Void in the Fog (DCSTUCK)

[DMis]

Forsaken froze as she squirmed from under a rather large piece of rubble, due to the shockwaves, and pieces lined up. "WHAT THE F***?!?!?! I THOUGHT THIS GUY WAS LOCKED UP!!" She yelled sounding in a deep amount of pain as she flew up.

Todd stumbled back and wobbles as another set of blades were summoned. He took to the air as more shockwaves shook the mountain to it's core.

Yang was jumping up the falling rubble.

[gantzgun74]

DAMMIT-!!!!!!

DAMMIT!!!!!

DAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE THREW SO MUCH RAW POWER AT THIS GUY AND IT WASN'T EVEN AFFECTING HIM-!!! THIS WAS GETTING RIDICULOUS!!!!

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS THING-?!?!?!??!?!?

He could hear the Horror Terrors roaring in complete hatred and vehemence several names that made little sense... However Brendan bringing up the name Clockwork sprung to attention the Horror Terrors agreeing on the title. After all Clockwork was a master of time, a powerful abomination that could not be easily killed, even if killed outright... Growling in pain, the thief yeowled as he reached down and yanked out the blade. Thankfully it had missed anyplace fatal...

Or had that been the intention?

The more he thought about it, the more the smug behavior of this beast PISSED HIM OFF.

But NO.

HELL FUCKING NO, IF HE WAS GOING TO LET THE DEMON HAVE ALL OF THE FUN RIPPING THIS ASSHOLE TO SHREDS.

When Swift's attack seemed to kill him and he vanished in a puff of black, he reappeared BEHIND Evan and attempted to kill him- ONLY FOR A VOID PORTAL to pop up in front of him and a massive tentacle to SLAP HIM AWAY FASTER THEN HE COULD REACT. The Grimdark then reappeared and CRASHED THE MAN INTO THE GROUND prompting another vanishing-

Time appeared to freeze- A blade sliced out- AND was intercepted by a void barrier.

The following Racket swipe knocked the sword back and the kick sent the monster hurtling backwards-

"̹̭̝͈S͔̱̺̹Ų̣̲̞̜̟ͅP̶͚̯̲̱̻̺̭E͏̤͎͖͈̯R͎̹̭̖M҉̹̼͇A̠̥̠S̤͇̥̘̙͙͢S̳I̡͓̣V͚͡E̠̪̬ ̲͇̝͍͓͟B͟L̛̙̗A̷̱͚͔̱͉͎C͕̝͜K̢͚̭ ̵̘̰̹̝Ḥ̘̯̦͝OL̡͓͔̮̗̫ͅE̢̼̬̜̞!̵͕͎͎̻̗!̗̮̦!͎̼̣̟̝͖ͅ"̣͕̖̬̳̝͕͘

Several powerful blasts of void followed... And rather then staying in place to accept more punishment, the Grimdark was on the move, keeping ahead.

IT HATED.

OH HOW IT FUCKING HATED.

THAT IT HAD TO GUESS JUST WHAT ELSE THIS ASSHOLE COULD DO. GETTING STABBED IN A TIME FREEZE GAVE HIM SUCH A SENSE OF HELPLESSNESS.

THE THIEF HATED HELPLESSNESS.

HE WASN'T GOING TO FEEL HELPLESS ANYMORE.

[ParamountKeymaster]

Clockwork loudly choked on blood and bile when Swift's claws pierced right through him, his body stiffened by the penetrating blow. It didn't take that kind of force to freeze Brendon in place; the disturbing sight and the feeling of blood on his face did the trick. "Holy s***, Swift..."

To virtually no one's surprise, Clockwork quickly vanished from Swift's grip. One second later, he reappeared behind Evan without a single scratch on him. When he moved in to stab, a tentacle from the void knocked him away, whereas Evan ducked to avoid taking a similar hit. As he was flung across the ruins and once again slammed into the ground by Alex, Clockwork seemed to sigh, as if the whole scenario just annoyed him.

In the meantime, Brendon turned around to shoot Evan a desperate look. "EVAN, GET OFF THE QUEST BED! RUN!!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Immediately, Evan dashed off the stone slab and over to Forsaken and Todd. He had to be sure they were alright, and no matter how chaotic things got, he'd never forgive himself if he just abandoned everyone to this new monster.

