The omniverse was destroyed.
The Big Bang became a plaything at the hands of the now-godly terrorists, forcibly respawning all of existence for them to reshape and rule.
The survivors have awakened in Battleworld 52, a multiverse composed of the fragments of realities and timestreams that no longer exist and maintained by the iron will of its gods, masters and overlords, the Darkbolts - and the makeshift fused Divine Throne System, secretly harnessing the approved properties of the Continuum Exploitation Authority.
Magnifico secretly offered the unconverted survivors a chance to surrender. They refused, but before the Darkbolts could destroy them, the Zero Point scattered them across Battleworld 52, a phenomenon which propagated absolute heresy.
Magnifico's best friend New Pandora has been charged with finding the survivors and those who doubted, a task which is enforcing dangerous questions about the nature of Battleworld 52...
Location: Reality-783, Oninoshima (鬼の島)
"No... This can't be!"
"The date... December 1st, 2024..."
This new Island was just discovered by the two members of the Cult of Hope, exactly two weeks after the death of Queen Amaya at the hands of Kado Thorne. The Japan-based location shook the two so hard, because this is the first time since the creation of Battleworld 52 did anyone have ever stepped beyond the patchwork multiverse. Not only that, nobody recognized the two.
Those two? Reiji Arisu and female Alear (リュール).
"No, no, no!" F!Alear immediately tried to contact her sister, Veyle.
It's no use. It seems Reality-783 is too "heretic" to accept the comms the Cult of Hope uses.
"It doesn't work! It... no." Reiji realized what's up. "We're... truly stuck. In this... ridiculous-"
"Uhhh..."
A hoodie-ninja and black and blue, holding a modular assault rifle as her own. Her matching blue hair and ponytail actually tipped the two off.
"You looks... heretic! Wait..." F!Alear noticed. "You... how did you..."
"Who are you? I hope we're right. And please..." Reiji kneeled in help.
"Huhhh... You seems somewhat familiar." The ninja rolled her eyes. "You're mister Reiji Arisu from Shinra organization, right?" (*1)
Reiji just shrugged, as a resident of Battleworld 52 doesn't know what that Shinra is. However, he confirmed his name to her.
"I'm Hope. Nice to meet you."
"What!?"
Location: the Final Shape, Latverion-0
"I'll be honest, friend... I don't have very good news." N.P. shook her head. "In fact, I have a bunch of bad news. That might be a historical low for our multiverse."
"Our worlds are in collective disarray, bestie. Recent disorder has escalated into open rebellion in several kingdoms across all worlds. In that chaos, my Cult grow weary, and an I'll wind portends even worse to come..." Magnifico sighed. "Nevertheless, I would have the truth from you, friend... And not only I would have it now... I. Need. It."
"Well... basically, the search for the heresy responsible for the death of Queen Amaya has been a big, big failure. Not only all the attempts of each search resulted in worse situations, such as suddenly rifting the rabids from the Shield to infinite space around, for instance... Even if we've been super patient and super determined, even if WE got super creative... extrapolating everything we had over longest period of time possible..." N.P. reported. "Honestly... our chances are dwindling down, fast and hard, and it already pretty much suck from day one... in fact, casualties amongst all our forces across kingdoms dwindled throughout the day. We only got to surveil the goddamned subjects... such as Euchronia." (*2)
An image of a mysterious gang - the same gang accompanying Amaya Shadow - appeared in a holographic display.
"Hold. Who are they?" Magnifico asked.
Aku-Bill gave a list...
"Well... they are: Will, the Traveling Boy, crowned eldan king - actually a self-reincarnated half-eldan half-clemar but eldan-looking guy with swords and assault rifles, archetyping himself as a prince, and in a pristine mask to boot! A SMG clemar noble, Leon Strohl da Haliaetus, silver-haired warrior and super general with noblesse oblige to match. Eiselin Burchelli Meijal Hulkenberg, the shaved-redhead shotgun-happy, Ravenous All-devouring She-beast of the Knight's Order (*3). The bat in modified Kit's mech, the Knight-Commander Heismay Noctule, very adorable but very sneaky and very serious man-beast. Juani Cygnus wearing the forbidden Dynamo (*4) cosplay, still an idol witch with a toddler's core. Euphasia Etoreika the bush priestess of the mustari tribe, former sacrificial maiden of Eht Ria and a war summoner. And finally...Basilio Magnus in Omega's armor - he's as good as a chef and Baker as he's a berserk, and he berserks alongside his friends and companions, here." *cough* "They're all gone Fortnite to survive, with guns equipped on top of their arsenal. And they're here to get back... Uhhh... Well!"
A brief flashback, showing the party of Euchronia shooting down a bunch of super-soldiers sent by the Great Leader of Shocker.
"There was a lot of battles, and I had to be there, as a surveillance." Aku-Bill added. "And then, suddenly, a bunch of unconverted disappeared. Scattered again..."
"Do you know where all of the survivors are now?" N.P. asked.
"Some, but not all."
An assassin by the name of Sunwoo Han came forward. She's a member of the Cult of Hope, who're mostly weary after the end of Queen Amaya.
"I'll gladly tell you-"
"Then just tell us what you do know already! Who you-"
Suddenly, Magnifico interrupted N.P.: "Forgive me, friend, but that is secondary to my current primary concern. At the moment, I only care where these rebels are now and that they are all brought before me. And Jett... let this woman of mine speak."
"Hah, so you're not allowing me to say my knowledge? You're as heavy as ever... so bad, but at least I can rush-"
"Jett, hold."
Jett couldn't leave the room, because Magnifico spoke.
"Deep in the recesses of our subjects' minds, was there a kernel - some silver - of information telling us where the others are?" Magnifico questioned. "Do we know anything of their plans?"
"No. Absolutely nothing." N.P. couldn't. "We have no idea where they currently are. We have no idea what they're doing."
Location: The Department of Science (The Future Foundation)
"Yep. You're coming in loud and clear, empress." Singularity Jr. called. "How are things on the master god?"
Are we even lying about existence itself? Oh no. I got my revenge. I'm living in it. N.P. groaned.
"I get it... Without the Darkbolts, we would never get any more chance again. Third time's the charm, right?" Singularity Jr. shrugged. "Ignore the Zero Point for now. My empress, you okay?"
I've got spiders in my head, my Arc. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the truth of existence, despite my ultimate power and the Darkbolts' help.
"We finally filtered out the background radiation of each and every planets and found the source of all your new powers." Singularity Jr. reported. "You're standing on it."
Uh, okay. I gotta go then. I'll re-
"Oh, wait! One final interesting item... the programmed Loop found more of... these mechanical wisps. Those drones seemed... weird."
Singularity Jr. revealed one of those mechanical wisps - which looks like flying Reality Augment (*5) with a rotating 360-degree camera that can retract.
(sigh) Who's building this crap?
Location: [REDACTED]
"Amaya, if we treat this simply as an errand... then let's Archie the question of 'can we' must be secondary to 'should we'." Pechy Comet, modding Reality Augments with dream magic of hers, creating the mechanical wisps.
"Well... not true." Amaya Shadow scoffed. "Our only problem is to undo this multiverse and save all existence. To that end, we need to locate a weakness first. Some kind of way to unravel everything about this wrongful collective."
"And if we defeat them-"
"Oh, I mean to destroy them."
"Semantics, well? What then happens? All that remains of what were..."
