Twilight of the Gods

"With light, divide this into six!"

*A Six Rod Light Prison hits Hector. She also points skyward, hitting Eduj with one. Lilith then puts some distance between them, dons her Hollow mask, & claps her hands.*

L"Deny the seething urge! Stun & flicker! Disrupt the sleep! The crawling queen of iron! The eternally self-destructing doll of mud!"

*Giriko uses Bringer Light to quickly side-step the attack. Ginjo's BFS fades away & he steps towards Giriko, but falls into a sinkhole. He just barely blocks a flying punch from Moe, which snaps the guard of Cross of Scaffold. Ginjo stands up, glaring at it in confusion.*

Moe<Jackpot Knuckle influences probability. When I punched the ground, it "just happened" to cave in, & when I hit your sword just now, it "coincidentally" broke from wear & tear.>

S"Luck is a very poor thing to base a plan around."

*Senthose tries to blast Moe with lightning from behind, but he spins around, & Senthose is hit with a backlash, severely burning his arm.*

Moe<If you have it, why not use it?>

*Meanwhile, Tsukishima is speeding towards Mortal, & a Black Coffin is forming around Hector.*
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*Aroma stares at her with a disappointed, unamused face.*

"Well, regardless of whether or not you're going to help him, I am."

*She heads for the door.*
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<Don't be so stupid. That may work outside, but in here, things don't get "digested." They sink down deeper into your soul, permeate your every thought, & rot you out. It starts as a setback, but in the end, I always survive. It's easier on you if you just don't get in my way.>

Astarte, in her first release, appeared on the scene at this point and immediately fired a large lightning blast at Senthose's back.

Eduj vomited down onto Hector moments before the black box was sealed, and a pleasant and consistent humming sound could be heard from within. Eduj put all of his strength into bursting out of his restraints.

"Oh yea, the gloomy girl had you, didn't she?" Mortal said, "Man, I'm even less afraid of you now."

--

Noctis takes this opportunity to chase down Shu, and slice at his back with a Lanza.

--

Sab shook her head, "No! I mean, um, why don't you stay here? We're not really the strongest, we'll just get in the way!"

<I have to do whatever I can.>

*She opens the door.*
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*His eyebrow twitches.*

<No...how about I show you what being consumed is like, instead?>

*He points his sword at Azazel & fires a blue-black Cero into the dragon's stomach. Thick, black fluid pours out of the wound. When the fluid begins sprouting white claws & faces, it is clear that Azazel is bleeding Gillians.*

<You Hollows think that eating souls makes you stronger! But I bet you never thought about what would happen if all of the souls you ate suddenly got loose!>

*The Gillians' limbs bend grotesquely so that they can crawl towards Mortal, mouths gaping to devour her.*
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*Senthose takes a shot of lightning in the back & falls down. To make up for that, Ginjo grips the central handle of Cross of Scaffold & charges at Astarte. Jackie appears before Noctis & kicks the Lanza aside, bady burning her boot. Instead of stabbing Mortal, Tsukishima simply holds his sword up to her face. Wisps of red Reitsu, like flame, emerge from her mouth & enter Book of the End.*

<Everything's in place now. It looks like there really isn't anything more that I can do.>

L"Unite! Repulse! Fill the earth & know your own powerlessness! Hado 90: Black Coffin!"

*The box glows bright purple, & suddenly is pierced with many more spears. The clouds around it seem to spiral towards it before being blown off in a blinding display of light. Euryale, apparently avoiding Noctis, appears before Eduj & pulls back a fist to punch him in the face. As she's delivering the blow, red Bringer Light glows in a ring around her fist.*

"Just die," Astarte hissed, a clone appearing suddenly in front of Ginjo and swinging kick at him. A second clone appeared several metres behind Ginjo and charged lightning in her hands. Astarte herself also charged an attack in her hands.

