Aftermath: The DB Chronicles Teamup of the Eon: Chapter 8, a web shows fanfic

It is the Imperial Year 1187 near the end of the Harpstring Moon, in the world of Fódlan, and the war against Those Who Slither in the Dark has been silently going on for a bit under two years. With every battle, both sides claim both victories and losses.

With little options left, Emperor Edelgard had to call upon the Black Eagle Strike Force to assist in the ongoing battle against Fódlan's old tormentors.

As the battles rage on, the strike force that resides at Garreg Mach Monastery, plan their attack to ensure that Those Who Slither in the Dark don't tear down more lives. With minimal casualties on each side, the strike force is set to take down a base camp near the Castle Gaspard.

"Okay, the camp appears to be here." Edelgard von Hresvelg pointed to a map, "If we send our Cavalry units led by Ferdinand to attack them from the east, then our archers can attempt to strike from the south and take them by surprise."

"Right. Then while that's happening, Petra: you and Shamir can go here, where you steal their food and water supply. Sabotage anything that you can't carry, understand?" Byleth instructed.

"We understand."

"Okay then. Meanwhile, Linhardt, you are on healing duty. Make sure that nobody gets too hurt, alright?"

"I hear you, Edelgard. Can we hurry up? I have some research to do." Lihardt yawned before muttering something about strange dreams.

"Of course." Edelgard rolled her eyes, "Hubert, I want you to cover Bernadetta. Anyone gets too close to her, you turn them back, or turn them to ash."

"As you wish." The mage bowed.

"Caspar, we want you to draw fire away from their mages. We have some concoctions in the convoy, so stock up. The absolute last thing we need is for you to die."

"You got it!" He punched his fists together.

"Okay then. Do we understand the plan?"

"I'm just going to take a guess and say that you and Edelgard are going to charge in and tear apart their commander and their guards?" Linhardt smirked.

Byleth rolled her eyes, "El and I are going to split up this time and flank him from both sides. Regardless, this is a part that we must take back. We were lucky enough that Seteth gave us this information to begin with, considering what we've done."

"WONDERFUL!" Constance declared, "Perhaps if we defeat these villains, my house will be even more famous than it used to be! Ooh! Emile will be excited!"

Byleth hoisted the Sword of Seiros on her shoulder, "We have everything done. Does everyone has their shields and backup weapons?" Once Byleth saw everyone nod, she also nodded, "Then we move out!"

*BOOM!*

"Huh. Did we really work that fast?" Caspar asked.

"I… I don't think so." Byleth said.

"WOAH!"

"AAAAHHH!"

*CRASH!*

Two figures cratered the ground a few meters away from the camp.

"Well… whoever that was, I don't think they survived." Linhardt commented.

"No human could survive that." Edelgard retorted.

"Hey, Goku?" The one in red and blue asked.

"Yeah?" Goku responded.

"Why is it that every time we end up in one of these fights, they almost always use some magical explosion to send us who-knows-where?"

"Dunno, Superman. I'm still trying to figure out how it keeps working. We've busted up universes before. How does this keep happening?"

"Well," Superman got up, "This new guy is definitely one of Odium's. So, you know the drill."

"Kamehameha-Ice Breath combo?" Goku pushed himself up after asking, "Give me a bit to get my energy back up… Oh. Uh, hi there!"

Superman turned to see the Black Eagle strike force and raised an eyebrow, "Huh… Didn't expect this timeline…"

"Could you… Uh… How do I put this lightly?"

"Don't." Goku deadpanned, "We're just here because a guy that we're after is here in your world. We're just here to kill them, and we'll be on our way."

"Well, you may want to hurry. It seems your target is getting away." Linhardt pointed out.

"Crapbaskets! Uh, we're probably going to run into each other later, so see ya!" Goku waved off before he and Superman flew off to try to catch their target.

"Should we… return to the Monastery?" Caspar asked.

"Why?"

"Well, those guys we were planning to ambush… They're uh… They're kinda coming out on their own."

Edelgard sighed. The fighting never got any easier.

The trip back was rather rough. Despite everyone making out alive, mostly thanks to Linhardt, they were unsuccessful in capturing or killing their intended target.

Trudging through the marketplace, the Eagles all went off to their respective areas of work. Bernadetta to the greenhouse and Linhardt to Hanneman's crest lab. The sooner he could devise a means to restore Lysithea and Edelgard's lifespans, the better.

Of course, not everyone had a designated place to work. Petra was off to the Cathedral to visit Dorothea. Constance went to the training grounds since Jeritza was often there as well. Ferdinand went to the stables to ensure that his steed was well taken care of by Marianne.

"Greetings, professor! Nothing to report!"

"It's good to see you too." Byleth smiled a weary smile at the gatekeeper who was always diligent at his job. Passing by the stables, she saw Sylvain and Ingrid laughing and having a good time talking to one another.

It was moments like those that made it all worth it. All the fighting. All the bloodshed. The whole thing.

Pausing to take a look at the classrooms, she felt nostalgic. She may not have had a choice to teach at Garreg Mach, but she'd do it again if given the chance. Especially if it meant meeting Edelgard all over again. Speaking of which, the Emperor, was last seen heading towards the war room with Hubert. Undoubtedly, Ferdinand and Marianne wouldn't be too far behind.

Taking a quick detour to the cemetery, she paid her respects to those that had fallen.

Ignatz.

Alois.

Rodrigue.

Felix.

Mercedes.

Dedue.

Dimitri.

Annette.

Gilbert.

Catherine.

Cyril.

Rhea.

She was thankful that she didn't see too many of her former students die, and was far more grateful that so many of the other students were willing to join their cause. She often thought of the horrors she likely would have faced had she decided to lead a different house, or Sothis forbid, hadn't taken El's side at the tomb.

She stopped in front of her father's gravestone. She wanted to say something, but for the life of her, she couldn't find the words. Instead, she decided to take a nap near it. If El didn't get her to help plan the next attack, Hanneman or Manuela would.

Hopefully, it would be dreamless.

Unfortunately, it was not.

Trudging through the grounds, Byleth moved to see the gravestone of her former students.

She passed by Alois, who had tried cheering her up. She didn't know. It was hard to tell. She didn't feel. Maybe he was offering an umbrella. It was raining after all.

She wouldn't have it any other way. She would have cursed everyone had it been sunny.

She never felt. Or rather- she didn't want to.

She looked right there.

Felix.

Mercedes.

Ashe.

Lorenz.

Dimitri.

Dedue.

There were more. Far more. But their graves were not here. They were in Enbaar. Hubert… Hers.

Outside the monastery. The place she could not- would not venture. Her heart died out there.

How she wished that they could have all stayed in the cherished halls.

How she wished she could have had the resolve to had taken her hand.

She missed Hubert's threats. She missed how he would often lurk in the shadows around the monastery. She missed his devious tactics.

She missed Edelgard. Her smile. Her eyes. Her heartwarming laugh. Her determination.

If she had only been stronger.

If only she hadn't hesitated.

Falling to her knees, she cried.

"Please… Let me go back… Let me stand by her side… Please."

'Byleth'

Was that her? No. It couldn't be. She was dead. And nobody around ever referred to her as anything other than 'Archbishop.'

'Byleth!'

There it was again. What was going on?

"BYLETH!"

"Byleth!" The teal-haired woman woke up in a startled state. As expected, Edelgard was there.

"Thank goodness. I was worried that I'd have to get Manuela to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine, El. Is there something wrong?"

"Not necessarily. But, we do need to discuss strategies." Edelgard helped her up, "Come on. There are some familiar faces that are here to help."

"Is it just me, or do these guys just keep getting more skilled and stronger as we take more of them out?" Goku asked as he forced a few of the enemy fighters off of him and blasted them with an energy attack.

"I'm noticing it too. But it's not like we can just up and quit. There's more than just the universe at stake. And unlike your situation, there won't be any Dragonballs to bring them back." Superman commented as he threw several of them into the sun.

Whatever they were fighting were almost like zombies. They had no real autonomy of their own, and were very clearly more reliant on hard numbers than in real skill or strength. But it also seemed that over time, the numbers would decrease, but in exchange, the skill and power would increase.

The fact that they were in the ruins of an underground city didn't help matters. Superman had already spent much of his solar energy using his heat vision to dispatch several monstrous beings.

Not that Goku was doing much better either. His own energy reserves were running low, and after the explosion that had blasted them earlier that day, neither of them were at full power.

After blasting several more of the enemies out of the air (How they got strange, corrupt versions of pegasi, nobody will ever know), the two managed to make it to their target's location.

"Give it up! Your terror ends here!"

"Ah, Superman. Goku. What a pleasant surprise. And by 'pleasant surprise,' I of course, mean 'COMPLETELY EXPECTED!'" He blasted at them with his magic.

"Oh come on. That's not even how the joke goes." Goku muttered as he and Superman were dodging the blasts.

"Maybe, but it is still a distraction." Superman pointed out, "We have to stop him from doing… Whatever it is that he's doing."

"If you're here to stop me, then you're too late! My seal is already marked! And now, it's time for this world to meet its end! It's too bad that you cannot split yourself among timelines!"

"Wait, what?"

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR END! THIS WORLD IS NOW OURS!" He laughed maniacally. He started gathering energy into his hands as Goku and Superman looked worried.

"That attack!"

"It's!-"

*BOOM!*

"Uh… What was that?" Claude asked. He, Seteth, Byleth, and Edelgard were all busy in the war room. Having determined that Those Who Slither in the Dark was a present enough danger to warrant gathering all the major lords and the strongest warriors in the land, they were busy at a strategy meeting.

So of course, it was interrupted by the explosion.

"I don't know. Let's find out." Seteth determined as he grabbed his lance and ran out to investigate.

After rushing to get outside by the pond, the four were greeted by the other members of their small army.

"Did you guys feel that?"

"We did. Hilda, you have any idea what's going on?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Good point. Flayn, what about you?"

