of a fifteen year-old boy with a rather slender build. His eyes were dark violet-colored, and he had wavy, tousled, neck-length ash blond hair with a gray-ish tone.

He was dressed in a gray-ish lavender short-sleeved button-down shirt, with white lining around the hems of the sleeves. He also wore dark gray trousers that slouch over the tops of his white sneakers with black laces and soles. His shirt is loosely unbuttoned at the neck and the low hem of the shirt. Neku saw the man and's eyes widened in shock." Wait…Jousha? I…I thought Minamimoto erased you?"

"Well…that was how the game was supposed to have been played but, ugh!"

His shackles sent a current of electricity into him before Kitaniji snickered." The teammate you knew as" Joshua" was really Yoshiya Kiryu…the Composer of the Reaper's games. He was an angel, who tried to hide the shape of his feathers. But he could not deny his true nature when he tried to save you, Mike Auro. But alas you're here, so welcome.

Yes. Welcome, Players. Well, Ex-Players, that is. Your Game has ended. Now you are simply Dead."

Mike got into a fighting stance before he shrugged. "So this is your show eh?"

"No…I just make sure it runs smoothly."

"Then if you want to not fall to pieces get out of the way so we can take up are grief with your boss."

"You think you're fit to see him? Not a chance. You're not even fit to look upon him!"

"I don't really care what standards you have shades…it's because of you and your boss that we all are suffering under this game!"

"You think your being" mistreated?" Nonsense. Mr. V-Day's upmost concern is mankind's prosperity. He exists to shepherd the human race toward the right future, and thus all his acts are motivated by boundless love. You think egotists like yourselves have the right to lay your eyes- let alone a finger- on a being so far above you? You're not even on the same plane!"

Beat rolled his eyes before spitting out," Yo, I don't get a word you sayin', but you ain't stoppin' me! No matter what you think makes something great, I'm getting me and my sister alive again!"

"You see! That self-serving rubbish is the root of all pain!"

"What?"

"Egotism- disregard for others- has caused the entire universe 's downfall. And now the IV&C must rebuild from scratch! None may stand in the way of that noble goal!

Neku looked around the room, and saw some of the paintings before he widened his eyes." Wait…this art…This graffiti... I remember, Mr. H. Your art kept me going. Every piece seemed to shout, "Enjoy life!" And outside my headphones, the rest of the world heard it, too.

It was fun just standing here, looking... When I found out you were CAT, man, I just shook. I mean, I knew you were different the second I met you. The things you said... Somehow, they just clicked. I thought I finally met a guy I could respect. And now look...But I won't falter anymore. You taught me better than that."

Kitaniji snickered before grasping his fist tightly." You misunderstood my art greatly kid. Ha ha ha ha! I'm amazed! Here you stand on the final stage- and still don't know who's playing what!"

"It's rather damn clear asshole who's been playing what man." Mike uttered bitterly." You're treating all are lives like it's a game and we are sick of it!"

The Conductor of the Reaper games just snickered." Come now Prince Auro…Neku…don't you like music?"

"Depends on if it's coming from someone with taste or just spat out from some hack's algorithm."

"Music requires many things. Melody, performers, instruments... But

The key element in the most divine music is a Conductor, to hold it all together. The universe, if not the multiverse is very much the same. Under one Conductor, one ideal, the cosmos of men marches toward bliss." One ideal?"

" Didn't you feel it in all across the universe when you were alive? Rage. Hate. Misery. Envy. Fear. Self-deprecation. A cacophony of countless selfish wants. As that noise swells, it turns into crime, warfare... All the multiverse's ills can be traced to diversity!"

"Ills"?

"By tearing down the differences and boiling things down to the most efficient way, Mr.V day will forge existence into how they should be! Mike Auro…the only path to salvation is begging for forgiveness! What have your dealings with other people brought you in the end? Only hurt. Join me in building a new superior existence and you can yet get salvation. After all…sticking to your path just got you killed!"

As Mike looked conflicted Neku shouted out a defiant," I'll never help you! Maybe living in your reality WOULD be easier.

Maybe. Except one problem- it wouldn't be living! I was never good with people. I covered my ears and blocked them out. But you know what? If I don't clash, I don't change.

The world ends at my borders, and the best moments slip away. Life's full of people waiting for those moments, when we clash together and find something new. Here in the UG, I clashed. I changed. And now I know—the universe should stay just as it is!

"Then let me ask you this...Do you like people?"

"Yup"

" ... I see... I think you need to be reformed."

"We don't care what you think! Just what did you think was going to happen? Huh?"

The ground started to shake as everyone heard moans. Countless souls started to swirl around Kitaniji before his eyes glowed red and his reaper wings came out of his back." I owe you no more explanations! Only destruction! You have no authority here…you can't just punch or kick your way back to life!"

