Larstern

This town is stationed outside of the temple itself, but is still within the temple grounds, which measures 200 square kilometers total when factoring in the temple itself. This town is not primitive, being at the very least on par with modern towns from Earth, and even bears technology from advanced locations like Mass Effect, StarCraft, or Star Wars as a result of the Paradox. However, there are fewer skyscrapers than one would expect from the capital city of the Astridian Empire, and the ones that do exist are shorter than the Temple of Astrid, which can be seen from any point in the town itself.

This town bears individuals from countless dimensions, all caught up here, separated from their homes by the Paradox. Many of them are trying to eek out an existence here in this town, aided by clerics from the Church of Astrid. Bankers are trying to consolidate the countless currencies that are being bartered with, and while things are chaotic now, it will soon even out. A notable location within Larstern is the Pixel Cafe, which seems to be a cafe that was set up for folks to rest and relax like any other tavern, as well as a building for the Adventurer's Guild.

There are homes of all kinds, with all the comforts of modern technology. Businesses still flourish, selling anything from potions to weapons and starships. It seems peaceful, considering what has happened, and hopefully with the ever-watchful eye of Astrid, things will continue to prosper in the face of adversity...

Events that have happened beforehand include the arrival of all the Heroes, them being drawn to the Temple of Astrid, a battle between the Arch-Heretic's minions and the Megucas, the Protoss arriving on-planet, the arrival of Vanitas Prime, and Obi-Wan Kenobi wishing to train Chogro in the ways of the Force.

From here, a thought seemed to occur to Astrid. "Oh dear, it seems that I've forgotten something important!" she mentioned. "I almost forgot that you're on an entirely different world and have no lay of the land. Please, let me fix that for you."

The next thing Astrid did, she pulled out a map of the planet. "Here, this map will help you find your way around the planet," Astrid mentioned. "Just a heads-up though, the map's outdated and doesn't include my own nation, the Astridian Empire. I own half the world right now, but the geography remains the same. And while I'm at it, you'll need funding to establish yourselves, won't you? Luckily for all of you, the currency of the Astridian Empire is accepted everywhere on this planet. Here, let me give you a supply of Gold to work with."

With that, Astrid teleported a chest to the group. Inside the chest were coins and bills, each with various denominations. Curiously, despite Astrid calling it "Gold", there was no gold used in the currency. There was about 500,000 Gold to start with. "Here, this may not be much to start with, but it'll get you all on your feet," Astrid mentioned. "Plus, you can probably exchange your own currencies at the bank for Gold. Word of warning though: If a merchant ever tries to sell you something for a copper or a silver, they mean 1 Gold or 10 Gold, respectively. They like to make you think you're paying less than you are by denoting it in Copper and Silver until you hit 100 Gold."

Chogro nodded. "500,000 Gold will be enough to get ourselves on our feet," he said. "I've got a supply of currency myself I can exchange to help get us started, same with Brandin, and I'm sure the rest of us have our own currency to exchange. We'll pool together our starting funds after exchanging it to get ourselves established."

Having wandered off from the previous group, IF was attentive to Astrid's words, enough to follow along with the explanation and see the chest of gold, which got her wide-eyed.



"Wow, starting funds... I've never had that luxury."

She whipped out a blue cellphone from its casing and checked her account. Thankfully the credits were still showing, like when she was in Gamindustri. Saving Gamindustri and the following grind did have its upside- even her own share, along with what she saved during the journey, amounted to a million Credits. Sure, Neptune may have got over twenty times that on her cut, but it was hard to argue that the leader of the nation needed the money more.

"This is important to do, I guess..."

She inched closer to the somewhat scary Chogro.



"I can contribute too. I'll follow you along to the bank."

The cycle had come to an end, and again they had failed to stop Eliphas. Shadow wasn't going to let it end here though. If he couldn't win this cycle, he'll win the next one. He wasn't the only one with that mentality. The final battle was a devastating conflict, with every last soldier they could muster standing against an endless tide of Chaos. They were holding out as long as they could. They knew they would die, but they'd take as many down with them as they could. They needed another chance, and Shadow could give them that chance.

By using two of the seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow worked with Remilia to tear open a portal in time, enabling a number of Heroes to escape the coming destruction, and warn the champions of the next cycle of Eliphas' return. Shadow didn't know where they'd gather this time, he simply jumped through the time portal with Remilia and the others. They had picked up some additional survivors along the way, the Rainbow Links, Tails, and Kirby among them. They were the only ones who knew of what was to come, and Shadow knew that this would not be a battle that could be won with numbers alone.