"I do not have any idea. Perhaps it has something to do with those strange sightings from before? That strange shadowy figure that we saw prowling around Fhirdiad?"

"Wait, you saw it too?- We saw that thing near the Throat last week. That can't be a coincidence."

"Impossible. We also saw it last week." Seteth said, "It's impossible for a being to be in two places at once."

"Debatable. We met two people today, and they seemed to have extraordinary powers. It may be tied to them." Edelgard mentioned.

"Well, maybe we can find them and ask."

"Doubtful. They can fly on their own power without wings. And they seemed to possess incredible strength, speed, durability, and endurance. It would take a miracle to find them now."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

*SPLASH!*

"Huh. Speak of the devil."

Goku came up for air first. He was dragging Superman, who had used himself as a shield against the explosion, out of the water.

"EVERY! GODDAMNED TIME! I! AM! SICK! AND! TIRED OF!- Oh, hey there." He stopped mid-rant to greet the small army.

"Were you two involved in that explosion earlier?"

"We were there." Superman replied. He was exhausted. He had spent a lot of his own energy in the fight and in trying to stop the explosion, so he needed to rest for a bit, "But we failed in stopping the blast."

"Well, that's- AUGH!" Byleth fell to her knees, clutching her head in agony.

"Byleth! What's going on?"

"Voices." She was shaking.

"Shit! We're too late!" Goku realized.

"What do you mean 'too late'? What's going on?" Edelgard asked.

"""""AUGH!""""" Seteth, Flayn, Claude, Hilda, and Anna all succumbed to the same affliction.

"Edelgard! Something's going on with Constance!" Ingrid rushed to her side, "And… URGH! Headache!"

"What the…"

The sky- No. All of reality around them turned a shade of purple and suddenly-

*CRACK!*

Everything seemed as if it shattered.

"What the…" Edelgard started.

"… Hell…" Dimitri continued.

"… Happened?" Rhea finished.

Rhea, Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude all eyed each other with a hesitant expression in their eyes. Almost as if each of them were daring each other to make the first move. Upon seeing the former Archbishop, Edelgard and Claude had drawn their weapons and were ready to attack. As their beliefs and ambitions had aligned well, a treaty was already in the works between Almyra and Fódlan, and the numerous chess games they had played, the two had decided to team up.

Dimitri and Rhea, on the other hand, having always been wary of outsiders, and having been outright betrayed by the Empire, were more willing to join forces with each other.

And much like in each of their own timelines, everything boiled down to the actions of one person. A person who was unconscious on the ground.

It was clear that they were all biding their time to wait for Byleth to wake up and pick a side.

Meanwhile, many of the others were shuffling around to pick their own sides as well.

As expected, Catherine, Cyril, and Dedue were quick to jump to the side of Dimitri and Rhea. While Shamir, Hubert, Hilda, and Jeritza were quick to jump to the side of Edelgard and Claude.

"Felix, come on, man. You don't know what Dimitri and Dedue did at the plains." Sylvain said, "And it's not like you agreed with Dimitri in the first place. Especially after he ripped off Bernadetta's head with his bare hands."

"What did he do to me?" The archer asked as she still had her arrow trained on Ashe.

"I can't believe that you and Ingrid would side with her." Dedue sneered.

"Oh. So I'm just supposed to ignore how he killed pretty much everyone from the Empire?- Dorothea was my friend, and he killed her!" Ingrid glared.

Jeritza was busy dangerously eyeing anyone who dared even looked at Mercedes. She was also on the side of the Empire and Alliance, doing a similar thing in regards to her brother. Both had been on opposing sides in their own timelines, so neither were in any mood to see each other die again. Despite Annette's pleas for her to come back.

"Shamir, please." Catherine pleaded, "You and I both know that your place is with the church!"

"I doubt it!" Shamir was shaking, "What the hell is going on? I have too many memories in my head. Why… Why do I remember… Why do I remember wanting to share my life with you, but also remember putting an arrow through your chest!?"

"You put… Why don't I remember that?"

"I… I don't know." Claude replied, "Maybe we only remember timelines where we survived. It would explain why I remember taking Nemesis down with Teach after we beat Edelgard…"

"Impossible. The Professor and I had to cut down Edelgard after she had mutilated herself into becoming a monster!"

"LIES!" Hubert sneered, "Lady Edelgard would… never… Her contingency… She said she would only use it if… if the Kingdom had attacked her at Enbarr…" He held his head in pain.

"I already saw her die once…" Lysithea sneered, "I'm not letting that happen again!"

"What the… Impossible!" Manuella and Hanneman arrived on the scene, "We saw you die!"

"I saw you die! I know it!" Dimitri recoiled in horror, "I did the deed myself… More ghosts? I thought I was rid of them…"

"All of you are talking nonsense!" Rhea sneered, "The Professor cut down the heretic down personally before freeing me from Enbaar! I got the report from Seteth himself!"

The aforementioned man was busy putting himself in between Flayn and the ones siding with the Empire.

"Hapi! Are you okay? did they do anything to you?" Dimitri frantically asked.

"I'm fine. Can't you guys just… relax for a bit?" Hapi asked as she had her own spell ready to defend Dimitri.

"Like hell!" Ashe screamed, "I remember Dorothea over there killing Gilbert! And Lysithea killing Annette! So I can only imagine what they did to Lonato in Edelgard's time!"

"Then maybe he shouldn't throw axes at Petra then!" Dorothea countered, "she nearly lost her arm because of that deadbeat!"

"I don't have any memories of Dimitri's rule." Lysithea pointed out, "So I can only assume that he killed me in his timeline! And I'm willing to bet that my death wasn't as quick as I made Annette's!"

"I can vouch for that," Claude said, "He sent Felix to kill you."

"After I shared my cake with him…" Lysithea grumbled.

"Ignatz, Raphael, if I can forgive Edelgard for teaming up with the people who killed Jeralt in her timeline, then I expect that you two can forgive her for what she did too."

"I have no memories of Edelgard's timeline. I can only guess that I was killed!"

"You were there, Leonie. You saw them kill him. I can't believe that you'd take their side!" Raphael snarled.

"It was self-defense!" Ferdinand defended, "He was about to kill Marianne!"

"If that's the case, then perhaps I am right at home here." Lorenz stated as he trotted his horse closer to Leonie.

"I'm… Getting concerned that I don't remember anything from Dimitri's timeline…" the blue-haired girl was hyperventilating.

"Well… I don't think I ever heard from you after I told you that Hilda didn't make it after the Deirdru incident in his timeline."

After hearing that, Hilda placed herself between Marianne and Edelgard, "Just stay calm and hold Dorte." She instructed.

"You of all people never liked Edelgard Hilda," Cyril pointed out, "Why take her side?"

"If Mari trusts her, then so do I." She turned her attention to the other side, "Besides, I could tell that the Professor and Edelgard went out of their way to not hurt me for her sake."

"Bernadetta, I don't want to hurt you. So get over here, before I do." Yuri warned.

"Just try and take her." Hubert warned, "I'll beat you with my bare hands if you even think about hurting her." His hands glowing with power.

Back and forth. Everyone tried persuading someone from the other side to join theirs. There was some minor exchange, but it was not as easy as it seemed. It was a clash of ideals, fear, belief, and a desire for change all clashing against each other.

And there it was. Two sides silently daring the other to make the first move to justify their attack. Two sides with a mixture of all houses and such backing each other up.

All of them patiently waiting for the one person to awaken and turn the tide in their favor.

Said person was currently receiving medical attention from Goku and Superman.

"Uh… Quick question…" Superman started, "Is it normal for this person to still be alive despite lacking a heartbeat?"

"Yes."

"No."

Edelgard and Rhea glared at each other even harder, and gripped their weapons with even greater force.

"What the hell are you talking about, Tyrant?"

"Oh… I think I have the answer to that." Claude ventured, "Apparently, Teach was stillborn, so her mom made Rhea put a crest stone in her to save her life."

"I recall that." Seteth said, "Though, Sitri was frail… Because Rhea had decided to keep holding onto the past and had tried numerous times to bring back the Goddess."

"She tried to play God?" Superman asked, "Trust me: That never ends well."

"Okay, I'm going to see if my old mind reading skills can help me find out what's going on. I'll be back soon. Depends on how bad her head is." Goku placed his hand on Byleth's forehead and started to go into a meditative state.

Rhea rolled her eyes, "What are you talking about? Did the Archbishop get a heartbeat in your timeline?"

"She lost her divine powers after we killed you, so I'd presume that she got it then." Edelgard sneered, "And what the hell do you mean by 'Archbishop'?"

And once again, the standoff was still there.

"Okay, we're clearly not going to get anywhere if this keeps up. So we're going to actually talk this out." Superman stated, "And trust me. I could lift this whole place into the sun. So start from the beginning.

Meanwhile, in the mindspace of Byleth…

"Well… This is new."

"Who's there?"

"Weird… That doesn't sound like this person." Goku muttered, "Uh, I'm here to try and help. My name is Goku. This woman and I met earlier."

A rather strange child-like person appeared in front of him and started looking him over.

"Well… You don't look threatening. But looks can be deceiving. I should know."

"You're telling me. So, what's your story?"

"I'm apparently the goddess of the local religion." she shrugged, "My name is Sothis. But I'm also known as 'The Beginning.'"

"Neat. Uh, so I'm here to try and wake this person up. Apparently everyone outside is at each other's throats, and well…"

"They're all waiting for Byleth to wake up and pick a side." Sothis sighed, "Honestly, I'm disappointed in all of them. None of them are clean."

"Is anyone?"

"I suppose not. But Byleth is in a state of shock. I think it has to do with how she now has memories of killing the person she threw herself in front of an axe and taking her side."

"What's so bad about an axe?"

"It… It killed her…" Sothis deadpanned.

"Right. Sometimes I forget that other people aren't as tough as me."

"She's also rather distraught about losing her heartbeat." Sothis said, "Truthfully, I am very disappointed in my daughter for not even trying to give it to her."

"She really liked being human, didn't she?" Goku asked.