"Unfortunately, the Darkbolts would just hold it all together no matter what. Just look. I'm downloading the data from your wisps now. The Heart of Resurgence amassed am army - an endless legion of Darkbolts deniers - that now just targeted the Final Shape itself. So indeed... how to kill gods."
"Look. When you learn to care about things other than the likes of yourself, Amaya... it's sentimental, easy, and very calming. Glad I defeated you and turned you weak. But then again... our problem now... as we see, is determining exactly how the Darkbolts tampered with the Big Bang itself."
"And how are we going to do that?"
"I got a plan... and my best pals working on it."
Meanwhile...
Location: the Final Shape, Latverion-0
"Latverion-7, home to multimedia residents, are so annoying!" Said Dynamo TNTina. "Thanks goodness we're out and blew up a kingdom there!"
TNTina laughed at the explosion of one of the kingdom of Latverion-7, which took (away) the life of several residents former Earth-199999 and extended universe (*6).
"Uh... How about we dive in to... stealth, hoo..." Undercover Skye chilled.
Jolicoeur here. Taylor's speaking. Taylor Jolicoeur called. Check the gizmo. You'll need it.
The remixed Midas' crew received the call, and so prompted to check their tablets.
"It says it's over there somewhere, around 60 to 70 feet in that direction..." 1-Ball pointed at the Queen Amaya statue. (*7) "But the focal point is about 10 feet down. Which doesn't make sense."
"Meow. Because there's a giant statue in the way." Meowdas confirmed. "It could be underneath."
Grah, trapdoor. Isis Naija "Ice Spice" Gaston suggested.
"I found it far earlier, gotcha!" N.P. suddenly bushes, creeping the crew out. "Found you, that strangers looking for the source of our... status!"
"Nyaaaaahhh!" Meowdas is shocked.
"Holy evil plans! You're back!" Skye is shocked.
"We blew you up, twice (*8)! How dare you!" TNTina is pissed.
"You... Spies!" N.P. caught the crew.
"You're the dreaded Zerobreaker, who venges against our Island!" 1-Ball pointed it out. "8-Ball told me about you and your evil!"
"You've foiled me twice too many... The Darkbolts gave me... salvation. Also, I don't know you." N.P. scoffed.
A mechanical wisp hidden under the statue, much to N.P.'s disgusted. "Ugh. Obviously built by the same person who made those wisps. Might as well have signed their name to it. How cringe. Who built this?"
"Pechy Comet, princess of the Dreamcatcher." 1-Ball revealed.
"Shit. Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" N.P. is disgusted.
"Are yeow coming inside with us?" Meowdas offered.
"No, because I'm going insane. After all, I already have spiders in my head." N.P. cringed, hinting her insanity. "Look, end of the day, I'm traumatized. Traumatized by you rejecting me to my very being. So go ahead without me. Trapdoor's at the base of the statue."
N.P. cracked open the base, causing light glow as the former Zerobreaker opens the way. "But if you don't answer correctly... I'm going to shred you down forever. A fate no better than ordinary death, and one reported to us Darkbolts. We are-"
"Fine!" TNTina reluctant.
"Where were you from?" N.P.
"Shard of Reality Zero made manifest within a galaxy." 1-Ball responded. "Based on Hope's suggestion, it was flung out of Reality Zero, which homes galaxies. Apparently." (*9)
"Okay... and none of you were involved in the assassination of Queen Amaya, did you?" N.P.
"No, of course out." Skye denied.
"Right. I didn't think so." N.P. admitted.
The crew got to step down to the place of makeshift Divine Throne, where Saya is sitting.
"Can you feel that? Tectonic plates and realitial conceptions grinding at the edges, like pieces from entirely different puzzles trying to form a single unified picture, but they never will. Understand? They don't belong together." Saya noticed the crew. "It's going to fly apart... I know it is. I've devoured everything - I ate it all - but I'm still hungry. Uh... Hello, Midas' crew!"
"Who is this girl?" 1-Ball have no idea.
"Oh, yeah, it's me, Saya the Sankishin." Saya greeted. "Did you bring me something to eat?"
"I didn't actually know there would be someone down here..." Meowdas admitted. "I didn't... meow. Sorry, I don't have anything."
"Durr Burger comes in handy! Now with Pizza Pit stacking in and impossible buns!" Skye got a makeshift burger.
"I HAVE TO HAVE IT."
Memetic BGM time!
Cue Saya eating the makeshift burger ravenously.
"Uh... where did that come from?" 1-Ball is confused.
-*sigh* "From Supply Drops." The Chaos Director revealed. "Then this girl Skye stacked it out, using the tomato-ful cheesy Pizza Pit pizza slices to the Durr Burger hamburger, plus vegan-friendly stuffs."
"Ohhhh, so good." Saya enjoyed every single bite out of it.
BGM abruptly stops.
"Anyways... We were sent to find the source of the Darkbolts' part. All we can see her is a big white room." Meowdas explained. "Any idea where around here we might find that?"
"Oh yes..." Saya grinned. "You're looking at... Omega. Magnifico."
Meanwhile, at the throne room...
"Tell me, Baron Dora..." Magnifico asked Doraemon. "What does the Dreamcatcher gang hold?"
"A team-up between Pechy Comet and Amaya Shadow. Now looking for the Heart of Resurgence." Doraemon reported.
"And is it true that they're behind all this uprising?" Magnifico added. "If I look closely, I won't find one of you standing in the shadows... propping any unconverted survivors up?"
Cue the barons and baronesses (formerly from several realities and worlds based on pop culture, now ruling across all 52 worlds) scrambling trying to express their loyalty to Magnifico and the Darkbolts. Saying that they are unconditionally serving, that about their prosperity, that of their admiration of the legends of the creation of Battleworld 52, etc. And speaking of the insurgency...
"This is absolute heresy in the making. This uprising is real." Shocker Echo herself revealed. "Their words ring true in the absence of your own, and they spread like wildfire through the kingdoms across worlds."
"Pechy and Amaya are eyeing for the Heart, and both them and the Heart itself have raised an army - two days ago the upper and lower kingdoms of Latverion-46 to 50 all fell to their rise... and all of it grows as the insurgency comes to a head, my lord!" Doraemon added.
"We hold the heavens up just so all earths can tremble beneath us." Magnifico sighed. "Damn you again, Pechy Comet and Amaya Shadow, for leaving me all this."
"Do you have more to offer than deference and posturing?"
All the barons and baronesses kneeled down. "Only the counsel of the fit, our gods. Only the counsel of the strong and creative. You are the GODS, and the very existence of those who say otherwise are offenses. Only the loyal should live. Kill the rest."
"I see. Power structures must be maintained. Dominance must be displayed." Magnifico reassured. "Raining infinite legions down upon them would meet your approval, I suppose."
"Certainly. You must act." Wade "Parzival" Owen Watts, a baron on Latverion-33, accepted.
"I agree, but why waste my most loyal and most worthy on two consecutive bullshits and their respective mobs?" Magnifico dismissed. "You do it. All of you. And I warn you, tarry not... I am once again losing what little grace I still possess."
Unbeknownst to the Darkbolts, Makoto Yuuki were spying through. The formerly-designated Arche-Messiah is disappointed at the oncoming truth.
One hour later... Location: the Shield
"I have some ideas, but you first." Makoto Yuuki talked to a half-fiction blonde girl in white and purple-themes wears and black boots. (*10) "Miss, what's your idea?"
The girl glees, holding a quill and a storybook. "Okay, mister. Darkbolts want me back, to send a full complement of warriors to disable these nonbelievers of things such as yours, which Magnifico deems... sinful, heheh."
