[twi] Twilight VII: III The Dark Tower

[The Shoveler]

Vash
He shrugs, turning around. He exits the room and enters the double-headed guitar door. Maybe there'd be someone in here?

[darkblade]

Asuka

Since neither Yoda nor Kamina's ghost seem to be helping her deal with her Anti-Life induced break down Asuka accepts the will of Darksied and she is immediately pulled from the cockpit into a nearby Boom Tube, Yoda can either go after the Heartless or chase her down.

***

Darksied

The New God glares at Simon for second, "Join the Agents of Getter, child. You make take your rise then."

With that statement the stage breaks in two and instruments appear on both sides. From the ground rises Evangelion Unit-02 complete with Asuka at the helm as it casts an AT-Field between the two stages, not just any AT-Field an AT-Field powered by the collective will of those under the will of Anti-Life.

The crowd of infected cheers on the ground. "Agents of Getter, in normal combat neither of us will achieve our desired result. Let us instead settle this with the will of the masses. We will each spread our message in song taking those on the ground to and from Anti-Life the stronger message ((read DM fiat)) shall prevail. Let us begin."

Darksied's band assembles behind him as the damned musical Anti-Life word problem begins to play.

I'm a cosmic threat and I'm not dead yet
got a super dread bet with the angel of the dead
like a dead beat winner, I wanna be a sinner
an idolized bang for the free will killer
a hideous man that you all understand
throw an anti-life party and I'm guaranteed to f**kin snap
it evilsonic, it's pornoholic
breakdowns, obscenities, its all you ought to be

if you're 555, then I'm 666
if you're 555, then I'm 666
Well if you're 555 then I'm 666
(All is one in Darksied)
If you're 555 then I'm 666
(All is one in Darksied)


everybody's so infatuated
everybody's so completely sure of what we are
everybody defamates from miles away
but face to face
they haven't got a thing to say
I bleed for this and I bleed for you
still you look in my face like I'm somebody new
toy, nobody wants anything I've got
which is fine because you're made of everything I'm not

if you're 555, then i'm 666
if you're 555, then i'm 666
Well if you're 555 then I'm 666
(All is one in Darksied)
If you're 555 then I'm 666
(All is one in Darksied)

YEAH

Humph, argh, ANTI-LIFE

YEAH

30 seconds, 16, 8, 4, lemme tell ya why
I haven't the slightest, I'm teaching your brightest
they're listening , clamouring
all the power in the world can't kill me
go ahead, lie to me
tell me again how your tortured
I wanna know how you followed your orders so well
you're full of s**t
you want a dream, but this ain't it

If you're 555 im 666
If you're 555 im 666
If you're 555 im 666
If you're 555 im 666
If you're 555 then im 666
(All is one in Darksied)
If your 555 then im 666
(All is one in Darksied)
If your 555 then im 666
(All is one in Darksied)
If your 555 then im 666
(All is one in Darksied)

Anti-Life
yeah


"Your move."

***

Mickey

Mickey followed behind Lea, he doesn't fully trust the former Nobody. "We don't need a reason to destroy monsters like you."

He follows this up with a keyblade strike to the face.

***

Dresden

"Flagg has Molly at the Tower, but we have no way to get there or stop him if we do." I explained.

"Murphy have their been any reports of gateways or portals lately? Even by crazy drunks there has to be a way to get out there to save her."

***

Ramirez

"Where is this balloon?"

[doliest]

Death
She pulls away, sighing, "We'll have to finish later. Duty calls me away." She embraces him one last time before sending out an 'echo' to the other Endless. The Universe was beginning to have serious cracks. They needed to gather. There would be snacks.

Light/Pinhead
Pinhead stays in the shadows, watching Light; he would always follow the Configuration, no matter where it went. Still, he tired of waiting. If nothing happened soon, he would search out Flagg and demand a payment-he was unable to drag Flagg to his realm, but something of near value could be found.

Light nods at her, "The Authority is no longer safe for us, and we have far more here anyway." 'And Sammael is gone, so my mortality is something that needs to be fixed. Doom's resources are the best for that....still. What's his game? 'An heir?' He's got the technology and connections to make a clone at any age he wants. He wants something else.' He turns his 'charm' up, smoozing about. When he had been chased by L, no one could imagine the nice, intelligent Yagami boy could ever be Kira. He was a master actor, even if he'd abandoned much of it working in the Authority because none of them liked or trusted him regardless.

Azula
(Still waiting on an update)

Dr.Kovacs
He sensed as the equation ceased spreading. He stopped his spell, re-communicating with the past Doctors,
It has been taken care of. Habib, what were you fighting before your death? That is our next target.

Ash
Ash stares around the court; this was starting to remind him eerily of the time he'd been sent back in time to fight the deadites. If skeletons showed up, he'd be ready.

Dracula
Dracula slams into his throne, tearing it apart. He picks himself up, clearly injured. He speaks a few words and shadows pull themselves from the walls; monsters of all shapes and sizes, from zombies to massive hulking abominations who fed on electricity, formed a circle around them. Fine, then, Angel. We shall fight here. To the end. He throws his cloak off, and it seems to scream as it becomes a living shadow, flying towards Zarthos. At the same time, Dracula becomes encased in Hellfire, drawing his greater power-going to the second level, where he fully channeled all the power Lucifer had given him. Few not directly sent by God had survived. None not directly blessed by him had injured it.