"Yes. In what can be summed up as 'Rhea's timeline' she rarely comes out of her room and only eats once a day. I remember when she would eat at least five meals a day. And that was before she went to the pond to fish followed by heading to the greenhouse to do some gardening."

"Well… Hopefully, I can help her out."

"She's over there." Sothis pointed to a green-haired girl sitting on the ground, hugging her knees, "Maybe you'll have better luck than me."

Sothis disappeared before giving a Goku a wave of good luck.

"Hey. I heard what happened…" Goku offered, "If it means anything, I'm not human either."

"At least you have a heartbeat." Byleth shot back bitterly.

"And you won't get yours back if you keep sitting here." Goku pointed out, "Look. I'm not going to try to make you get up, but what about that girl?- Eldelgard, or something? What would she say if she saw you like this?"

"She'd probably say I deserve it." She sneered.

"Her timeline is the only one where everyone calls you by name. I'd say that she cares more about you than you think."

"It's just… I've killed her so many times… The amount of times I've seen her die…" She started crying.

"It's alright. But I'm sure she'd only hate you if you didn't follow through on trying to make the world a better place." Goku ventured, "You don't have to get better right now. It takes time. A lot of my friends took some time when I died."

"What?"

"I got better." Goku sighed, "Look: I'm not good at this. But I do know that only you know what you're going through. The rest of your friends are there to help, but you're the one who's gonna know how to fix you."

Byleth blinked. Those words were rather similar to how Edelgard comforted her when Jeralt…

She sighed, "Okay. I'll get up in a bit. Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime."

"How is she?"

"She'll be up in a bit. So, what's the situation here?"

Superman sighed, "Well, judging by the different accounts, it seems as if everything stems from her choices."

"I'm going to need a visual. Time travel makes my head hurt."

"No problem. Huh, the one time it pays to personally know Booster Gold. Go figure." Superman pulled out his communications device and showed a hologram of the timeline. There, it showed about three different lines of different colors.

"This red and silver striped line is the timeline that represents the timeline where Byleth chose to lead the Black Eagle house. As you can see, about here is where it splits off into two different timelines. The other two, marked by the blue and gold lines, are probably what you'd expect."

"I'm guessing those are the timelines where Teach either chose mine or Dimitri's house, then."

"That explains some things. But not why we're all here in one singular timeline." Dimitri deduced, "I take it that it has to do with that strange figure we saw last week in Enbarr."

"Enbarr? Claude, We saw that thing at the Tailtean Plains." Leonie pointed out, "How can this creature be in so many places at once?"

"When we fought him before the timelines merged, he mentioned something about splitting himself among timelines." Superman pointed out, "So, we just need to find out where this guy is planning to strike next, and then we can intercept him and stop him right then and there."

"I'll send out some of my warriors to track him down." Edelgard supplied.

"My knights will find him faster than your warriors, Heretic." Rhea spat.

"I can get some of the best hunter-trackers from Almyra to lend a hand." Claude offered.

"It would be more advantageous to work together." Dimitri pointed out.

"Oh, this coming from the guy who wanted to 'kill every last one of us'?"

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Hey, don't sweat it." Goku replied, "There's plenty of stuff that nobody ever lets me live down. Trust me. Some day, you'll be able to look back on it, and be able to openly acknowledge that it was a bad moment for you, and grow from it."

"Well, until we find out where he's going to be, we should maybe make sure that we're properly prepared." Byleth said, finally having gotten up.

"Byleth! I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks El. But… I think I need some time for myself at the moment."

The use of her nickname didn't didn't escape the notice of Dimitri, as he looked to see his beloved professor move in an almost zombie-like fashion to a different part of the monastery.

"I guess maybe we should all go our separate ways then?"

"Don't." Superman advised, "Like it or not, you're all going to have to learn how to get along. I know that there is a lot of bad blood among all of you, and rightfully so, but this isn't something that you can ignore. It's going to take teamwork and cooperation to beat this opponent."

Rhea and Edelgard both grunted in displeasure. It was clear that they weren't going to be on any decent terms anytime soon The sooner they could get everything back to normal, the better.

The upcoming weeks were spent with everyone begrudgingly trying to cooperate. It was surprisingly amicable, but in the more obvious ways. For starters, many of the members of the Church got along just fine with the residents from the Kingdom, with the exception of Mercedes, who had stayed with the Black Eagles to bond with her brother after they had each witnessed each others' deaths in their respective timelines.

By contrast, the residents of the Empire were on rather amicable terms with those from the Alliance. The most notable exception was Ignatz, who had sided with the Kingdom and was not one to back down, and Raphael, who had joined mainly to support Ignatz.

Credit where it was due, Superman and Goku tried to get everyone on speaking terms, but the effort was largely unsuccessful.

"You know that it takes a person with several decades of training to sneak up on me." Superman said, "I heard you coming from a mile away."

"Well, pardon me for wanting to know more about you and your weaknesses. I don't trust you. At all."

"Smart policy."

"Are you mocking me?" Hubert sneered.

"No. But a friend of mine acts a lot like you. If you must know, I'm not exactly great at defending against magic." He smiled, "Did that satisfy your curiosity enough?"

"Are you sure it's wise to openly share your weaknesses?" Hunert raised an eyebrow… What appeared to be an eyebrow, "How do you know I won't use it on you the moment-"

"The moment that I appear to be hostile?- I honestly welcome it." Superman chuckled, "Truth be told, my best friend has my literal specific poison on him at all times."

There was a moment of silence between the two before Hubert finally spoke up, "I cannot believe that I am the one saying this, but perhaps you should get better friends."

There was another moment of silence before Hubert spoke up again, "Did you feel that?"

"It felt like… Some place was freezing over."

Meanwhile, in Hell…

"I hate everything." Satan grumbled as he put on another coat to protect from the harsh snow.

"Come on, bring it! I can take it!"

"I really don't think so." Goku said, "The kind of power me and Superman throw around. It's… It's not exactly something normal people can handle that easily."

"What are you talking about?" Caspar asked, already exasperated.

"See that mountain over there?" Goku pointed, "At my best, I could crush that. With a finger. Without even using half a percent of my full strength. You really don't want me to go all out in training."

"I see." Dimitri arrived on the scene, "Then I guess it's a good thing that you are on our side then. Caspar. It is good to see that you made it alive and well in Edelgard's time."

"Yeah, it's good to see you again."

"Again, I do deeply apologize for what I did to Randolph."

"Hey, you were in a bad place." Caspar pointed out, "But, to be fair, Edelgard gave you a more quick death in hers and Rhea's times."

"I figured as much. She wouldn't have let me live in either world."

"If it helps, she seemed kinda sad when she had to put you down in hers." Caspar offered.

That caught Dimitri's attention. Perhaps the girl he had danced with in Fhirdiad wasn't as gone as he had initially thought.

"Regardless, I still must apologize for killing your father in my timeline." Dimitri said.

The tension was still very awkward for the two of them. "Well, I guess I better practice some of my monster-killing moves then, huh? I'll be on the outskirts if anyone needs me." Caspar laughed uncomfortably before scurrying off to the opposite direction.

"This… Feels like it's more complicated than we initially thought." Goku sighed.

Another uncomfortable and unfortunately unavoidable encounter was an inevitable encounter between Rhea and Edelgard. Both reached for the same food item at the same time when at the dining hall.

Everyone froze. Some even tried to discreetly leave the building. Some were successful in leaving the building without being noticed, some were not.

The tension was so thick that it was hard to say if a blade even existed that could cut it, and the two had only just started glaring at each other.

Catherine gripped her weapon while Hubert started gathering magical energy.

"Okay! Edelgard, you go sit over there with Lysithea and me. Rhea, you can sit with Catherine and Cyril over there." Claude got in between the two, "The absolute last thing we need is for the two of you to level this place because of a grudge."

"Fine."

"Acceptable."

More often than not, Claude and Dimitri had to play moderator between the two. With Dimitri often taking Rhea's side, while Claude would take Edelgard's side whenever an argument came up. However, when the subject of the crest system had gotten brought up while Hanneman and Linhardt were discussing a means to study them more efficiently, there was no stopping the resulting argument that would have sparked.

And even more unfortunately, many other members of the current army were present as well.

"Edelgard, Claude, I acknowledge that Crests put unnecessary strain on many people, but they bring about a certain level of stability that you cannot dismiss." Dimitri pleaded.

"I'd like to believe that… If it weren't for the fact that Crests literally ruined Lysithea's life." Claude countered, "Also, I distinctly remember you screaming at Felix to stab her in the chest. And that was after you did… that to Bernadetta." He shuddered.

"Please. These crests have only brought misery to anyone unfortunate enough to be forced to bear one. Just ask Sylvain, Ingrid, or Mercedes. Oh wait, you didn't. You were too wrapped up in your own misery to actually consider how your antiquated views on crests have ruined lives!" Edelgard accused.

"Okay, I wouldn't go that far." Claude tried.

"This is exactly the kind of heresy that led to your demise, Heretic." Rhea countered, "As far as I'm concerned, all misery that was brought upon by Crests is all subjective. The church cannot be held responsible for others' actions concerning them."

"But you could have discouraged it." Edelgard pointed out, "Did you know that Mercedes was nearly wed by her father for the sake of keeping the crest line going?"

"The Church would have put a stop to it!" Rhea defended.

"Like how they put a stop to all the children that were tossed on the street because they didn't have a Crest?" Claude asked, "I've seen that, and it's… It's not pretty. Makes a lot more problems than it solves."

"Don't tell me that you're taking her side in all of this."

"I may not agree with how Edelgard went about wanting change. Hell! I helped put a stop to it in my own timeline, but she has a point. If you can't handle change, then you're just asking to be left behind when everyone else moves on."

"And her change was so great?" Rhea seethed.

"Believe it or not, I gave you and your followers multiple chances to surrender in my time." Edelgard pointed out, "If you wanted to stop corrupt nobles from throwing their children on the streets because of how they were born, then you would have."