He sicced his Persona, Orpheus on her.
"I could send everyone." The girl's face is cracked like porcelain. "Because I'm a good girl. I need perfect-"
She's whacked aside, and then braked herself.
"Wait... I've got it now." The girl agreed. "I know what we should do."
The girl's sclerae went dark, while Makoto Yuuki smugs.
"Let's get dangerous!" The girl smirked.
"Now we're talking." Makoto Yuuki smiles.
Location: Salvation Sphere of Agamotto
"If we still had the runner, this journey thus far would've only taken a few dozens of minutes, not hours!" Basilio cocking his grenade launcher. "This isn't just seven seas!"
"Actually, it's 364 seas. And this journey actually took just over... 20 hours." Strohl noted. "The enormity of what we've been through... of all that led to this... could this have been the end of... our world?"
"Who knows? 'Tis is a multiverse, not a realm. No Akademia, and no... Humans?" Hulkenburg looked around. "No. There is nothing left to fight over."
"Nothing behind us... and only this new, strange reality before us." Will shook his head.
The party arrived at the inner door - formerly the Zohar (*11) - leading to the core of the sphere, and the fake Bushranger raised herself in front of the door. An Eye of Agamotto.
"Eupha, of Eht Ria." she surrendered the Eye.
The door opened in front of the party, much to the Dynamo TNTina cosplay excitement.
"Let's go." Will rushed in.
"How did you get this?" Basilio asked.
"Someone dropped this." (*12) Eupha admitted to picking up the key.
As the party enters the door...
Greetings, traveller. A disembodied voice - it's Doctor Strange himself, post-mortem. If you have found this - my Sanctum Sanctorum - it means you have braved the galaxies far far away, crossed the great seas, survived the great Leviathan horde, and entered my domain, alive...
"Stephen Strange? Barely heard of that name." Strohl barely knew.
It also means you have in your possession the Key of Agamotto, which previously have been given to the greatest of my disciples (*12), and now could have only passed from them into your hands. But was it given freely? Or was it taken without merit? The answer to this question will determine our true intent: Tell me, traveller, do you know the secret history of Everything?
"Big Bang." Junah spoke up.
"Big Bang? What?" Basilio have no idea what this entails.
"The Big Bang. The start of all infinite existences." Said the pseudo-eldan.
Good. I hope my passing was of consequence. The voice approved. Some things - such as our knowledge of this reality Darkbolts and we built together - will be lost forever... But some my be passed on.
A vault is suddenly spawned in front of the party, smacked in the middle of the void they're currently in.
As such, I leave to you all the items of true significance that we vaulted... of which there are only two.
The vault opens.
"It's unvaulted. We're actually doing the job." Eupha spotted.
The first is one of the few artifacts that transcends the patchwork nature of all that be. The Heart of Resurgence is an burning object, a symbol of balance, and a lifeline of infinite possibilities. Its smoke will transport you anywhere you wish to go... Its flame will grant you the ultimate power you need, as well as unleashing the traveller in a manner befitting their true potential-
"Great goodness. So the Redvengers rumors are true all along." Junah couldn't believe it.
The Heart of Resurgence burns bright red-orange, sitting on a stand akin to a Dyson vacuum stand.
"I think it's superheated." Strohl suspected the touch. "Eupha, you can handle this. You our Prince are the most adept at magic."
The second item is created straight-out from the Zero Point itself. You might not know that all these worlds have been constructed from the remnants of realities destroyed in the omniversal collapse. Each section is a programmed slice of a single reality. Which is why this item is upon anything that ever was - the ultimate surviving - the hand of annihilator of the fate and past. In other words, I leave to you our most precious possession...
A very large chest suddenly opened, glowing the glow of the Zero Point. Will stepped in to dunk down, while Eupha uses her magic to handle the Heart. And so...
"Hand?"
Will put his right hand in, and then pulled out. A patchwork Infinity Gauntlet, looks like hybrid between Iron man tech and the Omnitrix, now in his hand.
The Hand of Multiversal Power. Use it wisely, and if you must, use it quickly... For it is a true game-changer in far more ways than one or two.
"We got it." Will then turned around. "Everyone, let's go! We need to hurry, for the Darkbolts are watching!"
That night, at the Final Shape, Latverion-0...
-*yawns* "It's so much..."
A novelized Beyond the Edge is on the ground, with a note showing it was from a member of the Cult of Hope. N.P. is disgusted to see this novel continued to be gifted to her - it reminded her of her past failures. This time however, the note warned her:
Using us as guinea pigs as populace, do Taking all of existence we cherished, festering corruption amongst every kingdoms... This is on behalf of those who previously gifted you this recollection - many of them seemed to genuinely cared about you, but I suspect you simply threw all away. You really do revel on torturing realities and collective realities alike, and you only cares about those who supported your terrorism. Also, the loopers originally shunned you because you were visibly from the Last Reality - you could've just waited and spoke up. Those great Loopers were serving Last Reality but still turned out good in spite of everything - you're just an example of the opposite.
Hah, super butterflies do not tolerate your tantrum. Once we found out about your millenium-long mayhem, we swooped in. We've ended you twice (*8), and we will end you again. The Darkbolts too will not be spared from our wrath - mark our words! - Continuum
"Fuckers..."
Meanwhile...
Location: the Shield
"Yes. Not worth it." Makoto Yuuki refuted. "We're telling you that our evil gods put us in our 'places', including you here to keep the likes of Oninoshima stuffs (*13) out of the way."
"You! How did you! I thought you were always good, but... you're bad all along!?" A paranoid Yu/Arche-Izanagi is pissed.
"Because they fear us!" Makoto Yuuki rebutted. "Just as they fear our friendly Pechy Comet, and tried to erase her and her co. as well."
The stone-heart of the Shield - Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four, from Earth-616 himself - is surprised at the hostile response.
"You see, I know a secret... A hero like you, mister Ben grimm, of the Fantastic Four... you know you and your F4 went against the complex Doctor Doom, do?" Wendy added. "People knows Doom usurped powers far grander than himself. That darkbolts actually pulled a God Emperor Doom, and so made the same kind of mistake... as Doom. Speaking of the fictional universe writhe in the cliche storm forged by false GODS, the stupid Darkbolts should not be as powerful as they are now!"
"You're saying everything is not real anymore?" The Thing suspected.
"I'm part fiction for my own worth, but you would dismiss me as entirely fictional. But no... this is real." Wendy tch-es. "It's as real as anything ever. It's just not the perfect ending... or anything reality should be. Those Darkbolts forced us to live on knees and subconscious paradoxes. Every moments of existence, they herded us like fics! Fuck, fuck, fuck this shit!"
Wendy then suddenly laughed like a maniac. "Rise up and bring Oninoshima (*13) to us! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Nonononono-" Yu is panicking.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" Makoto Yuuki grabbed Yu down and fled.
Then suddenly, the Thing rose up. Stepping in Latverion-0, Ben Grimm roared as his literal-rocky body surged out. The rest of this Shield started collapsing as a result.
"Just as planned." Amaya Shadow is standing in the sideline, watching the Thing rise up.
Location: Latverion-1
"1 and 51 is colliding! The incursion!" The Cult of Hope reported.
"We're too late! It's forced!"
"So messy!"
