Vriska Serket
Sequin Land - Mermaid Falls
The Giga Mermaid was roaring, the mermaid underlings were clashing with one another, a head was sailing through the air, and Vriska found herself in the epicenter of it all. Was it the weirdest thing she'd ever seen? No. It wasn't even the weirdest thing she'd taken part of. Brandishing the sword given to her by Risky, she leaped right into the mermaid civil war, slashing with verve, hacking with purpose, and killing with style, turning the battle royal into a mermaid massacre. None stood a chance against the blade with Vriska's superhuman strength behind it.
Oh, how she wished Terezi were here to see this. Or even be a part of it. They made a good tag-team, and with such a pirate setting... they'd spent most of their childhood together flarping as pirates, building ships, finding treasure, taking names and kicking ass. As mermaid parts were sent flying about her in grotesque fashion, she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty that she was here having the pirate-fun-life while Terezi was back at the meteor, left to deal with Gamzee.
Artemis
Camelot Castle - Dining Hall
"Fine then. Play idly by like the coward I presumed you would be, and allow myself, a lady, to deal with the immediate threat with extreme prejudice." Artemis replied coolly to JoJo, though her voice had traces of venom behind her words. With that, she leaped out of the hole in the wall, drawing back another arrow, plummeting to the ground, aiming at the symbiote, which was in the process of standing back up. She let loose the arrow, but Venom was already moving, leaving the streak of light to graze his back, opening up a wound that was quickly sealed by the inky goop.
Artemis landed on the ground, and swung her bow at Venom, hitting her mark- problem was, Venom clung to it, snarling as he used it to yank her to him, opening hit maw wide-
"HAHAHAHA!"
They were interrupted by a shirtless grey man with red markings all over his form, leaping onto Venom's back, wielding two blades and rapidly plunging them into the symbiote's back, forcing it to shriek and let go of Artemis, who stumbled back, quickly regaining her footing while the enemy reached for the man clinging onto its back, stabbing away. "HAHAHA RHAAAAGH!" The man laughed, clearly enjoying this as though it were some kind of game to him as Artemis stared, momentarily dumb-founded, blinking several times in slight disbelief. The fool...
Darth Vader
Atlantic Ocean
He could already hear his master, belittling him for the turn-out of this fight. "You are weak, Lord Vader. Anakin Skywalker was strong. You are simply a shadow of your former self. Nothing compared to what you should have been. Now, merely a disappointment."
Vader grit his teeth, calling upon the force, and just as he hit the surface of the water, he stopped with a crack echoing through the air. Standing back up, he looked upwards at the hedgehog, glaring, turning his rage from his hate of Kenobi...
To his hate of Palpatine.
Wordlessly, Darth Vader swiped his fist, and Sonic was slammed down- hard -into his floor of air he'd generated, breaking it and beginning to hurtle to the water. Before he could conjure up a counter, he slammed into another barrier, harder than before, this one made of the force as Vader lifted into the air, pulling even more of the force into him. The swirling clouds above began to revolve and move downward around Vader, starting to crackle with electricity, the waves of the ocean picking up, sloshing about more violently. The air began to feel heavy as Vader held Sonic in place.
"Your annoyance comes to an end, your highness." Vader said loudly and mockingly. "I take pleasure in destroying you." With that, still holding Sonic firmly in place in the air, almost as though he were boxed in by the force, a huge bolt of lightning, directed out of the cloud by the force, flashed right toward Sonic as the Sith ignited his saber once more. He wouldn't be satisfied until the King's head was detached from his body.
The lightning struck, forcing an echoing boom to bounce off the ocean for miles, Vader walking through the air, heading right for the cloud of smoke the lightning had brought up from the strike, Sonic presumably in the center of it. "You've left your castle defenseless. Your kingdom helpless. When I'm finished with you, I will destroy everything you love."