There was one of them, one Hero he knew that could change the tide of battle, one of them who could feasibly take down Eliphas. And that was Brandin, the Paladin of the Holy Light. Shadow had watched Brandin's last stand against Eliphas. Despite having no augmentations like his opponent, and vastly inferior equipment, Brandin had somehow managed to duel Eliphas for so long that it nearly ended in a draw. He just needed a better weapon, and he could take down Eliphas. The Ashbringer might be the weapon Brandin needed to turn the tide...if only they could get their hands on it.

When Shadow and Remilia arrived, they both jumped out of the same portal and arrived in Larstern, close enough to the rest of the Heroes that Shadow could at least recognize some of their faces, but far enough away to not be immediately noticed. Some older Heroes showed up again. Link, Ike, Dr. Eggman, Bowser, and Ganondorf in particular stood out to Shadow, but he could never forget Chogro and Brandin's faces and appearances. Both Chogro and Brandin looked like they had better gear than the last cycle, and especially the first cycle, meaning that this Paradox was likely further into the timeline than the last one.

Shadow crossed his arms and stood next to Remilia. He could see Vanitas Prime there, about to give a warning message, likely about what awaited them. "Remilia..." Shadow said. "It looks like we've arrived in time." There was one face he didn't recognize, but stood out to him the most. Astrid's face was entirely new to Shadow, but she seemed to be organizing everyone. Was she the leader this time around? Shadow didn't know for certain. Shadow's eyes went to his weapons. He hadn't used guns since the Black Arms Incident, but the war against Chaos was enough to prove to him that he needed everything he could get, and wielding these firearms had made the difference in battle several times.

Shadow closed his eyes and thought. He didn't know how long he had truly been fighting Chaos, but he didn't care. He will stop Chaos, and save everything. That was what Maria wanted...that was who he was. "Remilia...should we reveal ourselves now, or should we wait a bit and approach them later, when they're not quite as confused as before?" he asked, looking over to Remilia. The two of them had grown close over the last Paradox, and Shadow trusted her with his life now. He knew that they were in this together, come hell or high water.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

Breathing a deep sigh, Vanitas clambered up onto the nearest statue and looked over the herd of heroes. It was actually a lot larger than he had previously guessed, but that could only be a good thing in context. Without wanting to put it off any longer, the boy brought a hand to his mouth and whistled sharply. Rather than waiting for every head to turn individually, Vanitas began his address with a loud yet tired grumble.



"Hey," he began, his head rising slightly to meet the gazes of his audience. "Hey, I need you all to shuddup for a second! Can't a guy get a word in? Geez..."



"Listen, folks, I don't have time to have a debate about all this. What I'm about to tell you all is true and you all need to be paying attention because I'm not gonna be the one crying if you get a limb blown off. This is serious stuff, or something."



"Alright. I'm here because I've been here before. Right now, this world is in danger. Every other world too. And I've seen all this happening twice before. I'm gonna make this short because we're strapped for time."



"An army of metal men and monsters are gonna be at the gates, trying to kill us all. They're good at killing people and they enjoy it. Every single one of you is displaced and I get that it's a shock, but there are bigger things at stake. These guys are called Chaos and they're not like anything you've fought before. I don't care where you're from, 'cause this is bigger than any one person."



"Now they're not invincible. Holy stuff seems to hurt them pretty bad. Y'know, holy grails and faith - that kind of thing gives 'em the heebie-jeebies. That said, you don't want to underestimate the threat they're posing to us. You gotta work together on this. They look like tanks with faces but they're faster than you think and all they want is to put a bullet in each of you and burn whatever you leave behind."



"In short, you need to do your part and you're gonna need firepower. Any questions?"

Yes, there were questions. Yato raised his hand.



"Is all of that gonna be on the test, Sir?"

That sounded quite sarcastic.

"Seriously, man, you just barge in like that in your over-sized raincoat and start ordering us gods plus entourage around? Tch, the nerve of you! Listen, back in my corner, we--YIKES!"

He got cut off, Yukine pulled him by his ear.



"N-Nevermind him, Sir, he doesn't know when to shut up!"

"Yukine!"

"Yato, leave this to me-!"

Yukine took a deep breath.



"My god's got a point though! We're all already in the middle of preparing for something here, totally overwhelmed by way too much information, and you just show up, expecting us to change all of our plans around what you're saying! I'm not accusing you of lying, but if you're really serious about this, you'd better show proof, because we're not units in a video game that you can reorganize around at the click of a mouse, y'know!"

---

Meanwhile, Kyoko is talking to Sayaka.



"Hey... You got any idea what's going on here? This is all way too much for me on such short notice."