It's a week after the Thing rises, and three weeks after the death of Queen Amaya, there's the mass incursion, destroying nearly all worlds and planets, leaving only three planets - Latverion-3 was the first to be destroyed, now only the Prime, the 1 and the 51 are left. Now the Cult of Hope are up to the incursion, while a certain force now affiliated to Pechy Comet and Amaya Shadow have arrived, heralding this mass incursion...
A military princess by the name of... Altair. (*14) A cause fully formed. An idea given shape: this Darkbolts are no gods. And if this is no god, then why suffer under the hands of Darkbolts? Especially after all this shitty P-1 Special have been performed? Why submit to THEIR rule?
Her words were fire. She spoke of liberty, and the surviving people pulled down their worships of darkbolts. Suspicions reignited, doubt weaponized against the omniversal oppressors. She shouted freedom to reality. And the people raised up arms. She marched her army to Latverion-51 to ensure the incursion started by the Thing's rise. It was providence the perfect deadly alliance at the perfect time. And to cap it all off, mocking the creation of Battleworld 52:
"I... creation."
Altair declared, and the army waved the incursion as prayers to all that was.
"You followed us here to certain doom. To the very end of all that is. And it's going to be so... much. Fun."
The army fought the Cult of Hope to the standstill, leaving the two worlds and half of the entire police cult to the incursion. This devastation and imminent destruction is being broadcasted to...
Location: the Final Shape, Latverion-0
"The armies of your kingdoms gather to repel the army that Dreamcatcher teams sent us." Aku-Bill reported. "If you want - if you wish it - we'll hurry now to join your remaining loyalists."
"Please, no." The Great Leader shrugged. "As, like ourselves, we fear that once among those who take the grace of us Darkbolts for granted, one would lose oneself each to anger."
"He's right." Magnifico suggested. "So we will watch from here... as I sit in judgement of those who dare stand against us."
"No need to take it personally, our friend. It's what free people do when faced with authority. You cannot fight how things are." The Arch-Titan reassured. "We're confident this will end no differently than all the other times."
"No, you're wrong." N.P. refuted. "This feels different. This is something more."
"Yes. Summon my Hope." Magnifico suggested.
Location: Reality-783
"Ahhh, new oni-sushi is so delicious!" the girl in jade-green drooled over a meal. She's holstering a strange, dark-powered mask.
"Why I'm seeing the Island getting weirder every day, even though it hasn't changed any further just yet?" A ronin - and this girl's brother - wondered. "First... two strangers panicking while I'm going the Island. Then, a rumor of heresy-"
The demon portal at Nightshift forest, where the two are standing, suddenly lit up with Zero Point burst. Like a Rift Gate of yore, it glowed purple and iridescent, shocking the two. Four figures and three silhouettes emerged, and...
"Finally!" One of them, Amaya Shadow.
"Who are you?" The ronin have no idea.
"Are you... demons?" The girl squinted. "No? You don't seem to be... cursed with dark-"
"So the old existence the Battleworlds are yapping about have indeed been trashed with the activation of the P-1 Grand Prix." Amaya scoffed. "It's a confirmed. And it sucks."
The confused ronin then went sus, preparing to unsheathe.
"Hey hey hey, we came here for help. To fix all this." Pechy Comet stepped back. "You have to listen to us. Hell, we need all the help we can get."
"This... Island, is not truly safe from the wrath of... the Darkbolts." Amaya revealed.
Amaya's point shook the ronin, who swore to protect this Island. And so, the two listened...
Briefly recapping the last two omniversal whacks (*8), as well as the shattering that took Sonic's collective reality (*15), and the resulting mess that the Darkbolts were using. Pechy and Amaya ending up against the Darkbolts, and their team-up. The involvement of both the Second Knife and the Bad End Shocker-Zangyack X-Alliance, as well as the return of the Zerobreaker (now N.P.). The attempted genocide through both Elyos and the mechas turned Dimension Beasts. The P-1 Special (which everyone in this Island except Hope missed out on). And finally, the existence of Battleworld 52, including the reign of Darkbolts.
"You... you..." The ronin couldn't believe it.
"No! It can't be!" The girl is horrified.
"Huh... thanks goodness the Zero Point flung this world out of their wrath..." Pechy's relieved. "And... even kept Hope? And Jone? Away? If so, thanks...! Goodness!"
"Hope? Mr. Jones? Wait..." Amaya caught on. "We gotta find them!"
"Uh... My name is Pechy Comet. I'm the Dreamcatcher princess, from a reality far, far, far away." Pechy introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kendo." The ronin bowed.
"Hey. I'm Jade. Are you new around here?" The girl cheesed, before transforming into herself with magenta hair and dark eyes. "A cursed protector-"
"You mean when you went into the Spirit Realm and got trapped there?" Kendo shrugged.
"But Daigo's my favorite!"
"Our eldest... he's arrogant, stubborn, but brilliant. Oh no, don't worry, we love each other. But I'm worried-"
-*pouts* "Seriously? I hope you still-"
"Daigo?" Pechy have no idea who that brother is.
"Daigo. The one who are... making power masks." Kendo showed. "You see the one he made for Jade."
"The Darkbolts could raze all at any time. If they find this Island, they'll rampage this reality!" Pechy earned the two.
Amaya Shadow already left. She's going to recruit more.
"By the way... you guys know Hope?" Kendo caught on.
"Yeah." Pechy nodded. "Please get me to her."
"Ok..." Jade cringed, before revealing back to her guardian form with the subdued colors to match - more like in between her normal form and her cursed one she got in the Spirit Realm.
Amaya ran to Demon's Dojo, and is met with a bunch of shades trying to attack the former villainess. She swings the shades off with her trusty scythe, before barricading the rest with Stasis frost walls - Shayura had already restored the paracausal powers the Starstorm had before the P-1 Special ended.
"Hey!" Amaya barged in the main house, spotting a limp demon woman with some white kimono and markings in her face.
That woman, only known as The Night Rose, opened her black sclerae in front of Amaya. She's still strung up under a demonic face...
"Ahhh... who are you..."
The Night Rose got up and rushed to Amaya, clawing with a bladed fan. Amaya immediately dodged, and sent a electrocuted shock made of Arc Light - a stream of lightning known as Stormtrance. This zapped the Night Rose and woke the demonic face up, whose accompanying hands pulled her back up on it. Its eyes glows blood red, and its mouth spewed a set of three demonhead-shaped fireballs homing into Amaya.
The former villainess slid under the fireballs and whipped out a Golden Gun. The demonic face turned to her, as The Night Rose uttered: "The... Puppeteer... I..."
Amaya shot once at The Night Rose, but demonic energy shielded her. It was the eyes that Amaya needed to shoot. The Puppeteer teleported and thus dragged The Night Rose away, trying to outpace Amaya so it can deliver more fireballs.
"Stop it, face!" Amaya backflipped, and managed two shots. Both fortunately hit both eyes at quick succession, stunning the Puppeteer and dropping The Night Rose.
"Arghhh..." The Night Rose is dizzied, if not outright fuzzy.
Amaya recovered and stepped towards the demon woman. The former villainess then slapped the demon, knocking the latter off and whacking the Puppeteer down the ground.
"Miss... Who are you?" Amaya questioned. "I'm Amaya Shadow. Nice to you."
"You... you..." The Night Rose got back up, while the Puppeteer is hidden away by a literal fade out.
"Please. Help us. We are all in danger, under the wrath of the Darkbolts!"
"Huh? Oh. I'm... The Night Rose. Bound by ancient duty."