"You would be surprised how much a good ass kicking can solve problems at times." Mike uttered sharply. He was about to move before souls got in front of his target and Kitaniji smirked." How many more lives do you want to damn…again!"

To his shock the face of Makima appeared before Mike turned pale." What…Makima was here to?"

Van then saw the soul of Wendy appear before he became enraged." No…no way in hell Wendy deserved to end up here!"

Kitaniji laughed before unleashing a bitter," Don't you get it yet? There is no heaven or hell anymore! Morality means nothing, only value to the masters of the house and you will suffer if you bore them regardless of virtue or vice! The souls not used in the Reaper's game are still" Processing" but we command them all! Did you ever think about what your actions meant to the bystanders of the universe? Then hear…hear them now, all at once! "

Kitaniji snapped his hands before souls poured out of the room, and swarmed everyone. Mike, Bowser, Neku, and the rest were overwhelmed with despair as Mike felt the pain of millions of those who died recently. Megumi grit his teeth before uttering," Now Players, we play for keeps."

He had two snake head appear out of his shoulders before his aura surged." It's up to you! Stand down and all the souls I command won't be purged, they will await being reconfigured by Mr.V-day for "reprocessing." Defy your fate any more…and everyone in this realm and the living realm will suffer because of your insolence! You surpassed everyone's expectations raising your power level to the heights of your family, but that still is not enough compared to the despair of the collective unconscious wills of the universe!"

Mike tried to block out the raw despair he was feeling before he winced." So…my parents souls are here to?"

Kitaniji winced before he snickered darkly." The souls of Ben Auro and Lacus Raystar are…special…but for defying Mr.V-Day there punishment is even more severe then most! But the Auro family has brought nothing but ruin to the universe! Just look at where things are now! The only way to truly save everyone, is to die!"

Mike winced as he uttered," Damn it…is…this really the only way I can help someone?"

"YES!" Kitaniji replied. "Be devoured once and for all! Game, set, match, the void awaits! Devour, Draco Cantus!"

Cages of souls paralyzed everyone as Mike winced." No…what did I really accomplish while alive? Did…I just drag things out? Would…it be better just to die?"

Raphael laughed bitterly as he saw the chaos around him and sang out," Well, in the end it is all just a song of despair eh? It's one I made a musical about!

Lives, all mortal lives, expire

Souls go to their dooms, in flame, forever more

Hell, hell, hell has it's laws

Hell, hell, effects and the cause

Curtain falls, but hold your applause

Squirm, squirm, for now down here come the claws

Lives, all mortal lives, expire

Souls go to their dooms, in flame, forever more

Fools, fools, how hard you have fought

Brave, brave, but it's all been for naught

True souls, that couldn't be bought

Doomed, detected, and caught

No more dеals, it's over

The final act, your doom

No more grace, it's over

This House of Hope

Your tomb!"

As Raphael kept singing deliriously Neku winced as he grasped his head." No…this can't be what all the souls hear want! It's just what Kitaniji wants them to say...what he is " conducting" them to say! We…have to break their control!"

"Its useless!" The Conductor replied." I'm the master of this realm…the reapers command the souls! So just submit!"

Massive demonic snake heads formed around him to prepare and devour Mike. But as they licked their lips Jousha struggled against his confinement." You may be the master…but I still worked this game, and knew how to guide the souls. Neku…brace yourself!"

Neku's onetime teammate cast a quick spell, before the tornado of souls was rattled. This allowed Neku, Beat, and some of the other long time teammates to be able to focus before Neku saw Jousha and nodded." Right. Guys…lets wake everyone up!"

Him, Rindo, and a few others combined their magic to disrupt the effect they were having. This caused the overwhelming pressure on Mike to recede long enough for him to regain his senses. He saw everyone struggling, and grasped his fist tightly." Damn it…nice try but you're not offing me with this con like a two-bit hustler.

I made many mistakes…but just giving up because of them will only help assholes like you! You and your bosses are the ones most responsible for everyone here's suffering, and no one, alive or dead is going to be blinded to your con anymore! Gyo, En, Kyo, Ken… Sainte Jambe!"

Mike's angel wings extended before he kicked the tornado of souls, and repelled them.

Kitaniji winced before his eye twitched." No matter how powerful you are now Michael Auro…you can't stop this judgment! It's the judgment of all the, huh?"

He saw the storm of souls come for him before he widened his eyes." What…what are you doing? GUAH!" His shades were knocked off as the barrage of souls toppled him over. Mike saw the Composer's shades land near him and shrugged." Voicing their opinion without a filter! You reap what you sow Conductor."

Kitaniji was knocked into the river of the dead off the House of Hope and screamed as he was dragged to the depths of the afterlife.

Alphen heard the screams fade before he looked around." Does…that mean we won? Wait…did we need him to get back to life?"

