The Evrensel Conflict -- Chapter 1: The Only Easy Day was Yesterday

Lincoln Campbell

" If I am going to be entirely honest with you, I have never formerly met my world's Spider-man, so I can't attest to what he is and I don't know if you met him. I guess we have less to look for if we have the shelter. Just scouting to see how far this demon invasion is going. I do know enough to know that he isn't an inhuman. If I remember correctly, the Shield files I read said you were bitten by a spider, correct?" He asked, while walking forward to see what they had to deal with.

@Agent_Puncake @BadJohn @AIM Leader Wade
 
"Well I mean.......... Okay, it did try killing us a few times, but he's just..... really naive, and maybe stupid, it's his natural instincts. You can't blame him for how he was create." Amy explained to Alistia, since maybe it was because of plot convenience, as the author really likes the WERE-CRAAAAAAAB that he wishes to keep it alive........... Oh wait, I'm breaking character-- I mean Amy is a gentle soul and doesn't like killing things........ Moving on.

When Alken asked his question to Peter, he was at curious curious for what he was going to ask, then his expression turned to confusion, as his mask for some reason allows his big white eyes to move. "What?" He said, before listening to the rest of Alken's explanation of him, letting Gaeira add in to the conversation. "Oh, nononono, I'm not a robot or some strange super-solider like you guys." He quickly took his mask off to show his face. "Real person, mutated body. I'm just a vigilante where I come from. Short answer to it, I got bit by a radioactive spider, and no, I don't have eight legs. Just wall crawling, a spider-sense, more strength, and I'm a really flexible guy...... That came out wrong, b-but you get the idea."

Putting his mask back on, he ended with, "I'm just looking to help people out as much as I can." And right now, everyone here needed help. "C'mon, let's get going."

As with Ash, if birdy wanted to help, then hell, why not. Alec and the other girls could handle themselves. "Alright, you take a look around the city from the skies too. If you find anyone, find Kingpin and the others while they're up in the sky, I don't want you going in alone. Let's move out!"

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Nightfall was coming. The sun had already set, with it's orange glow beginning to fade as the earth revolved. It was only a short time before it disappeared. The fires of the city were more visible now, and with it, a new scene of chaotic havoc could be viewed. Whatever this world was, perhaps there was no more room left in hell, so the dead simply returned to earth, with Satan and his armies to join. Maybe even rapture happened, and whoever remained were slowly killed off in the coming conflict, and this city was the aftermath of a battle between two armies. One of light, and one of dark.

A sense of melancholy was all that remained in the ruins. With one though, it was lovely scenery. What those on the planet were unaware of, the planet was being guarded. They couldn't see them, but above in the atmosphere, hidden by darkness, where ships. They laid in orbit, ever watchful. The planet was a prison. Made to house the most powerful, and important people in all the multiverse. If they died, so be it. They were at least out of the way, unless their importance was needed.

Aboard the many ships was a being keeping a close eye over the two groups. There wasn't really any fun in having them play survivor, most of them were too powerful for the regular zombies and monsters. But, they held a serious threat to their operations. Should any wars begin, there would be a massive issue in power. They needed to stay here, and if one side of a war was too much for the other, then these 'heroes' would be placed there. Keep things even. Let both sides tire each other out. Then they could come in and wash away whatever mess remained.

Yet, even the groups captors were unaware of something. A small error that had unfortunately been missed, and the fix was too late. The being was quickly informed. "R here." He answered a call from someone.

"There's been an error."

"What kind?"

"Someone knows."

"Oh, really? Who?"

"We haven't yet identified who, but he's in the prison. We suspect he's hiding out in one of the groups."

"Doubtful. No one's really puzzled together what's happened. At most, they think they're there because some mystical force wants them to fix a demon invasion. I kinda wanted to actually make a hologram called 'Cosmos' to mess with them, but one of them is from '37, so I think they'd catch on....... Maybe, finding out when the 'World B' conflict happens is harder to find than anticipated--"

"He's been in the prison for four months now, and all prisoners are accounted for, and we believe Thibaud is the culprit."

"The French Foreign Legion lad? That's an odd person to find out we exist, I doubt he even realizes what we are."

"No loose ends. Send a team down to find and eliminate him."

"You sure I should? It's hell on earth, he can't go more than a year by now--"

"The Doctor is coming."

"...................... When?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

"In the next hour--"

"Why the hell did you involve him?!"

"M believes he can be of use."

"The hell he can, I'm bombing that planet as soon as he gets here!"

"You are ordered--"

"That's the goddamn error, not a Frenchmen!"

"YOU ARE ORDERED NOT TO KILL THOSE ON THE PLANET. The Doctor is to stay alive."

"............ Fine. I'll send in a squad. A very large squad. Anyone who gets in their way is dead, understood?"

"You will not hurt the doc--"

"HE WON'T BE TOUCHED. Place him on the other side of the planet, away from the squad. He can't be let anywhere near the groups......... Is he bringing his TARDIS?"

"............ It is to be removed from his presence once he arrives--"

"You fucking morons." He quickly hung up and looked back to the planet with an aggravated mind. Of all coincidences, they bring in the Doctor today of all days, just as he's informed someone knows who they are.​
 
"Look at all of this." Anta said in a low, awed whisper. "What could've done this short of the Red Legion?"