[Gulping]

Benkei

"I think I can puzzle it out on my own. Can't be much more complicated than a Getter." With that, He swiftly dispatches Luthor, slitting the corporate Nobody's throat like a Kosher butcher slaughtering a cow.

Watching dispassionately as Lex's corpse fades away into darkness, Musashi retrieves and replaces as much of his gear as possible, before noticing the damaged Soul Edge lying on the ground. He kneels down, somehow managing to loom over the sword like a monster looming over a doomed city. He takes his revolver and aims it at the eye of the bedeviled weapon.

"You are coming with me. There will be no argument or issue with this, or I'm bringing you back in as many separate containers as I can find. If you try ANYTHING, one single soul-sucking trick, I'm going to gouge out both of your eyes and peel off all of your flesh.

Do you understand me, demon?"

Lea

"You're not as smart as you think you are, s**thead." Lea strides into the room, absently spinning his Keyblades around his fingers. "I'm not doing this because it's fun, although kicking all of your asses up and down the block is an absolute blast, or because I'm trying to redeem myself for what I did as Axel, though that is a bit of a factor."

He stops spinning his weapons, and grasps them firmly, holding the Flames out in front of him, as if displaying the Keyblades to an audience, which is sort of what's happening.

"I'm doing this because the people who SHOULD be doing it aren't here. Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Sora. They're all gone now. Dead and buried. I remember each and every one of them, their faces, their voices, their personalities. I didn't know some of them as much as I would have liked, and some of them I knew too much about.

That doesn't change the fact that I knew them. Those Keybladers that would have been standing here, SHOULD have been standing here, ready to take you and the rest of Ienzo's butt buddies down.

These are not my weapons. They're the weapons of the people who couldn't be here. They are the legacy and will of their minds, souls, and heart!

I have been given a chance to honor their memories, to carry on in their stead. I will NOT throw that away! I will make them all proud of me!

These are the Flames of Memory! A symbol of the fallen ones who's spirit I have inherited! And you, Nobody, shall know their power!"

Clashing the Keyblades together into the double-bladed whole, The Flurry of Dancing Flames charges, holding the weapon in one hand while charging a concentrated shot of Firaga in the other, aiming to shove it down Lecter's throat.

Musashi and Ironheade

The Guardian turns to Eddie, who has managed to pick himself up off the ground. "I'm giving you one chance to stop him. If you fail, I will handle things personally." A shiver crawls up the roadie-turned-Rider's spine. He can tell in his gut that Musashi's version of 'handling things' would be just short of cataclysmic, and likely kill every living thing on Apokolips.

Ok. I accept your challenge. Guys! Get ready to put on a show! Gil, you're on drums! Coop, grab a synthesizer! Scott, help me set up a new stage!

On it!
As you command, Sir Riggs!

FASTMOTION BUILDING SEQUENCE!

In no time at all, a new stage has been set up facing the Megas-Stage that Darkseid and his band has taken over. It's a bit ramshackle, given that it was built out of 'whatever they could pry off of the planet's surface,' but it'll work.

Musashi, for his part, disappears, entering the locked-off fortress planet in search of something. He has an Idea, and that's bad news for anyone who tempts his wrath.

Alright! Everybody ready?

[The Shoveler]

Coop
He's got a synthesizer. No one can tell just where the hell he got it from.
"The bastard took over Megas. I won't let him get away with this! I'M READY!" he says, preparing to rock out.

[Cracklord]

Lea
He steps aside, watches the flames shoot past dispassionately. "Machismo, as if you can shout something so loud it will become true. That only works if you believe it. And you don't. Because the fact is, you are a failure. That's all. You don't fit in with either side. You died to protect people, but that doesn't make you better. Quite the opposite, it shows your indecisive. Weak."
He takes a few steps forward. "You want to die. That's what this is all about. You want it to end, you want an escape. But no halter made of straw for you, no, your ego won't let you be so honest. So instead, your pulling all these with you on your little death quest. Die as you live, a violent little man who's only talent is causing pain. Admit it, all you have done is brought misery to those you proport to care about."
The sword is just a cover. His real weapon is his words.
And he's good with them. Of his psychiatrists, roughly thirty percent have killed themselves, several others became criminals themselves, and most requested a transfer or quit. Untrained people, with or without heroic willpower, are going to find him very difficult to kill.

Benkei
He's dead. Or at least his Nobody is, but then, now you have to deal with his heartless. Which should be showing up shortly.
Lex Luthor will wake up somewhere else. Somehow you doubt he'll have learned anything from this, but you can pray.
The blade sneers at you, and you threat, and well should it. All the Getter Force in the world won't protect you from it's influence. Smash it, and it will be back together in an hour at the longest. It doesn't even need you as a host, as the greatest swordsmen in existence seek it out relentlessly. All in all, this is the sort of thing that really can't work out, for you or anybody else. Just leave it, or wind up the new Nightmare.
Then you look up to hear a scream. Luthor's Heartless is an indistinct figure, chained to the ground that seems to be made entirely of shadowy gears, turning in weird configurations and seeming to pass through themselves from time to time. It has no face, it's torso is lumpen and blocky, it's legs are tiny and it's arms are massive. It throws back it's cylindrical head and screams it's defiance at the heavens, a gaping red maw opening where it's face should be. Wings beat on it's shoulders, but they are tiny, twisted, stunted and malformed, and it can barely hover an inch from the ground. I wrenches and fights against it's chains, and you feel the ground crack beneath you.
Your weapons won't hurt it. Not so powerful a Heartless, even the weaker ones are almost impossible to kill this way. You need magic.