"No." Jousha uttered as the angel looked down." You just needed someone to open the gateway. How these games have worked…is that the winner of the Reaper's Game would be allowed to descend past the Yomi river and go through the Green Door in the Ginnungagap…the barrier that goes through and below the deepest layer of Hell, to the real world or " living realm" at one point…it was a passage way from hell, to King Yemma's desk drawer…and if he approved you could go on back to the living realm.

The process was once used by a Doctor Gero to have his Hell Android 17 make a portal to the living realm vie linking to the original Android 17…though that was thanks to a pact with Zannacross.

Its…since been reconfigured to go to the Corpora Plaza that the Vought clan controls.

You know about the " Beach's" that have appeared, and causes some to return to life? This, recreates that effect for anyone.

The Beach acts as a sort of limbo, a place between the world of the living and what comes after it. It is a manifestation of humankind's consciousness and their personal conception of death.

But on this side the door only opens when the key is pushed. I…can replicate the " key" but it will only work once before those on the other side slam the door. So, we must go to the " Basement" of the House of Hope to go down the pathway, to the Absolution chamber…."

Mike looked around before he saw the river of souls below." And what about all the souls trapped here?"

"I'm sorry, there's no feasible way to revive everyone right now."

Mike sighed before he grasped his fist tightly." I get it, gamble too high and you're asking to blow it and lady luck's grace is thin as it is. I'm sorry everyone, I'll do what I can to make this "extra life" worth something. Lead the way!"

After freeing Jousha and the rest of those bound by Kitaniji, everyone went to the depths of the house of hope past the Yomi currents.

There they saw a tunnel with the reaper's face as a door where two ogres severed heads were on spikes with many bullet holes and blades in them.

The left head was a blue ogre with a burnt mustache with a horn on his head, the right head was a red ogre with two horns on his head. They awoke as everyone came and the left one chuckled weakly." Hey Goz…they coming to give us are reward yet?"

"I don't know Mez." The other ogre weakly replied." Not sure if we passed the new bosses test yet. Did…did we beat the test? We…we hung in there despite…all the tests."

Mike saw the fanatical look the two ogre heads had before he sighed." Yah man…your hardcore. We are here to change things up…so you don't have to worry anymore."

"Awesome…that's…awesome."

As Goz and Mez closed their eyes Mike narrowed his fist." Let's go…enough people have been kept waiting as it is."

The group quickly entered the depths of hell…while a few like Bowser had to be magically squeezed through they all made it to a round area. It looked like a dome…with a large door.

Mike looked at it carefully before he looked behind him." So…this is it? The door…that leads back to life?"

The Tick rubbed his shoulders before he winced." I admit chums I know we are in a deep basement but it feels so cold that it's going to take a lot of whacking to get the door open!

Jousha winced as he looked at the large chains around the area." Wait..something is wrong…this is the door, but its also merged with the center of Lake Cocytus. That…is the frozen lake of the ninth circle, where those who committed treachery against God are punished.

The door, its being bound by the Chains of Judecca."

Mike winced before he looked around." Don't tell me we took a wrong turn or something dude."

Before anyone could answer a burst of crude laughter burst out and was followed with," Wrong your highness…it's the door to your reward, the final reward smucks like the lot of you deserve!"

Pillars of flames burst up, before the rocks above the door parted and revealed Tanzo Kubo. Kubo saw Mike's shock before he widened his smile." Nyeheh! Not bad! You've got moxie, kid. Congrats…you defied most of the bets! You're making this one hell of a show! But…time for a reality check "hero"."

Mike rolled his eyes before spitting out," I thought the last guy was the one in charge of the game?"

Kubo's eye twitched before he leaned forward." He was in charge of the game, but I'm the one in charge of the whole property kid!

You can call me Tanzo Kubo…the Executor of the affairs of the dead! I'm a busy man but since mooks like Shiba Miyakaze and Megumi Kitaniji keep dropping the ball I have too personally oversea this! And FYI…I'm not as kind as everyone else so far! I tried to give the reapers some breathing room to prove themselves but since they screwed the pooch so badly trying to be" artsy" over getting results...I'm putting plan B into action!"

Mike had his aura flare up before he cracked his neck." This the part where you throw all the other reapers at us? We beat your damn game and we will beat you if your going to be a sore loser about it!"

" There's no "deal," kid. Life ain't fair, and the afterlife sure as hell ain't, either. Ya just gotta suck it up and play the Game your betters give yah or shut the hell up!

But nah…no more reapers. Just a guard dog…a very savage dog. I saved the best…for last!"

Kubo snapped his fingers before the Chains of Judecca dragged a obelisk out of the center, the direct center of the Ninth Circle of Hell.

Mike expected a monster, but only saw an armored man, the same man that previously attacked Utopian and Granola.

Mike only saw a wild look in the armored figure's eyes before he paused." What is this? Is he…some special hitman from the IV&C or something?"

"Heh…close enough. Oh he did not join willingly, but everyone works for Mr.V-Day wither they want to or not…so this here…is are hound that rips apart anyone his master commands him to."