"Something more powerful." Kingpin muttered.

They've been flying around for quite a while now, occasionally having to duck low into between skyscrapers or outright kill the engine whenever Anta detected anything too big or too fast. However, a few hours later, all they could conclude is a) they haven't found anyone else, and b) something or someone is watching them. They don't know who or where or how, but they've been scanned more times than Anta was willing to admit, even with the City's newest shielding system installed on the jumpship.

Kingpin keyed a button and the door behind him slid open. "Are you still comfortable back there?" He asked without turning his head, his gaze fixated on the dials and in the sky beyond the windshield. The cargo hold behind him wasn't small, but it wasn't exactly accommodating, either - there was only half a dozen seats, and the various weapon, food and supply crates took up most of the empty space. The transmat system hummed quietly in the center of the ceiling, casting a soft blue glow over the cargo hold in addition to the dimmed lights above the seats.

"We have yet to find anyone." Anta announced. "We'll keep searching. In the mean time, help yourself to some field rations if you're hungry." She cast a light on one of the smaller, grey crates next to them. "We're also going to discuss what to do if we still don't find anything of interest until dawn, so..."
 
- Marcus Blackwood, Blood-Crazed Berserker, "Calm" - Searching for Food, w/ Ash Williams and Mitsuru Kirijo, Infernal City -

Alec had made a good call in Marcus's eyes, splitting the group as to cover more ground and find whatever they can to increase their chances of survival in this ruined, treacherous city landscape. However, he did not approve of the immediate bickering as to who would lead the search party Marcus was a part of, with the proven Ash Williams and a woman bearing a proper, tempered flair to her actions and words: Mitsuru Kirijo, the latter assuming command at first, but was superseded by Ash who felt himself more experienced.

"Mr. Williams...Ash. Let's not bicker about whom should lead this party, all right? If anything, I feel I've more experience with foul, unearthly creatures than either of you combined, but we can't solve the issue of leadership by stepping on each other's proverbial toes." Marcus began, shaking his head initially, then lightly gesturing to the other two as he spoke of them and then sighing. "Let's just concentrate on finding food to survive, rather than ordering each other around. We should watch each other's backs and not separate unless it is absolutely needed. No one should be alone in this terrible place." He finished, making a few suggestions, not orders, before gesturing to the area ahead of them and preparing to walk with them.


- The Doom Marine/Doom Slayer - In Search of Transport w/ Connor, Infernal City -

The Doom Marine nodded at Connor wordlessly, not having much of a problem with working with an android, though he could attest to some...less than pleasurable experiences with Samuel Hayden. Or, rather some terrible fucking experiences, while also bashing in some demonic skulls at the behest of said spineless android, but Connor wouldn't have to hear about any of it, so the Slayer followed wordlessly, though he gave some pause at the insistent usage of "Green Guy" to refer to him.

The cons of being a man of little words...if any at all. No one that lived knew if the Slayer ever opened his mouth, nor would they ever if things kept going the way they were. What things would he say, anyway? Who cares? The Doom Slayer simply cracked his knuckles in anticipation of whatever foes that might impede his and Connor's progress.

@AIM Leader Wade @LuckycoolHawk9 @Minerva
 
Flying once more Zenith scanned the streets below. She could see a metal horse after metal horse, all being crushed or damaged beyond repair. Some though were still rolling. That giant metal sandworm blazed through the city, following a pair of tracks. Mashing more of those horses out of the way before diving into a square cave. The city was so neat and organized. square blocks streets and buildings so perfectly square or rectangular it was unnatural. it was nothing like the villages back from home or even the castles. A single spire was already a hundred times larger than the biggest castles she had seen. Even the one that Xiao had made was nothing in comparison to this.

All of that alone was too much for the poor Thunderbird mind to handle but then there were things moving on the ground. ghouls of sorts crawling over vehicles even the occasional metal man pointed a gun at her but missed as she dove behind one or more of those spires. And always close by she had that giant steel dragon moving in strange patterns as its rider looked for something too. Having to dodge another plasma bolt Zenith Decided to stick a bit closer to the dragon and landed on its top. Her avian feet finding solid grip on a protrusion on the armor. At least riding this metal beast was easy. Even then from the top she hept looking down upon the streets, trying to find anything thats alive and isnt a ghoul or an iron man.
 
The searching was bleak, because guess what they could only see after a while? Mountain dew balloons from a parade........ No, more burned cities. Kingpin's group could see what laid beyond the city, where the forests used to be. It was nothing but charcoal remains, as if nuclear bombs went off for miles upon miles. Dead lands were the only things to see. The ground teams wouldn't have too much success either. While the food was scarce, vehicles seemed completely rusted to the point of unusable. In Ash's group, while searching for food in a local store, he happened to find a calendar in one of the offices. It was currently on May, with the year being 2022. When opening up some of the canned goods that were supposed to stay fresh, they'd find the food almost uneatable.