Death
The other Endless meet, all discussing their respective problems in their respective spheres of influence. Anybody who wants to play an Endless can.

Authority/Justice League
The armies of the king of Vampires have begun to march again. Looks like back to war you go.

Light
You meet a few more. Doom is nowhere to be seen. Possibly because Richards is here, and equally possibly because he's just on the other side. It's a big hall, after-all.

Team Dresden
You find Marcone, with a four-by-four driven clean through him. He's not dead yet, it missed his kidneys and lungs. It did not miss his spine. He'll be dead soon.
He stares up at you, eyes clear. "My daughter." He said, forcing it out despite the agony and the fact he could only take the shallowest of gasps. "Safe?"

Ramirez
"At the top. Top of the castle." It says, still desperate. "I have many breeders. Many, many runts. What will become of them without a father?"

Musashi
If you stay much longer, you will be violating the terms of your existence, and the universe will set itself to correcting the power imbalance. Be quick.

[industrious]

Nicodemus

"Is something amiss?"

Nicodemus has a pleasant, mild sort of smile as he says this. Mocking him.

John Taylor

"Right."

I pull out Walker's pocketwatch and...check the time. At midnight, we'll sneak out. There's a tradition about these sorts of things.

Elijah Snow

Well. This was interesting.

"It does say plus one..."

"No."

"No."

"No."

"Who's Doom?"

Elijah briefly frowns, then shrugs.

"Since nobody wishes to go that is prepared to do so, I'll just have to attend on my own. In the meantime, you lot get to start writing the report for this incident while its fresh. The Planetary Guide for 2010 isn't going to write itself, after all."

More grumbling. But they knew what to do. They signed up for it, at least. Planetary wasn't about violence; they were archeologists. Recording their experiences was part and parcel of what they did.

Elijah brushes the dust of his suit, and adjusts his tie. The thing is somehow pristine, after all the abuse it goes through daily. Was it a bit vain of him that he had his suit altered this way? Yes. Did he care? No. He liked white suits.

"Door to Latveria. And get me a pair of white gloves."

Morpheus

You summoned me, my sister?

Morpheus still looks irritable. Gods fell under his domain. Even New Gods. And recommending the Little Mermaid, a Disneyfication of the original work was akin to stabbing himself; Dream was, naturally, a purist for stories and tales.

The Authority

The Midnighter shakes himself loose of the final vestiges of the Equation, and gazes at the armies arrayed against him. Behind him, a golden Door opens, and the rest of the Authority, from Jackson to Ghost Rider to Jenny Sparks to Shen emerge. Hawksmoor, however, remains on the Carrier, as he would actually starve in Kansas. Apollo lays a hand on his shoulder, smiling as he does so.

"This is the fun part."

And the battle begins.

[Colesign]

Sanya

"Da." The Knight of the Cross nods. In the meantime, he'll clean his gun, tend to Esperacchius, and see if he can gets some warmer clothes than what he's currently wearing.

[doliest]

Death
Reality is starting to fall apart. Cracks are appearing. Splinters. Numerous forces are appearing or stirring that shouldn't yet stir. And I can't figure out why. You've all felt it. The Multiverse is no longer as seperated as it was before. People are crossing the barrier between the universes almost constantly. We need to figure out what started this, and undo it. Dream? Destiny? I presume one of you two knows?

Light
Hm. Light kept to himself moving, never talking to anyone too long. Richards....great. That meant he'd probably invited other people in the 'Super-Hero' community. The Authority would know he survived. He'd be dead by the end of the week, assuming Quantum came back. A month if she didn't. He continues to move throughout the groups quickly, hoping to get a gauge on just how many were there that he knew. And how many he could begin sending out feelers to. He'd need an ally or two if he was going to start a Civil War.

Dracula's Army
They'd been sent out in response to the Angel's attack. That was an act of war. If Death had been reachable, she'd be at the helm of the army. She was not, however, so instead the army was being headed by a large stitched together monstrosity. The army is massive. Undead. And it's marching towards the small groups amassed against it.

[Gulping]

Musashi

Musashi only has one thing to do in Getter Base. He walks into Hayato's office, and places two large gems on the desk. One of them pulses a greenish-blue and is filled with swirling light, while the other is irregularly shaped, as though it was actually several gems stuck together somehow.

He leaves a post-it note behind near the gems, and departs, returning to Kingdom Hearts.

Hayato

"I have an idea about what did it." Hayato walks in, his phone held loosely in his hand.

"I am reasonably sure that the destablization of the multiverse is the work of the Ruina-Class entity known as the Crimson King. A nearly omnipotent being, he is headquartered within the Dark Tower, which is more or less the lynchpin of all reality as we know it." He dials up the information with his phone, projecting a hologram of the content into the air.

"He is, luckily, unable to actually do his own dirty work, much like myself. Thus, he is forced to work through agents, most notably a being called Randall Flagg. Several sightings of Flagg have been reported recently, usually around major disaster areas." The phone begins displaying pictures of Flagg, as well as any entities or organizations suspected to be linked to him. Nicodemus Archleone and Ienzo are highlighted prominently.

"The Heartless, Anti-Life, Blackest Night. Every single one of these things can be linked directly to the Crimson King's attempt to tear the multiverse apart, for whatever entirely horses**t reason he has." He flips the phone closed, returning it to his pocket.

"I already have an agent trying to infiltrate the tower, in order to smash the King's armies and tear the head from his body. He's not the best possible candidate for the job, but he's the one I have, and he's never failed a mission before."

