Watch the Footage

Jacob pulls on the bowstring and hears the sweet sound of the twang that came from it. The arrow had fired correctly!

Yes!

Jacob saw the arrow as it moved towards the Magic-wielding girl, but apparently did not notice the tears from below that came up and pelted him in the face.

"Hey, what is this? Are you crying on me?"

Then, all of a sudden, the Magic-wielding girl turned her four orbs and started firing four beams of light at him, intent on their target.

Things were about to get nasty.

Um, dosomethingdosomethingGODDOSOMETHING

"Magic Wing: Wing Barrier!"

His wings started to fold up and protect Jacob from the laser beams by encasing him in a magical ring of light.

Wait, how am I flying?

When Jacob thought that, the gravity kicked in and started to make him fall, still trapped in the barrier.

WINGSINEEDYOULIKESUPERBADLYWHYAREN'TYOUWORKING

Jacob noticed that a giant cow was flying towards him, happily meaning it's own business, yet forced to move by magical means.

"Moo!" said the cow, rapidly approaching Jacob.

The ring around him finally went away, yet it now seemed that now was the wrong time for his wings to react and pop open.

"AH NO!"

Zoom! His wings gave him a rapid forward push, the air catching in his wings and pushing him away from the cow just in time.

Whew! That was close!

The cow that Jacob passed kept going forward towards the Magic-user and landed just past the magic user as she jumped high into the air. The cow, now hurt by the fall gave a very weak "Moo."


"What the hell was that?!" the girl yelled as she returned to the ground,frustrated. "Someone just threw a freakin' cow at me! Who even does that?! No, better question, who even invents a spell that does that?! What's even the point? Are you trying to make a joke, or something? Do you just not have any decent danmaku to break out, so you just throw a cow?"

Danmaku? Dafuq? Where I live, it's called magic.

"You want an attack spell? I'll give you an attack spell."

She then started to create a large light around herself and cause those star things around her to stop spinning while Finch landed on the ground.

"Love Sign: Master-"

OH NO NO- huh? She stopped! Why did she stop?!

Yes, the magic user stopped abruptly, as if she was cut off in the middle of her sentence. There was a black robed man who was much closer to the woman, much closer that Finch ever thought he could get to. Jacob then noticed a giant boom in the floor that sent him flying, a giant fire whirlpool that gave him a decent singing and then blades that fell from the ceiling.

FEATHERSHIELDNOW

Jacob pulled his Shield out and tried to stop the blades from piercing him alive, making him a Finch Kabob.

Maggy were hidden under the pile of bodies when she heard... A cow. She couldn't contain herself and peeked at it. She saw the witch dodging a cow that was thrown at her. She couldn't believe her eyes. It seemed impossible to her...

How could the witch dodge the cow!?

But barely after the witch did that, she seemed... angrier. She started to yell, while something seemed to shine around her. At each word the glow increased, more and more. But Maggy knew what to expect of the flying enemy: she would fire a poweful attack, of course. But not at her. At whoever shot the cow. Maggy looked to the side to look who could be the one who did that. On that instant, she saw the chivalrous knight protecting him.

She was happy! After so much time finally someone could protect her from the dangers of her basement, even from her mother itself! She cried more, so happy she was. But she couldn't stop and enjoy the moment. At that moment, fire started to come, from the ceiling, the walls and the ground. So much fire! But her knight protected her, from every flame and blade. And also did someone she has never seen in her life, while the winged man protected himself with his wings.

They must be my guardian angels!

And she cried, more than never. Truly being protected and loved after so much time made her feel special. Even with the fireballs and blades passing over her head, close to her angels. Nothing else mattered, she was finally happy. Then, she noted swords all over the place while the fire was gathering all over the same place. A red-eyed man stood where the fire reunited. She didn't know who was him, but he certainly was evil. He needed to be beaten. She saw him preparing to do something. She didn't hear the first words he muttered, but she decided she needed to attack him. Then, she threw herself at the nearest crack on the ground.

Ulrich and his clones took a second to observe the area around them for more threats once the lasers had stopped. They took a second to breath before the rain of blades began. There was no way the clones could take more than a few hits, and his main body would be drained of lifepoints long before the blades stopped. Suddenly a shield appeared around all three of his clones. He didn't know who sent it, but it was good enough for him. He looked at the man who had started the blades and decided he might as well get ready for a fight. He recalled his clones into him and then resummoned them in a triangle formation around the man who had called down the blade rain. He formed the link that connected all of his clones. "Triangulate!" Energy connected the triangle that the clones formed. An image of him and his clones appeared in the energy making an illusion that they were running to take each others spot even though the clones looked completely still. What was really happening was his soul was traveling between the three clones at a speed equivalent to light. The second one clone was attacked the other would converge on their target will super speed. And with one strike this guy would be cast into an eternal illusion.

BGM: Hellfire Mantle ~ Dante's Inferno Remix: "Nel Mezzo del Cammin di Nostra Vita..." (Just because I freakin' CAN.)

As the light of the Ordinary Black Magician's trademark oversized laser beam of unnesecary collateral damage and glorious flashy doom reached its highest point, Marisa Kirisame was assured that no incoming projectile would be able to impede her progress as she launched her main attack. After all, danmaku had always broken before the force of her ridiculously overpowered destruction ray when it had reached full power, and, even if she was limiting herself right now, she still expected the same sort of result. Whether the attack was another arrow or another thrown cow, it wouldn't matter in the face of what was perhaps the most well known attack spell in all of Gensokyo, perfected over years of use and reuse. It had been the second real spell she had mastered, and ever since that time, it had been, perhaps, her favorite. When the spellcard rules had been established, the Master Spark was the very first one she had adapted into a spellcard, chosen over even the Stardust Reverie and Orrieres Solar System spells she had learned from her original teacher, the vengeful ghost Mima. And, since the time she had learned it, through the time of the spellcards and up to the present, Marisa had continued to use and adapt the Master Spark, throughout each and every battle in each and every incident.

And in all that time, she had never faced down a spell card which caused destruction on such a massive scale, save perhaps those attacks used by the insane Vampire Flandre or the Hell Raven Utsuho, and a few choice others. That was why when madder red flames, which she almost mistook for the light of the suns generated by the power of the Yatagarasu, erupted from every surface, raining down upon everything in an indescriminate shower of death, Marisa was taken aback, especially since those flames abruptly formed into a suspiciously familiar giant sword that descended upon her like the axe of some hellfire executioner.

Is that... Laevatein?! Marisa wondered, her eyes widening in shock as she turned to face the massive descending blade. It had the same shape, and the same unnatural power, that of a dark magic not of this Earth, but there was something strange about it, something even more formidable than the legendary sword of apocalypse wielded by the mad Vampire.

This sword... was alive. These madder red flames were the body of some being even more massive perhaps than the Hell of Blazing Fires itself! In that case, nothing could be spared! Cutting herself off mid-spell, Marisa flared her power, sacrificing one of the four orbs of her Orrieres Solar System to immediately augment the Mini-Hakkero's power to a sufficient level, while at the same time diving to put more space between herself and the leviathan blade. Flipping off of her broom, she dragged it across the broken floor to brake herself, while at the same time raising the now absurdly bright reactor before her and aiming it at the gargantuan sword. There were only seconds left before impact, but, no matter what... that blade was going to break!

"Death Bomb!" The witch proclaimed, countless arcane circles and symbols of power forming in front of her like a sorcerous rainbow curtain. The Mini-Hakkero released a roar that might have drowned out her next words, were it not for the booming echo in her voice as she invoked some of her most powerful magic. The blade was a heartbeat away, but it seemed frozen in time as a single, unspeakable ray of light shone forth from her upraised hands.

"Magicannon: FINAL SPARK!"



If the world had exploded when the cloaked figure appeared, then this was the world split asunder by a single, concentrated light. As the madder flames seemed to engulf their target, an abrupt halo of absolute radiance suddenly appeared for within them, shattering them like broken glass as the luminescence of an incomprehensible, pure arcane power tore upward and into the air, ripping apart everything in its path indiscriminately. The madder flames, the blades concealed within them... even the roof of the cave was pierced through and turned to dust, leaving a vast circular hole where the chamber's ceiling had been completely disintegrated by the force of the witch's unbelievable counterattack, rays of light from the outside shining brightly down on her as the flames and the blades within them all broke down into their component energies and scattered like chaff on the winds of a gale.

But, the enemy's assault was not done. At that instant, a shower of fireballs like the feathers of a phoenix's tail - a little too similar to that particular spellcard for Marisa's comfort - began swirling in towards her from all sides. Immediately, she sprang into action. Still skidding backward from the force of her initial landing and from the shock of her ultimate spell, Marisa spread her remaining three orbs around herself and opened fire with wave-type projectiles indiscriminately whilst simultaneously linking together the remains of the Solar System with her magical lasers, forming a rapidly rotating defensive grid that began to spew death in all directions, clashing with the madder flames and the raining swords and creating a vast whirlwind of magic that scattered the second phase of the attack by detonating itself in a shower of radiant light, like the last throes of a dying star. When the smoke cleared, the last orbs of the Orrieres Solar System were fading into dust, but the Ordinary Black Magician still stood at ground zero of the two incomparable explosions of magic, her clothes charred and spotted with soot, but a triumphant smile on her face as she emerged from the smoke and flames unharmed.

As the man in the concealing robe took form across a sea of flames from where she stood, Marisa gave a raucous laugh, leveling her broomstick with the Mini-Hakkero mounted on it, her golden eyes alive with excitement and delight.

"Now that's more like it! I guess the art of Danmaku isn't dead here after all! I guess this incident will be fun after all. I was beginning to think that the best everyone could do in this place was throw livestock at people." She declared enthusiastically, grinning as she began to power up once more, trying to create the orbs of power she had lost countering the man's last attack. "Wherever here is, that is," She added to nobody in particular, before continuing with her old forceful tone. "Anyway, those are some great spells you have there. If you don't mind, I think I'll help myself to them after I've beaten you! How does that sound, big, bad, and possibly made out of living fire. On that note, what are you exactly? The only creature I know of that's made of pure flames is a phoenix, and I've fought one of those enough times to know you're something else entirely." Marisa gave a smirk and a laugh. "But, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just make you tell me once I've broken all of those wonderful spells of yours and copied them for myself. Better get ready, because I'm not holding anything back!"

Light flashed around the magician, and one by one, the four orbs began to take form in front of her upraised hand once again. Just a little longer, and she'd be back at full offensive capacity. Staring down with the man made of flames, Marisa realized that the fluctuations in power she had sensed before must have been his, rather than those of the other magicians in the cave. In that case, his abilities must have been truly vast. She'd have to rate him along with some of the most dangerous incident-makers back in Gensokyo, if not on the same level as the ones whose powers dwarfed even them. And, without the spell card rules to equalize things, this battle was going to be on a whole different level from those back in the Eastern Wonderland. A battle between the most skillful magician and a being of this caliber...

