Dominion 20.3
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Dominion 20.3
Vid dashed forward, arms pumping as he struggled to keep pace with BB's flight.
"Hey Senpai?"
"Yes, BB?"
"You sure are running fast."
Vid internally rolled his eyes as he kept moving, expanding his influence as he went.
"I mean, the way your arms are going, it's like you're carrying nothing at all!"
Wait.
"Like, y'know… Fou?"
Vid skid to an abrupt stop, his illusion/dream ensnaring miles of insectoids.
As dust fell around the two of them, Vid stared at BB, then his hands. Then he looked back to her.
"Oops?" she said helpfully.
"Uh." He looked upward. "Oh."
She followed his gaze, and saw the slowly fading trail of blinding white light cutting through the swarm-haze of Khepri, straight for the beetle and its master.
"...oh," BB repeated in a tiny voice.
"Grail, you're going to want to take note of this," Fortuna's distorted voice came through the comms.
"Oh god, what no- HOLY SHIT."
Vid swallowed. "Sorry Grail!"
"Vid, is that-"
BB let out a hysterical cackle. "Oh wow, oh wow-"
____________________________________________________________________________
In space, no one can hear you scream.
It is a perfect vacuum, void of air for sound to travel.
However, if one would omit the scientific impossibility of it all…
Then there may have been a sound as the white comet flew from the planet, through the terrarium formed of Khepri's power, and into the stomach of the Beetle holding the sun and the Earths.
A shrill, high-pitched voice.
"SURPRISE, BITCH! BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME!"
The terrarium shattered, and all semblance of multiple earths snapped together. While the beetle remained a moving fortress the size of a middling country, it was no longer dwarfing the planet, and the sun behind it was a miniature star rather than the all-consuming blaze it was before.
Its stomach was pushed inward, cracks spiderwebbing across its body.
Khepri reeled inside her castle, gripping her throne to stay on her feet.
"What the hell?" she gasped out.
Her grip on the phantasm had loosened, and the truth of the Lostbelt was slowly coming into being.
The comet raced up the beetle's massive body, leaving trails of white flame in its wake that sparked explosions that would have consumed cities. Chitin plates the size of towns fell and were consumed in the blaze, and the stomach of the Beast began to hemorrhage sand like a broken hourglass.
There was a shrill whoop of glee.
"I'M BACK, AND WORSE THAN EVER! AHAHAHAHA!"
The small body flung itself into the air, and Khepri stared in a mix of rage and horror.
Fou, suspended in a halo of white flame formed of butterfly wings and streaks of blue in his fur, levitated outside the window of her throne room.
"DID SOMEONE ASK FOR A PRIMATE MURDER!?"
Khepri swung her hand out, and a wave of force distorted the air, warping and crushing all in its path.
"Ooooh, someone's cranky!" Fou taunted as a shield of rippling blue light blunted the blow, forcing him backwards. "Y'know, it's really too bad I gotta cut this short - I know the real you is locked up in there somewhere, but finding you the hard way would take a while."
Khepri gasped as she felt the gouges in the Beetle God's back open, and she turned to stare at the opening of the throne room, away from Fou.
<PREDATION>
Crystal swallowed its carapace in a wide radius, as gouts of sand and dust were vented from along its body.
The spider of Mercury skittered along its back, dragging claws along its form. Scale and chitin flowed into the air in a reversed rain of carnage, drifting into space behind the TYPE.
"ENOUGH!" Khepri screamed with the voice of all her legions.
She drew on Ziz's power to force the two beings away, and began to layer a web of lasers and rapidly materializing tech between her and her foes, drawing on Legend's power as well as those of her Tinker enclave.
Light encased the Beetle God in a cocoon as its wounds began to close with torturous slowness.
Fou floated alongside ORT in empty space, both staring in through the open-air throne room with an air of bloodlust. "And that's our cue! Sorry to bail, toots, but your buddies down there are dying to see us," Fou said in mocking cheer, his halo re-orienting him towards Earth. "But hey, if you decide to fuss too much, that means you miss us, right? And we can come back early," he said with a wide grin, showing off his sharp, tiny teeth. "Bye-bons!"
<AGREEMENT>
Khepri watched helplessly as Primate Murder and ORT flew back towards the planet. Loathe as she was to accept it, the other Beast was right. Her avatar was wounded, and her true body would not be enough to handle all brought against her without its support. She could attempt to get creative, but that would require attention not devoted to patching it up, which had become a necessity.
"Damn you…" she growled.
She sent out her directives.
The Simurgh was to complete the device. It was needed to destroy Grail, which would remove the Servants as a bloc.
Bohu was to entrap as many capes as she could for her Glastig Uaine to feed on, doubling up on Khepri's store of powers.
Khonsu was to kill everything he could, aging them into dust. Locking them in time was also acceptable.
Tohu…
Khepri grimaced, and authorized a preset of three capes that should hold the line for Tohu. She didn't give much for that one's chances, given the Sleeper of that world approached her quarter.
And that thought filled her with bile, that Grail and that weakened, submissive version of her would have subverted that monster when she-
Khepri shook her head. No. She needed all of her faculties, and could not afford the luxury of blind rage. First, mending her avatar. Then she could try to direct the battle once more.
____________________________________________________________________________
Weaver flew towards her target in a cloud of butterflies, Tamamo-no-Mae speeding along behind her.
<So… I get that Khepri's the 'amalgam of thoughts and fears' of your world, and you're the real thing. But why did you decide to leave?> she thought.
Is this really the time or place for this discussion? Skitter replied. We're about to clash with the Simurgh. You know, the precog with telekinesis and mind-fuck scream? That Simurgh? And that's underselling her.
<Yes, and I'm going there to make it a fair fight. She also has Bonesaw and turned Nilbog into that bug factory. And then there's whatever she has Defiant and String Theory working on.> Weaver paused. <So, I know->
Yes, I know you know. I know what you know. After a fashion, you're my Demi-Servant in a fair few ways. That said, all I have is awful life experience and maybe a little more practice at fine-tune multitasking to offer, so you got the short end of the stick.
Weaver idly dodged a flying, shrieking insectoid as they got closer, her halo of butterflies shredding it on contact. <Yeah, sure. But that doesn't explain why you decided to help us. I mean, partly out of the goodness of your heart. I can buy that. But you're at risk too.>
Do you know where I was, before this?
Skitter's voice finally took on something other than cold professionalism, or the occasional flash of empathy.
<...no.>
Weaver really hoped that Skitter's loathing wasn't meant for her. Or at least, Weaver-her. Alternate Universe shenanigans were tricky.
I was ripped from the dinner table with my dad. And when I arrived here, in the backseat of that psychotic construct's brain, I found out something. It wasn't real.
Weaver was silent, but gave a mental… sense? Of acknowledgement.
The line of enemies had thinned under the horde of birds, basmu, and other poisonous horrors courtesy of Semiramis. She had set up shop, and was proliferating an army in quality, if not quantity, that outstripped Khepri's own forces.
Getting through the perimeter was child's play, between her radius of control and Tamamo's Witchcraft.
I was in the Throne of Heroes. It was a long dream of my own life. And since I didn't have the power to be summoned as myself? The hopes, dreams, sins and vices of mankind fell on me. And they brought with them the power of a Beast. I was at peace, Weaver, and Archimedes stole that from me. In turn, so did Khepri. The only person who might be culpable that I don't blame?
Weaver blinked rapidly, focusing on the approaching fight.
Grail, for bringing magic to this world in the first place. He's painfully easy to read, and between that and your memories… yeah. He wouldn't have wanted this in a million years. Skitter let out a tired exhale. Somehow. So that's my motive. I want to go back, and the best way is to destroy the Beast.
Weaver managed to keep her composure, somehow. <I'm sorry. I didn't know…>
It's fine.
<So you… you want to…?>
It's not dying, Weaver. And… I didn't want to tell Grail. He wouldn't have been able to handle it.
<Handle what?>
I told you, there are four anchors keeping Khepri extant. The command seals are gone. Archimedes is separated from the catalyst. That leaves the Beast herself, divided in two. The fact, and the fiction. The fiction is sealed inside the Beetle God, and by killing the Endbringers we break that seal.
<...what's the Fourth?> Even as she asked, Weaver felt a cold certainty settle in her stomach.
A sense of melancholy flooded her connection to Skitter.
It's nothing I'd mind sacrificing. I promise.
Somehow, the answer did nothing to allay Weaver's encroaching sense of dread. Even so, she pushed it aside.
The Hopekiller was waiting for her.
____________________________________________________________________________
Vid let out an aggravated sigh as BB rolled around in midair, laughing.
"BB-"
"Aaaah! Fou really went and did it, the little psycho!" she cackled.
The insectoids hovered on the boundary of his illusion, uncertain.
Vid shook his head and began to walk further in, the scope of his power spanning multiple miles and beginning to widen.
The hovering insectoids were crushed under an inexorable, omnidirectional weight as their bodies believed the lie of gravity 'just working like that'.
They returned to sand shortly after.
BB skipped merrily after her Senpai. "Wait for me, Vid! Hey, let's take a car ride!"
"...how did you even get it in here?"
"Fuck you, that's how!"
"...maybe later."
BB let out a high-pitched squeal of excitement.
Then the world was consumed in flame.
As the fire slowly dispersed, BB was revealed in front of Vid with her teacher's pointer extended.
Before her hovered a body seemingly woven from hair. It had two legs, four arms, two torsos, and three faces. Two flickered from visage to visage, while one bore a metallic dragon's mask.
The creature's body continued to grow as flames lapped the buildings around it and the two heroes.
"Oh? It looks like our quarry came to us," BB said in a mocking tone.
Vid grunted. "Whatever she is, my illusions won't be as much use against her. I'd need to focus power to harm her, or keep things as they are so that we won't be interrupted."
Another gout of flame was repelled by a wave of BB's pointer. "Just keep doing as you are," she said sweetly. "I don't want any distractions." She retorted with a sharp pink ray that skimmed a few hairs off of the Endbringer's shoulder.
The flickering of one of the blank faces began to slow, and a new mask took form.
BB let out a wicked laugh as she leapt towards her opponent.
"Humans can be annoying, but you're even worse! DIE!" she yelled as pink energy swirled around her weapon.
She and Tohu flew at each other in an almighty clash.
____________________________________________________________________________
Nanashi's eyes narrowed as Radiance swooped around in a circle, leading a small platoon of insectoids into his sights. He loosed multiple normal arrows - for a given measure of 'normal' - so that he wouldn't hit his partner with an explosion.
