NPF Avatars: The Man Behind the Mask

[Raiden]

The masked man narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

"Back off, mod." A shockwave seemed to blast out from the masked person's very being, sending the mod flying back. This thing was powerful, this was true. However, that voice was so familiar...

The figure reached up to his face, and pulled off the mask. What he revealed underneath was a large pig snout. As he left the shadows, he showed a rather husky person wearing a DBZ t-shirt covered in Cheetos dust. His greasy black hair gave off douchebag vibes.

"You NPFers...always stepping in my way...*snort*"

It was...Otaku Son.

[GARUD]

Garud saw Krylo get thrown across the room. The person who did it, had his face plastered all over the banned list. Otaku Son was imfamous for his evil. He was a jerkwad, who didn't know right from wrong. This was Garud's first meeting with him.

"I could say a pleasure to meet you but you make me wanna throw up. What? You gonna want me to PM you because I'm a girl? Huh? Do ya? Whatcha gonna do piggy? Oink all over me?"

Otaku snorted angrily. Garud bombarded the bnned one with insult after witty insult making the guy furious. Finally, the last straw... No-one talks about his penis size...

"Is that a marble in your pocket or are you just happy to see us?"

Otaku shot another shockwave, directly hitting Garud into a wall. Rubble fell on top of the demon slayer and she seemed to be crushed. The room was silent for a moment, before the rubble was blasted away. Standing on the spot was Garud, male again, glowng red eyes and pitch black wings emerged from his back.

"YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE MADE ME ANGRY!"

The transformation was loud, and Garud went trueform again. His body grew larger, his torso broadening, his arms getting larger and more muscular, his head becoming amorphorous, his hands becoming clawed... The beast roared violently and drew two weapons from the shadows... the blades of chaos. The chained daggers were wrapped around his arms tightly. The demon slayer charged at Otaku. His purpose was seemingly to maim, but the closer he could get to the Kurosen and Mashirioshen, the sooner he could use the blades to reel them in to him.

[The Wizard Who Did It]

The Dark Wizard winced as the Thunder God before denounced his name. A stabbing pain shot through his ego at the mention of his weakness, his twisted mind… his inferiority. The Black One knew that the Thunder God was coming. He was ready to battle the Divine Being, one on one if need be. What he was not ready for was the speed and nature of his attack.

The Dark Wizard knew Raiden was fast. He moved, quite understandably, at the speed of light. Or, specifically, of lightning. What he was not ready for was teleportation. What he was not ready for was the monster that the God had become. A being of pure energy… pure power. He tried to move out of the way in time, but the attack came faster than anticipated. It came faster than expected. What is his monstrous power? This monstrous speed? This monstrous strength? The palm came and drove into the Wizard’s nose, shattering it like delicate glassware. The searing pain shot through the Wizard, blinding his senses. Is this the power of a God? Is this what I seek? Before even a fragment of a second had passed, the Dark Wizard felt his face meet the cold hard ground beneath him. He was so weak from the first blow, that he hadn’t even felt the Divine Being grip the back of his neck. This… this is not a God. This is a being of destruction. The Black One’s face was driven to the ground again. And again. And again. Pain had no more meaning. The Dark Wizard was effectively dead, trapped with nothing but his thought’s before his dying moments.

And what if this is all a God is? This rage, this uncontrolled strength? The Dark Wizard felt something, friend or foe he didn’t know, grip his neck. Before he understood what had happened, his spine had already separated from his neck. He was cold inside. His power and strength had failed him utterly in this encounter. He had, for once, bitten off more than he could chew. Sank his teeth too deep to back out alive. This is… monstrous… volatile. This is not the power which I seek. This is… monstrous. That’s all I can think of now. A monster. Not even human, not even sentient.

The Dark Wizard was dropped to the ground. Words were uttered by his killer, but he could not hear them. They were muffled, and seemed distant. The Dark Wizard knew nothing at that moment. He knew not pain or sorrow. He knew not joy or life. All that filled him was a dull feeling of regret. If this is what my life has been… a sham. A façade. If all that I ever hoped to achieve is such a lie, then I might as well die here.

After that, the Dark Wizard stopped thinking. Forevermore.
--------------------------------------------
The Light Wizard listened to the tale that the Gaians told. He listened to how they waged war on the NPF. His heart seethed with rage unknown to him before. Before he got up to take action, though, he saw what he did not expect to see.

The Dark Wizard, still alive, walked by the Light Wizard. That was not unusual, as the White Wizard knew that he had survived. Or, more accurately, been revived. Forevermore happens to be a short amount of time when dealing with the NPF. What he did not expect to see was the expression on the Dark Wizard’s face. Usually his eyes were jovial, a maddening flicker behind the luminous sapphire eyes. However, the his eyes were dim. They were dead. Staring at the ground, as though defeated… or betrayed. Something lost that could not be regained. The Dark Wizard walked by the two remaining Gaians, showing no notice of them. He then stopped dead in his tracks.

Turning his head slightly so that they saw his profile, one eye glared at the Posters. They stared back, not knowing what to expect, but soiling their pants anyway. The eye glowed, a deep blue that made the Black Cloaked Wizard menacing. The Gaian’s eyes opened wide in horror, before he pierced the night with a scream. The scream was shrill, reminiscent of a little girl. The look of fear on the man’s face was obvious. His eyes darted around his skin, as though something was crawling on it or under it. The Dark Wizard didn’t move an inch. Didn’t bat an eye. His pupil contracted slightly, and cuts started to form on the Poster’s skin. Invisible knives sliced him open, as red and silver liquid spilled onto the ground. The red was obviously blood, but the silver was unrecognizable until it glinted in the moonlight.

Knives were forming, falling out of the Gaian’s skin. Bloodstained, they tore through the flesh. The man shouted and writhed as he was cut open from the inside. As the blood fell, it started to become silver, started to group, started to solidify, started to sharpen. At the end of the process, knives littered the ground around the flayed skin of what was once a Gaian. No blood was seen, no gore was left. The other Gaian started to lose it, stepping back slowly, a look of fright on his face, a loud yelp escaping his lips. The Dark Wizard walked into the Temple.

No emotion crossed his face.
-----------------------------------------------
The Wizard was moving through the ethereal realm. He saw a spectacle before, a destroyed spirit igniting and tormenting another wrecked spirit. There was something familiar about the method, but the Wizard was too determined to help his Lord to pay attention.

As he caught up to the NPFs, he saw a degraded soul. So degraded, that its mockery on life seemed to give it power. The Wizard knew not what it was, but knew it was what was controlling his mentor. He jumped out of the ethereal realm, and saw the mutilated being before him. He didn’t recognize him at first. Then, his brain started to remember something he read about. Something in the history of the NPF. It was Otaku Son. The Wizard’s mouth opened for a second before he managed to say,

“You have got to be kidding me.”
------------------------------------------------
The Light Wizard noticed that the Dark Wizard stood behind everyone else, somber. He seemed to glance at the mutated form of the Wizard and at Mauve periodically, but mostly just stared at the ground. No euphoria in the kill. No glee in the slaughter.

With a huff, the Light Wizard turned to face the maniac who was out to get them all killed. A voluptuous women was flying through the air. The Light Wizard raised his hands, and caught the woman with ease. Recognizing the lady he said, “Fancy meeting you again, beautiful.”

[Bailey]

Thunderpaw didn't recognize the degenerate, having been away traveling at CSNESF at the time, but he did recognize that he was wearing a DBZ shirt. He chuckled. From past experience he knew that he would be able to push the bounds of reality a little further than normal, being a martial artist, and that any attack with a creative name was more likely to hit his opponent. Already he could feel his mechanical parts improving faster than they would otherwise. He began rubbing his hands together. "What say I disable you with a HOUNDING IMMERSION STUN!" He slammed his forearms together and opened his hands away from each other. A dozen or so electrical beings in the shape of wolves appeared out of his hands and began racing towards Otaku until they shuddered oddly, turned, and began seeking Raiden instead. As each wolf reached him, it expanded and pounced on him, only to be absorbed into Raiden's electrical field. Okay, that was bad, but just got to stick to the script. If this guy has the Kurosen, then he's warping reality just by being here. There are certain conventions that one must follow to become stronger. "What power is this that allows you to divert my attack away from yourself!?" Pfft, like I don't know Raiden's functioning as a lightning rod. I'll just have to wait for someone to tell me, and then on to phase two of plan make-use-of-the-DBZ-physics-emanating-from-the-badguy.

[Darth SS]

Darth's jaw dropped. He hated Otaku Son so much. So very much. Otaku had once forced CJ to read his horrible fan-fic that included everything (Even star fox and star wars) and then talked incessantly about how awesome it was. When Darth and Dante (R.I.P.) had sent him a PM that said "This is masturbation, not writing," Otaku had claimed that they were unenlightened and that his writing professor claimed it to be wonderful. Some bullshit about how he had to figure out how the different characters from everything would treat one another. Despite them all acting the same.

"Motherfuckingfuckerfuckingfuckerfucking-"

Darth gasped.

"fuckbitchsonuvafuckerfuckingcockwhorefucker-"

Darth breathed.

"-fuckingfucksfuckerisfuckingFUCKED!"

Darth stood there trembling with anger. So very much anger. So much anger, that far far away in the Librarium Online forums, the entire Eldar section was obliterated in a wave of fire eminating from a user named "Long Shot." There was a twitch in Darth's eye. His hand spasmed. Then he pulled his P-90 and sighted it right between Otaku's eyes.

"Okay, cut the crap. What are you not dead slash banned? Did you finally annoy satan enough that he got so frustrated that he tore apart that contract you signed at birth and kicked you out of the underworld?"

"And why, pray tell, do we stereotypically associate nerds with cheesies? I do say that over in the wonderful United Kingdom, we'd never have such dreadful habits as those, for we are much more enlig-"

"Please stop talking," piped Darth's belt.

[Mauve Mage]

Mauve's lips curved into a sneer. All this time, the big evil had been Otaku Son? She had the bizarre urge to burst out laughing, but it was suppressed as a feeling of disgust washed over her. She had never met the infamous banned one; he had been eliminated long before she joined. Now that she saw him, she felt incredibly happy that this was the case. Anyone who would take this kind of revenge simply for being banned was truly messed up.

Mauve Mage would have demanded some kind of explanation; would have demanded to know why he would take control of an NPFer's soul simply for revenge. Mauve Thief, however, frankly didn't give a damn. Still baring her teeth, the thief hefted the PSG over her shoulder and aimed it at the banned one. The barrel began to glow with a strange and deadly energy.

This was it. Otaku Son would die without trial or chance to repent. Mauve would vaporize him here and now, and end all of this. She would-- Waitaminute...

WHUMP!! The gun fell from her hands as it seemed to become a hundred times heavier in one split second. Shocked, the woman looked down at herself. A swarm of white chaos particles flew away from her. That's odd... PWUMPH!! A familiar weight fell onto her head. Her vision was slightly obscured as a pink hat brim pushed itself down into her face. By the time she looked back down at herself, she was once more clad in a pink mage's robe and yellow boots. Her thiefy skills and physical strength had vanished.

"Perfect," Mauve muttered. Once more, it seemed as though Murphy's Law's unnatural love of her and her innate ability to screw up all of Rhiya's RP plans had stepped in at the crucial moment to make themselves known. Mauve was no longer a thief; she no longer had stealth abilities or strength. Which meant she couldn't heft the beautiful PSG.

"And I never even got to use it!" she protested angrily. At that point she noticed Dark Twiddy was giving her a listless stare. He looked... beaten. Mauve frowned.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I only ask because normally you'd be making some smart-ass remark about my lack of effectiveness right now. And it's been oddly quiet."

Kryla flew by at that moment, to be intercepted by the Light Wizard. Mauve bared her teeth again and aimed a hand at Otaku Son.

"Fireball!" she commanded loudly. A flaming orb flew from her palm and raced towards the Banned One.

[PyrosNine]

Kyuubi's hackles rose. Raiden was definitely near, but felt no need to make himself known. Kyuubi carefully walked into the temple grounds, ever aware of everything that moved. "Show yourself Raiden. You know what I am here for."

[Raiden]

The fireball flew forward at Otaku Son. It looked for a moment like it was about to connect...until it was blocked by the sphere of energy, gathering up the different energies that manifested the fire and absorbing it into his body. It then went back to work making the new body, only needing to finish the head. Otaku Son gave a high-pitched squeel of joy.

"Squeee! You NPFers! Always blasting first! Of course, with your powers and weapons, why wouldn't you! But no, I had nothing to my name. You people lorded over me, insulting my hard work with my fan fics! And you girls aren't even worth allowing to see my hentai collection anymore! I was weak then...but now I have a weapon. Your beloved Raiden! He did such horrible things to me...calling me out when I changed my profile to insult his! Sending a nasty PM when I was trying to put my smooth moves on CelesJessa! Saying that Steve Urkle had no reason being in my writing! But now he's under my control! And I have that Fire Angel of yours to thank..."

He held up a small glowing orb in his greasy cheese-dusted hands.

"Before I was banished from the NPForums, I was at the bar. That drunken deity was talking randomly about many stupid things, none of them about how Solid Snake could beat God on his own. But he did say something interesting. Because of some hidden rule, there was an orb in creation that allowed whoever held it to control a deity. I found it, and decided to use this power on Raiden. I found it funny to make him my slave. But then I found something interesting about him. He had much more power than he even knew about. Bit by bit I forced his power to be unlocked, so that I could do much more than take revenge on the NPF. I want the entire UNIVERSE to pay for not understanding my genius! My fanfictions are works of art! Each character reacts in special ways!"

He picked up the Kurosen in one hand, and the Mashirosen in the other.

"And with these two artifacts, it will all be mine..."

[Truce]

Ecurt could only vaguely guess why he was back in his own human body, or how he had gotten trapped within the depths of Raiden's soul, since he had been distracted by Rhiya moments before this particularly chain of craziness had occurred. However, delving too much into the subject was pointless at this moment, since he had no way of proving it. Right now, all that mattered was moving forward, and hoping that his friends would take care of his body while he was away.

It was difficult to traverse through a soul scape, especially since it was not his particular brand of expertise. He left these sort of things for Mesden to handle, but alas, he had no choice but navigate through the urban jungle that existed within Raiden's soul.

It was quite remarkable, really, how similar the empty streets here were when compared to the NPF city, though he supposed it had something to do with the connection with the Kurosen. That only made it that much more difficult to find his way, since there has never been a city map that remained completely accurate for more than five days. Knowing Raiden's heart, this version of the city probably changed every five minutes. Still, with a little bit of luck, as well as the fact that it was the largest thing here, he found himself at what could be described as the Kurosen Tower made out of Jenga blocks.

Without any hesitation, he stepped through the doors and was greeted immediately by a long case of spiraling stairs. Grasping the Light Axe, the only weapon that happened to come with him, firmly in his hands, he climb up the flight of steps, careful to make sure he didn't fall through the many gaps. Eventually, after running for what seemed like (and probably was) several miles, he came to the top half of a door, with a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging from the doorknob.

After busting down what remained of the door with much satisfaction, Ecurt jumped in and raised his weapon, twirling it in his hands out of dramatic habit. His eyes scanned the room, searching for his opponent, only to the find Raiden sitting there at a leather covered desk, sipping from a Starbuck's plastic cup. "...what the hell are you doing?"

"....I'm drinking my coffee. In my soul. Like I usually do. What the hell are YOU doing?"

"I'm here to defeat you. What, do I need an appointment for that?"

"Uh...yeah, you kind of do. Didn't you see the secretary outside the door?"

"All I saw was the huge flight of stairs in the tower that led to here. Seriously, haven't you heard of an elevator?"

"Well, there is an elevator. It doesn't appear...unless you have an appointment. Now, if you're desperate, I can fit you into my schedule about...next month. The 15th sound good to you?"

