melodiesoflife | Endgame || Apocalypse

Entry tags:

Endgame || Apocalypse

Characters: Anyone
Where: Pandaemonium
When: March 05th
Summary: The first phase of endgame begins! The Heroes of Light are on their way to deal with Garland as they’ve left their unfinished businesses in the hands of their friends amongst the NPCs. How will it end? The mingle threads shall not be modded, only The Guardian will be modded. Please do not start individual threads for The Guardian, reply in a single thread. Starting from now on, the game is officially in endgame. Please do not post any new posts on Mognet or in the Log Community, unless they’re backdated to before this event. The second phase of endgame will be posted once The Killer Of World thread will have been unlocked and completed.
Warning: ̩̼͋ͬͅ.̷̳̗ͦͣ͐ͭͣͬ̈́ ̤̙ͫ̉.̨̯͖̗͓̥̭̣̂̄ͣ̏ͯͫ ̶̼̻̳ͫͧͥ̆.̭͎ͮ͂ ̳̤͓̖̫͌ͪͥ̄͗̐̌.͚͍̀ ͈̻̠̥̜ͦͦ̆ͨ͋.̼̹̹̠̟͚͎ ͙͇̲̘͖̉̌̒͂̈ͮ.͇͙͑̍̽ ̪̭̹̤͓̯̜ͦͣ̒̾͆͗ͦ͟.̝̯̲͗͊̽ ̛̙͌̈ͤ̚.̪̮̰̘͚̏ͦͤ ̲̼̺͓̣̝̐.͗ͨ͜ ̧́̑̄ͥ.ͬ͊̋ͣ ̝̠͍̭̯̽.́ ̊̽̈.̡̥̖̣͓̬̠̰͗͑͂ ͍̭̩̝̉͊̑̃̓ͤ̇.͆̔̀̈́̐̋ ͇̬̤̲͉̜͙̓̍ͦͯͤͥ̔.̯̻̺͔̰̞̙͋͡ ̻̼̣̮͖̮̋ͬ.̖̝̞ ͕̦̙̞̹̲̖̓̃.̌ͯͯ͟ ̺̘̪͊̊.̲͖ ̧̼̙̋ͦͧ̂́̑͑.̷̼̬̭͔͙̹̫ͦͧ̔̄͐̏ͫ ̱͎ͥͥ̈͝.̲̣͖̪͓̯ͩ̓̈̿ͧ̅́ ̪͈͚̺̦̝͎̒ͦ̇̚.̂̆ͯͦͩ̃̀̀ ̬͕̼̆.͎̃́͐̄͒̑ͪͅ ̠̳͎ͬ.̛̭͓͗͌ͪ ̴͉̱͉̘̯̟̔͐.̫̣̥̔͑͛́ ̝̭̤̜͖͎̙̈ͪ̿̓ͯ͂̚.̟̲̥̥͈̭̳̈̋ͥͦ ͔̩̈͋͐͗̚.͓̝̼͍̈ͧ͊ͅ ̥ͥ.̷̬͍͙ͥ̓͋ͅ ̪̯̠ͨ́̂.̱̙̘̫̰͕͈̎̓̊ ̧̻̃̎.̬̇̄ ̘̣̺̼ͯ͋̀.̯ͬ ̆͗͆̆̋͝.̴̞͖̫́ͬ͌̉̍̿ ̪̹̥͙̑ͅ.̵̻̮͓̉̃ͯ͑̊̈́̚ ͚̽̒̚͘.͇̮͇̻͍͈̠͂̓ͣ̀͡ ̩̠̖̋.̺͎͈̦̺̈́ͮͬ͌̋ͧͩ ̳̠͕͙̎ͩ͜.̛̆ͥ̒͑ ̘̠͓͚̱͗͜ͅ.̢̠̠̥͍̬̂̊͋͊̂̄̐ ̦͛.̰͚̫̱͙̩̅̓ ̲̜͌̒ͭ͑͠.̠̆̈̏͆̉ ̰̹̳̻̥̮̬ͨ̍̐̆͗ͫ͜.͕̥͔̳ͩ͞ ̣͓̥̑̍͊̽̄̀.̳̘̭ͭ̔̎̍͜ ̟̞̯̏.̙̯̦̞̱̘ͬ͐ͩ ̯̠̣͉̪̅̅ͣ́ͅ.̡͗̍̿͊͐͊ ̲̙́̽̽́.̝̟͇͈͚̿͝ ̑͜

Mingle Thread
The Guardian
The Killer Of Worlds

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Natalia had little reason to feel much in the way of compassion or understanding for Kalki's plan and motivations. She'd only been a part of this world for a few months. As such, she said nothing to try and persuade her, for there was little she could suggest that the others hadn't.

