L
Lissamel
Guest
Dead.
Roman Torchwick was dead and the first thing you lose when you die, was your illusions. He pondered briefly that little bit, blinking once as he stared into the black void he was now- Wait.
He sat up.
Perhaps it was some ectoplasmic memory or what have you, but he felt he had a body. He could breath. He was alive!
"No, not really. The fact is, you cheated your old master, are attempting to cheat your second and currently double-crossed your third which means here you are. You can't go into the Afterlife set aside by the frame of the Murder Game due to it- Which is a pity, they're having a great concert right now. So you're stuck here. But don't despair! Light?"
A lighter flicked and revealed a grinning face that had Roman's heart skip a beat, though not for conventional reasons.
"You look pale Roman. Why is that? We've never met before, have we?"
Roman looked like he saw a ghost, before he looked away. Reaching in his jacket for a cigar, he went through the ceremonial cutting and lighting and it seemed to calm his nerves. A moment later, his voice was steady.
"Yes we have. Once when I was four, I saw you looking at me. Then again, at that heist when I was working under- Damn, forgot his name." He puffed away at his cigar before speaking thoughtfully.
"So. This is it? Gonna take me down to fire and brimstone and all that jazz? I was a crook- I lied and I robbed and I took everything people had to give."
"Lets not forget your violence and attempted murder. I don't judge, Roman. Where would I be if I did anything of the sort?"
She stood from where she sat next to him, humming quietly as she stretched before she added casually.
"Not that you aren't a slimy creep by any sense of the word, but...There is something. Madara was right when he spoke to you. You make a wonderful thief. But you make a terrible killer. Why do you think that is?"
Roman snorted, rising up to his feet as well as he leaned on his cane. Flatly, he spoke.
"If this is some kind of bullshit about how I'm just a broken soul in need of loving, I think I'd rather take the fire and brimstone. I am what I am- I'm certainly not going to pay any therapist to tell ME that."
"Yes, you were a wonderful crook. You've light fingers and a twisted mind and where one sees a path, you see hundreds. Its a rare talent and one quite...Amusing in its way. Sometimes the world needs a corkscrew rather then a sword. Like this one."
The darkness faded and they walked in between the frozen image of the battlefield. Bill Cipher looming as large as life, with explosions like frozen flowers of fire radiating around. Death smiled and looked up. Almost to herself, she spoke.
"Arrogant little twit, he was. He didn't think it was possible to be out-conned by anyone. Yet here he is. His traitors have abandoned him, the only one who did so voluntarily put him in a corner and if he loses today? He has some stockholders who are not going to be happy with him. Why did you do it?"
She turned to see Roman glancing casually around the battlefield and hid a smile before adding.
"They're mostly safe...But that's up to them. They choose to fight and really, are you surprised? You know something about heroes, don't you?"
Roman frowned and turned to face her.
"Yes, its that heroes don't exist. Now I don't like these people....Morons and idiots and everything in between. But they don't deserve Bill either. Or anyone else who thinks they can lord it over anyone else. Now I was a great thief. I stole jewels, I stole cash and I stole cars, everything that wasn't nailed down! But I am absolute trash compared to people like Bill. I steal goods but him and everyone like him? They steal peoples lives. I went with the flow once, thinking to survive. And after seeing it repeat a second time? And a third? Only so much a man could take you know!"
Death stared with intrigue on her open features before she smiled.
"You are a creepy, strange and twisted little man Roman Torchwick. But you know the funny thing?"
"At any rate, you have a choice. Stay and mope and eventually get taken...Elsewhere. Or you can do what you do best."
Roman blinked in confusion.
"....Do what best, exactly?"
Death smiled broadly as their environment began to fade around them and her with it, her smile last to go.
"You're a thief, aren't you? Rob someone blind."
And Roman returned to darkness, feeling very small and isolated as he stared where his feet would be, the light of his cigar the only illumination. For a moment, the puff of smoke would be the only noise...And then Roman dropped the cigar, grinding it under foot. Well then. What did he know? He was dead, yes....Technically. The afterlife was banned as was the waking world. Which left him....Where? He didn't know rightly for sure. But he was sent here by power and perhaps there was a way back. A thread of thought, so crooked it would baffle a truly decent mind due to its depravity and lies upon lies.
Roman smiled.
Aha....
-------------------
Bill battered away the attempts to use the broken weapons from the gate against him, his green hue telling volumes of what power he was drawing on now as he roared and fought back. The area was a warzone now and he had to regenerate his eye three times.
Did they have any idea how much it took to regenerate that?!
Well, he was mad. And a look in the afterlife showed that the band battle was still in question. Good. Once he finished here, then he could- Wait.
On a mental sphere somewhere, a globe shattered. And another....
And another and another, followed by yet another more. And Bill's eye would flick frantically from one emblem to another, realizing they were being smashed to bits.
Powers stolen, returning to their owners as were equipment and everything else in between Bill had thought to take for himself.