"Does this look like an Omake to you?"

"It's an Avatar RP. If a scene doesn't look like an Omake, we ain't doin' our jobs."

"We could always just blame it on Pyros, y'know."

"Already filed the paperwork on that."

"You have paperwork? I just carry a stamp around-much faster."

"I'm a Thunder God with Rune, the Godmod incarnate. The paperwork was filed before the event even happened. I see these things coming."

"See, if you had a stamp, you could do it even faster. Besides, you get to stamp things when people aren't looking, like Mauve's hat."

Raiden shrugged. "You get to be my age, you like to keep things old-school."

Ecurt smiled, and walked closer. "Here, let me just show you the benefits of having a stamp," he said, and just like that he swung his guitar and smacked Raiden across the face with it.

Well, not really. It was more like knocking the hot coffee onto Raiden's pants. Regardless, the battle was on.

Raiden was stoic during the strike. He didn't even move when the guitar shattered across his body. He looked up, the pockets of energy that was his eyes gave a stern look. "I think something just opened up." With a kick, the desk went flying out at Ecurt.

[Truce]

Ecurt stepped back, but there was no way for him to get away. The desk slammed into him and carried him all the way into the wall. Gasping for air after the wind was knocked out of him by the force, he shoved the desk off in time to see a bolt of lightning streaking his way. Ducking back under the furniture, his wooden shield was barely enough to protect him from the blast. The wood exploded, sending fragments everywhere, and were it not for his trench coat he probably would have been covered in splinters.

His cover was gone, but he didn't care. He wasn't planning on hiding again. Rising from his position, he smiled to Raiden, who was standing with one hand held out towards him. "Is that the best you can do?" Ecurt asked.

"Why don't you just run away? You don't stand a chance. Not in the real world, and especially not in here."

Ecurt laughed. "I wouldn't be me then, now would I?"

"What can you possibly do? All the power you have gained in the outside world is meaningless here. In this realm, my realm, only the power of our souls exist, and your stupid plushie power is can't save you here."

"I'm sure I'll find a way."

A familiar spear appeared beside Ecurt, and as he reached out for it he motioned for Raiden to attack. In the next instant, the thunder god appeared before Ecurt and sent the younger man through the roof with another kick. Then, with an almost satisfied look on his face, he crossed his arms and sighed. "Effortless."

Suddenly, Ecurt burst through the ceiling, landing in a crouch behind Raiden. His costume had changed again, having become a set of red samurai armor while Ecurt had been out of sight. "Plushies aren't the only things I can create." With a smirk, Ecurt lunged forward and thrusted the spear towards Raiden. At the last moment, the thunder god spun around and caught the spear by its point. With a flick of his wrist, the spear was thrown across the room-along with its wielder.

Landing with his feet against the wall, Ecurt immediately kicked off and tried the assault again. Once more, Raiden caught the weapon, but Ecurt had realized his grip and used his momentum to continue carrying himself forward. Quickly twisting his body, his heel caught Raiden by the side of the face, and he followed up by dropping back to the ground to sweep kick Raiden off his feet.

With his ascension, he retook his weapon and dramatically spun it above his head before plunging it into the Raiden's chest. Falling to his knees, Ecurt closed his eyes, and began to chuckle.

"It isn't that easy to kill me, you know."

"I didn't think it would be."

[Mauve Mage]

"Wow," Mauve said, staring at the ground and scratching an ear thoughtfully. "You really CAN blame all the world's evil on Pyros."

She turned back to the Banned One. Okay. So magic was a no. She was only helping to rebuild Mega Raiden. Oh yeah, now was a FINE time to change from Thief to Mage. Figures.

Instead, she drew her remaining knife from its sheath. As usual, it looked pathetically tiny compared to Mesden's sword, Krylo's withering blade, and Raiden's uber costume, but Mauve pretended not to notice.

"We don't have time for this. Why don't you just go back to wherever you banned types hang out and leave us alone?" Mauve said crossly. She raised the dagger, and with a flick of her wrist sent it flying towards Otaku Son. She doubted it would do much, but it might create an opening for the others to attack. Or at least tick Otaku Son off.

[GARUD]

Garud cleared his bestial throat.

"AHEM!"

Quickly following the sound was the whistling of both blades of chaos heading towards Otaku Son's head and neck with an enormous amount of force. Garud had other plans for the chains though. If he could get his hands on one of the items, he may be able to drain Otaku's power, or maybe even enhance his own. But right now, task at hand. Retrieve orbs, kill Otaku, not necessarily in that order.

[Bailey]

The army of ninja bunnies began creeping around behind Otaku Son. As they got closer, they could almost feel his personal rewrite of the rules affecting them. The closer they got to him, the less the inverse rule meant.

"Mauve! You have any buffs or positive stat spells? If you could cast those on us it would be great. Just watch out that they don't get subsumed by Raiden's lightningrod effe-" A look of surprise crossed his face. Nobody gonna tell me, guess I have to "figure it out on my own" "Of course! Lightning! Lightning starts at the ground!" Thunderpaw directed the energy in his capacitators into his legs, and used the energy to fling himself into the air, where he clung to the ceiling and wallcrawled with his claws digging into the ceiling to just above Otaku.

[PyrosNine]

Kyuubi found himself at the door, still no sign of Raiden. Perhaps he was awaiting Pyros, and not Kyuubi? Raiden never quite knew about the kyuubi form. It all had to do with along time ago, a contest with an idiot, and a human mortal. The two had cheated heavily in this contest, Raiden going so far as falling from the sky and handing him a map, while Pyros used more hidden means.

The one failing point for Raiden is that he gained the trust and help of a local ninetailed fox that lived in the wooded region at the time, and had been there for good 300 years. As it happened, Ninetailed Fox's had lived in that forest for 300 years, and the one that helped had only been there 4 years.

The ninetailed fox promised to outwit Pyros and aid Raiden in every way, but as it turned out, the very help the fox had given the mortal in the wager had inadvertendly made Pyros the victor. When an infuriated Raiden raided the woods however, he'd only found one old and grey ninetails that was in love with a tree.

The creator was furious at all this, angry that the gods, in a sense, had allowed a human to control them. So he decided to create something, to make them on guard lest it happen again...

Kyuubi went over to the front door and pawed it. It opened with a slow, uneasy creak, but that was fixed marvellously when the Kyuubi used his forcefield to trap the sound, then push the door open wider. Looking into the temple, he saw the strangest sight yet.

For in the room, all the NPF so far remained with the exception of those who logged out on holiday. Like Rhiya. They surrounded a dark cloaked figure, who resembled this Otaku Son fellow everyone had been talking about, and he himself held the god controlling device, GodChain. Kyuubi sighed. He'd suspected this, and yet again he was far too right for his own good.

"Umm....am I interrupting something?"

[Raiden]

As the chain blades flew toward Otaku Son, the glowing orb of floating energy appeared again. A strange essence floated out from the blades as Raiden drained it of its potential energy, causing them to stop moving and drop to the ground. He rushed back to the body he was working on, using the new bit of energy he gained to finish the husk. Slowly the energy orb descended into the body, and with a quick attunement, Raiden stood up. He was no longer in 'True Form', but the human looking one. He didn't look as he did before. He was no longer in pain, nor did he have the smug look of a powerful god. He was...just there. Otaku Son gave a laugh.

"I like my new toy! Squeee! He keeps me well protected! But I think it's time for an upgrade..."

Otaku Son placed the Mashirosen on the side of the Kurosen. After flipping open a hidden panel and giving a twist, the Mashirosen slid into the energy source. The Kurosen shook violently, and several slits opened on the sides. A strange blue energy wafted out into the air like a gas...until it found what it was looking for. Its original home. Like a snake it swirled through the air and imbedded itself into Raiden.

A giant seal appeared on Raiden's bare chest. It was the third and final seal. The energy grated against it, making it vanish bit by bit, until the seal was gone. Raiden seemed alright as the energy pumped into him. There were no changes. No look of pain or happiness. Otaku Son gave a look of surpise.

"Snort! This can't be right! It can't be!"

And then all hell broke loose.

Raiden's eyes opened wide as a powerful aura exuded from him. His hair floated in the air from all the static, his muscles rippling beneath his skin. And it wasn't just the changes to Raiden that was strange. It's what was happening on the planet. A terrible sound filled the area. While many of the NPFers covered their ears, people like Kyrlo who didn't care suddenly had blood dripping from their ear cavity. The cries were from the temple itself! Everywhere around the world, every rock, tree, flower, leaf, stick, puddle, dust particle, pebble, and blade of grass cried out in pain. The presence of Raiden was hurting the planet. He was never meant to remain on a planet this long. He would show up for but a moment, rune away the problem, then leave. He was too powerful for the planet to survive contact with him.

Beneath him, the ground crumbled away into a sink hole, trying to keep the earth from touching this creature. Raiden hovered in the air where he stood, not moving anywhere. A confined vacuum appeared around him, since the air didn't wish to mingle with him.

Things were changing on his body as well. His white hair grew longer, reaching down to his waist. His muscles became less bulky as he grew leaner. His shoulders, chest, forearms, and feet went from the flesh he had in his human form, and became the pure blue energy he had in his true form. Strange pieces of armor materialized around him, attracted to the energy on his body. They floated down, and became magnetized by the parts of his body that were pure energy. Two large blades appeared on his back, strapping themselves to the energy as well.

This new Raiden stared at the group, and every single one of them felt a tiny twinge of fear. This was the real Raiden...the one that had been so close to eliminating the entire universe with a thought. And since the energy continued to pour from the Kurosen, they knew he would only get stronger. This was but a fraction of his power.

And Otaku Son was about to sic him on them.

[PhoenixFlame]

*Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!*

Phoenix's wristwatch, which had only just appeared on her left arm a moment ago, began beeping in it's excessively geiger-counter way. Something was happening inside, and Dragonsbane's wounds were no longer important. The Kurosen had been unleashed.

Now, the Kurosen was a power device beyond all power devices. It contained Raiden's higher soul, and thus, all of his power. The Mashirosen was the key to unleashing it, and now that Raiden had both... Drastic measures must be taken. Fortunately, Phoenix was prepared for such measures. She had read the reports, and in the creation of the Altan, attempted, as best she could, to remanufacture a Mashirosen-effect generator.

"Rei!" She yelled, pointing up at the Altan's cockpit dramatically, "Activate the Kurosen Inhibitor Device!"

"The?"

"Kurosen Inhibitor Device! Right panel, third button! Do it, do it NOW!"

*Beep.* Rei acquiested, and the Altan's shoulder-panels popped open, revealing a pair of massive, glowing-white energy collectors. The mech crouched and began humming loudly.

"Kurosen Inhibitor Device Active. Charge, 99%. Magnitude 50. Overload Probability, 21%. Nominal Level."

"Right... Now we just have to protect the Altan, and hope the others can do their job..." Phoenix whispered, crossing her fingers and looking skyward...

[PyrosNine]

Kyuubi was on Raiden in an instant, for reasons other than his own hatred. At the very moment, Raiden was the Anti-being to everything, which made everyone inclined to harm him. Secondly, the others were in great danger from him.

His first act was to use his own barriers to hold Raiden where he was, or at least in this dimension. The barrier was stronger than his normal barrier, but came at the disadvantage of the normal barrier not protecting the fox.

With the great mental energy he possessed, he did what he could to attack raiden, at first with concentrated Psychic powers. It was difficult to find a target however, even for the semi-omniscience Kyuubi had, but what was present in this dimension and was bridge was gappable for an attack was hit with everything Kyuubi had.

Telepathically, Kyuubi contacted the other members, not being able to spare mental contact.
<Stop Otaku Son! The fool still has some control over him, but Raiden is capable of disobeying if there's a conflict. And if a conflict is created, Raiden will be free. And the first thing he'll do is utterly whipe this dimension from the face of the planet!>

Then, with a bit of worry on his part, Kyuubi continued. <I shall do what I can to hold Raiden off till then.>

[Darth SS]

Darth glanced at Kyuubi and yelled, "Yes, distract him."

Then Darth spun back towards Otaku Son, his P90 coming up to his shoulder smoothly. Quickly, he looked down the sight at Otaku. Not his head however. Nor his heart, or any other vital region. No, Darth knew how to deal with this problem. Originally, he would have shot Otaku in the crotch, but since Otaku obviously had a lap pinkie, it would've been hard to hit. Instead, Darth sighted on something farther away. Otaku's hand. Specifically, the hand that held the orb. His thumb switched the P90 over to single shot. The barrel seemed to go a bit left, so Darth compensated. He also compensated for gravity, wind, pressure, and temperature. Then at long last, he felt his heart beat. In between the beats, as he exhaled, he stopped focusing on the reflex sight and looked deep. Into Otaku's hand.

Darth pulled the trigger.

[FenrisWolf]

The RoboHobo continued to demolish Gaian after Gaian as they poured through the portal. Fenris leaped high into the air to unleash a powerful bumb assault, and after he landed, the ground underneath him cracked.

'What the-?' he thought as he fell through the ground.

After a few moments of trying to find footing at the bottom of the pit that the power of the Thunder God mixed with the weight of the robotic monstrosity had created, Fenris noticed that he could still see every Gaian through the ground. He tapped a button here, twisted a knob there, put in a password a few times, and hit the BSOD a couple times, and felt a transformation.

Technobum had arrived.

Technobum wall-kicked his way out of the pit and leveled his arm blaster at the Gaians that were writhing in pain. A few of the weaker spammers and trolls were even being anhillated by the sheer force of Raiden. Technobum charged his blaster up to its full power, and unleashed the beam. Cooling down, Technobum landed.

"This is feelin' good."

[Mesden]

All other happenings around Mesia were pointless. She knew that whatever these NPFers, no matter how unorthodoxly powerful they may be, nothing was a match for the colosus before them.

A being as powerful as a creator stood before them, able to wipe away galaxies with a gesture. Fast enough to be anywhere anytime he wanted. A being. That's not even the right word for it.

"Being"

You couldn't summarize what he was like this. He was beyond just "Being". He was beyond not being. He was beyond everything except for the Creators and Eternals themselves.

Just his presence in the universe caused reality to contort and twist to get away from him. The immense unfolding of the ultimatum of all existance was right before them. And it was their enemy.

The time to act couldn't wait any longer. If he was causing the cosmos to tremble in his coming, then what of Mesia's overlying realm? The one that had a connection with all forces in the physical world?

Without a hesitation, the Goddess waved her arm and in an instant ceased to exist in the "Normal" realm. She appeared back on her own, the place still somewhat humble. All except for the imprinting of Raiden. When she looked to it, a strange feeling came over her.

It was a feeling of weakness. Something she had never felt before. She had never in her life felt overpowered by another. Equally matched, maybe, but overpowered to this degree, never. And it was true, even in her own universe.

The massive presence of what was the Guardian's "Soul" or inner life force was...beyond recognition. The light that every being gave off seemed to pale to the sick darkness that approached in his wake. As power pumped into the beyond Godlike being, his presence became more vast and encompassing. It was tearing away at her world, as it was the physical one.

But, no matter how strong she willed it, stopping this force was impossible. It was tearing away at the universe that didn't exist when he was in creation. A foreign substance that only his mere happening upon it made him cleanse it.

A dark cleansing, sick and absorbing. Without quick action, this world would be removed permanently, and all of Mesia's legacy and life with it.

The goddess raised her arm once more in the old, familiar stance. But, instead of some onslaught or attack plan, she settled for retreat. The light that surrounded the sucking blackness began to flow into her hand, the Realm of light twisting into the vortex of her palm.

Soon, the world was completely ripped from its existance and merged with Mesia, leaving nothing but its void overlaying, the basis of all realms, attached.

She stood in the void, her glowing body being only a hint in the vast, all encompassing darkness of life. Her head lifted up, a sullen look across even its luminescent figure struck. A sorrowful, pained look as if someone or something dear to her had been lost.

