Peace?

[Shae the Bat]

((IMPORTANT: READ THE FINAL POST IN ASCENSION PART TWO TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU SHOULD BE. IF YOU ARE NEW, OR WEREN'T MENTIONED, IT IS UP TO YOU WHERE YOU WISH TO BEGIN.))

Several months have passed since the near cataclysmic events on the Eye of the Prophet. The forces of light and good prevailed over the looming figure of darkness that was Syntaru. Not hide nor vapor has been seen of any Shadow Creatures or the Shadow Queen since. Calmness and civility has restored to the land with small pockets of paranoia and confusion here and there, as is to be expected. Cities are resuming their hustle and bustle, villages in remote areas resuming their aboriginal practices.

Life has retuned to what most consider normal on the planet Mobius. In the realms of the Spirits, The Vanguards have been continuing their duties as warriors in light. Aries tends the gates of the Chaos Realm, recording and welcoming those souls fortuneate enought to be sent there. Archer tends to his duties as protector of the forests and the wilds. Augustus resume shis role of Herald to Thanatos, relaying any information pertnant to matters of souls.

Naia has returned to guarding the Archway, link to all universes. Ensuring that all is secure on the universal border. Shae has assumed the throne, though not feeling worthy after his actions during the great battles, but Ishillar resides right there beside him reassuring that he is the one for the job.

Conesquentially, Ishillar has become pregnant with child, a rare and remarkable event considering both she and Shae are in the stage of afterlife. But a blesisng is a blessing, it is, perhaps a sign that somewhere out there, the Goddess Aurora is still working in her ever mysterious ways.

In his first act, Shae appointed Paladin's shadow, Shade as the new ore'seer of The Void. A heavy task indeed, but it only seemed fitting, what with Paladin's new duties taking over for Rayne. Everything was slowly coming to its own and settling in a new way. As can be seen.. with the rest of our heroes.

[Lucian]

Stars, big, beautiful, and utterly enchanting.
The Pool of the Cosmos was indeed a wonderous thing, and it was quite the honor to keep the Universe ordered. While Paladin Twilight lacked the abilities of a star child the Gloves left by Rayne were enough for him to keep up the long since perished iguana's toils. The old man had always made the task look so easy, when in reality moving the larger spheres was akin to walking on eggshells. The work took much of the Vanguard's time and contemplation and while he no longer needed to sleep or rest he spent long moments in thought making sure each movement was perfectly ochestrated to the whim of the cosmos. He had been following Lord Shae's orders for a good while now and had so far been able to make all the appropriate adjustments but something was nagging at the edges of the previous deathogs mind.

Where was Tala, his equal but opposite? Where was the fallen soul dwelling? There would be no bets to see if the lemur was still alive or not, nothing kills some one as possessed with their goal as that, at least certainly not very easily. So engrossed was he in his thoughts the ex-reaper never saw the elderly hedgehog dressed in white looking over his shoulder. But then again, he never did see that hourglass bearing individual.
____________________________________

"I bloody hate rocks!" Lucian exclaimed for the fiftith time today. One of many that the elder vampire had been digging with Duro from their self imposed rocky tomb. Not being part of the Vangaurd safe net the neutral party was privy to the supposed fall of Syntaru but not the after effects of being teleported out of harms way. After plunging into a fissure opened by the explosion and ocean cooled lava sealing them in, the irrate blood sucker and the smaller version of Aphophis were making their slow but steady way through the craggy earths crust hopefully to the surface.

"Advisory Statement: Pause complaints, my short range sensors are picking up something." The mechanical dragonette cautioned the vampire as it adjusted it's low power lazer at a portion of the cave the pair were digging on a roughly spiralling up direction. A short fizzle of power and the ray exposed a stone that crumbled into dust. The crampt cavern, a place that would make a normal soul claustrophic to a maddening level but cozy for the dead and digital, was suddenly filled with a pulsing red energy.