But she did feel a growing sense of unease and danger. Kalki's convictions made her dangerous, her intentions even moreso. Tear was badly hurt, and the white magic they were using didn't seem to be enough to heal the damage that had been done.

She gave a sharp nod at Santa, agreeing with his sentiments no matter how crudely put they might be. "I'll keep you both protected," she promised as she rose to her feet, casting Camouflage over the little group. If this did erupt into a fight...and she had a strong feeling that Kalki was not about to back down for a heartbeat given that look in her eyes...then the injured would fare a lot better if they couldn't be detected. She drew an arrow from her quiver and held it to her bow, but didn't yet raise the weapon. It was just a precaution...for now.

There was more menace in the dark, whispered pulses of the crystal over Kalki's hand than Kenshin had seen in all of Chaos' brutal magic. His head leaned slightly back, hoping for some cool wind to dry the sheen of sweat upon his brow, but none came. In Kalki's eyes, he saw a power against which even Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū had never been tested.

But it was his hope that, somewhere behind that power, there was someone who could yet be reached.

He offered his voice to the others', as soft as it could be without being lost amidst the pleas. "Miss...Kalki? This one can offer no easy solace to the pain you have surely known, to lead you to such a decision. He, too, knows what it is to desire the way of things to be redone. He does not fault you for wishing so."

Kenshin was not still as he spoke, moving step by step with sword in hand into a careful angle amidst the Heroes' party. At present, the ones called Tear and Akane were at the foremost of his thoughts. They were still not wholly recovered from Chaos' grievous assault. Whatever else Kalki intended, Kenshin made sure to position himself in step so that any line of attack directed at either of the injured women would have to pass first through him. His body would not prove a truly stalwart shield, but it was offered nevertheless.

"But you will find no answer lies to you at the end of such a course. To bind life and death is not something that is tasked to you. Whatever power you have discovered, it is not meant for you to use to such an end." Though his eyes kept their frown, Kenshin willed a smile to his lips, and his off hand rose from the hilt of his sword to offer invitation. "Give your trust to us, Miss Kalki, and let us seek a better way, together."

Cloud could feel the voices, feel the hearts of everyone around him. They may be floundering in the dark, but he had no doubt that they were heroes. Every one of them. Even Deadpool. Though he wouldn't be surprised if he stayed his attack because Jack implied he'd be the first to do it.

"Kalki. Different things drive our lives, and nothing is as easy as we hope, but death can push the living to act. The..." His voice hitched a moment, thinking of a particular crystalized hero again, "The torch gets passed. Even if the living aren't ready for it. That's how life works. That's how the world moves on." He gestured out around them, "Crystallis needs to move on. Whether this planet lives or dies, it doesn't matter. The cycle needs to end, we all agree with that. That's why you sent us down this path."

He started walking forward, putting his sword back on his back but then deployed his shield once more. "The difference between us is that we keep trying to find a way for life to continue. Everything we've done was to try to save as many people as we could, knowing full well it wasn't possible. But you've taken the path of torturing the living, and leaving the people of this world to be consumed by one death or another when you could be using your knowledge to help."

He stopped a moment, taking a long breath, "You could have come to us openly from the beginning. You could have worked with us instead of trying to manipulate us. We could have tried to find the alternatives together." He smiled sadly, "At least, I hope you could have. I really do hope that with all you've done that it has been your choice and you're not the Calamity's puppet...I guess there's only one way to find out." As long as all of this was her own free will, that meant she had the ability to surrender.

That floating black crystal really worried him.