The Stig

The communications are still completely boned, so you can't try to call Oracle in search of directions. All you really have to go on are your scanners and the navcomputer.

You guess that your best bet is to simply wander around in search of a lead, checking for any signals from Authority members or signs of distress.

REDACTED

[darkblade]

Elijah Snow

A skull that Drummer picked up at Oracle's office lights up. "Hey, can I go?"

Drummer shrugs, "It's a magic computer I thought he might be able to help you with some gaps in your arcane knowledge for the Planetary guides."

"I am much more than a computer thank you very much."

***

Zarthos

None had survived the Hellfire but none had previously tried to absorb it into themselves, very few demonically tainted would risk fighting Dracula. Zarthos wasn't bound by either side's conventions anymore.

***

Mickey

"You're wrong." Mickey states defiantly against Hannibal.

"Lea turned his life around. Unlike you and Ivenzo, monsters with or without hearts."

***

Vash

Doviculous was on Apokalips rocking out with Darksied but his room still is quite a sight. It's like you left the industrial sheet metal building you were in before and entered a medieval dungeon. As you venture further into the room you see the members of the Tainted Coil engaing in some uh activities. It's hard to tell were the torture ended and the sex began either way it is quite unpleasant to witness.

One of the demons approaches you, an inhumanly tall, shapely female figure as you look up to her face you see it is just a set of mettalic jaws not unlike a beartrap. "Care to join us, Plant?"

***

Ramirez

Ramirez contents himself with shoving his knee into the rat man's crotch. "Our ride's on the roof, let's go."

***

Dresden

"She should be. They are only in the city at the moment I doubt they'd go out that far when you're no longer a threat." I didn't waste any time comforting Marcone, the man is scum, better class scum than Flagg or Nicodemus but scum all the same.

"What did they have over you?"

[Draxx]

Endless
A manlike shape obscured within an indeterminate color of brown and grey robe, and casts no shadow. He is the oldest of his siblings, and generally takes the role of the father-figure in their little disputes, taking charge anddirecting their bickering in a quiet way, though he is just as often ignored.
Chained to his right wrist is a book which contains the story of everyone, of everything, down to the tiniest detail. While his face is as calm and emotionless as ever, in some indefineable way he looks worried.
"My book. Pages are missing, and stories are rewriting. The past and future are blank. At the moment, there is no past and future."

Voldemort
He finds the little tabeleu ammusing, but also notes that Farson is not somebody he wants to fight. So he's silent.

Door
Door follows Sanya, who she has adopted as her protector.

The Kurgan
The Kurgan has vanished. Follow the trail of bodies and you'll find him soone enough.

[Colesign]

Sanya

Sanya turns to regard Door. "It's a very strange place we've found ourselves in, eh Miss Door?"

[doliest]

Dracula
The shadow monster flies at Zarthos, attempting to smother him, turn his 'fire' to ash, turn the warmth of his body into cold. To corrupt, to weaken, to infest him.

The newly formed Dracula steps forward. He now stands fifthteen feet tall, a new cape on his back, this one filled with eyes and mouths and other apparatuses from demons confined withen the deepest pits of hell. His eyes blare red, his forehead has sprouted horns. His hair has grown, becoming a snake monster, and he has sprouted wings. His teeth are now all fangs, and his entire body feels cold.

Hell isn't flames, no matter what people say. Hell is a frozen wasteland, wind slicing you apart; it is silent, even the ripping wind making no noise. You will wander it for eternity and find no one. No person. No heat. But your sense will never go away, nor your loneliness.

Words echo through the hallway, yet only in your mind, Why fight? What is there to fight with? For? Heaven, Hell, Earth, these are all just words. Words for places that have no use for you. No one will be there. Your job is pointless, no matter how much you fight, I return. I return because evil will always exist, and that evil need not trace to hell. The evil will always exist, even when the last wind of hell has ended and Heaven falls silent, Earth being little more than dust. What is there to fight for, in this eternity? They worm their way into your skull, never shutting up.

Death
That's bad. Dream?

[industrious]

Morpheus

The God Known as Darkseid has disrupted the Dreaming by introducing the Anti-Life Equation; with so many enslaved to his will, archetypes that were present only in select species have died altogether. The Dark Tower has forced reality to shift and become fluid; there is an influx of new dreams, and new Nightmares to create to hold them.

[doliest]

Death
That's a symptom. Whatever's going on started before Darkseid got the equation. Something's trying to push the universe to the breakin point. Something's trying to wipe us all out, but it seems like it's pulling the strings from the shadows. What kicked off the majority of these events. What brough the Getter Empire into it, what brought Darkseid into it. What stirred forces on so many worlds?

[Cracklord]

Dresden
"It was... for her. Should have been...for the city, or because... because it was right... but it was for her." Jane Doe. Flagg, it seems, had found her. And the worst part is, you cant blame him, or hate him for it.
"Don't let him..." he trails off. He's still breathing, but that's a technecality by this point.

The Doomed World (Earth-DOLIEST)
No. Alright? Just no.

Nicodemus
"You might say that." he replies, replacing the blade. He then looks outside. "The dead walk." he says simply. "The others are stirring, and with them the dead rise from the cold as snow blows across the graves. Going into the heart of winter will be dangerous, even for you. So bring fire."
He stands up. "And speaking of Fire, I had best begin." He begins buckling his weapons to himself.