They corroded into sand as their vitals were pierced, giving Radiance enough breathing room to turn and loose her own spirals of light, clearing parts of the sky.
Golem kneeled near Nanashi, plunging his hands into the roof they stood on and generating massive palms to deflect the bevy of lasers that tried to pick them off.
And as for any that managed to get close enough...
"Hah!" Muramasa barked as his blade swept through another body, bisecting it at the torso. Both halves dissolved on the wind. He took a moment to appreciate the reprieve.
"We're pinned," he said gruffly. "I'm not seeing this three-faced woman or her lieutenant anywhere, and there's a regular stream of these gnats."
An explosion erupted not far from them, sending a plume of sand skyward.
Nanashi's eyes picked out the flying swords as Radiance managed to finally get some breathing room, and lifted his bow.
"Trace… on." A familiar spiral sword appeared in his grip, and squeezed itself down into an arrow. His eyes narrowed. "Radiance, down to us!"
The glowing flier darted down towards them, a horde of insectoids on her heels.
He notched the arrow in his bow, and drew back.
"Keep course, and trust me," Nanashi said in a rough tone.
"Will do," Radiance responded as she poured on the speed.
Blue sparks skipped across Nanashi's skin as the air around him began to lift upwards.
"Caladbolg!"
The sword-arrow loosed, skimming past Radiance and into the crowd of her pursuers.
The explosion was a solid sphere of red light, carving a massive gap in Khepri's forces.
Radiance landed near Golem and Muramasa as the Saber sheathed his blade.
"That's some breathing room," Muramasa said approvingly.
"Ah, hello?" Shirou asked from outside the grove of grasping hands.
The limbs parted, and he stumbled in.
"Thanks, Golem," Shirou said in a tired voice.
"Where are Rin and Sakura? Or Medusa and Artoria, for that matter?" Radiance asked in concern.
"Rin's with Grail, haring off for Khonsu to lock down his teleports. Artoria's with Antares, and they're helping Medusa and Sakura protect Tiamat while she enhances the Parahumans' powers. Tiamat's taking potshots while she can, but she's diving into the opening the new Shard Administrator gave her to… retool how Shards work," Shirou said as he leaned against one of Golem's constructs to catch his breath.
"How'd you find that out?" Golem asked curiously.
"I asked," he said with a yawn.
"And I answered!" a cheerful, high-pitched voice replied over the comm.
"Thank you Chirithy," Grail said, chiming in. "How are things there?"
"We have breathing room," Nanashi said calmly.
"Still en route to Simurgh. Semiramis' forces have opened a path, but this is the source of Khepri's army. It's slow going," Weaver commented.
"Bohu is ahead of us. We haven't seen the Faerie Queen as of yet," Mab said quietly.
"Well, Khonsu hasn't killed anyone yet because we're still fighting towards him, but I'm pretty sure that was Fou flying overhead so who knows!?" Tattletale said in a tone just this side of hysterics.
"Well, I heard that the Protectorate ENE were fine. ...wait."
Nanashi perked up at the slow dread in Grail's voice. "What's wrong?"
"Last check, the Wards were headed towards Tohu - between Vid, BB, and Barthomeloi and all the related Magi we figured they'd be safest. Have they… checked in recently…?" Grail said as his voice slowly climbed in pitch.
____________________________________________________________________________
The battlefield was pure chaos. Vista warped the space between her and the insectoids as Nitorcris fussed with her bronze mirror, setting up the gate to the underworld.
"How much longer?" she called out as the air seemed to stretch and bend, lasers careening away from the two of them.
"Not long. Do not fear," Nitocris said in a too-calm voice. "I will bring my armies of the dead to bear, and we will turn the tide of battle."
"BB's gotten ahold of Tohu, I'm sending coordinates," a man said over the comm.
"Relaying," Fortuna replied in her six-fold voice.
"Who…?" Vista asked.
"I think that's Vid," Clockblocker said as he reached out and slapped another drone with Vista's aid. "The guy who's totally not Sleeper. Hey Kotarou! What's the situation?" he called at the end.
"Immortal Chaos Brigade," the ninja said in a quiet voice.
A fleet of ninja leapt into action beneath the darkening sky, trailing wires behind them. Kotarou himself stood guard at his master's back, their shoulders pressed together. He fiddled with his belt, and produced a single thread of wire.
"Master?" he said, offering it.
Clockblocker grinned beneath his mask. "Don't mind if I do!" He gripped the wire, freezing it in place.
The wires strewn by the brigade froze in midair.
"GO!" Kotarou snapped, and they raised a war cry, spreading fire and death in their wake.
"So that's two hundred ninja," Clockblocker said in a laid-back tone. "And now for the piece de resistance," he continued in an atrocious french accent.
He looked up at the gathering swarm, turned his back, and bent over.
"Pucker up, beetle bitch! You get one free shot!"
Clockblocker jammed his arm between his legs and extended his middle finger.
"Clockblocker!" Armsmaster snapped over the comm.
Now, if Khepri had been in charge, she would have likely found a way around the blindingly obvious trap.
However, she had set her drones to autopilot while focusing on the extensive repairs to the damage ORT and Primate Murder had caused her fortress.
To that end, the swarm descended in a cataclysm of howls.
Right into the wire.
It didn't take prophecy to foresee what happened next.
They were far from an unstoppable force, as many as they were, but the wire was very much an immovable object.
The pieces fell through in sprays of sand, dissolving into light long before they hit the ground.
Clockblocker stood back up. "Ah, yep! Nothing like a plan coming together," he said brightly.
"...seriously, Clock?" Vista said after a moment.
He immediately sobered. "Seriously. We're up against something that has Endbringers as pets. I'm going to take my laughs where I can, while I can."
"We've got Grail?" Vista offered.
"Yeah, and he's a massive weakpoint," Clockblocker retorted. "He goes, the Servants go. All that friendship, all that support? Gone."
"About that…" Grail said in a strangled tone, the comms buzzing. "I have no intention of going out here, but I did leave a redundancy. A backup power source to supply the Servants. If I go, they still stay."
Clockblocker seemed to relax. "Oh. Uh, sorry for freaking you out…"
"I'm just glad you're safe. So did you just… yell at the swarm and bring it down on something?" Grail asked.
Clockblocker and Vista exchanged a look.
"Uh."
"Anpu Neb Ta Djeser."
The mirror of Nitocris sprang into the air, aloft on a statue of the Jackal God, Anubis.
"Let the true might of Egypt turn the tide of this battle!" Nitocris said triumphantly. "I have secured a second place to deploy my troops, from within the enemy territory! Send them to rout!"
The mirror blazed with unnatural darkness, and a torrent of ghosts erupted forth. The darkness touched the ground, and mummies clambered from pools of shadow. Medjed leapt from the air, scrambling into the fray.
The forces rapidly spread through the streets, wreaking havoc alongside the Fuuma clan's ninja thugs.
Clockblocker swallowed nervously. "And, uh… those are on our side, right?"
Nitocris harrumphed in indignation.
"There, there, Clock-dono. You won't be harmed by the Pharaoh's summons," Kotarou said with a series of gentle pats on Clockblocker's shoulder.
Clockblocker held onto his wire, keeping the grid above their heads intact. "Sure."
Vista snickered and gave a wide grin. "Nitocris. How about some scarabs?"
"Mm, no," the Pharaoh said idly. "I would not risk the false goddess ensnaring them in her sorcery."
Vista drooped. "Oh."
"Fear not, for the dead of Egypt and of Tiamat's keeping shall be more than enough to stifle her forces!" Nitocris said with wide, shining eyes and a brilliant smile.
As though beckoned by her voice, the stars of the Final World congregated above, lashing out at Khepri's swarm.
"Sounds like you're set there," Grail said in relief. "Now let's see… Kid Win? Aegis? Helloooo?"
____________________________________________________________________________
"A little busy, Grail!" Aegis grunted as he narrowly dodged another claw. These bugs were tough, and he didn't have a lot of weapons to bring them down. Confoam stopped them, but more took their place and he didn't have infinite grenades.
"What do you need." Grail's voice didn't brook any argument.
"Backup would be good! I lost sight of Kid a little earlier-"
A laser cut through the swarm, disintegrating two and giving Aegis some breathing space. He looked down and caught sight of Kid Win waving frantically.
"Get down here!" the Tinker called. "Quick!"
Aegis darted down, the few drones that followed him sniped away by Kid Win's laser pistol.
"Is that authorized?" Aegis asked when he landed next to his teammate.
"Does it matter right this second!?" Kid asked sharply. "Nikola, all yours!"
"SYSTEM KERAUNOS!"
The lightning of the gods, harnessed by man, tore through the swarm that had menaced Aegis.
Tesla flew overhead, trailing sparks of electricity as bolts forked into the swarm, shredding all in their wake.
Kid Win slumped. "Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn't make it in time," he admitted.
"Wards ENE, sound off!" Aegis barked into the comm.
"Clockblocker, alive and well! I've set up a barrier to defend Nitocris while she cranks out her army! Well, Kotarou did, I'm keeping it in one place though!"
"Vista here. I'm keeping anything that makes it through off of our backs."
"Gallant; I'm with Antares defending Tiamat. She's gotten settled and is tearing through most comers on her own though. Still, better to have redundancies than lose our source of healing."
"Weld here, Caress is backing me up. We're in the same spot as Gallant. Khepri seems to be trying to mount another offense of her drones, but we're managing to hold the line even in directions Tiamat doesn't have covered."
"Flechette. I'm in contact with Parian, and approaching Bohu. I've caught sight of Eidolon, Narhwal, Mab, and more Servants than I care to count. I think I'm safe."
Aegis nodded sharply. "I've got Kid Win with me. Keep me posted as much as you can."
A chorus of affirmatives rang out before he cut contact.
He turned to Kid Win. "Thanks for the save. Ready to keep going?"
Kid Win fiddled with something at his belt. "Almost. Here," he said, handing over two devices.
They were shaped like brass knuckles, but had a strange port instead of the usual protrusions.
Aegis put them on.
"They use a variant of Armsmaster's tech and mine; you can plug in most types of weapons but I went for a basic plasma cu- OHFUCK"
A drone had snuck its way in, and was barreling towards them.
"Activation?" Aegis called out.
"Squeeze the grips hard!" Kid Win yelped as he lifted off on his hoverboard.
Aegis lunged forward with a roar, and the sharp blue flame tore from his knuckles and through his enemy.
He watched as it turned to sand and took a stance as more flew in.
