Jack arrived a moment after Sihana. He dropped the scythe and his cape, and approached Nightshade with Silver's swords. "Something about Vulkendov wanting you to have them." He placed the belt on the ground in front of her. "I'm going to assume you know what this means so I don't have to actually say it." He backed away from her and approached Venquis. "So they finally did you in? I honestly expected them to do this to you sooner..." Tricorna stood between Venquis and Obsidian, looking at the former with worried eyes. Obsidian looked around the group, holding his breath over everyone's reactions. Mainly watching Celestia to make sure she did nothing.
"Vulkendov? No..." Nightshade took her father's Blades of Tartarus, and tried not to cry. Vulkendov, Draconic for Dark Warrior, was Silver's true name. The Dragons believed that names held great power, and to let another know their true name was the same as giving them a piece of their soul. He would not have told Jack his name, unless it didn't matter anymore. "He's gone... and he's not going to let me bring him back."
Venquis, now known by his god name Tyberthia, looked saddened as he watched Nightshade on the brink of tears. While not feeling much emotion, he could still feel pain in the area around him and his group. He could tell that his wife was clearly worried about him, and what he had become now. He was a Divine now, one of the powerful Ryborian Nine Divines, and Sihana had made him join her group. Still, Jack made an excellent point. His ascension was bound to happen, it was still so sudden to him. He sighed deeply as he looked at the two princess ahead of him, disappointed.
"So, since parent deaths, and god-ing are over, how about... we get a move on, what with the three remaining super-beings ready to own our collective butt." Jack loudly stated. "We have two princesses. Two gods. All the powers of our dearly departed. A force of nature. A tackle-heavy super-gal. Miss fourth-wall breaker... am I missing anyone? No? Good, let's get this moving. We have a war to win, and a universe to save." He walked to the center of the group and he blinked, and upon opening his eyes they glowed green rather than purple. "I hate to rush this, with all this important information all at once, but... I cannot disagree. The longer we wait, the less chance we stand." Obsidian said bluntly. "You two have no class! Give her time to cope with her father!" Tricorna yelled at them.
"I appreciate the concern, Tricorna, but they're right. He's dead, but we're not." She glared at at spot just above Celestia's head, and snarled. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face, 'Master.' With Plague dead, the demons are retreating back to Tartarus. Without the demons guiding them, the undead are left as nothing more than mindless husks. It's over! You lost! All that's left now is to finish the job."
There was a silence across the room as The Master just smiled, Nightshade being the only one that can see him. He just looked at her, smiling. Then he spoke, his voice echoing in the minds of all of those in the room, the first time he has truly spoken to his enemy in a dry baritone voice. "I will see all of you soon. Bring everyone..." Then, he vanished entirely from the mortal realm. --------------------------------------------------------------- Midnight, who had just arrived on the steps of the palace had just heard the words of his enemy echo in his head. He was happy, but he still had work to be done. He needed to take the captured and tortured souls of Crimson and Ocean from Tartarus, and set them free. It was the least he could do. "I'll be back later, I have work that needs doing. I'll be back just before the final battle of the Master." Midnight replied before walking down the stairs, his body dissolving into strange purple feathers before vanishing entirely. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "We still have two other of the Master's spawn, this Sprint and Destroyer that needs to be dealt with. And the Master wants...everyone, there. I think I understand what he meant, any God or Demi God still alive that can be able to fight him. He is going to die, and all of the Gods in the Elder Realm and Tartarus shall escort him into eternal damnation." Venquis announced.
"The Destroyer... won't be a problem." Nightshade looked at the sky, thinking out loud. "He's not the type to be loyal to another, especially not to one that would presume to call himself 'Master.' I suspect he wants the Master dead as much as we do. He'll never be our ally, of course, but we might be able to use him to our advantage." Hope interrupted her. "He's an unpredictable psychopath, and you're talking about him like he's just another tool! Besides, we shouldn't be worrying about that yet. We need to focus on keeping the Princess... sorry, Princesses... safe."