The truth was, it was both. She had not only lost her Realm, the world she had created and lived in for so long, but she had now lost her brother. For this...this thing couldn't be him. Her brother was caring, open and welcoming. Never one to judge by appearance or fronts, but to understand someone. A God that cared for his people and his friends.

The same God that had somehow forced his way into her locked away universe, just to comfort her. The God that had marveled at how one only equal in power to him had created a universe in itself for the first time by a non Creator. The God that had trained her and been her friend. The God that told her stories of humans and what they, even as mere creations, were capable of.

This God was gone. Her Realm was gone. Her brother was gone. And soon, no matter what it took, Mesia would make sure that this pig that forced this misery upon her would pay in the dearest.

With only a step, Mesia walked from the void and into reality. There had not even been an instance of time inbetween her passing and return, at least not for the other forumites.

Any that looked upon Mesia could tell that the light she wore had changed. No longer the spectrum of blue and white beauty, but now a seething red replaced the blue and the white becames more intense. She was a white and red blaze of light and her gaze was fixated upon Otaku Son and "Raiden".

With a whip of her hand the Spiritual Wither Blade shot forth, it green glow only being drowned out in her own crimson. Her palm clenched tightly to the pommel as she took slow step towards the Creator Incarnate. Not a hint of fear showed, nor any other emotion but severe rage and...a sorrow. From just the look of her eyes, the only part that had not turned into rage, you could easily see the remorse she had for her passed brother and Realm.

But, still, that sad blue glow had no meaning in her actions. With a swift tear through reality, the Goddess appeared behind Otaku Son, hoping that her descending blade would strike before "Raiden" could stop her.

[GARUD]

Garud was familiar with the sensation. He felt like wallowing in sorrow. Loud dark cathedral music played in his ears. There was nothing to stop him. This was the apocalypse incarnate. There was no end like this end. At least you had an afterlife if you die... but this thing that was Raiden... it was able to erase everything. The spiritual world, the real world, hell, heaven and even limbo were all under threat.
Raiden looked familiar. This was his old look. The dead look. He had seen this before. It was all about to end... unless.

There were other power sources. Things that could provide just what the Kurosen and Mashirioshen could. Okay, now which one is powerful enough to help us defeat... I know! I'm going out to find it!

A dark yet familiar voice rang in P9's ear.

<Stall for time. I think I found a way to equate Raiden's true power. But I need to go find it, and even then it's 50/50. Hold as long as you can because it may just be our only hope>

Garud took wing and flew out of the building trying to retrace the NPFers steps. Finally, he flew to an object that was near a blur. It was the place where IC logged out, and he left it behind.

The demon slayer grasped the Fuitad in a black clawed hand and smiled as best he could. I just hope I can utilise this!

[Truce]

Somewhere along the way the battlefield had changed. Gone was the dark, urban setting of the pseudo-NPF. Replacing it was a vast forest that he could not see the end of, though he could spot the remains of a downed airship in the distance. The world was silent, almost dead, though Ecurt could feel deep down inside that he was simply in the eye of the storm.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he opened his eyes to see the first rays of the sun pierce through night's veil. Dawn had come, signaling the start of his final confrontation.

Somersaulting backwards, Ecurt barely avoided the blades of light that had come from the left side. Landing solidly on both feet, he summoned his weapon to his side as he mentally cursed himself for being almost caught off guard.

His eyes followed the path to the strikes and, as he had grimly expected, there was Raiden, standing upon one of the thick branches of a tree. Noting the katana at his opponent's side, as well as the new, more dangerous aura he gave off, Ecurt smiled, immediately understanding the significance of this place. He gave a simple nod, as if to give his approval, before taking his stance.

Raiden initiated the attack again, leaping from the tree limb at Ecurt. The two weapons clashed and for a moment the younger man was almost forced to give ground. Then, after what seemed like an eternity Ecurt was finally able to push Raiden back. However, that small victory would only last an instant, as the thunder god redoubled his efforts, forcing his opponent to quadruple his.

There was no more time left for words; their efforts spoke for themselves. Over and over again, the sword would ask "Why are you fighting?" and "Why don't you run away?"

The spear would always and only answer "For my friends."

Then the sword said, with a frightening force that ripped the great trees themselves from the earth, "There are those that would doubt you." The spear faltered, unable to retort, and the grip upon it was lost.

At the last moment, the reply came, and with it another blade. "There are those that would trust me," it said. "And they are the ones that really matter."

The battle had begun anew.

Eventually, the new resolve proved stronger, as the first blade was knocked away by the second, but battle could not be won on will alone. As Ecurt rushed in to finish Raiden off, a hand exploded from the others shoulder. It caught Ecurt and pinned him against the tree. Ecurt was unable to move, unable to escape, unable to continue fighting, and it seemed all was over.

"You could never defeat me."

"Maybe, maybe not," he said, his eyes darting to the strayed blade. "But I know someone who can."

"And who might that be?

Ecurt allowed himself to smile. "You."

Before Raiden knew it, the first blade had pierced through his chest. With a shocked expression, he turned around to come face to face with...himself. Not the original Raiden, but the one that Ecurt and the others had grown to know, the one that they had fought alongside with. "Hello me," the other him said, smiling as this reality faded to white.

[GARUD]

Garud tried multiple times to try and use the object, but no use.

"What is this thing good for? G'HEY!"

The fuitad dragged him along at tremendous speeds back toward the temple. He ended up going through many Gaian corpses along the way. Finally, he crashed through the room to where Raiden was. He let go of the object, and the Fuitad went through the barrier and attached itself to Raiden.

"This thing does nothing!"

Garud felt cheated, but still, he had to find another way. There had to be something. C'mon think. What can I do. The only other thing I can think of is to re-establish those damn seals. But how? I don't know how it was done. Sigh, gotta do something. I'll fight while I think.

Garud spun the blades of chaos around his arms, and then launched them dirctly at Otaku's gut. He knew they would be stopped. But he needed to find a flaw in Raiden's attack. Unfortunately, he knew that it was not gonna happen... reluctantly, he fought on...

[Bailey]

Thunderpaw dropped onto Otaku's back from the ceiling, wrapped his legs around Otaku as best he could, rubbed his hands together, and sent a small jolt of electricity directly at Raiden, hoping to cause a backlash, much like what happens with lightning.

[Mauve Mage]

Well, this can't be good, Mauve thought flatly as the entire planet tried to distance itself from the fully-powered god. The mage decided to listen to the earth's ancient wisdom and gave Raiden a very wide berth. After all, she was just one mage. There really wasn't much she could do to stop him.

Instead she turned on Otaku Son. He was the one who did this; in essence, he killed the Raiden that the NPF knew. That thing over there was no longer Raiden. It was just some mega powerful god puppet wearing a Raiden mask. (And a wig made of Sephiroth hair.)

Mauve raised a hand above her head. She didn't know what would happen if Otaku Son died. Would Raiden return to normal? Or would he just remain in this Mega Powerful Form and blow up the entire galaxy? Well, whatever it was, there was a large chance that they'd all die either by Otaku Son's command or Ultima Raiden's, so she guessed it really didn't matter one way or another. She pointed at the Banned One.

"Rocket Flare!" she commanded. With a series of popping noises, an arsenal of firecracker-looking rockets appeared above her head. Their fuses were lit and sizzled away. Mauve knew this spell; she'd already tried it out on Garud once or twice. Now it was time to see what it could do to an actual enemy.

"HAH!" She commanded, and at the sound of her voice the army of rockets swarmed towards Otaku Son like guided missiles.

[Dragonsbane]

Dragonsbane flexed his new arms, the short claws that tipped each digit clacking together. He was still getting adjusted to them, and the place where the pale flesh of the Wyld-forged limbs met his own coppery skin was still clearly visible. However, his regeneration fortunately had not interfered, and regrew his own flesh at the same rate as it ate away the chaotic limbs, his own blood vessels snaking around the Raksha ones that pumped the blood from his heart into his extremities. Near the point where flesh merged, the fine scales were slowly becoming smooth skin. Overall, the sensation was strange, and as a scholar Dragonsbane would normally have enjoyed standing still and simply experiencing it, studying the influx of Chaos.

He did magically influence the material though, partially incorporating it into other parts of his body, using it almost like a combination of an antibody and Sympathetic Resistor (magically speaking). As he stood invisibly nearby, and watched the battle, he experienced the heady sensation of raw creativity, pure inspiration, flowing through his veins.

Otaku Son had to be stopped. He had been a forumite during the time when Otaku Son had existed, and he remembered his weakness for...argument...

Taking a deep breath, he shouted, "THE EINHANDER WOULD BE UTTERLY DESTROYED IF IT WERE TO ATTEMPT COMBAT WITH AN X-WING!"

[Raiden]

Raiden...floated there. He was draining the Kurosen, regaining his energy slowly. However, a slight complication arose when some strange harmonics went through the temple. The energy shifted, then stopped. While not losing any power, he was no longer gaining it, either. The strange device of Phoenix's had stalled for some time. He wouldn't be at full strength yet. He didn't even let out a word of realization as he...handled the problem.

Outside, the sky above Phoenix and her creation swirled into a deep vortex, the very heavens themselves tearing asunder to allow Raiden's will be done. Before anything was seen, a terrible scream, like that of a predatorial bird, ripped forth from the spinning portal. Soon it was joined by a form. It looked like a giant bird...but fake. It was over 50 yards long, with a golden orichalchum body supported by red jade. It had five large wings on each side, with four smaller wings placed around them. Its tail was a series of bladelike moonsilver stabilizers. Blazing blue eyes dot the sides of the bird, lightning sparking from it and striking the ground at will. It set its sights on Phoenix, and gave another colossal cry.

Back inside the temple, Raiden's head slowly turned to Kyuubi. He had no will of his own, and as such cared little for the safety of his little brother. Which Pyros was about to not like very quickly. The barrier trying to keep him in shattered, then was made physical, slicing non-lethally into Kyuubi's skin. Now free of his restraints, he went about his task of protecting his master.

Thunderpaw was teleported away without a thought, then tossed against the wall with no contact from Raiden whatsoever. All attacks on Otaku Son were stopped, erased, blocked...whatever the perception of the attacker was. Otaku Son giggled in a high pitched voice as he saw his slave work.

"Hehehee...he will soon be all powerful! Nothing can stop me! I'll always be on top! I'll always win! I'll--"

"THE EINHANDER WOULD BE UTTERLY DESTROYED IF IT WERE TO ATTEMPT COMBAT WITH AN X-WING!"

A vein appeared on OS's head as he turned. "You lie! There is no way it could possibly lose! I have specific proof that..."

As Otaku son went about his debate, Raiden merely stood there. He was awaiting a command. And until then, he couldn't do anything.

Then, Ecurt's actions were in motion. Raiden's eyes changed. He was no longer under control.

Which was very...very...VERY...bad.

He turned to Otaku Son as he shouted at an invisible DB.

"....Otaku Son." The pig man looked at his slave.

"I didn't tell you to speak! *snort*"

"Your actions have caused chaos..."

"So?! It's what I do! Now shut up and destroy them!"

"He that creates chaos...must be handled."

In an instant, Raiden's hand was gripped about the pig man's throat. Otaku Son was frustrated and tried to scream, but the air pipe was clenched shut. Raiden held no emotion.

"I am order. Prepare for the fate that all chaotics hold."

Then...Otaku Son was no longer. He didn't die. He wasn't slain. He wasn't teleported. He just...no longer was. All around the forums, the memory of Otaku Son was wiped from the minds of the people. It was as if he had never existed. The NPFers in the room remembered him, since they saw the action and had instantaneous stimulus afterwards to remember the event, but to everyone else...there never was an Otaku Son.

Raiden turned back to the NPFers.

"...I sense much chaos within each of you."

[PyrosNine]

"That is mostly Rhiya's doing, I can ASSURE YOU!" Kyuubi roared, using his mental powers to bend the fabric of reality in an attack. His normal barriers and psychic attacks failed to work on Raiden, so he used what hold he had on the world to fight. It was much more strenuous, and he hoped Pyros was still somewhat aware and able to use his angel wings. They would be needed soon.

<Damn it all to eternity! You couldn't even at least try to take the damn control device?> Kyuubi called out mentally to the rest of the group. <And what were you doing, Garud? You couldn't even use the Fuitad properly!....Forgive me. I'm a bit under strain. Our priority now is the Kurosen and Mashirosen. Also, If I am to die, I am happy to have had the chance to be with you all. And Pyros would like to say that he thinks you're all 'wankers'.>

[Darth SS]

Darth raised a hand.

"Actually, the chaos was Rhiya, but she exploded. There's a little bit of left over on all of us, and I could get rid of it by stripping. If you want. I guess."

[Mesden]

At this point, fighting...It didn't matter. Within her attack on Otaku, she just...reappeared somewhere else. Still in the room, but placed behind "Raiden" as he vanquished the chubby beast before him.

Only a sigh escaped her breath. Sudden realization that, no matter how hard the group tried, fighting would only end in the loss of many people who she might consider friends.

With a small clang her blade attached to the stasis that held it on her back as the words, "...I sense much chaos within each of you." came.

You sense chaos in me? I stripped away at that attempt on my visage. I've been the himble goddess, one to never move things out of order. I lived in my Realm, the first ever created by the hands of a mere God or Goddess, and went about doing my duty to this cosmos.

She took a small step forward, intimidation lost in despair and her coming to terms with all that had happened.

You are a being of order. You are also a liar. Just your mere existance removes my Realm, my humble world, from the laylines of the universe. You have removed my masterpiece just because of its foreign quality to you. Well, dear Guardian, how is this order? How is stripping the galaxy of a land completely void of all things chaotic order? How is the cost of a caring God from his friends and Family order?

Her foot spread against the ground as her head finally lifted to see the Creator Incarnate before her. His appearance was unchanged by her words.

And I'll tell you this, you know as well as I do that in this form, I can hear the calls of every being, ever creature's soul. I can hear yours too, though more powerful than mine it may be, it's quite clear. All you want is an orederful cosmos. Devoid of any problems. Well, dear Guardian, you are a problem. Because as long as you exist, you have relinquished me of my Realm and this world of a great God. If you wish to attack us, then so be it. We will fight you and we will most likely lose. But I'll remind you of one thing. You have done nothing but cause chaos since your awakening and you will only cause it in your presence. You ARE a being of Chaos and you don't know it. Sad, your omniscience seems to fail you.

With a last desperate action, she slowly began to walk more forward towards the Guardian, not menacingly at all, but smoothly and without a motion of oncoming attck.

She waited for his reply.

[Bailey]

Thunderpaw rose to his feet. Where he had collided with the wall his armor looked stronger. "This could get disastrous. I've got a reverse entropy generator lodged in my ventral cavity, in case anybody wants to get closer and make use of it."

[Mauve Mage]

<Damn it all to eternity! You couldn't even at least try to take the damn control device?> Mauve's eyes narrowed in annoyance as Kyuubi sent out the message.

"It's not like we had much of a chance," she replied crossly. "How were we supposed to know that Raiden would free HIMSELF?" She took a few nervous steps backwards, flexing her fingers tensely and eying the newly-freed Ultimate Raiden.

What now? When she started out on this adventure, she never really asked herself how she was going to fight Raiden. It had all seemed relatively simple back then: Go in, fight some Gaians, see what's up with Raiden, kick Raiden's ass as necessary, be back home in time for dinner. But now that she was actually here, at the "kick ass as necessary" part, she didn't know what to do. He was far more powerful than she had anticipated. Her mind raced, going through her arsenal of spells searching for something that might be the least bit effective.

It was hopeless, she realized. She had nothing.


Kyuubi spoke again inside her mind, echoing her thoughts.