"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOONMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Arms like the Hydra sprouted from Bill's person as he began to smash all around him and catch everyone in it.
"NOOOOO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!!!"
@Hospes @Atomyk @Gummi Bunnies @DapperDogman @Yun Lee @Crow @Verite @Crimson Spartan @Jeremi @Nater Taters @Lissamel @Raven @Archmage Jeremiah @Gwazi Magnum @Takumi @C.T. @Everyone in the Bill Cipher fight
Ford had avoided the fighting so far, instead risking his neck to grab the unconscious Lalonde and pull her away from danger. The reset pulled him back a bit, but the opening of the portal the second time around gave him the distraction he needed to pull the woman toward the relative safety of the shack. "Bill...! I should have known better! Thought I had things under control, but he's a crafty one..." Ford looked down at Lalonde, the woman sleeping soundly in his arms. Her skin was still a sickly pale tone, evidently still infected with the virus she had refused to give many details on before. Well, details that Bill had refused to give. There was a high probability that Lalonde had become possessed by Bill during her time in between dimensions, allowing the demon to come to the physical realm and concoct this plan.
To think that Ford had been assisting Bill all along with his work on the portal... that he had never truly known the real Lalonde to begin with. It made Ford's blood boil. Bill had used him for the last time. "Come on," he whispered to his valued assistant. "I have a plan."
***
Walls of fire erupted around the portal, Solas making a great effort to hold back the shadow creatures. Junko could feel the intense heat on her skin and her body was breaking out in sweat. She choked back tears and hugged herself in an effort to quell her intense shivering. She was the cause of everyone's misfortunes wherever she went. It was always the case, every time. If Makoto had once been the Ultimate Lucky Student, Junko was no doubt the Ultimate Unlucky Student.
She let out a shaky breath, head turning to face Koyomi as he approached her with resolution. Her mouth went agape at the sight of him when she realized he was here to help again, even after he'd forgotten their encounter moments ago. "You don't know..." she began to say, but found herself drifting off as she listened to the boy speak. She could feel his determination with every word he uttered, but in the end, he didn't know her situation. He didn't know all her friends were dead and missing; didn't know the horrors she'd faced what was was only a day ago for her. His words might as well have been hollow.
"I'm sorry, but I try! I am trying! But it's just too hard... this power has beaten me!"
She yelped when Koyomi took her arm, but didn't pull away. She looked into his eyes, feeling as if a lump was forming in her throat. "Faith in me... Believing in me..." Junko closed her eyes. She still felt like crying, but now it was for different reasons. This boy sounded too much like Makoto Naegi, before he had turned out to be consumed by despair. If there truly existed a universe where Makoto was just the simple boy she once knew, Junko knew these were the things he'd be telling her.
When she heard She-Hulk's encouragement, Junko let out a shaky laugh. "Right... I know... For once, people need me. I've..." Junko nodded her head, psyching herself up. "I've taken down some nasty bears, so this is nothing!"
Junko cried out and reached out with her right hand. The green streak of light erupted from her palm once again and slammed into the portal. This time, it hurt, and Junko's arm shook under the pressure. She grimaced at the feeling, thankful that she had Koyomi's physical support. "Come on... Come on, come on!"
With one last great cry, Junko closed her hand into the fist and closed the portal. She quickly drew her hand back and held it close to her chest, wincing as it continued to flash green. "I'm sorry for being weak. Thank you."
***
As everyone's powers began to reawaken, Dipper cried out when he found something in his possession starting to glow. He pulled out the gem he'd found in the forest, marveling at the fact it was now glowing. When it began to glow even brighter, Dipper found himself blinded and forced to drop the stone. It then began to float in the air, the glow growing bigger and forming what appeared to be a humanoid shape. The characteristics of the shape shifted rapidly, eventually sticking to...
Pearl.
The Crystal Gem dropped to the ground, smiling as she pulled her spear from the gem at her forehead. "This is much better!" she happily exclaimed.
***
"Ehehe.... Hahahahaha..."
The face didn't need to be seen to take a guess just who it was that the laughter was originating from. But even so, it didn't take terribly long for the young woman to come into the group's field of vision. The odd thing was that she wasn't walking. Rather, she was levitating, seeming quite happy with her position in the sky. Oh, how absolutely liberating it was to be able to refrain from holding back her abilities!
Letting her absolutely giddy laughter slowly die down into nothing more than a little giggle, the woman finally spoke up, spreading her arms wide with a large grin as she did so to feel the breeze around her. Oh, this was wonderful! "Hehehe... Ahh, what a lovely little 'surprise' we've stumbled unto! Wouldn't you agree... Gideon?"
"...Help me," more or less whimpered this universe's Gideon, who looked absolutely terrified. Even from his position above all of the survivors alongside Mabel.