Soon enough, time froze again long enough for Clockwork to fly up and aim his keyblade at Alex. When time resumed, the blade met the void. Clockwork relaxed slightly as Alex knocked the sword away with his racket, betraying the slightest hint of a scowl beneath his goggles.

"̧͏Ỳ̕o̢̧҉u͏͏҉̶̀ ̵̶̶͜a̶̶͡͠r̵̨̢͠͝e͡͝ ̛́̀͘j́́͠ư̧ś͘͡͠t̸̷ ̶̛s̡̛ǫ̶̧́͝ ̛́̕p̢̡͢r͏̶͘e͠͏d̷̨͜͡i̷̧̧͢͝ç͡͝t̴̢̕͠à̢̨b̸͠͡ļ̕͞e̡͘͝͞.̶̶̴͡.̷̕̕.̀͘҉͟"҉̧

He then allowed himself to be kicked away, right into the epicenter of the void blasts. Strangely enough, as he was ragdolled by the concussive blows, all Clockwork could think about was how void could inflict this kind of harm. He was literally being bombarded with nothing. It was a wonder how the essence of lack could be utilized as a physical attack. Seemed contradictory, to be honest.

Oh well. Seemed like the fun was over. Putting up with these brats' tantrum was getting him nowhere.

Having finally reached the limit of his tolerance, Clockwork reeled back, gathering the energy of his inner rage into his fist, and swung downward, unleashing a massive shockwave of pure force that blew away everyone and everything in its circular path. The void scattered. The rubble cleared. The combatants were knocked back.

And floating there in the open air, looking as if he had received none of the beatings that had just occurred, Clockwork delivered one final blow in the form of a middle finger. Then he vanished once more.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Swift snarled with chagrin when Clockwork disappeared. She roared with absolute animosity when he reappeared behind Evan, immediately leaping at him to tear him a new one again. The tentacle smacked him away before she could touch him, causing her to collide with and dig her talons into the monstrous appendage instead. She then bounded off of the limb and towards Alex and Clockwork.

There was NO WAY this insolent brat was stealing her thunder! NEVER AGAIN!

As Alex repeatedly struck Clockwork, flying every which way all the while, Swift bounded after him, rounding the torrent of void to cut him off at every opportunity. But the stupid thief JUST WOULDN'T STAY STILL. IT WAS MADDENING.

The yokai was just about to unleash a barrage of bloody claw blades upon ANYONE AND EVERYONE when a massive explosion within the void blew them all away. Swift tumbled alongside Alex, skidding to a halt just a few feet away from him. When she looked up, growling at the monster in the scarf, she found herself unable to counteract before Clockwork vanished.

She looked all around, furiously waiting for him to reappear and attack them again. But he never came.

IMPUDENT PEST!

FILTHY COWARD!

HE HAD THE GALL TO CHALLENGE HER AND JUST LEAVE?!

............

Oh well. It made no difference to her.

THIS OBNOXIOUS LITTLE THIEF WAS JUST AS ACCOUNTABLE!!!

Her bloodlust far from abated, Swift screeched and threw herself at Alex, wasting no time on sinking her claws into his chest and her teeth into his shoulder.

[DMis]

Forsaken gave a weak smile to Evan. "And the game hasn't even begun... Still sorry for dragging you into this mess..." She weakly offered as Yang landed beside her.

Todd fired the last volley of swords at Swift as his timing was starting to turn bad. "Evan.... Swift is still attacking Alex!!" he called before landing with the trio.

Yang opened her mouth to say something only to fall silent.

[gantzgun74]

.... OR... AT LEAST SHE ATTEMPTED TO.

Just like with the monster's blade, there was a sense that her claws and teeth tried to sink into the Thief, but the jaw wasn't strong enough to penetrate the barrier of void energy. The arm wasn't QUITE strong enough to cut through to the chest. About the only thing the sneak attack succeeded in doing was gaining the thief's attention.

And by 'gaining his attention'? I mean 'Gaining his absolute undying IRE'.