While they were arguing, many of the others were simply watching and having a… reasonably more civilized version of their debate.

"I for one, do believe that the nobility could use some fine-tuning." Lorenz said, "However, doing away with all of them seems rather… extreme. It would be best to find the good ones and allow them to keep power rather than be rid with all of them."

"If the 'good ones' were so good, then they'd speak out against the bad ones." Lysithea replied, "If they can't, then that basically means that they have no problems with their behavior."

"Gotta agree with her on that." Sylvain muttered, "If my old man wasn't as much of a bastard, I probably would've had a pretty decent brother."

"Still, starting a war is definitely not how one should go about it." Ashe pointed out.

"I'm sorry, did the Kingdom gain their independence by sitting around a campfire singing hymns, or did they outright have to fight the Empire to get that?" Lysithea glared, "If you want change, you have to be willing to fight for it."

Seteth sighed, "As much as I dislike agreeing with the tactics of Edelgard, she ultimately had a point. Not to mention what Rhea did to the Professor… Archbishop… Ugh, even I am confused as to how to address her."

"Speaking of, where is Byleth?" Lysithea asked, "I haven't seen her all day."

"You call her by her name?" Ashe asked.

"She wanted it." Lysithea shrugged, "Why? What do you call her?"

"She's the new Archbishop in our time. We call her by that title, or if refer to her as 'professor.'"

"I recall some conversations of when she chose Claude. She said that she preferred 'Professor.' or variations thereof"

"Similarly, she also became the new Archbishop in Rhea's time." Seteth said, "The few times she is out of her room, she does not seem to respond to any title outside of 'Archbishop.'"

"By the sounds of it, Rhea's Archbishop seems sad, while Edelgard's seemed pretty happy." Ashe pointed out.

"In his time, Dimitri is only ever really referred to as his highness." Seteth added, "Claude and Rhea are more content with being referred to by name, but truly, they seem to be referred to by much more formal means. Meanwhile, Edelgard to her credit, has tried to be on more casual terms with myself and Flayn."

"YOU DON'T GET TO TALK! CRESTS HAVE ONLY EVER HELPED YOU!" Their attention was turned back to the prior argument, with Claude desperately trying to hold Edelgard back from doing something rash… Again.

Dimitri, surprisingly, was not the one she was directing her anger towards. Instead, he was also busy holding Rhea back from doing something rash… Again.

"YOU SAY THAT AS IF CRESTS PERSONALLY KILLED YOUR FAMILY!"

"THEY DID!" Edelgard shouted as in her anger, she produced both the minor Crest of Seiros, and the major Crest of Flames.

It halted Rhea in her tracks.

"My siblings… We were test subjects… They died because of your obsession with crests!" Edelgard sobbed.

"Edelgard…" Rhea tried "I'm… I'm sorry…"

"Empty words from a tyrant like you!" The young woman seethed, "I'm going to the training grounds. You're welcome to be a practice dummy if you want."

Lysithea sighed, "I'll go see if I can't help her out."

"I'll see if I cannot get Byleth to return."

"Where is she, anyways?"

This time, Seteth sighed.

"And that's another one!" Byleth stumbled as she cut down another monster.

"Uh, Professor… no, Byleth. Don't you think you've had enough?" Manuela asked.

"I know that we are often known for our disagreements, but what Manuela is implying is right. And when she is the one telling you that you're drinking too much, then you should know that it is a very big problem."

Byleth rolled her eyes before taking another swig of the alcohol she was drinking, "It's not like I have a heart to lose anymore." She looked at her bottle before throwing it away into the eye of a giant bird.

Walking over to a small convoy she had, she pulled out another bottle of wine and started drinking it down.

"Uh…" Hanneman tried to warn Byleth of an incoming threat, only for the woman to turn around and cleave the monster's head in two.

"She's really taking this whole 'losing her heartbeat' thing rather hard." Manuela pointed out.

"Or perhaps she is taking the idea that she could have had one hard." Hanneman pointed out, "She has four seperate memories after all. It's entirely likely that the knowledge that she could have had a heartbeat is what is distressing her."

"I see that she has been taking after her father's more… unhealthy habits…" Seteth sighed. This was precisely why he had tried to keep Byleth's current attitude a secret from the others. The only ones who had figured it out were Mercedes, Hilda, and Hubert. None of which were at all wanting to advertise Byleth's behavior to the others.

"It's just so heartbreaking. She was so strong before, back in Edelgard's or even Dimitri's time. She never seemed like she could spiral down into… this."

Superman touched down as well, "It's always those who seem to be the most stable that are often the ones who need help the most."

"Do you have experience with this sort of behavior?" Seteth asked.

"Something similar. Some people are better at hiding their pain than others. And sometimes, they just express it differently." Superman replied, "You three head back. The students need you. It looks to me that maybe she needs someone else to help her."

Hanneman and Manuela looked at each other before sadly looking at Byleth.

"Okay. Just… Take care of her, alright?"

It had been two full days since Edelgard's outburst against Rhea, and the tensions were higher than ever.

Dimitri had managed to coerce her out of her room to at least have a meal with some friends. Thankfully, Rhea wasn't there.

"How are things in your time?" Edelgard asked as she picked at her food.

"They are as well as they could be." Dimitri drank his tea, "I hope that Caspar protecting Rhea with Catherine in my time is assuring, considering who he is protecting…"

"At least not everyone from the Black Eagle house was slaughtered." She muttered.

Dimitri sighed, "You heard about that?"

"It was hard not to." Edelgard admitted.

"So… The professor calls you 'El'…" Dimitri finally said.

The Emperor sighed. Of course he would bring that up.

"I asked her to." She said simply.

"Hmm…"

"Dimitri… For what it's worth… I'm sorry."

"No. I should apologize." Dimitri said, "I assumed that you were still the same girl from all those years ago. I should have known better than to think that you wouldn't have changed."

"It's my fault, really. I closed myself off from people. I was so resigned to being alone that I thought that it could only be me that would have to change the world."

"I suppose neither of us are clean. El-"

"- Please don't." Edelgard pleaded, "I'm… I'm not ready for that. Not yet. Not when I…"

"Was I a monster in your time?"

"What?"

"A bloodthirsty monster out for revenge?" Dimitri clarified, "Was I only out for your head?"

Edelgard sighed, "No. You were a just ruler, a bit manipulated by the words of the church in my opinion, but a just one nonetheless. One who mourned every life lost on your side. You likely would have mourned Gilbert and Annette. I'm sorry Dimitri. They couldn't be saved…"

"I'm sorry. Had I been the same man in my time, there would had been no need to mourn my death."

"I'm more of a monster than you. I heard from Mercedes what happened to me in your time." Edelgard replied, "Thank you for being that one beacon of hope I had when I was in those dungeons… And thank you for taking care of Caspar."

"It was… Difficult. Trusting someone from the Empire." Dimitri admitted, "Many of us did not even trust him to do simple tasks because of how we saw those that hailed from the Empire. I suppose that you are correct in that our views are somewhat dated."

"Yes, well… I was never one for incrementalism." Edelgard said, "Though perhaps I should have made my end goals more clear."

"I suppose that we all have the same demon that stops us from trusting other people." Dimitri finally said.

It was a start.

Similarly, Rhea and Claude were having a conversation to try and make some semblance of peace. However, to Rhea, it certainly felt more like an interrogation than a conversation.

"So… Why'd you do it?"

"Claude, you already know why." Rhea muttered.

"No. Not that part. In the tomb." He clarified, "You tried to sacrifice Teach. Why?"

"I… I wanted my mother back." She admitted. She didn't know why she was admitting this, "I've been alone for so long, and… I was afraid."

Claude could sympathize.

"Still though. You, and the other two were around for a long time. Think that'll happen to teach?"

"Oh no…" Rhea realized, "What kind of hell did I inflict onto her?"

"Any word from the people we sent out to look for that base?"

"Unfortunately, no." Catherine replied, "At this rate, they might be able to take over Fódlan right from under our noses."

"Well, Goku should be back soon. Maybe his search will be better." Superman offered.

"I doubt it." Goku said as he flew in through the window, "They're hiding their power levels. Add that to us still not being at full power, and that's a bad combination."

"First hiding themselves with lead, and now this?" Superman sighed, "Maybe we should try thinking outside the box a bit more."

"That's your specialty. I'm going to see if I can't get some of that power back with some training. If you see a volcano exploding, that's probably me."

"Are… Are you sure you guys need our help?"

"The last three times we tried taking him on by ourselves, we got blasted." Superman explained, "And the third time, he sapped our powers. So, we're not at a level that would allow us to defeat him on our own."

"Damn. We coulda used that power in Rhea's time…"

"Well, we aren't native to this world." Superman pointed out, "Actually, I could use some training too. I could use some martial arts skills since my own strength isn't up to par with what it's usually at."

He flew off.

"So… You feel it too?" Goku asked as they touched down at a volcano nearby."

"Yep. The best they're at is not being at each other's throats all the time." Superman sighed, "This isn't good. We're going to need an army to fight back once we find where they are, and if these guys can only cooperate with their own teams, that's going to be more trouble than help."

"At this rate, we'll be stuck here longer. That merged timeline thing won't let us leave until it's resolved." He said as he practiced some old stances.

"At this rate, we may as well just try to do another run on our own."

"We'll get bodied. Again."

"And we'll just have to keep getting back up again." Superman pointed out, "It's sorta our thing, in case you forgot."

"I haven't." Goku sighed, "But we've been a part of teams before, and being able to cooperate with one another is one of the biggest things that let us win."

"Right." Superman said as he started to practice precision with his heat vision, "They only seem to be at their best when around someone from their own team. And even then, that's a little strained."

"My idea of going in on our own is still there. We can't afford to be covering them too." Goku said, "And hey, I get it. You don't want to see people die, but if we let this guy run rampant, then we can't leave. And that means…"

"That means that more of Odium's goons can keep attacking other worlds." Superman sighed, "I'm not a fan of it, but we can't keep doing this. Something's going to give."