Rick Grimes
Far East - Fenrir Base
"Better." Rick answered, biting his cheek for a second. "I was just... exhausted. Got impaled with rebar, lost a lot of blood, wound up in a universe where my existence is supposed to fictional, got infused with an Aragami, strained myself in a simulation... it's been a rough week." He finished with a light-hearted chuckle. "All things considered, I'm grateful to be here. Alive. Able to help. It's a lot different than what I'm..." He paused. "Used to..." He glanced over to the nightstand, where his letters to his family sat. He already missed them so much... Michonne, the woman he'd fallen in love with. They'd even tried for a baby just a day before all of... this. Judith, his sweet daughter. She was growing up so fast. He had a lot of hope for her future. Daryl, his best friend. Brother, even. The man who'd been with him every step of the way on this entire journey- until now. And Carl. Already dead, but maybe... maybe through all of this cosmic whatever... Carl could come back.
Rick had been thinking a lot about it. He wasn't supposed to be real in this universe. His life was a television show. A source of entertainment for a world that even these people had left behind. He'd probably have to look in on that television show, see if everything was even accurate. It made Rick extremely curious, to say the least. However, he had to worry about the possible resurrection of Carl and watching a show about himself later. Right now, he'd already ingrained himself into the community of Fenrir. He had a job to do.
"I'm ready to get back to it when I can." Rick told Lenka, rubbing his own forearm absent-mindedly.
Logan
Goldenwalk - Business District
Before Logan could say a word of response to Toph, or make any decision, the Spider-Kid was off, speaking fast as he leaped away toward the building. "Did he just call me Mr. Claw Dude?" Logan asked nobody in particular, watching the building, seeing a section of it collapse. If that damn kid got himself trapped in there, too...
However, to Logan's... relief? He wasn't sure, but the kid came back, waving off the small group of people he'd saved as they ran off, before zipping himself over to Logan and the others.
"So how'd I do?"
Toph offered her positive reply, stating she felt all of it. So clearly the kid, 'web-head' as Toph just nicknamed him, had done some good. "Couldn't see any of it." He stated simply to Spider-Man. "Come on, we need to keep moving. If we can find the group of people we were with earlier, we can..." He wasn't sure what they could do, so he didn't bother finishing his sentence, leaving it open-ended. With that, he continued to walk, the familiar limp in his step as he went.
Truth be told, the Wolverine was feeling weaker than usual. He knew some of it had to do with that damned motorcycle that had hit him earlier. His rips were still recovering from that, but much more slowly than if he were just a decade younger. He knew the adamantium was slowly killing him. That much was fact. How long he had? He didn't know. Maybe he'd never make it back to his own world in time. He wouldn't get to say bye to Charles. Maybe even if he got back before his own death, Chuck would already be gone...
There were too many variables and not enough time. Besides, Logan wasn't fond of all this in-depth thinking. It just gave him headaches.
Agent Carolina
Medina - Saudi Arabia (Earth)
It was quiet. Too quiet... "Something's not right." Church said. "No shit. They're just zombies, they can't make... tactical ambushes or something, right?" She asked. "Don't ask me. In case you didn't remember, I haven't done my research on the flood. I thought we'd be watching some classic 90's action film, but no, now we're in the goddamn apocalypse if it had a deformed child with A Nightmare On Elm-"
"Shut up, Church."
"No, I'm not done ranting. I've been waiting for this. See, I-"
"I said; shut the fuck up, Church." Carolina hissed as she raised an arm, her fist closed. The entire squad slowed to a stop about her, all aiming here and there. It continued to be quiet. "Wait, did I miss something?" Church asked. Carolina didn't reply, looking about, before hearing it again. A distant voice. Deep and gruff-like... not too different from those hairy aliens called 'Brutes' earlier in the Arabian mountains.
"Survivors, ma'am?" The Marine beside her asked, looking to her for direction. She glanced back, and noticed that all their eyes were on her. She faltered, not having expected this, and her voice caught in her throat. She wasn't used to this. Not at all. Sure, she liked to be the center of attention, but these guys weren't looking to her for something cool she'd just performed. They were looking to her for instruction.