Venquis only nodded in reply. "Agreed, the princesses must be kept safe. However, I cant help but imagine the sight of one of the Master's own...associate try and rip the life out of him. I could imagine that it would be quite a display to watch. Of course, we still have to deal with this being that calls himself, the Spirit." The newly inducted god looked over at the Princesses. "Now, what is our next step?"
Luna spoke without hesitation. "After all these years, I finally have my sister back. My real sister. I will not allow anything to take her away from me again. Find the Master. Destroy him. Put an end to this, so we may rebuild our world." Nightshade looked thoughtful. "He'll have fled to the Elder Realm. It won't be easy, but I believe Hemlock and Obsidian may be able to track him, even in that realm." Hope was hesitant, but nodded her agreement. "Holly's the best tracker. We should let her... wait... where's Holly?" The Timberwolf was gone. Nightshade shook her head sadly. "She's gone to the Everfree Forest to be with my father. Those two shared a deep bond. With Silver dead, Holly is soon to follow."
Meanwhile... The Elder Realm itself resembled a graveyard rather than the heaven it once was. The majestic buildings in many of its cities became nothing more than ruins. There were fires almost across the entire realm, and countless bodies of gods, demi-gods and innocent souls and protectors were slaughtered like animals. Not even the greatest of the Elder Realm's soldiers could face him. The White City, capital of the Elder Realm, never stood a chance. Only a handful were lucky enough to survive. The mortals were lucky enough to survive the onslaught, barely. In starting the apocalypse, he had pulled off the greatest practical joke in all of existence. A joke that he felt, was his greatest victory. He was en-route for “The world between worlds”. It was a gateway to the infinite amount of universes, and once he reached the center, it was the perfect vantage point to create his own army and conquer the limitless omniverse. He was the strongest being other than the Creators themselves and Nightshade, who was still nothing more than an annoyance. Now that his plan had backfired, he was making his final stand in that very location. It was him, against every-single god and demi-god in the current universe...maybe the omniverse if he was lucky.
"We're all clear then? Great. Off to the final battle, see you all there." With that, Jack's image swirled into a blue circle. His voice echoed from the other side. "Oh mama... I'd appreciate some speed here, I'm not alone." An image formed in the circle of the elder realm, focusing on Jack staring down a trio of unnatural creatures. The spirit floated behind the portal on the elder realm side, holding a note-pad and pen, drawing on the corners.
Venquis and Sihana both went through to the Elder Realm as they soon reappeared directly next to Jack, before finding the Elder Realm in ruins. Both of them looked around, not particularly surprised that he would have passed through. "He was obviously here, he must have made these creatures to speed things up and to distract us" Venquis replied while surveying the landscape of broken buildings, fire and corpses. "Many in the realm never stood a chance." "Good surveying, Tyberthia." Sihana adressed Venquis by his new god-name as she pulled out the Yukobanna, while Venquis took out Moonsaber as they both got into a stance. At the moment, it was them and Jack. Any of the others were soon to arrive and see the Master's welcoming gift. "I need to get used to that." Venquis smirked as they stood next to Jack. Whatever these creatures were, it outnumbered them.
The three creatures directly in front of them were heavily armored, and the one in the center yelled in a strange echoing sound, at which point many more of the creatures started to fly in from around the ravaged realm. They all appeared yellow in color, some covered in bladed armor, others weilding what appeared to be heavy cannons. The spirit smiled and snapped his fingers, and suddenly there was a massive decrease in gravity for Sihana, Venquis, and Jack. Jack quickly turned to the sound, seeing the spirit for just a second before his momentum carried him around in a full circle. "Ok, this is bull." Jack's entire body turned to heavy stone, and he dropped back to the ground. "If you want to break the rules, I'll make new ones! LETS GET THIS STARTED!" With that, he leapt towards the armored creatures. (I'm gonna have Obsidian come in after Ridley puts his first few characters in)
Nightshade appeared right above the Spirit, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Pardon me, but you dropped this earlier." Without waiting for him to respond, she placed a large, black, round bomb in his hands. The fuse burned quickly as Nightshade flew casually away. (That's right. I'm going full Looney Tunes with this fight.)
