Reforged Ideals Thread 14

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(It is now 9:00 AM the next day in verse, so post stuff that you've been up to during the skip. Those of you with good senses are aware that the energy in the poles has subsided some)

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Nicholas had been making more and more preparations for his fight with Jonathan, his newly obtained abilities aiding greatly in such. A few unusual towers had been constructed near some of his labs, including in space, and it seemed like bits of certain parts of Earth were copied and brought to other locations. Bodies and armors, all working in tandem as Nicholas rapidly created more and more. In the same lab he was in previously, and others all across, placing devices into pocket realities for when needed. He stood still, holding his Monado in his hand, while this was ongoing. Busy, yet at the same time not.

Jonathan too had been making preparations of undefined nature in an undefined location, he had not been seen since he last left, though there were still means to contact him lying around Layla's various bases, should one need them.

 

[Tago238]

Crunkledunk actually seems to seriously worry about Nicholas' safety, empathy being an emotion he hasn't entirely come to grips with, being especially frustrated by the lack of help he can provide. Although in the meanwhile if his conversation with Kyoka and Nicholas he did, at the back of his head, absorb a significant portion of those present on the Crunkle cluster's knowedkfe and cognition to figure something out about pocket dimensions which would we part of his new invention. He teleports back to the Crunkle cluster to call off where he is greeted in his throne room (full with Crunkledunk memorabilia and artwork) by another Crunkledunk messenger holding a list.

"Uh what is that?"

"It's a list"

"Of what?"

"All recent advancements in Crunkle society"

Crunkledunk looks puzzled for a moment, this strikes him as confusing not just because he nanoseconds ago rebooted the Crunkle empire after his self loathing demon destroyed it and there appear to have been advancements in such short time frames, but also because it seems weird to have advancements concerning an incredibly high tech civilisations written on p a p e r.

"Uh, why couldn't you just have used the 20th century earth invention email to forward me this information" Crunkledunk asks dryly and sardonically to the clone

"Um, well, I'm not quite sure"

"Curious" Crunkledunk thinks to himself. "Well hand it over then I guess", with such commands being indulged upon by the clone.

Reading through the list Crunkledunk notices a few discrepancies.

"Uh, so what is the practical application of inventing with nuclear fusion concerning particles other than light hydrogen nuclei when out least efficient energy source are annihilation based? And furthermore, I fail to comprehend why using our multiversal warping ship to turn a moon into a physically imparted mule increases the quality of life, development and reputation of anyone at all, present in all possible conceptions of space? I mean, for one, I just hope that donkey was resistant to vacuum forces"

"Well, uh, I'm, uh, not exactly sure why we did that either"

It then hits Crunkledunk, when he absorbed the cognition of those present in the cluster it must have not been all 50/50 and instead taken less from some and a significant portion from others, leading to these major discrepancies.

"Curious how I must have taken exactly 99.9 recurring% of this clones intelligence though" He thinks to himself, sighing and turning another page in which he finds something slightly surprising.

"Hmm, the commissioning of a new clone? Stuff like this hasn't required documentation at all by the legislature bot since the legal office attempted to aid a rather amiable Nigerian Prince"

"Well, not usually, but this was slightly different from usual cloning".

Crunkledunk raises his not-visible eyebrow at this comment." In what way was it different?" he asks suspiciously.

"Well, for one, it was a female"

"Uh, what. Why?"

"Well, for science"

"But in what galaxy did you not already know we could do that? There is literally no point"

The clone shrugs. "Just seemed like the appropriate decision for our brand"

"Jesus Knight help me..." Crunkledunk whispers to himself painfully, eventually regaining composure and speaking once more.

"I mean, it being female wouldn't really require documentation either unless oestrogen is now an illegal substance here (which our highly failure ridden tests in finding the "ultimate hormone" via splicing unknown substances with the pituitary gland would go to disprove)"

"Well, it's also got the exact same abilities as you"

"Wait what!" Crunkledunk jumps up from his throne suddenly "You know the law agains creating a clone with the direct capabilities as me! That's why I make your populations so large so I can accommodate! Otherwise there would be mutiny, it's the same logic that makes your penises always slightly smaller than mine!"

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about the size of their reproductive organs"

"What are they doing now?"

"Well, they've gone to earth"

 

[Tago238]

"How was this even approved anyway?" Crunkledunk asks

"Nigerian Prince again"

"Ah."