Marisa smirked.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

For a moment, the room was engulfed in total silence, as everyone started towards the form of Sabrac, who now stood calmly in the center of the room. His arms were crossed in from of his chest, and his mantle was thrown back over his shoulders like a cape. At his feet, tendrils of flame flickered across the floor, sometimes causing his cloak to shift as though in a breeze. His eyes focused on the black clad form of the magician before him, standing square in the middle of the patch of light from above ground.

"Now that's more like it! I guess the art of Danmaku isn't dead here after all! I guess this incident will be fun after all. I was beginning to think that the best everyone could do in this place was throw livestock at people." Sabrac's eyes narrowed. The skill with witch she had escaped his spell unharmed had not been lost on him. A truly dangerous opponent. Letting her survive this encounter with knowledge of my abilities is perhaps imprudent, but on the other hand it is unlikely we shall ever cross paths again. "Wherever here is, that is. Anyway, those are some great spells you have there. If you don't mind, I think I'll help myself to them after I've beaten you! How does that sound, big, bad, and possibly made out of living fire?" The motivation for killing her was increasing with every word she spoke. She obviously didn't understand quite what he was, or she would realize that his power was impossible to duplicate, but she knew far too much. "On that note, what are you exactly? The only creature I know of that's made of pure flames is a phoenix, and I've fought one of those enough times to know you're something else entirely. But, I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just make you tell me once I've broken all of those wonderful spells of yours and copied them for myself. Better get ready, because I'm not holding anything back!" As she prepared to act, Sabrac decided to preempt her.

"Enough." Sabrac finally began to speak. His voice was completely calm and emotionless, and sounded at an incredibly deep pitch which resonated with power. It was not the voice of a human being. A flicker of motion off to one side warned him that the strange child-like creature was moving for his blind spot. They intend to attack immediately? Unfortunate. Sabrac shifted imperceptibly as he noticed the sudden disappearance of the two clones he had been observing earlier. You as well? Fine. I will show you the reason that is unwise.

The tendrils of flame that had been crisscrossing randomly around his feet suddenly resolved themselves into a ring on the floor, and, with a blinding flash, exploded upward even as the dual wielder called out "Triangulate!" The shock wave the blast generated shredded the floor even further, hurling debris outward and knocking back those unprepared for it. As the flash faded, the boom of the explosion resolved into the roar of an inferno. Where Sabrac had stood there was now a pillar of flames reaching twenty or thirty feet in the air, and from the base of the maelstrom of fire rings of flame pulsed outward, feeding a second inferno that had sprung up in a circle between Sabrac and everyone else. The barrier of flames around the edge of the room rose and began to singe the cave roof, and above it all Sabrac looked down from where he floated atop the pillar.



"It has become apparent that your petty bickering serves no purpose." The voice was once again emotionless, and yet it somehow sounded throughout the room, even making the roaring of the flames seem to fade into the background. "However, if you wish to continue, I have no reason to stop you...after you have given me the information I require." Sabrac gave them a moment to understand the meaning of his words. "It seems I have been transported here without any information as to how or why. I intend to rectify this inconvenience as soon as possible, however, I first must confirm that none of you are aware of anything either. Allow me to do so, and I will deal with my own issues and allow you to deal with yours."

They have already proven themselves uncooperative, so, as much as I would like to hold the naive hope that they will be reasonable, it would be foolish to not prepare a defense. Around the base of the column that he stood on, cloaked both from view and from supernatural detection by the concentric circles of fire, a ring of complex runic symbols began to form, the preparation of his personal Unrestricted Spell, Stigma. Should any attack be made, the ring would trigger, expanding out beyond the walls of the cave and trapping everyone within it's boundaries in a war of attrition. All remaining wounds from Sabrac's First Strike would suddenly and drastically increase in pain, to the point at which any decently sized cut would be excruciating enough to incapacitate a normal human being. Even assuming that his opponents had a high enough pain tolerance to resist that, the wounds would gradually become more and more severe and all the healing magic in the world would not heal them while the spell remained active. On top of that, any wounds he dealt afterwards would be subject to the same effect. While having to ensure their survival is unfortunate, it should not be too much of a problem. This is not the first time I was required to leave a target alive.

His cloak whipped about as he stood upon his tower of flames, looking down at his opponents and waiting for their move.

[[GM post - Due to sheer luck, the cow itself has a +20 bonus in Luck and a +2 bonus in Charisma, but it has a -2 in Defence. Also, due to the epic luck, it managed to bend space-time in order to be summoned to existace by the Red Wizard. Oh, and due to that, it managed to escape any possible hit, as this little dwarf child (it's summed up in here, near the end of the page, the 5th, from bot-top), it is currently running around aimlessly.]]

[GM post]

Before another move could be made door shaped holes appeared in the sides and top of the room. Out of the doors on the side of the building stepped suits of armor with glowing red eyes. The front of the helmets had a skull design on it with a large black X between the eyes. Its metal gauntlets had claws where the fingers would be, and the claws were dripping with fresh blood. If you were to look behind the creature you would see that the helmet had no back, and hanging out of the back of the creatures head where what appeared to be a human brain, but completely black and sick looking. Their armor was the stuff of legends, undestroyable by any attack and would reflect any sort of magic used on it. They moved fast, almost as fast as the samurai had moved earlier with his display of speed. The armor dripped off a black acid, one touch would melt skin to bone, and bone to ash.

From the holes in the ceiling spilled out small blue and purple bat looking creatures. But they were only bat like, the creature didn't appear to have eyes of any sort but rather a massive mouth which let out tiny little echo signals. Every beat of their wings sent scythes of air that could cut skin if they were close enough. One let out a screech so loud that it could have burst an eardrum if it were only a few feet away. On the front of their bodies a black X was also in place, playing against the creatures light blue stomach. Their fangs dripped with blood from a previous meal, and they were hungry once more.

The entire room lit up with light from an unknown source. Before anyone could try to get through them the pathway closed. Leaving the monsters and the people already here trapped inside.

(20 Knights, 30 Zubats don't kill them all, leave some awesome for everyone, also remember these guys might be mooks but they are tough, don't just godmod killing everything, take a few licks yourself for dramatic effect, have fun)

Marco yawned.

He was slightly disappointed. A pillar of fire had risen in the middle of the room, and the figure had risen to the top. The attacks this figure used reminded him of Akainu's powers, and the victory he had tasted over him would have given him ample preparation for fighting this guy. Everyone else had started to prepare attacks as well. Hit first, ask questions later. These people would make wonderful pirates, if they survived the coming battle.

But that didn't happen. It was interrupted when holes began to appear in the cavern, bats and knights pouring out of them. Marco looked over the new... entertainment. They didn't really warrant being called threats. The bats appeared rather weak and the knights had a blatant opening he could exploit.

The holes closed and a bright light lit up the room. The bats swarmed around the cavern and the knights moved towards them. Something was dripping off their armour and it caused the floor to sizzle when it fell. He would have to be careful...

He went for the closest knight. He ran towards it and as it lunged at him, he moved behind it and aimed a kick at it's exposed brain. The knight screamed. It was a horrible sound, unnerving. It fell to the floor, still screaming. He stamped on the back if its head, and it fell quiet.

He felt several sharp pains on his arms. He had forgotten about the bats, and six of the buggers had latched onto his arms. He smiled. They had picked a bad place to attack him.

He spread his arms and they became wings, six feet across and dripping with blue flame. After a few seconds he returned them to normal. The bite marks had gone, and the bats were turned to ash.

He felt a sting on his back, and he leapt out of the way as a clawes hand slashed the air where he had been. He had a small burn where acid had dripped onto his back. The knights had begun to move, and the other people in the cave began to take action.

I swear things here get weirder by the minute. First all these other people and now the foot soldiers of eldritch horrors? At lest thats what the wizard assumed they were since even on his world he had never seen monsters quite so strange.Bit of a moot point now.He threw a fireball at three of the creatures who were advancing on him only to watch in shock as the fireball bounced right off them and came hurtling right back at his face. The wizard had to dive to avoid the fireball. He was not totally successful.Whats that smell? OH Crap my sleeve is on fire!AH! AHH! Okay its out.Except now he was at a disadvantage since the monsters weren't five feet away. Okay...Haste would be good for this kind of situation. He cast the spell and ran right past the creatures. When he looked back he noticed that the brains were exposed at the back. It gave him an idea. "Lets see if your armor blocks this. He then threw a fireball right into one of the creatures' brain. The tiny explosion of fire killed the one he had hit and disoriented the other two. Okay it won't be easy but I can mana-Gah! What the hell?!? Thats when he noticed the tiny bat creatures he had lost track of screaming at him. A scream that had somehow taken his balance and ruined the concentration needed for spell casting. Then the other two nightmare soldiers turned to face him.Well crap.

"The ground came up Mr. Heart. I never knew the ground could come up." She said, staring at the new man in the room.

He had a black cape and his eyes were of the same red shade as the flames that erupted just a moment before. The blonde girl was sent do the ground, but seemed to be untouched. And furious. The man himself started talking too, but the words were of no interest to Alice.

"The ground made me fall down. Now my dress is all dirty! Why did the ground do that?! Mr. Heart, why did the ground do that?!" Absorbed in her own little play world Alice kept talking.

"WHY NOT ASK THE GROUND THEN, MISS ALICE" Her comical imitation of a male voice responded. She once again she shifted her focus towards the man. He was now atop a pillar of the same flame from before, but this time the tendrils of flame did not seem to consume the room.

"Hey, why did yo-" Alice began in a surprisingly angry tone, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of doors in the room. Though the doors did not appear by themselves and with them came men wearing armor. And some critters flying in through openings in the ceiling. The room was also brightly lit now, from seemingly no source. Her atention was imediatelly drawn to these new arrivals.

"Birds? No... They're bats! Teehee, I want one! I want one Mr Heart!" Her anger forgotten as if it was never there, she followed the bats with her gaze. They seemed somewhat aggressive and flew towards everyone in the room. Everyone but her. Most small animals behaved like this. Rabbits, birds, pigs, dogs... All fled as if chased by a dreaded predator.

One however did not fly very far going towards the boy with the two swords that was near her. "That one! Mr. Heart, take that one for me!" Giggling and giving orders, Alice directed the Jack of Hearts towards the diving bat. The card was fast, unlike the others that seemed to be able to do nothing. The Jack of Hearts caught the bat mid flight before it got in the reach of the boy with the swrods and held it helplessly in it's hands.

Alice was delighted. All she wanted was to play with her newly caught toy. But the knights she had ignored until now would not simply ignore her as the bats had. She saw as two knights moved directly at her.

"Mr. Heart. Keep the bat and don't break it!" As she said two new cards rose from the wall. The same Queen of Spades and King of Diamonds from before. And she sent them to intercept the two incoming knights while also shoting another of the energy bullets she used before.