Time to be a hero. Time to be stupid.

He ran forward, right at her, raising his shield but making no other aggressive action apart from his clear intent to try to provoke her. Maybe if he was lucky, he was thinking, she would relent and let herself be subdued.

He smiles slightly at K'pandolu's offer. "I'm okay for now, thanks." He's really not, but right now both of their focuses should be on the woman in front of them. Jaune may not have been around during Kalki's days, but he's read the files, and the world she's talking about? It doesn't sit well with him.

The blond makes no move to attack, but raises his shield defensively, just in case his Limitbreak is needed - he can't take another hit and he knows it. He glances around at his fellow Heroes; while many of them look better off than he is, they're all injured and likely exhausted from the battles so far; quelling this one would be best. He's not certain, but he can only think of one reason why she would want to create the type of world she was looking to.

"Kalki, I know you don't know me, but I know what it's like to be afraid of dying, and I know the pain of losing someone you care about." He hopes, he really does, that Pyrrha did survive the fall like some speculated, but he can't know for certain. And he knows that the utter feeling of despair that he felt when she was suddenly thrown off would forever haunt him. "I understand why you'd want to eliminate that pain and make a world without it." He takes a deep, shuddering breath, trying to steal himself. "But there are some things that you just have to accept, and death is one of them. We all lose people. And at first it hurts. God, does it hurt. But you have to keep moving. It's what they would have wanted."

It's what Pyrrha would have wanted.

He closes his eyes, shaking his head slightly, the words close to home. "You don't have to do it alone, though; you have friends, even here. Let us help you, and together we can find a better way to end this."

Akane was only scarcely coherent of what was happening around her. Voices seemed muted and distant, as if her head had been plunged into a barrel of hot water that dulled everything else beyond the small circle of worried friends into an indistinct murmur. The healing magic had ensured that she would not die, and coupled with a stubborn willpower of her own not to ever give up on her goals, survival seemed likely.

If they were able to leave this place, that is.

She took comfort in the pressure of Tear's shoulder against her cheek as she panted for breath. Would that she had access to the morphogenetic fields, she could at least see the different histories that branched out from this moment, the way the world would soon be shaped based on the decisions made by these people at this exact time and place. But her powers were still denied to her. She couldn't even make use of the jobs she'd equipped, unable to speak or gesture. Her fingers twitched at the feel of someone's hand gently grasping hers, instinctively trying to hold back if not for the shattered bones that dug into her muscles.

However, there was yet one thing she could do with her very limited energy and awareness. At her side, the air rippled, and a second Akane appeared with a ghostly glow around her. The illusions she had at her disposal still worked, as far as she could tell, and she used that to communicate the feelings in her heart.

I'm okay, her illusion nodded once with a small smile. It's hard to speak or move right now, but I'm hanging in there. Don't worry about me! Just finish this fight and do what you need to do to save our worlds.

With that, the image faded as her concentration broke. She wasn't even really sure the fighting was finished; all she knew was that something felt incomplete, and she really couldn't put her finger on what that was.

"Not everything needs to be set in stone. I don't need a plan right away but I can guarantee whatever I come up with it's ten times better this this void you're trying to create. Better do what we can in the here and now than think about what our future would be like.."

He takes another step forward, "Even so, your response was lack luster. Just because you want things the way you want it doesn't mean everyone here has to agree. You're talking to a group of Heroes who have more at stake than just their lives and worlds. I can't account for the various types of things we carry but it's more than what you're making it out to be!"

Everyone was saying the same thing and he -- he didn't need to repeat everything. He was against it and he would fight all of this until the end. The feelings of everyone matter. He understood what Kalki wanted but he wasn't okay with it. He's even more unhappy with the fact that she was taking this too lightly. This was not a small matter. Life and Death, and an existence in a sort of limbo where death wasn't possible and bringing the dead back. He honestly believed the dead should remain as they are, dead. He didn't want them to be subjected to pain or sorrow.

He takes another step, his sword gripped tightly in his arm over his shoulder.

"Plus, if you really care about all of us here, you'd work with us and figure out something together instead of trying to do things your way. Nothing will go your way. I'm not letting it happen. I'll die trying if I have to."