 

[CrusadeGuru]

After having been tired out from the events of the day before, I took a nap in my room and woke up at 8 because I was pretty mentally tired. "Well, maybe today something might happen that's more enjoyable than yesterday."

 

[WHYNAUT]

Sapheram had been taken by surprise upon receiving new abilities. Not because he didn't expect it, but because of the changes it made to him. He had become one with one of his abilities, 'Dark Matter', leaving behind his mind and soul but keeping his personality. This game with the side effect of him no longer being able to repress memories however, which caused quite the inner turmoil

After collecting himself he had decided to try out some of his abilities and split up his attention. Some of him would start training, learning and honing his abilities, some would start traveling around, others had begun implementing the changes in Egypt Ramesses had proposed, and one sat down and started writing. He started writing about his past, about his experiences. He did not know why, but he felt compelled to do so. Maybe it would help him with his current goals. Maybe no longer repressing memories was a good thing. He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten her face.

And so Sapheram spent his time for several hours. At 9:00 AM he returned to the Egyptian base.

"My mission was a success. How have things been here?"

 

[Paul_Frank]

Within Imaginary Number Space, the infinite volume moon, covered in the sea of life stirred. It changed its shape, size, and appearance. Shrinking down, clearing itself of the mud covering it and eventually regaining its original appearance as Kyouka.

Having been worried about the fight between Nicholas and Jonathan that was to come, she decided to do the last things she could to provide assistance, and with that she sought out Nicholas, appearing before him to give her offer.

"Nicholas, I wanted to try to help more, and there are two things I can offer you. First, is to be submerged in the Sea of Life. If you do, my authority will be inscribed into every cell of your being, granting you new abiltiies, and preventing your death as long as the Sea of Life exists, allowing you to heal from any sort of destruction or injury even easier." She says, explaining the chaos tides, although it likely wasn't needed

"Second, you mentioned before that Jonathan had a Persona, I have a method that you can use to get one we well."

 

[Drite77]

Dilma woke up in her bed, albeit she has quite the staminam and doesn't need to sleep, she still felt like sleeping, since it was still a pleasant thing to do.

She looks over the side and smiles when she sees her Girlfriend still sleeping on the bed on her side. She caress the Pyromancer's cheek before get out of the bed and wear some new clothes that Ruby made with her Mist Flames, since she was only with her underwear.

She calmly walks to the kitchen and grab a little powder of Coffee and water, putting it in a coffee pot and heating it a bit. After some minutes, she takes out some of the coffee and puts it in a cup, while picking some sugar cubes and putting there too, while slowling mixing with the spoon.

She gives a quick look to the Fire mage before making her Persona pick a chair and follow her outside, where she puts the chair some meters away from the house, sitting there and drinking her coffee, while she calmly stares at the Loch Ness with a smile.

While different from her old life, Dilma was enjoying this quite a bit

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

"The Sea of Life. The power you hold, that would require me inexorably tying my life to you." Nicholas stares at the Monado for a moment.

"I suppose, if need be it could simply be undone. Very well. I will accept. I do wish to give you something in exchange though. So ask what you wish." He says, looking back at Kyouka.

 

[Hl3_or_bust]

A decent while after I determine that Maxwell seems to have ceased to exist, I feel a rush of power yet again. I feel a Light fill me, it wishes for good but that is far from my intent. I will turn it into a Demon Light. Moreover, a psuedo-divinity rushes through me, granting the trappings of it without the real power. That's somewhat annoying.

My new sight grants me more insights than ever. The garden is becoming more of a threat than ever. The couple has an extreme trump card that they seemingly do not know about. We, as well, are more powerful than ever before.

Egypt was taken easily, but I had more pressing work. I am now extremely paracausal, far more so than Nicholas was with his device. I initially wasn't able to account for myself in my predictions, but that was remedied. Important work needed to be done, as Kyouka was now extremely dangerous and chances are good Nicholas only grew as well.

Not wishing to take chances, I spread my essence around the egypt base, leaving it immune to every form of precognition and cosmic-levels of awareness that I know of.

Ever since... well, a while ago, I've felt a distinct "fear" from deep in the cosmos. With my newfound ability, I can see that it is like a star-sized mass of crystal, but there is more. It is wholly sentient, and every crystal represents a whole selection of unique abilities. Moreover, these crystals lead to a whole other dimension filled with more of them and the connections they have to the hosts that use their abilities.

Intriguing.