How or why it happened was a mystery, but Alice was enraged at the results. "WHY ARE YOU KILLING MY FRIENDS?" She yelled as the energy ball bounced back from the armor of one of the knights and smashed into the King of Diamonds. It didn't leave a dent on the armor and perhaps saved the card from the knights touch by knocking it back, away from the knight's hand.

The Queen of Spades was nowhere as lucky. As it attacked with it's spear, the same kind of the one carried by the Jack of Hearts, it was slapped to the ground by the strange knight and simply dissolved. The Four of Clubs didn't draw this kind of reaction, in fact, it didn't even withstand a touch by the blonde girl's energy spheres. Neither did the two cards consumed by the ground's inferno, but these Queen and King cards...

Alice was mad with rage. And the King of Diamonds vanished before suffering the same fate of the Queen. Alice made her voice be heard. "YOU DON'T KILL MY FRIENDS!", the temperature was dropping around her. The little moisture there was in the room was showing as tiny drops of water on the ground near her... And three Ace cards, the Ace of Spades, Hearts and Diamonds rose from behind the still advancing knights, spears already ready even before fully raising.

"YOU CAN'T KILL MY FRIENDS! YOU'RE NOT HERE TO PLAY WITH ME! YOU CAN'T KILL MY FRIENDS!" She was screaming. The three Aces moved unseen and impaled the Knights from behind. The one hit by the blast had it's head pierced from behind where, as it was now apparent, the helmet was open, by the Ace of Spades. The one who melted the Queen of Spades was decapitated by the Ace of Hearts and it's head was then crushed by the Ace of Diamonds. The cards then bowed to Alice and vanished.

The rage now gone, the droplets of water forming around her due to the cold were disappearing fast. She turned to the Jack of Hearts, already back from his little quest and standing beside her.

"Oh no! Mr. Heart! I told you to not break it!" The bat was crushed by the card's hands. "Now I have to find another one... And they are so hard to catch..." For the first time she sounded sad and she didn't look at any of the bats still flying around. Everyone else was fighting the knights and bats, but she did not pay atention. Giving one last glance at the two corpses she said in a low voice "I don't want to play with you".

Kestral stood, beyond motivated to hear what this warrior had to say. Yet when the witch spoke instead, she was tempted to try shooting her down, despite the clear amount of power she held over her. You just don't say such things to someone who could paralyze you with one look or toss such large displays of power around without even being winded.

She was beyond horrified when her savior, the dual-wielding swordsman, moved forward along with the crying-child to attack the warrior. Kestral's cries for them to wait were drowned out by the swordsman's battle cries. The sudden explosion of power made her brace her feet and duck her head, just as the warrior tore the ground asunder and pushed back at her and others. She felt herself move backward a few feet, but she didn't lose her balance, even unsettled as she was.

When the warrior finally said his piece, a small part of her wanted to defend herself from his lumping her in with the others - she, at least, knew better than to attack a being who could so easily crush her underfoot - but she held her tongue on her opinions. Even as she tried to think of what to say in response, however, the ground opened once more.

Creatures appeared in swarms, small eyeless bats and horrid creatures with their brains exposed. Before she could even think, the room was sealed again and the monsters were unleashed on them all.

Leaving her thoughts on the warrior for another time, she stepped back and watched some of the others work. One man turned his arms to fire to incinerate the swarm that had latched onto his arm, and the smaller blonde girl used magibullets and her own seemingly endless entourage of giant playing cards to great effect.

Seeing a red-robed mage being tag-teamed by a few of the creatures, she notched an arrow and aimed it directly at the bat assaulting him, letting it fly as a bolt of amber energy and pierce the thing completely through. She didn't watch it fall as she ran with superior agility behind the other two monsters. She effortlessly traded her bow with an arrow and dagger combo and slashed them both in the brains, felling them deftly.

Turning from their bodies, she leaped high into the air and danced with her blades, and even as she landed on her feet two more bats fell from the air in pieces. As she stood her back ached dully, but time was doing wonders to her injuries. As she turned once more, preparing for another attack, she figured that she would at least resemble healed by the time they finally got some answers.

(Thud)

Yes! I'm not gonna be a Finch Kabob tonight!

Jacob landed on the floor, a little dazed, but well enough to get back up. He felt a little pain in his stomach, but everywhere else was fine. He was ready to attack the girl, but then he noticed a sound in the walls

(SCRIT, SCRIT)

No... it can't be! Not Zubats!

(Clank! Clank! Clank!)

What's this? It sounds like armor...

Then, doors appeared in every part of the cavern, on the roof, on the walls, even coming up from the floor! The doors opened to reveal 20 Knights and... 30 Zubats. Oh, and the lights came up.

"I can't fight these Pokemon! I don't even have one!"

Jacob then noticed that the man in the black started fighting them, and there was a little girl who appeared to be talking to a card.

Talking to cards? What...

He then noticed that there was a Knight in front of him. He had a helmet with a large X on it.

Very subtle...

He then pulled out his sword and tried to stab him in the face. IN THE FACE!

IN THE FACE!

It didn't do much good. The Sword didn't even go through the armor

What-

The Knight pulled out a torch and started to burn Jacob's wings.

OWOWOWOWGETAWAY

His wings started to flap, pushing the Knight away and causing Jacob to go back up into the air.

HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT

Jacob was flying around like a maniac, his wings on fire, trying to put them out. He eventually got enough air to keep his wings from getting second-degree injuries, but his wings still were hurt. His wings were usable, but they hurt when he used them. He fell to the ground, his wings aiding him down...

"You son of a bagel! You tried to burn my wings!"

He grabbed his bow and shot at the Knight, in a fit of rage. He fired the bow, but hit the wall and stated him in the back, where apparently there was a brain sac on the back. He then took the felled Knight's armor off and then sliced the head off in a massive fit of anger.

"RAAAAH! DON'T BURN MY WIIIIIIINGS!"

Jacob noticed that there was another one. He crept behind the Knight, hoping it would not noticed him. He took his sword and gave him a nice sac-stab. The Knight then fell in massive pain, and blood seeped from the sac.

"FYI, you are dead."

He felt extremely happy that that Knight went down without a fight.

Suddenly, a wild group of Zubats appeared!

Go, Finch!

What will Finch do?

Finch used Bow!

But it missed Zubat 1!

Critcal Hit for Zubat 2!

Critical Hit for Zubat 3!

And was not very effective for Zubat 4.

Zubat 2 fainted.

Zubat 1 uses Screech!

AHGODSHUTUPSHUTUP

Finch's Agility fell!

Zubat 3 used Bind!

But it failed!

Zubat 4 used Bite!

GODDANGITGETOFFMEH

It wasn't really effective.

495/500

What will Finch do?

Can't Escape!

What will Finch do?

Finch used Fly!

With a little bit of pain, Finch flew high into the air!

485/500

Zubat 1 used Screech!

But it Failed!

Zubat 3 used Screech!

But it Failed!

Zubat 4 used Bite!

But it Failed!

Finch used Wing Bomb!

Finch spread his smoky wings across the sky and came down on the Zubats!

It's Super Effective!

All Zubats fainted!

Finch gained 325 XP from Knights and Zubats!

LEVEL UP

What do you wish to improve?

Health? ATT? DEF? MAG?

Improve Health, pls.

Health improved! Health increased to 520!

He then stood on his own. He hoped that those other guys would defeat all those Zubats and all of those Knights. He sat down, tired from fighting.

Maggy were lucky for being in a crack in the ground. Right after hiding, hordes of monsters entered the room. a bunch of knight, not uncommom for her, but also some weird bat-like creature she has never seem before. She could only see a few things from the crack she was in, but nobody could see her. She peeked around, to see that everyone in the room was facing both the Knights and the Bats.

Why are they fighting? - She tought - They should be fighting me! - It was truly nonsense to her that her enemies would fight angainst themselves. But she didn't care. She was happy with it.

I must take this advantage. I must attack now! Okay, I need to be... fast. - With that though, Judas exitted the hole, and runned in the direction of the Red Man [[Sabrac]]. He saw the man standing in the same place watching everyone else fight, and thought it were the perfect oppurtunitie.

This is the breach I was looking for! Get ready t-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! - Before Judas could get close to the Red Man, a cow had suddenly passed through him, but he could easily avoid being hit by her due to his speed. But now he was aiming towards the Witch.

Well, it's not the Red Man, but it's close enough. - He said as he cried [[read: attacked]] at the witch. "You will die in my hands, Witch!"

Ulrich had been ready to attack the crazy guy who had called down a rain of blades, until he made a small explosion which almost sent him and his clones flying if it weren't for the incredible strength they held. He listened to his speech and reluctantly agreed with the crazy guy on top of the flames. The people here shouldn't be fighting, they should be working together to figure out hwo they got here. He was about to lower his weapons to try to reason with the people.

That was when the monsters broke into the room. Because of he was focused on the man one of his clones was quickly destroyed by super fast knight. With one thrust of its hand it pierced the clone straight through the stomach, making it disappear. That wouldn't go unpunished, not by a long shot. But there was no need to waste two of himself for these things, they had weak spots almost as obvious and Xana's creatures. He took a quick look around the room to determine who might need his help the most. It looked like the cow throwing wizard was being backed up by the girl he saved earlier. It wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure they knew who was there friend and who wasn't so he sent the clone to back them up. He turned his attention toward one of the knight like creatures and jumped over it ramming a blade into its brain and pulled it out in order to slash a zubat that had gotten too confident "Videogame characters? Is this the best they can throw at us?" he yelled out in question to the others. "Pathetic" One of the Knights ran at him from behind but his clone threw one of his copied swords at the exposed brain of the creature and it went down for the count. "Compared to the things I fight on a normal day, this is almost childs play, better not get too confident though" he brought his swords to bear in front of him waiting for the next creature who tried to attack.

Marisa's smirk quickly turned to a look of frustration. Just when it seemed like she'd get to have a battle that would make all this confusion worthwhile, it seemed something had decided to interrupt. Or rather, several somethings.

Countless gaps appeared in the cracked and scarred walls, and from within them a legion of black clad knights marched forth, accompanied by scores of bat-like creatures with lidless eyes and wings that split the air with such force as to be tangible. Even from where she stood on the ground, Marisa could feel her unkempt golden hair blown about by the precise gusts generated from each stroke the creatures dealt the air as they cut through it. But these creatures didn't cause Marisa any worry. Compared to the Ravens and Spirits of the Burning Hell, or the unnaturally powerful Fairies who had appeared on the Endless Night, a few bats with sharp, pointy wings was nothing to worry about in the least!