They looked to her for a leader, something she wasn't comfortable with, really. Back with Project Freelancer, she'd been somewhat of a leader, but she and all the other agents operated on their own terms for the most part. This was way different. Looking into each of their faces, she could see more than that waiting face for an order... they looked scared shitless.
Carolina sighed. Sometimes it was easy to forget that people like this weren't just disposable, but they had thoughts, emotions, histories, and families, just like her. "Uh... Earth to Carolina?" Church's voice cut into her thoughts, and she blinked, seeing that the Marines appeared confused now. All remained silent. "Fan out." She ordered. "Keep an eye on your motion trackers. Johnson said the Flood are smarter than your average undead. They could be luring us into a trap. Might be civilians, might not. Surround the area. If things go south, you'll give me cover fire."
"Yes, ma'am." The Australian Marine beside her gave a nod, and started to move out. "Hey, wait." She said to him, unable to stop herself. These guys would probably die anyway, no need to get attached... but it wouldn't hurt to at least know a name. "What's your name?" She asked. "I'm just a Marine, ma'am. We're all numbers in the end." He replied, and continued on with the rest of the Marines.
Miranda Keyes, Rebium
UNSC Horizon - Orbit (Reach)
"I need to return to my fleet." Rebium growled as Miranda fired down an infection form scuttling toward them. "There's no time. We need to find an evacuation pod and get to the surface of the plane-" She was cut off as Rebium roughly grabbed her arm, yanking her about to face him, putting his massive face in hers, growling aggressively. "We will go to your hangar and retreat to my ship, human."
Miranda stared back into his red eyes unblinkingly, her expression clearly showing fearlessness. "No." She stated, and Rebium snarled, pushing her away, causing her to slam into the wall as he stormed past her. "I'll leave you on this ship to rot, then." He told her darkly. "The parasite isn't picky about who they consume."
The Commander glared after Rebium, getting back to her feet and casting a look around for any potential flood threats. Upon seeing none, she started after Rebium, before stopping. He was heading straight toward the Horizon's briefing room, which was located right next to the barracks. There was bound to be most of the crew there, and they would be undoubtedly rotting flesh by now. She could easily go the other way, leave the Brute to his hotheaded fate, and escape the ship alone...
Shaking her head, she started after him. She'd made a deal. An alliance with the 'Banished' in order to put a stop to the Flood. This guy seemed like their leader, and if she let him die, there was no telling what his fleet would do. If they defeated the Flood and discovered Rebium was dead, they may turn against their new allies. That was something Miranda couldn't afford. "Rebium!" She called. "Hangar's this way. You're headed right for a nest of parasites."
Rebium stopped, turning to look at her. "Lead the way." He growled at her, not catching the lie about the hangar.
Cpl. Fisk, Fred, Linda, Kelly
Ruins of Quezon (Reach)
Mounds of rubble and glassed remains surrounded the group at each turn. They encountered no other survivors along the way, and the once-distant horde of flood had drawn closer and closer, clearly following the four. While Fisk felt fear gripping his gut, the Spartans didn't seem bothered in the slightest. They were quiet. Not just with their voices, but with their movements. They certainly didn't look it with all that clunky armor and size, but damn were they stealthy. A lot stealthier than the Marine, who's boots pounded on the ground with each step, his labored breaths accompanying them. They'd been running non-stop, and Fisk was wearing down. Leaping over rubble, weaving through ruins, and just general running would do that to anyone. Well, anybody but a Spartan, it would seem.
Finally, the Spartans made a stop, allowing Fisk to catch up and catch his breath. "What's our bearing?" Fred asked Kelly as she glanced behind them, before returning her attention to Fred. "Should be reaching the base, soon."