It seemed twenty years out of date. Out of curiosity, he grabbed a bottle of ketchup and opened it; trying to pour some onto his hand. It was a pain to get out, and it was hardened to a paste. The possibility was seemingly that this invasion happened decades ago, and survivors had either migrated away from the city, or died from the demons, or had become ones themselves. Calling on the radio, Ash contacted the other groups. "Alright, we should head back. We'll try again in the morning, but if we come up empty again, we're getting out of the city. Kingpin, drop of your buddies then come get us, we'll try making a signal--" Before Ash could finish, something peculiarity happened.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, back at the literal castle, it took a while for Amy to finish, but by the time she was done, the earth bender had successfully made the inside of the castle. There were rooms, floors, even rock beds for people to sleep on. Though, the decorations might've been a bit too much. Alec had been waiting outside, keeping guard of any dragons, demons, and the other groups to show up. "Alright, I'm done!" She shouted to Alec and Xiao, wanting to show them both her work. When they both got inside, Alec was taken aback by the sight.

She had made this:

M_C_Escher_-_Convex_And_Concave_dc58f67c-3919-4f6b-a08f-c029cef7d07f.jpg


"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh......" Alec wasn't sure what to say.

The earthbender was sweating perfidiously, trying to catch her breath by panting heavily. "What do you think?" She smiled, awaiting judgement. "I added pulleys so we can lift stuff up and down from each level, plus some more windows to help you keep watch."

"...... Why did you make an Escher painting?!" Alec asked aloud.

"Hm?"


"And why did you add all the weird people statues and lizards?"

"To give it aesthetic! It was really bland looking while I worked, so I thought I would incorporate more three-dimensional imagery in our fourth-dimensional view. It's more pleasing to the eye to see the symmetrical balance of the shapes, and it was really hard, because you have to really calculate it precisely so nothing is unbalanced or out of place--"

"Why did you add statues of people though!"

"Make it seem more lively!"

"They don't have any importance though!"

"They're so we don't feel so lonely at night!"

"It'll seem a lot creepier though!"

"Only if you're a child that believes statues come alive at night!"

"And why did you give the fucking crab a little house!" He pointed to a little dog house where the WERE-CRAAAAAAB!!!!..... Was taking a nape. Had a little roof over him and everything.

"He needed a place to sleep!"

Alec sighed. "Do we at least have doors for our rooms?"

"No."

"Then I want one."

"I can't make a door, that's beyond my abilities."

"Then can I at least have a giant bunk-bed, I'd like to stay away from the floor while I sleep."

"He can't go up the stairs!"


"You don't know that!"

"Alec, you're being really ridiculous."

"I'm sorry, a big crab tried attacking us several times today, and I have the wherewithal to realize it might do so again while we sleep, so excuse me for..... Amy?" When he looked away from the earthbender for a moment, she was gone. Looking around, the castle was empty. And when he turned back around, he noticed the scenery had changed drastically. Gone were the earth walls and creepy statues. The ground was now made of sand, and there was suddenly a blue sky turning to purple. Behind him was a small forest of trees, and in front was an ocean going out for miles on end. The sun was halfway set, and Alec tried covering his eyes.

Water splashed onto his feet, and he could feel it soaking through the metal and leather. It felt way too real to be an hallucination. "What the hell?.... Amy! Xiao!" He shouted out, looking around for them again. It was just him. The sun grew brighter as it set, and Alec couldn't help but look back, as it felt oddly pleasing to view. There was a strange sensation about it; comforting and settling. It made Alec relax, destressing his mind from the insanity he experienced today.

It was also the same thing Ash was viewing. As well everyone else. From Doom Marine, to Connor, to Spider-man, to Mitsuru, everyone suddenly disappeared from each other. They were alone on a small island, on a beach with warm sand under their feet, an everlasting ocean, and a view of the sun that seemed heartwarming to watch fade under. Calling to their missing compatriots seemed useless. They should simply enjoy the moment of peace and quiet. The sound of waves hitting the beach, the wind passing through their hair. Just sink to the ground, and let yourself sleep.

Alec did. He continued watching the sun, almost hypnotized by it. Everything was calm again. No world on fire, no demons, he was tranquil in this moment. He sat down, one leg bent towards his body, the other stretched out to the water. His mind was at ease, like falling asleep in bed. Time passed by, and the sun was soon to vanish, yet something in his mind tried to keep him focused on what was happening. Where did everyone go? How did he get here? Was he teleported again?

His answers would arrive bluntly. He was shoved from behind by something; a massive gust of wind, and fell head first into the water. His whole body was swallowed whole by the ocean, and he quickly stood up. Gasping for air and drenched, he looked around to see he was on the shore to the harbor right next to the castle. What the fuck just happened? Everyone trapped in the beach vision would also find themselves pushed forward, and snapped back into reality. Except they were still alone. Everyone was separated again.

And the ground was unnerving shaking. Like an earthquake was about to take place.​
 
"Guardian? Guardian! GUARDIAN!"

Kingpin shivered as he snapped back to reality. Exos can't really shiver, per se, but it was the closest thing to it that he's ever done. The serene scenery disappeared, leaving just him, Anta, and the dilapidated skyscrapers all around him. He looked around.

They were standing on the roof of an apartment building. Beside him was a small rooftop camp, long since abandoned by whatever inhabitants that previous lived here. Broken windows on the skyscraper around him were like mouths with jagged teeth, a million thralls turned in his direction. He could've sworn he saw someone pass by one of the windows, but it was probably just trash blown around by the wind.