The knights, on the other hand, were a completely different story. Marisa herself was quite proficient in Ritual magic, being a master of pre-preparing arcane energy for later use, usually in the forms of explosives or her trademark Orrieres orbs. As such, she could tell when magic of that sort was being used. And, just one look at the armor those knights wore told her that was the case here. By the look of it, someone had imbued both their bodies and their equipment with powerful magic of some sort, rendering the material highly resistant to any foreign spell that came into contact with it, not to mention nigh indestructible. The material itself was very conducive to the spell, probably having been crafted through magic in the first place, so it wasn't a surprise that the ritual, which was obviously quite powerful, had such a profound effect. In any case, that made killing them problematic, considering that she didn't have any physical weapons with which to do it... Still, it seemed like the knights, as they advanced and attacked - making use of several different weapons along the way, including incredible bursts of speed, razor sharp claws, and some kind of acid from within their bodies - always tried to keep their backs away from their opponents. By the look of it, considering how the others in the cave were doing, they had some kind of weak point there, in their heads. In that case... Well, it had always been her motto that if precise, beautiful attacks didn't work, you just needed to obliterate your target with full power to the front and pierce through, no matter what lay in your way, through sheer overwhelming force!

"You will die in my hands, Witch!"

The sudden exclamation cut short her little analysis and planning session as a small shape came bolting up at her from just beyond her view, releasing what looked to be some kind of bullets from its tears. Well... she supposed she'd seen stranger danmaku, and after the cow incident, she really couldn't complain about something that was, comparatively, quite tame. Instinctively reacting, Marisa thought back to a similar situation she'd faced once at the entrance to the Netherworld. Except instead of a small child firing bullets by crying leaping at an ordinary black magic user, it had been herself riding a broom straight for a half-ghost wielding a sword and spewing lasers everywhere. If she recalled correctly, the spell card rules had been relaxed for a holiday of sorts as Reimu experimented with other possible types of combat, so blocking attacks had been relatively unrestricted. That half-ghost had done something rather clever, by imbuing power into her sword and spinning it to reflect Marisa's own lasers right back at her in the form of a barrage of bullets, forcing her to evade and break off her attack early. Well, with the same sort of situation here, the roles were reversed, and Marisa already had an item at hand which had the necessary mass and was currently undergoing a rather considerable enchantment...

Raising her broom before her, she spun it about at a rather incredible speed, activating the Mini-Hakkero affixed to the tassels at its end as a thruster to propel it while keeping it level with the grid of her still-forming Orrieres Solar System. By the time the tears reached her, they weren't just deflected, but completely dissipated in the process. It seemed she'd overdone it a bit. Ah well, counterattacking a crying little kid with full force lasers just would have made her feel bad anyway.

Leaping backward as she caught her broom once again, Marisa just grinned, distancing herself from her enemy and giving a raucous laugh. "Don't you mean 'by your hands?' If you say it the way you did, it just doesn't make any sense. Anyway, don't you have better things to do? While a showdown amidst an even larger danmaku battle sounds fun to me, it would just be unnecessarily complicated, and would just keep getting interrupted, right...?" As she landed, her confident and sarcastic mid-battle dialogue trailed off, her amber eyes widening in surprise. Unbeknownst to the child, one of the knights had closed in right behind him, and, bracing itself to launch towards him at tremendous speeds, it was getting ready to kill him before he even realized it was there! While that would mean one less enemy for her, Marisa reminded herself that the rules of danmaku didn't apply here. If he got taken out, he'd be dying for real. And that... wasn't something she'd have on her conscience.

BGM: Dream Battle!/Love-Coloured Master Spark ~ Xi-On

"Look out!" She roared, the mirth in her voice all but gone as she leveled her broom, flaring the power from the Mini-Hakkero and using it to launch herself off like a rocket, holding the broom backhanded behind her with one hand as she held onto her hat with the other. She streaked over the ground in a single leap, her feet not even touching down as she crossed the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye, shooting past the boy and planting her feet abruptly, placing both hands on the haft of her broom as, filling the Mini-Hakkero to the brim with power, she swung upward with all her might. The knight, its claws upraised to strike the boy, found its attack turned aside suddenly as Marisa plowed straight into it, shoulder-charging its arm and batting the attack aside as she simultaneously brought up the brilliantly glowing broom in a sweeping attack she liked to call "Bosky Sweeper," releasing a burst of magic from the magical reactor that served as the broom's thruster just as she attack connected.

A tremendous explosion rocked the chamber as a rainbow-colored flash of light momentarily pierced through the air, a tremendous shockwave ripping up the already cracked and broken ground as Marisa was sent skidding backward from the recoil of her magic's rejection as it came into contact with the Knight's armor, her left hand still holding her broom while her right clutched her left shoulder, the sizziling of the cloth of her black dress and the faint crimson stain beginning to form on her white blouse showing that her initial counter hadn't come without a cost, the acid from inside the Knight's armor singing her whilst its claws grazed her as she knocked them off course with her shoulder.

Still, despite the Knight's immunity to magic, it seemed that it had fared much worse than the young black magician, for it had literally been picked up off its feet and sent flying across the ground, bouncing several times before rolling to a stop, a faint trail of decayed, fleshy paste beside it showing that the sheer shock of the attack had knocked its brain clean out of its head. Marisa smirked as it lay still, the animating magic she had sensed from it fading away in an instant.

Kill Count: One.

"Geez, kid," Marisa said nonchalantly, not turning to face the boy she had just saved as a means of hiding the grimace on her face. It had been a long time since she'd felt real pain in combat, but the memories were coming back to her now. While it was nice to be able to go all out, Marisa supposed she rather preferred the Spell Card rules at this point. Oh, what would Mima say, to see that her one and only disciple had become unable to bear even a little scratch like this?

I really have gotten soft, haven't I? Heh. Shucks.

"If you're going to fight me, you'll need a lot more situational awareness than that. I probably could blow you up from behind and you'd never even notice." After bringing her expression under control, she turned and gave a slight grin over her shoulder.

But, there was no time to relax. A loud cry from overhead snapped Marisa back to attention. It seemed like the small fry had showed up. After an enemy she'd had to sustain a real injury to kill, the pack of eleven cycloptic bats that now descended upon her would be almost too easy. Still, that didn't mean blowing these targets away couldn't be fun!

Rising back to her feet, Marisa leveled her broom, bracing it against her non-injured shoulder like a soldier might level a rifle. At once, the Mini-Hakkero began to glow brilliantly once more, and as the Zubats descended, screaming as they came and raising their wings to strike, Marisa merely smirked, and activated her next spell card.

"Star Sign ~ Meteoric Shower!" She declared, causing the Hakkero to flare brilliantly with light as countless multicolored stars took form around it, at once launching at their targets. A toned down version of Stardust Reverie, it was good for dealing with small, low-value targets without wasting an excessive amount of energy to be used for later, bigger spells, and best of all, it didn't sacrifice any of the flashiness or explosive delight of the original!

The Zubats, sensing danger, immediately flapped their wings furiously before they could reach their targets, scattering into the air as best they could as a deluge of stars began to shower them. Four were not lucky enough to move out of the firing range, and, peppered with several projectiles, disappeared into a violent storm of blue-white light as the spell detonated, creating a breathtaking field of explosions that dragged down another of the unfortunate bats.

Kill Count: Six.

Marisa, however, was far from done. Instead of resisting the considerable recoil of the channeled spell, she let go of her broom the moment she fired. The force of the shock from the Mini Hakkero sent the cleaning tool flipping overhead, and Marisa, bracing herself against the ground, leaped up after it. The moment it completed its first rotation, the young witch herself flipped over it and landed deftly upon it, retaining her balance in a seemingly impossible feat of coordination as she stood upon the flying broom, immediately redirecting its flight to carry her right into the center of the regrouping squadron of bats. The beasts, overcoming their initial fear, tried to reclaim their lost initiative, and quite predictably dived in from all sides at the young witch. But, at that moment, instead of reacting defensively, or out of fear, the Ordinary Black Magician merely smiled, and held out her hand.

"Ritual Sign ~ Orrieres Solar System," She intoned, a sudden square of blue energy forming around her in the very instant she spoke, the shockwave of this field's creation overwhelming even the powerful wings of the Zubats, knocking them off-balance and sending them flailing pathetically about as they tried to regain their flight. Marisa, however, wasn't about to let this happen, and, channeling the energy of all four of the newly-created orbs into a spell at once, she declared her next move while the Mini-Hakkero recharged itself.

"Love Sign ~ Non-Directional Laser!" The witch declared cheerily, a grin of triumph forming on her face as she swept out her hand to direct the orbs to their first and final task. A renewed flare of blue light clashed with the madder red of the flames filling the chamber as the spell took effect, that azure gleam coming both from the orbs themselves and from Marisa's eyes as she claimed her victory.



At once, from each of the orbs, an extra-powerful laser shot outward, and the grid began to spin at a tremendous rate, the orbs centered at each of its corners projecting their shots all around them in four constant, massive streams that rotated around like the blades of some great saw. One rotation, two, three, four... they moved at such an impossible speed that the number of strokes quickly became impossible to count, the four beams meshing together into one great, whirling disc. The remaining six Zubats gave their final cries, as, unable to rouse themselves to retreat, they were instantly consumed in a shower of starry blue light.

Abruptly, the blue ring shattered, and from its center, the Magician came rapidly falling, the old cerulean glow trailing off her as golden light streamed at the same time from the magical reactor at the end of her broom. She had wasted no time in locating her next target, and now that she had the initiative, she would surely follow it up! As two knights rushed through the center of the chamber, retreating from the engagements with the other warriors in the cave, Marisa fell upon them like a comet from the heavens. Tilting over as she began a barrel roll, Marisa kicked off her broom, knocking it up into her hand as, in the form of a completely ridiculous golden bolt rotating diagonally through the air, the broom fell like a cascading wave upon its two hapless targets from behind.

"Yahoo!~ Here I come!" The witch cried with excessive joy, a loud explosion rocking the cave to its core and nearly drowning out her words.



The stroke connected with bone-crushing force, enough to knock the knights' helmets clean off, sending them flying into the air while their insides simply scattered into dust from the tremendous heat of the laser-club that had smashed into them. It was a mystery how the broom itself managed to survive such an impact, but the magic of the Mini-Hakkero was good for many things, it seemed, for Marisa emerged from this golden light on her feet, clutching a very much-intact broom and adjusting her hat, which had just as mysteriously failed to fall from her head during her ridiculous descent.

"That makes 14!" She declared proudly, her fanged-smile remaining on her lips as she searched for additional targets, seemingly unstoppable in her absolute devastating wrath. "Well? Come on! Who's nex-"

She got her answer in the form of a sudden impact from behind as pain streaked across her back, a feral snarl filling her ears as her golden eyes went wide with surprise, shock, and evidently quite considerable pain as she stumbled forward. Ironically enough, considering her previous comment, it was she who had failed to notice a third knight lurking in the shadows behind her, unable to see beyond the blinding flash of her own attacks. Ignoring the enemy rising from behind, she had left herself wide open to a clawstroke that cut clean across her back, staining her pristine white clothes in the crimson they hadn't been bathed in since the rules she still fought by even now had been established.