"You appears to be possessed by... that thing I shot. Wait... I kind of possessed Beta at times!" (*16)
"Hey. I feel like you're just a wanderer... A wanderer on a death wish."
The Night Rose seemed distant to Amaya - understandable, but mainly because Amaya is from an entirely different reality. This didn't stop Amaya from convincing The Night Rose - the former villainess told the demon everything.
"You are here to seek help from me." The Night Rose broods. "Very well. You're invited."
The Night Rose showed a pistol-styled SMG with a small red dot sight and a suppressor equipped, and she gave Amaya a mask with white face and golden helmet with purplish black-hole adornment. The demon smiled.
"You're in." Amaya brought The Night Rose out of Demon's Dojo.
Meanwhile, in Hopeful Heights...
"Absolutely not." Hope isn't surprised.
"I don't think I've ever known you now, but... I know even less of these strangers." Daigo, the one making a bunch of magic masks, brought Reiji and Female!Alear here.
"You're beyond ironic...!" Reiji hasn't been in the right mind every since the Darkbolts reigned - Hope's involvement only proved it conclusively.
"What's wrong with you!?" Hope is shocked.
"You're now a farce! I thought your being-" Female!Alear threw a tantrum.
"Liars!" A brunette angel mean-fully scoffed. "We knows the truth about all this!"
Ivy Jolicoeur and her reincarnation, Ivy Comet, has arrived. At the same time, Pechy's patch also entered the building.
"We saw what the so-called Cult of Hope were doing." Ivy Comet reported. "Basically, they worshipped you because you were Pandora's Chosen, and they're also the Darkbolts' elite police force."
"What!?" Hope is baffled.
"You can't be serious!" Jones is surprised. "Wait..."
Pechy and the duo have come. With Pechy and the Ivies together, they explained everything to Jones and Hope.
"I-I-I... was into P-1 Special, and then flung back out, with no memories of-WHAT!?" Said the chosen.
"It seems the Island's really in deep danger. Because..." Jade then glared at Reiji and Female!Alear. "Wait... these people?"
Reiji didn't respond at all, very catatonic act. Was Battleworld 52 really an omniversal lie, fabricated by the Darkbolts as a revenge to the Redvengers, a team the Shinra organization never even knew of?
Female!Alear scowled. A dozen seconds later, and she tried to perform a beatdown on Hope for the absolute heresy. However...
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
The Night Rose threw Female!Alear out of the building Hope is in.
"You again, demon." Kendo noticed.
"Awww, you're still possessed?" Jade drooped.
"I got her. She's going to help us out." Amaya showed up.
"Amaya Shadow, I found Hope. Guess the Cult of Hope was ironic, after all." Pechy then cringed.
"I knew you! YOU! YOU KILLED SOYLE!" Female!Alear slammed at the building. (*17)
All other ignored Female!Alear, and went forward the discussion.
"You're telling me you're getting both brother and that demon together at war." Kendo have no idea. "All that, over an apparently imaginary war we never even knew about. In fact... it seems only the demon agreed with the idea. I'm sorry, but I don't get it. Yet."
"You'll need to prove how much damage the Darkbolts had done-" Jade suggested-
"Oh wait, this place is cramped, so let's move out." Pechy was about to elaborate, but found the room small.
Everyone left Hopeful Heights and moved to a pillar of surging wind that moves up, flinging everyone up to a floating cluster of lands: the Shogun's Arena.
BGM: The Line (Arcane) - Twenty One Pilots
"You understand what's happening, right?" Taylor finally convinced Shogun X - the commander of demons - to help out.
"I've loaded the 'net and is going to show you all the Darkbolts did to us and then all of existence." Eric Jolicoeur set up a miniature Risky Reels for everyone to watch. "Thanks, Mike. Oh, it's everyone."
"My dear, you're preparing for Amaya too?" The Night Rose stepped down the floating.
"Taylor, Eric, show us everything that happened since the Order of the Pariah." Pechy suggested.
"The reels!" Jade noticed.
"Hey, careful! My own!" Daigo dodged.
The entire gang, under Jones' placement commands, watched being the fourth wall, using the mini-Risky Reels. And so, the truth is told through lore, by some Vietnamese behind a certain rainbow avatar.
This blue Shogun X mind, and shocked the rest of the Japan-ish gang. Nyanja arrived lated, but got to see the Darkbolts unloading the Dark Metaverse and use that to host the rigged-in-nature P-1 Special - this too disgusted the cat friend.
"Those terrorists..." Kendo teethes.
"Why... why..." Jade is disgusted.
"They've done more than enough damage." Hope rises up. "They sullied us! Treated us like patches!"
The footages ended with the live depiction of the mass incursion within Battleworld 52.
"See? The Darkbolts went too far! And Magnifico is behind all this!" Mike Smith declared.
"Meowww... Disgeowsting..." Nyanja facepalmed.
"Oh, Nyanja. Say hello to our new friends from another reality. We're going together." Hope turned around. "No more Darkbolts."
"Nyanja? That cat guy?" Ivy Comet noticed.
"Oh? New guest going to fight some strangers?" Nyanja caught on. "The strangers who... broke things? Ugh!"
"Oh, you're a cute cat indeed!" Ivy Jolicoeur waved, and Nyanja blushed in response.
"Say it all you want." The Night Rose smirked, while the Puppeteer as a ghostly projection just laughed at the moment.
"If the Darkbolts win for real, this would be the final end. None of us would survive their victory. They're just too powerful." Pechy left the mini and walks out. "We're taking Magnifico and friends down. Altogether."
BGM ends.
Shogun X gave a thumb-up, and a bunch of demon warriors were spawned from the portal behind him.
"You're trying to say 'We'll help out.'" Amaya Shadow noticed.
Alright, ladies and gentlemen... Time to wreck the designated Battleworld! It was indeed Wendy, who hacked the portal at Nightshift Forest, among others in the Island. Oh wait... can you hear me?
"Loud and clear, neo-Aria Bellamy. Like you're here standing right beside us." Pechy called. "We got Oninoshima. They're ready. Are you ready?"
Almost. We wanted to wait until the last possible minute. This isn't really something anyone can put back in the box.
"We're sending the demon warriors. Good luck!"
You too, of the Laher78 or Starflower02 or some girl.
"Listen, Wendy... if this doesn't work... If we all fail, then that will mean it's over."
On Wendy's side is an army of the Cyber Initiative (*18) undeads armed with the Seven technology bright by her magic quill herself, giving those cybernetic zombies a lot of resistances as well as improved combat abilities and vastly improved capabilities.
Location: The Shield
The Shield is in shambles, due both The Thing escaping and the mass incursion. Geoff Keighley of The Game Awards fame, in a space marine armor, is brought here by a defected member of the Cult of Hope.
"Enough of Hope simping, TGA guy!" The hooded defect gave Geoff a signed assault rifle with accurized silhouette and a speedy foregrip. "The myths called this weapon the 'Fury Assault Rifle'. I think you know..."
"Very well... Stay with your courageous friends." Geoff took the AR and moved down. "I'm going down."
Geoff holding the Fury Assault Rifle, and got to spot a horde of... undead. Specifically, the undead original-characters and zombified self-inserts blasting off the last layer of the wall and barging into the rest of Latverion-0.
"Okay... Exactly what's on the other side of that wall?" The hooded noticed.
"The dead." Said Geoff.
Don't shoot them!
From the call, and then came the Bifrost of Norse mythos. The Euchronia gang have arrived.