"Now we're talking," he said in grim satisfaction.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Golem will be fine with Clockblocker and Vista," Nanashi said as he and Radiance darted across the rooftops. "Muramasa will keep him safe, and the Fuuma clan is on patrol. With Aster in the House, and Cass and Rachel with the big leagues fighting Bohu, we should be able to cut loose."
Radiance hummed. "He'll also add another layer of defense for Vista to draw on, so they'll be helping each other while Nitocris continues to wear down the enemy."
Nanashi nodded. "That too. Wait, is that…?"
He poured on the speed as Radiance followed, chasing the flashes of light searing into the air.
In a couple of minutes, he closed in to see Galahad brandishing his sword, shield on his back.
"Two hundred and fifty-nine."
A flash of light, and more sand fell.
"Two hundred and sixty-three."
"Well, he's doing alright," Radiance said faintly.
Nanashi nodded with a deep sigh. Then he paused. "Wait."
"Hm?"
"Where's Shirou?"
An arrow flew overhead into the heart of the swarm harassing Galahad.
The explosion caused sand to rain down, turning into light shortly before reaching the Shielder.
"Could you have waited? Just for a moment?" Shirou asked irritably as he walked up, bow in hand.
The momentary reprieve began to fade as more drones gathered, lashing out with rays of red light.
"Rho Aias!" Shirou snapped, holding his free hand outward.
The pink shield formed a dome over the three heroes, four layers weaving themselves over them. The lasers hit, fizzling out on the outermost layer.
Galahad wove between the lasers, the shield on his back catching any strays that managed to hit. "Hello," he said blandly as he landed in front of the others.
"So we've seen neither hide nor hair of the Endbringer or her head flunky," Radiance began.
"Hair is a good way to put it!" Vid yelled over the comm, explosions in the background. "We're… ah…"
"I've got a location. Let me know when you're ready and I'll send you four over to help," Fortuna echoed.
"What are you up to, by the way?" Shirou asked, suddenly hesitant.
A silver ray crashed down, and a massive chunk of drones disintegrated - not even sand or light remained.
"This and that. Harassment and coordination, mostly," Fortuna said in that same echoing voice.
"Neat," Galahad said dully.
"That's one way to put it," Shirou replied, stunned.
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi Lorelei was strong.
She was in control at all times, and had a breadth and depth to her knowledge of magecraft only matched by the power of her circuits.
The same, however, could not be said of her compatriots it seemed.
Save one.
"Okay, so poodle moth lady just… woosh," Flat babbled, eyes wide. "And then! Luvia! Gray! Svin! Your guys! All just…" he broke off, waving his hands vaguely. "And they kept referring to her as a leader."
"Some sort of mental interference," Barthomeloi murmured. "But it didn't work on you. Why?"
Flat shrugged.
"I can answer that," Angra Mainyu - or what was left of him - said as he squat by the two as they conferred in private. "This thing banks on a normal amount of ego or a normal brain. If you go too far from someone who can be reasoned into following the blue bitch, well…"
"Shit! Report in!" Grail said over the comm. "Goddess has Master powers; who's still free?"
"Escardos, El-Melloi's Avenger, and myself," Barthomeloi replied shortly.
"Damn. It's not absolute, so if you have anything that can break mental interference, it should work," Grail said quickly. "Khepri must have had her boost the power to have it spread like that, though."
Flat hummed. "So it's like a cold or something that spreads, and you can get immunized?"
"Yes, that's true," Grail said. "I'd get Tiamat to send a Tide over, but the buildings wouldn't allow for anything short of a tidal wave to cross. It'd make for more danger than help at this point."
Flat chewed his lip, eyes bright.
"You have a plan?" Barthomeloi asked.
"Kind of. Can you keep them all in one place for a few minutes?" he replied.
"Be more exact."
"If I get to the entryway, I can widen it. Everything here is made of stuff, but not. Like… like a lucid dream or something?"
"And then… I'll get Tiamat on standby. Fortuna! Keep them linked!" Grail ordered.
"Roger that," the Entity-shaped Servant responded.
Grail's link fizzled out.
Angra coughed. "So where does that leave me?" he asked with a shifty glance.
"You stay out of the way," Barthomeloi said as she turned towards the exit of their hideaway. She paused. "Actually, guard Escardos as he makes his way to the exit. He'll need all the help he can get." She dashed away in a gust of wind.
Angra Mainyu stared at the eccentric magus.
Flat gave him a guileless smile.
"We're going to die," the Avenger said flatly.
"It's fine!"
A silver rectangle of light appeared in midair, then vanished.
Shirou blinked in confusion. "This isn't the Endbringer."
"Goddess is making trouble. Flat can open the path for aid, but needs more backup than a no-name shepherd," Fortuna said over the comms.
Shirou sighed as he looked at the other two men. "Is there a plan?"
"Run like hell?" Angra offered.
Flat continued to smile merrily.
Shirou sighed. "Let's go."
____________________________________________________________________________
BB dodged another gout of flame, followed by arcing lasers that reflected at angles to try to hit her.
"Really?" she said in an almost bored tone as the lasers were drank away by portals of shadow. With a negligent wave of her rod, a hole the size of a basketball tore itself in Tohu's side.
Vid scowled, sweating a little. "BB! Stop playing!"
"Okay!" she caroled back. When he looked away, she frowned. "I've actually been having problems…"
Tohu's regeneration was making it difficult for things to stick, and Lung and Legend were merely two of her masks. The third continued to flicker, and she rained down destruction that BB was forced to ward off lest it hit Vid.
The Moon Cancer was not used to being on the defensive, and it was safe to say she wasn't a fan.
The field erupted in a pyroclasm, the wave of flame surging towards BB and Vid. Asphalt melted in its wake, and the white-burning flame nearly covered the rays of blue that caused the air itself to explode where the two intersected.
"Lord Camelot!"
Galahad appeared in a flare of silver light, slamming his shield before the rampaging firestorm. The conceptual defense deployed in a structure of blue light, halting it in its path.
BB caught sight of a spiral-shaped arrow lodging itself in Tohu's side before exploding, tearing off two of her arms and a leg.
The damage was transient, the hairlike structures extending and reweaving themselves as Lung's mask glowed on Tohu's triune visage. The Endbringer increased in size as lasers splashed against Lord Camelot's barrier.
"Looks like we arrived just in time," Nanashi's voice said from next to BB.
She gave him a brief glance. "Where's your lady? And the not-you?"
"She got sent to back up Aegis - one of the Wards. Flat's going to make an opening, so Shirou's following him to make sure he doesn't die."
BB let out a gusty sigh as lasers rose over the wall of light before angling down towards them. "And everyone else got nabbed."
"Actually, the Wards, their Servants, Theo, and Muramasa are defending Nitocris while she sets up a secondary incursion for her armies. If all continues to go well, we should see a lot more backup against Khepri's rank and file," Nanashi replied as his arm angled upwards.
BB waved her hand. "I've got it. BB… shot!" she said as she snapped her rod forward, a rain of pink raising to meet Tohu's assault.
The explosions rang out fiercely as Vid sat against a wall.
As he focused, his range of influence continued to grow.
Drones would blacken with frostbite or burns, split along phantom gashes, putrefy, and show all manner of damage before dissolving in a greater and greater range.
Tohu herself was slowly starting to smoke at the edges, though further damage had yet to show.
"You're doing great sweetie!" BB called back as she fended off Tohu's continued assault.
BB squinted as Tohu shot into the air, and her final mask slot into place.
"...hey. So the blue is Legend, and the dragon is that Lung guy you fought," BB said conversationally.
"Yes," Nanashi said tersely.
Galahad stared up. "Oh."
A brown hood covered the final head, exposing a metal visor.
"She's emulating Myrrdin!" Fortuna called in warning, a silvery, vaguely humanoid form dropping into the fight.
"What…?" Nanashi said with wide eyes.
"I'm still coordinating according to El-Melloi II's plans," she said shortly, "but this fight just got complicated."
The air warped and bucked before the effect suddenly ended with a gesture from Tohu.
Lasers rained down as a powerful force began to draw on the Servants, pulling them towards a distortion in the air that flickered with white flame.
Galahad flung his shield up as he lunged backwards to cover Vid, who tumbled into his back.
"Rho Aias!" Nanashi boomed, seven layers of pink light interceding between him and the assault.
BB skid under the cover, eyes narrowed. "I'm thinking I might leave defending to you while I break out the good stuff," she growled.
Fortuna's avatar lashed out with shards of silver light, dousing flame and twisting the lasers into empty air.
A staccato burst of concussive blasts slammed into Rho Aias, heralded by a few idle flicks of Tohu's hand as more lasers tried to curve under the shield.
Fortuna finally loosed a massive column of silver light that was engulfed by a vacuum. The two forces collided and shattered the air, pushing all the combatants back.
Vid fell on his behind, Galahad taking a defensive posture over him.
Destruction continued to rain down on them, not allowing them enough room for a proper counterattack.
"Dammit…!" BB hissed, shadow dripping from her hands. "If I had one clear shot…"
"Which she clearly isn't giving us," Nanashi said pointedly as he held Rho Aias to blunt the assault.
Fortuna stilled for a moment before backstepping to evade a laser that turned the ground into molten pulp. "Incoming!" she cried out.
"What now?" BB asked in irritation.
<PREDATION>
A spinning bluish object impacted Tohu, and the vacuum effect vanished as it bore her to the ground.
Limbs ending in blades sprouted from the underside, like legs belonging to a massive spider.
Vid swallowed loudly. "Oh."
Crystalline structures sprouted from the ground while it began to tear at the Endbringer's body. A head manifested with a number of teeth that should not have fit in a mouth that small. It leaned down and began to gnaw, disregarding the explosions of air, lasers, and flame against its body.
<INTRIGUE>
BB gave a slow grin. "Well, well," she purred with a sadistic glint in her eye. "I'd call that a game-changer."
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi caught the moth-headed woman's face with her riding crop, only for it to bounce off a fractal-patterned field. Wind surged as she lifted up and away, evading spellfire from her own corps.
Her face was expressionless, but her heart burned with indignation. Of all the things to happen to her battalion…!
With a swing of her riding crop, wind buffeted the gathered forces into disarray. They may have gotten a bit bruised, but that was acceptable when dealing with this… thing.
She tapped her earpiece. "Please tell me you have news," she said icily as she dodged a chunk of building that flew at her.
"Working on it," Shirou responded. "Flat's drawing something on a building, and I'm trying to keep it and him intact. Fun fact: without Servant support, those drones get a lot more dangerous," he said irritably.