Well too late for that since he saw another fellow Hero going at Kalki but nothing was done yet.

Edited 2017-03-13 05:44 (UTC)

K'pandolu nodded at Jaune, not convinced but willing to let it slide for now. If they were lucky, they might avoid a fight… But Kalki seemed set in her ways.

She shook her head, eyes narrowed. "So this was your desire," she said, and pursed her lips. "What you saw- it convinced you of this, did it not? A vision, perhaps, of calamity unfolding- mayhap even Calamity upon Calamity. To allow such to overtake you, and then take over it from within- if makes a kind of sense. But this- I can only think such power would warp whoever tried to hold it, and that… is no kind of life at all." Nael van Darnus, and all that had happened there. "Our answers may not satisfy you- but we must try."

Her eyes widened as she saw Cloud's movements, and she started forward, ready to support him as best she could.

Lust had stirred faintly when she felt Flynn approach her. For a moment their eyes met, and beneath the marble veneer she wore, there was perhaps a glint of appreciation, followed by the smallest nod of acknowledgment. Like the others, her attention finally moved to Parasraya, but her detachment to the situation couldn't have been more obvious.

That is, up until the moment that guise melted away to reveal the woman who was responsible for summoning her to this world...for putting them through months of hell that whittled away at their numbers after being abandoned...and possibly for killing off so many just when they thought they'd reached a sanctuary after enduring so much. Lust's eyes were wide and completely fixated on Kalki. She was frozen in place, unable to hear anyone else's pleas or threats, unable to even glance at Flynn who stood beside her.

Under other circumstances, perhaps, she might have been grateful to Kalki. She was the one who pulled Lust out of her world from the clutches of an unmourned death and placed her in a mortal, human existence. But her hatred ran deep, and her grudge was no easily forgotten. People she'd felt the stirrings of affection for, like Badou, had been ripped away from her. She'd been put through hell in her struggles to survive within a body to which she was not accustomed to having, denied her powers and fitted with abilities that were entirely foreign to her.

Kalki had tried to use them...kill them... Lust's glare darkened ominously as she lowered her head and narrowed her eyes.

Suddenly she was moving. The elevated heels of her black armored boots beat a rapid staccato as she dashed straight for Kalki. Lust's slitted eyes were burning with malice, her ebony sword yanked from its sheath. She didn't shout in rage, or even so much as snarl. Instead she arced through the heroes, disregarding their attempts to talk her down. It wouldn't work. And Lust knew...knew...the emptiness and eternal longing of an existence where she neither lived nor died. If this woman thought to rob her of this life she'd fought so hard to claim as her own...!

There were things he'd never spoken about, things his Calamity Self had only begun to share with those who had been present for the confrontation, regarding his past. Yet as he stood there, listening to friendship speech after friendship speech, his blood boiled in his veins. Memories flooded back, images of torment and anguish and entrails and Light please make it stop-

"If you think that's what's best, think again," he stated, a hint of panic tainting his voice. "No way in hell can any of us allow that to happen!"

A girl's voice humming such a sickly sweet tune, toys placed in one place suddenly appearing in another location altogether, their advocate being devoured before their very eyes-- Empty halls and empty chambers, stark white disguising the decay. Yes, yes he could see why it would be appealing, to bring back the dead, and yet... he can't. It's too vivid, the tormented faces of those he'd both known and hadn't known, tormenting him from beyond the grave. Souls that had been fractured, lost, unusable and fragmented for the devices - reduced to dark shades of their former selves after their World's death.

He couldn't wish that fate on any, which was why he had so strongly advocated the healing of those souls lost to the Calamity. That this woman wanted a fate worse than death itself for all caused him to want to scream until his throat was hoarse, but he refrained - if only barely. No, that wouldn't help anyone now. Even as he harshly shouted through gritted teeth.

"I've seen what that kind of life does to a person - a little girl, forced to take upon the souls of all those in her world, twisted by her newfound immortality to the point she repeated the same mistakes others had done to her to countless worlds. Timelines and universes that ended because of her insatiable loneliness and curiosity for something new than a stagnant existence! You think for one second anyone in this group wants that?! To be driven insane to the point of willingly committing the gravest sins imaginable?!"