"So… Since this is probably going to be the last time we're ever going to be together like this, I may as well ask my one question." Claude started.

"Claude, I swear, if this is a question about the name, I am going to strangle-"

"Why is it Black Eagle Strike Force instead of Black Eagle Strike Team?"

"Claude… Hubert enjoys playing chess with you. As does Byleth. And Lysithea and Marianne like you enough. So I'm going to give you a five second head start." Edelgard seethed.

"And with that, I'm out!"

"I was also wondering that…" Petra admitted while watching the events unfold.

"Yeah… Uh, speaking of Claude, I don't have any memories of his timeline." Dorothea said, "Does… Does anyone want to explain why?"

Many Deer shifted their gaze towards Dedue at the question, signifying the uncomfortable truth.

"I do hope that it was me that was killed first. I do not think I could live seeing Dorothea being killed." Petra said.

"Your Fódlan has gotten better." Dedue commented simply.

Petra muttered some things in her native language before being admonished by Dorothea, "Petra, I know that what he did to us, and what he probably did to Edie was pretty bad, but there's no need to insult him in a language he doesn't understand." She commented before apparently agreeing with her in the language of Brigid.

Everyone stared at her.

"What?- I learned it from the songs. I wanted to know what I was singing!" Dorothea defended.

"GET BACK HERE!" Edelgard kept chasing Claude, who had managed to hop on his Wyvern in an attempt to escape the irate Emperor.

"Okay, we found where they're hiding." Claude said as they all looked at the map, "If anything, it's trying to get into their base that's going to be the hard part. It looks like they're several kilometers underneath the woods nearby Remire."

"Well that certainly brings back memories." Dimitri commented.

"Where it all started…" Edelgard noted, "Where's Byleth? We should-"

"No." Superman stated, "None of you are coming along."

"What?- But this is our world too!" Edelgard snapped back, "Why shouldn't we-"

"Because 1: You're not strong enough, and 2: You guys can't work together that well. A team is only as strong as their weakest link, and as far as we can tell, none of you are willing to go outside your houses."

"I disagree." Rhea tried.

"Maybe it was an exaggeration but Goku has a point. You aren't working as a team. Your differences are keeping you apart when they should be bringing you together." Superman replied.

"You've been defeated by these opponents multiple times before though." Dimitri pointed out, "What if you don't make it back this time?"

"Then we die. But at least we do it as a team." Goku shot back, "You're welcome to come along when… if you guys can settle your differences. Until then, stay out."

The two flew off in the direction of the enemy base, leaving the house leaders and Rhea left to contemplate what was just said.

"As much as I hate to admit it… They're right." Rhea sighed, "This cannot keep on."

"Yes. Should the timelines fail to separate again, then we will likely be back at where we started…"

"Indeed." Edelgard sighed, "Dimitri… For what little it means… I am truly sorry for what happened."

"Edelgard… I believe that we have discussed this. But truth be told, I don't think it's the two of us that need to figure things out."

"Dimitri has a point." Claude said, "It's really you and Rhea that need to figure things out. We'll be rallying the troops to prepare for an attack on the monastery."

"Rhea, if you could… Please don't try to kill her. I've already had to live through seeing her die twice in my timeline."

"Twice?" Claude raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. It occurred to me that the reason I was so willing to accept that girl- Fleche, I believe, was because she resembled Edelgard when she was younger." Dimitri explained, "I suppose there was some part of me that thought that if I could save just one suffering young girl from evil, then it would make up for me being unable to protect them…"

"That's not your fault. You were just a kid." Claude pointed out.

The discussion faded as the two walked out, leaving only Edelgard and Rhea alone in the room.

There was a tense silence as the two struggled to find even a single word that could start the conversation.

Rhea was the first to start, "So… Your siblings?"

"Yours as well." Edelgard finally relented.

They both sighed. As much as they loathed to admit it, they were more alike than different. It took more time than the two would like to admit, but they were able to reach another topic, albeit, an uncomfortable one.

"Your mother too?"

"Yes." Rhea admitted, "I suppose that it was hard for me to see the professor as someone else… In my time, she seemed… sad that she was forced to fight you."

"Byleth felt similarly." Edelgard admitted, "But she also felt like it was something that she had to do. Considering how Marianne and Lysithea have suffered because of crests, she admitted that while she did not like the idea of war, she felt like she was fighting for something."

Rhea also sighed, "Truthfully, I did wish to abolish the system. But the nobles would have threatened a war, and I was not prepared to handle something like that. In addition, their funding made the academy and church prosperous."

"I cannot fault you for wanting to feel safe. Especially in an unjust world." Edelgard admitted, "But you did not make an effort to ensure that others did not suffer either."

"Your war caused a lot of suffering." Rhea shot back. The two glared at each other before Rhea realized something, "Wait… In all but your timeline… you kept me alive. Why?"

"Because…" Edelgard took a deep breath, "As much as I hated you, I knew somewhere that you were suffering too. I wanted the world to change with as little bloodshed as possible. I guess that did not pan out as well as I had hoped…"

"I guess the church does have some of its own demons to clean up." Rhea muttered, "Truthfully, I do admire how you and Hubert never tried to mask your decisions. You admitted to working with the Agarthans for power and nothing else. Truthfully, I believe that if I had to work with a similar group, that I would try to justify their actions."

The two could only go so far though. They did not have much else in common-

"Hey, wait! Don't go in there! Wait, is that-"

"Claude?"

"Uh, I need some help here!" Anna said as she dragged Byleth's body into the room.

"What happened?"

"I don't know!" Anna replied, "She just kinda stumbled onto me while I was making a deal, and she reeked of alcohol, muttering something about 'not being alive anymore.'"

"Oh Goddess… What did I do?" Rhea stared in horror as Anna slowly left the room.

"Oh no… Byleth. Byleth!" Edelgard started shaking her, and tried listening for a heartbeat that would never come.

"She… I… She wanted to be human so badly…" Rhea realized.

"Byleth! Please!"

"Move!" Rhea shoved the Emperor aside to cast healing magic on the woman, "Please… Not again. Not like this."

"Uh… Ugh…"

"She's awake! Thank goodness."

"Byleth… Why did you-"

"Because I can't handle it anymore!" Byleth screamed, "I've seen so many paths, so much death… I've had to undo it all. And seeing the ones that I undid be permanent in other times is too much! Why couldn't you just let me die?"

"I… Professor… Your mother loved you dearly. She wanted you to live-"

"You call this living? I'm going to live forever, and I found out that I could've had a heartbeat if I just… Just… I killed so many people… I killed Cyril in Edelgard's time, I killed Fleche in Dimitri's… I had to behead Lorenz in Rhea's… And I burned Caspar alive in Claude's… Why… WHY AM I SUPPOSED TO BE THE HERO IN ALL OF THIS!?"

"Byleth. Please. Rhea isn't the enemy here. Not right now."

"I don't even know which Byleth I'm supposed to be…"

"Then be the Byleth you want to be." Edelgard pleaded, "I always loved you. I cannot imagine a timeline in which I don't. Even one where you play a role in my death."

"Likewise, Professor." Rhea admitted, "As much as I might have… no, was a ruthless monster in Edelgard's timeline, the thing that mattered most to me was that my mother lived. And I see now that she did. Perhaps not in the way that I wanted, but she still did so. I'm… Sorry that you have seen and caused so much death, but we were only ever able to be the best we could be when you took our hands. I doubt that Claude or Dimitri would have been able to find themselves if you hadn't taken their hands in their timelines."

"You know what I do when you don't take my hand… And you know what happens when you do." Edelgard said, "My teacher… Byleth. We all have our sins. But it is best to live in such a way so that when we are judged, we can have much better actions to be weighed at the gates. And I can guarantee you that Claude and Dimitri feel the same."

Byleth's heavy breathing finally calmed down, "Where are Goku and Superman?"

"They went off to attack the enemy base. We were barred from coming along because we could not cooperate."

"Then perhaps…" Byleth took a deep breath, "Perhaps it is time that we do so."

"How?" Rhea asked, "We don't have the time to-"

"Then let this be our test to see how far the hatchet has been buried. We may not live to see tomorrow, but we will not fear tomorrow!"

"GAAH!"

"Superman!" Goku turned his attention to the mage in front of him, and tried to attack. Unfortunately, several arrows stopped him in his tracks and kept him away from defeating the mage.

"Ugh…" Superman got up.

"Why do you persist? You know you cannot win. This world now belongs to Odium! And with this, soon, the entire omniverse and beyond will feel his wrath!"

"Do your worst, Odium Agent! Whatever you try, we'll stop you!"

"Bring it on!" Goku added.

"Very well, I…"

*BANG BANG BANG!*

"What the…"

"… Hell…"

"… Is that?"

*BOOM!*

The doors of the base flew open as the entire army of Fódlan entered the battlefield.

"Sorry we're late. Our invitation got lost." Claude quipped.

"Heh… Now this brings back all kinds of great memories." Edelgard smirked.

"This world is ours! And-"

"Solon?" Rhea gasped.

"I'm not Solon you fools! Solon was a weakling!"

"If you aren't Solon, then who are you?"

"I AM INVINCIBLE! I AM SIABES!"

"New look. Same old lines." Claude quipped before shooting an arrow at him.

"Too slow!" Siabes dodged swiftly, "Well, since this is now a reunion party, LET'S INVITE MORE GUESTS!" He raised his hands up as dark magic covered the floor, and new bodies rose from the ground.

"That is… far too many familiar faces to be comfortable with…" Yuri paled.

"Alfreic… What did he do to you?" Constance looked in horror.

"Old man? Glenn?" Felix's eyes widened as he saw what was happening.

"Miklan?" Sylvain paled.

"Lonato… By the…"

"Those are…" Rhea started.

"… Our siblings." Edelgard finished.

"Wait… When did my father die?" Bernadetta asked as Yuri and Hubert shifted towards the resurrected man.