<...Also, If I am to die, I am happy to have had the chance to be with you all. And Pyros would like to say that he thinks you're all 'wankers'.>

The mage nodded solemnly.

"Same here," she said. "Well, the first part, anyway." She held her palms out towards the thunder god, although she still had no idea what to cast. A grim smile cracked across her features.

"And I'll bet you guys were thinking Raiden only team-killed on Toastburner," she said, almost chuckling.

[Arhra]

"You ARE a being of Chaos and you don't know it. Sad, your omniscience seems to fail you." Mesden finished.

"No, he is not a being of Chaos," a voice intruded, wild and free and beyond good and evil. "I am." Arhra had been waiting for a good time to make her dramatic entrance. While adminstering the coup de grace to Raiden while he was incapacitated would have been nice, getting into position had made her just too late for that.

She leapt into view, smooth pale skin almost seeming to have its own subtle light in the darkness of the chamber. Her raven black hair was a deeper shadow, the sparse light glinting off it. She looked disgusting healthy, slender frame the very picture of health. Clad in the sailor fuku, one might almost take her for a magical girl, bar for the eyes. Her crimson eyes had a wildness to them, the fury of the oncoming storm. Chaos.

Arhra lunged at Raiden, lunging into the void he floated in. There was nothing to hold on to there save for Raiden. But that was her intent. Her hands, outstretch, reached for Raiden, grasping to clasp around his throat. But the physical action was the least of the attack - for her draining touch bore the exquisite pain of non-existence. Arhra had glutted herself on energy previously and was hungry for more.

She laughed as she took hold, a high sound of almost joy, "To think it would come down to this - my hands around your throat." She could already feel the energy being siphoned off - flowing out of Raiden and passing into her. Her voice turned more serious as she looked at him eye to eye, crimson wildness meeting twin pools of blazing energy. "Mewling slave of Law, know the inevitability of your own defeat."

Arhra seemed confident but, then again, she was hardly known for being firmly tethered to reality. Mad as a balloon didn't even begin to cover it. Still, there was a certain validity to it - draining off power, might make Raiden less dangerous. That and the more cynical would note that Raiden was likely to focus his attention on the avatar of Chaos right in front of him. Arhra was either extremely brave or suicidal. Possibly both.

[Inbred Chocobo]

The wind, it seem to whistle. The breeze seemed gentle as it went on its way, seeming to relieve the forumers for the moment. While everyone else had no clue, Raiden realized that another god decided to step in.

The breeze, though comforting, didn't last long. It soon took a bitter harshness, and the cold seem to come with it. Within seconds it became dangerous, as forumers grabbed for loose things in fear of losing them in this wind.

The wind, as chaotic as it was, had order, and started to swirl in the spot in front of Raiden. Every which way the wind blew harder, spinning that one spot. Dust and dirt gathered, turning into a twister. Still it stayed in its spot, growing with the seconds as the wind gathered.

Then, in the flash of an instant, it was gone. It looked more like a counter wind from within, throwing the gathered contents of this twister everywhere. A figure stood, holding the all too familiar object. His tail seemed shinier, his orange suit almost new. Even the Wind Edge glowed with a bright new age. "Fuujin sends his regards Raiden." IC spoke, gripping the Wind Edge with a smile as he looked on at Raiden.

[POS Industries]

"To think it would come down to this - my hands around your throat... Mewling slave of Law, know the inevitability of your own defeat."

Perhaps more inevitable than anyone realized. Arhra's siphoning trick seemed most likely to be one of the best ways to go, barring the fact that she was draining away power from a nigh infinite source. Still, it kept Raiden distracted long enough, as a particularly sharp-dressed figure emerged from the Uber-God's shadow behind him, shooting the "leechomancer" a quick wink before grabbing Raiden by the shoulder and hoisting himself up in the air, hanging over their heads for a brief moment before delivering his own grand finale.

"Negative Heart.... CRUSHER!!!!!!"

At that moment, the Negative Kamen thrust his fisted right hand toward the pair, energy swirling around the ring he bore, energy which suddenly erupted in a monumental stream of energy. All the greed, all the hate, all the evil in Pedro O'Sullivan's own heart was screaming out from him and striking Raiden and Arhra at almost point-blank range. The light was blinding and roar deafening as everything in its path was driven and pulverised downward, until it finally faded into nothingness. For a brief instant, the Kamen's all-black garb suddenly changed to white, and his white hair to its natural brown before the guise dissipated back into POS' normal attire as he dropped into the cloud of debris that his attack had created.

As the dust cleared, a deep pit was revealed in the earth from the force of the beam, stretching into a seemingly infinite darkness. While it was doubtful that anything like that could have fully destroyed Raiden, there was a good chance that it might at least slow him down for a moment.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to the group, though something was very odd about the tone of it. "Is everyone all right?" Pedro asked to any and all that could hear him.

He... sounded genuinely concerned.

[Raiden]

"Yes...is everyone alright?"

A voice drifted from behind POS. The businessman had no time to respond when a hand grasped the back of his head and lifted, hefting him off the ground and dangling in the air. Raiden had absorbed some of the energy from the blast, and used it to teleport behind the source, i.e. POS.

His fingers slowly began to squeeze, putting POS's head under intense pressure.

"I am Order. Fighting me means going against that principle. Which means you are chaos. Which means...you must be handled."

Raiden tossed POS aside, sending him flying away like a rag doll and striking against a wall.

[Bailey]

Thunderpaw's mouth worked as he silently echoed Raiden's words.

An expression of understanding crossed his face.

"Hey guys, you all follow Final Fantasy, right? Remember the Cecil vs Cecil battle of 4, or the Gogo battle of 5? I think that those are the right track, although here a slightly more proactive stance may be in order. Forgive me."

ThunderPaw flicked his hands as though shaking off water, and claws sprang out, rusty from disuse. He snarled at his nearest fellow forumite and sprang.

[Krylo]

Haeru during all of this had ignored light Twiddy, and slid on her mod bracelet, quickly punching buttons and turning dials. Lights were coming on and soon, the Kurosen's power wasn't going JUST to Raiden. The draw was small, however, probably not enough for Raiden to even notice, and it wouldn't last long.

Once the Kurosen's energy was fully drained the bracelet would likely shut down.

At least that would have been the case, but a few more altercations increased the power suction, and soon energy was moving from Raiden as well. Again, the draw was so slight that Haeru could hope that Raiden wouldn't notice. She knew that wouldn't last, however, and she needed to move fast.

Quickly the mod bracelet sprang to life, redlight spreading outward and surrounding the entire temple.

Haeru selected 'move topic'.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and then everything seemed to go back to normal, but it was not so. What had once been on earth was now in a galaxy far far away on an M class planet inhabited only by non-sentient animals.

It wouldn't save the earth if Raiden won this battle, but it would buy the NPFers some time--at least the planet wouldn't be destroyed.

Then she selected 'edit post', and the world rewrote itself, putting her between Thunderpaw and his intended target, arm in a defensive position. His claws ran through her arm, and she twisted her arm around, using her bones as leverage to throw him off balance and send him spinning. Her other arm pulled out the .44 in a smooth motion and planted a bullet into his armor, that sent him flying away.

'Delete Post'

Thunderpaw's entropic reversal device along with much of his armor simply disappeared, along with any memory of their ever existing to those outside the range of the action, much as Raiden's powers had done to Otaku Son.

"Back off, we have enough problems without that kind of attitude," Haeru said curtly as the de-armored Thunderpaw flew toward the wall once more.

'Edit Post'

With that, history began to change. Haeru had no idea if Raiden would be able to interfere as she selected that option, but it seemed to be her only chance. If it worked history would be rewritten and the seals would reappear on Raiden's body. If he stopped her, he would almost certainly change his focus to the one being using his own powers against him.

[Bailey]

As his heart and joints dissapeared, Thunderpaw died before he could even hit the wall, which he did with a sickening splat. His body dissolved into three shards of light, which seemed about to fly off into the distance, but were drawn inexorably towards Mesden. The shards began rotating around her, unable to escape to the other bodies held by the shattered remnants of the Eternal Newb without her conscious dismissal.

[Inbred Chocobo]

IC looked on at Raiden. "So what if we are Chaos." IC started walking towards Raiden, twirling the Wind Edge in his right hand. "Maybe your also killing order when you kill us Raiden. Is that what you want, to kill order? Or maybe that isn't it. Maybe you are the one that is in chaos, and you are just blinded to it." IC really wasn't trying to talk Raiden into confusion, he really just wanted to get Raiden to attack him, hoping it would distract him from what Haeru was doing.

[PyrosNine]

When POS was sent into the wall, Kyuubi's eyes glowed. His shield dissapeared but his tails gained an unearthly blue flame, and he wrapped himself tightly in it. With a growl, the Kitsune swung it's broke out of it's tight wrap with a spinning force, sweeping his tails about to the point it sent out blue flames everywhere. The spinning tailed Kyuubi shot towards Raiden like a lightning bolt

"Raiden, there is something Chaotic in order and some order in Chaos. You hypocrite!"

[GARUD]

Garud focused himself. He realized something. Raiden was wrong. His intentions were good, but the means to achieve them were wrong

“Raiden, if you want to restore order then you are going about it the wrong way. There are things even in this form you have yet to understand. It comes with the lack of emotion. You don’t seem to be a being anymore. When you had emotion… you could have understood what I’m trying to say.”

Garud closed his eyes and concentrated. A large gate appeared behind him, slowly but surely. It had a large mouth as its gateway. There was nothing spectacular on the other side though. It stood tall, yet imposing. It seemed to make some mysterious sounds.

“Raiden, you don’t understand the nature of chaos and order. I can tell because if you did, you would not be doing this. Chaos is not a bad thing in moderation. Never has been. Anything random is chaos. The odd flower being a different colour is also chaotic, just because it is different. Is this why you are going to eliminate the entire existence of everything? Is it because something is different? Girls are different to boys, so does that mean it’s wrong? Should clothes all be one colour because being different is chaotic? I don’t see where your justification lays Raiden.”

“If you think about it, there is neither Chaos, nor Order. Just existence. That’s all there is. No clear clarification exists, as both are states of the mind. In reality, you cannot think logically. There is no logic to anything, but that is the way it is meant to be. No, there is no difference between order and chaos. One begets the other, and such, is a cycle of the two eventually produced. I know it seems weird, but Chaos needs Order, even if they are only concepts. Take a moment to think about that… You have yet to realize that ending it all will just erase everything, even order. These two concepts aren’t in existence, if nothing is “being”. Order… Chaos… Existence… these all go hand in hand. Sure they oppose, but everything needs an opposite. So Raiden, why don’t you end this? You call yourself order, but in doing so you are committing chaos.”

Garud hoped that he could get through to Raiden, but it was not looking good. The thunder diety was powerful, and his resolve was millions of years in the making. The demon slayer unlatched his blades again, and readied another spell… he waited for a response.

[POS Industries]

"Hmm..... Well, this is certainly interesting...."

Pedro O'Sullivan found himself in an unlikely place. He had been waiting in line for several minutes only to arrive at some sort of pearl-laden gate standing before a distinguished-looking older gentlemen with exceptionally large wings protruding from his back standing behind an ornate podium. The angel looked at POS curiously, raising a brow as he looked at the list in front of him and then back at the businessman. "Pedro O'Sullivan?" St. Peter asked skeptically, "No, no, this can't be right..."

Pedro looked around at his surroundings, a little taken aback himself. "I know," he chuckled, smiling sheepishly, "I'm as surprised as you are. Last thing I recall was checking to see if my friends were okay after I attacked Raiden. I think Arhra got caught in the blast, but she'll be fine once she reincarnates, I hope.... Anyway, Raiden reappeared and threw me into.... and there was this cracking sound, and..... oh."

"Yes. Oh." St. Peter was bemused by all of this. Looking over POS' records, there should have been no question that the businessman should be anywhere but here, and yet here he was. Something was different about him, though. Looking over the last acts (immediately after the murder of Arhra), St. Peter finally saw what the difference was. The Negative Heart Crusher attack that Pedro used as Negative Kamen channeled all the evil in his heart into an immensely destructive wave of doom, resulting in the rather unique side-effect of the Heart ring's normal effect afflicting the user.

Short version: Pedro O'Sullivan's soul had been purified.

St. Peter looked back up at POS. "Well, I see the problem now. Regardless of your past deeds, you are currently a pure, innocent soul. The effect is temporary, of course, but it would be bad form to send you down there now. On the bright side, I believe that you're already aware of the fact that you won't be here for too much longer."

The angel waved his hand and a quote box magically appeared...

POS quirked his other brow at Premonitions. "Didn't I see something like this on an episode of Super Globetrotters?" Still, the offer gave him an idea and, shrugging, he reached his hand into the afro and felt around until he found what he was looking for. Immediately, he pulled a metal briefcase out from the magical mass of hair.

"Nice cover, O'Sullivan," St. Peter chuckled, "Making everyone think that you were going after money while you secretly absorbed thirty-three 3-Up moons is quite a hat trick. Not to mention that it's served you well, given that you've already been killed by Asheth and Hobo Kamen during the course of this adventure. Just make sure you don't blow the other 96 lives before the Heart effect wears off. I really don't want to have to deal with you again."

Before Pedro could react, the angel pressed a large green button mounted on his podium that read "1-Up!" In an instant, POS vanished in a puff of holy smokes as he was returned to the mortal coil...

[Mesden]

You'd be hard pressed to avert Mesia from the task at hand. The matter would either have to be of dire importance or annoy her JUST enough to catch her ire.

The goddess gave an irate wave of the hand, halting the pieces from continuing the ever irritating circle.

What in the cosmos do the likes of you want?, her voice echoed. The level of tolerance she had coming to an eruption.

[Bailey]

To go free came two voices that weren't heard.

We were subsumed, we were seperated, we were joined, and now we seek freedom. But you are too strong to move away from. Please, help us.

The third voice chimed in. They did not appreciate the opportunity, but I saw it for what it was. Pieces of many made into one greater than the sum of the parts. If you release us, when those two go to their resting places, I will join the main group, and bring back reinforcements. But please, allow us to move away from you.

[Mesden]

It seems that from the moment I came here, things such as this were to happen. Swarmed with the scum of the entirety of the spiritual worlds has been trumped, it seems. I'll break your shackles, but nothing more for the likes of you. Bastard blue mages.

With a slight flicker of her fingers in the air, a faint, blue light emanated from her and shattered into crystallic pieces of energy upon the ground.

The Newbs have been set free.

[Bailey]

Two of the fragments of soul sped off in different directions, while the third hung back. You misunderstand. We are not the blue mage, we are his victims. I thank you for allowing me to move on.

***********************

A fragment of a soul seemed to limp into the control room.

"Halt! Who's there?"

The newcomer glanced at the front where a man worked controls, and then to the side where a being so real that nothing else was real enough to interact with sat in the corner, sleeping.

He glanced at the imposing persona before him. "It's me, Itemist. Who are you? Isn't this Blue's body?"

"Yes, this is Blue's body, that doesn't mean others can't be here, does it? Although you," he said, shoving a spiritual finger in Itemist's face, "don't belong here."

"This was the only place I could come. Dogboy and one of the Martial Artists and I found Mesia. She put us together, we were one step closer to being whole again, and then Krylo killed us due to a misunderstanding. Since we were joined, the body was destroyed. I almost couldn't come back, since Mesia is too strong on the spiritual plane for a fragment such as myself to move away from. Then she let us loose and I came back."

"The other two didn't return?"

"No, they had never wanted to be part of us, they left. Listen, if two out of the three people who happen to be the ones to find Mesia wanted to move on, chances are that there's others, we've got to figure out who and let them move on."

The persona let out a loud, sinister laugh. "Let them move on? When it took so much of my manipulative power to make Blue get ahold of them in the first place? You must be joking!"

"What, what do you mean?"