Elijah Snow
Doom stares at you. he doesn't thank you for coming, because he basically ordered you to do so, but he does incline his head. "Welcome to Latveria." he says, passing you a flute of red wine. His glass is in an ornate goblet. You wonder how he drinks it, with just a mouth slit. Perhaps he has a straw.

Apollo/Flandre
You find yourself fighting Flandre above the aforementioned House, in Khansas.

Ryoma
The Dark Tower is on the planes of Leng, where all the worlds converge, and is where the Source Wall is. What it, in effect, protects. Certain paths can be used to bypass over it by traveling into the right worlds in the right way, where The Sourcewall is located in different places, but you don't know the paths, and you are also well aware of the price of f*cking up.
Your only real chance of pulling it off, is finding someone who does. If you try without it, you have almost no chance of surviving.

John Taylor
The seconds tick passed, painfully slow. Suzie reloads, smiles at you, then goes to get clean and doesn't come back. Tommy begins talking about something or another, explaining to you that toads are frogs, but frogs aren't toads, or something to that effect.
At last, the time comes.

Sanya
The Nightwatch wear Black. That's seriously the only color they are allowed to wear.

Dracula/Dracula
Death couldn't come herself, so she sent her boyfriend. Thanos appears, massive and lethal, once more her avatar. He doesn't look happy about it, but as long as he's doing it as a favor for her he's not going to argue.

The Justice League
Apokolips is invading.

[Gulping]

The World That Never Was

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, your majesty." Lea smiles at the diminutive dominus, and stares Hannibal right in the eyes. There is no trace of fear or doubt within him.

"This guy right here? He's the guy that killed me. Well, not quite; he killed Axel. And even Axel was getting sick of being some prick's goon. I remember that quite clearly. Hell, he'd even decided 'screw this, I'm leaving' before The King here engaged him in that fateful bout. He was going to give it all up, and run off to go a-drinking.

But I'm not Axel anymore. For the first time in years, I'm Lea again, the kid from Radiant Garden who wanted fun, excitement, and adventure. The bright-eyed little rapscallion who had big plans for the future. I wanted to be part of something BIG, you know? Something huge and meaningful. Why do you think I joined the Organization in the first place? Ansem's apprentices were like my heroes! They were friggin rock stars back then! The opportunity to work alongside them was something nobody in their right mind would pass up!

By the time I knew about the true nature of what they were doing. I was literally incapable of caring about right and wrong. To a Nobody, such things are completely and utterly meaningless."

He sighs, breaking his gaze away from the sociopathic sophist. "In my defense, I honestly believed that we were doing it just to become whole again. If I had known that it was as easy as finding my Heartless, killing it, then killing myself, I would have done it long ago. I think most of the Organization would, actually."

Lea looks contemplative for a moment. "Actually, scratch that. The only guys I think would have joined me were Demyx, Luxord, and maybe Lexaeus, and his leaving would be dependent on Zexion, and we all know how well HE turned out... You know what? Screw it, they were all s**theads."

It is at this moment that Benkei bursts into the room, swearing frantically. "S**T S**T S**T S**T S**T S**T!" He spots Lea and Mickey's Keyblades, and relaxes, somewhat. "Thank god, Keybladers. We have a problem: A giant Heartless has just appeared, and conventional weapons are completely ineffective against it. I can't even dent the bastard. Could you please use those weapons of yours to deal with it? Don't worry about this guy. I'll take care of him."

Lea looks at Benkei, then at Hannibal, then at Mickey. Then he shrugs. "Eh, why not? Sounds like fun. Good luck with Captain Never-Shuts-His-F**king-Mouth here, big guy." With that, he dashes out, leaving the Coach and the King to deal with freaking Hannibal Lecter.

Benkei just nods, and moves purposefully into the room, taking up position besides Mickey. "Greetings, Nobody. My name is Kuruma Benkei, and this is an intervention." He waves friendlily, smiling even as he opens fire, spraying chogokin rounds towards the cannibalistic madman.

Back in the hallway, Lea revs up another shot of Firaga, which he hurls right at Luthor's Heartless the moment it shows its ugly face.

Apokolips

Fine, you want the lightning? Then get ready for the thunder, Darks**te! Let's Rock!

There goes the siren that warns of the air raid,
Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak.
Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne,
Got to get up for the coming attack.

Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines,
Remove all the wheelblocks there's no time to waste.
Gathering speed as we head down the runway,
Got to get airborne before it's too late.

Running, scrambling, fire,
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again.
Running, scrambling, fire, Rolling, turning, diving,
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die.
Won't you run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high!

Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers,
Let off a sharp burst and then turn away.
Roll over, spin round to come in behind them,
Move to their blindsides and firing again.

Bandits at 8 O'clock move in behind us,
Ten ME-109's out of the sun.
Ascending and turning our spitfires to face them,
Heading straight for them I press down my guns.

Rolling, turning, diving,
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again.
Rolling, turning, diving, Rolling, turning, diving,
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die.
Won't you run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high!!!

[Colesign]

Sanya

Sanya's okay with black. He manages to get two cloaks to cut down on the wind chill. With a bit of of cutting, he manages to scale down one of the cloaks for Door, and makes a scarf/mitten. He also manages to get some torches and oil.

Then he meets with Taylor and Co. "It's rather cold out. As Son of Mother Russia, I know what I'm talking about. Is everyone prepared for the winter?"