"Where was I?" He asked his Ghost as he crouched to examine the campsite. "Where's the ship?"

"You sat still like a Vex Goblin." Anta replied. "I looked to the guys back in the hold and they were the same. Acting weird... well, no acting at all, they're just still. I looked back at you, then back to them, and they're gone. No green light, no portals, nothing." She scanned some remnants of a tent, and made a disgusted noise. "Filthy. The ship went down - almost went down. I transmatted you out before we crashed, and put the ship back on autopilot. We've got some minor scratches on the starboard thruster, but no real hardware damage."

The Titan nodded. "We need to find the others. Gun."

Anta materialized the SUROS Regime into his hands and off he went, jumping off the roof and activating his jump jets before hitting the ground. He began to move towards where the HUD's compass told him was the East, setting off at a small run. Anta dematerialized.

"What did you see?" She asked softly. Kingpin didn't stop moving.

"Felt like... somewhere. Not Earth. Not Mercury before Vex. I can't really tell." He admitted. "But there was water and sand and blue sky... and no Traveler." They were both silent for a minute after that.

"Do you think I can still resurrect you?" Anta asked suddenly.

"I still don't want to think about it." Kingpin said, and that was the end of the conversation.

=====================================================================================================================

"Whoa! Fuck me!" Marcus yelled as he fell over, landing on his chest in a pile of rubble. "Fuck. Cunts, all of..." He trailed off, as even he wasn't quite sure who to hurl the insult at.

Marcus grimaced as his internal systems heated up rapidly and the HUD blinked with messages and notifications, the augmentations' way of a silent scream of warning to him. Ontological effects residue was off the charts, so was the Hume readings on his Kant counter. He, for one, knows that what he just experienced was not just a hallucination - it was a temporal and spatial shift, dislocating him into another universe and relocating him back here.

Well, "here" is a strongly relative term. He didn't actually know where he was.

"Great." He complained as he activated his internal compass. Selecting an arbitrary position, he began to walk West, hoping to see at least someone around. As he walked, he pulled out his Gen2+ pistol instead of the conventional one - no point in subtlety now. Whatever just hit him - and quite possibly the others - might not be a targeted attack to some, but if Marcus knew one thing about dealing with the supernatural, it's to always assume someone is trying to fuck with you. It's saved his ass from the Foundation, the Cogwork Orthodox, and countless "wild" supernatural entities a bunch of times now, and he had no reason to suspect it would work any differently in a brand new universe.
 
Mitsuru had grabbed a can of soda from the shelf, tearing it from the twelve pack it was with. She inspected it, and opened it, its flatness confirming what Ash had found: The food was no good. She looked towards Ash. "Nothing good over here either." She said calmly. She kept her cool even in this situation because she had been through worse. She once again checked her Evoker and sword and prepared to leave.

You grabbed my hand
And we fell into it
Like a daydream
Or a fever


She was on a beach. A quiet one, a peaceful one.

"What?" Mitsuru said as she saw it. It was strange to be sure, to one minute be in a place like Tartarus, and then to be on a peaceful beach.

And then it was gone.

We woke up one morning and fell a little further down

I open up my wallet
And it's full of blood


She was back in the city, back in Red Tartarus. What had that been? A cognitive error? Something like Tartarus? Something else entirely like planar travel that had gotten her into this burning world in the first place?

She instinctively put her hand on her rapier and began to walk forward. She was cautious now. She didn't have anyone else to back her up. She didn't have SEES or the Shadow Operatives, or even the other people she had met in the tower to help her. She was temporarily on her own. She just had her weapons, her wits, and her Persona, Artemisia, to help her now.

She began heading down the street, between the buildings which appeared to be closing in. She kept her head up and eyes scanning the world.

She would get out of there if it was the last thing she did.​
 
Connor RK-800

Connor looked around the area. Where had everyone gone who he had been with? He wasn't certain, but he knew that it couldn't be any good. He had never felt more relieved that Kamski had made it so the androids could swim and survived different water temperatures and even swim to the surface. He would be snapped out of the beach vision and looked around. " I wonder what happened to everyone...." he said, going to see where everyone had gone. Hopefully, he could find someone, anyone that he recognized. Connor looked for friends and held his gun close, ready to shoot if he needed to, on edge for now....;. especially since he was alone at the moment.

Lincoln Campbell

Lincoln felt the snap and before he had a chance to process everything that happened, he would snap back into reality and back to the city. He noticed that everyone was gone and he checked his bag to make sure it was still on here. With the earthquake happening, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was happening and that it wasn't going to get better. " I need to stay focused....." he said, walking the streets, summoning his electric ball in his hand, on edge, not sure what to expect, but nothing that it wouldn't be anything good. There were things he couldn't be sure of, but he knew that it was better to be careful now... especially since he was alone.

@AIM Leader Wade
 
Alec rushed out of the water and back on shore, heading back to the castle. The Scotsman barely had a clue as to why he suddenly found himself on a beach, before starting to drown in water, but the shaking of the ground was worrying enough. Once he got inside, he shouted out, "Amy! Xiao!" No response. Not even the crab was in his little home. He checked up stairs, but still nothing, each room was empty. "AMY! XIAO!" Still no response. Alec even checked out the windows, seeing if he could see them from the high vantage point, but still nothing. He even checked his Omni-tool, trying to get back in contact with the others to let them know the two element benders were missing.