"I've had my share of learned helplessness at the hands of those who would play at gods over others' lives and souls. Of watching idiots play into the hands of people like you who have fallen so low into the darkness that you see no way beyond what you have been able to grasp in the shadows." With that said, his the anger and hate for his former captors fueling his rage even further as a similar darkness seemed to weave its way around his body, transforming his armor, reactivating his Dark Mode.

"May the darkness take you once more, your name and those who would defend such a pitiful existence be remembered as those... of a recusant."

Using his Dark Corridor ability to swiftly make his way through the crowd, ignoring the brief flicker of pain - for now it only seemed to blend together with the unheard screams of his very soul - he lunged forward with blade in hand. If Cloud couldn't reach the Black Crystal, he would at the very least aim to slice off the hand that held it aloft. Whether he had to go through the meatshield that was Jack or not.

Saori shot Ardyn a look for holding her back at just throwing this giant sword at Kalki, but that anger quickly turned to fear. Which may have worked in the man's case or else she would've smack him with the hilt of Garland's sword.

No. She might've possibly lost Mary but if she lost her son, she'd never forgive herself. She cursed herself for not getting to Ira was before he jumped in, pushing anyone who was in her way.

"Damnit, IRA!" She threw down a smoke bomb to help close the distance and to land just to the left of Kalki and Jack but now with a clone at her side. In one hand was Garland's sword, and the other was hers. In her world, the manipulation of souls is perhaps the greatest offense anyone could commit. To see something like it in this large scale was therefore unforgivable.

There was a high chance Kalki might use another multi-targeting move, so she cast Transience to be ready to counter it. Meanwhile, the clone followed after Ira, ready to grab him and get him to safety if things went wrong. "I doubt even the gods of judgment will give you an ounce of mercy for what you've done."

Edited 2017-03-13 09:03 (UTC)

Even though the gaze that met Ace's held traces of defiance, Tear nevertheless closed her eyes in defeat as relief washed over her body from the pressure of Akane's weight being decreased, even if only a little. Still she held onto the other girl protectively, opening her eyes to glance warily at the other Heroes attempting to reason with Kalki. As beautiful as those words sounded, she had little faith that they would have any effect on the woman whose resolve she begrudgingly understood.

Then suddenly several of her allies started forward, and Tear knew she had to act fast. Looking back to Ace, she hastily casted Curaga on her partner—he might get upset with her for it, and her heart was indeed driving her decision, but she also trusted him to carry through with his promise if the opportunity arose. For that to happen, he needed to survive.

Breathing unsteadily, she took advantage of her Dualcast ability to begin singing Spoony Bard softly to herself, lest Natalia's Camouflage be rendered useless by making it easy to track the melodist's fragile voice. Though she loathed to use a song that benefited only herself, it was the more pragmatic thing to do. If things became worse, she would theoretically survive and still have the ability to bring the other Heroes back.

“Hope and friendship…” She chuckled and shook her head. “Ah, my friends… I think the only reason we haven’t fought yet, was so I could listen to those wonderful speeches of yours. Please, allow me to answer your questions and offer my own interpretation, ere the seemingly unavoidable conflict begins.”

When multiple Heroes made a move toward her, Kalki phased out for a split second. When she re-appeared, she was where Lust had been moments ago—And Lust was where Kalki had been, therefore any moves that were made toward Kalki would hit Lust instead. Regardless, Kalki’s gaze shifted to Sheena.

“I am not the voice you heard in the rift. What you heard was the Cloud of Darkness, an entity far more powerful and far less reasonable than I am. It exists to see everything returned to the void, and cares little for our evolution. I despise it as much as you do.” She sighs before shifting her gaze to Jack. “Jack, rest reassured, you are not at the center of everything. Committing suicide in front of a person going through evident emotional distress certainly doesn’t shine as your brightest moment, but far be it from me to condemn you for it. And know what I am offering isn’t the immortality you have known, or that any of you have. It is something which our minds might not even comprehend.”

She took a few steps toward the edge of the platform, staring into the abyss.