Lucians blood red eyes were suddenly aglow with a new kind of light of their own: greed, desire, and a lust for power. Carefully prying away at the surrounding stone the shard of radiating evil power finally came loose. The piece was roughly four feet long, jagged, and with a bit of imagination sword shaped. It would take a bit of crafting, but this chunk of diffused soul gem might just be the edge the undeadite was looking for in his quest for mortal conquest. Careful as to not touch his exposed skin to his future weapon of mass slaughter Master Ostrum made his winding path back down to the immobile Apophis, completely ignoring this days work on the tunnel up.

There were other things to do with his time now.

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[Stealth Greyblade]

Freak, mosnter, traightor, to a military group that prides itself on hunting down paranormal creatures that threatens its citizens the EDF Hunter Corps are second to none, formed after the world shaking events durring the eye of prophet events, after watchign satalite read outs and interviews with the only evergreenian to be there, The city of evergreen created the hunter corps to help protect its citiznes from any other such attack, stealth being one of the fighters of the prophet disatster was put in charge of Hunter Team Delta, but sadly being now a paranormal himself, he has been atthe brunt of the racial predjudeces and taackes of many of his fellow hunters, a problem that has driven him to the drink.

Meanwhile in robotropolis the city has been changeing no longer are their staues of eggman nor are any more egg refrences or sahaped buildings but it had been turned into a military war machine, simon ever since his sting defeate had been going to what he did best making war, strengthing the cities defense ,changing all passcodes and programs in the main computer, rebuilding factories to produce his signature untis and vehicles, buidling barracks for his organic units, or even clonign facilities and other sorts of labs for his other...projects. Speaking of projects deep in a lab, was a former rabbit now a creature of darkness, that was found in a jail; cell, after several atempts it was moved to this secure lab facility in a special cell ringed by a band of solar radiation and a spiked pit, the bars were solid palsam, to sever any limb that touched it and constantly watched by autoturrets and combat robots, it was the vamprie rabbit lucian had left and the wolf had been trying to use it...to expiriment on it , after all what fool would leave such an intresting specimin lying around?

[Psychosis]

Amon opened up his eyes. It was not the sound of songbirds that awoke him, as he had been used to. Instead it was the sound of passing hover cars, sirens, he was in a city. One of the most popular, yet strangely underpopulated, cities on Mobius. The center of the Casino Night Zone known as Casinopolis. He turned his head on his pillow, next to him, he saw the still asleep feline he loved known as Ci Ci.

He couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself, rumbles of snores escaping her noramlly elloquent mouth. He quietly and slowly crept out of the small bedroom and made his way to the tiny kitchen. The two of them had moved into Ci Ci's apartment, which was across from on of the busiest gambling establishments in the city, the Sonic Room. Named, of course, after the legendary hero Sonic the Hedgehog. If only the people knew that two heroes of megolithic proportions were living in their city.

But, Amon did not become a hero for the fame, he is donned a hero for his actions and his exploits oh those many months ago. He made narry a noise in the kitchen, using his telepathy to bring any objects needed straight to him rather than fumbling to find them. He made two cups of coffee, which used up what they had left. He would have to make a trip to the market later to purchase more groceries. For a dainty gal, his feline compatriot sure could pack away the food.

He brought one of the cups, along with some toast, into the bedroom. Standing at the side of the bed he softly whispered.

"Oh Ci Ci, it's morning.. and I've made coffee.."

[Myst the Hedgie]

"The weather in Polar Central today is a brisk -12 degrees Mobinheit with a chance of freezing rain."

The voice on the radio woke Myst from her quiet slumber. Polar Central was the only actual city in the Ice Cap zone. Because it was the only place that received any decent sunlight. Myst had been staying here for a few days now, the traders grew tired of wandering the ice plains. She was hired on as their guide, seeing as most of these traders were from places other than the Ice Cap.