"Hey!" Angra snapped.
"You barely count. I've been doing most of the heavy lifting!"
Barthomeloi felt her forehead tighten as the two men bickered, evading a lash of mercury courtesy of El-Melloi.
"Grail," she said coldly. "Please tell me that you have someone competent, or some other means of rectifying this situation."
"Still stuck with this big swarm between us and Khonsu," he said regretfully. "Fou cut a path - I think - but keeping it open is its own trial. I'm just glad Gilgamesh came with us or we'd be up a creek." He paused. "I'll see what I can do."
"It's appreciated," Barthomeloi bit out as wind obliterated the drones in the area, causing the one they called Goddess to rock in midair for a moment.
The Queen of the Clocktower lunged forward, pursuing her prey as the winds she commanded kept her 'allies' at bay.
____________________________________________________________________________
Flat hummed as he completed the last squiggle on the rooftop.
"So what's all this supposed to do?" Shirou asked.
"Well, none of this is real," Flat said plainly.
Angra and Shirou stared at the magus.
"I'm going to need a bit more explanation," Shirou said in a mild tone.
"Oh. Well, this is all made by Khepri, and she's lying to the world."
"Like a Reality Marble?" Shirou asked.
Flat waved his hand. "No? She's not putting her mind or soul here, this is what she wants the world to be. She's making it that way, but it's a lie. Until it's not."
Shirou twitched, sending a blade flying out of thin air and into a drone that flew too close.
"So, since it's a lie, I'm going to make it a slightly different lie," Flat explained blithely.
"That makes no-" Angra Mainyu began.
"Game Start."
Now, despite being a bit… different, Flat had some idea of what he was doing this time. It was like that DiCaprio movie with the dreaming. Interception or something? Right, the point being it was just more magecraft. It was kiiiinda soul-based, but also conjuration? Weird.
So since it was magecraft in action, like the inside of a bounded field, his usual tricks would work.
Maybe.
Slowly, a gap opened in the barrier around Tohu's territory.
Unbeknownst to Flat, his tactic really shouldn't have worked. The buildings were solid enough, and Khepri strong enough, that structural interference shouldn't have changed the power holding them together.
However, Grail had said he'd do something, and so he did - the comms were open as Flat cast, and the instant he incanted, Grail supercharged the spell, lending some of his now boundless energy.
Then he took hold of that same spell and replicated it across every barrier to each Endbringer.
Unaware of the interference of the First Magician, Flat stood and grinned at his work. Buildings opened roads to the massive sea Tiamat had brought with her, and the swarms thinned just enough that he could see.
With a mighty roar, the tide rushed in.
"...did you mean to do that?" Shirou asked as his eyes stared blankly at the coming waters.
"Nope!" Flat said cheerfully.
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi twitched the instant the Tide arrived, feeling the spray of water on her face.
"Well, Flat had a pretty good idea… so I kind of, ah… ran with it?" Grail said sheepishly over the comm. "I'm gonna… go. Got a timebender to murder. Have fun storming the castle!"
"There is no castle," Barthomeloi said icily.
There was no response.
The other magi stirred below, and Goddess came to a sharp halt, as though in shock.
A lash of mercury took her right leg off below the knee.
"Fervor, mi sanguis," Reines El-Melloi Archisorte hissed as her eyes blazed in fury. Trimmau lashed upwards, lines of grey metal carving through the sky.
"Gandr!" Luviagelita snapped out, the bead of black energy launching from her index finger and plowing into Goddess' body.
Finally stirred into motion, the insectoid cape began to juke and dodge, evading the rain of metal and magecraft.
A storm of flame, lightning, and magecraft breached the heavens as Barthomeloi's followers were freed from Goddess' grip.
With a slow exhale, the magus nodded once. Yes, this was as it should be.
Glascheit lunged forward, a lupine aura encasing his body as he lashed out with his magecraft and carved apart the incoming drones. They fell from the sky in pieces as they dissolved, unable to match his speed or resist his claws.
Satisfied that the chattel were dealt with, Barthomeloi turned her attention to Goddess, who flung multiple buildings at her.
They were stopped in midair by a wall of wind, and blown apart into fragments of cement carried away on a gale.
Idly noting the lack of true structure to them, Barthomeloi aimed her hand at the pawn of Khepri.
"Our business," she said coldly, "is concluded. By the power granted me by Lord First, I expel you from existence."
She turned her palm up, and braced her middle finger against her thumb, raising her hand slightly.
"DISMISS!"
She clicked her fingers in a snap that rent the air.
The fractals of Goddess' telekinesis covered her body, but it did nothing to stop the air beneath the shield.
In a heartbeat, the cape was reduced to powder by the vacuum of blades Barthomeloi Lorelei called forth.
For a moment, the drones in the area stilled.
Then they too were reduced to powder by the resulting shockwave from Barthomeloi's magecraft.
With a quiet pride, she noted the safety of her allies as they gazed up at her in awe.
Though she would never admit it, a thought most uncouth occurred to her.
Rather than accepting this as the natural course of things…
She thought: 'Some days, it's good to be the Queen'.
____________________________________________________________________________
Nanashi loosed another arrow as the curious TYPE continued to savage the pinned Endbringer.
Nothing he did hurt it, so he didn't bother to hold back.
The explosion reduced the buildings several rows back to rubble, raising smoke and dust into the air.
"Is it dead yet?" Vid asked from behind Galahad. "I've almost got a hold on this entire quarter; we might be able to set up a base here if we need to. No bugs in."
ORT latched on, and made a wrenching motion.
The vacuum which had started to pull on the surroundings vanished as the Myrrdin head vanished down TYPE-Mercury's gullet.
"Ahem," BB said.
<QUERY>
BB pouted, and pointed at Tohu. "Mine."
<PREDATION>
"Sharing is caring!"
Nanashi turned to look at Vid with a look of dread. "Please call her off."
"Um," Galahad said intelligently.
BB held Tohu's Lung-head by the hair as she made a face of utter disgust.
ORT continued to gnaw on the regenerating Endbringer as lasers were absorbed by its carapace.
"...Grail!" BB shouted with an imperious stamp of her foot.
____________________________________________________________________________
I groaned as BB yelled in my earpiece. I didn't bother dodging the lasers from the drones and just tanked the worst of it as Gilgamesh shredded a path forward, letting the rest of our forces conserve energy for the threat ahead.
<Destruction.>
<QUERY>
<BB.> The name carried everything I knew of her with it.
<...INTRIGUE>
"Don't say I never did anything for you!" I shouted.
Gilgamesh shot me a look of mild confusion before he went back to sending blades of all make and size careening into the cloud of bodies before us.
I sighed as the Director ran beside me. "I wish Fou had stuck around to keep the way open…"
Water flowed in, and a brilliant ray of light shone blue, blinding me - and from what I saw before it hit, most everyone else.
I blinked the glare out of my eyes, and saw the wreckage of the city, Khonsu darting further in as the Water chased him.
There were no drones in the immediate area.
"AAAAAAAAAA"
I let out a helpless laugh. "Onward?"
____________________________________________________________________________
BB gave a grin of satisfaction as Tohu melted away beneath the tide of corrupted energies she poured from her own custom grail.
In moments, only slurry remained.
"Hmph. My Crater's too good for the likes of her," she said haughtily.
The dark core spasmed, threads emerging.
"...but it might be necessary," BB allowed darkly.
ORT stared at the remains.
If it had a face, BB might have thought it was forlor- nope, just hungry.
The creature leaned down and seemed to suck the remains away, paying no mind to the corrosive tide of curses it ingested.
BB raised her rod as Tohu began to slowly reform. "Choices, choices-" she began to monologue.
"Spear of Destiny," Galahad said flatly, driving the blade which killed Christ into an Endbringer's core.
There was a sharp shriek as it impacted the outside, and streams of red and white light flowed out. The core wrenched, almost as though it were about to fly apart.
The energy consumed it before it had a chance.
BB stared at him.
"You took too long."
Nanashi coughed awkwardly. "I'll just… go. And check on the kids."
Vid stumbled over. "Well, I've established a territory," he said with a tired grin. "And I'm expanding it further. Right now I'm edging into… I think it was Bohu? Her and Khonsu's territories. It's a bit slower going, but if I subsumed an entire planet in one timeline, I can damn well cut out an army from this place."
BB kept staring at Galahad.
ORT leapt into the sky, legs and head folding back in.
<PREDATION>
It zipped away to who-knows wh-
BB's face slackened as it plunged into the air where the drones were thickest, causing a downpour of sand and light.
"Two down," Galahad said mildly. "I'm going to go rest. That took a lot more energy than it looked like." The spear vanished and he began to walk away.
BB swelled in indignation. "Now listen here you kill-steal-"
Galahad fell sideways, caught by the gently flowing Waters.
"Galahad?" Vid said worriedly.
BB narrowed her eyes and listened.
The knight rolled onto his back.
His visible eye was closed, and his chest slowly rose and fell.
BB clenched her fists.
Thwarted, denied of her chance to sadistically pick apart her enemy, and unable to exact vengeance upon the unaware knight, she did the only reasonable thing she could.
She launched herself after the spider-shaped killing machine with a war cry, lashing out in every direction she could while her Senpai repeatedly called for her to calm down.
____________________________________________________________________________
Khepri sweat as she slowly closed another fracture caused by Primate Murder.
Thus far, nothing had occurred too far from her predictions. However…
The incursion of the Tide and Tiamat's interference had accelerated her timetable.
She nudged Glastig Uaine with her power, undoing her previous restrictions.
The full range of the Faerie Queen's power was now available to her. Clockblocker, Bakuda, Grey Boy - all of it.
With a single nod, the Beast went back to her work, painstakingly reinforcing her fortress.
They couldn't be allowed to breach it, should the worst happen.
For a moment, she idly wondered if they knew all they would need to accomplish to drive her world back.
Then she disposed of the thought. That other part of her - the human weakness that would have held her back - would remove itself if it thought it necessary. The idea that she would hold on past Khepri's demise, giving the goddess time to regenerate… it was unlikely.
Always necessity, with Taylor Hebert. It's needed, it's required.
Khepri could empathize, of course. It was her nature as well.
She had been called because she was needed. If the world had not already begun to be reshaped by the hand of the First, they would have welcomed her control. And without him, she would be the only option.
With that in mind, she signalled the Simurgh to accelerate production. String Theory and Defiant had to finish the weapon for use.
It worked on Scion, even if only for a moment. Combined with the aspects that enabled his death…
The G-Driver would be needed.