Eduj took the punch to the face at the exact moment that he escaped from his restraints and bent backwards unnaturally, remaining on his feet. Without giving her time for another hit, all twelve of the arm-whips shot out at Euryale's arms and legs. Hector remained within the Kido.

Sab grabbed Aroma from behind and pulled her back inside, "No, I, um... You know, you look beautiful today."

--

Mortal plugs up the hole with scales, and uses an Aliento de Fuego the set the escaped Gillians on fire. "I'm an Arrancar. Do you really think I'm frightened of a few Gillian?" Mortal gripped her blade, then swung an Alento rugir del fuego del gran lagarto cero at him. As that was going on she began to make her way around him, so that her back wasn't to a flaming pile of gillians.

--

Noct furrowed her brow, "I apologize for this." She then grabbed Jackie's outstretched leg, raised her arm into the air, then brought her elbow down directly onto Jackie's knee, aiming to cave that fucker right in.

*Several Gillian claws burst out of the ground & wrap around Mortal. When the dust clears, Zalera has tanked the Cero.*

<"I'm not afraid of Gillians. I can block things with my scales. Humans don't have Hierro, so I'll just kill him with a Cero." Admit it, you thought all of that just now, didn't you? I told you already, this isn't the outside world! As long as you keep laboring under that delusion, you're going to lose.>

*As predicted, the scales begin to leak, & the Gillians kept moving despite being on fire.*
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"I'm going, & you can't do anything to stop me!"

*Aroma Sonidos out of her grip & takes off towards the mountain.*
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*Ginjo dodges, slashing the clone away. He then dashes right towards Astarte, slashing at her side. Senthose enters his Ressurrecion & blasts it with a Bala, should she try to escape to the position of her other clone.*

Jackie<So am I.>

*Jackie grabs Nocti's wrist & kicks at her side with her other foot. Tsukishima speeds towards them. Since Euryale's fist is still pointed at Hector, she fires her Cero at him.*

Astarte's clone cast her lightning into Senthose's Bala. At the same time, Astarte threw her hands towards the slash, her own attack blasting into it. A small amount of lightning arced from the tip of each of her wings to hit Ginjo in the face.

Eduj, his arm-whips probably hacking into Euryale by now, shot up his right leg and kicked her arm upwards with enough force to fracture the bone as well as send the Cero firing into the air. Hector remained in the Kido, though he struggled to break free.

Mortal tears herself out of their grasp, and bounds into the air, "So what, I kill you with the power of imagination?" She actually spreads her hands above her head as if making a rainbow at the word 'imagination'.

--

Sab teleported her back to the house, "See, I'm afraid I can do something about it. But that isn't a bad thing! We can stay here and talk. I love talking with you."

--

Noct stops the kick with a clone grabbing her leg. She then creates another clone behind Jackie, putting her in a headlock, trying to put her to sleep. Just in case Jackie still struggles, Noct floods her with more clones, putting two to a limb to try and stop her from doing anything while she is being chocked.

*Oddly enough, Astarte just gets slashed in the abdomen, & Eduj just gets blown back by a bigass Cero. Soon after, Ginjo disappears. As Tsukishima is just about to slash into Noctis, Ginjo reappears behind her. Tsukishima stabs him in the heart by sliding his Book of the End through the gaps in his sword. Ginjo, Astarte, Eduj, & Hector fall to the ground, too weak to keep fighting.*
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"I didn't want to do this, but you've changed."

*Aroma aims a punch at Sab's chest, firing a green Bala at her.*
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<You can try, but you don't seem very clever. Besides, do you even want to keep going? We're going to win. If your little girlfriends survive this, they'll just be our pawns. You don't want to see that, do you?>

*He fires his Cero at her.*

Mortal sonido'd to the side of the cero, using a rugido to slow it down in the first place. She then furrowed her brow, and bared her teeth, "They're not going to be anyone's pawn. Least of all a puny little fuck like you!" Mortal clenched her fists, "I'm not going to let you walk away from this. You're not going to win because I refuse to go back on a promise I made."