I really have... gotten weak and careless, haven't I? Marisa thought wryly, catching herself on her broom. If there was one thing that described the Witch perfectly, it was that she didn't know the meaning of the word "surrender." In an instant, she had brought herself about, raising her broom as she fell into a defensive, kneeling posture, just in time to intercept a follow-up from the rage-driven knight. The force of this blow was enough to send her skidding across the ground, but, planted firmly as she was, even this failed to take her balance. But, even though she remained at the ready to parry the next blow, it took from her something far more important.

The Mini-Hakkero gave a quiet ringing sound, like a dropped coin, as it fell from the head of her broom and rolled across the floor, its magical power she had been just prepared to channel to counter attack fading out like an extinguished candle. Marisa watched in horror as it bounced once, twice, three times, then rolled ever farther away, beyond her reach...

The source of her power was now beyond her grasp. In short, she was defenseless, with no way to strike back against the knight that now gave an inhuman crow of triumph and leaped forward, raining down blows again and again. Marisa braced herself and leveled the broom as best she could despite the pain wracking her body. She was out of practice at this, but like hell was she going to give up or rely on someone else for help!

Countless impacts rang out through the cave in quick succession as Marisa rose, first turning aside one claw, then using the counter-momentum of this strike to bring up the opposite end up her broom to knock back a lunge from the knight's other hand. Twirling, she struck at its face, hoping to jar its brain lose through repeated impacts, but the Knight, seeming to read her strategy, raised its arms to block, knocking the broom upward and forcing her to rapidly slide her hands up the implement's haft, bringing it before her just in time to intercept a dual-pronged attack at once, sending both combatants skidding away from the other.

The knight gave a sound that might have been a laugh and braced itself to attack again. This thing knew it had the upper hand, didn't it? The witch's mind worked frantically, trying to come up with some means of doing more than just staving off her inevitable defeat. How could she attack the enemy when she didn't have a piercing weapon to get past its armor, or her magic to overwhelm it with sheer force? At times like this, she envied Reimu. That girl had unbelievable strength and fortitude, and even if her abilities did stem from those Ying-Yang orbs of hers, she had perfect control over them. If she ever lost them, they'd just come right back to her, something which sadly wasn't the case for her and the Hakkero in the event she was caught after having expended all of her stored energy, in a situation like this. What a pain...

What would Reimu do, anyway? She'd probably just laugh and beat down the knight with her bare hands and her purification staff, just to show that she didn't need her orbs to take out an enemy of this low caliber. Yeah, that sounded like her, alright. Or what about Alice, or Patchouli, or that crazy basement-Vampire? Alice would just toss out some more of those seemingly endless legions of dolls and make quick work of the enemy. And knowing Patchouli, she'd probably have encountered this sort of enemy before, and know exactly what to do without even exerting herself. Then she'd say something condescending about knowing its weakness and blow it away. And Flandre... well, it wasn't hard to guess what Flandre would do.

But what about her? Her only weapons were the magic she could prepare before hand, and the power of the Hakkero, as well as her natural wits. Marisa didn't have either the strength of a Youkai, or the control of a Divine Human. That's right, the best weapon in her arsenal was cunning, and that was the last thing she could rely upon now. So what... what should she do?

Then, an idea struck her, just as surely as the enemy's claws struck against her broom again and again as she skillfully turned away each and every blow, taking only a few scratches despite the knight's relentless assault. The Hakkero wasn't her only weapon. Before leaving her home, Marisa would always make and prepare magical potions from the mushrooms of the forest of magic, so that she could deploy them as bombs in just this sort of situation. Waking up in a new and unfamiliar place, she'd forgotten that she might have carried her most obvious countermeasure right here with her!

Leaping backward to disengage from the combat for a moment, Marisa reached into the pocket of her now red and white apron, and, figuratively speaking, she struck gold. A newfound fire burned in her golden eyes as she slowly removed a small, nondescript gray bottle from within, and, holding it tightly, she smiled.

"Think I'm done quite yet, do ya'?" She said confidently, bracing herself once again. This time, however, her stance was different. She held her broom across her chest, but did so with only one hand, clearly preparing to attack rather than defend herself. And why shouldn't she? She had found her trump card.

The knight hesitated, seemingly somewhat disturbed by her newfound confidence. Whatever the creature felt, however, its vague, undefined sense of caution wasn't enough to sway it, for in an instant, it had recovered its bearings, and, preparing itself, leaped forward for what would be the final time.

"Don't underestimate me, knight!" Marisa roared, leaping forward as well at the same time and batting aside the knight's attack with a blow of her own. "I'm not a Youkai, Demon, Vampire, or God!" She continued, ducking under a follow-up blow. The knight gave a roar of anger and brought up its deflected hand over its head, preparing to bring it down in a vicious stroke, aiming to crush her head in a single blow. But the Magician moved too quickly. Sidestepping, she slipped under its raised arm, and, bringing up her back hand, she lunged forward with the potion.

"I'm just an Ordinary Magician... no, THE Ordinary Magician, Marisa Kirisame!" A loud squelch rang out through the air as Marisa's extended hand drove into the gap between the Knight's helmet and its brain, and the potion clutched within it sank deep into the construct's core. It gave a scream of what might have been agony, falling forward as blue and golden light abruptly erupted from within it.

"But, you know..." The witch said casually, slinging her broom over her shoulder and turning to walk away as the knight writhed uncontrollably on the ground. "Sometimes, it's us ordinary folks you should really be scared of."

Then, with a smile, the witch snapped her fingers and declared her final spell.

"Magical Research ~ Deep Ecological Bomb."

The knight violently, completely, and brilliantly exploded into a shower of radiant starlight, its armor scattering at the joints and rolling in all directions across the floor as sparks of magical light shot outward like fireworks in all directions. And the witch, still smiling calmly, strode away from this blue magical star, picked up her fallen magical reactor, and stopped before the child who had just attempted to claim her life.

"I dealt with the problem. So, kid, are you alright?" She asked cheerfully, giving a tired but triumphant smirk as she stood victorious, her foes lying in several charred, blackened heaps around her as the dust from her explosive battle finally began to settle.

BGM: Originally by Kawai Kenji~EMIYA, CROW'S CLAW Remix

The forms below him tensed, preparing for combat. With a hum of power that only Sabrac could detect, the runic ring of his Unrestricted Spell completed its formation, and he prepared the pulse of power necessary for activation.

While Sabrac's nature was unbalanced due to the limitation on his senses, it still afforded him an awareness of his surroundings far beyond that of a human, which is why he felt the approach of danger a moment before it arrived.

"Hmm?" As he turned his attention to the walls, the barrier of flame around the area was split in multiple places by a powerful pulse of ambient magic, revealing multiple doors that had not been there before. Out of the new entrances poured the twisted forms of corrupted knights, their armor bloodstained and marred by remains of previous kills. As Sabrac watched their unnaturally fast movements with antipathy from his tower of flame, he noticed similar holes in the roof out of which poured strange bat-like creatures. He followed them with his eyes for a while as they began to dive amongst the other inhabitants of the cave, who had begun their attack on the knights.

With a sigh, his eyes shrunk from their normal size to tiny slits with just a hint of red peeking out. With his eyes "closed" he listened to the sounds of the winged creatures, some of which had begun to flock around him, whirling this way and that around the brilliant flames. However, none of them dared to approach. "So... It appears that even in mindless abominations the pattern remains." Sabrac did not move or open his eyes as he began to speak to no one in particular. "The weak seek out those with power and bask in their strength. They idolize and follow them, but their admiration becomes jealousy as they begin to understand how small they truly are. Then..." His eyes snapped open as, with a piercing cry of fury, one of the bat creatures dived at his unprotected back. Even as it crossed the edge of the pillar of fire on which Sabrac stood, however, a blade coated with madder-red power rocketed out of the inferno and impaled the creature; the force of the impact sending it spinning upward towards the cave roof with the western long sword still embedded in its chest. "...they delude themselves with visions of power, enter combat with one high above themselves, and perish." With a swishing noise, the sword and Zubat corpse plummeted towards Sabrac's right side, and, in a motion too fast for the eyes to follow, his hand shot from beneath his mantle, caught the sword, and slashed it sideways, sending the impaled corpse tearing through the air and into one of it's fellows, crushing both into a smear along the cave wall. "I do not understand." His other hand rose into the air, and a single finger pointed at an enraged third creature which was darting forward to avenge its fellows. The moment the point of his finger crossed the flight path of his target, his hand flashed a brilliant red and a twisting bolt of flame leaped forward. Obliterating the abomination without slowing, it slammed into the cave roof next to the hole that the witch's attack had made, extending the already existing damage further. "Power is not a thing that can be gained. Power is not a thing that can be earned. Power is. From the moment a being's flame is lit, their potential is set in stone. And yet everyone..."

As his voice faded, he heard the clink of metal plates behind and above him. What? My flames should have stopped all ground based opponents from reaching me! However, as he whirled and brought his sword to bear, the claws of the leaping knight flashed down upon him with monstrous strength, overpowering his hasty guard. The sound of shattering metal echoed through the cave, and the pillar of flames died down as the black cloaked form of Sabrac spun through the air, managing to land from his fall in a low crouch. There was no hint of any wounds on his body or damage to his clothing. His eyes became slits of pure malevolence as he stared back the way he had come, slowly standing and holding up his right hand from under his mantle, revealing the hilt of his sword and the jagged fragment of blade still attached to it. His killing intent became almost physical in nature, though his voice, when he spoke, remained the same flat tone as before. "It seems my habit of thinking aloud has caused me to lose one of my blades to an insignificant creature. How upsetting. There will likely not be a chance to replace it for a long time." The knight came bounding across the area between them, but even as it did so, twin bolts of madder red flame tore from the walls behind and above it, each one severing a wing of the final Zubat, which was attempting to dive in behind the knight to attack Sabrac. As the knight dodged to the side, Sabrac's hands shot up, snatched the flaming blades from the air as they reached him, and swung them down and to each side. "Come then. You have utilized your first strike and landed a hit. Now, we must determine whether you are capable of following it up after your target has survived."