"So your spin on Cerberus eh? I don't care about another damn,"

The new figure suddenly roared with enough fury to freeze everyone in their place, and as the roar died down Mike looked at the new man with a look mixed of shock and dread." Wait…why…why do I remember that voice? No…dad…don't tell me you been dead all along. I, huh?"

With a flick of Kubo's wrist, the mask was pulled off the captive…revealing dirty blond hair that was the length of his neck, and a scar on his left eyebrow.

As Mike saw the scar…he felt a chill down his spine as his eyes widened." No…it…can't be."

Alphen saw Mike's dread before he raised an eyebrow." Mike…you know this man? Is…he this Sieg or one of his minions?"

Bowser saw the man's face and rubbed his head." Hey…wait…have we met? I…think we fought before. Wait…you remind me of a guy during the…wait…wait no way!"

The man chuckled bitterly before his dazed eyes looked a bit more focused." Oh man…even a guy like you is freer than me? This…this really is some sick joke. So..the stray from the pack found the alpha, even if he had to go all the way to hell to do it.

Seriously...this another joke? After all…how the hell did a guy who never took a fight seriously in his life, suddenly bust through hell's worst to run into me? Sounds like one lame ass joke, eh Mikey?

Guess courage really still is the magic that turns dreams into reality…some dreams at least."

Mike resisted the urge to throw up as he stepped back." No…it really is you…Max."

Bowser widened his eyes before he looked at the man before him." Wait…Max? Oh snap…wait as in Max Bruder, Ben Auro's cousin? You look…paler than I remember."

"Yah well dying can do that to a guy. "Max answered glibly. Mike saw that Max was crying out black tears before he winced." Max…so…Sieg really did kill you? Wait…I remember that ghost on ZDR…really was you?"

Max winced before he looked down and chuckled bitterly." So that was not a hallucination? Heh…the universe really is falling apart eh? So you do know what happened? Good…we don't have time for a sob story right now. Or maybe we have all the time in the world. After all…seems like those assholes got everyone eh?"

Mike winced before he tried to keep his hand from shaking." Max…I don't know what you know, but you have to know that the fight's not over! There are people who are opposing Sieg…who are fighting him no matter how powerful he's gotten! It's not over…but…we have to not let him win. It…it's the only way I can make up for my mistake."

Max raised an eyebrow before he muttered," Your…your mistake? So…you never knew. Oh Mike…this was never your sin to atone for."

"Huh? What do you mean? You and Richard died because you were looking for me…then my parents and so many others got killed by Sieg because of me!"

"No…it was Sieg's fault…no matter what it was his…his and…AHH!"

His eyes glowed red before he screamed out in pain. Kubo laughed from above before he crossed his hands." C'mon mutt come clean! The kid's come this far he should know the real reason his family was ripped apart! You're company property now mutt, you can't hide anything, even your memories!"

Max's eyes glowed red before they shot a beam into the ceiling. The beam covered the entire area, and then showed Max looking around on a planet. Mike realized these were his memories, and was confused at first before he saw Richard land behind Max. He saw behind Max was a giant golden corpse before his brother uttered," Max? So you got here first?"

Max winced before he chuckled bitterly." What you doing all the way in this whatever Richie? Don't you have a wife that wants her anniversary to be remembered?"

"Finding Mike matters more, she understands that. X said that you went through this space time anomaly and I came to confirm it. If…if Doug really took my brother into this realm, a possible true other universe then I can't let Mikey be on his own…he can hardly handle Corneria's watered down undersector without getting his ass kicked after all. Still…why did you not tell us you were going into the portal?"

Max sighed before he looked at the corpse." Cause…cause I did not want to alert Doug. You know how erratic a guy he is. If he has a "Gut" feeling he could warp off to anywhere in the universe…or even a whole new universe apparently…he's free to go wherever he wants whenever he wants."

"For now." Richard answered bitterly." But no matter what he's done he will answer for all the sins he caused to the universe, and beyond! After all, it's as we feared, and he seems to have done what that Beyonder did long ago in his" Battleworld." Yes...instead of giving up this grudge like father hoped, he is amassing an army after all to try and end things. Is…this giant one of his new followers?"

"Beats me." Max answered plainly." This clunker was in pieces when I got here. Would not be the first time Doug wasted someone he got fed up with but, that's what I'm trying to figure out."

Richard looked around at the Pyramid of Argus past Max before he shrugged." Is Doug…building a temple for new worshipers? I knew everything he said was a lie…and that he just wants to be master of everything."

Max winced before he cleared his throat." Hold on man, fact is we have no proof any of this has to do with Doug. The fact that none of this is his style, could mean its someone else."

"Then what? He is trying to create his own lifeforms?"

Max sighed before he looked up." We know Doug created this hole in reality, and if it really does lead to a multiverse, it could be anyone. Remember how Ben tried to contact someone to see if anyone could help change the tides? What if this is those people."