“Ever since the dawn of time, all sentient entities have strived to evolve. And through all times, there were those afraid of evolution. There were those who called medicine unethical. ‘All living beings will eventually die. All things must come to an end. Why then extend our lives? They argued we should accept death when it comes and burnt to the pyre those who offered to improve our lifetimes. There were those who argued using machines is a sin. It will be a world where people have no heart or soul, they’ll take away from us everything they are.’ They claimed our kind should suffer and strive on its own without using our gift for evolution to accommodate our lives. There will always be those striving to move the world forward, to change it, to better it. As there will always be those favoring stagnation, too afraid of what change will bring. Yes, living is hard and I fight so we can change as we should.” She turned back and looked at Riku. “Riku, universes are not unlike Machina. I trust you remember how the followers of Yevon would see heresy in your attempts to use Machina to better the world. How they couldn’t understand how these worked. The situation at hand isn’t unlike the one you have known, but you are now standing in the place of those who once persecuted you.”

She then looked down at Ales, shaking her head.

“Nothing was an act. You sought help and I was happy to provide. Did I also prepare you to overcome your shadow? Yes, but you already had the potential to do it on your own. As a few others here do.” She looked at the Heroes of Light, one after the other. “When sentient entities first came to be, they didn’t understand the world around them. They feared what they saw, they feared the extinction of their existence, they feared the unknown. Thus to control their fear, they created God. An entity that could answer all of their questions, an entity that made order out of the chaos around them. And as evolution moved forward, we realized we could find answers to our questions. We could understand what we once believed to be chaos. Science replaced faith. And as we make order out of the chaos, we are slowly becoming the very God we had once created.”

She then shifted her gaze to Chiaki, with a most disappointed and aggravated look.

“Chiaki, you are such a disappointment. Truly when I studied your profile, I expected far more depth from you. Life as we know it isn’t divided between hope and despair. Good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness—Notions created to make the world sound simpler, yet it is far more complex than a mere division between two extremes. Beneath your hope lurks fear and acceptance of our condition. Under the pretense of hope, you accept a world, a situation, a predicament that is harmful to us. What sees you for tomorrow? Hope. How shall you make this better tomorrow? Lacking an answer, hope is once more your answer. How do you choose to face the dark and grim reality? You refuse; you stall your growth and brandish hope as an excuse. All who live fear pain, fear transformations, fear the unknown. But we grow to conquer those fears, to draw strength from them, to further our own growth. I can think of no greater evil than the hope you are offering me, for it accomplishes naught bur prolong our suffering with no hope in sight.”

She then marked a pause.

“I am not here to offer you hope or despair. I am not here to give you comforting answers. The day will be harsh and the coming dawn is scary. What I offer shall not happen without pain and sacrifices—All of those things you have described as being life itself. Fight me if you will, but I will see this evolution accomplished and if you try to stop if, you will have to kill me right now.”

...you will have to kill me right now.

"Okay. That's all I needed to hear." Deadpool said. It was probably fortuitous that she was near the edge of the platform, right? No theatrics, no weapons, he's just going to stand up and try to push you off the edge, Kalki.

And he turns to the others as he does to the others. "Hey, she said we had to to stop her!"

Edited 2017-03-13 12:18 (UTC)

Jack is intensely startled when Kalki vanishes from in front of him,and he actually laughs when he sees the result, shakes his head at himself. "Forgot you could do that. Sorry for getting in the way then."

But he still stays his hand, because he listens. Kalki heard of them out, so he will hear her out. A natural evolution through science? He in particular sharply frowns when Kalki rebukes Chiaki. "We must have misunderstood this world you want to build, then. Beyond life and death, that stagnation you are describing is actually exactly our fear. How can things continue to change without that fear of death? I've resisted that change for thousands of years. The Time Lords even longer. In fact, they might be a better example. Because they did conquer death through their technology, and it led them to wall themselves away from the rest of reality, to sit and watch from their little glittering sphere and never change."

"You still don't have the right to make this choice for everyone else. Even with your design, then each one of us, Hero or not, is striving to become 'god' of our own world. It cant just be one person acting on everyone else, or, again, we stagnate, from what we see. But how is what you're offering different?" He sighs, and he smiles when he looks at Kalki again. "I wish we could do this forever, too. I've got the same love for you that you have for all of us. Just so we're clear."