"Welcome, winning some of The Game Awards!" (*19) Geoff turned around. "The Best RPG and the Best Art Direction strikes!" (*19)
"Ssskin'sss all itchy..." Multiverse Monarch crawled.
"It'sss better when yu kneeeel..." A self-insert Keyblade wielder (*20)
"Listen! It is said that one who travels through a supercharged Seige Courageous (*21) powered by the Heart of Resurgence, is granted a new life. An opportunity to be something better. Something more." Will declared. "Come with us and we will travel through it to the greatest battle any existence has ever seen. For the sakes of all worlds, together we will face false gods and strike them all down, to save all worlds!"
"Do you know what they call what's waiting for all of you on the other side?" Strohl declared. "Glory and honor. Just like ours."
"Uhhhh... Hold on..." A bunch of self-inserts teethes.
"I feel totally compelled to follow you, but, uh..." Draco Malfoy of the looped (*22) replied. "...maybe we ssshould talk about this... I mean... we have it pretty good here."
"Yesss... It's sssurprissing." Princess Andrea "Andi" Garcia glee. "I find I quite like murder and eating sssoft, sssquisshy thingsss."
"It's like... like peanut butter and brainsss..." Yamamoto Eriko commented. "Put them together and you just love it ssso much tha-"
Cue Geoff shooting zombie-Emiko down. "Oh, sorry, did you miss that?"
"Why the hesitation, monsters?" The hooded defect removed the hood, revealing his boxing gloves and his red mask. "They are right, zombies! Glory and honor! I, Strong Bad says so!"
"Very well... our subject, including the new king himself... They're waiting for an answer." Geoff declared. "We're merely supporting them."
"Uhhh... Glory and honor?" Multiverse Monarch herself, finally caught on.
"Glory and honor!" Herobrine as a zombie, declared.
All the zombies quickly declared "Glory and honor!" repeatedly, finally listening to the gang.
Meanwhile, in... Location: Latverion-0
"Fight until you fall! Believe in us! We shall bring judgement to the false gods that infested all our being... We declare the last days!" Altair has arrived, and declared to her army. "There's no escaping what's coming! You have to embrace the end! Embrace it!"
Altair's army started overpowering the Cult of Hope as well as many of the Latverion-0 barons and baronesses alike. Meanwhile, the Investigation Team has reunited and finally back to their senses...
"We were fooled! And until we knew it, we served under the Darkbolts!" Yosuke Hanamura (花村陽介) complained. "What a pain in the ass!"
"We don't have much time." Yu figured it out. "Change of plans!"
Cue a horde of Personas going against an army of Shocker Pretty Cures, with stranded baroness Fuurin Asumi (風鈴アスミ) leading the International Pretty Cure altogether.
"Baroness Earth! The Personas!" A Shocker-Cure warned Cure Earth of the impending Personae.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Earth looked around.
Amidst the Personas, a black man in a nanite armor resembling the Iron Man, crashed on her with his own body, knocking her down.
"Who's the real king? Yeah, that's me! Who dares mess with my planet!"
The man blasted down some of the Shocker-Cures, quickly jumped up with the propulsion activated.
"Girls, watch!" Said the man as he lands down.
"Oh hell no..."/"...يا للجحيم لا" Shocker Cure Nile, originally of Egypt, couldn't believe it.
A rift bloomed into a massive portal, splitting up the group of Cures and knocking the man away.
"LeBron James... Apocalypse would like a word." A golden tyrant, Holocaust of Earth-295 (*23), has arrived.
Apocalypse of Earth-616, another now-stranded baron came forward. "The field of war... A place of true testing..."
The supervillain approached LeBron with interest. "It is good to be here again. To exalt the fit, to pull down the weak."
"Oh no no no, you from Marvel Comics. Look up." LeBron started distracting Apocalypse. "The worthy. Look."
Meanwhile...
Location: the Final Shape
"Check it out. The Cult have arrived." The Godhunter pointed at the horizon. "But two of the members are completely missing. What happened?"
"Doomgard is back, Magnifico... but where's the host?" Asked N.P.
Location: Absolute Pantheon
"Liiieeeees! You're not yourself, goddess!" Nyx have become disillusioned, now that Hope has arrived and even managed to graffiti the mural.
"You've become stalkers, treating my nature as a force! For no reason but to serve those terrorists!" Hope isn't having any of the Cult's doctrine. "Snap out of it, I'm just a chosen!"
"It's true... and it's torn you asunder!" Jade immediately shotgunned a Cult member. "Stop with the lies! We're fixing it!"
The Oninoshima gang is pitted against the Cult of Hope, with The Night Rose knocking down the jar and immediately stepped on the superheated flow, giving her Nitro. Thor Odinson himself finally arrived, only to witness the Cult being beaten up and then himself being slashed down by Nitro-empowered demoness.
"Nooo!" Thor collapsed down, defeated in seconds.
The Night Rose winds the Puppeteer string and giggles. Jones immediately reached for Thor, having recognized him even after all this time. (*24)
"Thor, we're in here together. You finally get to see the truth." Jones reassured. "The Darkbolts played us all, and they tried to rule over you guys and bury us. We'll strike back together. Time to patch the Cult and get to... justice."
"You..."
"It'll be just like occasions before. This time, we're saving all reality and realities once again."
Jones got Thor back up. "Welcome back to the truth. Some of you false Cults stay here and hold the hall, while we join the war."
"Yes, that's better." Hope finally finished the graffiti. "Yesterday, I didn't had nightmares of all this mess. Now I see why - it's just my foresight kicking in again."
The Cult of Hope recovered and got the message.
"You're telling us we were manipulated..." Nyx cleared up.
"Nyx of the Death, you?" Hope noticed.
"Brothers and sisters! You now know in our hearts that this Hope told the truth! You have been deceived!" Thor declared. "We were serving random terrorists all along! No Darkbolts ever were great! The Darkbolts are not even good!"
"So who will come with us and do battle!" Hope declared.
"Vengeance and justice now go hand-in-hand! Now we strike back!" Jones declared. "Who will come with us... so that we might smite false gods!"
"For the Island... For reality... For all." Kendo bowed down out of determination.
Shogun X roared, and the Cult of Hope dissolved back into themselves back again and raised up. Everyone here have had enough of the Darkbolts' reign. And so, the Cult and the gang together left Absolute Pantheon and dropped in elsewhere.
This also eventually meant Nyx is reunited with Makoto Yuuki, who's also snapped out of Darkbolts' reign already. Cue the Fall upon so many opposing barons, bringing nearly half of all remaining loyalists to literal dead end - many got jacked by Shadows. This horrified New Pandora...
Location: the Final Shape
"No no no... not again...!" Said her. "The Cult of Hope now alongside their goddess, are attacking the barons defending the castle!"
"How could they break the contract of existence!" Aku-Bill rage-quitted. "I'm done! There's no use in surveillance, because of all this chaos against us!"
"They once again... defied me... from the bottom of their hearts." Magnifico is disappointed.
Elsewhere in Latverion-0, Tsukasa Kadoya as Shocker Rider Decade, had just been brought down by... Bugs Bunny himself, who managed to steal the Decadriver. Cue the Decade being beaten down by cartoons.
"Here you are... A passing by... remember?" Apocalypse noticed, while fighting LeBron and a bunch of "pathetic" otakus. "Do not ask us for mercy. If I, Apocalypse, must bow before Darkbolts, then there will be no quarter of mercy given to once-worthy trashes such as you, fallen."