The moment he turned on the radio frequency, he was met with a sharp noise. A stinging and loud screech that was of deafening noise, like turning on a TV, only to find the volume was on the loudest setting possible. Forcing himself through the horrible noise, Alec tried switching frequencies, but it also ended up with the same piercing noise. "Shit!" He muttered to himself, turning off the tool. Everything seemed to be going wrong, as no contact with the others, Amy and Xiao were missing, and seemingly an earthquake was just about the start. Even as high as Alec was in the towers of the keep, he could see the vibrations under his feet. But it wasn't the only issue.

Far off into the distance, Alec noticed something odd. Beyond the buildings was something he could only describe as a 'wind wave.' There were strange reflective outlines between the buildings, like light shining off glass, but it looked distorted as if the glass was shattering. As it approached, the wave grew in size, and the distortion was evermore visible. The strange glass shattering he could see, it distorted the buildings it hit as if it was cutting them into tiny pieces of shards. Alec backed away from the window, but the wave came fast, and hit the keep.

The Scotsman was flown back across the room, hitting the wall hard. He fell to the floor and gripped his chest, having the wind knocked out of him, and feeling as though his body just experienced a thousand different cuts across his skin. It took him a few minutes to calm himself down, but once he regained breath, he removed his glove to check if he was harm. No damage to the skin though. Looking back outside,all the buildings were cut up anymore, though their windows were shattered to pieces. As if this needs saying, but something was definitely wrong.

Seems as thought the world was ending.

"Guardian? Guardian! GUARDIAN!"

Kingpin shivered as he snapped back to reality. Exos can't really shiver, per se, but it was the closest thing to it that he's ever done. The serene scenery disappeared, leaving just him, Anta, and the dilapidated skyscrapers all around him. He looked around.

They were standing on the roof of an apartment building. Beside him was a small rooftop camp, long since abandoned by whatever inhabitants that previous lived here. Broken windows on the skyscraper around him were like mouths with jagged teeth, a million thralls turned in his direction. He could've sworn he saw someone pass by one of the windows, but it was probably just trash blown around by the wind.

"Where was I?" He asked his Ghost as he crouched to examine the campsite. "Where's the ship?"

"You sat still like a Vex Goblin." Anta replied. "I looked to the guys back in the hold and they were the same. Acting weird... well, no acting at all, they're just still. I looked back at you, then back to them, and they're gone. No green light, no portals, nothing." She scanned some remnants of a tent, and made a disgusted noise. "Filthy. The ship went down - almost went down. I transmatted you out before we crashed, and put the ship back on autopilot. We've got some minor scratches on the starboard thruster, but no real hardware damage."

The Titan nodded. "We need to find the others. Gun."

Anta materialized the SUROS Regime into his hands and off he went, jumping off the roof and activating his jump jets before hitting the ground. He began to move towards where the HUD's compass told him was the East, setting off at a small run. Anta dematerialized.

"What did you see?" She asked softly. Kingpin didn't stop moving.

"Felt like... somewhere. Not Earth. Not Mercury before Vex. I can't really tell." He admitted. "But there was water and sand and blue sky... and no Traveler." They were both silent for a minute after that.

"Do you think I can still resurrect you?" Anta asked suddenly.

"I still don't want to think about it." Kingpin said, and that was the end of the conversation.

=====================================================================================================================

"Whoa! Fuck me!" Marcus yelled as he fell over, landing on his chest in a pile of rubble. "Fuck. Cunts, all of..." He trailed off, as even he wasn't quite sure who to hurl the insult at.

Marcus grimaced as his internal systems heated up rapidly and the HUD blinked with messages and notifications, the augmentations' way of a silent scream of warning to him. Ontological effects residue was off the charts, so was the Hume readings on his Kant counter. He, for one, knows that what he just experienced was not just a hallucination - it was a temporal and spatial shift, dislocating him into another universe and relocating him back here.

Well, "here" is a strongly relative term. He didn't actually know where he was.

"Great." He complained as he activated his internal compass. Selecting an arbitrary position, he began to walk West, hoping to see at least someone around. As he walked, he pulled out his Gen2+ pistol instead of the conventional one - no point in subtlety now. Whatever just hit him - and quite possibly the others - might not be a targeted attack to some, but if Marcus knew one thing about dealing with the supernatural, it's to always assume someone is trying to fuck with you. It's saved his ass from the Foundation, the Cogwork Orthodox, and countless "wild" supernatural entities a bunch of times now, and he had no reason to suspect it would work any differently in a brand new universe.

Kingpin's own troubles weren't as severe as Alec's......... Okay, that's a lie, it was actually worse. The wave that hit Alec approached them quickly, and when it hit, Kingpin and his ghost didn't have the luxury of a keep's wall to cushion their landing. Instead, the guardian was pushed off the building's roof by a massive gust of wind, falling backwards and bouncing off the wall of the neighboring building. He would land right atop a large dumpster, denting its metal lids, and suffering from the same feeling Alec did. his skin feeling as though he jumped into a pit filled with razors, though it was completely undamaged. The nerves in his body simply reacting negatively to whatever the wave that hit them was.