"It was some time before The Eternal Newb grew powerful enough to start absorbing personalities along with powers. Stop me when you start to recall, which I think you will. You were one of his travelling companions, which is why you were one of the first personalities to be absorbed by him. Soon after the person who you are a copy of was killed, he came to my kingdom, wracked with guilt and sorrow, hoping to finish the quest that the five of you had started, so as to make your deaths not be meaningless or some such nonsense. He beat me, it is true, but I let him beat me, and I did so in a way that made my personality join with his. Inside his mind, I defeated the five of you quickly, and locked the five of you in cages while I controlled the original blue mage. Any of this starting to ring a bell?"

"No... You... you forced him to kill people just to steal their souls and abilities. And when we were split, it wasn't critical overload, was it... It was while you were trying to find the soul gates to let your spiritual army into the physical plane. No wonder Mesia was so upset with us! Core! Blue! We have to try to stop him again!"

Tyrant chuckled. "Newb can't hear you, and Naymedo knows that you don't stand a chance. I already beat you once, and then you had Rizp and Bozer helping you. I can't hurt him, but I can make you hurt yourself, and in a way, that will hurt him anyway. Really Huzp, just give in this time. Naymedo, take over the controls while Newb comes and sees what was done to our good friend to make us closer to being whole again."

[PyrosNine]

Meanwhile, in the corner of Newb's brain, an unexpected visitor watched.

"Damn...how the heck did I get here? I recall pulling out my third form, but like the first time I used it, I don't remember what I do when I do it. It's like another me's in control or something....all I remember this time is being asked what I wanted to say to the other forumites if I were to die...." Pyros pondered, scratching his head.

The meta form of Pyros then pondered the scene before him. Who were these people? Why was one being antagonistic? What the crap were they talking about. Pyros needed answers. And sandwiches. But for now, answers.

Of course, normally he'd take the place to the sword until he got his answers, but unfortunately he was mysteriously missing his flametongue, and his Sax was still stuck in a hardened getalintous blob of monster flesh in the WEED headquarters. He supposed he'd need to simply ask them a simple question, and in the simplest way.

"Hey! You! Talky man! WHERE ME BE?" Pyros asked, stepping up to the strange peoples.
-------------------------------

Kyuubi continued his spinning attack, swirling and slashing, his attacks missing as Raiden moved with unthinkable speed and power. It wasn't merely teleportation, it was just that when Raiden wanted to go somewhere, he was just there. There was something quantum about it, but Kyuubi didn't care. At least his mind could accurately keep up with this strange movements so as not to get confused or attacked. But he could only do this for so long...

Wait...what was that? Kyuubi had felt something sweep over him...a collective conciousness of smaller, imitated conciousnesses. Did a blue mage die or something?...wait. Something was wrong. Something was missing. Kyuubi wasn't weakned, nor were the other personalities. And it was nothing physical....

Suddenly, it hit Kyuubi. Where the crap was Pyros?

[Bailey]

They all stared, but Naymedo reacted first.

He dashed forwards, past Tyrant, and dove towards Pyros. Against all expectations he actually came into contact with Pyros, and the two of them tumbled past the confines of the mindscape.

As they fell, Core looked at things as they were, and saw the trail along which Pyros had come.

"We must move quickly. Back to your body. Before they come for us. There isn't much time."

[Mauve Mage]

H'okaaay, so fighting isn't our best option, Mauve thought, watching as Pedro was hurled across the room to slam into a wall. There was a sickening crack as something inside him shattered, and then the businessman sank to the floor, either unconscious or dead. Kyuubi, in the meantime, had taken to attacking Raiden, but with no success. Raiden somehow managed to dodge the blows without seeming to move. It was as though Raiden couldn't be hurt unless he WANTED to be hurt. And Mauve was guessing he wasn't feeling any masochistic urges at the moment, nor would he any time in the near future.

Why would Raiden be so eager to kill his own friends? Even Ultimate Order Nazi Raiden or whatever the hell he was calling himself these days was still Raiden underneath all the doom and destructive force, right? Right??

When Mauve had been under the control of the Dark Merman (during the last Avatars RPG, for those of you who missed it) there had still been enough of herself left within her to respond to reason and pull herself out of the Merman's control, with Raiden's help. Huh. Maybe she could try to reach him the same way...

"Raiden," Mauve called out. "Why are you doing this? Don't you recognize your own friends? Your own FAMILY?" She didn't know how close godly family members were, but she figured blood relations had to count for something. "The NPF is your home too, you know. Did the last few millenia you spent on Earth mean nothing to you, that you're so willing to destroy it?"

[PyrosNine]

"What? WHO? SPORKS?" Pyros pondered, following this strange fellow who tackled him. Naturally, if someone tackled him, his first instinct was to tackle back, but there seemed to be some urgency in his voice.

[Bailey]

"I am Naymedo, although you may know me as Core. As you overheard, I am technically a fragment of a dead man, although due to my nature I am actually the entirety of who I was then. Some time back, I was with a group that was sent on your standard defeat the great evil quest, but it went wrong. Four of us died, and the fifth scored a Pyhrric. The result was that Newb became The Eternal Newb, and started killing people to add their souls to his own. He began looking for the soul gate to get souls into the physical plane, and ticked off your sister. Now he's found a way to reverse what she did to him, and he's planning to get the forumites to help him. He used my abilities to see that soon, a number of people will die without a way back. He plans to use that to his advantage."

Naymedo and Pyros reached Kyuubi.

"Inside, quickly, he's not yet strong enough that he can invade the mind of another split one. We'll be safe in there. Hold my hand though, otherwise I can't get in."

A gloved hand was extended.

[PhoenixFlame]

Phoenix had stood there for some time, watching the temple. Watching, and waiting. Raiden was gaining power every moment, even as the Kurosen Inhibitor Device weakened him, but yet... He had a single weakness that could be exploited only once he had began fighting. It was risky, but Phoenix had only one chance.

*Vwrr! Vwrr!* The Altan's sensors bleeped as the radar screen highlighted an unidentified object bearing toward Phoenix.

"Hm. So it begins." She sighs. Even her voice changed now, becoming a solemn, disembodied howl of a faint wind throughout a dying orchard. Raiden's presence, the lawgiver's aura, weakened her. Now, as a being of manifest chaos, Phoenix had little "real" power, but yet, her power was a strange one. It was more convincing reality it wasn't really what it thought it was.

The form of Raiden's Five-Metal Shrike loomed over the temple like the mechanical hunter-being it was. Yet, Phoenix had no time for such games.

"Omega Squadron, target UFO 1 over tower, over." Phoenix commed the Isparalian's defense squadron.

"Roger Altan, target recieved. stand by." Crackled the response.

Even a squadron of Novas wouldn't be much of a match for the Five-Metal Shrike of legend, but Phoenix needed only to make it to the temple without being vaporized. After all, the machine wasn't after her beloved mech, but herself. It was designed to hunt fair folk, and Raiden was clever to have it in his possession should Phoenix's apothesis complete before the final engagement.

"Warning! Eridium Beam Projection!"

The shroud over the Shrike's "Godspear" beam weapon popped back, revealing the shining gold beam-emitter within. With a careful aim, Phoenix lined the Altan's RAI-5 Railgun at the center apeture, and squeesed the trigger...

*KE-RVINK!* The entire mech ratcheted sideways from the weapon's recoil, as the 5-inch long spear of SABOT tungsten propelled from the railgun and into the Godspear's firing-apeture at speeds approaching mach 9. Stunningly, the shrike was completely undamaged, but rocked several degrees off target, firing a massive beam of golden essence to the right of the Altan, vaporizing several hundred square meters of ground.

*K'chink!* Phoenix took this moment to kick the cockpit open and sprint toward the temple, calling her doublebladed gossamer longsword to her hand as she did so, caressing the air-aspected weapon passionately as she gracefully flew toward the temple gate.

"Hush, my lord... Soon, soon, I shall avenge you..." Phoenix whispered in a voice not her own...

[PyrosNine]

"Okay, but be careful when we're inside. I don't want you tracking mud into myself or something."

Pyros took his hand and leapt with this Core person he didn't quite remember. He did recall seeing someone like him on the last RP, but he'd been asleep, fighting ninjas, or madly in love with a prinny at the time.

The inside of Pyros's brain was a homely 2 story house, with four bedrooms, an upstairs and an downstairs, 2 living rooms, a storage room, with a large backyard. The living room was 3 couches surrounding a modestly sized big screen, with various drawers full of videos and dvds, and even a playstation 2.

There were two book shelves along the walls, and many windows were on the walls, and there was even a wall that was basically a giant window, with a door in it that lead out to the side patio, where a grill could be seen. It was obvious that this room was a summer home, but the plantlife in the backyard suggested this was a place in a mild climate like Tennessee or North Carolina.

The floor was hardwood and on the upper floor, which creaked loudly as the two entered.

"Well, where have YOU been, young man?" A stern voice called out. Sitting in a green recliner was Asheth, wearing her reading glasses with a laptop on her lap.

Pyros raised an eyebrow. "Hmm...never been inside my own mind before. It's kinda nice." Pyros was aware that his other forms tended to have their own likes and dislikes, and he naturally varied from form to form when he felt like it, but was completely unaware they had mental forms, and that he had an internal mind like several other crazy people. He wondered though. If there was Asheth, Kitty Pyros, and himself, who was in control now? And what about the red text...?

Asheth threw a shoe at Pyros, who ducked it. "Hey! Don't ignore me! Answer the question!" Asheth then noticed Newb. "And who is this guy?"

Pyros shrugged.

Asheth let out a sigh. "Geeze, this is what we get for completely taking the reins from you prematurely. But it doesn't matter now, you're home, your safe. And guess what? Phoenix's become a Rakhasa somehow!"

Pyros raised an eyebrow as he gave a pet to Kitty Pyros, who was lying peacefully on the green couch. "What?"

[Bailey]

Naymedo ignored the surroundings for the most part, concentrating on the people.

"I am Naymedo, although you might know me instead as Core. I am one of the souls absorbed by The Eternal Newb, although back when he was simply The Newb. I come seeking your help, and that of your siblings. But I can wait to explain further until your brother is dealt with."

[PyrosNine]

"Hmm...interesting....that's interesting Namie." Asheth responded, considering what was said before her.

"But I'm afraid calling Raiden and Mesden our siblings is a misnomer. Y'see, the Pyros you call Pyros isn't the same Pyros that is famous for being Pyros. You see, he's PyrosNine. But there's another Pyros...eh, I'm not making much sense, Am I?"

Kitty Pyros woke up, and picked up a sign with it's mouth.

SIGNS POINT TO YES.

"Well, Sub-Pyros is a bit more knowledgeable on this than we are, especially Pyros, but as you can see-" Asheth pointed to the big screen, which showed the Ninetailed fox attacking faster and faster towards the uber god, and still not landing a hit. "-He's a bit busy and can't explain it to you at the moment."

[Darth SS]

Darth was merely standing around dumbfoundedly. All this philosiphy was making his head hurt. All the drama was giving him a stomach ache. Unlike the others, Darth's philosiphy was incredibly simple. Reality is what you make it. Logic could explain everything. If you wanted to see logic in everything, you would see logic. If you prefer to view the world as a series of random events, then you would see it as random events.

As such, Darth decided to join into the fight to kill Raiden. He also knew that bullets didn't do anything. Out came the lightsaber. Then he cried out the most fascinating battle cry you will ever hear.

"YELGARBLE!"

[Raiden]

The lightsaber flashed through Raiden's wrist, separating the hand from the arm. Almost instantly energy crackled between the two body pieces and attached them again. He stared down at SS.

"I remember...you cheated in your duel. You broke the rules of order, and brought chaos."

In a speed almost too quick to watch, Raiden appeared beside SS, grabbed his robotic arm, and with a terrible pull, wrenched the arm from SS's body. Then he reared back, and struck him in the chest with the metallic limb, sending him flying back.

[Bailey]

Naymedo's goggles gleamed.

"Busy, eh? Well, I shall see what I can do to make him less busy.

Naymedo removed his gloves and plunged his hands into the ground.

On the outside, Kyuubi's tails became even more real, perhaps even real enough to do noticable damage to Raiden.

[Inbred Chocobo]

IC made his move after SS was hurled away from Raiden. Strike for the head, thats probably going to hurt the most. He gripped the Wind Edge with both hands, and closed the distance. Once in range, he swung hard, attempting to strike the head.

[Dragonsbane]

It was time.

Dragonsbane's voice rang out from the nowhere, seeming to come from all directions at once.

"I must thank you, Raiden, at last your actions have given me the authority to act."

A burst of light erupted from empty air, a scarlet pillar piercing the clouds. At its center was a single, pitch-black shadow that descended slowly downward, its cape swirling behind it. It landed, and as it stepped forth from the light the changes from its original form became apparent.

Dragonsbane's Raksha arms were gone, or at least covered by the heavy claw-tipped black gauntlets that sheathed up to his elbows. His rune-inlaid pauldrons of bronze had changed too, inky swirls of some dark metal winding their way through the artifacts, twining together and flowing downward into an ebon breastplate. His boots, too had been replaced by metallic greaves of the same black metal as the other artifacts. His katana had thickened and elongated into an unusually large yet elegant single-edged blade, rippling red and orange light too bright to look at directly shining from it. Despite that, there was something odd about the way light struck him, as if he was illuminated solely from within. The illumination from the blade didn't even reflect off of his armor, and his skin glowed with a faint, coppery light.

Yet, these stylistic changes were nothing compared to his eyes. No longer were they pools of darkness, but rather blazing ebony flames that seared all they gazed upon.

[Mauve Mage]

"Hmmm, we're still not doing too well," Mauve remarked to herself. "Well, at least Raiden seems more interested in the more powerful and chaotic folks, meaning I'm relatively safe until they're all dead."

Mauve had, of course, overlooked the obvious fact that most team injuries came from their own team members. She had also overlooked the fact that Darth SS's airborne body (sans metal arm) was travelling quite quickly towards her current position.

"Maybe I'll just cast some shielding spells on some folks and then I'll-- HRRRKKKK!!!!!"

That last word, as you may recognize, was the sound a mage makes when being bludgeoned with an aerial-bound Sith Lord traveling at high velocities. Mauve was once more introduced to the floor as the sith knocked her over. Thoroughly irritated, Mauve shoved the armless Darth aside.

"Watch where you're throwing things, dammit!" she snarled at Raiden. Then she realized that what she had just said was probably suicidal, so she decided to shut up and get out of Darth and Raiden's way.

[POS Industries]

Resurrection is an interesting sensation. Honestly, you haven't lived until you've died and then stopped being dead shortly thereafter. It's really quite exhillerating. That is, until you breathe in for the first time in several minutes, get to your feet, dust yourself off, and look up to see that battle for the fate of all existance that just got you killed in the first place.

Pedro simply watched, dumbfounded at the sight before him. For whatever reason, he usually would have made popcorn, sat down, and watched the show. Now, however, it was different. He was different, and this display was making him feel....

....ashamed?

Yes, that was it. POS had never felt anything like it, and was rather shocked. He stumbled slowly within the temple, unblinking eyes centered mournfully on his allies and the seemingly invincible Raiden. As dramatic a moment as it was, and perhaps worthy of all sorts of Nukie Awards for Best Writer and Best Character, it is perhaps best to note that one should watch where he or she is going when meandering about a battlefield.

"Ow... Hey, watch it!" Mauve cried out in annoyance as the two of them collided, "Eyes on the road, Dress-For-Less!"

Pedro stopped and looked down at the mage, blinking confusedly as he emerged from his trance, then shaking his head and looking back at the carnage. "This isn't right," he muttered, "This isn't going to work. We've got... we've got to stop this.... we have to...."