"I'm sorry, Decade. You have been defeated, you can go no worse anymore." Earth herself denied, while as an Amazon mauling through Goombas. "Your condition cannot get any worse... unless you die."
"Oh no... look up..." Decade glared at the sky while limp. "I think it can... for the Loopers has come."
A Battle Bus flew through, and on top of it is the corrupted mains filled with dark magic (*25), grinning like madmen, and the Bus is carrying a bunch of a horde of Cube monsters. These are the wild cards...
"Drop in... and rock out!"
The mains dived down, and the horde followed. "Raze everything!"
More Battle Buses, also carrying more Cube monsters, opened. Thus, raining Cube monsters, joining the battle and get frenzy.
"...about to hit the battleground, so we need a final destination lock." Ron Davis reported. "Reading confirms what the Shadow familia have reported. They've also remained constant up until this very minute... Our target is the Final Shape. Please get us there quickly... and unscathed."
Ron Davis and the rest of Pechy's friends, in the Variblune - formerly of the Gorengers (1975) - now a strange blue-aura being is driving.
"Zero is fast. Zero is omnipotent. Zero is evasive. Everything and Nothing, harmony incarnate. Creation deserves help. Zero-"
Then suddenly, a Cube Fiend crashed down the Variblune, causing it to wobble.
"It seems there's a Cube Fiend on the ship, mister Zero!" Ron noticed. "Get it off now!"
Cue the Variblune swerving to fling the Cube Fiend away. "Evasive action. Zero senses engine failure. Zero want unscathed."
"Crash landing imminent!" Ron brace on.
The Variblune crashed at the inner wall of the Final Shape, barging in as the crash landing.
"Enough is enough, you corrupter!" The former Mecha Strike Navigator called. "For we have been patched by the passage of fate, now in front of your marble-list castle! And we have brought our pets-turned-hostiles to your lands!"
"You tried to turn us into your lap dogs. We've been waiting for this, the true salvation!" The former Mecha Strike Defender seethes. "And when we're done with the armies below, we're coming for you, false god-"
"Huh?" The main Loopers, who just had been snapped out of...
"You have redeemed, wanna help?" The Thing came.
"Go ahead, the real allies." She pointed at the castle.
Cue the Thing grabbing a Battle Bus and then throwing it to the Final Shape.
"Ben Grimm! How dare you!" N.P. seethes in rage.
The Cube Fiend also landed, as a wild card group to distract the barons. Kadoya lamented he's now too weak to even get up, let alone even walking.
"The rebels have breached the castle!" Aku-Bill panicked. "Bill and Bill and Bill, run! We're cooked!"
All the Bills flew around like dead alicorns, panicking over the chaos that's threatening the Darkbolts.
"No." Magnifico dismissed. "We would know if the lower levels had been breached. That must have been something else."
"I'll check it." The Godhunter left to check the levels.
"What about the Shield? What about Ben?" The Great Leader asked.
"It's too late to take back!" N.P. grated.
"This chaotic 'verse has been a wilderness... Hear me out, great drill!" Doom approached the castle. "I, Doom!"
Just as the God-Emperor Doom himself walked and declared, he's crushed by the feet of the Gurren Lagann, which's targeting Ben himself.
"Who do you think we are, YOU DUMMY!?" Gurren Lagann spoke with distorted echoes.
Meanwhile, inside the castle...
"Huh... Zero is bit disappointed... but it's fine, Zero can fix it." Zero himself.
"Ok, stay here while I roam this castle." Ron took up his sword and walked away.
Zero stayed to fix the Variblune, while Ron sneaked through the interiors of the castle. Meanwhile, on the outside...
"Want to save yourself some trouble and give up?" The Gurren Lagann about to combat.
"You wish, galactic scraps!" The Thing smirked.
As the two giants clashed, N.P. urged Magnifico to immediately take extreme action.
"Yes... here they come." Magnifico nodded.
Magnifico teleported, while the Thing managed to land a really good hit on Gurren Lagann.
"Well, you've done it now, sucker!" The mech is pissed. "Do you see that? The top god is here - our sponsor - and he's totally in bad mood." *whack drill onto Ben* "And so are we!"
"Wait... you mean... Magnifico!?" The Thing realized. "That king's... your SPONSOR!?"
"YES!"
"So that make you accomplices?"
"Yeah, that's us. Dai-Gurren!"
"Well, that's it. I'm done. We're done. This existence is screwed. Blame that Magnifico the bastard. Do whatcha gotta do. Now!"
Ben Grimm gave up, and let himself be drilled into pieces of absolute death by the... GIGA... DRILL... BREAK!
"It's no fun. Could this be retroactive karma? No." N.P. is in denial.
"What's wrong, miss?" The Great Leader asked.
"There's so much wrong! I have finally got my wish granted, with no strings attached, and yet..." N.P. lashes out, knocking the Great Leader into a wall pretty far away, at human-deadly impact. "Whenever you were there, I killed you! That may be why even after over a thousand years, you failed to understand-"
"Please..." The Great Leader recovered. "Hear me out. You're not alone. Let's move on and continue our mission."
Ron is walking in the hallway, and this moment he saw the Godhunter walking towards the opposite direction.
"Damnit, it's you!" Ron unsheathed his sword.
"We meet again, Ron Davis." The Godhunter stopped. "We are going to destroy all those going against us Darkbolts."
"Oh, I see. So you're now serving the Darkbolts, on the behalf of the Second Knife? We already know your deal. You're just an evil Guardian trying to enslave-"
Cue the Godhunter knocking Ron away with Void Light.
"It hurts for pain is what proceeds the true Collapse. We are the extinction cycle. We are arbiters of the passage of fate." The Godhunter rises. "We are salvation itself."
Then, with a gently literal twist of the knife, the hallway morphed geometrically, in perfect sync. They're trying to calcify or kill Ron.
"What do you want, fellow tyrant?" Ron chuckled. "Pechy was right. The CXA were right. And they all still are. Also, you're just a selfish Guardian who became evil over a shared obsession, doing the Second Collapse and then you took over alternates, enslaving the then-unknowing Vex, and torture the Witness from all..."
"Fuck off. Keep squandering the opportunity we gave you." The Godhunter is disappointed. "I am to end you, a sniveling frog of humanity, from a galaxy far, far away. So much so, estimation is meaningless."
"Okay... this is the last warning. If you stop right there, right now - if you have any decency at all - I promise I won't do any." Ron smirked.
"One final, empty threat? What a fool you are." The Godhunter dismissed. "You're bleeding on our fellow gods' throne. We now fix you with the utmost faith. We are salvation itself, and you'll receive it. Fate or die."
"Well... just remember... I told you so..."
Note: After taking long breaks, I finally got to finish this chapter. It's 2015!Secret Wars, #6 and #7 and the first two-thirds of #8, adapted into the context and plot of this massive crossover installment. That's, hoo boy, is a doozy.