"Raphael… I think that those are…"

"My parents. Yeah." The big man replied, "I'm not looking forward to this, but we can't let them win."

"Your highness… If it makes you too uncomfortable, then allow me to fight your resurrected family."

"No Dedue." Dimitri replied, "I must not allow you to fight my battles for me."

More and more bodies rose from the ground as everyone recognized them in some way. Some were more personal, like Mercedes' father, while others were not, like Kostas' corpse.

"Tch, no Kronya? No Monica?" Byleth snarled as she tried to keep a brave face going.

"BAH!" Siabes scoffed, "As far as I am concerned, these warriors will do. Besides, it is not like Kronya was ever alive to begin with!"

"Then in that case… Army of Fódlan! ATTACK!"

Surprisingly, everyone split off into groups of mixed houses. Each of them following Byleth's lead.

"Archers: Take down the flyers! Mages: Your targets are the armored units! Axe users and Brawlers: Take down the beasts! Healers: Keep everyone alive! Flyers and Cavaliers: You keep them spread out!" Everyone moved to make their move and to ensure that Siabes' army wouldn't get past them. Byleth held a hand to stop one specific cavalier though, "Jeritza…"

The Death Knight turned towards Byleth with a raised eyebrow.

"… Kill."

He smirked as he started to go on a rampage to tear apart the enemy zombies.

"What about us?" Claude asked.

"We're taking Siabes down."

"We'll take care of their bigger monster" Superman said, "Glad to see that you're all working together."

"What can we say?- Byleth is a good leader." Edelgard smiled.

"Indeed she is. Let's do this!"

Sylvain, Ingrid, Seteth, and Flayn were all busy dealing with Miklan.

"This is what he turned into? No wonder the class that was sent to stop him were so shaken up…" Flayn shuddered.

"Well… Hopefully this one will end better than last time. I'm pretty sure that Sylvain got a nasty leg burn last time."

"It was an arrow to the knee, thank you very much."

"Wait, wasn't that when Dorothea drafted the house to help me out with that slimy merchant?"

"No, that was the time when I got a foot burn!" Sylvain said in between firing back with his magic on Miklan's 'troops'.

"Oh. Sorry, I guess we just went on so many missions that they all sort of… blurred together.

"Somewhat like our current situation." Seteth muttered, "I both recall Dimitri's all-consuming rage and Claude's cunning while battling Edelgard."

"Sometimes I fear that she went out of her way to recruit Hilda and Yuri in Rhea's timeline as a means to cope with losing Edelgard and Hubert…" Flayn said as she also fired some spells.

"Well… uh, don't take this the wrong way, she kinda treated Jeritza like she treated you…" Sylvain said, "Hey Ingrid, am I crazy for thinking that Flayn and Jeritza could've gotten together or something?"

"Sylvain why would you- Actually, now that I thought about it, it kinda makes sense."

"Is this what you usually do in battle?" Seteth asked, "Ask each other about others' relationships?"

"It's not all we talk about." Sylvain said, "There was this one time in the forest when we had a conversation about horse armor and pegasus armor."

"No, that was at the throat. The forest one was where we would go first for our whole 'travel the world and eat' plans. I'm thinking Brigid. Petra had some recommendations."

"Seteth, you really are not in a position to criticize them about this when we do the same thing."

"Flayn, they're comparing you to the Death Knight. And they're also speaking of you being in a relationship with him as well. I think I am within my rights to be critiquing them."

"Like how you 'critiqued' my choice in what skills I learned all the time?" Flayn asked.

"For the last time Flayn, wanting to learn how to wield heavy armor to withstand blows was not the solution to your problem."

"Actually, that was professor Byleth. I wanted to learn how to wield a lance, so that I could be a Holy Knight like Marianne was."

"Don't you already use both forms of magic like Lysithea and Dorothea?"

"Well that's not the point!"

*CRASH!*

"You know what?- Seteth has a point, we should probably save this conversation for later."

"Agreed."

"You two stand back. This one is mine." Hubert snarled as he approached the walking corpse of Count von Varley.

"Alright." Hilda nodded as she cleaved an enemy soldier in half.

"Very well." Dedue muttered as he crushed another soldier with his bare hands.

"GRAAHHH!"

"Of course. You were nothing but a monster back then, you're nothing but a monster now." Hubert muttered.

"GEERRHHHAA!" The count shot several blasts of magic at Hubert, who had deftly dodged them or outright blocked them.

"Haha! It appears that your own attacks are… are…" Hubert looked down.

"Hubert?"

"Vestra?"

Hubert did not answer. He was instead looking at something in his hand.

"He didn't hit you, did he?"

"You broke my flower." Hubert muttered.

"Pardon?" Hilda raised an eyebrow.

Hubert's eyes glowed with a rage that was so intense that Dedue almost thought that Dimitri was being channeled through him for a moment.

*FWOOM!*

A blast of magic from Hubert took off the zombie Varley's arm and caused him to stumble back.

"I was willing to make your second death quick, but I see you have chosen to have your death drawn out!" Hubert charged the man with a murderous intent, beating him down with his bare hands and slamming his head into the floor, while breaking each bone one by one, "You will suffer for every moment you even thought of harming Lady Bernadetta!"

He continued his torment as Hilda and Dedue looked on.

"Note to self: never get on that guy's bad side…" Hilda muttered as she saw Hubert turn his attention to other soldiers and started tearing them apart as well.

"He very much makes his highness seem rather tame in comparison…" Dedue noted.

Hubert's rage was disrupted by an enemy mage narrowly missing him, his smile unnerved Dedue and Hilda to an extreme degree, "More people to burn? I'll be sure to add to your torment when we get to hell!"

The resulting slaughter kept going until all of them were cut down, and Hubert collapsed.

"Come on, shining knight," Hilda said as she picked him up, "Let's get you to your princess."

"Do that. There is something that I must make up for." He moved towards two people in particular.

"Petra!" Dorothea called out as the Brigid princess ducked and let the sonstress' thunder spell cut through an armored zombie.

"Dorothea!" Petra called out just after, as Dorothea also moved down to avoid Petra's arrow striking down a zombie pegasus knight.

"This… This is getting tougher." Dorothea noted.

"Indeed. We are surrounded." Petra glared at all the opponents that had managed to quickly get around them, "If anything, it has been an honor, Dorothea."

"Likewise. There's nobody I'd rather die beside than you."

One of the lancers lunged at them and the two closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

*CLANG!*

Quickly opening their eyes, they saw Dedue grappling and cutting through the zombified soldiers. Nodding quickly, they quickly provided backup. "Thanks…"

"Same time." Dedue answered, "Petra jumped on my back trying to save you and…"

"Don't worry about it. We uh… Kinda let you die in Rhea's timeline." Dorothea answered.

"Perhaps we should save this for later." Petra suggested, "For now, we make them witness our power."

"Then let me help you out." Ashe said as he walked up, aiming his bow at a wyvern before letting the arrow fly true.

"Excellent job, Ashe." Dedue complemented.

"Thanks, Dedue." Ashe replied with a blush.

"I swear, you two are about as bad as we are." Dorothea shook her head, "But I agree. Let's take them down!"

"HIYA!" Ferdinand had cut down another enemy unit and went to try to help out Hapi with one that was heavily armored, "So… You and Dimitri…"

"You and Horse Girl." Hapi pointed out.

"She happens to be a rather refined young woman, thank you very much."

"If you two could save this conversation for when we aren't in the middle of a fight, that would be great!" Leonie pointed out as she sniped another enemy with her bow.

"I gotta agree with the old man's fangirl here." Hapi mentioned as she blasted more armored units with her magic, "We could probably save all of this for later."

"Yeah. Though, I gotta side with Ferdinand on this… Why Dimitri?"

"Why the guy with the whacked out haircut?" Hapi shot back.

"Touché." Leonie replied as she redirected her attention back to the enemies at hand, realizing that a Wyvern had managed to get past the archers putting her lance up to shield herself, she haphazardly prepared to block.

"I'LL SHOW YOU!" Ignatz shouted as an arrow pierced the wing of the wyvern to the body of the rider before Raphael punched their heads off.

"Ignatz… Raphael… Thanks." Leonie said.

"It was the least we could do." Raphael said.

"Yeah. I… I didn't want to admit it, but I guess I let the same thing happen to you in Dimitri's time." Ignatz said, "I owed you."

"We can reconcile later." Ferdinand said, riding up to them, "Shall we?"

"Oh yeah!" Raphael punched his fists together and rushed towards the enemy.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise." Lorenz muttered as he cut through multiple opponents with his lance, "Every time we bring down one, the rest just get stronger and stronger!"

"You noticed it too?" Annette asked as she dodged out of the way of an enemy unit just in time for her to counterattack with Crusher, "Every time any of us takes one down, the rest get more skilled too."

"Agreed!" Alois replied as he heaved his blade to cleave an enemy mage, "It is quite a conundrum."

Annette hit some heavily armored units with her magic before she kneeled down to rest for a bit, "Y'know, I can't help but wonder… If this guy was so hellbent on torturing us with old memories, then why didn't he bring back the Professor's father?"

"I'm sure he saved the Captain for the Professor." Alois snarled.

"Look out!" Lorenz pointed to another armored enemy that was closing in only for a blast of black magic to crash down on them.

Lysithea waved them down as she hurried up to help heal Annette, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help." Annette said.

"Don't mention it-"

*SLASH*

The two looked to their side to see Felix clashing his blade with Rodrigue's, "You two get back! I'll handle this!"

"Felix! We can't just let you do this on your own!"

"Don't… urgh Worry about me! Just get yourselves to safety." He grunted, "C'mon, Mercedes and Linhardt would hate it if I let you two die."

"Yeah?- Well I'd hate you even more if you died!" Annette shouted back, "C'mon Lysithea! Let's give him some backup!"

"Right!" Lysithea and Annette quickly circled around to the zombified Rodrigue's sides and blasted him with their spells.

