Cloud and Bayonetta got blasted to the next room. Looking up, they saw that the Kratos and Sephiroth fusion was still going strong.
"You should not have come. Now you will have to witness your destruction."
Cloud and Bayonetta were already worn down. And with Kratos' consciousness apparently silenced in part due to Sephiroth's mind manipulating magic, they didn't have a whole lot of hope in defeating him. Especially since they had to fight their way through several Fulgore units, Cyber-Kartans, and Lex Luthor earlier that day.
Now, you might be wondering how we got here. Well, to do that, one would only have to look at what happened in the previous three and a half hours.
"So tell me again what this device is supposed to do."
"Do you really want an explanation Sephiroth, or did you want to just see an 'insect' try to be intelligent?" Lex sneered.
"Well, I suppose that when you go to try to fight some other humans, they tend to…" Sephiroth fixed a crick in his neck, "Surprise you."
"Technically, Wade Wilson is a walking tumor." Lex pointed out, "But it's not your fault that his healing could outpace your attacks several times over. Or were you talking about the time Erza impaled you with her lance because she was able to bypass your illusions?"
Sephiroth glared, "Just get on with it. I was busy using my healing magic to listen to whatever you were saying, insect."
"There it is." Lex noted, "This device should allow us to bypass a person's emotional state and make them fuse with you, adding their power and arsenal to yours. All you have to do is use your illusions to trick them. Any ideas?"
"I'd vote against that blonde girl. Believe me when I say that the last thing we need is another megalomaniac getting angry because a love song could break her out of the spell." Joker added to the conversation.
"Like I would ever consider using someone as inferior as her to increase my power." Sephiroth retorted.
"I figured that it would be because the Bartender and her friend would turn your sliced up body parts into ground meat if you hurt her." Lex said, "Guess it would be because you aren't exactly interested in her then."
"Regardless," Sephiroth changed the subject, "Who do we have that could be compatible with me?"
"You mean by personality?" Joker asked, "Because I would suggest that Wolverine fellow. Both of you are loners with a sadistic streak."
"Like I would taint myself with mutant blood." Sephiroth disagreed, "What about the so-called gods?"
"This device probably would not be able to catch the likes of Wonder Woman or Thor, but what of Rayden?" Lex suggested.
"Hmm, I do like it. And the fact that I could add his ability to turn into electricity would prove helpful."
"Just remember that the body can only last about three hours. After which, we would need to recharge the machine."
"Shouldn't be much of a problem if he's getting Ray-diddy's shocking powers." Joker… joked.
"Then let's get started then."
Rayden, Kratos, and Zero were all out on patrol in their section of the city. With reports coming in that there was some trouble going on, they were waiting for Cloud and Bayonetta to arrive as backup.
"Tch. I still don't see why I still associate with the likes of you." Kratos snarled.
"Many of us can overpower you." Rayden noted, "Aside from that, we don't have time for this. You could stand to learn a few things from Spider-Man about forgiving yourself."
"Regardless, I can only pray that this world can survive."
"We already know the backstory Kratos." Zero added, "You destroyed your own world, so you want to protect this one. You could also stand to mellow out a bit more. Nobody blames you for what happened to your family any more than the others blame Parker for what happened to his uncle."
"I still don't understand why you tolerate me." Kratos admitted in a rare moment of weakness.
"You try to make up for those deaths." Zero replied, "That's all that matters. Now quiet. Lex and Seph are up to something."
Kratos took the binoculars from Rayden and looked through them. "They appear to be… talking."
"They are likely waiting for something. But what?"
"We can't let them get away with it!" Kratos declared, jumping off of the building and preparing for battle.
"Wait! Ah, crap!" Zero mumbled.
"Those two are formidable fighters. Allowing Kratos to engage in kombat with them would prove disastrous." Rayden realized, before teleporting to help the God of War.
"Sure. Ignore the guy who has to encourage a pacifist to fight when it comes to being patient." Zero grumbled before jumping off the building.
For those of you wondering, yes. Zero did indeed do the 'superhero landing.'
"Ah, the guests of honor have arrived." Lex noted.
"What is your plan, Luthor?"
"Plan Rayden? - Why, you make me sound like a megalomaniac when you say that."
"Considering how many times you've tried to kill us to try to draw Superman out, I'd say that it's a fair comparison." Zero said, drawing his Z-Saber.
"Oh, come now, Zero. Why, we brought a friend of yours. I'm sure you remember Yellow Devil."
Several yellow blobs came crashing down and started attacking. Zero managed to break out and send Yellow Devil a ways away and took the battle elsewhere.
"I'll take the Thunder God. You handle the War God." Sephiroth motioned as he prepared for battle.
"Only a fool challenges a God!" Rayden declared.
"Hmmph." Sephiroth brushed off, "And only a fool calls himself a God in front of me." Drawing Masamune for battle.
Lex, on the other hand, drew his Kryptonite Axe and readied a fight with Kratos. "You don't exactly compare to Kryptonians," He swung it around a bit to show off, "This should be easy."
"You face a God of War!" Kratos declared as he readied Leviathan.
"Must I remind you of my superiority?"
Sephiroth rushed forward and used a diagonal swipe of his blade that was evaded with teleportation and followed up with Shocking Touch to blast Sephiroth away.
"Hmm, quite the power…" The one-winged angel noted.
Kratos shot several arrows from his Bow of Apollo, all of which were easily blocked by Lex's shield. "Ha! You actually believe that you stand a chance? Let me show you what true power is!" He walked slowly towards Kratos, who was still firing his arrows before he was face-to-face with the Spartan.
Grabbing the warrior, Lex slammed him into the nearby building that the three heroes were previously perched upon, and started to repeatedly smash him into the building.
Seeing that Kratos was sufficiently beaten, Lex turned his focus on Rayden. Using his satellite, he started gathering energy.
Rayden was struck back by Sephiroth's wing. Feeling a large amount of energy behind him, he turned to see that Lex had already charged his laser ball attack.
Readying his battle stance, Rayden had one thing to say to Lex.
"It would be unwise to provoke a God!"
"What is a God to a non-believer?" Lex asked as he shot the ball of energy at Rayden.
"Never believed that claim anyways." Sephiroth muttered as he tried looking through the dust cloud and saw that Rayden was dazed.
Lex looked at his wrist device, "We don't have a lot of time until Zero finishes off Yellow Devil. Use the fusion device now!"
Sephiroth nodded and readied the machine. Pointing it at Rayden, he charged it up.
"You're mine"
Just as he fired the device, Zero had shot at Rayden and knocked him out of the way. Sephiroth's new target was none other than Kratos.
"AUGH!"
The device's energy started to resonate with the God of War as he started to move towards Sephiroth, until they connected and were enveloped in a bright light.
X: Next time! On Aftermath: The DB Chronicles! Will This new fusion prove too much for our heroes to handle? Can Kratos fight back within the mindscape that he and Sephiroth now share? - Find out next time! On Aftermath!
Wade: What are you doing?
X: Hyping up the next few chapters. What do you think? Think this will last about four or five? - I'm thinking about three or four.
Pinkie: I was thinking more like… Five.
Wade: Pinkie, we're talking about the guy who called your friend a unicorn last chapter when she was clearly an alicorn. I'm putting money on four chapters, since he's not observant like that. No offense.
X: None taken. I can be a bit dense when it comes to minor details like that.
Alexis: Chirp chirp tweet chirp.