---

Teddie isn't following at all. Instead, he's looking all around. So many people! He's never seen that many at once before... And not all of them were human either! Curious and curiouser...

Astrid's voice turned rather uncharacteristically cold after Vanitas mentioned the existence of Chaos. "Chaos..." she said, her voice very clear that she's well-aware of who they are. Then, she turned to address Yato and Yuki. Unlike before, where she wore a very calm, friendly look on her face, her expression right now was one of what looked like hostility to what Vanitas mentioned. "I can confirm what Vanitas says. I know these people, and I know that they are not going to just stand by and ignore the chance to fight you all." Astrid's voice was dropping with anger as she thought about this thing. Whatever Chaos was, it seemed to make even Astrid angry, and that was quite the feat.

Then, someone else showed up. This person wore a simple white martial arts gi, a gold laurel crown like Astrid, and had shoulder-length black hair. Notably, she also gave off the same divine glow Astrid did. However, she seemed to exude an aura of power that served to make her seem very intimidating, even as she wore an almost bored expression on her face. "So it's time for all of this to start then?" she asked. "Well, this is a bother, I was hoping we'd get a couple more years before everything started up." Then, she scanned the crowd, before looking at Astrid's anger. "My, my, not often I see you angry at something, Astrid. What's bothering ya?"

"...Chaos," Astrid replied, her voice still quite uncharacteristically cold.

"Ah. Yes, I remember those annoyances. You all can rest assured that you'll be safe from them here on Terra Ancora, this whole planet is sacred thanks to Astrid's presence here. And if they somehow find a way to invade this world anyways...I'll make sure they don't live to regret it."

Meanwhile, a dreaded creatures stalks the streets of Larstern. Something that has not been to this place, but is wholly fascinated by it, ready to strike out and deliver swift vengeance upon anyone who dares get in its way--



Oh, no, wait, it's just a butterfly. One that seems to be floating about the town in a rather lazy manner, as if it were perusing the place around it, taking in the sights and sounds without much issue.

Fascinating. How is it that we have ended up here? My my, the nature of the bet continues to change faster than I can keep up these days, it seems.

It will hover about for a little longer, flying just high enough to be out of the way of anyone rummaging around, seeming as though it were trying to find some place.

Though not hurt physically, Remilia's was definitely not well. The drain of hundreds of years being a never-ending chore of any capacity were over with the Paradox's existance, but from the two previous cycles, she felt she lived through enough to pay for all previous sins. Once she and Shadow landed, she spent some time taking in the calm air untainted by the flames of war.

Surprisingly, it felt like it would be lastingly good. Too good. It made her nostrils ticklish.



"On time, indeed," Remilia's eyes scrolled across the visible party members conglomerated at a distance. "And on the right place, too. I see some familiar faces."

She scowled. She hadn't seen the death of everyone there, but most of it was both implied by the situation they were in or confirmed eventually on her time in the force against Chaos. You could say it made her blood boil, if she had any blood at all.

She had her eyes set on Vanitas when Shadow made his final question.



"Scouting them to see how much they know or how confident they are would be a good first step. But it seems like poor lovestruck boy there blew the horn early."

Despite the distance, it was easy to infer what it was about: if not by how it was said, but by the general confusion it caused.



"Let's join him. If our testimony does nothing, we'll at least be on the force opposing Chaos as early as possible, and can both help with our knowledge and learn what's different with the enemy this time around, if they've fought already."



"... Let's just go under some cover, Shadow. I thought it was the sun, but something else in the air is making me feel uneasy. I'll be right behind you."

---

Sayaka pouted back at Kyoko.



"Are you kidding me? This is going way over my head. Heck, you were the one that had a good head on your shoulders all of a sudden."



"Though, it must be pretty serious. Even the big lady is taking all that as fact."

Unlike the other girls, IF had taken out a cell phone with which to record Vanitas' words. She hadn't thought of doing so during Astrid's explanation, but it suddenly occurred to her this might be useful for herself and others.



"... Chaos. Holy effectiveness. Hmm. Been a while since I heard of much trouble from the undead, but it sure sounds like it. I thought we were gonna face a bigger-than-life military. Maybe that's still the case..."

Amidst her musings, she heard Astrid's confirmation and took notice of Astrid's bodyguard, and as she made her own claims, IF was about to ask something when the force of her aura hit her at full force.



"W-What the...!"

She thought she had felt power when she had been near so many other goddesses. But not even the final form of Arfoire had this much pressure to its presence. She swallowed, momentarily without words.

Shadow nodded.  Vanitas Prime certainly acted quickly on this.  He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, the last two cycles were awful on everyone.  Crossing his arms in his usual stance, he said, "Yeah, seems like Vanitas was quick to blow the horn.  Still, best we join them and tell them what's going on."  With that, Shadow moved up to join the group with Remilia.