"Wait…does that mean someone got the message and Doug wiped out the planet so no one could help us?"

Before Max could answer they saw a shinning light blind them before a calm voice cut in with," Oh the message was heard Richard Auro. But you misunderstand reality, for its your kind that will be wiped out so very shortly."

The light faded, before Sieg descended from the very sky to land on the top of the Pyramid of Argus with an amused look. Mary quickly appeared behind him, with the Totality castle descending from the sky.

Richard and Max were both shocked to see a man that looked like there cousin and father, but looked so utterly different at the same time before Richard raised an eyebrow." Dad…what…what is this? When you said you were preparing something to settle things with Doug this new castle is not what I had in mine!"

Sieg saw Richard's confusion and snickered." "Dad"? I see…that quickly explains why I sensed a piece of myself, a corrupted piece. So…you're the ones that were foolish enough to damage my property, just as this was going to be where I hosted my golf meeting for the yearly quarterly review."

Max saw how casual Sieg looked before he raised an eyebrow." Um…Ben…when I said you needed to mix things up a little this was really not the vibe I was leaning on because honestly you look like a spoiled asshole. I mean with that beard are you trying to come off as old man Myers? Yah…not getting the respect vibes from you with it…just prick vibes."

Mary narrowed her eyes before responding with a cold," Ben…as in Ben Auro? I see…so these are the ones. How…fascinating. Clearly not members of the Alliance…but they can still be of use to us."

Max quickly noticed the cold look Sieg had before he narrowed his eyes." Those eyes…you may have my cousin's face but those are not his eyes. What is this? I know Doug captured Ben's Shadow clone recently…was this him trying to make some sick joke?"

"The only joke is thinking I'm anything like your cousin." Sieg answered coldly." I have nothing to do with this "Doug", and I'm not anything related to those such as you…I'm a brand far superior.

I'm Sieg V-day Elgan…the man who always wins…and you're trespassing on my property. And you will learn promptly that I have no tolerance for disrespect."

Sieg unleashed his aura, and both men below him were slammed to the ground Max chuckled bitterly." What the hell is this? Fusing Ben with that asshole Xiza's personality?"

Richard struggled to get to his feet as he uttered," Wait Max…this could very well be another universe. Sir Sieg…we apologize for the appearance of coming off as hostile. But we were not the ones who attacked, and mean you no harm."

Sieg paused before he eyed Richard carefully, then shrugged." It is true that you might not be the ones who attacked the Gold ranked Ignister posted over here. But there's something your overlooking…the fact that your very existence irritates me. Yes…I have no tolerance for inferiors who degrade my brand."

"What?" Richard cried out with indignation." How heartless could you be to make such a deranged judgment?"

"Not heartless…practical." Sieg replied." And the fact that you're in any position to think you can demand better shows how out of your depth you are. But I'm not one who's irrational enough to instantly judge one's worth.

I'll give you a chance to prove me wrong. So…prove your worth to me. Prove to me you can become worthy assets to me and my Infinite Victory and Conquest corporation…or die."

Richard winced before he went for his sword." You're asking for a fight? Once this starts…there's no going back."

Max saw how amused Sieg looked before he cracked his neck." Richard…you better wake the hell up because there's already no going back. Whatever this guy is…I think he's stronger than Doug and Brad combined! Hold nothing back, you hear me? Sieg right? Whatever you are…you're going to regret cornering a wolf and giving him no room to go anywhere but through you! Heaven or Hell, let's rock!

Sin Devil Trigger! Ignite…Dante!"

Max had a demonic red aura burst out of him before he transformed. After his transformation finished he was surrounded by large ram-like horns with a second smaller set extending from the top. He had reptilian feet, and his knuckles had a curved silver edge, which tapered off to an outward point on either side.

Segmented purple bands wrapped around the entirety of his arms, much like armor, while a thicker purple band arches behind him, over his head, with its ends protruding from under his shoulders.

His chest and head glowed with incandescent orange.

His whole body was wreathed in demonic flames as two pairs of wings were now flapping about.

The solid parts of the body seemed to be a combination of metal and black demonic stone: any areas of exposed "skin" were covered in square scales.

Over his face was a mask that resembled the one he use to worn when he donned his alter ego Janus the Zandalorian bounty hunter known as the Terror of Death.

Max was now holding a sword larger than his body, This blade Dante looked like a large two-handed sword made mostly of a dark substance resembling solidified lava, with claws running up its length, talons for a hand-guard and a red jewel on its pommel.

Richard saw Max get into a fighting stance, and saw Sieg just looked amused before he narrowed his eyes and had his hair turn golden." So, we did not find Doug only to find a new fight…so be it. Ban…KAI!"

He quickly unleashed his own full power before getting into a fighting stance." Sōō Ehrgeiz Fate-Breaker!"