Didn't help matters that within said alleyway was a rather big problem. And I do mean big.​

pinky.jpg


Three Pinky's, who looked as staggered as Kingpin was, were looking right at the guardian. Seemed as though this alleyway was their little nest, as there were mutilated corpses and weird blob things surrounding the narrow alley. With a loud shout, all three charged at Kingpin, leaving him to either run the opposite direction where the roads were, or fight in an alleyway that was too narrow to fight in, with three Pinky's charging at him at full speed.

========================================================================================

Marcus had somehow ended up in the center of the city again, between each of the large skyscraper buildings. The streets were filled with possessed beings, looking as hungry as ever, and they were quick to notice Marcus walking about. As you might expect with zombies, some shouted over at him then shambled over to attack him. They weren't a large pack of them, but they were big enough in numbers to easily overwhelm him if he wasn't careful in his next action.

Of course, before that could happen, second verse, same as the first. Big wave, hit the street, and Marcus would go flying. This time he went soaring through the air quite a few feet, going a third of a football field, and landing right on top the good of a car; even crashing through the windshield and laying sideways between the driver's and passenger seats. Though luckily, he wasn't the only one affected by the wave. Glass shards from the skyscrapers fell across the streets, with shards big enough to cut a person in half. Most landed right atop the possessed, and the zombie creatures themselves seemed to focus less on Marcus, and more on themselves.

They were going crazy; eating and attacking each other, while shouting in horrible pain. The wave must've affected them somehow, but it gave Marcus the chance to run........ Then the fire dragon appeared again...... Yaaaaaay.

The creature was flying overhead on Marcus, blowing fire across the sky. It looked affected by the wave as well, as seemed confused and flew inconsistently; smashing into sides of the buildings. Before long, it flew over the street with Marcus and the possessed, and blew out fire that engulfed the whole street, burning the possessed into charcol, and it was quickly about to burn Marcus alive as well.

Mitsuru had grabbed a can of soda from the shelf, tearing it from the twelve pack it was with. She inspected it, and opened it, its flatness confirming what Ash had found: The food was no good. She looked towards Ash. "Nothing good over here either." She said calmly. She kept her cool even in this situation because she had been through worse. She once again checked her Evoker and sword and prepared to leave.

You grabbed my hand
And we fell into it
Like a daydream
Or a fever


She was on a beach. A quiet one, a peaceful one.

"What?" Mitsuru said as she saw it. It was strange to be sure, to one minute be in a place like Tartarus, and then to be on a peaceful beach.

And then it was gone.

We woke up one morning and fell a little further down

I open up my wallet
And it's full of blood


She was back in the city, back in Red Tartarus. What had that been? A cognitive error? Something like Tartarus? Something else entirely like planar travel that had gotten her into this burning world in the first place?

She instinctively put her hand on her rapier and began to walk forward. She was cautious now. She didn't have anyone else to back her up. She didn't have SEES or the Shadow Operatives, or even the other people she had met in the tower to help her. She was temporarily on her own. She just had her weapons, her wits, and her Persona, Artemisia, to help her now.

She began heading down the street, between the buildings which appeared to be closing in. She kept her head up and eyes scanning the world.

She would get out of there if it was the last thing she did.

Mitsuru's luck would be the best out of everyone's, the street she was on lead right to the 'Museum of Fine Arts.' So at least she could admire the finer things in life while the world ended in terrible fashion. Though admittedly, if she tried going inside through the front door, or tried passing the front door, they would suddenly burst open. A couple rather large enemies would appear, a few being Imps, some being possessed, but the rest were rather...... Unnerving.

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'Summoners' they were called. They flew around the street rapidly, screaming like they were in pain. The same with the other possessed and imps, they were all fighting each other, completely ignoring Mitsuru. Can you guess why? Off in the distance, there was that wave. When it hit Mitsuru and the other demons, they would all go flying in the air. Wherever Mitsuru landed, she would notice that the streets were suddenly cracked and uneven, and the ground shook even more intensely than before. The earthquake was starting now, and Mitsuru was right in the center of it.

The ground broke off into massive chunks, raising above Mitsuru, or lowering even further into the ground. If she didn't move now, she was sure to be crushed or sunk into the gronud like the others. Didn't help that the Imps, who were agile, and the Summoners, who could fly, took notice of the persona wielder, and quickly threw fire balls and hell energy waves at all. Top it all off, she would even see some lava beginning to bubble up to the surface. So there was that.

Connor RK-800

Connor looked around the area. Where had everyone gone who he had been with? He wasn't certain, but he knew that it couldn't be any good. He had never felt more relieved that Kamski had made it so the androids could swim and survived different water temperatures and even swim to the surface. He would be snapped out of the beach vision and looked around. " I wonder what happened to everyone...." he said, going to see where everyone had gone. Hopefully, he could find someone, anyone that he recognized. Connor looked for friends and held his gun close, ready to shoot if he needed to, on edge for now....;. especially since he was alone at the moment.

Lincoln Campbell

Lincoln felt the snap and before he had a chance to process everything that happened, he would snap back into reality and back to the city. He noticed that everyone was gone and he checked his bag to make sure it was still on here. With the earthquake happening, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was happening and that it wasn't going to get better. " I need to stay focused....." he said, walking the streets, summoning his electric ball in his hand, on edge, not sure what to expect, but nothing that it wouldn't be anything good. There were things he couldn't be sure of, but he knew that it was better to be careful now... especially since he was alone.