Tearing through the fabric of reality to reach Layla's new kingdom, Graven, I propose the idea to allocate resources to kill this creature and use it as a launching-point for further efforts, as it would grant access to obscene levels of power and a whole new world to exploit. The only catch is that, as far as I can tell, it is obscenely dangerous and would have to be dealt with swiftly and forcefully.

 

[Paul_Frank]

"Hmm, I'm not sure, I'd accept anything you wanted to give me though I suppose." Kyouka responds to the offer

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Nicholas raises his sword, bestowing Kyouka the powers of a Disciple, as well as creating several Telethia for her to utilize.

"There." He states.

If Eike were able to see such things, he would tell that, though the entity was as normal physically, its Shards, and their connections seemed odd somehow. In truth, what had transpired is that within Shardspace, the realm of the Shards themselves, a single Shard, that of Nicholas, had formed a cluster with many other Shards, effectively subsuming them into itself. This made little difference to the entity itself physically, but in that realm, Nicholas had made the alterations necessary for himself.

"So then, I'm ready." He continues.

 

[Paul_Frank]

"Thanks, okay so once this is done we can get you a Persona."

Kyouka generates enough mud to cover Nicholas from head to toe, using her Authority, allowing it to do its work of inscribing itself into every cell.

Whilst that happened, she lopped off a part of her essence, holding it out for when Nicholas was done

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Nicholas floats out of the mud once the process is complete, seeming the same as ever, before taking in the part of her essence as well.

"Feels strange." He comments.

"This blade, Jonathan holds its opposite. This fight will be an immensely important one." Nicholas states.

 

[Paul_Frank]

"That it will be, but you'll win here, I believe in you." Kyouka comments, assuredly

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

"Follow me then. I believe it's time, I'll have a spot ready for you to observe." Nicholas says, he cuts what seems to be the air with his Monado, opening a rift to another dimension and enters it.

 

[Paul_Frank]

"Okay."

Kyouka follows through the rift, leaving an avatar behind at the garden for misc tasks while she went to watch

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

As the two step inside, they find themselves in an unusual realm, its skies shifting colors and its ground taking unnatural forms.

"This place will be our battlefield. A realm between realms, of sorts, shut out to most methods of interference. This place was initially created by me, then modified to fit our purposes by him. There is no trickery in play here, I could tell." He explains.

As the two walk, they see two massive titans standing facing one another, one of grass and earth, one of steel and machinery. In front of the titan of steel, stands Jonathan.

Jonathan appears different to his usual self, seeming younger, as if he had taken on the shape of his prime for this one fight. He holds a Monado, similar in nature to Nicholas', yet different.

Near the original Crunkledunk, a device appears, seemingly an invitation to watch. Nicholas creating a platform from which they both can observe the fight, but not interfere.

The Nicholas' outside of the realm don't stop working, however their mind is clearly set on other things, their functions being merely secondary to the attention paid to the fight, though still entirely present.

"If you have anything to say, do so now." Nicholas says to Kyouka as he readies himself.

 

[Paul_Frank]

"Just..." Kyouka's voice trails off and her gaze lowers as she thinks about the chance that Nicholas loses here, and the consequences of that.

She pushes those thoughts out, and thinks of the future she desired, a future where victory was achieved by Nicholas in this fight.

Her head raises again, looking at Nicholas once more, she gives him a kiss on the cheek and smiles

"Win, so we can travel and do that thing we agreed on before."

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

"I will." Nicholas replies confidently, before teleporting to stand in front of the other titan, opposite to Jonathan.

A strange, scale like device is located in the center, both Nicholas and Jonathan approach it.

Both of them place a hand on the device.

"This device, as you know, will enforce the conditions of the duel." Jonathan states.

"Of course." Nicholas replies.

"Very well then, I will name the conditions now:

1. This duel will last until one of the fighters is incapable of continuing or surrenders.

2. There will be no outside help beyond our own abilities and creations permitted in this duel.

3. Should Jonathan Wraith be victorious, Nicholas Phoenix will join him and aid him in guiding humanity as he so wishes. Should Nicholas Phoenix be victorious, Jonathan Wraith will leave humanity to grow at its own pace as requested, ceasing interference upon them.

4. Should any of these terms be broken, the duel will immediately be considered null and all conditions invalidated." Jonathan declares loudly.

"Acknowledged." Nicholas calmly states, the scale like device emits a wave of light, the two combatants stepping back. A light around them glows and they both appear wearing armor akin to this, with Nicholas' being blue, while Jonathan's is red.