"GRRRRRRRAGH!!!!" The barrier blasted outward, sending Swift sailing. As she attempted to right herself in mid-air, she tripped over the Quest bed and landed on the otherside from the momentum. The Void energy collected back around him... And it DEFINITELY looked like that had made him MAD, voidal energy streaming out of his eyes, still riding the momentum of his ill gotten semblance and the massive increase in strength he had both from Swift's attacks and from the monster's blade when he attempted to silence him with a sword in the chest.

When Swift regained herself and tried to fire off blood colored energy rays from her claws to rain down on the field, the Thief just opened up a massive void portal and stole the rays up, another opened and launched the rays BACK AT SWIFT. It was clear from the Thief's expression that the Horror Terrors thought nothing OF this fight. They had bigger fish to fry...

Unfortunately however, the THIEF would never leave them alone if they let this lie. At this rate, this crazed demon bitch was going to kill this entire group. Clockwork was already free.

AT this point, any unneeded damage would've just made him distrust them EVEN MORE.

Whether Swift countered the blades, dodged them or what not, she would've looked back to find the Thief gone... She would not have to wait long for him to reappear however. A racket whistled through the air but when Swift turned to swipe at it's holder, she would, instead find that there was none and that the Racket had been launched out of another portal-

BAM!!!!!

THE WIELDER HIMSELF came out of another one faster then she could react and bat her clean into the air. Clean and HIGH into the air.

From where she was hiding behind some rocks, Lizzie peeked her head out, eyes wide in abject horror as the fight between the cosmic and demonic horror continued. Erin was equally horrified. "A-Alex-!! ALEX STOP!!!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"AAH!! SWIFT, NO!!!"

Evan could only watch in terror as Swift savagely threw herself at the thief and Alex viciously fought back. Eventually he forcibly tore himself away from the scene, no matter how heart-wrenching it was. He knew his intervention would do nothing, even with the Paramount Key. He knew what would work, though, even if it only worked halfway.

"CRAP! Guys, Swift needs her ring! Gotta find that RING!!"

He dashed through the scattered debris along the mountainside, eyes peeled for a golden glimmer amongst the dirt and stone; Brendon took to searching a little ways away. No matter how loud the roars or jarring the bangs, Evan didn't dare look up at the battle going on behind him. It would only serve to scare him more. All that mattered was finding that ring before those two killed each other. He had a feeling that Alex was angry enough to do it, and he KNEW that Swift was crazy enough to try.

For goodness sake, why would she do this?! Swift was strong enough without relying on her full yokai power! She was well aware of the dangers she posed in this form!

Evan was shaking as he dug through the rubble, desperate to find the one artifact that could end this madness. He couldn't bear to let his beloved get hurt for his sake anymore. Darn it, whatever happened to that "appear for those with noble intentions" enchantment this ring was supposed to have?! How was he supposed to find one tiny ring in all this-?!

Oh, there it was.

Wasting no time, Evan swiped the ring out of the dirt and started making his way back up the mountain and towards the fray. If he could just get it close enough to her...

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Upon being knocked back by the void barrier and tumbling over the quest bed, Swift spun a few times and landed on her hands and feet, claws scraping along the dusty ground as she skidded to a halt. No amount of pain or sense of futility crossed her mind. All that mattered to her was breaking her prey. She would let nothing stop her. She would not relent.

After all, EVERYTHING BROKE EVENTUALLY IF YOU JUST KEPT HITTING IT.

She jumped high into the air, swiping her claws along the open space over and over and over. Blood flung from her fingers, condensing into blades that rained down on her victims in a malevolent storm of crimson knives. She wasn't even deterred when Alex sent the blades right back at her. She simply emerged from the torrent aimed and ready to maul him, though he was gone by the time she landed, touching down with animalistic grace.

Swift straightened up, ears perked, nose to the wind... It was still there... The scent of cheap Hasbro material...

She heard the swipe, whipping around to rend and tear...

Then he was behind her.

And then she was in the air.

Alex's hit had knocked her high enough that for a moment, she was obscured by the white glow of the angel wing shape that floated above the quest bed. But somehow... Swift's presence could be felt. The atmosphere grew thick with malice, quickly building, ready to explode, until...

"GGGGRRRRAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! THAT'S IT!!!! EVERYONE DIES!!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WORTHLESS HUMANS!!!!!!!!"

Crying bloody murder, Swift plummeted back down to earth head-first, claws outstretched and aimed to cut clean through Alex. A marble aura of pink and gold surrounded her, streaming from her form like the fiery tail of a meteor. Her glowing yellow eyes were devoid of pupils. They held only rage. The rage of a temperamental yokai miko who was, presently, undeniably a thing.

A THING THAT WAS GOING TO FREAKING KILL THEM ALL.

[DMis]

Forsaken stumbled back into Todd before her cube scooped them and Yang up.

"Delta..... retrieve Evan and Beebo," Todd offered to the cube in a rather convincing mimic of Forsaken's voice.

The cube gave a blink before zooming off for the sprite and the one somewhat normal human in the room.

[gantzgun74]

Swift's incoming attack was visible all throughout the land and judging by the powerful energy that was blasting about her it was apparent that if this attack connected that it would obliterate anyone within immediate range of the Quest Bed. Maybe even the quest bed itself as well. As much as the horror Terrors were against the game, it was already plain that nothing they did up to this point was going to matter. Whether the session was paused or not...

The game was on.

Clockwork's very presence ensured that that would be the case. With that in mind, the Horror Terrors knew one thing as fact. Destroying the Quest Bed now was going to serve no purpose other then to make Clockwork's job easier. They would need this bed in the future...

So with an annoyed groan and hearing the Thief's begging and persisting, they decided on the course of action that both parties agreed on, the only thing that appeared to be the best way to stop Swift's murderous rampage.

The Thief held up his hands catching all attention. He put them together.

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

Up high, Swift's roaring was louder then ever as she zoomed downward going faster and faster.

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

"..... COOL OFF."

He clapped his hands....

THEN OPENED A VOID PORTAL DIRECTLY IN SWIFT'S PATH, by spreading out his arms. It looked almost akin to opening up a bag-...

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

When Swift's path towards the ground was suddenly obstructed by a void portal it was far too late to correct her course out of the way. And even if there had been the portal had been opened too wide... The sunlight vanished as she flew into it, replaced by darkness... And when she turned to look up, she found the opening closing up rapidly-

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

WITH ANOTHER LOUD RESOUNDING CLAP, Alex closed the void portal tight, turning it into a tiny little sphere of blackness... and with a swinging motion to return his arms to his side, the portal dissipated, vanishing. And just like that, chaos and malevolence had left... And so had Swift.

...............................

...........................................

......................................................



.... THE Grimdark turned to the bunch, glaring apparently... Erin gulped... Lizzie looked very nervous...

The only thing the Grimdark did was turn to the bunch.... Then move his hands a bit like a meditative gesture....

And before Evan knew what was happening, the thief was suddenly holding the Paramount Key, banishing it into the Void within the same breath.

.........

All breathing was tense...

"You told us before... That you had no idea what you were doing...

"..... YOU STILL DON'T."

And within the next instant, Alex vanished in a flash of blackness.... His destination? No-one could truly tell...

..................

..............................

..........................................

Erin let out a breath, horrified. Lizzie breathed rapidly and shallowly, equally so.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"OOOOOKAY THIS IS HAPPENING NOW!" Brendon joined Forsaken, Todd and Yang as they flew his way. From there, the group went to meet Evan halfway.

As he sprinted towards Alex, Evan looked their way, gasping for air, eyes wide with desperation. He didn't change course. The look he gave them seemed to request that they follow him, though, and that they pull him out if the need arose. Regardless of the dangers involved, he was going in. He had to save everyone from this rampage, including if not especially Swift.

Her ring in one hand, his key in the other, Evan prepared to throw himself between the thief and his beloved.

And in one instance, everything came crashing down.

He scrambled to a halt when Alex opened a portal directly above them. He squeaked with horror when Swift fell into it, her golf hat flying off in the process. And he let out a mortified, guttural scream when Alex closed it and sealed her inside, leaving only her hat to flop silently to the ground.

"SWIFT!!!"