@AIM Leader Wade

Connor would find himself along the eastern coast of the city, in what seemed to be a little Italian town. It was still the large city, as the skyscrapers were far off in the distance, yet the buildings seemed smaller and more compact. The more buildings Connor passed, some had the Italian flag on them, like shops and restaurants, and the corners became more and more narrow to traverse. And, like with the others, that goddamn wave hit, and it hit the town hard. Connor would be thrown back so hard, he'd go through the wall of a building, ending up in a living room to someone's house.

The ground shook hard, and all these crashing noises surrounded the house. The wave did much more damage to the buildings here than uptown where the others were, as most couldn't handle it shaking their foundations so violently. Didn't help the building Connor was in was also collapsing. Plus, the earthquake hitting Mitsuru was also hitting Connor as well, as the ground was shifting up and down, with the buildings crashing against each other. The narrow alleyways were becoming death traps.

Lincoln probably got it the simplest out of everyone. As he was walking, minding his own business, keeping an eye out for enemies with a lightning ball, the moment he turned the corner, he was right next to this big guy:


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It quickly noticed Lincoln and tried to grab him head first. Thankfully the wave managed to save his life, as once it hit them, the creature's grip on him slipped away, and Lincoln would hit the pavement hard. He had a chance to run, since if he tried hitting it with his lightning, it wouldn't do much; bouncing off its skin like rubber. When it stood up, it roared at him, preparing to charge.​
 
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Kingpin turned tail and ran like hell.

"Anta!" He yelled. "Sleeper!"

A large, silvery-white linear fusion rifle appeared in Kingpin's hand. A second-and-half's charge is enough to deliver six devastating energy beams at whatever's in front of the barrel, powerful enough to pierce lots of materials and refracting off others.

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He activated his jump jets and shot upwards, using what little lift Titans could have to latch onto a small pipe. He planted his feet on the wall and pushed off again, activating his recharged jump jets and finally bringing the fusion rifle to bear.

He held the trigger as it charged, the high-pitched whine building higher and higher until the weapon fired at the lead Pinky, Solar energy packed into dense laser beams lancing towards the demon.

=======================================================================================================================

Marcus's cybernetics kicked into high gear as he pulled himself off the car, landed in his feet and began to run to the side.

There's no way I'm fighting that thing! He thought, even as he pulled out his Gen2+ pistol and readied combat subroutines. It's too big, too fast, too high up - all the advantages he couldn't possibly even hope to have. Plus, it's a fucking dragon. Fire and cyborg don't mix well.

He dashed towards a building and broke in through the front door, collapsing on the ground as his shoulder charge carried him through. He stood up, and looked around for anything that could help him - failing that, somewhere to run.
 
Alec had left the keep, dashing through the park and back into the street with lighting speed. "AMY! XIAO!" He shouted out to the two, hoping for some answer by them. The city was collapsing, as buildings fell, and the ground shakes only grew ever worse. Alec had never experienced an earthquake before, so the sensation of panic and fear of falling through the ground was a new one for him, but he didn't try letting the thought bother him. His mind was on finding the two earth benders. Everyone was lost and it was hard to contact them, as the radio was completely filled with deafening white noise. The only thing Alec could do was run. The earthquake was the only issue, however, as Alec ran, he noticed his skin begin to grow ever hotter, as if his armor was starting to burn him. It felt even worse with his head, as sunlight stung it intensely. The Scotsman quickly ran into the shadows of a building, ripping off some of his armor so it didn't sting him more.

Smoke was coming off it, burning away the paint set he had on it. He sweated profusely, trying to catch his breath, but even in the shadows, the air seemed way too hot, as if he was suddenly inside a steam room sauna. Alec couldn't stop though, he needed to push on. picking up his armor once it was fine to touch again, he continued his run, staying to the shadows as best he could so as not to be burned alive. He eventually came across a small excavation site, where he could hear gunshots go off. A shotgun by the sound of it. Quickly, Alec headed for that direction, coming across Ash fighting off a small group of demons that were trying to carve out his face. He was doing fine so far, using his chainsaw to cut them up, while being covered in blood, but the numbers were starting to get to him. There were Imps, possessed, and one Hell Knight. The Hell Knight was dazed and a bi bloodied, but not out, and Ash had chucked his gun to the side; having run out of ammo for it. Alec, because he is a smart lad, ran up to the large demon, with a metal object in his hand, jumped on its back and tried stabbing it in the head.

It didn't work, rather it just annoyed the knight, and tried grabbing for Alec, who kept on its back, even as it thrashed violently. Ash, noticing that Alec had done this from the corner of his eye, ducked a couple of Imp fire attacks, chopped one in half, and quickly sliced off the knights leg with his chainsaw while it didn't see him. The knight fell to his knees in pain, and Ash quickly shoved the saw into its throat, dousing Ash with its own blood as it sprayed out like water from a foset. Alec fell off it, looking exhausted. "Good job." Ash told him, reaching out his hand to grab Alec's. "Thanks." Alec replied, grabbing it and hoisting himself up. The other demons weren't done however, and when Ash grabbed for his chainsaw; shoving it out the knight's throat, he tried starting it up again. No such luck.