The leader of the troupe, was a man from Westopolis, an overlander. Apparently he was some wealthy business man looking to expand his earning curves. His goods were well made and he was a decent man. But still, compared to what she went through a few months back, this was a meager life. Sometimes, her dreams would often take her back to that day. The day she became part of the most epic battle on Mobius.

But that was then, this was now. The troupe would be leaving soon, heading out to the seaport to pick up more inbound supplies from Westopolis. Myst wanted to get them out there while the weather was on their side. She sat up in her rented bed and ran her hand through her quills. Stretching, she stood to her feet, dressed herself, gathered her gear and went downstairs for the morning meal.

"Good morning Mr. Stump.. the weather is ours today, it should be clear all the way to the ports."

Said Myst, sitting at the table. She helped herself to some water and some bread. It was going to be a good day, she coudl feel it. Though, in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to that strange Priest and his robotic dragon..

[Shae the Bat]

"Yo-ho-ho-ho.. enjoy your stay in Robotroplis now, Legion.. because soon, I shall reclaim my empire. BWAH HAH HAH HAH!! -beep-eep-beep- Hmm?" said Eggman, his banter interrupted by a transmission from his pilot.

"Sir, we've detected a faint signal matching Apophis' design schematics.. it is located in the Hot Crater Zone.. shall we send a ship to retrieve?" said the robotic pilot.

"Whaa!? My little baby is down there? B-but that's where that Demon.. Santa.. no.. Satan.. no Syntaru? Yeah, that's it.. Syntaru was.. and all those strange energy readings and such.. could he have been involved in what happened there? Hrmm.. send a retrieval ship at once and report back to me when you've made confirmation that it IS Apophis and he IS intact." ordered Eggman

"Yes sir, and sir.. what of Lucian the Vampire? If we encounter him what are your orders."

Eggman scratched his chin a moment.. as much as he had a disdain for the vampire, with his forces diminished, retaking Robotroplis would be a heavy task. He would need all the help he could gain.

"Recover him as well.. he is one of us afterall.." said Eggman, turning off the comm screen. "With Apophis, I'll definately have a start at regaining my empire.. but I'll need more.. hmm..what about.. ooh.. oohoo hoo. Yes, that's delightfully wicked.. Hmmm hmmm hahh hahahah hahahah ahahaha!!"

[Lucian]

After a time Paladin Twilight, aptly named considering his new profession, concluded this days work and placed his Star Gloves on the alter in which they would reverantly sit until he needed them again. Sealing the crystaline case so no outside forces save the ruler of this land or himself could open it again, the newest vanguard made his departure from the Pool of the Cosmos. We he was about to turn around he finally say just a small bit of white in his periphreal vision. Not enough to identify but more than enough to put him on his guard.

No one should be able to enter this room while he was working with out his knowing or permission. Simply being in the room with out some sort of divine protection would almost certainly cause ill things to happen to the person that could not whithstand the power of the universe and all it's machinations. Wheeling about with Glaive in hand he prepared to shout, "Who goes th. . ." but the rest was lost as the distant blade came with in a few inches of the newcomer. The simple snap of soem fingers filled the air like a resounding crack and time stood frozen.

There, peering into the gate that Paladin had just left was a venerable old hedgehog in a white robe bearing an hour glass. He wasn't shocked or surprised that a weapon was almost touching the tip of his nose, if anything he seemed amused that the ex-reaper had drawn on him. This man, nay this something entirely else, then turned his attention on to the deathog. And it was like Aurora AND Syntaru were peering at your soul, wanting something, only infinately worse. Who ever this guy was, not only was he remarkably powerful, but Paladin was also at his mercy.

The old man shook his head in mock disapointment and it triggered a memory inside the vanguards head. Reminding him of his personal adventures in the Time Capsules. He thought he saw an imitation of Chronus, the Creator of All and keeper of time. Chalked it up to a pain induced hallucination. But here he was again, in all his terrifying glory. And for while Twilights body could not move, his mind raced at a thousand miles a minute.