[Cracklord]

Benkei
Hannibal looks at the other members. His eyes settle on Mitsarugi, the crazed samurai who lived his life looking for the perfect fight. The one wielding a pair of Soul Edges. Too easy.
"You want to fight? To really fight, to hold your entire soul on the edge of a knife, and see what happens? This man is the best choice that exists. This man, can give you what you deserve." He says, pointing at Mickey.
He then looks at Benkei. "As to you, how does it feel? How does it feel to know how weak you are, how the kids you trained have surpassed you, and you're just holding them back. Why do you think you are here? Yu're here because it's the safe place for you. You can't cause any dammage by your insignificance here."
He steeples his fingers and spreads his arms. "If you think shooting me will make it better, you are quite worng. But I suggest you put that gun to your own temple. It might make you slightly less ashamed."

The Doomed World (Earth-DOLIEST)
To clarify, Ungoliant is my fallback on against someone too powerful for the King to fight getting to The Tower. No way am I letting you kill her off screen.

Lea
The thing lashes, and one of it's chains tears up fully half the ground it's standing on, smashing a two tonne block of stone at you. The metaphor isn't hard to spot. A being cained to the ground, kept from flying by it's limitations, tearing apart the plannet in it's rage.
The block, however, whirls, forcing you to roll and dodge to try to avoid it.

Sanya
You look like Blade. Or rather, you would, except your smiling. You found furs, heavy cloaks, and chainmail, as well as a fire starting kit. It seemed wise, as you have no idea how far you have to walk.
Door looks roughly spherical, in a coat that was built for someone far bigger then her, but it actually suits her, fitting her mismatched clothing.

The men of The Nightwatch were an even mix of big, simple, scarred, worn, drunk and dangerous. One sitting at the door was cleaning his fingernails with a throat-cut razor.
A big, bearded, red-headed man with a thick beard and arms like your legs and a rat perched on one shoulder was sharpenining the biggest sword any of you had ever seen with a wetstone, and a bunch of simmilar men were seated around him, looking like the opening of hostilities in a mid-range war.
A one armed man in a black Smiths apron was inspecting a row of blades, and their commander was a slight, good looking boy with an ornate sword, and big white wolf that followed him everywhere.
The only man sitting at the bar was around fourty, slight, his every movement careful, with a single sword belted at his hip, sipping tea.
Some were knights, others were ordinary men, but all had the same cold, pinche look of prisoners, and you get the impression this is far from a saintly brotherhood.

Evil Ka'tet
At that moment, they heard a booming noise. A tremendous, woolly shape was lumbering down the path. It was a mammoth, great curling tusks of seasoned ivory almost sweeping the ground beneath it, it's trunk raised, occasionally pausing to trumpet a challenge. But what was most shocking about the sight wasn't the mammoth itself, but it's rider.
Three times the size of a man, it swayed as slowly atop the mammoth as it road past. Molly shied back slightly frightened by such strangeness. In the stories that mentioned them, giants were outsized men who lived in castles and hoarded gold, with boots boy could hide in. These were something else, more bearlike then human, and as wooly as the mammoth he road. Seated, it was hard to see how big it truly was, but her first estimate felt right. It's sloping chest might have passed for those of men, but it's arms hung down to far, and it's upper torso looked half again as wide as it's lower. It's legs were shorter then its arms, but very thick, and it wore no boots at all. It seemed to be neckless, it's huge hairy head thrust forwad between it's shoulderblades, and it's face was squashed and primitive, yet somehow wise, grave and sad all at once.
A massive sword, ten feet long if it was an inch, hung scabbarded on it's mount.
And it was towing a Howitzer. It seems Farson was doing more then was expected, to prepare his savages.

[darkblade]

Mickey

"Enough!" The Mouse King shouts raising his keyblade into the air and casting a Thunderspell to electrocute the Nobody.

***

Dresden

Morbius helped me get Marcone into Michael's van. I could tell it was hard on him, all that blood but he did it without complaining.

"Get him to the hospital. As much as it pains me we can't just let him die here, there have already been too many deaths." I told Michael.

I was starting to run out of options and I was running out of places to turn. I took out the map I was given and looked for a way back to Articis Tor, it's time to put it all on the table.

***

Zarthos

"Heaven and Hell are meaningless Dracula." Zarthos replies the cold obviously pains him as the heat flees his bones leaving them a cold white.

"But evil regardless of where it comes from must be punished." Zarthos attempts to grab Dracula on his next lunge and open a portal to hell spending the demon back to where he belongs.

[Gulping]

Naoki and Minato

"Alright. Answer two simple questions for us, then we can go from there." Naoki crosses his arms over his chest, an interested look on his face. Minato lowers his blade, but does not sheathe it, or drop Messiah.

"SOMETHING is rotten in the state of Existence. The state of Amala is evidence enough of just how bad whatever the hell's going on is. So, we need information. Tell us this: What is happening in the mortal realm, and who's responsible for it?"

Dante

"It's time to go over the rainbow, then? Alright. No use sticking around in here." Dante bounds up the steps, stopping by the side of the balloon to wait for the others. He doesn't know how to steer the damned thing.

Benkei

"Oh shut UP already, Hannibal. Yes, I know who you are. EVERYONE knows who you are. You're a sociopathic cannibal who specializes in talking other people to death, turning conversations into psychological torture sessions, and NEVER. CLOSING. YOUR. F**KING. MOUTH."

The problem with Hannibal is that he's best at dealing with people who don't start from a position of wanting to see him lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Thing is, those people are exceedingly rare among the ranks of the heroes. If Benkei was Asuka, this might be a valid strategem.