Sieg saw both members of the Auro family prepare to fight before he closed his eyes." A family of light and darkness in unison? Is that supposed to impress me?"

"I don't know jackass." Max uttered grimly." Just what does impress you?"

"True power…so prove you have it or be gone. I'm starting my 24-second shot clock. So I'll give you one last act of freedom. The only privilege you get from me is deciding how you die. Heads or tails?"

As Sieg casually took out a coin and flipped it as Sieg looked up Max yelled out," Turn your back on me? You asked for it! Blazing Sin Judgment!"

Max came from above while bringing Dante down with an energy infused slash. At the same time Richard came from the side while crying out," Sōō Shinryu Requiem Teppō!"

Mike's brother and cousin hit Sieg with a blow that cracked the entire planet. But despite this Sieg just narrowed his eyes." Ah…a weapon with Nth Metal? A sound theory trying to disrupt my magical energy…but only if we were anything close to being equals. Your fangs can't even come close to devouring infinity.

If you thought merely cracking a planet with your strength was enough to impress me…you're so very out of your league…and beyond having any value to me as nothing more than maggots to crush. You don't have the resolve to be a asset to me clearly. For you're not an entrepreneur; you're a want-repreneur."

Sieg suddenly formed a barbed baseball bat in his right hand, and swung his hand. The bat shattered Dante and Ehrgiez effortlessly, while also smashing into both men's chest.

The impact blasted Max and Richard away, and Richard could hardly see as he yelled out," What…what is he? Even…even father can't hit that hard!"

"I don't know Richard but only if we get everyone to pile on this asshole can we live long enough to find out!" Max uttered. Quickly…unleash all the power you have to keep him busy enough so we can get back through the portal! School…of the Undefeated of the East!

Sekiha…Majin Kizan…TENKYOKEN!"

Max quickly unleashed his ultimate energy attack, a giant golden energy fist that was spinning around and had green energy blades flying around it. As it launched Richard coughed up blood as he had his golden aura flare up as high as he could." No…have to get out of this nightmare!

Burning Celestial…Shinryukenha!"

The two fired off their most powerful energy attacks at once. But while the combined projectile became as large as a moon in seconds, Sieg just sighed." Oh trust me…the nightmare is just beginning. Time for a "double header".

Daikokuten: Sukunahikona: Twin Crash!"

Sieg formed a golden energy sphere in his hand and casually flung it in the air, before smashing it with his bat like it was a baseball. The ball casually shattered Max and Richard's attack in an instant, before splitting into two halves.

Max and Richard only had time to blink, before the ball, and the coin Sieg flicked up earlier became the size of cities before Max blurted out," Oh, GUAH!"

The two enlarged objects came down on them in an instant, and Max had to use all of his strength to stop him and Richard from being crushed.

Max heard bones breaking before he winced." Richard…get back to Ben. This is my fault…just tell them what happened so we can fight back."

"Max…I…GUH!"

Before Richard even had a chance to agree, a web-like chain struck him in the heart. As he screamed out in pain, Mary was casually above him with a detached look." Sad little pup…there is no fighting back. The only thing you can do…is suffer in agony."

Sieg then flew up before he had a sadistic look in his eyes." Pathetic...you would devalue my collection. You been allowed to linger in your delusion for too long boy. All genes… all people have a predestined fate. I have a mighty fate… a star of change. Your father wanted to cling to it, to the mighty fate of a winner, to the minuscule possibility of change… Richard Auro, son of Ben Auro that you shall die here, was also predestined by your genes!

Your family will see you, as an introduction from the Negaverse!"

"You won't, AHH!"

Richard's very soul was ripped out of his chest before he could response, causing Max to scream in horror. Sieg flicked his wrist, and flung Richard's corpse out back to the Prime Universe.

As Max screamed Sieg snapped his finger before the coins got heavier, and Max was crushed. As bones were broken Seig just swept the blood off his suit." It seems that you found the wrong person to bite. Howling suits a wolf. Your fate was decided the moment you gritted your teeth at me. Nothing more.

Really now…what did you expect to happen? We detected a foreign soul lingering for some time. Were you really stupid enough going to pick a fight? Or where you looking for someone?"

Max roared in pain as he was being crushed to death as he looked down." No…Richard…Ben…it was not supposed to go this way! I just…I just thought it could be a new start…"

Mary saw the despair in Max's eyes and smirked." Oh…it will be a new start sad little pup…but one we decide. Let's let this one linger for a little while longer Sieg. It should lead to ways to make the rest of them suffer."

Sieg eyed Max before he snapped his fingers, and the Mukagen Nega Void appeared in his other hand before he pointed it at his counterpart's cousin's face." I think that works just fine Mary.

So, you trying to avoid hurting your family eh Max? Alas…the weak don't get to decide their fate…so I think it will be more fun keeping you around just enough to stab what's left of your family in the back to make their suffering as worst as possible.