"Base?" Fisk huffed. "What... base...?" He had no idea there was a base in Quezon. He'd have known that. He'd grown up here. There was no military installation here. He decided to voice this. "Quezon doesn't have..." He paused, still breathing hard. "Any military presence."
"Not the UNSC." Linda replied simply. "ONI. Let's keep moving."
"ONI??" Fisk's eyes widened in surprise. He'd never had an encounter with ONI before. Barely knew a thing about them. Now they were headed to a secret ONI base?
"Roger." Fred replied to Linda, and once again, the group was off, headed for...
ONI Delta Station - Underground (Reach)
Alone, she stood in the cold chamber, her freezing, frozen fingers doing their best to type quickly away at a holographic keyboard. Mist hovered from her mouth as she worked in silence, the only sounds being occasional beeps from the device. So many Forerunner artifacts had been lost in this unpleasant war... and now, here, she had one of the last. Something that she felt was important. ONI HQ seemed to think otherwise, having inspected the device themselves, and deeming it worthless, storing it here, in the coldest vaults on Reach. The woman almost laughed at the fact she seemed to be spending more time in the freezing cold opposed to the scorched planet above. Her numb fingers continued their work, despite their physical protests for warmth. That wasn't a luxury she could grant them. Not yet. She'd almost passed the last firewall safeguarding the device. If she could just...
"There." She breathed, her voice shaking as the keyboard turned from a pale golden color to a vibrant green, indicating her success. The hard-light hologram disappeared as the wall in front of her seemed to move out slight, before hissing open. Inside sat the Forerunner artifact, apparently known as 'The Vitiate'. Familiar with basic human vocabulary, she knew that this could help those on the surface in some way against the parasitic entities that threatened their existence.
"You got it?"
Dr. Halsey turned her gaze from the Vitiate to a man who'd just entered the room. He was practically bald, with a few graying hairs along the sides of his head. Usually clean-shaven, he'd grown some rough stubble over the last couple of days. He wore full combat armor, and an MA5C Assault Rifle was clutched in his gloved hands. "The Vitiate is secure." She replied, carefully removing it from the wall and slinging a bag off of her shoulder. "What's it do, again?" The Marine asked. "What it does, Mendez, is impairs its target. Decreases the efficiency and quality of it. Or at least, that's what I'm lead to believe."
Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez cocked a lazy brow. "And it'll... what? Make the Flood get feelings? You're not givin' me a lot to work off of here." Halsey slung the bag back over her shoulder, the Vitiate tucked snugly inside. "All you need to do is escort me back to the surface labs so I can figure out how to activate the Vitiate." She stated. "Try not to get us killed."
"Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am." The CPO replied with a hint of a chuckle. "I'll take point."
Halsey followed Mendez out of the room, pulling her gloves from her coat pockets and slipping them back on, having had to remove them for optimal performance in cracking into the vault. She brushed a strand of silver hair out of her face. Halsey may have seen better years, but despite her age, she was still a beautiful woman. Smooth features, slender body, cold yet attractive eyes, she'd grown used to the stares of men and women around her throughout her life. Most of those people were dead now. Not that it much mattered to her, in the end.
Her thoughts lingered on the possibility of her actually being able to crack open this Forerunner device and utilize it. ONI had called in seventy different experts on the matter, all of which had failed. She'd refused the call initially due to her work with the Spartans and with Cortana, but now, it was her top priority.
"Not sure how you'll activate that, all things considered." Mendez stated ahead of her, almost as though he'd read her mind. They'd spent so much time together over the years, that Halsey was sure he could, in a manner of speaking. He knew her better than almost anyone. Even Jacob, and her own daughter. Halsey shifted her gaze from the hall before them to the back of the Marine's head. "ONI failed in many places, Chief. Except where I was involved." She told him, though she spoke confidence, she wasn't really feeling it. It'd be a miracle if she could manage to use this thing before the Flood overran the planet. To top it all off, she'd only just recently gotten word from the fleet that one of the few people Halsey cared about was in the thick of it all. Her daughter. If this could save her, then she'd go to any lengths to ensure she did.