Among the group, Eggman was the first to notice the two of them.  "Shadow!" Eggman shouted.  "What are you doing here? And...who's this?"

That already gave it away that this wasn't the Eggman from Shadow's timeline.  Shadow never really trusted Eggman fully, but he also knew that Eggman was one of the most reliable allies they had against Chaos.  Smart enough to make a difference, but Eggman wasn't crazy enough to study Chaos, especially once Shadow had informed him of the dangers of doing so.  Shadow crossed his arms over his chest as per usual.  "This is Remilia.  She's...very dear to me.  We're here for the same reason Vanitas is.  We can confirm everything he says, we've been through that as well, twice now."

"...You're using guns," Eggman observed.  "I haven't seen you do that since the Black Arms incident.  I'm assuming that this 'Chaos' thing was enough to get you to do that again?" Eggman had decided against commenting on the fact that Shadow all-but confirmed Remilia is his girlfriend, since it was clear things happened that he didn't understand.

"You need everything you can get to bring down the Forces of Chaos.  So yes, I am using these weapons again.  If you're smart, you'll get the biggest guns you can get to deal with Chaos, and preferably sanctify them in case any of their Daemons show up."

Ganondorf grimaced.  So, some other fools were wanting to destroy everything? They didn't sound like the group that they were supposed to fight, which could only mean that they would have to fight a war on two fronts now.  Light was their weakness, light that Ganondorf didn't use.  It didn't matter to him.  He had the Triforce of Power, and he would make Chaos fall before him, with or without this holy light.

_____________________

Within a hotel room, Jotaro found himself awakening in an empty room.  The door was unlocked, so he clearly wasn't being kidnapped, but this room was not something he had recognized.  What he did from here was up to him.

_____________________

Grimlock would find himself waking up in the streets of Terra Ancora, nearby the Temple of Astrid.  As the most massive building that Grimlock could see, it was likely that there was something going on there that was important.

Remilia tailed Shadow, as she said she would, though once they were amongst the group that gathered next to the statue Vanitas spoke from, she seemed more loose in terms of where to stay, and strayed towards the center, but not before giving Eggman a look.



"Ivo Robotnik. Scientific genius. Your constant introductions to the newly-joined annoyed me to no end, but it's almost sad not to hear them outright."



"But Shadow's right. We used all we could and still lost before. More than once. Unless we bring all we can, it can spell our end."

She scrolled her eyes through him to Ganondorf, where they held a stare for a while, then further on to other people. There were some wild cards here, but the muscular, imponent holy figure by the side of the martial artist was the bigger one. Both had very different auras, but they were clearly very powerful.

Before taking to questioning them, she looked up to Vanitas.



"Points for initiative, but you could have waited for us to discuss how to show all this to these kids. You know full well you're not alone in this by now, right?"

(...)

While this was happening, IF got shook out of the surprise. She decided to risk it and direct herself to the deities.



"Excuse me, miss... You seemed just so confident that, despite what these people say are true, that this 'Chaos' can't come here without consequences. N-Now, I can feel that you're strong... Even if I can't tell how much, but what gives you this certainty?

Chogro and Brandin both seemed confused over the new arrivals. Joe kept himself tense, he kept his finger off the trigger, sure, but he was bothered by this nonsense. Sounded like they were dealing with an army of super soldiers, not just any random army of destroyers. The thought of facing an army of Spartans, or even something stronger than him, made him uneasy. Shadow had approached Brandin first. "Brandin," he said. "I'm glad to see you're in this one too."

"You know me?" Brandin asked, raising an eyebrow at Shadow's statement.

"Yes, you were involved in the last two cycles. It's a long story, and I don't feel it best to go into the details just yet. I wanted to ask, do you know where the Ashbringer is?" Shadow needed to know if the weapon was still in Fordring's hands, or if he had somehow lost it.

"Last I checked it-" Brandin began, before a squire bearing the tabard of the Silver Hand showed up.

"Lord Brandin, a moment of your time," the Squire stated. "Tiron Fordring fell in battle against the Legion during the invasion of the Broken Shore."

That caused Shadow's eyes to widen. "Fordring fell?!" he asked, approaching the squire and grabbing him, shaking him violently as he demanded, "The Ashbringer, what happened to the Ashbringer?!"

"The Ashbringer was with Fordring when he fell," the Squire answered "We thought him and the weapon lost. However, I have news to give you, Lord Brandin. The rest of the Knights of the Silver Hand are gathering in Dalaran for a meeting, and they demand your presence there to determine our next move. I wasn't given all the details, but I believe that this is a very important matter they wish to discuss with you."