He's not Asuka. He's the sanest of the Getter Pilots, and he knows it. He's got thousands and thousands of years of experience under his belt doing one of the most dangerous jobs imaginable. He is not going to be fazed by some ten-cent psychoanalysis from a crazy guy that eats people.

"You're not a person. You never were. You're just some stupid monster who should have been smothered in his crib, before you had a chance to get out into the wild." Benkei doesn't falter. He just keeps firing.

Lea

"GYAAAAAAH!" Leaping towards the stone, Lea slices through it, cleaving it into pieces as he smashes through, hurling one of his Keyblades in a Strike Raid while firing off a Thundara spell with the other.

Some amount of his predecessors' experience went into him when he obtained his Keyblades, it seems. When combined with the combat instincts he honed as No. VIII, the result is a devastating combatant indeed.

[Cracklord]

Lea
You destroy the stone, but the thing was traveling at a considerable momentum, and outweigs you by the power of four. You are sent flying in the other direction, as the Heartless continues to scream it's defiance.

Dante
The Hot air baloon is the sort of thing that was made for a steam punk setting. It has all sorts of switches, dial, pressure guages and twiddly knobs. And of the group, you are the most qualified by a long margin. Blade might be alright, but Roland comes from a fantasy world like a cross between Lord Of The Rings and The Magnificent Seven, and Ramirez breaks tecnology by touching it.

Naoki and Minato
"The king of the dead. The greatest vampire, who holds the power of the devil within him. His cstle has emerged, and he once more stretches his hand and seeks to conquer all. I can send you to him if you wish." He says, and opens a portal. "Go through, if you dare."

Benkei
Hannibal seems to realize the same thing. Why fighting would make you less vulenrable to psycho analysis is a good question, soldiers have some of the biggest psychological strains in existence, but Hannibal is fine wearing you down.
He steps into the shadows, vanishing. His voice doesn't stop.
"Ineffective. The mark of a man who thinks he can solve all the problems of the universe by attacking them. Tell me, how is that working out for you?" He asks.
"Yes, I admit that some of my actions are a little strange, but who can claim otherwise. You think you're better then me. That you're better then anyone. Too long for ****, to short for Richard, eh Benkei? Despite being more then any human, you're still essentially nothing. You're only purpose is to be kept around out of pity."
"As to my propensity towards venacular, well wouldn't it be better to resolve things this way? The fact that you can't, that you degenerate straight to insults, says quite a lot about you."

Midnighter
You step into the Castle. Deadpool is at the gate, like some bizare, orange ninja. "Ah Vant to Suck Your Blah!" He says, in an exagerated Transylvanian accent.
"Hey! I always sound like this!"

[doliest]

Dracula
He hold's his ground; where once a punch would have hurled him across the room, his full state allows him to catch the punch, holding it back, though with some effort.

The cloak hovers around, only increasing the cold, digging it deeper, twisting and turning throughout Zarthos.

Why fight then? No matter what you do, the evil will never die. Mortals will revive it, and if they do not, immortals will revive it. If they do not, the gods will bicker and revive it. When they all become nothing but names in a book, Those Who Sit Beyond will revive it, and when they finally return to the dust from whence they came, it will still revive. It is eternal.

[Cracklord]

Light Yagami
You are learning quite a bit about the country. It's very efficient and well mannaged, with everyone hard working and productive, excelant government services, no crime, no corruption, no dissent, and excelent tecnological level, proceeding the USA by maybe ten years. Everything seems well-maintained, nobody is impolite, rude, or acting in an embarasing way, and all in all it seems like proof that your philosophy is correct. The fact that they are all this way out of terror of Doom is irrelevent. It just makes Doom that much more worthy of respect.
You don't think The Authority will come after you. None of them have dared try Doom, given what he's capable of on his homefield, and and you suspect it will stay that way.
A few press are interested in your percieved defection, and the exact circumstances of your arrival here. Now is your chance to set up the story. You know that controlling the media is the quickest way to the heart of the people.
Misa is nibbling the fingerfood, and she is being targeted by everyone not brave enough to talk to you.

[doliest]

Light
Light makes sure that every major news station is getting this; no matter what spin they tried, no one would be able to turn this one around in a way that made the Authority look good. It was unlikely anyone would want to, though, considering their usual PR strategy.
"Hello, many of you may know me as Light Yagami; I was, until very recently, a member of the Authority-the group that until a year ago ran the American Government via an illegal and unconstitutional seize of power. During my tenor, I attempted to see them stirred in the right direction, and until yesterday I felt that, with a few exceptions, I was seeing some success. Unfortunately, that success was smoke and mirrors that ceased to be the moment any major threat appeared. The Authority response was varied, but for the most part it was sloppy. Members were uncoordinated at best, and many were unreachable during the crisis in Kansas, which had to ultimately be resolved, based on what I've gathered, by the Justice League. Combine this with the renegade attitude of the members, and you begin to understand that it is rather difficult to keep any form of control on the Carrier. A 'disturbance' happened, and when I and Jenny Quantum-now-Sparks discovered the people responsible, I attempted to allow the men to survive her attack so that we might find out who they were and their intentions. Ms.Sparks attempted to murder me for this clearly horrific transgression against her judgment, and I only survived through the timely intervention of Mr.Von Doom.