Vid dashed forward, arms pumping as he struggled to keep pace with BB's flight.
"Hey Senpai?"
"Yes, BB?"
"You sure are running fast."
Vid internally rolled his eyes as he kept moving, expanding his influence as he went.
"I mean, the way your arms are going, it's like you're carrying nothing at all!"
Wait.
"Like, y'know… Fou?"
Vid skid to an abrupt stop, his illusion/dream ensnaring miles of insectoids.
As dust fell around the two of them, Vid stared at BB, then his hands. Then he looked back to her.
"Oops?" she said helpfully.
"Uh." He looked upward. "Oh."
She followed his gaze, and saw the slowly fading trail of blinding white light cutting through the swarm-haze of Khepri, straight for the beetle and its master.
"...oh," BB repeated in a tiny voice.
"Grail, you're going to want to take note of this," Fortuna's distorted voice came through the comms.
"Oh god, what no- HOLY SHIT."
Vid swallowed. "Sorry Grail!"
"Vid, is that-"
BB let out a hysterical cackle. "Oh wow, oh wow-"
____________________________________________________________________________
In space, no one can hear you scream.
It is a perfect vacuum, void of air for sound to travel.
However, if one would omit the scientific impossibility of it all…
Then there may have been a sound as the white comet flew from the planet, through the terrarium formed of Khepri's power, and into the stomach of the Beetle holding the sun and the Earths.
A shrill, high-pitched voice.
"SURPRISE, BITCH! BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME!"
The terrarium shattered, and all semblance of multiple earths snapped together. While the beetle remained a moving fortress the size of a middling country, it was no longer dwarfing the planet, and the sun behind it was a miniature star rather than the all-consuming blaze it was before.
Its stomach was pushed inward, cracks spiderwebbing across its body.
Khepri reeled inside her castle, gripping her throne to stay on her feet.
"What the hell?" she gasped out.
Her grip on the phantasm had loosened, and the truth of the Lostbelt was slowly coming into being.
The comet raced up the beetle's massive body, leaving trails of white flame in its wake that sparked explosions that would have consumed cities. Chitin plates the size of towns fell and were consumed in the blaze, and the stomach of the Beast began to hemorrhage sand like a broken hourglass.
There was a shrill whoop of glee.
"I'M BACK, AND WORSE THAN EVER! AHAHAHAHA!"
The small body flung itself into the air, and Khepri stared in a mix of rage and horror.
Fou, suspended in a halo of white flame formed of butterfly wings and streaks of blue in his fur, levitated outside the window of her throne room.
"DID SOMEONE ASK FOR A PRIMATE MURDER!?"
Khepri swung her hand out, and a wave of force distorted the air, warping and crushing all in its path.
"Ooooh, someone's cranky!" Fou taunted as a shield of rippling blue light blunted the blow, forcing him backwards. "Y'know, it's really too bad I gotta cut this short - I know the real you is locked up in there somewhere, but finding you the hard way would take a while."
Khepri gasped as she felt the gouges in the Beetle God's back open, and she turned to stare at the opening of the throne room, away from Fou.
<PREDATION>
Crystal swallowed its carapace in a wide radius, as gouts of sand and dust were vented from along its body.
The spider of Mercury skittered along its back, dragging claws along its form. Scale and chitin flowed into the air in a reversed rain of carnage, drifting into space behind the TYPE.
"ENOUGH!" Khepri screamed with the voice of all her legions.
She drew on Ziz's power to force the two beings away, and began to layer a web of lasers and rapidly materializing tech between her and her foes, drawing on Legend's power as well as those of her Tinker enclave.
Light encased the Beetle God in a cocoon as its wounds began to close with torturous slowness.
Fou floated alongside ORT in empty space, both staring in through the open-air throne room with an air of bloodlust. "And that's our cue! Sorry to bail, toots, but your buddies down there are dying to see us," Fou said in mocking cheer, his halo re-orienting him towards Earth. "But hey, if you decide to fuss too much, that means you miss us, right? And we can come back early," he said with a wide grin, showing off his sharp, tiny teeth. "Bye-bons!"
<AGREEMENT>
Khepri watched helplessly as Primate Murder and ORT flew back towards the planet. Loathe as she was to accept it, the other Beast was right. Her avatar was wounded, and her true body would not be enough to handle all brought against her without its support. She could attempt to get creative, but that would require attention not devoted to patching it up, which had become a necessity.
"Damn you…" she growled.
She sent out her directives.
The Simurgh was to complete the device. It was needed to destroy Grail, which would remove the Servants as a bloc.
Bohu was to entrap as many capes as she could for her Glastig Uaine to feed on, doubling up on Khepri's store of powers.
Khonsu was to kill everything he could, aging them into dust. Locking them in time was also acceptable.
Tohu…
Khepri grimaced, and authorized a preset of three capes that should hold the line for Tohu. She didn't give much for that one's chances, given the Sleeper of that world approached her quarter.
And that thought filled her with bile, that Grail and that weakened, submissive version of her would have subverted that monster when she-
Khepri shook her head. No. She needed all of her faculties, and could not afford the luxury of blind rage. First, mending her avatar. Then she could try to direct the battle once more.
____________________________________________________________________________
Weaver flew towards her target in a cloud of butterflies, Tamamo-no-Mae speeding along behind her.
<So… I get that Khepri's the 'amalgam of thoughts and fears' of your world, and you're the real thing. But why did you decide to leave?> she thought.
Is this really the time or place for this discussion? Skitter replied. We're about to clash with the Simurgh. You know, the precog with telekinesis and mind-fuck scream? That Simurgh? And that's underselling her.
<Yes, and I'm going there to make it a fair fight. She also has Bonesaw and turned Nilbog into that bug factory. And then there's whatever she has Defiant and String Theory working on.> Weaver paused. <So, I know->
Yes, I know you know. I know what you know. After a fashion, you're my Demi-Servant in a fair few ways. That said, all I have is awful life experience and maybe a little more practice at fine-tune multitasking to offer, so you got the short end of the stick.
Weaver idly dodged a flying, shrieking insectoid as they got closer, her halo of butterflies shredding it on contact. <Yeah, sure. But that doesn't explain why you decided to help us. I mean, partly out of the goodness of your heart. I can buy that. But you're at risk too.>
Do you know where I was, before this?
Skitter's voice finally took on something other than cold professionalism, or the occasional flash of empathy.
<...no.>
Weaver really hoped that Skitter's loathing wasn't meant for her. Or at least, Weaver-her. Alternate Universe shenanigans were tricky.
I was ripped from the dinner table with my dad. And when I arrived here, in the backseat of that psychotic construct's brain, I found out something. It wasn't real.
Weaver was silent, but gave a mental… sense? Of acknowledgement.
The line of enemies had thinned under the horde of birds, basmu, and other poisonous horrors courtesy of Semiramis. She had set up shop, and was proliferating an army in quality, if not quantity, that outstripped Khepri's own forces.
Getting through the perimeter was child's play, between her radius of control and Tamamo's Witchcraft.
I was in the Throne of Heroes. It was a long dream of my own life. And since I didn't have the power to be summoned as myself? The hopes, dreams, sins and vices of mankind fell on me. And they brought with them the power of a Beast. I was at peace, Weaver, and Archimedes stole that from me. In turn, so did Khepri. The only person who might be culpable that I don't blame?
Weaver blinked rapidly, focusing on the approaching fight.
Grail, for bringing magic to this world in the first place. He's painfully easy to read, and between that and your memories… yeah. He wouldn't have wanted this in a million years. Skitter let out a tired exhale. Somehow. So that's my motive. I want to go back, and the best way is to destroy the Beast.
Weaver managed to keep her composure, somehow. <I'm sorry. I didn't know…>
It's fine.
<So you… you want to…?>
It's not dying, Weaver. And… I didn't want to tell Grail. He wouldn't have been able to handle it.
<Handle what?>
I told you, there are four anchors keeping Khepri extant. The command seals are gone. Archimedes is separated from the catalyst. That leaves the Beast herself, divided in two. The fact, and the fiction. The fiction is sealed inside the Beetle God, and by killing the Endbringers we break that seal.
<...what's the Fourth?> Even as she asked, Weaver felt a cold certainty settle in her stomach.
A sense of melancholy flooded her connection to Skitter.
It's nothing I'd mind sacrificing. I promise.
Somehow, the answer did nothing to allay Weaver's encroaching sense of dread. Even so, she pushed it aside.
The Hopekiller was waiting for her.
____________________________________________________________________________
Vid let out an aggravated sigh as BB rolled around in midair, laughing.
"BB-"
"Aaaah! Fou really went and did it, the little psycho!" she cackled.
The insectoids hovered on the boundary of his illusion, uncertain.
Vid shook his head and began to walk further in, the scope of his power spanning multiple miles and beginning to widen.
The hovering insectoids were crushed under an inexorable, omnidirectional weight as their bodies believed the lie of gravity 'just working like that'.
They returned to sand shortly after.
BB skipped merrily after her Senpai. "Wait for me, Vid! Hey, let's take a car ride!"
"...how did you even get it in here?"
"Fuck you, that's how!"
"...maybe later."
BB let out a high-pitched squeal of excitement.
Then the world was consumed in flame.
As the fire slowly dispersed, BB was revealed in front of Vid with her teacher's pointer extended.
Before her hovered a body seemingly woven from hair. It had two legs, four arms, two torsos, and three faces. Two flickered from visage to visage, while one bore a metallic dragon's mask.
The creature's body continued to grow as flames lapped the buildings around it and the two heroes.
"Oh? It looks like our quarry came to us," BB said in a mocking tone.
Vid grunted. "Whatever she is, my illusions won't be as much use against her. I'd need to focus power to harm her, or keep things as they are so that we won't be interrupted."
Another gout of flame was repelled by a wave of BB's pointer. "Just keep doing as you are," she said sweetly. "I don't want any distractions." She retorted with a sharp pink ray that skimmed a few hairs off of the Endbringer's shoulder.
The flickering of one of the blank faces began to slow, and a new mask took form.
BB let out a wicked laugh as she leapt towards her opponent.
"Humans can be annoying, but you're even worse! DIE!" she yelled as pink energy swirled around her weapon.
She and Tohu flew at each other in an almighty clash.
____________________________________________________________________________
Nanashi's eyes narrowed as Radiance swooped around in a circle, leading a small platoon of insectoids into his sights. He loosed multiple normal arrows - for a given measure of 'normal' - so that he wouldn't hit his partner with an explosion.