The knight leaped towards him, claws raised to slash, but with a grunt and a flash of flames at his feet, Sabrac crossed the space between them instantly, his body low to the ground, and his blades slashing upwards from the right with all the velocity of his launch. The force of the double slash sent the knight stumbling back, but did no damage to the armor. However, Sabrac did not slow, leaping forward with a flurry of blades that seemed to strike from all sides at once. The first few blows landed, but the knight regained it's balance and parried the next, counter attacking with another insanely powerful slash. This time, however, Sabrac did not aim to block it, but easily redirected the force with the blade in his left hand, while the blade in his right stabbed deep into the gap in the knee joint. The knight released an inhuman cry and fell to one knee as Sabrac, continuing with the motion of the thrust, pivoted on his right foot, ripping the blade from the joint and twisting around behind his opponent, both blades ready to slash at its unprotected back. As he turned, his eyes caught sight of the backless helmet and vulnerable brain. Ah. I see the weakness that it foolishly attempted to hide. Now, I shall end this with one more strike. The blade in his left hand, followed by its twin shot towards the opening with a hum that promised imminent death. However, the knight managed to turn and barely bring its arm into the path of the blades, deflecting the strike up and over the head of the crouching creature and bringing it under Sabrac's guard. The second claw slashed upwards in an attempt to disembowel him as he stumbled forward, but as his foot came down to support him, another burst of flames pulsed from beneath his boots, sending him flipping up and over the knight, flying over its shoulder upside down as his boots traced an arc of crimson through the air behind him. Now it was the knight who was off balance, and it fell forward onto it's hands and knees, leaving a perfect opening. Sabrac's blades lanced out again, this time far too fast for the weakened knight to block, but for the second time an overpowered claw strike slammed into his side, sending him flying head over heels. Another burst of flames righted his path, and he skidded across the ground leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

Sabrac stood with his swords held loosely at his side, looking as five knights, including the one who had just landed a blow on him, stepped up to stand beside of their wounded companion. Once again, though he had taken a direct hit, any signs of damage had mysteriously disappeared. Behind him he could hear the noise of battle dying away, so he guessed these were the only ones left. "They defended. So, it was a weakness after all. However..." The air in the room suddenly seemed to hold a crushing weight; the power of a Lord from a realm beyond human understanding. "...weaknesses only hold meaning in battles of equals. When one side holds power beyond the other's comprehension, such things are pointless." Sabrac's cloak rose in the air as he widened his stance and braced himself. A glow of malevolent red began to flicker across the surface of his body, engulfing him in his own power.

"When one wields great power, there ceases to be a justification, a reason for their victory." The voice echoed ominously, and even the mindless knights now realized their situation as they stumbled backwards. But behind them was only the wall of the cave. They turned to either side, but a line of fire traced from Sabrac's feet, arcing toward the wall in a semi-circular shape, and then exploded upwards to the cave roof, creating a barrier of flames all around the knights. Even with their magic resistance, the power filling the flames was so dense that they had become a physical wall. "No matter how many thousands of times a group of ants attempts to kill a boot, the result will always be the same..." As his voice trailed off, the red glow around him intensified, and then, with a bang so loud that it shattered the rock around him with its passage, the fires of hell itself engulfed the cave.

Flames so blazing hot they melted rock tore from the ground and violently flared into the cave. The flames rose and rose. They hit the ceiling and poured out of the open hole in the roof. They exploded off to either side, engulfing fully half the cave in a conflagration that seemed enough to end the world. The sound of the maelstrom drowned out everything else; the cries of shock from the watchers, the terrified screams of the trapped knights, it all vanished before the roar that sounded more like a never ending explosion than the blazing of fire. All, that is, except the voice of the inferno's master, which echoed and resounded above everything, calm, yet resonating with irresistible force. Deep within the fire, he lifted his flame-coated blades above his head. "...obliteration." Then, the blades fell like the judgement hammer of God.

The earth shattering explosion that followed defied description. The immense wave of pure madder-red power rushed forward with the force of a typhoon, instantly filling the enclosed space. No matter how strong the magic resistance of their armor was, the knights, at ground zero of the blast, had no hope of survival. Even as their armor reflected the power that slammed into it, the rest of the explosion reflected that power right back. Thousands of tons of force were brought to bear on them from all sides, bypassing their armor altogether and completely annihilating their cell cohesion; liquifying them under the pressure. In the same moment, the liquid was vaporized by the super-heated metal, leaving six hollow suits of armor as the only proof the knights had ever existed on this earth.

For a moment, Sabrac looked into the raging inferno he had created, his unnaturally glowing eyes unaffected by the light that would have blinded anyone else, before turning and absentmindedly walking away as the entire cave system collapsed behind him; giant boulders crushing the spot he had occupied only a moment before. However, he ignored this completely and strode aimlessly back in the general direction of the place where all the others were standing, speaking once more to no one in particular. "Even so, they still..." His voice trailed off into a thoughtful silence.

The cave fell silent as the last Knights were consumed in a fiery blaze. That moment of silence hung in the air like a dream. That is until the entire back part of the room opened up. Beyond it seemed a pure white void filled only by the hundreds of silent Knights that marched their way toward the room. These ones held weapons of the darkest black. Behind them flew massive dragons that let loose fire that burned almost as hot as the inferno Sabrac had created. On the front of their orange skin were massive black X's. Leading them was a man whose power seemed to lay thick and heavy in the air. He stood at seven feet tall and wore armor as black as the knights that he lead. The shoulder guards appeared to be on fire. He slowly pulled his sword from his scabbard and smiled as the dark energy began to spread across the room creating dread in what was once hope and sadness in what was once happiness. His long red hair covered one eye and on the other cheek was a black X. The army marched continuously toward them.

At the front of the cave another door opened. Above this one was the word Exit, somehow translated into the language of anyone who looked at it. Each of you hear a voice in your head Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death. Through the door lies the answers to why you are here. This did not come as words, but as a thought, almost like a dream.

For those who pass through the door they will be transported to what seems like a large mansion foyer with doors lining every which way. They are labeled different things names that may sound familiar to some, but foreign to others. Names like Pokemon, Naruto, and Harry Potter. In the middle of the room is a floating orb of pure light. For those who can detect power they will find it has more than any other creature they have ever encountered before. But it seems like a warm energy, almost loving, the exact opposite of the power the sword had contained. Hello child it would say to those who entered as a thought in their head instead of words spoken from the mouth. Welcome to the Nexus of the Worlds

Marco watched the others fight. He watched, and he learnt. He learnt that the figure in the middle did indeed have very similar abilities to Akainu. He learnt that he wasn't the only one here who could fly. He learnt most of the witch's power came from an object on the end of her broom. And, perhaps most importantly, he learnt that these people weren't using powers obtained from devil fruits. The witch had used laser attacks, and Admiral Kizaru had already eaten the Pika Pika No Mi.

The others worked their way through the rest of the knights and bats, some having more difficulty more than others. Some used physical attacks, others used more flashy abilities. The red man in the middle caused flames to erupt from the ground, which felt cool on his skin. When he had finished, parts of the cavern began to collapse until, for just a second, calm fell upon the cave.

The calm was extremely short lived. The back of the cavern erupted into a bright white void, with hundreds more knights, fire breathing dragons and a man with long red hair covering one half of his face. The other had an X on the cheek, which the knights wore on their helmets and the dragons on their stomachs. At the other side of the cavern, a door opened, and a voice spoke in his head, compelling him to go through. Well, it was the only way out...

Before he could move to the door, one of the dragons flew towards him and began to circle. Marco laughed to himself. If it's after a dogfight, it's in for a shock.

Marco transformed.



The dragon roared in surprise, and a burst of red flame erupted from its mouth. It hit Marco square in the chest and the phoenix appeared to grow in size. The dragons flames had felt like a breeze against his burning form. The phoenix soared above the dragon and used his talons to gouge out its eyes. The dragon cried out in pain and began to jerk around the air erratically. It gave another burst of flames, Marco flew through the fire, and used his beak and talons to rip a gaping hole in one of its wings. The dragon crashed to the floor, passed out fron the pain with a pool of blood beginning to spread around it.




Marco touched down on the floor, morphing back to his human form. It seemed it didn't matter where he was or what powers the creatures had, nobody could match him in the air.

That voice in his head was nagging at him again, insistent. He decided he'd been here long enough. He turned towards the exit door and walked through, to whatever await him on the other side.

The wizard was very confused by this day. Mostly because it just kept getting weirder and weirder. He had been at the mercy of the knights and the demon bat but then a girl with a bow and a pair of knives had made quick work of them. He had thanked her while the others fought their own battles, then they had watched in awe and horror as the loudmouth (Mimsy) defeated a large portion of the enemy and then....Who the hell is this guy??? With the monologuing and the evil flame storm of death you would think he would be an evil overlord. Except it seems like he's on our side, or at least not against us. Then a much larger portal than before opened up at the back of the cave displaying a whole horde of creatures led by a dark warrior.Then the wizard turned around and noticed another door clearly marked "Exit" Well thats suspicious.Then he heard a voice telling him to run from this fight. I'm fine with that , I stay around here I might have to use meteor.And that wasn't pretty the last time, though it wasn't my fault anyway. How was I supposed to know that was the Archmage's skeleton army? In any case the whole group ran into the new world after the pirate-looking guy turned into a phoenix and took down one of the dragons from the approaching army. Thorough the exit there was a mansion with a lot of doors with the names of things he had never heard of before above each one. A voice in his head welcomed him to the nexus of worlds. Nexus ofWorlds? what? can I get some more info here please? Apparently the voice wasn't talking to him anymore and there was no way to tell if someone else was talking to the voice. There aren't any psychic spells on my world. There was that one group working on it but I think they stopped after someone's head exploded.The wizard turned to the rest of the ragtag group. It was time to actually meet them, hopefully without attacks this time. "So...who are all of you?"

After slaying the two knights at the cost of her Queen of Spades, Alice was visibly less cheerful than she was up to that point.
“Why did they kill my friends? No one can kill my friends…” Her voice was low and sad, she just stood there waiting for nothing at all, simply standing still.

“Do you remember who your friends are Miss Alice?” She started using the Jack of Hearts voice without prompt. “Remember? Do you remember? Do you?”, but her thoughts, if they could be called that, were interrupted.

Two big explosions had shocked her awake. The witch blasted most of the remaining bats and knights… “Witch?” It was her own voice now. “Yes, she did say… ‘I’m the ordinary witch’ just now didn’t she…? So that’s what she is, isn’t it…?” Her loud thoughts were followed by the second explosion. The red eyed man she referred to as the ground created a ball of fire so big that it swallowed a number of knights. All that was left of them was their empty armor. “Oh… His… Magic..? Didn’t bounce back? Mr. Hea-“ She interrupted herself when she started saying that name. It didn’t matter. The card’s voice answered regardless.

“He is strong. Would he not be a suitable friend? Remember your friends Miss Alice?” the card itself didn’t move. “You do remember, don’t you Miss Alice?”. She was about to scream again. She wanted it to stop! But in a turn of events, the ‘voice’ was forced to stop.

The room opened into a white void, filled with an uncountable number of the same black knights from before. Only this time, the ‘bats’ were bigger and breathed fire. She simply stood there staring at them. “I don’t want to play with them. They can’t be my friends. They killed my friends…”

Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are. Risking a fight of this level right now wll only result in death. Through the door, lies the answers to why you are here.

That voice didn’t come from Alice. It didn’t come from anyone. “Who is it? Why am I talking without words? Door? Is there a door? Answers? Here? Risk? Fight?” She couldn’t make sense of it.