--

Sab teleported out of the way, then frowned, "Hey! No, stop, you're going to wreck the house!"

--

Noctis looks at Ginjo fall and furrowed her brow, "Dammit." She then looked back up at Tsukishima, and launched a lanza at him.

Hector, Eduj and Astarte lay on the ground. Hector and Astarte both lifted their heads slightly to watch the scene.

*Tsukishima deftly dodges out of the way, slicing apart the shadow clones. Jackie then aims a kick into Noct's gut.*

E"Hey, go easy on her!"

*Ginjo stands up, shaking himself back to his senses. He then grips his sword & rockets to Tsukishima. Senthose starts to follow him, but then Moe punches him in the back. After a snapping sound, he falls to the ground.*

<Ouch, sounded like that one's gonna take a while to heal.>
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*With her other hand, Aroma quickly lashes out with a sideways Bala. Where the last one ust put a dent in the wall, THIS one hits Sab square in the chest & knocks her over the couch.*
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*When her Cero starts pushing his, he breaks away.*

<A promise? Don't make me laugh! You're just distracting yourself from the truth. You don't love, & no one loves you. You're just a murderer, & that's all we'll ever be!>

*He dashes towards her.*

Noct regained her footing after scooting back from the kick. She tackled Jackie with a clone, then jumped over her and began speeding towards Shu, aiming to back up Ginjo's attack.

--

Sab furrowed her brow, "Hey, stop it! I didn't hit you!" Sab said, standing up, trying to remember that Aroma wasn't herself.

--

Mortal squares her stance, bracing herself for his attack, "You're wrong! I love them, all of them, and they love me! I've been to hell and back, and through it all I've loved them. You're mind games are a cheap tactic!"

*Noctis feels a sharp pain across her thigh muscles. A second after she realizes that she's been cut, a hand grabs her shoulder, & tosses her to the ground. Ginjo lands behind her, stabbing Senthose in the back, over his chest. He looks around at all of them & laughs.*
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<You don't have to, you can teleport. The only way to get to where I need to be is to knock you out!>

*Aroma's opera gloves shrink into work gloves as she glows brightly. When the glow fades, her skin is tinged slightly green. She tosses another Bala at Sab.*
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<Like your family? Did you love them, too?!>

*Zalera stabs her in the chest. When he does so, a crest like a black butterfly appears on her. In that instance, she momentarily hallucinates a much younger child, sobbing over a bloody butcher's knife embedded in...something. When he draws back, she sees him as he is now, twitchy, with a crazed grin, as though he can't kill her fast enough.*

<DID YOU?!>

*He aims another stab at her chest.*

Sab teleported to Aroma, grabbed her, then teleported in front of the bala she shot.

--

Noct struggled to get to her feet, "Dammit, I should have realized that you were with Tsukishima after that attack. That must be how it works."

--

She extended her hand so that she was stabbed through her hand. As the blade slid through she grabbed the hilt of the weapon, then brought her own blade down on Zalera's arm, aiming to cleave it right the fuck off, "Don't you dare talk of my family! You have no right!"

Ginjo<Yeah. But, don't misunderstand, I didn't become your enemy because of that attack. I had Tsukishima strike me a second time, just now, to return me to normal.>

*Tsukishima appears behind him as he's digging around in his pocket.*

Tsukishima<We thought it was safer this way. His acting really sucks.>

Ginjo<Shut up.>

*He pulls out some odd wooden badge with a skull shape & an x on it, & places it over his sword. Purple Bringer Light transforms the badge into an ornate skull on the blade, & the central handle takes the shape of a spine, with teeth connecting it to the main blade. He then walks over & stabs Eduj in the chest. Noctis notices that every time he stabs someone, their Reitsu travels up the blade.*