Mauve stared at the man, raising a brow as she contemplated just how hard the capitalist must have hit his head when Raiden threw him. She prayed silently, hoping that he hadn't damaged the parts of his brain responsible for bowel control. Just as she was about to take him by the arm and pull him to safety, Pedro suddenly snapped back into reality, a scowl crossing his face as he stormed toward the center of the fray.

"...STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!"

[Darth SS]

Darth got up. He flexed his other arm, and found himself insanely grateful for the detach plate. It kept him brachial artery from spewing blood everywhere. However, Raiden had just disarmed him. No one disarmed him. Except the incredibly huge explosion that took his arm in the first place.

"Honey, go kick his ass."

Darth brushed himself off. Then Darth was gone.

In a feat of bad-assery unheard for the mere mortal, Darth used his fine control of telekinesis to actually grab a hold of individual photons, and direct them away from himself, save those that were going for his pupils. Raiden, however, was smarter than that and zeroed in on the electric impulses from Darth's firing neurons. Darth ramped it up. Darth then grabbed individual chronotons, the particles that made up time.

Then he held them still.

Time froze. Darth quite calmly walked over to where Raiden was. He then stepped behind him, and gave his lightsaber a little spin. He let go of time. And swung. Raiden was bisected nicely, and Darth snapped kicked the legs away from before they rejoined.

"I'm just so fucking tired of this SHIT." growled Darth. His eyes had gone a lovely shade of Sith.

Raiden regenerated and whipped his katana around to Darth. But Darth seemed to instantly transport behind him and lop off his arm, then his legs (again), then just go berzerk on his torso.

"What's the matter little Raiden? Are you upset that you were used? Are you upset that the mortals are executing a coup d'etat? Or, are you just dissapointed that you're faced with the ultimate realization-

Raiden lashed out, with his same cold fury. Darth met every slash with his lightsaber, until the two of them finally locked against one another, the air fleeing their clash. There was grunting on both sides. Then Raiden dropped and swept for Darth's legs. Darth did a backflip that ended with him booting Raiden away.

"-the universe is not order. It is not a series of math calculations, nor is it little building blocks for gods to toy with. It's something gods can never control. It's humans. Who day by day, learn to shape the universe, and render gods obsolete. Humans with free will, who make illogical and disorderly choices."

Raiden did not go down so easy, and managed to brace himself on P.O.S. before flying back at Darth. Darth met him mid-air, and neither one of them scored a blow. Whereas Raiden could just regenerate over and over, Darth doubted he'd get that chance. Thus, Darth made sure that Raiden never got a cut in. When they came back at each other this time, Darth rammed a point home. He dropped his guard and left himself open. Raiden went for the kill. Darth twisted over the blade and lopped Raiden into two pieces. He also caught the legs and interuppted the rejoining. The odds of Darth being able to pull that off were incredibly slim, so his doing that was disorderly.

"Are you afraid, little god? Are you afraid of man? Do you fear the day we are greater than you? The day when you are dethroned? You are right to fear. We are your play things no longer. You are forced to abide by rules and codes, and you can never exist outside of those. We can. I could let you stab me, and then spit in the face of defeat and kill you."

Raiden threw lightning at Darth. Darth raised his hand. Lightning was merely a transfer of change. Essentially, it was just a stream of electrons. So, Darth tore the electrons off of some nitrogen around him and let Raiden's electricity bond onto to those, and stop the ionization. Darth then tossed the electrons back to Raiden. Since there was a constant stream of negatives, that meant that there had to be a positive behind them. The thrown electrons shut that down.

"You are right to fear, little god. Yes, godly wrath is something to be afraid of, but it is nothing compared to the wrath of man."

[Raiden]

Then Darth felt a presence behind him. As the katana pierced his chest, he felt the presence even more. The Raiden that Darth had been fighting was merely another sprite, a figment of imagination that Raiden had made real for but a few moments.

"I fear nothing, little man. For while you men grow old and die...I will always live. Remember your place and keep your Order." The katana twisted, severing muscles and tendons in Darth's chest. Before Darth could fall away, Raiden kicked out with his legs. One knee broke, then the second. In an almost ironic twist of fate, Raiden then snapped Darth's remaining elbow, doing to him what he had done to Raiden's puppet. All that was left was to snap the neck...

Then he noticed the others starting to gang up on him. With the foes closing in around him, he turned around. Of course, as he turned in a 360 degree spin, a giant shockwave erupted from him, sending them all flying back away from him. His energy eyes glanced at each of them, scanning their individual strengths and weaknesses. When he looked at them, he didn't see them, persay. He didn't see their clothing, hair, eyes, weapons, armor, or anything.

All he saw was Rune.

Each infinitely long strand of glowing symbols that made up these beings was visible to him, and for those that knew how to read it, it was even better than seeing their forms. He could find out every small and insignificant detail about them.

He sensed their location being changed, but he paid it little mind. That planet was merely a small speck of sand in the beach that was the universe. It would be put to order in time. As for now...he had to settle the chaos.

His hands clapped together, and something strange happened to the ground they were all on. Large tentacle-like fixtures of stone and mineral snaked up from beneath their feet, striking out and wrapping about them. While it was doubtful it was enough to trap them, it left him free to handle the two he was more focused on. Namely, this new form of Dragonsbane and the now female moderator that was syphoning from his power.

He looked up at Krylo, his glowing eyes looking down to the bracelet.

"You're stealing my power."

There was no sign of movement. No sign of any flexing of muscles or preparation. He simply appeared in front of Krylo, his arm elbow deep in the mod's chest. Blood dripped down from his arm as he pulled it out, leaving a giant hole in Krylo's body. Before she could even drop to her knees, his foot went up and crushed her face in, sending her flying up into the air. Another teleport, and he was above her, his hands held above his head in a hammer fist. He swung them both down, striking her in the back and sending her barreling down into the ground beneath them, creating a small crater as her body crumpled into the stone.

He landed gently, reached down, and grabbed her wrist. It took no effort to tear the hand from her arm, taking the bracelet with it. He stared at the trinket, and crushed it in his fist. He opened his fingers, allowing the pieces to fall to the ground.

"This device is a blasphemy against Order. It takes the life energy that belongs to me, and gives it to one that would use it for Chaos."

He took another look at Krylo, and noticed something. One of the runes was fractured inside that body. The regenerative limit. A human normally has a limit of regeneration they can have. This rune was broken...a guardian of Order could never allow that. He kneeled down, and a single rune appeared on two fingertips. With a quick strike the fingers pierced Krylo between the eyes, imbedding the Rune inside the mod's brain. It was little work to repair the fractured Rune.

[Darth SS]

"Yes, how very orderly of you, Raiden. You are messing with nature, bending it to your whim."

Darth took a few moments to psych himself up. Holy fuck, this was going to hurt. He then used his telekinesis to grab all the broken stuff and put it back in place. It hurt, a lot. Then he just let his usual regeneration take over, and sort all that out.

Darth quickly cut through the tentacles that held him, and then stood his ground.

"The order of the world is that nothing is the same. Everything is different, just like everything else. Your constant fucking with reality is unnatural, and violates natural order. You are the being of chaos here Raiden. You're the one who upsets normality and interferes with the natural working of things."

Without his second arm, it would be more difficult to grab and fire his god-killer rounds, but Darth remained fairly assured that he could do it, provided he froze time again.

"And, besides, Raiden, who wants to live forever? With infinite time, you will eventually do and know everything. Then you'll just sit around for eternity, being perpetually bored."

[PhoenixFlame]

Phoenix didn't enter the battlefield in a glorious manner, for while she enjoyed dramatics, this was not the time. Pedro... was different, in a most striking manner.

"...STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!" Yelled he.

"Stop? In our moment of Triumph?" Phoenix scoffed in response, "I think not." her sword, the cobalt-blue, twin pronged crystal blade named Absolution of Desire, held loosely in hand.

"You there, Raiden." She said to the besieged thunder-god from a distance away in a normal voice, knowing the god would hear her despite the commotion of the battleground, "I've got to ask you, what makes you so holy? Just what is considered a god, anyway? To my followers, even I may be seem a god, but you... No, not a god. Not in my eyes."

Phoenix's eyes glew a dull azure at that moment, as she attempted to influence reality and those around her that Raiden was, in fact, no god. He would notice and counter this if his pride demanded it, but Phoenix wanted to frighten him. Frighten him, with her newfound mastery of chaos. She wasn't really Phoenix at all anymore, merely wearing her form.

"As Darth kindly pointed out, everything rises and falls. Civilizations, cities... Countries. Gods even. You are none, but one with everything, and that, that is why I can kill you."

By now, her words seemed to make little sense. They were never intended to, for merely a ruse giving way to another spell. One of confidence, one of name, one of law. Prescribing law to chaos was a near anathema to Phoenix's new form, but it was by name that she took her form, and by name that she claimed her skills. It was now by name too, that she claimed to be invulnerable. An illusion of invulnerability, but a gesture nonetheless.

The Raksha glid forward behind Darth, ducking under a wild swing from the crazed Sith lord as she glared a challenge at Raiden, but did not yet strike.

[PyrosNine]

Kyuubi landed, and his shield returned to surrounding him, his tails at rest. "Damn...he uses the runes now..."

Kyuubi could not use runes like Pyros could, but then again, Pyros was present...but first, with Phoenix's arrival...

"Phoenix, you are a Rakhasa now, are you not? I was aware of their creation, aware meaning I was present when Pyros made a deal with a demon...but nevertheless I know what you are capable of, something which even most Rakhasa are not aware that they can do. Within you is a fearsome inner power (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showpost.php?p=403502&postcount=88), created by the pure chaos within yourself, that even Pyros was being foolish to put in there. Focus upon your foe, and that power shall make itself known!"

Kyuubi hoped she'd understand. With that said, he had something else to do. "Pyros! You're up!"

-----------------------------
Pyros sunk through the floor of the strange inner house, and felt as if a thousand of strings were attached to him. With each string came a sudden sense or knowledge. He could see. He could hear. He could feel his body. And when all were on, he could feel himself back in the concious world, with control of his body.

Kyuubi burst into flame, back to the bright red of normal, and PyrosNine appeared yet again. He called the flametongue and wielded it, ready.

"Alright Raiden. It seems you've grown beyond my special Anti-Raiden form, so I'll just have to give you a headache as good ol' me."

Pyros felt his fists, and by extension, his sword. "Hmm. For some reason i feel more real than real...oh well."

[PhoenixFlame]

Kyuubi had offered Phoenix something she'd been offered before, and that was suicide. Everyone knew you could mutate your own form to become more powerful, but calcifying or exploding was always a risk. Essentially, Pyros handed her a nuclear weapon and said, "Have fun! It's a great birthday candle!"

So Phoenix glared at Kyuubi. Perhaps he expected she'd come unprepared, or something. The more she glanced at his scroll, the more it seemed to make a mockery of, "Hey, I'm a god and you're not, haha!"

Which really confirmed Phoenix's suspicion that her original plan would work.

"Unnecessary." was the only word she spoke, when tossing the scroll back to Kyuubi. Her quarrel was with Raiden alone, and shaping herself to be a pale imitation of him was a mockery at best. "Killing" Raiden was impossible. She had to fight his pride, and for that, she had to be proud herself.

[PyrosNine]

Pyros felt his hand snap, without him wanting to.

------------------------------
<Foolish humans and their constant desire to remain living!...Drat. Why couldn't someone like Ecurt, Toastburner, or Blind mime become a Rakhasa?> Sub Pyros fumed, reclining next to kitty pyros.

Sub looked up to Naymedo. "Hm...you are that 'Core' person, are you not? Why are you not with..yourself?"

[Bailey]

"Let us just say that that is not me. I will tell you a story to explain this. You see, there were once five friends who were given a quest. A quest to defeat a great evil. A mighty warrior, a compassionate healer, an ingenious gadgeteer, a friendly ghost, and a blue mage. On that journey, they each transcended the normal abilities of their classes. The warrior gained the power to increase kinetic energy so as to further fling his foes, the healer learned how to keep harm away while still keeping her friends close,the gadgeteer found that he could improve things just by using them, the ghost found that instead of being less real that the rest of the world, he was more real, and the blue mage, he found that in aditions to abilities, skills, he could learn personalities."

Naymedo stopped, and looked down.

"In order to reach their goal, the warrior, healer, gadgeteer, and ghost each sacrificed themselves to the cause, and the blue mage went on alone, although, because he had learned the very being of who his friends were, he wasn't alone. With the powers of his friends, he managed to defeat the great evil, but at such cost... He had learned the personality of the very evil he had sought out to strike down."

Naymedo looked away.

"I am sure you can figure out the rest on your own. I do not wish to talk about it further. Suffice it to say that Tyrant must be stopped. For now though, we must stop Raiden, or there will be nothing to save from Tyrant."

[Mauve Mage]

"Ack!" Mauve yelped. Things were going almost too quickly for her brain to handle. First being pummeled by Darth. Then getting run over by Pedro. Then dealing with an unusually empathetic Pedro. Then an awesome Raiden/Darth fight, ultimately won by Raiden, and now Kryla getting mutilated. But Mauve noticed something else. The tiny glowing sigil that flitted from Raiden's hand to Kryla's forehead.

"Ack!" Mauve yelped again, realizing the symbol's significance. Of course. It was simple. Raiden was a being of Order. Krylo's regenerative abilities weren't exactly standard issue human goods. Raiden's response, then, was to 'fix the problem.' Ridding Kryla of her healing powers. Crapity!!

"Cura!!" Mauve commanded, pointing a hand at the battered remains of the sex-changed mod. White magic swirled around Kryla. Some of the damage was healed, but she still looked bad. "Damn. Sometimes I wish I'd learned a healing spell higher than Cura." She held out her palms again.

"Regen!" she called. It wouldn't be nearly as powerful as Kryla's own powers, and it wouldn't last forever. Kryla wouldn't be able to take another beating like that, not if she intended on surviving.

"Come on Krylo, get out of there!" Mauve hissed to herself. "Cura!!" This wasn't working.

[Truce]

It was then that Ecurt appeared beside Mauve, not as Asheth, not as an overlord and not as a spirit but as himself. Granted, he was currently wearing a white tuxedo and red sunglasses, but such costume changes were never unexpected in a final battle-and Ecurt, well, he had a habit of changing forms whenever he felt like it.

This time, though, it granted him no special abilities. In fact, most of the powers and forms he had acquired over the course of his adventures were gone, the consequence for being so close to Raiden spiritually when he was purified. However, it wasn't only his strengths that were gone-part of his very soul had been lost, forever. Not that it mattered anyway; it had been long past time that he grew up, and killing part of yourself was just one of the ways to do just that. Not only that, but it had taken away the curse of chaos on his body, and healed the wounds that had been inflicted by the puppet Raiden.

"A lot has happened since you guys left my broken body back at the Temple," he said calmly, watching the battle continue on. "And part of it is my fault. However, I have come to fix my mistake, once and for all."

Turning to Mauve, he extended his hand to her. "Everybody is thinking-and fighting-like Gods. It's as if the rules of reality don't apply to them. Sometimes, they don't, but there are a few truths that can never, ever be broken.

"One of them is 'Raiden must always be whipped'. However, that won't help us now, not against this one. Instead, we must rely on another one, but I'll need your help."

[Mesden]

The circular shockwave didn't evenbudge the Goddess from her spot. The ongoing and futile battle didn't even grab her attention. The stone bindings didn't even touch her.

Once combined with her world as she was, she didn't exist in this physical state of being when she didn't want to. Raiden's control was nearly absolute, but he has never worked on another realm nor has he ever encountered one as complex as Mesia's. As a goddess, she had a naturally complex Rune structure. But with full infusion with her realm, even to Raiden her form would need time to decipher.

Without even a gesture, Mesia appeared next to Haeru. She looked on to the mended rune, this code not foreign to her as well. Several Runes floated from her being and inlaid themselves into Haeru, far more effort then Raiden had put into "Repairing" was needed to take it away.