Jack finally draws his sword again. "But if we're going to have to wait to continue this discussion? I've got the time." Jack smirks. "Neither of us is getting any older."

His double cast of Cura is aimed at Lust. Sorry that you got the brunt end of Kalki's teleport there.

Kalki said a lot of interesting things, not the least of which was the new information about this Cloud of Darkness. Although he could follow her logic, in the end Jade had to agree with Jack. At least with the less emotional parts of his response, anyway.

"Indeed. I believe you just confirmed my point for me, Kalki." He calmly pushed his glasses up his nose. "Death, pain, and sacrifices drive people to change and grow, thus forcing mankind to progress. Without those things, we would stagnate. The world without life or death you propose to create would mean the end of evolution."

Even as he spoke, Jade was already casting Stats Lore and Enlightenment in preparation for the inevitable clash. It couldn't be long now.

Rukia huffed a quiet sigh of frustration. No one ever listened to the beings who oversaw the flow of life and death and the cycle of souls in their world, they always thought they knew better. Perhaps she should have made use of her illustrations.

The exit still had not appeared to them, Rukia noted. Trapped in here with Kalki, it seemed they had little choice but to fight. Apparently Jade felt the same, or else he wouldn't be making use of his skills.

Placing her palm against the blunt edge of her katana, Rukia murmured another incantation, summoning Shiva to the battle. That one, at least, she didn't think could be avoided by placing another Hero in Kalki's place.

Particularly as Cloud made to rush towards Kalki, Sephiroth had felt a distinct need to intervene but as then others followed and Kalki switched with Lust's position it was all brought to nothing before he could react. Of course she were still able to body switch like that, it had been one of the first abilities of hers that they'd learned about.

Though the itch to begin this final confrontation began to grow to where it couldn't be ignored, Sephiroth again found that his blade was stayed by the powerful interpretation that was then presented. That concept of evolution and how it was forever denied by fear, drew all sorts of comparisons from his own experiences too. The advent of mako as an energy source, the first infusion of a human being with which it brought improved strength...agility. Easily it was extended as a purpose for his own existence; the product of many such experiments with a foreign entity, a victory against the fear of the unknown. Surely then, it would be fear itself that was being presented as the ultimate enemy here.

But at what cost?

Pushing evolution forward in such a direct way that Kalki were now proposing, was arguably as unnatural as the cycle which had been put in place to keep Crystallis alive.

"So by creating a world without life or death, you seek to create a world without fear and thus removing any barriers toward continued evolution of whatever beings come to inhabit it...." Sephiroth wasn't sure he had it entirely right but he muttered along to himself at least in an attempt to get his thoughts in order. He certainly hadn't come into Pandaemonium thinking he would need to make sure he could conjure such more philosophical terms to his mind, it gave the stirrings of a headache, given that his body was still very much in it's combat mode-

"...but eventually they would come to destroy that God that you would put in place. A larger cycle would then likely continue. In millennia from now, we might well find ourselves in exactly this same position. Hence one cycle evolves into another...."

Tsubomi watched in shock as Kalki swapped with Lust. That, combined with the power of the Calamity Knight proved to her one thing: this was a losing battle. They couldn't touch her and they couldn't sway her.

She touched Levy's wrist with her own as she looked at her.

"We need to retreat somehow..." she said, worry in her voice.

Cloud yelped as things suddenly changed around. He threw himself sideways to avoid running into Lust, sending himself sprawling on the floor. He twisted around, looking around frantically for where Kalki was now. At first he was relieved she had not attacked, but as she spoke a chill ran over him. Something was wrong.

She's not been the first of their foes to say that they had to be killed to stop them, but why wasn't she attacking? If she did that would have been the best way to get everyone else to strike back. That had been proven time and again. If she kept talking then they were just as like to do in kind.

So was she trying to stall for time? Or was she going into this wanting to be killed? Trying to provoke a blade?

He was too far away to hear Tsubomi, but he would have found himself in agreement with her.