[Tayuu]

Tayuu had been somewhat bewildered recently, like someone was trying to tell him something but he couldn’t quite hear the voice clearly. It all began while he was laying on his apartment’s rooftop several months ago.
Casinopolis was having yet another beautiful dark evening, the shining stars hanging in the night sky almost twinkling in time with the various sounds around the area. Staring up at a few black clouds, he happily listened to the chiming of coins clattering in a nearby casino, the cheerful laughter of patrons drinking and joking in a bar, and the pinging and digital sounds of what sounded like a hundred pinball machines. It was then that he noticed that more and more clouds were appearing as if unnaturally. At that moment all the sounds of the Casino Zone seemed so distance and a shiver came through his entire body making his fur stood on end. Raindrops began to fall, something that had never bothered him before when it was simply a light drizzle, but something felt wrong here. He didn’t move, laying flat on his back and closing his eyes as each droplet splattered upon his face. Tayuu felt saddened and his mind wondered, confused by the strange feeling he was now holding, a feeling that made him feel so small. If there was a goddess out there he would fully believe that these were her tears of sorrow. As the rain continued, he kept his emotions in check because although this rain gave him a strong feeling of foreboding, he wasn’t going to allow himself to cry over such a thing. It lasted for some time and when it finally stopped, Tayuu suddenly lurched upright, all the sounds of the Casino Zone suddenly increasing back to their normal volume.
“That… was weird…”
Tayuu shook his head and his normal mind-set came flaring back to life as he did his best to ignore what he just felt. This was helped by that fact that he was suddenly rather hungry, his stomach growling to confirm this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early one morning, months later, Tayuu found himself in the same predicament; “Ahhh, I’m hungry.”
His chin rested on the edge of the flat top roof of a currently closed casino, the large neon sign behind him unlit. He closed his eyes for a moment, almost dozing back off to sleep but then he opened them again as the sounds of hover cars and the few people below began to get louder. A group of annoying songbirds teased him from a building across the street and his belly rumbled for attention again.
Tayuu had to give in, he had to go to the market and get some food. His right hand checked the inside pockets of his tunic for his wallet but as he suspected, there was barely a coin in there.
“No matter,” he thought out loud to himself, a habit that he found he was doing more frequently lately.
He slowly stood up and stretched before doing some light exercises.
There were a couple of way to get to the market, the normal way and ‘his’ way.

Syth Edit: Please refrain from breaking the tables.
Shae Edit: Yes, those tables are quite expensi- Oh.. you mean the HTML Tables.. my bad.
Tayuu Edit: Was the ~~~'s right? I didn't notice coz I was using Firefox and my new upped screen resolution.

[Shae the Bat]

"So, finally come into your own eh, Syth? Our brief encounter in the Time Chamber did not bode me enough time to properlly introduce myself.. and no, I was not offended that you'd brushed me off as a hallucination.. I am Chronus, Father of the three Gods and the eternal presence in the Multiverse.." said Chronus.

The sagely Hedgehog moved about the room, walking along the edge of the Celestial Pool. He turned back to face Paladin, who look completely awestruck.

"I have come to you today, as I did in the chamber, to guide you. There is much work to be done, and you must keep it a dire secret. No one must know of our actions.. is that understood?" as Chronus asked, his hourglass clinked against the cold marble floor.

The God stared into the eyes of Paladin, awaiting his answer.

(OOC: Short posts for now, I'll have some bigger ones later in the Intermission)

[Spaztar Sorrena]

A harsh wind blew across the landscape and the biting cold seemed to pass straight through the hedgehog's clothes and tear into his flesh.

He had only just begun his trek through the unforgiving Ice Cap Zone and he was already chilled to the bone. This wasn't the first time he had gone to trek through the land of frozen tundra and snow capped mountaintops, but he was much younger the last time he had done so.

"It all comes with beginning to age... You start to slowly lose it all..." he thought to himself, as he drew his woolen trenchcoat closer to his body.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he fished out a tin flask and quickly unscrewed the cap, taking a swig of brandy. A small amount of warmth rushed through his body, as he shoved the flask back into the inside pocket of his trenchcoat.