“Through the door Miss Alice. Leave this place.” She said in the card's voice. And the cards rose from the ground. Twelve of them. Among these were the King of Diamonds, stained with a burn mark from Alice’s own spell, and the same three Aces from before.

“Why are you here? I’m not playing with you right n-“ The Jack of Hearts interrupted her speech. A dragon was now very close and his flame breath threatened Alice. Mr. Heart, as she called her card held his ground as a shield and deflected the blast. As a result, it had a hole punched through by the fireball that was launched. His duty of protecting Alice was above all else.

“NO! DON’T! STOP THAT!” Her screams had no meaning, and the card picked her up, smoke still raising from the hole that could fit an adult’s head. All the other cards stood their ground. Alice could see when the three Aces bowed to her and turned to face the oncoming hordes.

The Jack of Hearts ran. The other twelve were destroyed. It was a hopeless move from the start, of course, they just stood there to give her time to reach the door. The Others were also running for the door. Maybe some even had made it through already. And when she could make sense of her surroundings again she was already somewhere else, held in the hands of the damaged card inside a room with many doors.

“So… Who are all of you?” It was the Red Wizard.

Alice was somehow different from before. She wasn’t hurt by the horde, but after losing so many cards, her mind wasn’t at peace. “If you can make a pony, I want one now.” She answered without looking at him. She just stared at the hole in the card that held her. There was none of the old joy in her tone.

Kestral was frightened out of her mind right now. The witch's power would've been enough to scare her, as explosive as it was, but the warrior... she shuddered. Her skin was nearly burnt from the flames, though even now it was lessening to something resembling more of a deep suntan. She didn't dare move for fear of being burnt to a crisp.

She could barely breathe. Who were these people? Why were they here? Was this all meant to kill them? Such questions ran through her mind long after the initial wave of enemies was disposed of. But she was pulled from her musings as a wall of the cave opened and hundreds of the same monstrous creatures poured out, along with large fire-spewing dragons of a breed she'd never seen before. Leading them was a man who simply reeked of dark magic, filling her heart with despair against her will.

She saw out the corner of her eye another door, this one with an 'Exit' sign above it. It was, strangely enough, the most normal thing she'd seen the entire time she'd been here. She didn't trust it one bit. Especially when a voice spoke in her mind's ear, like a whisper of a dream: Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death. Through the door lies the answers to why you are here.

She hated this feeling in her heart. The only thing that lifted it was the thought of going through the door. But Kestral was never the type to give up without a fight, and she wanted to see exactly how 'hopeless' this battle was. She could see even as she drew her bow back that the large man who turned into flames had the same idea. She marveled at his new form - a bright blue fire phoenix - and grinned, renewed.

Pulling out three arrows, she notched them all at once and fired them, willing the energy to change into bright reddish-amber flames. They left destruction in their wake and landed deep into three of the dragons' chests, right in the middle of the black X's that were branded there. They gave earthshaking roars of agony as they fell, but even as they did half a dozen more came blazing in to take their places.

Stepping back in fear, she tried once more, instead notching three arrows and changing them to freezing bullets of ice. They did the job just as well as the flames did, but still more dragons came.

Finally, the voice became too tempting to ignore. Not willing to stay any longer, she fled through the only way out. The world tilted, and when she opened her eyes (when did she close them?), she saw the inside of a mansion filled with doors. They were labelled with things she couldn't begin to recognize, though she knew they were important. Hello, Child, said the voice, calming her. Welcome to the Nexus of the Worlds.

One by one the foyer filled with others from the cave-room, including the red-robed mage she'd saved before, though she noticed that the witch and warrior were both absent. Knowing that the army wouldn't kill them if it didn't kill her and the others, Kestral could only wonder at what they were up to.

After taking in his fill of the room, the red-robed mage turned to the group at large and said, "So... who are all of you?"

Kestral nearly laughed. Minutes after what seemed like a lifetime of 'kill-or-be-killed' and now is when people start asking for introductions? Right. However, she couldn't hold her anger at someone who did her no wrong and she pulled Celoivera back over her shoulder as she spoke. "I am the Archer of St. Willow, a Battle-mage and Wanderer hailing from Earth. But as that's much too long for decent conversation, you may call me Kestral."

Just when Jacob sat down, there was a massive headache that rushed into his head. The blood rushed back into his brain and caused him to go in a state of complete stillness. In this phase, a clear, acknowledgeable thought went rushing through his brain, pounding the words in his head.

Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are...

"What doo-"

There was a door with an EXIT sign above it.

Go on then, voice.

... no matter how powerful you are, as risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death.

He then noticed another area, this one pitch black, with a shadowy figure over various creatures great and small. The creatures growled, hoping and longing for Finch soufflé a la mode.

Through the door lies the answers to why you are here.

Jacob got up and decided to run towards the door, as flying was still painful. He also wanted to make sure he wasn't noticed by whatever that thing was. He opened the door in a state of fear, opening the door wide enough for him to slide in. In the door, he found himself in a mansion with doors all around the foyer and the stairways. They had names he could recognize: Pokemon, Harry Potter, Naruto and some he didn't.

The voice returned, causing another headache.

Hello, Finch. Welcome to the Nexus of Worlds.

Nexus of Worlds? You mean like that area that Tabuu had in SSBB? The Great Maze or something?

There was no response, as the voice quickly vanished from his brain, leaving behind the message it stated. Jacob decided to fly, even though his wings were hurt from the fire.

"Hello! My name is Jacob Finch. I don't know why I'm here, nor do I know why you are here, but I ask of one thing: Did you grab any Burn Heal while fighting the Zubats? My wings really hurt! Ow!"

Judas stood there watching the witch destroy all the monsters around them. It was a magnificent show of lights in a rainbow-y fashion. Futhermore he had just tried to destroy her and yet she saved him. He was speechless.

"I dealt with the problem. So, kid, are you alright?" She asked cheerfully, as if dealing with the deadly creatures around them was nothing. He nodded in agreement. But before he could even get back to his senses, he watched the Red Man burn all of the left enemies. His power was truly beyond everything Judas has seen. His flames melted the knights from their armor, lefting only empty shells. If the cow had not passed throught him, he would be dead now.

His goal was now set. He would need the witch's help to beat the Red Man. "T-Thank y-you." - He said, turning to the witch.

Ok. Now I ask for help angainst the Red Man. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but before he could start talking, the back side of the cave opened up. And from the opening Judas could see hundreds of Knights and Dragons with them. Judas was impressed and scared, because he had never seen dragons before. And with them was a man who standed as if he were a giant. And fear would come from him as if he were Judas's Mom.

But before he could even think of fighting the mysterious man, a voice spoke to his mind: "Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death. Through the door lies the answers to why you are here." The voice seemed to come from his happiest dreams and from the long lost memories of his father. Judas looked behind, and saw a door with 'Exit' written over it, but he didn't want to go now. He wanted to fight. He looked to the witch and asked: "Do we fight them, o-or we run?" But she had already gone to fight the enemies. And he stared at her bright grace, as she beamed up her foes.

He would keep watching her fight all day, but some Knights tried to get him. Judas dogded their attack and shooted their brains from their backs, and brought two down. The other three turned behind, but before they could hit Judas, he went to the side.

Hot! HOT! He thought, as the burning breath of a Dragon passed a few centimeters from him. He jumped back, and watched the Dragon make a curve in the air to attack him again. The Knights were unharmed from the fire and tried to attack Judas too. He peeked to his side and saw two more Dragons coming his way.

There's no way I can fight them. Retreat! He though as he runned to the door. Those seconds between him and the door seemed like hours, as the fiery breath of the Dragon came in his way. When he entered the door, the same voice from before spoke in his mind: Hello child. Welcome to the Nexus of the Worlds.

What? What's is 'Nexus'? Is that even a word? He thought, and then he looked around, to see two girls, a red mage and a winged man.

"So… Who are all of you?" Asked the mage
"If you can make a pony, I want one now." The blond girl said
"I am the Archer of St. Willow, a Battle-mage and Wanderer hailing from Earth. But as that's much too long for decent conversation, you may call me Kestral." The other girl answered
"Hello! My name is Jacob Finch. I don't know why I'm here, nor do I know why you are here, but I ask of one thing: Did you grab any Burn Heal while fighting the Zubats? My wings really hurt! Ow!" The angel told
As if everyone's eyes were turned to him, Judas said: "T-Thanks for saving me. C-Can I get a po-pony too?"

Ulrich jumped back from the flames that killed off the last of the creatures and gave a small sigh of relief. Maybe he could catch a moment of rest and talk to these people now. He was about to turn and talk to them.

Before he could one of the walls opened revealing an army of those knights from before. And... where those Charizards from Pokemon? Okay this had to be some sort of crazy dream. Before he could think another thought a horrible dark energy seemed to fill the room. And with this energy came an extreme sense of fear. He had felt fear before, he had come near death before. But this was different. This was terror without a name or description. And it was all coming from the man leading the army.

Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death. Through the door lies the answers to why you are here. A voice rang through his head and he turned noticing the exit sign above a door that had suddenly appeared. He wasn't a coward. Not on his worst day, but what he was presented with now was suicide. He transferred his soul into the clone that had been standing near the mage and had him beat a hasty retreat. He sent the clone after the man leading the charge. The clone pulled out his blades and began to battle against the leader. The man gave out a demonic laugh and dodged every strike the clone could throw against him. He eventually grew bored by the attack and with a simple snap of his fingers set the clone on fire.

Ulrich entered the room and even though the clone wasn't suppose to transfer pain he couldn't help but feel his own body was the one on fire. He gave a grunt of pain before the clone was destroyed and began to collect himself. He heard the others introducing themselves.

"So… Who are all of you?" Asked the mage
"If you can make a pony, I want one now." The blond girl said
"I am the Archer of St. Willow, a Battle-mage and Wanderer hailing from Earth. But as that's much too long for decent conversation, you may call me Kestral." The other girl answered
"Hello! My name is Jacob Finch. I don't know why I'm here, nor do I know why you are here, but I ask of one thing: Did you grab any Burn Heal while fighting the Zubats? My wings really hurt! Ow!" The angel told
As if everyone's eyes were turned to him, Judas said: "T-Thanks for saving me. C-Can I get a po-pony too?"

"My name is Ulrich, but I think the better question is" he looked toward the giant floating orb. "What is that, and what is a Nexus of Worlds?"

The young witch merely grinned as the boy, apparently dissuaded from attacking her by her show of force, mumbled a quiet word of appreciation and turned his focuses elsewhere. Well, while normally Marisa didn't support taking the "peaceful solution" in any situation, she couldn't really call blowing up about fifteen different targets with disproportionately large laser beams "peaceful," so she figured this didn't count as a betrayal of her ideals.