For the longest time, the only noise was that of Evan's stammering as he furiously tried to muster up a response. He had tried to be civil. He wanted to handle this logically. But... BUT THIS WAS JUST TOO MUCH! HE COULD'VE FIXED THIS! HE HAD THE SOLUTION AND ALEX JUST RUINED IT!

He finally turned to face Alex, expression livid, well past the point of empathy. "YOU...! YOU BRING HER BACK!!! SHE WOULD'VE CALMED DOWN IF I HAD GOTTEN HER RING BACK TO HER! THIS'LL ONLY MAKE HER WORSE! I-!"

His verbal thrashing was cut short when he saw the Paramount Key suddenly appear in Alex's hands. Evan spared only a quick glance at his empty hand, then looked back up at Alex, shocked and appalled.

Yeah, of course he didn't know what he was doing!

BECAUSE NO ONE HAD TOLD HIM WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO!

Evan was more than ready to let the world know that and OH SO MUCH MORE... only for Alex to disappear into the void, taking the key with him.

Of course.

It was never that easy.

This guy was just too stubborn to reconsider.

AND TOO THOUGHTLESS TO CARE.

Finally giving into the raw emotions he had been suppressing, Evan raised his head to the heavens and let out a low, angry, ear-piercing scream that echoed off the mountains well after he had stopped. He followed this up with an equally loud series of furious, incoherent noises as he repeatedly kicked up dirt and rocks and bent over to pick up and chuck whatever he could get his hands on with all his might. He only stopped when he came dangerously close to throwing Swift's ring away, instead releasing this burst of pent-up energy by forcefully shoving it in his hoodie pocket. And then, having been drained physically and emotionally, Evan dropped to his knees with one more frustrated shout, then shakily scooped up Swift's hat and held it against his chest, succumbing to deep, shuddering, releasing sobs.

......

.........

............

Where did things go so horribly wrong...?

[DMis]

Yang and Todd both gulped as they saw the events transpire.

'And i'm dating him.... note to self.... walk on eggshells...' Yang mentally noted.

"Evan.... you climbing on? We can give you a lift if you want...." Todd offered as Delta drew close. 'And my twin is close- nope she needs a hospital...' Todd added mentally.

[gantzgun74]

...............

......................

For however horrified she was... Erin was...

......

She walked up to Evan, patting his head gently to catch his attention. "Evan... Swift will be okay." That likely got a confused look out of him. "The Horror Terrors... Didn't attack us... Plus, They only made Alex steal her..." That in itself was surprising... The last time Alex lost control, he leveled most of Void City, lives be damned. "If they wanted her dead... They would've killed us too just to be thorough."

..... She looked away, noting the terror in Lizzie's eyes. She had obviously hoped to never see what she had seen.

"She IS alright. And we WILL get her back. I promise you that."

[ParamountKeymaster]

Once his weeps had subsided into mere shuddering breaths, Evan slowly looked up at Erin, his entire body shivering as if from the cold. He had no doubt that he would get Swift back. Sure he was worried about her... but she wasn't his only concern.

He turned to face the trio on the cube, sadly noting Forsaken's condition. All this pain... all this trouble... and for what? For him? Some noble cause these guys had just fought for... "Y... You should... get her some medical attention..."

Then Evan stood up and trudged a little ways away to a patch of black and brown. He got back down on his knees, silently inspecting the mess of fur and blood that used to be Carter. Seeing his dog like this was never easy, no matter how many times he had revived and healed from such injuries, and having been slashed, beaten and tossed around in the wake of that battle, this was quite possibly the worst he had ever looked. Gently, Evan scooped his dog up and started walking towards the quest bed...

He had only taken a few steps before Brendon flew over and halted between Evan and the bed. The sprite stared at him sadly, shaking his head. Nothing more needed to be said on the matter.

Evan looked up, staring into the white, glowing angel wing image floating above them.

.........

Not that it really meant anything to him.

"I... I can... get my own ride home."

[DMis]

"You sure Evan?" asked Yang from her spot on the cube.

Todd nodded. "We will. I'm sorry that this happened... it wasn't supposed to go like this at all. Just recon and back to the mall for lunch... you know how to contact us if you need us... we're here for you... okay?"

Delta started to float off as if waiting on Brendon, Lizzie, and Erin.