Oninoshima (鬼の島), the official name for "Hermes", Chapter 6. Set in Reality-783, we have a Zero Point fragment falling down, effectively reintroducing magic to the new Island and Hope and Jones finally hopping out of the Reality of former Society with "Helios" from Chapter 5. Turns out that by the time of Chapter 2 Remix (2024), the Zero Point has been physically destroyed, ending "Asteria" (Chapter 4) and scattering the fragments across reality and reality. Turns out the Darkbolts turned the Retconnian into a burial for all that permanently failed to fit into the Battleworld 52, hence why the inhabitants (including Hope by accident on Magnifico's part) getting Un-person'ed and driven far away from the patchwork multiverse. This chapter started with Reiji Arisu and Female!Alear accidentally crossing into Oninoshima, and ended up going insane for a while, and this climaxed with the Cult of Hope (including Thor himself) snapping out by the presence of the real Hope, who's been hailed as their own blessing goddess, when that was set up by the Darkbolts to help them get loyal. Hope and Jones brought the entire gang with them (including a very much possessed Night Rose), and it's all thanks to Wendy (Aria's Story) sending Pechy, Amaya, the Ivies, the Jolicoeurs and Mike to Reality-783.
You now know that this set of chapters is named "Messiah: ReFantazio": it's the Euchronia's mission to receive the artifact guarded by Lord Access. The entire playable party of Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) got into the deep vault inside the Salvation Sphere, and so, the Heart of Resurgence from WarzoneVerse and the Hand of Multiversal Power from a certain fanart, are now unvaulted. The party used the Heart to empower the Siege Courageous and get the zombies in the Shield rallied with the help of none other than Strong Bad from Homestar Runner and freaking Geoff Keighley from real life!
By this point, all the Persona users snapped out of Darkbolts' reign - Arche-Kandori is in trouble! Makoto Yuuki convinced Ben Grimm the Thing from Marvel Comics to rise up, tear down the Shield and turn on the Darkbolts, just as Thanos did in 2015!Secret Wars against Doom. In Latverion-0 is some notable battle moments, such as LeBron wearing a nanomachine version of the Iron Man armor to engage the baronesses, Bugs Bunny stealing the Decadriver, and of course, the return of the main Loopers, the play characters of Fortnite - Loopers they are pissed to find out that the corruption on them was an attempt to convert them into Darkbolts loyalists, and so sent a massive horde of Cube monsters from the Last Reality straight down the battlefield.
Zero the spirit - a Legendary outfit from Chapter 2 (2019-2021) Item Shop - is riding the Variblune from Himitsu Sentai Gorenger (1975-1976), carrying Ron Davis... but then a Cube Field crashed down, and the Variblune then crashed the castle. Ron Davis sneaked in while Zero fixs the Variblune, but then the Godhunter found Ron... yeah, that will then take care of 2015!Secret Wars equivalent.
2025 is fast approaching (as of the time of this chapter's initial publishing), so in advance, happy holidays! Be sure to promote the entire crossover project as well! Confused? Here's how you can do it: share the project and the fanfiction to social media, TV Tropes pages, appropriate forums and conversations, and get everyone to know and help! (No drama please!)
Until next time...
Cross-trivia:
(*1) - Namco x Capcom (2005) and Project X Zone games.
(*2) - Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) confirmed!
(*3) - Memes referring to Hulkenberg's appetite.
(*4) - He meant Dynamo TNTina.
(*5) - Reality Augments were a gameplay mechanic in Fortnite Battle Royale (2017), introduced in Chapter 4. Augments were a dynamic system of buffing the player in various chosen ways as the match progressed.
Augments modified each player's gameplay in various ways, enabling a choice of one of two augments every 2.5 minutes, up to 10 minutes. If players did not like the choice of Augments, they could reroll them. Rerolling was free every first roll in a match, but cost 100 Bars afterwards. Players would receive 4 augments by the end of the match, and these augments could change anything from item drop chance, to player movement.
Players would slowly receive new augments as they played the game, adding to their collection of them.
(*6) - Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe, respectively.
(*7) - See chapter #13.
(*8) - At the end of Beyond the Edge. Also in Successor of Anti-Life, even after the emergency fusion.
(*9) - Chapter 2 Remix (2024) took place in a reality themed after Chapter 2 (2019-2021), featuring the same "Apollo" Island but saddled with musical artists. It's offshoot from the main tentatively deemed Reality Zero as of Chapter 5 (Cerberus felt "Helios" as he dug back in the quest) as well as Reality-783 of Chapter 6.
(*10) - This is the copy Aria Bellamy, the main of Aria's Story (2018). This Aria is Wendy with the magic quill and the literal Aria's story, which is needed for the plot (somehow). Wendy/fake Aria is also an exiled baroness, hailing from Latverion-33.
(*11) - Also known as the Conduit, the Zohar in Tetsuya Takahashi's Xeno-meta (started with 1998's Xenogears) is having a link to a higher dimension, thus providing access to an effectively infinite amount of energy from the games' perspectives. In all appearances, the Zohar is monolithic in nature, though the amount of detail on its surface and the presence and shape of its arms varies between appearances.
(*12) - Lord Access, having been given the key by the original Stephen strange, who's now deceased by the time of this scene in question (just like with 2015!Secret Wars). However, within the timeskip in Battleworld 52, Eupha managed to pick up the key while Access wasn't looking.
(*13) - a.k.a. "Hermes", from Chapter 6.
(*14) - From no defined canon to the Re:CREATORS (2017), Altair now serves the role of the Prophet of 2015!Secret Wars.
(*15) - Sonic Prime Overclocked.
(*16) - Based on the reveal behind Queen Beta's villainy.
(*17) - Soyle was freed from the Darkbolts after the Elyos mission. However, as of P-1 Special, Soyle is missing. They're the bargaining chip for both Alears to join the Cult of Hope.
(*18) - The Cyber Initiative, from Mortal Kombat series (1992-) is the name of a program instigated by the Lin Kuei clan of assassins with the intention of transforming their warriors into Cyborgs. It was campaigned by the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, who made an aggressive plan on turning many of the clan warriors; either willingly or unwillingly, into bionic killing machines slaved to their clan's hive mind. Those that supported the Initiative felt it would remove insubordination from their ranks, whilst those that opposed it believed that they would have to surrender their instincts & free will.
The Grandmaster proceeded with his plans of transforming his warriors into cyborgs. Among those chosen were both Cyrax and Sektor; the former of whom had great reservations on this plan as he felt that it turned them into cold, soulless machines instead of true warriors.
As of the New Era, the Cyber Initiative is no longer a transformative process, rather the subjects wear powered exosuits that grant enhanced abilities, thus allowing those within the program to remain human and have free will.
(*19) - Please see The Games Award 2024 for more context!
(*20) - This 15-year-old OC hails from Those Lacking Spines by Gexegee.
(*21) - 2015!Secret Wars!
(*22) - The Infinite Loops a.k.a. Innortal-style Time Loops: something has happened to Yggdrasil, the World Tree computer that contains and runs that multiverse. As a result, the various universes have been put in "safe mode", time-looping until Yggdrasil can be repaired. Each universe's loop is maintained by the presence of an Anchor, a core person from that loop who is the first to notice their universe is looping. There is always an Anchor in a Loop.
As repairs to Yggdrasil continue, more people in each universe begin Looping as well, but are not necessarily aware participants in every Loop; only the Anchor is so blessed... or cursed. Your mileage may vary. Characters that are aware of the Loops and retain memories of their previous go-arounds are termed "Awake" (that classifies the loopers as technically original generation). In addition, Fused Loops allow Loopers from different universes to interact. As a given, Loopers are tremendously stir-crazy due to the loops. Hilarity usually ensues.
(*23) - Age of Apocalypse (1995)
(*24) - Fortnite and Marvel have done various collaborations ever since Avengers: Endgame (2019) was ready, starting with Thanos the Mad Titan of Earth-199999/MCU-616 invading the OG Island, "Athena".
(*25) - See chapter #6.