They corroded into sand as their vitals were pierced, giving Radiance enough breathing room to turn and loose her own spirals of light, clearing parts of the sky.
Golem kneeled near Nanashi, plunging his hands into the roof they stood on and generating massive palms to deflect the bevy of lasers that tried to pick them off.
And as for any that managed to get close enough...
"Hah!" Muramasa barked as his blade swept through another body, bisecting it at the torso. Both halves dissolved on the wind. He took a moment to appreciate the reprieve.
"We're pinned," he said gruffly. "I'm not seeing this three-faced woman or her lieutenant anywhere, and there's a regular stream of these gnats."
An explosion erupted not far from them, sending a plume of sand skyward.
Nanashi's eyes picked out the flying swords as Radiance managed to finally get some breathing room, and lifted his bow.
"Trace… on." A familiar spiral sword appeared in his grip, and squeezed itself down into an arrow. His eyes narrowed. "Radiance, down to us!"
The glowing flier darted down towards them, a horde of insectoids on her heels.
He notched the arrow in his bow, and drew back.
"Keep course, and trust me," Nanashi said in a rough tone.
"Will do," Radiance responded as she poured on the speed.
Blue sparks skipped across Nanashi's skin as the air around him began to lift upwards.
"Caladbolg!"
The sword-arrow loosed, skimming past Radiance and into the crowd of her pursuers.
The explosion was a solid sphere of red light, carving a massive gap in Khepri's forces.
Radiance landed near Golem and Muramasa as the Saber sheathed his blade.
"That's some breathing room," Muramasa said approvingly.
"Ah, hello?" Shirou asked from outside the grove of grasping hands.
The limbs parted, and he stumbled in.
"Thanks, Golem," Shirou said in a tired voice.
"Where are Rin and Sakura? Or Medusa and Artoria, for that matter?" Radiance asked in concern.
"Rin's with Grail, haring off for Khonsu to lock down his teleports. Artoria's with Antares, and they're helping Medusa and Sakura protect Tiamat while she enhances the Parahumans' powers. Tiamat's taking potshots while she can, but she's diving into the opening the new Shard Administrator gave her to… retool how Shards work," Shirou said as he leaned against one of Golem's constructs to catch his breath.
"How'd you find that out?" Golem asked curiously.
"I asked," he said with a yawn.
"And I answered!" a cheerful, high-pitched voice replied over the comm.
"Thank you Chirithy," Grail said, chiming in. "How are things there?"
"We have breathing room," Nanashi said calmly.
"Still en route to Simurgh. Semiramis' forces have opened a path, but this is the source of Khepri's army. It's slow going," Weaver commented.
"Bohu is ahead of us. We haven't seen the Faerie Queen as of yet," Mab said quietly.
"Well, Khonsu hasn't killed anyone yet because we're still fighting towards him, but I'm pretty sure that was Fou flying overhead so who knows!?" Tattletale said in a tone just this side of hysterics.
"Well, I heard that the Protectorate ENE were fine. ...wait."
Nanashi perked up at the slow dread in Grail's voice. "What's wrong?"
"Last check, the Wards were headed towards Tohu - between Vid, BB, and Barthomeloi and all the related Magi we figured they'd be safest. Have they… checked in recently…?" Grail said as his voice slowly climbed in pitch.
____________________________________________________________________________
The battlefield was pure chaos. Vista warped the space between her and the insectoids as Nitorcris fussed with her bronze mirror, setting up the gate to the underworld.
"How much longer?" she called out as the air seemed to stretch and bend, lasers careening away from the two of them.
"Not long. Do not fear," Nitocris said in a too-calm voice. "I will bring my armies of the dead to bear, and we will turn the tide of battle."
"BB's gotten ahold of Tohu, I'm sending coordinates," a man said over the comm.
"Relaying," Fortuna replied in her six-fold voice.
"Who…?" Vista asked.
"I think that's Vid," Clockblocker said as he reached out and slapped another drone with Vista's aid. "The guy who's totally not Sleeper. Hey Kotarou! What's the situation?" he called at the end.
"Immortal Chaos Brigade," the ninja said in a quiet voice.
A fleet of ninja leapt into action beneath the darkening sky, trailing wires behind them. Kotarou himself stood guard at his master's back, their shoulders pressed together. He fiddled with his belt, and produced a single thread of wire.
"Master?" he said, offering it.
Clockblocker grinned beneath his mask. "Don't mind if I do!" He gripped the wire, freezing it in place.
The wires strewn by the brigade froze in midair.
"GO!" Kotarou snapped, and they raised a war cry, spreading fire and death in their wake.
"So that's two hundred ninja," Clockblocker said in a laid-back tone. "And now for the piece de resistance," he continued in an atrocious french accent.
He looked up at the gathering swarm, turned his back, and bent over.
"Pucker up, beetle bitch! You get one free shot!"
Clockblocker jammed his arm between his legs and extended his middle finger.
"Clockblocker!" Armsmaster snapped over the comm.
Now, if Khepri had been in charge, she would have likely found a way around the blindingly obvious trap.
However, she had set her drones to autopilot while focusing on the extensive repairs to the damage ORT and Primate Murder had caused her fortress.
To that end, the swarm descended in a cataclysm of howls.
Right into the wire.
It didn't take prophecy to foresee what happened next.
They were far from an unstoppable force, as many as they were, but the wire was very much an immovable object.
The pieces fell through in sprays of sand, dissolving into light long before they hit the ground.
Clockblocker stood back up. "Ah, yep! Nothing like a plan coming together," he said brightly.
"...seriously, Clock?" Vista said after a moment.
He immediately sobered. "Seriously. We're up against something that has Endbringers as pets. I'm going to take my laughs where I can, while I can."
"We've got Grail?" Vista offered.
"Yeah, and he's a massive weakpoint," Clockblocker retorted. "He goes, the Servants go. All that friendship, all that support? Gone."
"About that…" Grail said in a strangled tone, the comms buzzing. "I have no intention of going out here, but I did leave a redundancy. A backup power source to supply the Servants. If I go, they still stay."
Clockblocker seemed to relax. "Oh. Uh, sorry for freaking you out…"
"I'm just glad you're safe. So did you just… yell at the swarm and bring it down on something?" Grail asked.
Clockblocker and Vista exchanged a look.
"Uh."
"Anpu Neb Ta Djeser."
The mirror of Nitocris sprang into the air, aloft on a statue of the Jackal God, Anubis.
"Let the true might of Egypt turn the tide of this battle!" Nitocris said triumphantly. "I have secured a second place to deploy my troops, from within the enemy territory! Send them to rout!"
The mirror blazed with unnatural darkness, and a torrent of ghosts erupted forth. The darkness touched the ground, and mummies clambered from pools of shadow. Medjed leapt from the air, scrambling into the fray.
The forces rapidly spread through the streets, wreaking havoc alongside the Fuuma clan's ninja thugs.
Clockblocker swallowed nervously. "And, uh… those are on our side, right?"
Nitocris harrumphed in indignation.
"There, there, Clock-dono. You won't be harmed by the Pharaoh's summons," Kotarou said with a series of gentle pats on Clockblocker's shoulder.
Clockblocker held onto his wire, keeping the grid above their heads intact. "Sure."
Vista snickered and gave a wide grin. "Nitocris. How about some scarabs?"
"Mm, no," the Pharaoh said idly. "I would not risk the false goddess ensnaring them in her sorcery."
Vista drooped. "Oh."
"Fear not, for the dead of Egypt and of Tiamat's keeping shall be more than enough to stifle her forces!" Nitocris said with wide, shining eyes and a brilliant smile.
As though beckoned by her voice, the stars of the Final World congregated above, lashing out at Khepri's swarm.
"Sounds like you're set there," Grail said in relief. "Now let's see… Kid Win? Aegis? Helloooo?"
____________________________________________________________________________
"A little busy, Grail!" Aegis grunted as he narrowly dodged another claw. These bugs were tough, and he didn't have a lot of weapons to bring them down. Confoam stopped them, but more took their place and he didn't have infinite grenades.
"What do you need." Grail's voice didn't brook any argument.
"Backup would be good! I lost sight of Kid a little earlier-"
A laser cut through the swarm, disintegrating two and giving Aegis some breathing space. He looked down and caught sight of Kid Win waving frantically.
"Get down here!" the Tinker called. "Quick!"
Aegis darted down, the few drones that followed him sniped away by Kid Win's laser pistol.
"Is that authorized?" Aegis asked when he landed next to his teammate.
"Does it matter right this second!?" Kid asked sharply. "Nikola, all yours!"
"SYSTEM KERAUNOS!"
The lightning of the gods, harnessed by man, tore through the swarm that had menaced Aegis.
Tesla flew overhead, trailing sparks of electricity as bolts forked into the swarm, shredding all in their wake.
Kid Win slumped. "Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn't make it in time," he admitted.
"Wards ENE, sound off!" Aegis barked into the comm.
"Clockblocker, alive and well! I've set up a barrier to defend Nitocris while she cranks out her army! Well, Kotarou did, I'm keeping it in one place though!"
"Vista here. I'm keeping anything that makes it through off of our backs."
"Gallant; I'm with Antares defending Tiamat. She's gotten settled and is tearing through most comers on her own though. Still, better to have redundancies than lose our source of healing."
"Weld here, Caress is backing me up. We're in the same spot as Gallant. Khepri seems to be trying to mount another offense of her drones, but we're managing to hold the line even in directions Tiamat doesn't have covered."
"Flechette. I'm in contact with Parian, and approaching Bohu. I've caught sight of Eidolon, Narhwal, Mab, and more Servants than I care to count. I think I'm safe."
Aegis nodded sharply. "I've got Kid Win with me. Keep me posted as much as you can."
A chorus of affirmatives rang out before he cut contact.
He turned to Kid Win. "Thanks for the save. Ready to keep going?"
Kid Win fiddled with something at his belt. "Almost. Here," he said, handing over two devices.
They were shaped like brass knuckles, but had a strange port instead of the usual protrusions.
Aegis put them on.
"They use a variant of Armsmaster's tech and mine; you can plug in most types of weapons but I went for a basic plasma cu- OHFUCK"
A drone had snuck its way in, and was barreling towards them.
"Activation?" Aegis called out.
"Squeeze the grips hard!" Kid Win yelped as he lifted off on his hoverboard.
Aegis lunged forward with a roar, and the sharp blue flame tore from his knuckles and through his enemy.
He watched as it turned to sand and took a stance as more flew in.
"Now we're talking," he said in grim satisfaction.