(Ridley, you know me so well.) Jack's front leg turned to lava, which he used almost like a whip against the creatures he separated out. Obsidian fluttered out of the portal with rapidly flitting wings. He quickly rose before realizing what was going on and changing how his wings moved to manipulate the almost non-existent gravity by using the air. He flew down to the creatures, spinning his bar and hurling it at one, for it to rebound into several others and return to him. The spirit looked at the bomb and almost laughed. "It's about time!" He threw the bomb up, and as it came down he was dressed as a baseball player. He smashed the bomb towards Nightshade with a baseball bat. "And it's outta here!"
Hope followed Obsidian out of the portal, with Hemlock close behind. Both warriors were quite surprised to find themselves floating in midair. They were even more surprised when they both sprouted wings; insectile for Hope, and a strange hybrid of bat and plant for Hemlock. Nightshade called to them, grinning. "Happy Hearth's Warming! Now go help Jack!" With her Champions prepared for battle, Nightshade turned her attention back to the Spirit. Unfortunately, the distraction had come at an unfortunate time, and she turned around in time for the bomb to explode in her face. Her vision obscured by black soot and her lungs filled with smoke, she nonetheless continued grinning as a comically large rocket appeared on her back, and she pulled a gigantic wooden mallet from out of thin air. "TennineeightsevensixfivefourthreetwooneLAUNCH!!!" The rocket ignited, and Nightshade flew at an astonishing speed towards the Spirit, poised to strike with her cartoonish weapon.
Sihana prepared herself as she looked over to Venquis, who had been busy preparing something of his own. They both looked at each other and nodded as the two of them watched Nightshade made contact with the Spiriy, watching their foe sail into the air towards their direction. Sihana appeared right behind the Spirit and kicked him vertically into the air at an astonishing speed. Venquis teleported directly above the Spirit, pulling out an enormous steel missile from the back of his pocket and slamming it downwards into the Spirit's torso that was followed by a huge explosion that would have sent the Spirit crashing down to earth. Venquis appeared perfectly fine, other then his mane now appearing as a mess.
"Now, now, it's rude to try and put on another show in the middle of the one you're already watching. Let's pause this so we can catch up on this." The spirit said from inside the explosion as it faded away. Venquis and Sihana found themselves immobile in the air. "How about you finish one crembrule, before starting a kiesh." He quickly started towards Nightshade's atttack, grabbing the hammer, and in a sweeping motion, turning it back around to strike the missle just above Nightshade, with Venquis still in the blast-radius. Everything seemed to slow down for a second before it exploded, and the spirit smiled and waved at Nightshade in the time. The spirit appeared casually on the ground, and dusted his shoulder off with his hand. "Ah... cartoons. Of course, everyone knows how action cartoons work. It cuts away to commercial just as the villain seems guarenteed victory, only to return and show the heroes surviving some way... Ah, ce la ve."
Nightshade shrugged. "Have it your way." Snapping her... wing-fingers? That can't be right... Anyway, you know how Pegasus wings look kind of like hands? Well, Nightshade snapped the part that looks like fingers. Seriously, what are those things? I thought that were supposed to be feathers, but I've seen the ponies use them as hands. Are there bones in those things? What's the deal... "Can we get back to the story now? I used my wings to make a snapping sound, and this showed up." [video=youtube;kgST63f6x88]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgST63f6x88[/video] While the commercial was running, Nightshade quickly placed hundreds of crates of dynamite, fireworks, and every other explosive that she could think of all around the Spirit. The instant the commercial ended, she whistled to get his attention, and pushed the plunger.
"What was that?" Venquis said, slightly confused about what had just happened and slightly on fire after the explosion that occurred earlier was in his radius. "That was just a human commercial. Human toys are fascinating yet strange as you could have seen. That was a multi-coloured goo that human children can shape and carve into any form. One of those kids used it as a balloon." "Gak" Venquis replied. "Never heard of that one before..." He then was able to move once more and quickly went over to Sihana and tapped her on the shoulder, allowing her to move again and have their mobility return to them. Just as the two of them got their speed back, their attention was turned to the unnatural creatures below them as they tried to attack. All of them were swiftly cut down by the two Ryborian gods. Now, their full attention was turned to the Spirit.