He enjoyed travelling through the cold weather. It managed to take his mind off of his abundant problems and forced him to focus on the simple, yet tough goal of survival.

It had been nearly thirteen years since he escaped persecution from his fellow villagers and began to live off of the land, avoiding capture, but he had stopped counting long ago. And although he did not dwell much on his past anymore, the events of those early days had taken home in his subconscious, which made escaping his problems almost impossible. These problems had driven him to alcohol, and the chances were good that when he was near a town or city, you'd often find him drunk off of his ass. He knew quite well that his problems were inescapable, but he savored every moment that his sorrows were drowned in the sweet, sweet taste of liquor.

The sun by now had peeked above the snow covered summit of a mountain off in the distance, bathing him in the warm glow of the sunrise. Having been travelling since nightfall the day before, the ronin stopped in his tracks and dropped his gear on the ground. Yawning and stretching his weary muscles, he then pulled a "mummy bag" sleeping bag out of his leather bag and pulled it out of it's storage bag, laying it across the snow covered ground. After placing and storing his equipment closeby, he then got into the sleeping bag and pulled the drawstrings on the hood of the bag, which cut off everything but his eyes and nose from the freezing lands beyond. As soon as he got comfortable, the hedgehog's eyes began to slide closed as he slowly slipped into a deep, welcoming sleep.

[CC]

The smell of freshly made coffee flows towards the sensitive nostrils of the sleeping cat and she takes and appreciative deep breath in before Amon's soft voice reaches her ears and she lazily opens one green eye , her lips curved into a slow, sleepy smile, "mmmmm... and good morning to you as well..."

She rolls over, the sheets falling off her body just enough to reveal bits of her blacked furred body that would make most others blush, but she doesn't seem to notice as she sits herself up and stretches out, her joints and bones cracking slightly. Reaching out a steady paw she takes the mug and places it on the side table before using her other paw to draw Amon closer for a kiss. "Thanks... you do know how to treat a girl."

Closing her eyes for a big yawn she forces herself to stay awake and reaches out again for the coffee that is now on the table, lifting it to her nose and taking a moment before having a sip. "So, what is on the plan for today my dear?"

It was weird to think of all that they had been through and yet, here she was back in the Casino Zone doing every normal thing that she had never thought would be here life, of course, it was a lot more pleasant than she had ever imagined, with the handsome hedgehog by her side, but she could not help but feeling that it was strange to have been through so much and yet be living a "normal" life. Well, as normal as possible. Her thoughts flicked through to the other Warriors that they had fought with, wondering where they all had ended up and what they were doing. For people who were willing to lay down their lives for eachother they had managed to lose contact rather quickly, each wandering off to live their own lives. She sighs into her coffee and takes another sip, looking up at Amon as she waits for his reply.

[Psychosis]

Amon simply smiled and sat next to his feline love. Using his telekentic ability to wrap a sheet around her tempting form. He sipped at his own coffee, then stared out the window. The sun began to peer through the partially drawn shades. He turned to face CC again and spoke.

"Well, we do need to restock the shelves.. why don't I go and pick up some groceries, you head off and take a shower and when I return, you can properly show me around your infamous home town, does that sound good?"

He stared, peering deep into her emerald green eyes. Patiently sipping his coffee again while awaiting her response to his suggestion. On the other side of the globe, Spade Acey, Koalan hero was just returning from a hard night's watch. He has taken it upon himself to stand watch as a guard for the village, despite his role in the near apocalypse.

As he lay his head on the straw and eagle down pillow, Spade's mind went over the events of that day again. To the moment he and the other 5 gained their new strengths, launched their most powerful attack.. and it was still not enough. It got to him, that he was called a hero, when really it was the Vanguard Shae who ultimately defeated Syntaru. Fitting as it was for such a thing to occur, Spade felt empty. Doubtful, undeserving of his heroic status.