Yukio<I knew you were going to hog it all.>

*Yukio appears beside Noctis.*

Yukio<No fair, you said we would share their powers!>
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*His arm dissolves. With the other, he catches the falling sword, & stabs at Mortal's chest.*

<Of course I do! The difference between you & I is, I don't feel bad about what I did!>
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*Aroma is hit by a Bala. She then reaches up to Sab's head &...strokes her horns.*

"What do you think you're doing, messing with my property?!" Hector growled, a pair of strings flying through the air to grab Ginjo's arm and pull on it. The strings began to glow red, but were only Bala strength. "Stop it!"
Meanwhile, Astarte began to pick herself up off of the ground, clutching at her wound.

Noct stumbled a bit, but kept her footing, "Dammit, so we were being played the entire time. So, was it just you and Tsukishima, or what?" She formed a lanza, but kept it in her hands.

--

Mortal gets out of the way, but catches the stab with her shoulder. Wincing, Mortal arcs back, and headbutts the fucker, "What are you even--" She quickly realizes that the lump was actually a body, "You killed your parents... You sick fuck!"

--

Sab's eyes flutter, and she lets out a soft moan as she eases into Aroma. She then realizes what Aroma is doing and pushes her away. "You, how could you do something like that!?" Sab was tearing up, "You know how I love your touch... why would you sully it like this?! Why would you use something I love to hurt me, Aroma?!"

*After being propelled back, he rubs his head.*

<Parent. If you could call her that. I have no idea what happened to my so-called father. As for that woman, the only good she ever did was having a poor stabbing aim, & a loose grip.>

*He shrugs, snickering.*

<Whatever. At least I didn't eat her.>
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*Aroma wipes away a single tear.*

<Like I said, you've changed. You talk about how I'm hurting you, but while you're sitting here playing tag, Mortal could be dead. And what about Tsukishima?>
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*Ginjo effortlessly slashes them aside, then stabs Hector in the chest as well. As he's doing this, Jackie, Riruka, & Giriko cluster around.*

Ginjo<Don't be such a pain in the ass.>

*He turns around & stabs Yukio. Then he quickly slashes each of them in turn.*

Ginjo<I was getting to it.>

*Their shallow wounds glow with Bringer Light & then their outfits change. Riruka gets weird pincer-gauntlets & a chest plate shaped like a heart. Giriko gets armor that makes him look like a playing card, & several clocks floating around him. Yukio gets antennae on his hat & gauntlets with multiple buttons. Jackie gets a scarf, & motorcycle exhaust pipes coming off of her shoulder & waist.*

Tsukishima<All of us, together, started Xcution. I just made Gevurah think that it was him.>

*Euryale & Lilith appear between them & Tsukishima.*

L"You're a Substitute Soul Reaper?"

E"...Everything they said about you is true, isn't it?"

*Tsukishima grins a slasher smile.*

Tsukishima<Lilith, I'm shocked! How could you not remember Ginjo? He was the my Lieutenant, you served under us for nearly 50 years! And Euryale, you would doubt me now, even after I forgave you for talking to my mother behind my back?>

Ginjo<What do you think you're doing? If you add details this late in the game, you'll break them, just like you did the others!>

*Lilith & Euryale collapse to their knees, clutching their heads & shivering. Lilith gives a wretch reflex.*

E"But that's...I lived with--"

Tsukishima<Me! In the house I gave you! I inherited it from my parents, remember? Senthose killed them. I think Noctis helped, too.>

*Euryale screams in agony.*

"I! You! It wasn't!" Mortal spammed Gran Lagarto ceros at him until she had kicked up enough sand to obscure the area.

--

"Tsukishima is nothing!" Sab cried out, "And Mortal is fine! She promised she wouldn't get herself killed. She won't break her promise..."

--

Noctis sees Euryale writhing in agony, and screams, "Leave her alone! Please just stop!" Noct then filled the sky with about twenty clones all wielding lanzas, and thew them at Shu at once, then created more, and continued throwing. By the time Noctis stopped she had buckled over and was panting for breath.