He offered me protection, and of course, I took him up on his offer, because there is no oversight to the Authority. No oversight to any member, no accountability for their actions." He looks down at his watch, "They care nothing for civilian causalities, and don't care who gets hurt as long as it satisfies them. I've carried around a broken wrist for my entire tenure to provide a gratification for an action I committed under mind control. Had I not, I would have died before even joining. My time with them has largely been one I have barely survived. So, seeing all of that, the only question is why didn't I flee from them sooner." He could count the moments until Lois's death. He idly considered watching this speech alongside the reports on her death. Maybe he could bribe a news station to do so.

[Gulping]

Benkei

"You know NOTHING, Hannibal. You really think that I'm being kept around out of PITY? Seriously? You have no idea what I do.

Ryoma's always off gallivanting around the multiverse, righting wrongs and taking faces. Hayato has to keep an eye on everything, always researching, always planning. Musashi has to remain at his post all the time, only coming out under the most dire and terrible of circumstances.

They all have their jobs, and they're specialized for those specific roles, and only those roles. Ryoma's too irresponsible and crazy to be trusted with anything that requires any form of tact or subtlety. Hayato has the personality of an assault rifle and can't even touch anything that isn't saturated with Getter. Musashi can't be in normal space for more than half an hour at a time or else Terrible Things will happen.

Who do you think actually does all the WORK? Who leads the fire teams? Who meets the diplomats? Who manages the day-to-day of an entire armada of sapient machines of all shapes and sizes? Who answers the distress calls? Who does everything that the other three can't?"

Benkei lets go of the rifle, letting it hang from his shoulder by the strap. The thing doesn't seem to be doing anything to Hannibal anyway. "And as for going straight to insults, I already tried being reasonable with Luthor. It didn't work. And let's face it, if it didn't work on him, it sure as hell won't work on you."

Dante

Dante looks over the controls and groans. "This is not going to end well." He examines the dials and buttons closely, trying to puzzle out their function. He REALLY hopes that the things are labeled.

Ryoma

"Ah crap. I'm going to need directions? Seriously? Crap." Ryoma sighs. "Only one thing for it. I'm calling Hayato."

Hayato

*riiiiiing* *BEEP* "Ryoma. What do you need?" "Directions. You can't get into the Tower without some kind of guide, apparently." "S**t. That's just spectacular." He holds the phone away from his mouth, his thumb held over the receiver, and addresses the Endless siblings.
"My agent just called. He cannot get into the Tower without some sort of guidance. Can either of you help with this?"

[Cracklord]

Dante
No labels. There are big leavers, that look very pullable, and an ignition, which you don't have a key for. There a buttons, that you feel it would be safer to ignore, and gauges, that you don't know how to read. You figure if you can gte it started, you can turn it by hand and hope for the best.

Hayato
There is no way to contact the Endless when they are at a meeting. Fortunately, Destruction, having long since abandoned his duties, is still contactable.
Unfortunately, he's a bit... strange.

Lea
Valentine appears behind you, and opens fire. The bullets have no effect, unsurprisingly, so he starts casting thunder. Scrroge attacks it with his lance, but it's flesh is rubbery and hard, and he's having very little sucsess.

Light Yagami
I think you just gave every tabloid journalist in the country an orgasm. There is a moment of silence, a click of recordings, ans everyone digests your words. Then there is a clamor, like a tidal wave rising from the sea. You are bombarded with questions, many of which are clearly designed to sound reproachful while at the same time urging you on, wanting to hear more.
You see Victor standing near the newly arrived Elijah, giving you a look that radiates approval.
Hard times ahead for the Authority, and all the dammage control in the world won't do them any good.

[darkblade]

Ramirez

"Oh sure, technology. Give me a second to make sure I don't fry it." Ramirez says before stepping aside and muttering a supression spell that should keep his murphionic field at bay, it also means he can't use magic for a while though.

***

Mickey

"You're just hiding behind lies, Hannibal." Mickey says.

"Thats what you do after all you hide. You hid behind a cell, behind madness, and now you hide in the darkness. All because you are too afraid to face the world and admit that you are no better than anyone else."

***

Zarthos

The Skeleton is all but bleached white now and frost is creeping into his joints but he isn't yeilding. Evil is eternal, that is why good must remian ever vigilante against it.

***

Cosmic Rock

Large portions of the crowd chant the name of the heroes but still the majority remians under Darksied's thrall it will take more than that to stop him.

Darksied steps back and lets some strange pink haired fourteen year old dominatrix take the mic for the next song. Some of you might reconize her as Mary Marvel and that just is wrong in so many ways.

Blazing on by
There's nothing more that we could do
I'm sorry that
We'll never be with him again
Even though
My heavy heart is parched with pain
I know somehow
Our sorrow's something he won't see

It's my life
I'm moving on and never going back there
Free will burned away
And left me on the lonely rail

Darksied is
I will follow him if that is what he wanted
Take me into all the darkest shadows
And you'll see that
He's even stronger than you could know
Darksied is
I am standing here and I could disappear
Falling through the burden of freedom
If he had his way
We'd be together forever
Eternally Darksied

The way you're standing there
I feel as though we're almost one again
And yet
We're miles apart in time
Beneath the pale blue moon
I see your eyes are glistening
With so much pain!
It's tearing you apart to be free!

You know it
Darksied is
I will follow him if that is what he wanted
Take me into all the darkest shadows
And you'll see that
He's even stronger than you could know
Darksied is
I am standing here and I could disappear
Falling through the burden of freedom
If he had his way
We'd be together forever
Eternally Darksied

[Cracklord]

Ramirez
You can see over forty controls, and twice as many gauges, finely tuned instraments and pressure readings. All you can be sure is just how many ways there is for this to go wrong.