No matter the cost.
Underground - The Last Corridor
"what an awful day outside... monsters dying... flowers fading... it's days like these when little bitches like you..."
The monster stopped speaking, opening his eyes to look at the dust-covered child in front of him. "Should be-"
He never got to finish his sentence, a black tendril suddenly shooting up from the ground behind him, impaling him through, carefully avoiding his SOUL.
"i..." He struggled to speak, looking down at his fatal wound, before his body faded away, turning into dust, leaving his SOUL hanging in the air. Frisk stared at the black tendril that hung there for a moment, before it suddenly began to twist and form, rising into a tall figure, revealing itself to be someone... familiar, but completely unknown.
Gaster grabbed the SOUL of the annoyingly edgy Sans, attempting to absorb it... but failing. He tried again, but to no avail. "Alternate Universe Underfell a failure as well..." He muttered to himself, crushing the SOUL in his hand. He'd been hoping he could bring his SOUL closer to completion by using another Sans, but this didn't seem to be the case. The voice in his head was correct. The only way to get his SOUL to it's fullest potential was to kill the same Sans and Papyrus that he'd created, not some alternate versions of them.
He glanced over at the child, who stared at him quizzically, unsure of what to do. "Don't mind me." He told her. "Continue with your useless genocide. It won't get you anything, nor anywhere. An endless cycle of torment, loss, and pain. Of course, this particular world is fond of that idea." With that, he faded, his body temporarily glitching as he did so.
"You should trust me more."
"I had to be certain. Despite everything, I still hold a..."
"A what?"
"A fondness for my- er, my experiments."
"Your sons."
"If you wish to use that terminology, then so be it."
"You know what must be done."
"I know. Just give me time."
"I won't give you much."
Gaster looked about at the panels of screens around him, floating aimlessly through the void. Each showed particular events transpiring here or there. Neither Sans nor Papyrus seemed to be in any particular danger for the time being. This was good. If they were killed and he was unable to complete his SOUL. Sans appeared to be napping at a hot dog stand while Papyrus chatted animatedly with Undyne and Freezer on Olympus II. Gaster made a mental note that he'd need to visit there soon... set things straight with Z.
"heya."
Gaster turned slightly, looking back towards a short figure. "Hello, Sans." He replied monotonously. "It's been quite a long time since I've seen you here." Sans shrugged, looking about at the panels. "i know." He stated. "just took a nap and figured... i should figure out why you're doing what you're doing."
"What do you think I'm doing?" The Doctor asked. Sans looked down into the inky blackness for a moment. "i think you're trying to come back. i think you're planning on taking the fragments of your SOUL back from paps and me. i mean, it was always bound to happen eventually, right?" Gaster's twisted grin seemed to curl upward into more of what seemed to be a genuine smile. "Always the intelligent one." He stated. "What you lacked in brawn, you made up for in brains." Sans chuckled. "ironic, considering i'm a skeleton."
"My SOUL nears completion. I'm putting off my pursuit of you and your brother, but not for much longer." He told his 'son'. "I will kill you and take back what I once gave you. Life."
"no you won't." Sans replied, staring back at Gaster. "you're not strong enough for that. besides, you know there's things bigger than either of us at play here. z, scratch, zeliyis, even more either of us know anything about..." The Doctor scowled. "When I complete myself, none of them will stand a chance."
"just sayin'." Sans shrugged. "i should go now. bein' here, even in the sub-conscious is gonna start tearing my mentality into shreds soon. i'd rather a'void' that." He smirked. "people will need me, whether they realize it or not. it's my job to be there for them."
And with that, the skeleton monster faded. Gaster stared at the spot for a moment, before turning back to a particular screen, showing Sans walking away from a hot dog stand. "My life's work..." He muttered to himself. "Despite the mind I've given you, you're still so very very naive."