--

Atae fidgeted a bit, "I wonder how things are going..."

*When the dust clears, it looks as though the 2 of them are completely unharmed. Yukio is fiddling with some buttons on his gauntlet. Lilith's trees have also begun sinking back into the ground.*

Yukio<Look at that. Seems like they dodged the enemy's attack.>

Ginjo<You know, we should probably do something so they can't follow us. I guess I'll kill the Hollows & Soul Reapers, then take the girl's FullBring away.>

*As he starts walking forward, Euryale slowly stands up in front of him, spreading her arms & taking a deep breath.*

"It's obvious now that you've done something to my memories. So...I'll just have to beat you until the lies stop!"

*Ginjo & Tsukishima look genuinely shocked, but then Ginjo sneers.*

Ginjo<So what if you can throw off Book of the End? It won't be enough to defeat us. Your Soul Reaper friend has already passed out, & everyone else is too wounded to fight. There's no one coming to save the day.>

*New trees spring up around them, many more than before. In just a few seconds, the entire mountain is covered with a much denser forest. Most of the trees are white with blue leaves. Euryale & Noctis, Hector, Eduj, & Senthose, & Astarte are each alone in their own tiny clearings.*
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*Zalera dodges each Cero as it comes & the Gillians suddenly reach up towards Mortal.*
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"You can't know that! And why would you talk about our friend, Tsukishima, that way? What's wrong with you?!"
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*Atae feels something plastic pressed into her back.*

Riruka<They're going very well, for us!>

*Standing next to Riruka, but off to the side, is a young teenage girl with white hair, ghost white skin, & red eyes, wearing a black cloak.*

Riruka<Wasn't that such a cool line...what's your name again? Chesed?>

Chesed<*Sigh.* If you say so.>

Riruka<Pfft. What's YOUR problem?>

Astarte released her Segunda Etapa, to heal her wound, raise her power and clear her thoughts. She rested her black scythe on her shoulder and sighed. It appeared that her murderous intent had been misdirected- she would have to apologize to everybody.

Hector rose to his feet and placed a hand on the newly regenerated chest wound. To an observer he would seem quite calm, but he was truly both afraid and furious.
"At least Lilith is down, and on our side again," He said quietly. If it had not been for his shield ability and Eduj's clone, he probably would have been entirely incapacitated or killed.

Eduj sat cross-legged and attempted to sense the others.

Noct searched the area, trying to find Tsukishima. "You can't hide from me!" She yelled.

--

Mortal shoots a cero at the gillians, "Stay out of this!" She then turned her attention back to Zalera. She rocketed off towards him, then used the forward momentum to bring her blade down on him, aiming to slice him right in half, she figured she might be able to cleave his blade in half as well, should he bring it up to block.

--

Atae frowned, "Who are you two, and what do you want with me? Oh, well, I know you. The other one is new..."

--

"I do know that," Sab countered, "I trust Mortal. I trust her. Why can't you trust us?"

*Euryale puts a hand on Noctis's shoulder.*

"Forget about him. Someone's coming."

*That's when Ginjo pushes through the brush.*
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*Tsukishima walks in on Senthose, Hector, & Eduj.*

"Looks like you have a poor sense of direction. You can't defeat all 3 of us at once."

*Tsukishima shrugs.*

<Can't I? You look pretty defeated, from where I'm standing.>
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"Like you trust me to help? Besides, you can't just promise not to get hurt, it doesn't work that way! If it did, no one would have need of powers like mine!"
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Chesed<I believe the plan is to kill you.>

*Chesed speaks cooly & matter-of-factly, like she is talking about a math problem.*

Riruka<That's right, we have to cover our tracks. Nothing personal.>
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*He blocks successfully, albeit with difficulty.*

<You know...while you're wasting time here...with me...your friends are getting worked over outside.>