Such doubts.. would haunt his dreams this night..

[Tonixion]

Elsewhere on the globe, Azure Island to be exact, there was a certain air of familiarity in the air as metal bit through soft flesh. Not all traces of battle had rushed away after the chaos of the apocalypse, as the ex-harbinger's involvement showed. The silver-flowing Reckoner never felt more in place as he swung it effortlessly, lopping off the head of some lesser undead creature. It was curious... these undead things had been showing up more recently around the world. For what reason, he did not know. All he really knew is that it was good pay to kill the wicked, and business was good. Andre grunted after digging his sword into the chest of the squirming thing in frustration. "Don't these confounded things ever die?" The slightly-shrunk giant barked. Ever since his transformation from carrying the burden of evil, he had noticed himself slowly regain some of his past life.

His ears were no longer long and pointed, and the half of his face that had been lost had been restored to his delight. It was revealed that even though a giant among these small anthro people at 6'3'" now, it was not an ugly mug that he donned. The orange hair that once lit the surrounding area with a blaze had sizzled out into a softer dirty blonde, his robes a pale white from the orange that he had aquired at the battlefield. Demockstro wanted to wash himself of that pigment for a long time. "No, they don't!" Called out the cheerful voice of one Natasha Evensgale. A man of little normality, Natasha always dressed in his signature black robes. One might think him a necromancer at first glance, and because of that people tend to stray away from him in first impression. A gold pocket-watch rested on his hip as the chain disappeared into one of the holes of the purposely torn robe.

Two rather large tomes swung at both of his hips, chained from both ends of the spine to the top of his shoulders where loops of metal had been carefully grafted into the man's shoulder bone. He never seemed very proud of them when mentioned. A hat that was small and had a longer bill in the front than the back showcased a red feather sat on his jet black spikes of hair that jutted forward. Last but not least about this odd man, an even more odd pair of eyeware were over his crimson eyes. The left lens was large, round, and clearly transparent. It seemed to have many dials and small switches on the frame around it. The right lens was smaller, rectangular, and a darker shade of translucent emerald. With a sigh, the man strummed his earring-pierced earlobe annoyingly. "You should know by now that most undead don't go down in two hits. They're corpses." Lectured Natasha.

Andre groaned, feeling he was going to get another in-depth lecture about something or another from his recently aquired companion. He had picked up Natasha awhile ago while he had been doing a job for another village, they just so happened to meet. Strangely, Natasha had known his identity the moment he came into his eyes and would not let him in peace if Andre had agreed to let him travel with him. At least it was nice to have a fellow overlander accompany him, however pale he seemed. "Yes, yes. Just... do your ... ... ..." "Stuff?" Andre just nodded in mock defeat, removing his bloodied sword and walking over to a rock to rest and clean on. He was still adapting to this era's slang, and slowly.

In opposite emotion, that was with a smile, the right tome opened up and hovered it's position in front of Natasha as he began to mutter something that sounded vaguely like gibberish. However, the orbs of his eyes glowed a dull gray and the book shook slightly, pages flapping open to reveal a specific passage. The corpse that was halfway to it's scraped feet suddenly drained of all color, the blood rushing out of it's body and suspending in mid-air in a globe of coagulated red. This disgustingly cracking blood formed the shape of a spear, and it did just what it was intended to as it buried itself deep within the withered heart of the abomination, turning to black and then exploding indefinitely. Pieces of the dead iguana flew in all directions, and Andre had to bat one leg away with his hand. "Why can't you do that to every bandit that wants us harm?" He wondered aloud. "Because they, at least, have some free will. Anyone can resist such a simple spell like that one if they have the mind to do it. ... You lopped off his head." Grunting in acknowledgement, Andre stood up and picked up the said iguana head without trying to understand, and began to head off in the direction of the village. Natasha followed promptly.

What Andre did not know, was Natasha's steadily growing collection of old blood, nor his steadily growing grin.