And, speaking of killing sprees involving gratuitous amounts of collateral damage, a sudden surge of power accompanied by a flare of madder red light caught Marisa's attention, choking her response in her throat as she spun to observe what had to have been one of the most destructive spells she had seen since... well, the last time she'd resolved an incident, really, but still, it was pretty blasted impressive! As the booming voice of the being of living flames rang out through the cave, the young magus couldn't help but be stricken by three things. The first was the level of the power he wielded. The second was her own desire to copy and acquisition that power for herself.

And the third was how ridiculous the little speech he was giving as he utterly trashed his targets was. "No matter how many times a group of ants attempts to kill a boot, the result will always be the same: obliteration"? Really? That was as hammy a quote as "Lord Yatagarasu, the Black Sun.
Thank you for giving me your power. The sunlight that rains down on the Earth is a nuclear furnace that will create new atoms. My ultimate nuclear fusion will burn up every body, heart, ghost, and fairy!" or whatever it was that crazed crow had said to Reimu that time.

But, Marisa didn't really have time to focus on these comparatively unimportant details, for as she watched, the entire back of the cave collapsed under the weight of the madder flames...

...and at that exact moment, the wall off to one side tore open revealing a massive legion of enemies marching forth from behind it. There were scores, no, perhaps hundreds of those same knights, now accompanied by what looked to be dragons, a being Marisa couldn't recall encountering before, even in Gensokyo! (Well, there was that crazy theory about the narcoleptic gatekeeper, but until she saw proof, she wasn't buying it. That was just stupid.) As Maria sized up the number of her enemies and weighed her odds, a voice spoke to her in much the same manner as she recalled hearing Patchouli's disembodied voice during the mission to stop the geyser issuing forth from the old hell. This voice told her that there was an exit through which she could escape, and directed her to run, telling her in no uncertain terms that if she stayed and fought, she would surely die. She didn't need a spiritual adviser, whatever it was, to tell her how hopelessly outnumbered they were.

"Do we fight them, o-or we run?" The voice of the child from beside her demanded a response, and so, setting her face grimly, Marisa gave the only reply there could be in this situation. Any fool could see how totally, completely, and utterly hopeless any attempt at battle was. The enemies were uncountably numerous, powerful beyond belief, and immune save for a single weakness to the witch's magic. Any sane being would turn tail and flee without a second thought.

BGM: Vessel of Stars ~ The Casket of Star: ZUN, remixed by dBu music.

And so, raising the Mini-Hakkero confidently, Marisa demonstrated as she always did why exactly she didn't count as a "sane being." I mean really, what did you expect?!

"Like hell I'm running! Come on, everyone! We can win this easily!" She forcefully declared, a smirk forming on her face as she began to power up her magic. As the knights closed in and the others in the group began to fight, Marisa merely smirked calmly, and, waiting for the Mini-Hakkero's energy level to rise a little more, instead rose into the air on her broomstick, reached into her pocket, and, drawing forth a series of small crystal vials, shook them a few times, then hurled them down into the masses below, snapping her fingers as she did so.

Several pleasingly large explosions tore forth from the amassed formation, sending at least a dozen bodies flying, several of them missing their brains. Even those that survived the initial explosion were not safe, for in a flash, Marisa was targeting each in turn with a precise, expert aim, firing concentrated, star-shaped magical missiles directly into their weak points, causing them to explode in miniature showers of sparkling light. Marisa merely grinned, and, taking aim at the next wave, set about a different approach.

Aiming the Mini-Hakkero at the center soldier of the next phalanx, she fired an outward-spreading series of tiny green sparks, all of which curved around the target, then abruptly converged inward, forming a bright green explosion with several green stars orbiting it. This technique, named "Green Spread" by Marisa, striking the targets from behind, actually managed to eliminate at least three more. The young witch smirked, blew the smoke from the Hakkero, and prepared to fire again, her endless confidence unaltered by the vast numbers of targets. It just meant she had more to shoot, is all, and packed together like that, they couldn't even hope to maneuver! Tough though they might be, these chumps were less of a challenge than some fairies! Hell, that idiot ice fairy kid could probably pose more of a challenge than-

It was at this incredibly awkward moment that Marisa realized that the rest of her so-called allies had retreated while she wasn't looking. Turning to glance over her shoulder and check on how they were doing, she found that, while they had left a few bodies behind them, the vast army was marching forth undeterred. On the other hand, each and every one of the other "magicians" had vanished without a trace, doubtless running for their lives into the safety of the little portal on the other end of the room. The cowards! Didn't they have any motivation? If you didn't blow up all of the enemies, how could you steal their spells and precious magical artifacts! PAH! If this was the best the "magicians" of this world had to offer, then Marisa was going to have to consider coming up with a different profession name for herself so as not to be lumped in with those lazy bums!

It was at this even more incredibly awkward moment that a shadow fell over Marisa, and she immediately turned around to find, as she expected, one of the many dragons currently descending upon her quite rapidly, spewing a torrent of flames in her direction. Darting to the side, she hastily erected a magical field between her and the fire, altering its course so it would merely graze her, allowing her to drain its surprisingly potent strength to fuel her spells. In an instant, the Mini-Hakkero had fully recharged itself, which was awfully convenient, considering a very angry dragon was now heading her way with the probable intent to bite her head off.

And so, the witch raised the reactor, and, chanting the words of a final spell card, released the power of one of her newest and most beloved variations on an old favorite.

"Perversion ~ Sure-Fire Master Spark!" With this, a pinprick of rainbow-colored light flared up at the heart of the magical apparatus, and tore forth in a narrow, concentrated beam, streaking like a precise bolt of lightning at its incoming target!

...

The dragon gave a small chuff and tilted slightly to the side, causing the almost pitifully tiny beam to miss it completely.

...

The witch smiled, and abruptly released all of the pressure holding back the full power of the Hakkero.

...

The dragon was completely and utterly anhillated, reverting to its component atoms in an instant as it was engulfed in a typhoon of power dwarfing even the Final Spark the Witch had deployed during the fiery swordsman's first appearance. The entire airspace of the room was consumed with light of every conceivable hue, like some apocalyptic rave party of the damned.

...

Well, maybe that wasn't the best analogy ever made, but it would suffice. The point was, the dragon was no more, and as the already battered roof of the cavern finally gave up the ghost and either dissappeared into light or collapsed upon the heads of the advancing legion, the Witch, blown clear of the blast by the sheer shockwave of the initial release, quickly righted herself and skidded to a stop...

...right next to the cloaked, red-eyed man, where he stood idly observing the fight.

Marisa smiled slyly, and, extending a hand, spoke only a few words.

"Hey, they, big, bad, and massively destructive! Whaddya say to a truce so we can blow up all these small fry?"

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BGM: Two Steps From Hell-Love & Loss

Sabrac strode forward towards the other people who had ended up in this cave. Most were staring at him with either shock or fear. Well, he wasn't that surprised. With the distractions out of the way, he could now-

Before he could complete the thought, the cave wall to one side tore open, revealing a gaping white maw out of which, with the regular, oppressive stomp of armored boots, a huge army sallied forth. Sabrac's head snapped in the direction of the new force, and his narrowing crimson eyes gleamed with malevolence and annoyance. Apparently they do not know when to give up. Must I educate more fools? It was at this moment that his eyes crossed those of the red-haired leader of the group. Though they looked at each other only for a moment, there was no fear or worry in the leader's face, and Sabrac carefully noted the aura of power surrounding him as immense dragons soared out of the gaping doorway spewing flames every which way. The annoyance in his eyes vanished, and he straightened, letting his swords disappear in a puff of red flames and his mantle fall around him once more. He only stood calmly staring at the tall man as he drew a sword from his waist which released a threatening and oppressive aura. Sabrac did not even shift as the power washed over him. "Fear is a useful tool to utilize against ones opponents. It is human instinct to feel fear when faced with overwhelming force. However, a Crimson Lord has no such disability to hamper them. An admirable attempt, but foolish." Once again, the words were not especially directed at anyone, even though they were phrased as though they were directed at the man. He only spoke calmly and quietly, as if musing aloud.

With a sudden pulse of ambient magic much different that the magic of the two previous entrances, a door opened in the wall behind Sabrac. Go, through the door, no matter how powerful you are risking a fight of this level right now will only result in death. Through the door lies the answers to why you are here. Sabrac's head rose ever so slightly, the only physical reaction he showed to the voice in his mind. "Death? Such a strange person. Such a concept does not apply to one like me. To hold the concept of death, you must also hold the concept of life. I do not live, merely exist. Time does not change me, damage does not harm me, weariness never takes me. My flame came into existence one day, and one day in the distant future, it will suddenly disappear without a trace when I decide that my purpose is complete. That is my nature as a Crimson Lord."

With a roar and a burst of brilliant flames, the enormous and deadly form of an azure phoenix tore through one of the dragons off to Sabrac's right. Following right behind, the stealthy warrior began to fire off arrows with inhuman speed and accuracy, and as they hit the dragons that had sped ahead of the advance forces, they burst into an impressive cloud of flames. "However..." Cards began to rise from the ground and combat the advance knights, while elsewhere, the witch, to Sabrac's complete lack of surprise, charged headlong into the fight, magical amplifier spewing lasers at a ridiculous rate. "...To fight at this time is pointless. I have no reason to be here beyond discovery of my location so that I may return. Such a battle without a contract would merely be wasteful and unpleasant, since I have already manifested myself. There is no excuse for an assassin who fights a battle that he does not control completely." More dragons fell, this time covered in ice from the bow of the other warrior. Even the small child destroyed a knight or two. However, Sabrac could see that many of the others were beginning to understand the situation. The child, phoenix, bow-woman, cloaked wizard, and dual swordsman all moved to retreat through the portal.

It was at that moment that he once again sighted the red-haired man through the flames, and his eyes narrowed as he easily dodged the blows of one of the swordsman's copies, before, with a bored expression and an offhand snap of his fingers, the copy exploded in flame. For the second time the red haired man met eyes with Sabrac, this time across the flaming remains of the clone. He looked at the black cloaked assassin with a look that held absolute confidence in his superiority, and in return, Sabrac sent an unflinching, soul chilling gaze as his reply. He did not need to manifest his power in the slightest; his unnatural crimson eyes conveyed the full force of his killing intent. However, neither party wavered, and in a moment a knight crossed the battlefield somewhere in between them, and when it had past, the red haired man was gone.

An enormous explosion of rainbow energy suddenly tore another dragon to shreds, and Sabrac turned his head slightly to regard the rather impressive show of brute force. At that moment, however, the witch skidded to a halt next to him. For a moment, her face showed surprise, but she immediately defaulted back to her unstable grin.

"Hey, they, big, bad, and massively destructive! Whaddya say to a truce so we can blow up all these small fry?"

There was total silence for about 30 seconds, before, without a sound, Sabrac turned on his heel with a sweep of his mantle and began to walk slowly towards the exit.