The two men ready themselves for battle, as massive blades appear in the hands of the titans behind them.

"Give us a signal." they both state in tandem to Kyouka.

 

[Paul_Frank]

Kyouka raises her right arm straight above her head and inhales, closing her eyes.

"Begin!" She calls out, opening her eyes to look upon the match, and swinging her arm down in a quick, cutting motion.

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

[The fight's written out here in a doc mainly because I didn't want to clog the thread with a massive wall of text.]

Jonathan fell to the ground, unconscious, incapacitated, though temporarily, it was enough to declare it a victory for Nicholas, the Mechonis titan had been sliced through and kneeling, seemingly having lost its connection to its controller for the moment.

A wave of blue energy exited the scale where the deal had been made. The fight had been decided.

Nicholas altered the realm one last time, returning it to its normal state, yet keeping the towers and land the same. Briefly tampering with a device floating near him.

"It's over. Victory belongs to me." Nicholas declares, bringing the platform Kyouka was on back to its ordinary state, the armor disappearing.

 

[Tago238]

Crunkledunk teleports you the location of the battle. "Oh, hi, sorry I was quite busy attempting to kill something and then I got new powers so I'm slightly adjusting to the weird acausal thing going on." He looks around "Oh, I missed the fight, shit"

 

[Paul_Frank]

Kyouka lets out a sigh of relief

So that's it huh, the climax of their rivalry."

"Well done Nicholas." She says happily here turning to Crunkledunk

"Yes, you did miss it, but the results are clear."

 

[ExodusNexus]

@Hl3

"Seems like a good idea. I can help out with anything you need, and I can send Amy over to help if that's what you need."

 

[WHYNAUT]

@Exodus

[You missed Saph]

 

[Tago238]

"Yeah... I see" Crunkledunk murmurs to Kyoka and walks up to Jonothan. For a small period of time Crunkledunk just stares at him, silently, his expression and emotions invisible under his mask.

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Jonathan coughs, seemingly slowly regaining consciousness as the Dragon Stream's power begins to be lifted.

"Well. I'm glad to finally be free of this rivalry." Nicholas states, the Bionis titan withdrawing its blade and returning to the place it stood before, the Mechonis titan appears to be slowly mending its own wounds.

 

[Paul_Frank]

Kyouka looks over at Crunkledunk staring at Jonathan for a moment

I wonder what he'll do now.

"I am too, it's good that you won't have to worry about that anymore."

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Jonathan begins standing up, using his Monado, planted into the ground, to balance himself. He remains quiet and stares back at Crunkledunk.

"So, what will it be now?" Nicholas says to both Crunkledunk and Jonathan.

The Nicholas' outside of the realm begin working at their normal pace again.

 

[Hl3_or_bust]

I withdraw to plan.

Jonathan losing that bout isn't a good sign. Not at all. Outside of simply stockpiling bullets to be fired at once, there really isn't much preparation that can be done aside form maybe gaining something from Sapheram...

Wait... didn't Tiro have several installations across parallel worlds? Those should certainly be useful, although he appears to have ceased to existed lately. He's been gone for a power set or two, if I remember correctly. Maybe something he brought with him destroyed him? I guess I'll have to find out.

Laying down millions of bullets to be fired at a later date, I transmat to the moon and just as I had imagined, Tiro's installation is still there, if dormant. Using my Ghost, I scan through its records, which are mostly uneventful sans an incident where a mass of nanites at a hole through the moon and disappeared shortly afterwards, and structure.

Using the Shadow to move into Hueco Mundo, I find his main base, again dormant. His Achilles' Heel are still maintaining the soul flow, though, so I guess he had some foresight. Scanning through his tech yet again, most of it is... frankly just indecipherable noise, encoded insanity really. And lots of meta-humor. He was definitely far beyond any of us in terms of sheer firepower at the time, but I guess that didn't quite save him from whatever happened.

I can work with this.

I think.

I start work on repurposing the various weaponry and directly offensive tech that was left, as the rest is frankly beyond my capabilities to mess with and not blow it and myself up.

 

[Paul_Frank]

'Hmm, Jonathan will back off now, but he'll probably not cut off ties with Layla's group, so I wonder how that will play out.

Kyouka continues watching Crunkle and Jonathan, waiting to see what the former says

 

[Overlord775]

@Drite

After a while, Ruby wakes up too, straching her arms upwards as she yawns.

"Uh ..."