"What are you doing?- I said I have this taken care of! If I'm going down, I'm going down protecting you two!" Felix shouted as he shielded himself from the blast.

"What?- like a 'true knight'?" Lysithea asked, "We're not letting you die! Not here!"

"Well… I'll say this…" Felix smirked, "I couldn't think of anyone better to fight alongside than you two."

"AUGH! This thing won't go down!" Caspar grunted as he continued to deal blow after blow to the large beast he and Balthus were fighting.

"This thing's definitely stronger than the stuff that Hapi typically brings out." Balthus strained before downing a concoction, "But we gotta keep it up! Bet I beat more than you!"

"You're on!" Caspar shouted as he dove into the mouth of the monster and started to punch it several times from the inside.

"Uh… Oh great. The prof's gonna kill me if I don't- What the?" The monster started squirming until it fell down and threw up several vital organs and Caspar as well.

"Ugh… That was gross…" Caspar was exhausted from the creature's poisonous insides and nearly collapsed.

"Come on, pal. We can't let you die now."

"Mind if we jump in?" Shamir asked, spinning an arrow in her hand, "I gotta protect the partner that I have in Edelgard's timeline."

"Wow." Catherine laughed, "He's mine in Dimitri's timeline. Looks like we both have the same tastes in partners, huh?"

"Guess so." Shamir smirked, "Anyways Balthus, is it alright for us to help out here?"

"Go right ahead." Balthus smirked as Shamir and Catherine both moved towards the enemy monsters.

"This is gonna be fun." Catherine laughed, "You and me, working side-by-side. Just like old times."

"That one's mine…" Yuri snarled as he shot off several spells against the zombified Alfreic, "Sorry old friend. But we can't let you keep going."

"Urrghhh…"

"This ends now!" Yuri sumped forward and cut down Alfreic with his sword.

Bernadetta took a deep breath and steeled herself. Thankfully, Hubert had decided to face her father for her, but she was still nervous. If anything, Gilbert made for an excellent protector. Maybe not as good as Jeritza, but he was able to shrug off many arrows that would have normally hit her.

"So many openings…" He muttered before using his axe to cleave through several enemies with his might.

"Hey! Leave some for me! Vestra and I have a competition going on. The one who takes down more of these assholes is better for Bernadetta!"

"Thirty Seven is the number to beat, then." Hilda said as she dropped Hubert down, "He got most of that with his bare hands. Now I have to help out Marianne."

"And here I thought that I could take a break from healing…" Linhard smirked.

"Damn… I've got some catching up to do…" Yuri muttered.

The fight kept going on until Yuri also collapsed, "Damn… Thirty Seven also… Not the way I wanted to go out…"

A number of enemy zombies started converging on Yuri as he closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

"GET AWAY!" An arrow came flying and struck the enemy's head and brought it down. This was followed up by several more arrows bringing down the rest.

"Damn, Bernadetta… You really saved our asses…"

"Fifty."

"Pardon?"

"That's fifty for me." Bernadetta smirked, "You two rest up. I guess I'll be the one keeping enemy soldiers from getting too close to you this time."

"Bernadetta, we don't deserve you."

"We certainly do not…" Hubert smiled weakly.

Whilst all of the battles were going on, Jeritza was slaughtering practically every enemy soldier that he could find.

"I can't say that this doesn't bring back memories." Manuela said.

"You mean when you foolishly thought that that strange cult was associated with the Death Knight?" Hanneman shot back, "Because I distinctly remember you being rather stubborn about that.

"We don't talk about that."

Marianne and Hilda were practically in sync together. Easily alternating between their attacks and making fighting look easy. Similarly, Mercedes and Jeritza were rather in sync as well.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

*CRASH!*

"Does this happen often?"

"Too often." Goku replied.

"Way too often." Superman added.

"This is weird…" Goku said.

"You're telling me." Hanneman said.

"No. It's not that. It's… Something else. These zombies are getting clobbered."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, but it's weird. They're uncoordinated. Almost as if…" Goku's eyes widened at the same time as Superman's.

""HIVE MIND!""

"What?"

"They're all being controlled by one guy! That's how they get stronger and more skilled when their numbers thin!"

"So what?- We're supposed to leave them alive?" Hanneman asked, "What's stopping Solon from dropping control and then using all that power for himself?"

"Us." Superman replied, "Goku. Time to stop holding back."

"Time for the full-on attack!"

Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Rhea, and Byleth were all bringing down every enemy in their path. With near-perfect synchronization, they practically knew what the other was going to do before they did it. Enemy after enemy was cut down until Edelgard and Dimitri encountered Cornelia.

"You."

"What's the matter, little king?" The woman snarled, "Upset that I overthrew your little operation?"

"Careful, Dimitri." Edelgard advised, "This one seems to be more cognitive and intelligent than last time…" They circled the woman.

"Now now, little Edelgard, that's no way to treat a friend. After all, you were in need of power."

"Don't bother." Dimitri snarled, "We all know that you're just trying to turn us against each other. It won't work!"

"Then come at me!" She snarled as she blasted him with her magic.

Dimitri managed to narrowly dodged and thrust Areadbhar towards her. However, she had dodged the attack and managed to toss the relic against Edelgard, who was knocked down while fending off several other zombies.

"Edelgard!- GAH!"

"Best pay attention!" Cornelia shouted before throwing several blasts of magic that tore at his armor.

"Urgh…" Dimitri struggled to get up.

"It's okay. You are losing to one of the best mages around, after all."

"At least I'll know that I went down fighting for true and real change." Dimitri smirked.

"Rationalize it all you want. But at least now you won't put any more burdens on your friends." Cornelia smirked.

"Get away from him!" Edelagard shouted as she brought down Amyr onto Cornelia, only for her to catch it and toss it aside.

*Smack!*

She tossed Edelgard aside too before blasting her with magic.

"How… How dare you!" Dimitri seethed, "THAT'S MY SISTER!"

He charged forward, fists raised, "YOU BASTARD!"

Cornelia panicked and blasted him with a burst of magic only for Dimitri to power through and continue his assault on the mage.

"TAKE! THIS!" He raised his fist and punched the mage so hard that her head came off.

"Dimitri?" Edelgard asked, "Are you… Are you okay?"

"El! I'm fine. What about you? Did she hurt you?"

"No I'm…" She smiled at the nickname, "I'm fine. Thanks."

"Let's get back to the others."

"Siabes is one sick son of a bitch." Claude grumbled.

"Putting it mildly." Rhea seethed.

Right in their path… Was the recently felled body of a resurrected Jeralt Eisner.

"He'll pay for this. We'll make sure of it."

"I know, Claude. It's just… I had to see him die so many times already…" Byleth replied sadly, "To have to be the one to do it myself…"

"We'll make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else." Rhea said, "Not anymore. Not again."

"Then let's do this."

"Hold up." Claude said as he saw Edelgard and Dimitri meeting up with them, "We'll go in first. Make sure that- WOAH!" He was cut off by a rumbling of the ground as even more resurrected minions erupted from the ground.

"Damnit." Dimitri muttered, "We'll hold them off. You go in there and end this!"

Byleth nodded as she charged into the room to attack. "Solon, Siabes, Tomas, I don't care what you're going by, I'm here to put you down!"

"Just try it, Fell Star!" He laughed, "My new master has promised me this world once you fall!"

"Then allow me to demonstrate!" She shouted as Byleth swung her sword to attack. With each of them trading blows, all the while the others could only look on while fighting off the horde.

"Augh!" Byleth was thrown back by a powerful burst of magic.

"We've got to help her!"

"One arrow through the eye, coming right up!" Claude called out as he charged to flank his opponent and get a cleaner shot.

The arrow flew true only for Siabes to catch it, stopping Claude dead in his tracks. He then flipped the arrow around and flung it right back at him, impaling his shoulder.

"AUGH!"

"CLAUDE, NO! DIMITRI, THROW ME!"

"What?- El, what do you-"

"THROW ME!" She screamed as they all charged towards Siabes.

"HURAGH!" Dimitri complied and he threw Edelgard towards the opponent, only for him to pluck Amyr out of her hands and bash her with the blunt side.

"AH!"

"EL! NO!" Dimitri flung his spear, only for Siabes to catch it, and fling it back, causing Dimitri to trip and land at his feet, where Siabes then proceeded to blast him.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Rhea blasted several spells at Siabes, only for him to deflect all of them and have them fly right back at her.

With even Byleth, Rhea, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude defeated, it was only a matter of time for the rest to get overwhelmed.

Even after Miklan's monstrous form had been defeated, a new even more monstrous one had emerged from the corpse. As if the hatred within him never subsided.

"Well… At least we're in it together." Sylvain offered.

"Agreed." Flayn said, "Still… It is a shame. I was hoping to see more of the world before our end."

"Heh…" Ingrid chuckled darkly, "Of all the times I kinda wished that you'd choose some cheesy romantic line to say… Just to at least let me pretend… Pretend that we're going to make it out alive."

"Sorry Ingrid." Sylvain apologized, "I kinda wish that that was the case. But…" He collapsed against his also tired horse, "I got nothing left. My weapons are broken, and I'm out of magic."

"Indeed." Seteth replied, his weapons also lost, "I can at least go out knowing that I protected my daughter to the best of my ability. At least I'll get to see my wife again. I just wish that it wasn't so soon…"

"Normally… We'd have a joke about how we knew that you two weren't brother and sister, but…" Ingrid looked at the monster that was slowly making its way to them, "Right now, I think the only thing we can say is… At least we're going down together."

"Together."

Dedue's armor was torn apart. Either by magic, or by much more brutal weaponry while Ashe was helpless as his bow was lost to him. Meanwhile, Petra was busy fending off her opponents with a broken sword and Dorothea was also desperately avoiding attacks as best as she could in an attempt to keep herself alive.

"I will say this: It has been an honor fighting alongside you." Dedue offered.

"If this were an opera, this would be the tragic final stand against the enemy army…" Dorothea started, "And we would all be taking our bows right after. This may not be what I signed up for, but… I can't complain about who I die alongside."