Cloud was not alone in this. As soon as he saw her phase out of sight, only to be replaced with a friend he had regretably not talked to as much as he would have liked, Ira's eyes widened, before diving in the opposite direction Cloud did and rolling across the floor, digging his blade into the crystal in hopes os slowing himself down.

The downside of having a speed boost, he guessed. Grimacing, he scanned the crowd, hoping that if he hadn't missed, he only grazed Lust. Yet when his eyes set on Kalki, he grit his teeth again.

Were he closer to Tsubomi, he would have berated her for acting so helpless - not even once considering there could be an alternate way to go about this. Now, on the other hand, if Jack keeps talking he might have to apologize to Mary later for breaking one of the rules of the Assassins...

"If you read our files, then you know your words mean nothing," he said coldly, winded but determined as ever to never be that weak puppet who couldn't even stop his own sister from tearing off the limbs of others to replace them with recycled parts. Using his Dualcast skill, he cast Cura on Lust, then on himself.

Jaune’s head whips around when Kalki suddenly switches places with Lust. Shit, that was really going to make a fight hard. Not that she was fighting them. He’d think that she was trying to provoke them into accidentally attacking each other, but that didn’t match with her claims. So then she had to be stalling, and he has a feeling that’s just as bad. But she’s still not attacking them, and he can’t bring himself to swing at someone who can’t defend themselves, deluded or not.

She’s clearly not going to listen to them, but he still can’t help but question her. “Are you really equating technologies that prolong life without eliminating everyone and starting fresh? Medical and mechanical advancements aided us without destroying anything! What you’re trying to do isn’t change the world; you’re trying to rewrite it. Who does that help?”

He’s speaking to her, but he hasn’t let his guard down, his deflect limitbreak still at the ready as he scans his surroundings. If she is stalling them, there’s no way of telling what’s going to happen, or from where.

Ramza had given Kalki the chance to speak her mind, but it seemed her argument had drawn to its conclusion. He rose from the dead Garland's side and pointed his sword in Kalki's direction.

"You say 'evolution', but what you aim for is to become a parasite draining life from its host. You would have us, have Crystallis, grow fat on the corpses of other worlds. We will never allow you to become God, not when you barely even understand how to be human!"

As reality flips, her dagger traces a pattern in the air,

"Rycda"

The word softly spoken as Rikku casts Haste on herself. Scanning the heroes, eager to cast on healers to quicken the work for those in need of aid, motions hurried as if film had been cut out of the time stock of life.

"That's not true you know because I made up my own mind and I don't hate you!" The blonde forced herself to stand taller. Kalki did not hear what she was saying, what anyone was saying. At least they'd tried. "You know for someone so smart, you're pretty dense!"

Too many years of combat training had Selphie realizing that they were being toyed with. Kalki was content to treat them like pawns on a chess board as she turned around from Lust and Cloud to stare the avatar down. Selphie wasn't going to be this woman's piece to control. She was her own person. She had acceptex the side of herself that she didn't let show.

Something about this stunk worse than a pile of Behemoth shit. Selphie looked over at Yuri and over her shoulder towards the others with a deep scowl on her face.

"Something seriously stinks here," Selphie muttered, her sword ever ready to strike. She looked up at Kalki and raised her voice so that she could be heard. "You're no different than Ultimecia. This is the exact same kinda stunt she tried to pull on my world. She didn't get away with it and neither will you! We won't let you!"

Edited 2017-03-14 00:49 (UTC)

So. Fighting wasn't going to cut it. Talking was a way to pass the time. Kalki could kill them right here and now, but she was taking her time to gloat like some first-rate outlaw. In this case, said outlaw could deflect bullets, which made it much more troublesome.

Rewriting reality wasn't too bad if done for the proper reason, but from what he had seen of her, it had to be for selfish reason. This wasn't like his own powers to keep things organized for the sake of the universe.

With her just standing there, not making a move, it was difficult to predict her moved. Mordecai hated being unable to read people, and that is why he was uncharacteristically quiet, pulled the back of his robes over the back of his legs, and sat on the ground. His hands folded to cover his mouth while he focused on a Premonition.

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