"Oh, don't be scared, darling~" Reverse Mabel cooed, even as stray weapons being fired off by Bill came their way. Gideon seemed worried that they'd hit them, but the weapons simply froze in the air mere feet away. At this, the female allowed herself another laugh. "Mabel will protect you~! ...And maybe rough you up a bit once she's alllll done."
"Sister, dear, shall we?" It appeared that Dipper had joined the two, as well, looking extremely bored. Either that, or he had a wonderful poker face. One thing was for sure, though - his sister messing with Gideon wasn't really amusing to him. His sister stifled her laughter enough to let a more subtle and collected grin form on her face. "Hehe... Of course, brother. I'd hate to keep our lovely little friends here waiting..." the brunette hummed, cheerfully.
Slowly, the weapons that had stopped mid-air began to circle around the Gleeful group in an almost hypnotically beautiful manner. But the beauty didn't exactly last - now the weapons were firing at the survivors in a very guided and controlled manner. Rather than being fired sporadically as Bill had used them, these were more comparable to heat-seeking missiles. Better take care of that new problem before it got out of hand.
***
It was then that Ford stepped out from the shack, flanked by the two Dipper clones. The trio held open the story book that Dipper and Spike had been trapped inside, its pages flapping wildly, picked up by the winds erupting from the fighting. "Hold on and don't let go! To let go could lead to disastrous results!"
The pages of the book began to glow, and lights started shooting out from the tome. These lights began to form people, scattering them about the battlefield. "All of you!" yelled Ford. "You were once trapped, but now we need your help! The fate of the universe depends on it!"
@Everyone
Reinforcements! Lovely. That was--Exactly what was needed, actually! Perhaps this battle could come to a timely conclusion after all. RGB smiled widely, looking up from his fight. As the opposing side's forces got in order, he adjusted his coat, starting to walk off towards the fray, towards the demon itself.
"Quite splendid! Now, let's end this disgusting little show, take it off the air--"
One should know better than to let their guard down in a battle with an angry demon. And one should definately know better than to walk closer. Bill Cipher and his many arms were smashing all around himself, making the ground tremble and shake.
One pound was all it took to knock him off his feet with a little yelp.
Another pound, in a slightly different place, was enough to crush him.
His screen went dark, his colors glitching and distorting. Some minions began to swarm, seeing him as an easy target once more. They could rip apart his hands and his feet, showing the nothingness below. Or maybe they could shatter his screen.
But it didn't take more than a second for a reaction.
His colors trembled, and then in one moment, shifted. His colors were muted. In fact, they weren't there at all. He grabbed his cane and, in one fluid movement, he stabbed one of the minions through the eye with the end of it. Other minions tried to scamper away, but working his cane as though it were some form of battle staff, he jumped to his feet and smacked and whacked and stabbed until they were all gone.
He was still the same telly-head, certainly. But he also wasn't. His colors were entirely dark, buzzing with what looked like television static. What was once a color-bar sort of mouth was replaced with an eye, an eye that dripped it's ink thickly. His entire color scheme was no longer vibrant hues, it was...
Black and white.
Black and white.
Black and white.
Negative.
There was always a reason RGB was the very worst monster, after all.
Sharply looking up, the monster fixed his eye on Bill Cipher, staring at him. He looked back at his staff, twirling it around. It would do. Anything would do.
That beast would regret it. Everyone would regret everything.
The monster nimbly slipped into the fray, unafraid.
[ @EVERYONE ]
"Quite splendid! Now, let's end this disgusting little show, take it off the air--"
One should know better than to let their guard down in a battle with an angry demon. And one should definately know better than to walk closer. Bill Cipher and his many arms were smashing all around himself, making the ground tremble and shake.
One pound was all it took to knock him off his feet with a little yelp.
Another pound, in a slightly different place, was enough to crush him.
His screen went dark, his colors glitching and distorting. Some minions began to swarm, seeing him as an easy target once more. They could rip apart his hands and his feet, showing the nothingness below. Or maybe they could shatter his screen.
But it didn't take more than a second for a reaction.
His colors trembled, and then in one moment, shifted. His colors were muted. In fact, they weren't there at all. He grabbed his cane and, in one fluid movement, he stabbed one of the minions through the eye with the end of it. Other minions tried to scamper away, but working his cane as though it were some form of battle staff, he jumped to his feet and smacked and whacked and stabbed until they were all gone.
He was still the same telly-head, certainly. But he also wasn't. His colors were entirely dark, buzzing with what looked like television static. What was once a color-bar sort of mouth was replaced with an eye, an eye that dripped it's ink thickly. His entire color scheme was no longer vibrant hues, it was...
Black and white.
Black and white.
Black and white.
Negative.
There was always a reason RGB was the very worst monster, after all.
Sharply looking up, the monster fixed his eye on Bill Cipher, staring at him. He looked back at his staff, twirling it around. It would do. Anything would do.
That beast would regret it. Everyone would regret everything.
The monster nimbly slipped into the fray, unafraid.
[ @EVERYONE ]