Brandin closed his eyes and thought. He never thought that his presence was ever demanded with the Knights, he had always thought himself a minor Paladin at best, but here he was, being addressed as Lord, despite owning no noble title. "I see," he replied. "Very well then, I will go and visit them in Dalaran, and see what it is that they want with me. Chogro, I'll be back shortly."

Shadow let go of the Squire and huffed, clearly frustrated that they may have lost the one weapon that could turn the tide of the war against Chaos. "I can only hope that you'll find out something useful there," Shadow replied. "You should get back here as soon as you possibly can. I don't want this war to end in our defeat because you got called away somewhere else."

"Relax," Chogro said to Shadow. "Brandin will be back, I know of it."

Ramalies and Leonardo were busy eyeing Shadow, Remilia, and Vanitas. All three claimed to have been battling Chaos, which to the Inquisitor made him suspicious of them. Nobody ever fought Chaos and came out unscathed, after all. Yet, if what they were facing was true, he needed more information. Walking over to Remilia, he demanded, "You. You will speak your name and identity to me, as well as the identity of the Chaos Lord that leads the warband you claim we shall face. I will need more information about what is transpiring before I can trust any of you."

When IF asked the questions to Astrid's companion, she seemed to tilt her head at the question, as if processing the question for a bit. Then, she closed her eyes and moved her head back up. "I suppose it's not a surprise that you don't know who I am, considering where you're from," she answered. "Allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Bellatrix. Like my charge Astrid here, I am a goddess, but unlike Astrid, who is a Goddess of Light, I'm the Goddess of Destruction. Honestly, if I'm not careful I could easily destroy the universe. If Chaos comes on this world and starts making a mess of my charge's homeworld, I'll be more than happy to show them why I'm the Goddess of Destruction." As if to emphasize this, Bellatrix held her hand out in front of her and balled it into a fist when she stated that last sentence. She clearly didn't want to tolerate Chaos' presence on this world.

Remilia overheard at least the tail end of the exchange with Brandin, and definitely the culmination into the dissapearance of the Ashbringer. This made her visibly grimace, and run one hand through her face, though she avoided too loud a comment.



"... Great. What a start. Shadow, we need to talk about that-"

Before she could really get much of a word in, she was harshly questioned, something which made her cross her arms and seat in the air while flying with her wings, something that got her on a higher ground and she instinctively did to appear more imposing.



"Pah. Push forward recklessly, and it's going to hit you in the face later. Vanitas said all we need to know to be able to grind them to dust. Diving for much more is just going to taint you."



"But I can answer the bare minimum. Some call me the Scarlet Devil in my country. Remilia Scarlet is the name. As for our enemy..."



"His name is Eliphas. He's a mighty champion of what they call the 'Black Legion'. And he's far from alone. The forces are ludicrously numerous. Had it not been so, we'd never have been driven away in the first place. There were many a mighty warrior in our midst, but he definitely found our limit with sheer numbers."

(...)

While IF was half-aware that there was a serious conversation happening behind her, it kind of became white noise when Bellatrix spoke of her power. It was ludicrous, the idea to be able to kill the universe by oneself. But IF was not the one that was gonna doubt that, when she knew just from what she felt that this woman was in another league entirely from even the goddesses that IF knew.



"R-Right! I see! I never meant to doubt you or anything! Forgive my ignorance!"

IF bowed repeatedly so fast that it might have been borderline comic, but when she stopped, she took a hand to her chin on a more serious expression.

"... If that means we have a back-up plan, then good. But if we leave it up to that, it might be too late to save everyone. So we need to push ourselves regardless and win this as cleanly as possible."

She was obviously not a stranger to world-threatening situations. Or at least so she made herself try to sound.



"Sorry for the ignorance earlier, Astrid, Bellatrix. And thanks for your valuable time."

She then turned to the others, with renewed determination. Even if she was amongst strangers, they had funds and info that most certainly helped to prepare. It was kind of reassuring.

All Grimlock could recall off of the top of his head was having been running across a giant upper floor to a space bridge while still in Dino Mode; even as his body was calm as he lay in the streets of Terra Ancora, Grimlock would soon find himself coming back online as he let out a low, robotic growling as his massive tail and giant legs lifted him back up onto his feet and into the waking world. All around him, he could see none of the cybernetics or Cybertronians that Cybertron was known for, but rather many, many organics and much smaller structures than he had ever before seen with his own optics.