Make a good show, and maybe there will be a future for you yet. Well, your soul's future at least…after all your already dead. You been unaware of what you are so I'll spell it out for you. After all...brands need to tell a story and your story is that of a wild mutt being put where he belongs."

Sieg casually stabbed Max's eye with the Mukagen Nega Void blade, ending the vision.

Mike blinked a few times to take seeing his brother and cousin die before he used all of his will power to not throw up before he looked at Max, and realized that the symbol of the IV&C was carved into the right side of his face and blinked a few times." He…he said you were trying to get a new start. What…what did you mean? Max…did you go into that universe looking for Doug? Like…you were talking with him?"

Max winced before uttering," Mike…it…it's not what you think."

"Then what the hell is it man? Cause it sounds like you were talking with Doug, and my brother followed you in there looking for me before getting killed, causing the rest of my family to go in there and got killed to!"

"I did not want any of that to happen Mikey! I…I just wanted to get away from it all ok?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Damn it Mike, it was nothing personal to you, your dad, or anyone but, I was sick of being stuck ok? I been fighting this game of a war for centuries and I was sick of it. I…I still loved my cousin but as more and more people died Ben was relying on me more and more because he was running out of people he could trust or even relate to…and as are parents and relatives all died I was his only family left.

I did not want to betray Ben, I was just tired of being the only one he could rely on damn it!

No matter how good a bounty hunter and fighter I am, I was never a god. Never sighed up to fight in a never-ending battle that had no ending. All of us…all of us were feeling more and more trapped.

That's why Lacus had you kid, to have more people she could trust. I just wanted to find a place without feeling the weight of the whole god damn universe on me."

"Damn it then you could have just taken a vacation!"

"Don't be naive! Your folks already gave me hell if I " did not behave like he expected me to because it" lowered moral." Anywhere I would go, the weight of being " God's Cousin" would never fade, unless I could break away to someplace away from the war.

That when…after drinking with a few of the new recruits I met Doug. It was by chance…at least that's what he said.

Despite fighting for life times he still had a drink with me and said he wanted to find something new too. That's why, he said if I wanted to find a new life in the Multiverse he would not stop me. I, I was not even sure if I was going to do it when your brother ran into me, I just wanted to see how it looked."

Mike winced before retorting with a dismayed," And you were just going to ghost us? "

"If everyone assumed I got killed, they would get over it in time. I knew Ben would be broken if I told him I was tired of everything so, this seemed better for everyone."

"But you got them all killed! What…what happened to your pride of a soldier man? What happened to the whole " Never let go of your dreams or your pride as a soldier!?"

"It's been centuries Mike…I just got so damn tired. Your the age I was when I first joined the Enji damn it, I know how I thought at your age. It was one thing being in the Enji fighting the" good fight" but…this was a never-ending battle to fight for ungrateful moochers who only thanked you by asking to do more work for them.

The people of the universe have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption.

What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes. The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human – mere sacks of flesh and bone.

Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man. And just about the majority of those in the" Bethal Kingdom" were not men anymore, just a pile of tamed pets. After all, Ben would see anyone else as someone that would stab him in the back and join Doug.

Doug…he was right about the people who rely on order…I just did not want to admit it at first because of being loyal to my family but I could only stomach so much crap.

Ben, Lacus, Richard, Ezan, and a few others may have taken " the burdens of godhood" seriously but I just wanted to have a good life…one were I felt alive! W...was that too much to ask? It…it was not supposed to be this way, I just, AHH!"

More currents of lighting went into his head before Kubo sneered above." Well the fact that it did shows who the loser is eh doggie? You all thought you could beat the system…and now you have to pay off that debt one way or another.

You were kept around in the afterlife entirely so that the boss man could see you rip apart your family. Well…no clue if Ben Auro is dead or not but his son's a good warm up eh? After all…all of this was just to celebrate the Infnite Victory and Conquest's corperation's victory over the universe and give the boss man the pleasure of seeing the last of the Auro's kill each other to seal the fact that we own there universe!"

People behind Kubo clapped madly as the rest of the Chains of Judecca were suddenly undone, before the former Enji staggered to the ground.

Max looked like a man on puppet strings before he grit his teeth." Mike…I'm sorry…I…I don't have control over my body. I'm sorry this is what it all amounted to."

Mike saw the sword Dante rise in front of Max before he winced." Damn it Max, you have to fight it! I broke the control these assholes had on the Reapers so I can break whatever these" O-pins" have on you to!"

Kubo laughed before crossing his arms."HAH! Go ahead and try and see how fast your erased punk! You think I'd let Megumi mess with something that mattered? All the reapers were just side shows compared to something that V-Day wanted to see personally! Y'see now?

I'm on a whole 'nother level from you chumps. Nyeheh! Let's get this party started! Go on mutt…rip apart everything in your site! Devour it all! The barrier! The Reapers! The Players! Everything! This whole realms gettin' cleansed. Once V Day is back here…we are changing things a bit to streamline and purge all traces of weakness and unprofitability form every aspect of life in this and every universe! But let's make this a show worthy of his time eh?"