Still half-asleep, she notices that Dilma is missing from the bed, so she gets up, gets dressed and gets out of the house, having sensed her location.

"Morning Dilma~"

Ruby says with a sleepish tone

 

[Drite77]

Dilma looks at Ruby with a smile on her face, as she caress the Firemage's cheeck

"Still sleepy Cutie?~. Maybe you should go back to sleep, you looked so peaceful while sleeping, or you want to do something fun right now?~"

She asks in a happy tone, maybe because she was enjoying her life too much"

 

[WHYNAUT]

"Could I ask you for a favour, Jonathan?" A second Sapheram asks.

 

[Overlord775]

@Drite

Ruby does a smol smile back.

"A bit."

She responds, doing a yawn.

"Wanted to see what'cha were doing and tell you goodmorning~"

The girl says, wrapping her arms around Dilma and giving her a soft hug.

 

[Drite77]

"Hehehe, i was just admiring this place, how i'd never stopped to just admire the place where i live and the people i love" The White Mage answers as she gives a light pat on Ruby's head, and give her a smol kiss on her cheek

"I may only have one of those people, but you are the best that i could have ever asked" She says as she just admires the Pyromancer for some seconds

 

[Tago238]

Crunkledunk just stares at Jonathan. "You know, I'm really split other this whole matter, I've wanted to kill you for practically decades now, and for us that's basically nonillions of years. In fact, I don't even know if I even wanted to kill you, at least first. No, I've fantasised about torturing your meat suit covering your slightly malfunctioned cerebral cortex, with such illusions to a biology still being a disguise for your hideous nature. I don't know if you have the potential to be good, if you ever were good, and more than anything else I'm not sure how I feel about you- more, how I feel about this whole thing. I cared about you, or maybe I just adored you because you seemed to care about me. Validate me. I guess, despite everything I've been given as of late- friendship, opportunities- I still feel like you, I still feel bitter, misanthropic and egotistical. And I can't help it. I can't help not feeling like this and I don't know how to get out, and I want to get out because I want to feel normal. I do care about Nicholas, or at least as far as I can be to caring, and yet I was actually disappointed when I saw you lost. It was like a wave of grief and loathing and jealousy washing over me suddenly. Because I wanted to fight you. I wanted to be the victor. I wanted to shove it in your face and I didn't want to feel like the helpless, comedically useless, physically flawed second fiddle to a hotshot who you have always cared and admired more than me, who has never suffered as I have and I don't feel deserves to be the hero of the situation."

Crunkledunk seems to place a hand inside his mask and rub his eyes slightly after blurting this out. He then sighs

"I don't know why I told you this. Maybe complaining is cathartic and I think you are still the only person who can hear me, the embodiment of what I really believe to be the truth- the person who dismissed me as easily as someone would throw away some used tool in lieu of an upgrade. Maybe, really, I just want help. I just want you to say that you are wrong about me entirely and that I can be better, or even normal. Even if I could never be normal because anything other than some ****** up God status I would instantly hate with all my heart. I don't even know"

Crunkledunk appears to have shifted his attention to the sky, staring at it with a kind of existential dread as the clouds seem to arch just a few metres from him.

 

[The_Divine_Phoenix]

Jonathan points his Monado at Crunkledunk.

"You still don't get it, do you?" He states.

"It was never about better or worse. It was always about who was easier to control, whose goals aligned best with mine. It wasn't about your normality or lack thereof, it was about his lack of it. His views that would allow me to break him." Jonathan says, pointing it at Nicholas now.

"He would have been an obstacle no matter what as long as I didn't get him to join me, you would not have, and I saw that he could be convinced to side with me. That is why I had to focus on him."

"Your capabilities should never have been in doubt. To underestimate yourself is to make yourself weaker than you truly are, that would be a disappointment. Our capabilities are comparable, yours, mine, and his. He was simply an easier target and a bigger obstacle. And don't misunderstand, I admire no one." He continues.

"I've made my decision. If I cannot lead humanity as I please, I will simply create my own world, a living proof of my achievements and truth." Jonathan declares to those around him.

"Live your lives as you please. Beings of our power and intelligence possess this right." He then states.

"Always one for the grandiose speeches, huh?" Nicholas comments.

"What do you require?" An echoing voice answers Sapheram.

 

[Overlord775]

@Drite

"I luv you too Dil..."

Ruby starts saying, but then falls asleep mid-sentence on the white mage's shoulder.

"Zzzzzzz"