"W... Where...?" Grimlock mumbled a bit, as slowly felt his body transform back into robot mode; his tail disconnecting and forming humanoid legs, his T. rex legs becoming arms, and his entire upper body reforming around his back and exposing a humanoid torso and head, his various joints and circuits realigned into place as his red, singular visor took everything he had to see in sight. Focusing on the largest building within range, Grimlock moved to walk towards the Temple of Astrid as if by the building's mere size alone he could tell it was significantly more important than the others, even considering his own limited grasp of thinking.

Vanitas, as expected, snapped at Yato, his eyes flaring and one hand gripping the statue he was positioned on, as though holding himself back.



"Hey, Dollar Store Slavic Hobo! If you haven't got anything helpful to add, shut your mouth before I come down their and kick your ass myself."



"Yes, blondie with the parka," Vanitas continued, addressing Yukine instead as his blood pressure began to level. "That's more or less the same question your friend asked but I'll roll with it anyway. I'm not sure how you want me to prove something that happened in another universe, seeing as I didn't keep the ashes on my person, but-"

Rather fortunately, Remilia and Shadow chose that moment to make themselves known. Somewhat less fortunately, Vanitas had not quite realised that either of them had made it out alive before the previous apocalypse.



"You," he breathed, taking a moment to ascertain what his senses were saying. "You! Where the hell have you two been?!"

The boy had a livid yet somewhat reassured look on his face, glaring at Remilia and Shadow in turn before wiping the first beads of sweat from his brow and clearing his throat loudly to address the masses once more. Astrid's help here was appreciated, but it helped that he now had multiple witnesses to corroborate the events of the Paradox.



"This... These two guys were with me throughout everything that happened. I'll let them tell their own tales later on."

Suddenly, Vanitas realised he was being chided for not having waited for backup by Remilia. He did a double take, not really able to come up with anything sarcastic enough to be worth saying. Ordinarily, he'd just move onto yelling but the boy seemed genuinely happy that not everybody he knew was completely and utterly dead.



"Look, I know. I'm glad you guys got out alive but my attention was sorta elsewhere during the last few moments before things went sideways.



"As for Eliphas," he explained with a half-hearted roll of the eyes. "Eliphas is a grade-A douche, alright? He's a cruel, manipulative bastard who doesn't really mind crushing people on his own side, let alone us squishy mortals. But he's a good tactician and he really likes fire too. We're gonna need something special to fight him."

"Eliphas?" Ramalies replied, the name seeming to roll around in his mouth for a bit.  "...It appears that you speak the truth then.  Eliphas' name is not unknown to me.  Allow me to introduce myself then.  I am Inquisitor Ramalies, of the Ordo Hereticus.  Forgive my hostility, I merely needed to ascertain if you spoke the truth or merely were bluffing.  It is true that it is best to live in blessed ignorance of Chaos, yet my duties require me to be capable of investigating such taint.  I need to be certain whether or not you all remain pure from your battles.  Few are capable of battling Chaos and remaining untainted.  We will discuss this matter at a later date, however.  For now, we will need to prepare for Eliphas' return.

"I would send a message out to the Imperium to request reinforcements, yet sadly we face our own insurgence of Chaos.  Abaddon the Despoiler has launched his 13th Black Crusade, and we must prioritize defeating Abaddon's advance before we can attack Eliphas.  Still, I will keep this information in mind for later."

Artanis seemed to be listening intently on this conversation.  "It appears that we may very well require the Spear of Adun after all," he mentioned.  "I will need to return to Aiur and reactivate the Spear if we truly face a foe of such great power.  Still, I do not believe it wise for me to immediately head out just yet when we just established our presence here.  We still need to build the Forge World that Leonardo desires."

"It appears that this battle will be more dangerous than anticipated," Leonardo commented.  "Inquisitor, I wish permission to forge Plasma weapons for these warriors to combat Chaos Marine Power Armor."

"Permission granted," Ramalies declared.  "See to it that our forges produce these Plasma Weapons.  As well, you have permission to forge Lasguns as well."

As for IF, Bellatrix commented, "There's no need for you to be so afraid of me," she mentioned.  "I may be the Goddess of Destruction, but I'm hardly evil."

______________________

Haru would find herself waking up in the same inn as Joseph Joestar, though within a different room than the other. Like Joseph, Haru wasn't certain how she arrived in the inn, and the door was unlocked, so it wasn't as if she was being held there against her will. It's probably a good idea to start investigating where she is.

Perhaps Remilia really did expect Vanitas to yell a bit more or give her some sort of censoring look, but it didn't quite come as she expected. She smirked, which eventually became more of an actual smile.



"Naturally. It's not really easy for anyone, after all. Glad you're still up and about, too."

After saying that, she turned her attention to Ramalies momentarily.