"Oh, now it runs out of gas." Alec remarked, going back to back with Ash. "At least I can still use its teeth when swinging it. How's that little stick gonna cut it?"

"This is not a good time to be arguing!" Alec shouted, as they had already done enough comedy shtick. The possessed slowly inched forwards more, while the Imps circled them like wolves. The two men looked about ready to be taken care off, when suddenly, the possessed went crazy on each other. Along with the imps. They just all started attacking one another, just like they had before with the others who were separated from the group. Alec and Ash looked at each other, seeing what was going down, and quickly began walking past them, as if they weren't there, like two students during class trying to find seats when they ran late. Ash quickly picked up his gun before they left.

The whole city was going insane, even more so than before. The sun grew ever hotter, more of those strange waves began to hit, the earthquake engulfed the city, all the demons went berserk on each other, IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AND NO ONE FEELS FINE! Somehow, Alec and Ash found themselves hiding inside an abandoned home, taking refuge from the sunlight, as it would burn away their skin. Both were drenched in sweat, and dehydrated from all fluid they were losing in their bodies.

They were trapped in the city to die in the most painful of ways. Alec looked ready to have a breakdown, but he was too exhausted to have one. Ash, meanwhile, was thinking over life choices, and how he wished he would've done things differently. Like trying his hand at a managerial role at the S-Mart. He never truly gave it a chance, but the pay would've been nice. "Hey," he tried getting Alec's attention. "Been nice meetin' ya."

"Really?" Alec asked, laying on the ground.

"...... No, not really." Ash admitted. "Just felt like saying it."

Alec looked annoyed from it, but stayed quiet and instead tried his radio one last time. The white noise was even worse than before, but he kept the volume low, and spoke into it anyway. "This is Alec Duggan of the U.S.S Glasgow. If anyone can hear this..... You aren't alone.......... Today is gonna be the day, That they're gonna throw it back to you. By now you should've somehow, Realized what you gotta do

I don't believe that anybody, Feels the way I do, about you now. Backbeat, the word was on the street, That the fire in your heart is out. I'm sure you've heard it all before, But you never really had a doubt

I don't believe that anybody, Feels the way I do about you now~

And all the roads we have to walk are winding~

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding~

There are many things that I, Would like to say to you but I don't know how.

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me~

And after all, you're my wonderwall--"

"Could you shut up? I'd like to die in peace before I'm crushed to death." Ash interrupted.

"I'M TRYING TO KEEP MYSELF FUCKIN' CALM, YOU EGOTISTIC CUNT!" Alec shouted out, the loudest he had ever sounded. Just as the two were about to begin arguing, because that's the best thing to do when about to die, a sound could be heard.


A shining bright light came in the center of the living room both were collapsed in, and slowly an image began to fade into existence. Of all things, it was a blue police box, and when it finally materialized into a solid object you couldn't see through, the door swung open, and a man in a purple suit with a brown coat popped on the other side of the open doorway. "You two Ash and Alec?" The man asked, looking down at them. Both nodded when they looked over to each other.

Another head popped through. "Amy!" Alec happily shouted.

"Alec!" She replied back. "Come on, we gotta go!" She waved both men in, and quickly they got up; both almost pushing each other out the way to get through the door first. When they did, guess what they saw on the inside?

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"Wha' the hell?" Alec muttered, with both he and Ash in stunned amazement by what they were seeing. "Yeah, yeah, keep the stunned amazement to a minimum, we aren't out the woods yet!" The man shouted, moving around his console. There were people inside who Alec didn't recognized, like Prophet, Dusk, and Arthur, while people like Marcus, the DOOM Marine, Lincoln, and Alistia were present. Even Trigger! "Trigger!" Alec yelled, giving the kid a hug. "Where the fuck did you go?!" He asked, confused by why the kid thought leaving was an excellent idea.

"Wait, where's everyone else?" Alec looked around for them, but not a sight of them.

"We couldn't find them in time." Amy said, with a rather sour tone to her voice. Xiao, Mitsuru, Spider-man, the other Marcus, Alicia, Connor, and Kingpin were still missing. The TARDIS suddenly shook though before any more words could be exchanged. "Oh nonononononoNO!" The man shouted moving around his console like crazy. "What's going on?!" Ash shouted.

"It's not the planet that's ending, it's the universe!"

"What?!" Amy, Alec and Ashed yelled in sync.

"Everybody hold on!!!" The TARDIS nearly flipped around upside down from how intense the shaking became, as it quickly flew off into space. Every star in the universe was beginning to enter its final stages of life faster than logic can explain, and the TARDIS was flying as fast as it could to escape certain death. "I have an idea for how to get out of here, but it'll drain up the TARDIS' power, if we do it, we may never see our home worlds again!" The man shouted, holding onto his console.

"DO IT!!!!!" Alec shouted, holding onto the railing with Amy. With the flip of a switch, the TARDIS went into overdrive, and with the snap of a finger, it was gone. The universe lit up into a massive ball of fire, and all life that it ever held was gone. Engulfed in the fires of a million stars dying in a domino effect of one destroying another.

They had escaped from their prison. But a new challenge awaited them. One older, and more powerful than they could believe.