"Likewise, Dorothea." Petra said as she also backed into her, "The Brigid spirits would be proud of us right now."

"Dedue, do you think that the Gods of Duscur would be proud of us? Ashe asked, "We fought with everything we had, and-"

"They would be very proud of us." Dedue answered with a smile, "I can only hope that we can all meet again. Either in the next world, or in the life after that."

"At least we die together." Ashe said.

"Together." they all nodded.

Catherine, Shamir, Balthus had all exhausted their weapons and magic. And many demonic beasts and their zombie counterparts were closing in. "Well, if we're going out, at least we're going out fighting."

"Together?" The brawlers asked.

"Together." Catherine and Shamir nodded.

In another part of the battlefield, Leonie, Raphael, Ignatz, Ferdinand, and Hapi were all knocked off their horses and were out of magic, arrows, and any lances they had were reduced to sticks. Even Raphael was at a loss as he was nearing exhaustion.

"Well… If we're all dying at least we're dying together."

"Well… I can't complain. You guys are the best. Bummer that we won't be able to get together for anything anytime after this." Raphael mentioned.

"Indeed." Ignatz said, "I was hoping that I could make a career out of painting. But I guess we won't be doing anything anytime soon."

"Well… I can't wait to see you guys again in the next life." Hapi said, "Life might be hard, but at least I'm going to die with people that I care about."

"Yeah well… Oh who am I kidding?- We're all dead." Leonie said, "But at least we're going down together."

Even Lorenz, Alois, Annette, Lysithea, and Felix were being beaten back. Even after the zombified Rodrigue had been put down, giant monsters took his place. If anything, they fought valiantly before being forced back into a wall.

"Well… This is not the situation I would have wanted to be in."

"Or in front of." Alois tried joking, "At least we are in this together."

"It's been an honor." Felix nodded, "If anything, this is how I feel like going out like a 'true knight' would be. Against impossible odds."

Bernadetta's bow had broken, and she was haphazardly trying to string it back together while under heavy fire. Constance was forcibly grounded by the onslaught of archers that threatened to snipe her out of the sky. Not that it mattered, seeing as she was also out of magic and Linhardt was knocked out.

And with Hubert and Yuri already out of magic and with broken weapons, they were also unable to help.

"Well… At least we all die together." Bernadetta staggered as she fell backwards to Hubert and Yuri's arms.

"Normally, I'd offer words of defiance at the prospect of dying but…" Hubert shook his head, "It was a pleasure knowing you, Bernadetta."

"Same. Thanks for… For wanting to still be my friend after everything." Yuri offered.

"Indeed." Constance added as she managed to drag Linhardt's unconscious body to take cover with the others, "If we fall here, at least we do it together." She smiled sadly as Linhard appeared to groan in agreement.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Bernadetta huddled into Hubert and Yuri's arms to accept their fate.

Even with all his strength and skill, there was only so much that Jeritza could handle. And even with her own tremendous and acclaimed healing abilities, she could only do so much. The two were overwhelmed and ultimately pinned down.

"HIYA!" Hilda's axe came down on the beast that had cornered them, but then even she collapsed from exhaustion.

"Hilda!" Marianne made her way over to the three to try and heal them. But, try as she might, she no longer had the energy to do so anymore, "I-I'm sorry… I can't…"

Hilda held a hand up to Marianne's cheek, "Don't worry Marianne. This is what happens in war. I'm just glad that we could all be here together."

Jeritza smiled as he rested against his sister's shoulder, "Likewise. If anything, I am glad that this is our end. We are all here. Together. I'm… Sorry that I could not save you, Mercedes."

"Me too Emile." The healer replied, "And not just from the war… From our father as well. At least we can be here, together. One last time."

"Together." The four repeated.

"The monster's getting tougher!" Goku noticed.

"Siabes must be focusing everything on one… Oh no…" Superman dreaded.

"What?"

"The army's getting overwhelmed!"

"What?- We have to- AUGH!"

"GOKU!- GAH!"

The two were blasted out of the sky as they were struck down by the monster's magical blast. Falling to the ground, the two looked at the monstrous dragon-like being that was now circling them.

"Heh, well… It was bound to happen eventually." Superman chuckled.

"Never thought I'd hear you admit defeat," Goku smirked, "But hey… At least we're going down together."

"If only Bruce and Vegeta could see us now…"

"They'd be pissed at us giving up like this."

"I know." Superman replied, "But hey… At least we went out fighting for what's right. That's a win on its own."

Goku looked up at the monster, "Yeah… You got that right."

"Byleth… please…" Edelgard pleaded, "get up…"

"C'mon, Teach…" Claude coughed.

"Professor…" Dimitri reached out.

"Archbishop…" Rhea groaned.

"Don't bother. Now, which one of you should I kill first? Perhaps the traitor? Or maybe even the Nabatean?"

"Well… Since this is probably going to be the last time we will be together like this, I may as well get to ask my one question before we die…" Edelgard struggled to push herself up, "Claude… Why are you straight?"

"By the Goddess, El, you can't just ask someone why they're straight."

"Actually, no. I'm curious too." Rhea added.

"I don't control my preferences, I just have them." Claude answered.

"Acceptable answer." Edelgard shrugged.

"Well, now that that's done, I can-"

"PREPARE YOURSELF!" Byleth cried out as she charged forward and swung her sword in its extended form to slice Siabes, only-

"NOT SO FAST!" He caught the blade and pulled her towards him before pinning her under his foot and stabbing her with the tip of her own blade.

"AUGH!"

"Ah, maybe I'll start with you. Don't feel too bad though, you never had a chance. Now, any last words before you fall to the greatest Agarthian of all time?"

Byleth coughed up blood before speaking, "Time, huh?" then she smirked, "Thanks for the tip."

"Acceptable answer." Edelgard shrugged.

"Well, now that that's done, I can-"

"HERE IS SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN!" Byleth jumped up and swung her sword in its extended form to stab Siabes.

"NOT SO-" he had tried to grab it, only to miss as the blade stabbed the ground behind him. Byleth then retracted the blade to deliver a dropkick to the jaw, disorienting him before she proceeded to cut off his arm, "AUGH!"

Byleth then sliced off his head, finally killing him.

"Is… Is it over?"

*CRASH!*

A monster from before had apparently lost consciousness and had fallen over before crumbling into dust, as had all of the other resurrected minions that Siabes had risen. With everyone just barely managing to pick themselves up as they were all looking at every single monster and zombie crumbling to dust in the wind.

"I'd say it's over."

Reality's shattered appearance had once again shown up, as if to signify that everything was about to return to what it once was.

"I guess this is goodbye. It was… interesting to work alongside you, Rhea." Edelgard commented.

"Likewise. I'll take care of my Byleth for you. Perhaps one day, your spirits will find each other again." Rhea smiled sadly.

"Likewise, I'm sure."

"Great to fight alongside you again, Dimitri." Claude said, "And hey, Almyra's always open for your timeline if you ever want to… Y'know, negotiate something. Same to you… 'El'."

"I'll let that slide this one time." Edelgard smirked, "Do you think we'll remember anything from this?"

"Who knows?" Rhea replied, "But if we do, then let's take it as a learning experience. Edelgard… For what it's worth… I'm sorry that you had to be killed in the other timelines."

"And I'm sorry that you had to be put down in mine."

"Farewell."

"Thanks for the food." Goku waved off, "Are you guys sure that you don't need any help with repairs?"

"This place has seen worse." Byleth replied, "Thanks for the help you offered."

"It was no problem." Superman replied, "It's sorta our thing."

"Do you think we'll meet again?"

"Who knows?" Goku shrugged, "The multiverse is a big place. We might run into each other again.

"Well… We must extend our deepest gratitudes." Byleth said, "Hopefully, our next meeting will be with better conditions."

"Same here." The two stepped into the portal and went after their next target.

"Hey Byleth?"

"Yes, El?"

"Do you… Do you ever regret taking my side?"

"There are some days that are better than others, Claude." Byleth said sadly.

"Hey teach… I just want you to know… If you…" He fiddled with his hands a bit, "If you ever want to go back. Take her side instead… I won't blame you. Even if it ends with me being killed."

"I couldn't go back that far even if I wanted to, Dimitri. At least, it is not as simple as that. But… Thank you for the concern." She smiled sadly.

"Still… I saw how much happier you were with her. How much happier you could have been. I know what it feels like to lose your humanity. If you think that doing some greater change will help… I will support you."

"Thanks Rhea." Byleth muttered, "But… truly… one has to really believe in change if they are willing to fight for it. And while I am willing to do so, I am not sure about the rest of the world. Still… That memory of having a heartbeat…" She looked down.

"I see… Are you… Feeling better? At all?"

"No… But… I'll get there." Byleth sighed, "Eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not next month… but… Eventually. Who knows? Maybe we'll all meet again… Someday."

"Wise words, Byleth." Edelgard surmised, "Wise words indeed."

"Hey Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Which path did you think was the right one for Byleth?" Goku asked.

"Hard to say. There are a lot of factors to consider." Superman replied as they were traveling through universes, "There's no real definitive answer here. It's all shades of gray."

"Never thought I'd ever really hear you say that. You're usually pretty good at this."

"Well… Each Byleth had a different reason for choosing the path they took. And no matter how much they want to, I don't think they can change it. At least, not easily."

"I guess so. Shame there's no real 'golden ending' though."

"There's never a real golden ending in life, Goku." Superman pointed out, "All you can really do is make it the best ending you can."

"Yeah. I guess so."

Wade: …

Pinkie: …

Alexis: …

Dude: …

Wade: Well, that happened. Why can't these two help out with the whole "Shatter-Verse" thing?

Dude: They're busy. Money on the table says that Odium is behind this.

Pinkie: I'm not taking you up on that offer.

Dude: Fair… Wanna listen to God Shattering Star and play Smash?

Wade: Eh, it's not like we have anything else to do but wait for rescue.

Pinkie: Dibs on Peach!