"Inquisitor, huh? What an authority. Glad to be working with such from the get-go."

Since she wouldn't really intrude in his own preparations, all that was left was to check the surroundings. She saw the approaching Grimlock, though she didn't make the effort to give out a greeting. Instead, she scanned until her eyes landed on the chest of Gold that Astrid had given the party.



"War funds? Far too out in the open, huh?"

This time, IF interjected.



"Lady Astrid has just provided us with it. You just happened to arrive at a weird moment."



"So it is. This Astrid is our patron this time around, huh..."

Remilia glanced momentarily at Eggman, and then to Astrid herself. IF didn't say much more in the meantime.

When Haru came to, she was more dazed than startled.

There was a hubbub of chatter rising through the open window, in addition to a kind of natural light resting upon her face. Speckled shadows swept to and fro across the room, but the light itself bathed the scene in a consistent golden glow. Atop the voices in the distance rang a chorus of bells that seemed to blend into one long sound, having originated from further out and fallen into endless reverb over time. But most clearly of all, there was a faint ticking somewhere in the room itself, completely regular and without the slightest echo. This resulted in a simple, sharp sound that brought a common causality to the environment and brought the Okumura girl to her senses.

It was so easy to become trapped in the basic delights of this place. All her life, Haru had known an existence of silk sheets and silver chains, but this place felt like more. It wasn't a palace or a mansion, but instead a home. And that was a concept that she had forgotten such a long time ago.

There were what looked like oaken furnishings across the space, all matching in tone. Even the floorboards boasted the same rings and loops, varnished carefully and utterly frigid, as Haru discovered.

Her bare feet recoiled from the floor as if it were nought more than a nest for snakes and other creatures she had never had the misfortune to bump into, but gradually shuffled around to find her shoes - and then her socks within those. Fiddling with the laces took some time, but the girl was already determined to venture out. She could not see her tote nearby, which made her even more nervous than waking up in an unfamiliar place, yet her phone remained hidden within the folds of her blanket. Its case was there too, the same muted pink, and with it a single debit card.

Before leaving the room, Haru unlocked the device and swept across the screen for any clue as to what had happened. No new messages, as far as she could tell, but there was no signal. That seemed strange, seeing as a smartphone in the 21st century should connect in any civilised place. Perhaps this was something to do with what happened with Mementos-

There it was. All of a sudden, memories came rushing back. But that whole episode had already played out. The whole team had gone on a road trip to celebrate their victory and make their goodbyes. There had been nothing whatsoever to signal another supernatural event, but there was also no rational explanation for whatever had happened here. Haru rarely drank, given her age and her distaste for most spirits, so the questions seemed to pile up by the minute.

Haru double-checked her phone one last time, but there was no sign of the phantom app.

Maybe that was for the best.

She left her phone on the nearby dresser, swept her hair behind her and made her way outside the room, the door clicking behind her.



"H-Hello..?" Haru cried out, rather timidly at first but then once more with renewed determination. "Hello? Is there anybody there? I don't mean to be a bother but I can't seem to remember..."

It abruptly occurred to her that there was the slightest chance that someone had dragged her here through malevolent means. This would make calling out to her would-be captor a rather uninformed decision. Again, Haru felt a tinge of panic.

And yet, this feeling of worry subsided almost immediately, for an old friend was close by.

Haru picked up the weighted axe with both hands, surprised at how easy it had become to hold, and brought it level with her chest. If anybody had any thoughts of keeping her down, they would have another thing coming. Slightly reassured, Haru took off down a flight of stairs.

Astrid smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I figured it best that you guys started out with some funds for the war chest," she mentioned. "You'll probably want to add in your own currency into things as well, since 500,000 Gold is not nearly enough to fund an army."

Shadow nodded. "I'd help, but I didn't bring any funds with me from the last cycle," he mentioned.

"I don't have any Credits to give either," Joe admitted. "And without the UNSC on the line, I can't give you all a line of credit either." Come to think of it, Joe would have to use some of this coin to get new weapons. He wasn't too sure what guns to expect here, but he needed something that had good supply lines for him. He'll have to do some shopping in the Trade Corner later for a new gun...or two, since he doubted they had ARC-920 Railguns here either...

_____________________________

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Larstern, Wolf found himself with something unusual. Folks who didn't belong on this world were showing up here, citing something called the "Paradox" as the cause behind all of it, and also mentioning that Astrid knew something about all of this. If Wolf wanted answers, he'd probably be best served getting to the Temple and asking Astrid directly about everything...