____________________________________________________________________________
"Golem will be fine with Clockblocker and Vista," Nanashi said as he and Radiance darted across the rooftops. "Muramasa will keep him safe, and the Fuuma clan is on patrol. With Aster in the House, and Cass and Rachel with the big leagues fighting Bohu, we should be able to cut loose."
Radiance hummed. "He'll also add another layer of defense for Vista to draw on, so they'll be helping each other while Nitocris continues to wear down the enemy."
Nanashi nodded. "That too. Wait, is that…?"
He poured on the speed as Radiance followed, chasing the flashes of light searing into the air.
In a couple of minutes, he closed in to see Galahad brandishing his sword, shield on his back.
"Two hundred and fifty-nine."
A flash of light, and more sand fell.
"Two hundred and sixty-three."
"Well, he's doing alright," Radiance said faintly.
Nanashi nodded with a deep sigh. Then he paused. "Wait."
"Hm?"
"Where's Shirou?"
An arrow flew overhead into the heart of the swarm harassing Galahad.
The explosion caused sand to rain down, turning into light shortly before reaching the Shielder.
"Could you have waited? Just for a moment?" Shirou asked irritably as he walked up, bow in hand.
The momentary reprieve began to fade as more drones gathered, lashing out with rays of red light.
"Rho Aias!" Shirou snapped, holding his free hand outward.
The pink shield formed a dome over the three heroes, four layers weaving themselves over them. The lasers hit, fizzling out on the outermost layer.
Galahad wove between the lasers, the shield on his back catching any strays that managed to hit. "Hello," he said blandly as he landed in front of the others.
"So we've seen neither hide nor hair of the Endbringer or her head flunky," Radiance began.
"Hair is a good way to put it!" Vid yelled over the comm, explosions in the background. "We're… ah…"
"I've got a location. Let me know when you're ready and I'll send you four over to help," Fortuna echoed.
"What are you up to, by the way?" Shirou asked, suddenly hesitant.
A silver ray crashed down, and a massive chunk of drones disintegrated - not even sand or light remained.
"This and that. Harassment and coordination, mostly," Fortuna said in that same echoing voice.
"Neat," Galahad said dully.
"That's one way to put it," Shirou replied, stunned.
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi Lorelei was strong.
She was in control at all times, and had a breadth and depth to her knowledge of magecraft only matched by the power of her circuits.
The same, however, could not be said of her compatriots it seemed.
Save one.
"Okay, so poodle moth lady just… woosh," Flat babbled, eyes wide. "And then! Luvia! Gray! Svin! Your guys! All just…" he broke off, waving his hands vaguely. "And they kept referring to her as a leader."
"Some sort of mental interference," Barthomeloi murmured. "But it didn't work on you. Why?"
Flat shrugged.
"I can answer that," Angra Mainyu - or what was left of him - said as he squat by the two as they conferred in private. "This thing banks on a normal amount of ego or a normal brain. If you go too far from someone who can be reasoned into following the blue bitch, well…"
"Shit! Report in!" Grail said over the comm. "Goddess has Master powers; who's still free?"
"Escardos, El-Melloi's Avenger, and myself," Barthomeloi replied shortly.
"Damn. It's not absolute, so if you have anything that can break mental interference, it should work," Grail said quickly. "Khepri must have had her boost the power to have it spread like that, though."
Flat hummed. "So it's like a cold or something that spreads, and you can get immunized?"
"Yes, that's true," Grail said. "I'd get Tiamat to send a Tide over, but the buildings wouldn't allow for anything short of a tidal wave to cross. It'd make for more danger than help at this point."
Flat chewed his lip, eyes bright.
"You have a plan?" Barthomeloi asked.
"Kind of. Can you keep them all in one place for a few minutes?" he replied.
"Be more exact."
"If I get to the entryway, I can widen it. Everything here is made of stuff, but not. Like… like a lucid dream or something?"
"And then… I'll get Tiamat on standby. Fortuna! Keep them linked!" Grail ordered.
"Roger that," the Entity-shaped Servant responded.
Grail's link fizzled out.
Angra coughed. "So where does that leave me?" he asked with a shifty glance.
"You stay out of the way," Barthomeloi said as she turned towards the exit of their hideaway. She paused. "Actually, guard Escardos as he makes his way to the exit. He'll need all the help he can get." She dashed away in a gust of wind.
Angra Mainyu stared at the eccentric magus.
Flat gave him a guileless smile.
"We're going to die," the Avenger said flatly.
"It's fine!"
A silver rectangle of light appeared in midair, then vanished.
Shirou blinked in confusion. "This isn't the Endbringer."
"Goddess is making trouble. Flat can open the path for aid, but needs more backup than a no-name shepherd," Fortuna said over the comms.
Shirou sighed as he looked at the other two men. "Is there a plan?"
"Run like hell?" Angra offered.
Flat continued to smile merrily.
Shirou sighed. "Let's go."
____________________________________________________________________________
BB dodged another gout of flame, followed by arcing lasers that reflected at angles to try to hit her.
"Really?" she said in an almost bored tone as the lasers were drank away by portals of shadow. With a negligent wave of her rod, a hole the size of a basketball tore itself in Tohu's side.
Vid scowled, sweating a little. "BB! Stop playing!"
"Okay!" she caroled back. When he looked away, she frowned. "I've actually been having problems…"
Tohu's regeneration was making it difficult for things to stick, and Lung and Legend were merely two of her masks. The third continued to flicker, and she rained down destruction that BB was forced to ward off lest it hit Vid.
The Moon Cancer was not used to being on the defensive, and it was safe to say she wasn't a fan.
The field erupted in a pyroclasm, the wave of flame surging towards BB and Vid. Asphalt melted in its wake, and the white-burning flame nearly covered the rays of blue that caused the air itself to explode where the two intersected.
"Lord Camelot!"
Galahad appeared in a flare of silver light, slamming his shield before the rampaging firestorm. The conceptual defense deployed in a structure of blue light, halting it in its path.
BB caught sight of a spiral-shaped arrow lodging itself in Tohu's side before exploding, tearing off two of her arms and a leg.
The damage was transient, the hairlike structures extending and reweaving themselves as Lung's mask glowed on Tohu's triune visage. The Endbringer increased in size as lasers splashed against Lord Camelot's barrier.
"Looks like we arrived just in time," Nanashi's voice said from next to BB.
She gave him a brief glance. "Where's your lady? And the not-you?"
"She got sent to back up Aegis - one of the Wards. Flat's going to make an opening, so Shirou's following him to make sure he doesn't die."
BB let out a gusty sigh as lasers rose over the wall of light before angling down towards them. "And everyone else got nabbed."
"Actually, the Wards, their Servants, Theo, and Muramasa are defending Nitocris while she sets up a secondary incursion for her armies. If all continues to go well, we should see a lot more backup against Khepri's rank and file," Nanashi replied as his arm angled upwards.
BB waved her hand. "I've got it. BB… shot!" she said as she snapped her rod forward, a rain of pink raising to meet Tohu's assault.
The explosions rang out fiercely as Vid sat against a wall.
As he focused, his range of influence continued to grow.
Drones would blacken with frostbite or burns, split along phantom gashes, putrefy, and show all manner of damage before dissolving in a greater and greater range.
Tohu herself was slowly starting to smoke at the edges, though further damage had yet to show.
"You're doing great sweetie!" BB called back as she fended off Tohu's continued assault.
BB squinted as Tohu shot into the air, and her final mask slot into place.
"...hey. So the blue is Legend, and the dragon is that Lung guy you fought," BB said conversationally.
"Yes," Nanashi said tersely.
Galahad stared up. "Oh."
A brown hood covered the final head, exposing a metal visor.
"She's emulating Myrrdin!" Fortuna called in warning, a silvery, vaguely humanoid form dropping into the fight.
"What…?" Nanashi said with wide eyes.
"I'm still coordinating according to El-Melloi II's plans," she said shortly, "but this fight just got complicated."
The air warped and bucked before the effect suddenly ended with a gesture from Tohu.
Lasers rained down as a powerful force began to draw on the Servants, pulling them towards a distortion in the air that flickered with white flame.
Galahad flung his shield up as he lunged backwards to cover Vid, who tumbled into his back.
"Rho Aias!" Nanashi boomed, seven layers of pink light interceding between him and the assault.
BB skid under the cover, eyes narrowed. "I'm thinking I might leave defending to you while I break out the good stuff," she growled.
Fortuna's avatar lashed out with shards of silver light, dousing flame and twisting the lasers into empty air.
A staccato burst of concussive blasts slammed into Rho Aias, heralded by a few idle flicks of Tohu's hand as more lasers tried to curve under the shield.
Fortuna finally loosed a massive column of silver light that was engulfed by a vacuum. The two forces collided and shattered the air, pushing all the combatants back.
Vid fell on his behind, Galahad taking a defensive posture over him.
Destruction continued to rain down on them, not allowing them enough room for a proper counterattack.
"Dammit…!" BB hissed, shadow dripping from her hands. "If I had one clear shot…"
"Which she clearly isn't giving us," Nanashi said pointedly as he held Rho Aias to blunt the assault.
Fortuna stilled for a moment before backstepping to evade a laser that turned the ground into molten pulp. "Incoming!" she cried out.
"What now?" BB asked in irritation.
<PREDATION>
A spinning bluish object impacted Tohu, and the vacuum effect vanished as it bore her to the ground.
Limbs ending in blades sprouted from the underside, like legs belonging to a massive spider.
Vid swallowed loudly. "Oh."
Crystalline structures sprouted from the ground while it began to tear at the Endbringer's body. A head manifested with a number of teeth that should not have fit in a mouth that small. It leaned down and began to gnaw, disregarding the explosions of air, lasers, and flame against its body.
<INTRIGUE>
BB gave a slow grin. "Well, well," she purred with a sadistic glint in her eye. "I'd call that a game-changer."
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi caught the moth-headed woman's face with her riding crop, only for it to bounce off a fractal-patterned field. Wind surged as she lifted up and away, evading spellfire from her own corps.
Her face was expressionless, but her heart burned with indignation. Of all the things to happen to her battalion…!
With a swing of her riding crop, wind buffeted the gathered forces into disarray. They may have gotten a bit bruised, but that was acceptable when dealing with this… thing.
She tapped her earpiece. "Please tell me you have news," she said icily as she dodged a chunk of building that flew at her.
"Working on it," Shirou responded. "Flat's drawing something on a building, and I'm trying to keep it and him intact. Fun fact: without Servant support, those drones get a lot more dangerous," he said irritably.
"Hey!" Angra snapped.