Max had his eye twitch as he slowly moved forward." I'm sorry…you came here just to die again Mike. But…its clear now how much a joke everything's been."

"Then we make our own fate!" Mike uttered as he got back into a fighting stance." Please, just fight it as much as you can! I don't want to hurt you anymore then you already have been Max…but I can't stop here!"

"That's rich…you really think you can beat me eh? Maybe I'm still crazy but…you almost look like your bro and your old man now. Not bad finding a way to cheat your power level to the same level of Richard, Mike.

But, no matter how quickly you leveled up, there is no damn way you're surpassed me as a fighter! I been mastering my skills as a warrior for god damn generations while you laughed off just about every time we trained because " It was not your job"!"

"I know I was like that, but I know its my job now and I took it damn seriously the past few months with some wins to prove it!"

"That's not enough! You may have beaten some punks who only know how to bully others with strength and fall apart the moment someone has more power than them…but that's nothing compared to a true warrior! You just been trying not to fight for yourself and not on auto pilot for a few months at most right? That's nothing compared to me!"

Mike saw his father's cousin and mentor look crazed before he took a deep breath." It's true I'm no were close to the level you are Max…but I been doing this my own way so even if I can't catch up to your path…I'll just go past it on my own! This is more than just who's a better warrior at this point…this is who will decide the future!"

Max's eyes widened before he looked at Mike's resolve, and laughed bitterly." Your attitude reminds me of a man I know and I don't like it. Curiosity can prove to be fatal. You would do well to remember that cousin.

That look…that's the look Ben gave right before he beat me…and right before I died…the first time. His resolve humbled me…and I was proud of him. But…but the cold harsh truth is that all are pride and dreams meant nothing…it changed nothing! All are pride amounted to was a joke…so let the joke end once and for all! But even if all that ended up being nothing, all I have left, is my pride as a warrior and as a man! I…I won't lose to you Mike."

"Sorry…but you're going to have to deal with it because you're not stopping me Max! Maybe the dreams you and my parents had did not work out, but that just means we have to make new ones that will be able to coexist with reality!"

"Well then show me what mark dead men driven by dead dreams can leave on the universe Mike! I can't stop myself much longer…it's time to face the fury of the Undefeated of the East!"

Max cried out a near feral cry and Mike quickly realized that be his own eroding sanity or Kubo's orders, his cousin was coming at him with all he had.

He saw his comrades were still at his side, and braced himself for the sudden bitter showdown between family that was unfolding around him before he muttered," Lady Luck…you suck."

Author Notes: Got a few more handful of things to mark down so let's get to it. Ashtear Higgins was from Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge.

ViA is from Megaman X DiVe…sigh…nearly twenty years later the only new Megaman X stuff comes from a mobile game and it's a Zero clone. C'mon Capcom Megaman 11 was the bestselling Megaman game and now its nearly been five years since then with nothing but collections, give us X 9 already! Sigh…hopefully one day.

The Cynosure Facility is from Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty

SHODAN is from System Shock…seemed like an AI that Vought would use lol.

The" Twin Administrators" are from the last ending of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139, Ending E: e8a898e686b6e382b5e383bce38390e383bc .

Nine is the crazed counter part of Tails from Sonic Prime…I altered a few things from the Netflix show…gave him a few things from the Tinkerer from the Flash that will come to play later.

Scratch and Grounder are altered versions of the secondary antagonists of the animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Snively is from the other Sonic Cartoon and the Archie Comics, while Decoe and Bocoe are from Sonic X, and Agent Stone is from the live action Sonic movie.

Goz and Mez are from Dragon Ball Z

Jousha is from the World Ends With You.

And Max…well if you only read Omega, Max Bruder has been a long-time character in Cosmic Wars…I'll just say that at the moment Max's body is being forced to fight like how in Naruto when Kabuto and Orochimaru would force those revived by the Reanimation Jutsu. Since Max was partly inspired by Richter Abend, figured it was fitting that this fight would be in the Ginnungagap where the final battle with Richter in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World took place.

Also partly was inspired by the final area of the Dante's Inferno game. Not a great game but that finale was symbolic for what's going on here

SO…I know Max's return was sudden but, hope it makes sense…wanted to make things special for the official 300th chapter. And as for his drastic change well, he has been tortured a lot so he's not stable in any sense. In some ways its like how in King of Fighters 95 Rugal Bernstein made Kyo fight his father Saisyu Kusanagi and stuff like that.

Either way wanted to make a milestone that hopefully has some importance. For those who been here since the first chapter or joined among the way, thanks for making it this far. Hope you like what you saw enough to leave a review, as always thanks for the previous reviews, and with that, till next time. Just, remember to keep your passwords secure…damn all hackers to hell.