Thanks to Mesia, Haeru's soul remained attuned to the defeated body lying on the ground, retaining her connection to life as the regeneration began to take place again.

This had all taken place nearly outside of time and existance, as that was how Mesia lived now. With a faint, but ever present glow, her form returned to the world, standing in the presence of Raiden. Or to be more precise, behind him.

With her newfound and ever expanding power of the universe in her body, she dived her hand into the Creator Incarnate's back, grasping onto the force of being that even he was bound to.


Words that took no time to say, but rung in the mind of every person came from the goddess. You have no idea what you've done. Your omniscience is not absolute and nor is your power, thanks to a friend. You, like even the lowliest being, have something that you can consider your tie to life. I have the power of the universe's laylines in me, Raiden. You forced me into this and through either order or chaos, I will drive you to the ground for it.

The descended hand of the new Goddess began to bury deeper. With every inch her arm seemed to shake more and more violently, tearing through his being with a cosmos of power guiding her.

If this could keep going, she would eventually take God by the neck and fight him in his own being.

[Fifthfiend]

Oh man, the things you people get up to down here!

[Mauve Mage]

(OOC: Fifthfiend- You have no idea, my friend. You have no idea. Also- this kinda thing would go in the Avatar discussion thread in the RP sign-up/discussion board, just for your information. This thread here is only for the game players.)

Mauve stared at Ecurt. Now where did he come from? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him since the group split up a few chapters ago. Unless Ecurt had been... The image of the Asheth-y woman popped into her mind. Naaah... Couldn't be.

He looked different somehow. Well, different aside from the white suit, that was. Not nearly as... what was the word... Psychotic. Mauve wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"Okay," she said to him. "I'll help you if I can. What's your plan? And if it involves me in a bikini, I will rip your brainstem out and jump rope with it." She smiled sweetly.

[PyrosNine]

For his first act in the battle, Pyros went for the absurd. When Fifthfiend popped his filthfiend head up, Pyros grabbed the interloper and hurled him at Raiden with all his strength.

Since phoenix wasn't going to follow PyrosNineian logic, someone else would have to die in a dramatic, self sacrificial death.

Whether they liked it or not.

"FITHFIENDOKEN!"

Eh, he might as well throw in a reference to the comic in which the forums were based upon in a battle to save it. Also, while Ecurt and Mauve were just standing there...

"HEY! WATCHA DOIN? I'VE BEEN IN LA-LA LAND FOR THE LAST COUPLE POSTS! YOU PLANNIN SOMETHIN? CAN I HELP? ECURT, WHY DO YOU SMELL LIKE ASHETH"S PERFUME? IS THERE SOMETHING I MISSED?"

[Truce]

Ecurt's eye twitched as Pyros appeared, before raising his hands in the air and sighing. "Asheth's perfume? It probably has to do with the fact that you lost control of yourself for a while and then went crazy as Asheth. You dumped a bucket of your perfume on me-and who knows what other crazy stuff you tried to do while I had to go change? If Mauve wasn't dressed like this, I'd suspect you probably went and tried to dress her up in Sailor Fuku like you said you would."

"Anyway, you could be of some help, Pyros, but first I must explain to Mauve what she must do. The battle is no longer about raw power, but instead the haphazard use of our wits.

"Raiden is as pure as a baby; indeed, one could describe him very well as an infant, despite his age and power. However, I believe it's time he grew up, turn him into something that the guys upstairs will have to deal with.

"We're going to turn him into a Creator."

Ecurt took his seat on the leather chair that had suddenly appeared behind him, and took to sip from a glass that hadn't been in his hands before. After a moment of relishing the flavor, he sighed and continued. "Creators are limited with what they can do in this reality; that's why they created Gods in the first place, so that someone else would be able to take care of it. Of course, most of them are crazy, but it's the thought that counts-and who better to guard against the psychotic villains of the world with even bigger psychos?

"Taking away Raiden's strength is meaningless. His power, as far as we're concerned, is limitless. Trying to kill him has been futile as well. Instead, we're going to force upon him the same restrictions as the creators-if he has their power, he should have to obey their rules, right?

"And that, my dear mage, is where you come in. Or should I have said, 'my dear Neo Bubblegum Ninja' instead?"

With a smirk, Ecurt then tilted his head towards Pyros. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Nein. What you can do to help us is...take us to your father."

[POS Industries]

Pedro halted. They won't listen, he thought to himself, They refuse to see the obvious here. The harder they fight, the harder he's going to fight back, the more reason they'll give him to prove his point, to prove that we are merely instruments of chaos, of destruction, instruments that must be eliminated.

"Raiden, please listen to me," POS pleaded as he continued walking toward the center of the fray, "This isn't right. You have to see that. You're attempting to fight chaos with chaos here, when the reality is that order can not exist without chaos, and vice versa. Everything in this universe, it happens because it is supposed to, from the greatest joy to the most horrible tragedy. It's a part of the balance of existance. Chaos is a part of order. If you try to take it away, it only tips the scales and creates more chaos, more pain, more destruction, just like what is happening now."

Pedro stepped in front of Raiden and looked the god directly in the eye. "You're attempting to kill your friends, your family, the very universe which spawned you. The people here, despite doing what they feel is necessary to stop you, I can see that they still care about you, that you have a great deal of meaning to them. Why else would they be so hurt by what you've done, what you're doing? I'm on your side here, Raiden. I want to help you make the universe into the best place it can be. I know you can tell that I'm not lying, that I've meant every word that I've said here."

He paused for a moment, looking down as he reached the conclusion. "So," POS sighed, "Strike me down. Kill me if you still feel it necessary, but you'll be proving nothing more that the true 'instrument of chaos' here.... is yourself."

Pedro closed his eyes and prepared to hit the wall again.

[Mauve Mage]

"Are you crazy?!" Mauve cried out. "Make him into a Creator?!?" She pointed a finger at the deranged god, who was currently beating nine kinds of hell out of various forumites while Pedro tried to intervene.

"If we make him a Creator, what's to stop him from creating another Raiden?? One that HE controls!!" She pointed once more at Raiden, who was now in a tense stare-down with Pedro. "This one's already got a Creator, and he's not doing much to hold Raiden back. What happens when Raiden creates Uber Raiden v2.0 and COMMANDS him to destroy everything?? Then we've got to fight both a deranged god controlled by a pissed-off Creator, AND a pissed-off Creator in control of a deranged God!!!" She frowned.

"Also, I'm not sure I like this 'Neo Bubblegum Ninja' of which you speak. I suspect it involves another costume change."

Mauve tapped her fingers against her chin thoughtfully.

"If it was as easy as talking to Raiden's Creator, then Mesden and Pyros would have already done it," she said. "He's their dad, after all. But for the sake of argument, what exactly did you plan on doing?"

[Krylo]

If Mesia had stayed for just a few moments longer she would have noticed something strange. The runes did come into contact with with the now defunct Krylo/Haeru, and they did break what had been repaired, returning the moderator to her (more or less) natural state.

However, the rune immediately remended.

Something beyond simple changes to surface runes had been altered.

The moderator had given up... and due to his strange abilities, even more uncanny than his regeneration, any attempts to 'fix' him were quickly dismissed.

However--Raiden's actions had drawn the attention of the creators, and there was one in particular who looked onto it in scrutiny. One who saw Krylo fall, and one who didn't give a damn about the rules governing his kind.

[Truce]

"Pyros...isn't exactly on the best terms with his father. However, it isn't Pyros or Mesden that needs to talk to their father, it's me.

"Really though, you shouldn't be that worried about what would happen if Raiden stepped in. For all intents and purposes, Raiden already has the power of a creator. However, he still isn't officially recognized as one. That little technicality is what is preventing them from intervening." Ecurt was about to continue, but suddenly froze.

"Then again...maybe I have underestimated one of them..."

With a frown, he turned to Pyros. "Change of plans. Pyros, you and I need to be going. Grab Pedro if you can too-we'll need his talents as well."

[Fifthfiend]

(OOC: Fifthfiend- You have no idea, my friend. You have no idea. Also- this kinda thing would go in the Avatar discussion thread in the RP sign-up/discussion board, just for your information. This thread here is only for the game players.)

OOC: No no, see, that was me role-playing the character of Fifthfiend, popping in and saying, Oh man, the things you people get up to down here!*

Eh? Eh?

NOT OOC: Fifthfiend dusted himself off, stuck his tongue out at Pyros, and turned to face the towering menace that was Raiden. Brow furrowed and fiery aspect to his eye, he coiled himself to strike.

"Yoink!" he cried as he zipped back, high-tailing it for the (marginally) saner enclaves of forumdom!

*Cause see! If I was actually the incarnated personification of my fictitious forum-self, happening upon his fellow forumites locked in a high-stakes battle for the fate of all creation, why, that's just the sort of thing my avatar-me would say!

[PyrosNine]

OOC: No no, see, that was me role-playing the character of Fifthfiend, popping in and saying, Oh man, the things you people get up to down here!*

Eh? Eh?

NOT OOC: Fifthfiend dusted himself off, stuck his tongue out at Pyros, and turned to face the towering menace that was Raiden. Brow furrowed and fiery aspect to his eye, he coiled himself to strike.

"Yoink!" he cried as he zipped back, high-tailing it for the (marginally) saner enclaves of forumdom!

*Cause see! If I was actually the incarnated personification of my fictitious forum-self, happening upon his fellow forumites locked in a high-stakes battle for the fate of all creation, why, that's just the sort of thing my avatar-me would say!

"What the spork?"

Pyros turned to Ecurt. "Fine then. I'll take you to him. But don't expect to not, not be kicked about with a boot the size of wyoming." Pyros waved his hand and a small portal appeared, from which a radiant light poured out of. "I mean, you've heard of the jackheeled boots of Tyranny, these are the Aceheeled boots of Omnipitanny! Also, he may kill you on the spot. But hey, this is more amusing than the other plans of action."

Pyros said with a sigh as he picked up Ecurt by his shirt, and hurled him in. "Also, if he asks, It's all Raiden's fault!"

[The Wizard Who Did It]

The rocky ropes sprung out of the Earth and wrapped around the Wizard’s now obscure four armed shape. The spikes seem to twist and tighten, constricting the movement of the Wizard… for a few seconds. A brown glow seemed to emanate from the Wizard a second later, and the stone turned to dust. What was the point of that? It’s not like he actually… The Wizard then noticed that Raiden had already subdued both the Dragon’s Bane and Krylo in those few short seconds. …Damn.

The Wizard thought about this for a few seconds and started to feel his surroundings. The scream of the barren land they were on echoed in his ears, the tearing of the fabric of reality present in his subconscious. He seemed to stand still for another few seconds, motionless, trying to forget the pain and anguish of the world around him. It blurred his eyesight and warped reality for a few seconds, before the Wizard was again in control of his senses. He noticed that quite a bit of combat was going on, but many others seemed to be planning. He saw someone that had not yet broken out of their stone coffin, and sighed slightly. What the hell is the matter with that guy? I would think he would have enjoyed this fight, but he hasn’t done anything in a long time.

The Wizard strode over to where Mauve, Ecurt, and Pyros had gathered. It seemed that Pyros was taking Ecurt to meet his father, for who knows what suicidal reason. With another sigh, the malformed shape of the Wizard meandered over to Mauve. He threw up all four of his hands in defeat and asked her, “So… do you have any idea how we are going to get out of this alive?”
--------------------------------------------
The Light Wizard had tried desperately to hide his Chaos Spear behind his back for the beginning of the fight, but it seemed that the ploy had not worked. Had not worked at all. With a sigh, he focused his attention on the Thunder God, his eyes starting to glow, a manic glee behind them. Light radiated from his body, shining and pure. His ivory colored cloak rose in the air, as though disrupted by some unseen force. The once pure glow from the Light Wizard seemed to warp and twist. The light gained a sinister aura around it, and suddenly the glow seemed to expand. The perverted light started to quickly descend upon the Thunder God, a blast of pure holy magic meant to draw attention to the White Wizard.

[PyrosNine]

Pyros then scratched his head, remembering he was missing something. Or someone. Then it hit him. He heated up the air under Pedro's feet to launch him into the air, and then threw him into the portal.

Then Twiddy came up to ask a question and Pyros just threw him in for no real reason.

Then, with his tasks done, Pyros sat down and had some Sake.

[Bailey]

"Oh wonderful, I see you are using this increased power responsibly. I guess I'll have to take a different tack if I wish to affect this battle."

He moved his goggles up off of his eyes, and stared around the house. The manifestation of pure sight where his eyes should have been, it was as though he were casting the spell constantly. A closet door showed the indications he was looking for. He put the goggles back on, filtering things down to just what most people saw, put his gloves back on, and opened the closet. Unless his sight had failed him, he was now heading into a realm of all the traumatic events which had shaped Pyros' life. If he could help Pyros overcome a few of them, it might make him saner, and more help in the battle.

[Arhra]

Of course, one might be wondering what had happened to Arhra during this time. After all, the last that had been seen of the petite girl had been her vanishing into a pit along with Raiden when POS had blasted the pair with his Negative Heart Crusher. The lack of an explosion indicated that she probably wasn't dead. On the other hand, they had changed planets since then. Maybe even now Arhra was trying to get back to the battlefield with an intergalactic rowboat. Actually, she wasn't, but its nice to consider the possiblities.

Haeru's planetary shift manevour had translated everyone into a location very close to where they had been at the Temple. Thus, Arhra was underground. However, she had appeared in an air pocket and then pursued a course of action she decided had great relevance to the current situation.

Everything had just come to fruition.

The ground heaved as a hole opened. Strangeness leaked out, residue of the chaotic magic that Arhra had used while entombed in the earth. Grass turned crystalline, flowers screamed and spat blood at one another, bugs exploded and a rich, heady smell wafted out. It remained to be seen what unthinkable dreams of things that were not meant to be that a mind unfettered by ordered thought had wrought.

Something that looked rather like a mole climbed out. It ranked low on the 'unspeakable horrors that man was not meant to know' scale. Especially since it appeared to be wearing a slightly battered tophat. A few other underground denizens crawled out and clustered around its edges. Some were mole-like, some like other burrowing animals, others were vaguely wormy and a few were quasi-reptiles.

If Arhra had been trying to create a horrifying army of chaos-spawn, she'd failed miserably. In fact, they were cute in their own weird way. Still, something dramatic might be salvaged. An infernal piping and the deep beat of drums in the dark began. Arhra rose into view, bourne aloft upon a palaquin carried by several of the creatures.

She sat, with stately and regal mien, upon a throne of warped design, whorling patterns carved into its ebon surface seeming to shift before one's very eyes. Upon her head she wore a crown of chaos - a freakish fusion of stone, metal, and living wood and bone, flaming and flowing, liquid jewels of light adorning it. Chaos burned in her eyes, ancient and primeval.

Arhra then spoiled everything by waving cheerily and bursting out, "Hello everyone! Guess what! They made me their queen!" Arhra indicated the various creatures around her which burbled happily to one another with barely understandable voices. She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "Well, I had to explain it to them and I'm not sure they entirely grasped the concept.... but I'm still royalty! And do you know what that means Raiden?" Arhra plunged on with a statcato rush of words, "It means I am more important than you!"

[Dragonsbane]

OOC: Raiden, do NOT godmode my actions.

IC: "Chaos...Order...these things hold no meaning in their own right, but are integral components of the Balance I am charged with protecting."

"Raiden." he said, although the word he spoke was actually Raiden's True Name, "By slaying those who champion Chaos, you have tilted the balance in favor of Law. Furthermore, your actions have caused innocent people to be hurt, making those actions evil and putting you under my jurisdiction. Now you shall pay for your transgressions."