"You barely count. I've been doing most of the heavy lifting!"
Barthomeloi felt her forehead tighten as the two men bickered, evading a lash of mercury courtesy of El-Melloi.
"Grail," she said coldly. "Please tell me that you have someone competent, or some other means of rectifying this situation."
"Still stuck with this big swarm between us and Khonsu," he said regretfully. "Fou cut a path - I think - but keeping it open is its own trial. I'm just glad Gilgamesh came with us or we'd be up a creek." He paused. "I'll see what I can do."
"It's appreciated," Barthomeloi bit out as wind obliterated the drones in the area, causing the one they called Goddess to rock in midair for a moment.
The Queen of the Clocktower lunged forward, pursuing her prey as the winds she commanded kept her 'allies' at bay.
____________________________________________________________________________
Flat hummed as he completed the last squiggle on the rooftop.
"So what's all this supposed to do?" Shirou asked.
"Well, none of this is real," Flat said plainly.
Angra and Shirou stared at the magus.
"I'm going to need a bit more explanation," Shirou said in a mild tone.
"Oh. Well, this is all made by Khepri, and she's lying to the world."
"Like a Reality Marble?" Shirou asked.
Flat waved his hand. "No? She's not putting her mind or soul here, this is what she wants the world to be. She's making it that way, but it's a lie. Until it's not."
Shirou twitched, sending a blade flying out of thin air and into a drone that flew too close.
"So, since it's a lie, I'm going to make it a slightly different lie," Flat explained blithely.
"That makes no-" Angra Mainyu began.
"Game Start."
Now, despite being a bit… different, Flat had some idea of what he was doing this time. It was like that DiCaprio movie with the dreaming. Interception or something? Right, the point being it was just more magecraft. It was kiiiinda soul-based, but also conjuration? Weird.
So since it was magecraft in action, like the inside of a bounded field, his usual tricks would work.
Maybe.
Slowly, a gap opened in the barrier around Tohu's territory.
Unbeknownst to Flat, his tactic really shouldn't have worked. The buildings were solid enough, and Khepri strong enough, that structural interference shouldn't have changed the power holding them together.
However, Grail had said he'd do something, and so he did - the comms were open as Flat cast, and the instant he incanted, Grail supercharged the spell, lending some of his now boundless energy.
Then he took hold of that same spell and replicated it across every barrier to each Endbringer.
Unaware of the interference of the First Magician, Flat stood and grinned at his work. Buildings opened roads to the massive sea Tiamat had brought with her, and the swarms thinned just enough that he could see.
With a mighty roar, the tide rushed in.
"...did you mean to do that?" Shirou asked as his eyes stared blankly at the coming waters.
"Nope!" Flat said cheerfully.
____________________________________________________________________________
Barthomeloi twitched the instant the Tide arrived, feeling the spray of water on her face.
"Well, Flat had a pretty good idea… so I kind of, ah… ran with it?" Grail said sheepishly over the comm. "I'm gonna… go. Got a timebender to murder. Have fun storming the castle!"
"There is no castle," Barthomeloi said icily.
There was no response.
The other magi stirred below, and Goddess came to a sharp halt, as though in shock.
A lash of mercury took her right leg off below the knee.
"Fervor, mi sanguis," Reines El-Melloi Archisorte hissed as her eyes blazed in fury. Trimmau lashed upwards, lines of grey metal carving through the sky.
"Gandr!" Luviagelita snapped out, the bead of black energy launching from her index finger and plowing into Goddess' body.
Finally stirred into motion, the insectoid cape began to juke and dodge, evading the rain of metal and magecraft.
A storm of flame, lightning, and magecraft breached the heavens as Barthomeloi's followers were freed from Goddess' grip.
With a slow exhale, the magus nodded once. Yes, this was as it should be.
Glascheit lunged forward, a lupine aura encasing his body as he lashed out with his magecraft and carved apart the incoming drones. They fell from the sky in pieces as they dissolved, unable to match his speed or resist his claws.
Satisfied that the chattel were dealt with, Barthomeloi turned her attention to Goddess, who flung multiple buildings at her.
They were stopped in midair by a wall of wind, and blown apart into fragments of cement carried away on a gale.
Idly noting the lack of true structure to them, Barthomeloi aimed her hand at the pawn of Khepri.
"Our business," she said coldly, "is concluded. By the power granted me by Lord First, I expel you from existence."
She turned her palm up, and braced her middle finger against her thumb, raising her hand slightly.
"DISMISS!"
She clicked her fingers in a snap that rent the air.
The fractals of Goddess' telekinesis covered her body, but it did nothing to stop the air beneath the shield.
In a heartbeat, the cape was reduced to powder by the vacuum of blades Barthomeloi Lorelei called forth.
For a moment, the drones in the area stilled.
Then they too were reduced to powder by the resulting shockwave from Barthomeloi's magecraft.
With a quiet pride, she noted the safety of her allies as they gazed up at her in awe.
Though she would never admit it, a thought most uncouth occurred to her.
Rather than accepting this as the natural course of things…
She thought: 'Some days, it's good to be the Queen'.
____________________________________________________________________________
Nanashi loosed another arrow as the curious TYPE continued to savage the pinned Endbringer.
Nothing he did hurt it, so he didn't bother to hold back.
The explosion reduced the buildings several rows back to rubble, raising smoke and dust into the air.
"Is it dead yet?" Vid asked from behind Galahad. "I've almost got a hold on this entire quarter; we might be able to set up a base here if we need to. No bugs in."
ORT latched on, and made a wrenching motion.
The vacuum which had started to pull on the surroundings vanished as the Myrrdin head vanished down TYPE-Mercury's gullet.
"Ahem," BB said.
<QUERY>
BB pouted, and pointed at Tohu. "Mine."
<PREDATION>
"Sharing is caring!"
Nanashi turned to look at Vid with a look of dread. "Please call her off."
"Um," Galahad said intelligently.
BB held Tohu's Lung-head by the hair as she made a face of utter disgust.
ORT continued to gnaw on the regenerating Endbringer as lasers were absorbed by its carapace.
"...Grail!" BB shouted with an imperious stamp of her foot.
____________________________________________________________________________
I groaned as BB yelled in my earpiece. I didn't bother dodging the lasers from the drones and just tanked the worst of it as Gilgamesh shredded a path forward, letting the rest of our forces conserve energy for the threat ahead.
<Destruction.>
<QUERY>
<BB.> The name carried everything I knew of her with it.
<...INTRIGUE>
"Don't say I never did anything for you!" I shouted.
Gilgamesh shot me a look of mild confusion before he went back to sending blades of all make and size careening into the cloud of bodies before us.
I sighed as the Director ran beside me. "I wish Fou had stuck around to keep the way open…"
Water flowed in, and a brilliant ray of light shone blue, blinding me - and from what I saw before it hit, most everyone else.
I blinked the glare out of my eyes, and saw the wreckage of the city, Khonsu darting further in as the Water chased him.
There were no drones in the immediate area.
"AAAAAAAAAA"
I let out a helpless laugh. "Onward?"
____________________________________________________________________________
BB gave a grin of satisfaction as Tohu melted away beneath the tide of corrupted energies she poured from her own custom grail.
In moments, only slurry remained.
"Hmph. My Crater's too good for the likes of her," she said haughtily.
The dark core spasmed, threads emerging.
"...but it might be necessary," BB allowed darkly.
ORT stared at the remains.
If it had a face, BB might have thought it was forlor- nope, just hungry.
The creature leaned down and seemed to suck the remains away, paying no mind to the corrosive tide of curses it ingested.
BB raised her rod as Tohu began to slowly reform. "Choices, choices-" she began to monologue.
"Spear of Destiny," Galahad said flatly, driving the blade which killed Christ into an Endbringer's core.
There was a sharp shriek as it impacted the outside, and streams of red and white light flowed out. The core wrenched, almost as though it were about to fly apart.
The energy consumed it before it had a chance.
BB stared at him.
"You took too long."
Nanashi coughed awkwardly. "I'll just… go. And check on the kids."
Vid stumbled over. "Well, I've established a territory," he said with a tired grin. "And I'm expanding it further. Right now I'm edging into… I think it was Bohu? Her and Khonsu's territories. It's a bit slower going, but if I subsumed an entire planet in one timeline, I can damn well cut out an army from this place."
BB kept staring at Galahad.
ORT leapt into the sky, legs and head folding back in.
<PREDATION>
It zipped away to who-knows wh-
BB's face slackened as it plunged into the air where the drones were thickest, causing a downpour of sand and light.
"Two down," Galahad said mildly. "I'm going to go rest. That took a lot more energy than it looked like." The spear vanished and he began to walk away.
BB swelled in indignation. "Now listen here you kill-steal-"
Galahad fell sideways, caught by the gently flowing Waters.
"Galahad?" Vid said worriedly.
BB narrowed her eyes and listened.
The knight rolled onto his back.
His visible eye was closed, and his chest slowly rose and fell.
BB clenched her fists.
Thwarted, denied of her chance to sadistically pick apart her enemy, and unable to exact vengeance upon the unaware knight, she did the only reasonable thing she could.
She launched herself after the spider-shaped killing machine with a war cry, lashing out in every direction she could while her Senpai repeatedly called for her to calm down.
____________________________________________________________________________
Khepri sweat as she slowly closed another fracture caused by Primate Murder.
Thus far, nothing had occurred too far from her predictions. However…
The incursion of the Tide and Tiamat's interference had accelerated her timetable.
She nudged Glastig Uaine with her power, undoing her previous restrictions.
The full range of the Faerie Queen's power was now available to her. Clockblocker, Bakuda, Grey Boy - all of it.
With a single nod, the Beast went back to her work, painstakingly reinforcing her fortress.
They couldn't be allowed to breach it, should the worst happen.
For a moment, she idly wondered if they knew all they would need to accomplish to drive her world back.
Then she disposed of the thought. That other part of her - the human weakness that would have held her back - would remove itself if it thought it necessary. The idea that she would hold on past Khepri's demise, giving the goddess time to regenerate… it was unlikely.
Always necessity, with Taylor Hebert. It's needed, it's required.
Khepri could empathize, of course. It was her nature as well.
She had been called because she was needed. If the world had not already begun to be reshaped by the hand of the First, they would have welcomed her control. And without him, she would be the only option.
With that in mind, she signalled the Simurgh to accelerate production. String Theory and Defiant had to finish the weapon for use.
It worked on Scion, even if only for a moment. Combined with the aspects that enabled his death…
The G-Driver would be needed.