Wolf looked around at all the travelers nearby. Keeping a hand close to one of the pistols he kept on hand, he made his way to the temple of Astrid, looking around carefully. He wasn't one who was keen on religious places like this, but here he was regardless.

"Okay, Astrid, I know you can hear me." Wolf said, looking around, "What the heck is going on? What is the Paradox?"

There was too much going on for the young boy. Likewise, his black mage companion expressed similar confusion. They exchanged glances as if to ask, "Do you know what is happening?" Croma sighed. This was far beyond what they were used to back home, and even then, it's the first time they actually left town and became aware of the outside world.



Labrys might be noticed by the Primes among the crowds. Even she was scratching her head at this whole thing. It sounds like a hot load of bull. But given there's a flippin' spaceship in the sky, it's less bull. Still, it's some kind of bull considering there's a talking hedgehog with a gun that reeks of edge, a weird vampire girl, and a subculture goth kid. She stayed close to Teddie, wondering how he's taking this.

Astrid was about to address Wolf, when her old rival Nora exited the Temple of Astrid. "Awesome!" she said. "Looks like you two finally made it, Nora, Wolf. Right, time for the quick and dirty explanation for ya, Wolf. The Paradox is an event that happens every so often, it causes time and space to warp and drops people off where they shouldn't be, which is why there's so many odd faces around right now. There's kinda some armies that these fine folks have to deal with, among them being the Forces of Chaos. Shadow the Hedgehog, Remilia, and Vanitas can explain plenty about Chaos to you, though I doubt they're wanting to give away those details freely."

Shadow crossed his arms and looked at Wolf. "Yeah, I ain't too keen on talking much about Chaos," he admitted. "Two cycles of fighting those guys made it clear to me that the less you know about them, the better. All you gotta know is that they're big, powerful, tougher, faster, and stronger than they look, which is already saying something, and their guns are very lethal. Their gear's not in great condition, but it's still some of the best gear you'll see this side of the multiverse. They're also consistently weak to holy stuff, and they don't do energy shields normally. That's all you need to know, and that's all I'm going to tell you about them. If you're smart, you won't dive any deeper than that, for your own sake."

Shadow shot a glance at Labrys and Teddie. The two of them were around during the first cycle, and Shadow remembered Teddie from the second. It was...reassuring to have them back together, even if it was a different version of the two of them. His face registered familiarity to the two of them, which one of them may have noticed, before Shadow turned back to face Astrid. "So...who's this Nora person you seemed so excited to see?" he asked.

"Nora's my rival, the Goddess of Progress," Astrid answered. "She's really, really good with technology and can help get you all set up with some really good gear."

Leonardo looked over Nora. "You mean to say that this one controls technology?" he asked. "Must be the local aspect of the Omnissiah then. Pleasure, Lady Nora. I am Leonardo, Tech-Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus. I too will be helping keep our technology in peak condition. We are currently constructing a Forge World on the fourth planet from the sun."

Artanis looked at Nora. If he could smile, he would, but since he doesn't have a mouth, he can't. "It seems that we are not wanting for allies around here," he mentioned. Then, he looked to Wolf. "Greetings, I am Hierarch Artanis of the Protoss Daelaam. I will be providing my forces to aid in the coming war. May I count on you to join us in this conflict?"

Jotaro, looking around surveying the room pulls down his signature white cadet cap with a sigh stating "Good grief, whisked off to some new bizarre adventure, I'm never going to get my doctoral thesis done at this rate." Hearing a loud noise he activates his stand Star Platinum in case his apparent company within this mysterious Inn are unfriendly.

Nora simply nodded, shooting a nasty glare at Astrid, before turning to leonardo,"I do not know what this 'omnissiah' you speak of is, but I am a goddess of progress and technology. you provide me with your machinery and weapons, and I can improve upon them and mass-produce them in short order" She says with a bow, before thinking on the rest of her statements,"If the planet is of Type M, then I can open a portal to it from here, which will allow your troops and mine to transport supplies to it, allowing for greater ease of construction" She offers, gesturing to the two pirate commandos behind her

"I must also apologize in advance, for I will be unable to participate in any battles in future, for reasons that are my own" She says simply, her firmness leaving no room for argument, while also gentle enough to retain her delicate tone of voice

Wolf looked the hierarch up and down, a bit unnerved by the Protoss' lack of a mouth. Slowly, he nodded before speaking up.

"I will participate in this war." He said, "I have billions of men at my command. We'll need them, especially if we face a large number of enemy soldiers."

He looked all the others over, making his face as unreadable as possible. He wasn't sure how to take all the other warriors in the room. They seemed skilled enough... but that didn't help matters. Keeping a hand close to one of his pistols, he continued to look around carefully. He didn't trust anyone here.