A simple glance told the Dark Arbiter that Raiden was not actually here, only small manifestations of his will, divine avatars on a small scale. Something was beefing Raiden up, and with the power of Reality itself behind him, he knew he could handle this. The others had done well, distracting the Thunder God, and now it was time to end this.

"I am, in a sense, a guardian. For the balance of the universe to be preserved, my existence is necessary. Thus, trying your trick on me will be futile." A polite warning first.

Dragonsbane raised one hand, and glowing golden light blossomed in the palm, "Come, Raiden." again, it was actually the True Name spoken, "Errant Thunder God, I summon you by the power vested in me to manifest entirely upon this mortal plane, in the form of one incarnation."

The spell roiled through Raiden's being, pulling his stormlike power into a crackling maelstrom of lightning that funneled down and inward, pouring into one form...

[PyrosNine]

Sub-Pyros called out from his spot on the couch. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

He then rolled over and stretched, then began scratching Kitty Pyros's back. "You see, Pyros doesn't like people digging around. Especially not us. Or you."

Asheth agreed from her la-z-boy. "Yeah. Makes it a pain to do any spring cleaning around here. Just yesterday I was cleaning around the cupboards and all of a sudden a giant claw came out of a box of cheerios and slashed at me!"

Kitty Pyros had only one thing to say. "Meeoww!" (MEEEOW!")

[Bailey]

Naymedo looked back.

"So you're saying we just sit and wait for this to become more of a disaster? I don't know about you three, but I'd prefer to help him get over his traumatic childhood than to sit around helplessly."

[PyrosNine]

Sub-Pyros sighed. "I would love to stop Raiden just as much as you do, but there are things best left untouched. Solving Pyros's mental anguish won't make him any more or less powerful. Odds are, it will make him weaker. In an ordered world, such as Raiden strives for right now, Pyros would be weaker."

Sub flicked a button on the remote and the TV's image changed to that of when Pyros was shown to Raiden and Co.

"Pyros is the youngest of the Creator's gods, and one of the youngest gods of that period. He wasn't even be able to fight Raiden when Raiden was normal. And yet now he boasts strength great enough to challenge normal Raiden. Not this UberRaiden, though. His insanity has driven him to reach greater heights than the order the creator created would allow him, which in turn has also created the very chaotic world we live in. Perhaps, eventually he will come to grips with his own insanity. But as he is now, he stands a better chance. So leave him be."

Sub-Pyros flicked the channel back to the live feed, as Pyros watched the others do their myriad 'surefire' plans to destroy Raiden.

"Mmmm...good sake."

[Bailey]

"Then there is no way for me to help here. Tyrant's minions have probably already turned back. I'll see if I can help somewhere else."

Naymedo left Pyros' mind and flitted about, finally settling into Mesia's head.

"...GET OUT OF HERE YOU FOOL! I'VE HAD ENOUGH PROBLEMS ALREADY WITHOUT ANOTHER PIECE OF YOU!" Came the immediate response.

Naymedo simply sat quietly, making his power available to the goddess if she wanted it. He knew that she was upset with him becuase of the attempt on the gate, but perhaps if he was able to explain later she'd only be angry at Tyrant.

[Raiden]

Raiden was being attacked by incredible offenses on all sides. Mesden was grinding her hand into the back of his neck, tearing through his defenses. Meanwhile, Dragonsbane was attempting to force him into a single physical body.

They were both powerful, and DB had the conceptual powers on his side...but Raiden was a concept as well.

His rune lashed out at DB's attempts, quickly rewriting the rules of the technique as quickly as the rules changed from its evil nature. Instead, he transferred the power of the attack over to Mesden, releasing himself from her hold.

He moved quickly off to the side, regenning the damage done to him.

"You may be a defender of evil, but I am a keeper of order. You intend to alter the greatest form of order? How prideful a move that was."

[Inbred Chocobo]

IC pounced then, having been holding himself up on the ceiling for a while now. After his flashy entrance and charge, when Raiden let loose that wave attack, IC had launched to the ceiling to avoid it, and held there until he saw his moment, and that moment was now.

As Raiden finished off the last of his sentence, IC swung with the Wind Edge, having launching himself from his position as Raiden stepped to the side, aiming for where he was going, and striking for the head.

[Krylo]

Haeru found herself standing in a strangly black world. There was no light, and though she could feel ground beneath her, she could not see it, though her own body was completely clear to her. She turned to look about and saw a stark white shadow of herself cast on the ground--it was featureless. Indeed, the only thing marking it as ground at all was the shadow. It looked almost like a tear in reality. Nothing was revealed.

"Well you certainly got more attractive," came a strangely familiar voice from behind her, "...I wonder if it would be incest or masturbation..."

She turned, pulling her guns out as she did so, but all she saw was herself... before Rhiya's chaos wave had affected her. The other her stood a ways away wearing a T-shirt and jeans with an odd smile on his face.

"...The hell...?" she asked no one in particular, the confusion evident in her face and voice.

He ignored the question however and walked forward, "But you've given up, too. Let yourself lay here dying... or maybe you're already dead. I haven't checked recently..."

"What?"

"You gave up. You're dyi..." his eyes glazed over for a second as and his gaze seemed to move through her, only to suddenly refocus, "No. No, you're dead. Very very dead. You stopped fighting."

"And what am I supposed to do?! He tore me apart, even with all the power from the bracelet, I never stood a chance... and he must have fixed my rune like he sa..." she started only to be cut off by the sound of short loud laughter.

"Fixed your rune? You never had any broken runes... YOU broke that, and it's only remained fixed because YOU gave up and allowed yourself to die... you know, it wouldn't have been necessary under normal conditions, but that goddess of spirits or whatever asinine thing Thomas made, she put your rune back how it was... and then you 'fixed' it again. Subconciously. You. Gave. Up. It's pathetic really... I never remembered being such a pussy," his voice moved from happy to disgusted and angry.

"I couldn't fight him anymore... I don't have anything to fight him with... Even Mauve Mage could fight him better than I could at this point, and all she's been good for is collecting gore from my kills!"

The other Krylo sighed, "That's entirely untrue. Let me explain something to you... you aren't like the others. They're characters created by players. Players of a massive game. Myself and Thomas and a few others... we're the 'coders' the 'creators' the 'adminship' if you will. There's one higher than all of us who forbid us to take direct control... that's why Raiden exists, but I'm sure you know that. However, what you may not know is that Raiden went on a rampage like this once before, and it took our direct interference to stop him. ...Other Gods were created by Thomas. Beings unruled by players and far too powerful to be left to their own devices..."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard the history of Godhood, blah blah blah," Haeru replied getting a bit irritated, "What's your point?"

The man just chuckled again, "My point is this... You're neither a god, nor a normal mortal. You're an avatar. I coded myself into this system... and that's you. You have some limited control of your own rune system, even without me, as a side effect... meaning you didn't have to die. You could have just altered your rune back through force of will, but you didn't. However, that's not important. What's important is that you're a part of me... and I'm a creator..."

"What...?"

"You'll understand in a minute... just walk over here and take my hand. There's a superpowerful being that needs to be stopped... before it kills your friends. They really don't stand a chance against it..."

[PhoenixFlame]

"You may be a defender of evil, but I am a keeper of order. You intend to alter the greatest form of order? How prideful a move that was."

With this, Phoenix the Raksha lunged forward at Raiden's exposed side, taking the beleaugered thundergod by yet another flanking angle. The blue-crystal blade of Absolution of Desire sang through the air with the sound of fine crystal grinding agaisnt steel.

"Keeping it all for youself, are you? Order is subjective by nature, as is chaos. You fight for nothing. That is why you must die, for you have exceeded your usefulness." She explained calmly.

[Mauve Mage]

In a faroff plane of existance, a lone figure sat in near darkness. The only light that existed in this place at this precise moment in time was a soft blue glow radiating from a rectangular screen, which the person seemed to be watching. The cool light reflected off the figure's facial features, revealing it to be a woman who slightly resembled Mauve. Blue light glinted off the lenses of her eyeglasses as the Creator lazilly scanned through various goings-on in several dimensions, as they appeared in little windows on the glowing screen.

If someone was watching over the Creator's shoulder, they would notice that one of the smaller windows showed Mauve Mage, just standing around as Raiden and the other forumites did their various things. But the Creator was paying very little attention to this particular window.

On a much larger window near the center of the screen, Haeru was having a chat with her Creator. Originally, Mauve's Creator had pulled the scene up on the monitor because it wasn't often that one of her kind had a heart-to-heart with their creations. It was against the rules. Now, however, the lady Creator was watching because Haeru had unknowingly hit a nerve.

"...Even Mauve Mage could fight him better than I could at this point, and all she's been good for is collecting gore from my kills," the woman pouted. The Real Krylo just sighed in disappointment. The Real Mauve, however, had stronger feelings. In other dimensions, several of her less-important creations became violently ill as an after-effect of her irritation.

Muttering obscenities to herself, the Creator tapped a few keys on the death-black keyboard. A small white window popped up on the screen. Her long fingers moved quickly across the keys:

"NOTE TO SELF: WHEN KRYLO/HAERU REGAINS MALE GENITALIA, HAVE MAUVE KICK HIM. HARD."

----------------
Meanwhile, in the battlefield, Mauve wondered why she had the sudden urge to set fire to Haeru's bloody corpse.

[Truce]

After Pyros had thrown Ecurt with such an undignified manner into his portal, he had thought that would have been the end of the travelling. However, instead of appearing right before Pyros' father, he instead discovered himself at the entrance of the God's Pantheon.

"Somehow...I pictured this place different." Indeed, he had expected something out of a Disney movie, with clouds and Roman architecture, and people in togas. Instead, he found himself in a wide open area filled with fountains of ambrosia, grand tables of food, and strange art pieces-if anything, it looked to be sort of a museum banquet-and the people walking around, chatting with each other, and staring at Ecurt were dressed very modern (though, why so many of them looked like Krylo, he did not bother to ask-some things were better left unanswered).

Of course, there was more to the God's Pantheon than just that place; halls leading to many different rooms could be seen, while in the very center was a giant staircase that seemed to go up to nowhere. Without a doubt, it led to a VIP lounge, where the person he was looking for must be.

"Let's go." he said, suddenly helping up Pedro and Twiddy, after they too had been thrown into this realm. "It's time to meet the big...Twiddy, what're you doing here?"

---

Pyros thought he had gotten away. Well, he was wrong. Just when he thought he was safe to sip his sake, a cane emerged from the portal and pulled him in by his neck.

[PyrosNine]

"HEY!" Pyros growled when he went through the still open portal. "Knew I shoulda closed that..."

Pyros calmly dusted himself off and capped his bottle of sake. "Fine. Fine. If you want me present at your funeral, then very well. Just don't expect me to intercede on your behalf. Unless of course, you got something to bargain with. And take note I'm facing Twiddy on this because I KNOW you don't have anything Ecurt."

Despite the fact it was largely Pyros's own doing for that, he led them down the Auroralian manor. "Take note this place's insides are largely dependant on the person watching them, other than their clothes and the strange pieces of art. They have no taste at all, huh?"

Pyros stopped to grab a leg of lamb as they kept going past countless tables and a myriad of gods. "Also, it don't always have this much food. Today's Gorgonspielocknessday, commemoration of when the Creator of the southwestern hemisphere got tired of being booted aroud by the creator you want to talk to, and created boxing gloves. Shoulda seen the fight. It was like Jackie Chan Vs. Bruce lee! Except both fighters sucked ass."

It seemed as if there was nothing in this world but tables, gods, and fraternizing, but Pyros continued to lead them around. Finally, it did seem that the surroundings had changed somewhat, and the food and ornations seemed to reflect that of the Japanese+ gods, In this case Raiden and Co. It would be noted that the tablecloths were the same color as Mesden's dress, and there was an enormous amount of Candles with larger than normal flame. Of course, these were the tofu candles, and hardly in honor of anything.

The bastards.

It was here that the trio bumped into some well known faces. Suijin, who'd featured somewhat in NPFAVA2:LuvLuvAsheth, was the first to spot the out of place visitors.

"PYROS! What? Why? AGAIN?" Suijin stammered, as she wore what could only be described as a catholic schoolgirl/Swedish clog dancer outfit. "Pyros! You can't keep bringing mortals up here when I'm not in my toga! It's bad enough that three of my largest cults were disbanded after I dressed up as Britney Spears last halloween..."

"See guys? I told you, no taste whatsoever. They mostly wear on earth what humans expect them to wear, not what they actually like to wear. Also, I have always found that rule to suck ass. You think I always like to be wearing Cloud's outfit in battles? Well, I do, but sometimes it get's sweaty and the smell starts to get to me."

"And what are THEY doing here? Aren't those the mortals from that horrid trip to Poseidon's castle? Why do you bring the sight of them to my vision! I think I'm going to vomit! That's it, next Tsunami that's made i'm telling the survivor's it's all Pyros's fault!"

Edit: Woot! 100th post! I'd like to thank Ecurt, who should totally put me in his next NPF SPOTlight, Raiden, for being sparky, and Krylo, for enforcing a 100 post limit!

[Arhra]

Another being hunched in front of the soft glow of a screen, "It seems some of the others are happily engaged in their repeated breaking of the fourth wall." it said to itself, musing on the past events.

Back on the battlefield, Arhra muttered to herself, "Referring to the fourth wall breaks the fourth wall."

"Yes, quite." the watcher said, "Hmmm.... Ah yes, I might as well make use of that. I haven't really had a good chance to use it. Better handle the clothing too. Two cases of nudity were more than enough..." A few keystrokes and it was done.

Arhra quite frankly didn't know what to do. Raiden had not opposed her declaration of superior importance so it must be true. However, that had not yet resulted in Raiden's defeat somehow. Monarchy had failed. That could only mean one thing. Raiden was a dirty, dirty republican!

The possibility that her claim had absolutely no relevance to the current situation was discarded as being too unflattering. There was only one option left - she'd have to give Raiden a royal beatdown.

She stood up, stepping down from her throne, neatly leaving her conjured crown on the seat. The underground things that she had somehow become the ruler of burbled their fanfare, heaping praise upon their queen. It was then one of their statements struck a cord - "Hail Queen! Whose towering presence we give praise to!"

Now, only by the standards of freaky short burrowing animal things could Arhra be called tall. Her newest incarnation was not gifted with great stature. However, one hearing that statement, Arhra felt an odd feeling come over her. Casting her mind back to when she had last felt a similiar sensation, a madman's smile crossed her face. Of course, the curse Rhiya's chaos wave had wrought upon her, changing her height with others' words.

Regally, she spun back and declared, "Continue to compliment me on my height."

Her newly acquired minions looked at her blankly until one finally realised what she meant and replied, "Yea oh tall one!" The others slowly joined in in a hubbub of hastily crafted sentences.

Feeling a sudden shortness of breath and constriction, Arhra recalled that the curse unfortunately didn't affect clothing. Not wanting to burst out of her clothing in front of everyone, Arhra awkwardly leapt into the hole she'd emerged from, hastily calling up her chaotic magic. "Resize!" she yelled out of sight, a flash and a number of doves suddenly coming out of the hole. From the cursing also coming out, evidently it didn't have the desired effect.

A short stream of increasingly frantic words later, Arhra finally called out "Transform!" in desperation. A moment's silence and she emerged, muttering to herself about bare midriffs. By appearance, it seemed the sailor fuku had transformed into an (admittedly skimpier) battle costume. Perhaps Arhra had undergone a full magical girl transformation while in the hole. Judging by the look on her face, asking her would probably result in decapitation.

But at least Arhra had what she wanted - clothes that would resize themselves. With her reappearance, her servants erupted into a new flurry of cheers. Arhra herself just charged Raiden with no further ado. Already she was almost of a height with him and growing. A simple enough plan - obviously Raiden was only capable of directing so much power at once or they'd all be dead already and so siphoning off his power with physical contact would hamper him. Hands outreached to grab the god, she leapt.