Ch.85

[?, ?, 0E:000]

The delve into the Dark was harrowing, long and desperate. If not for the Marines, we’d all be dead. Or worse. I could’ve been repurposed to prepare the next universe to feed Manus’ endless hunger. “Rei?” Neethsi placed a hand on my shoulder. “Rei, I...I don’t feel good.” I looked up at my lover and watched as she seemed to become slightly transparent.

“We need to hurry! With Mundus devoured, all remaining entities of that universe are fading!” I wailed in horror and Neethsi looked sorrowfully at me before we continued rushing through the ichorous cavern of black on black with only the Light produced by my kits allowing us to see at all.

“Runner, can’t you do something about it?” Brennie asked her sister, but she shook her head.

“I don’t think I can. All we can do is kill this hungry motherfucker and be done with it.” Runner replied as she hefted her Plasma Rifle, which due to being bright and burning worked well.

“We’re almost there!” Sif urged and then drew an enormous and elegant sword from her cleavage before diving through a door-sized hole in the wall that we followed her through. Several of us yelped at the sudden drop, but we all landed on our paws, feet and hooves.

There was a stone sarcophagus in the middle of a ring of stonehenge-like standing stones. A guttural wet groan echoed from the Dark and from within emerged a twisted mockery of the human form. He stood easily 15 feet high, had curled horns crowning his bulbous and malformed head and looked almost like some demonic gorilla made of shadowstuff.

If said gorilla was covered in glowing red eyes from head to toe and had teeth and mouths on his giant hands! “Fear not the Dark! Become one with me!” The faceless entity gurgled in it’s single-minded demand for succor. It didn’t even let us respond, it whipped its arms forwards and the enormous limbs extended towards Shade and I!

Hunter and Pillar jumped in front of us, halting the abominable limbs at bay with their powers. While they did that, Brennie and Runner used their Crucible weapons to slice it up. Collateral came in and obliterated the severed arm, making sure to leave nothing behind.

“Grah! Feed me!” It roared and the Dark itself around us seemed to take on Manus’ presence and surged in. Daniel, Samantha, Sasha and Donatello flew to four corners around us and screamed their little lungs out as they created a barrier of Light around us that made Manus roar in impotent fury before suddenly manifesting inside the barrier and ripping off his own arm! “I shall partake!”

The dismembered limb suddenly flew at Neethsi and she had to wrestle the flying monster of teeth as Manus reformed the arm and tore off another minion! “Stop that!” I shouted and performed a leap across the distance and did a flying heel kick into it’s disgusting engorged head as Shade did something similar to the newly spawned minion.

We may have had our Magicka stolen from us, but the hard work we put into our bodies wasn’t something so easily taken! “Return to me! Bring me more food!” Never! I outwardly responded by grabbing his horns and performing an assisted repeating bicycle kick into his caving skull before he bellowed in pain and sunk into the ground.

“Show yourself you fucking bastard! You killed my last world and ate all my friends! You took my kids and manipulated my life! Now you’re trying to take everything from me again! I will pulverize your essence into the smallest fucking state I physically can and then give you to Palutena for her to annihilate from existence!” I shrieked furiously and even felt my inner power try to break free, only for the source to quiver. Grr, bastard. My Beast, my Atronach. I’m stuck with my body.

“What she said!” Shade roared before she leaped into the Dark and whatever she pounced on produced shrieks of pain.

“Th-this isn’t w-working!” Neethsi panted and fell to her knees as she wavered in and out of existence! “We need to b-bind him! Do a-any of you h-have magic that c-can bind a s-soul?”

“I’m pretty sure this monster has no...Soul! The Dark Soul! Donga, Herma! Connect to Paradise and bring Luna!” Sif shouted at the noodles, who had worriedly clung to the wolfess while the Marines and us were fighting Manus, who was now swarming like a force of nature against the barrier my children had erected while the Marines fired through the one-way barrier into the maelstrom of Dark.

“Doh!” The sisters facepalmed and then bit each other’s tails before increasing in size to form a portal that flickered and out stepped a super-hot bikini-clad Luna who matched me and all other bodacious babes in body, but was chiseled like me and seemed like a leaner Miss Universe contestant.

The instant she arrived, the Dark calmed, almost purring. “The Dark. It calls.” Manus gurgled and my kids slumped with sweat and panted, allowing Manus to form in front of the bemused dark-furred mare. He reached for her, almost longingly and she mirrored, placing her palm against his oversized monstrous one. “The Dark...quiets.”

“You poor thing. Come.” Luna opened her arms and the monster shrunk until a nearly normal black stallion-shape of Dark stood before her and embraced her before sinking into her flesh.

The Abyss vanished from all around us, revealing Urta floating in the distance in a blank white space like the rest of us and floating before Luna was an entity that could only be described as divine despite how unassumingly human he was. He had short, dark blonde, nearly red hair. His face was that of a middle-aged man who lived a life of fulfillment and determination.

When his eyes slowly opened, his deep blue eyes seemed to shine with an inner light, but Neethsi and all the other people native to this realm started fading again! No! It’s the Godhead! He’s waking up! Neethsi! Rarity! No~!

The Godhead faintly smiled and then closed his eyes again. “It Just Works.”

📜

I blinked. I’m standing with everyone back on the grassy field behind Twilight’s crystal tree palace. We all looked around in bafflement and then Eris finally appeared! “Oh thank fuck! Time came to a complete end there! I was stuck snapping my fingers until whatever happened was over!”

“Eris, are you okay?!” Hermais and Donga screamed before tackling their noodly triplet sister and hugging and smooching her.

“Is it over?” Brennie asked as I turned to see her talking to Luna.

“Yes. The Dark has melded with my Dark Soul. Worry not, its eternal hunger has finally been sated by what it lacked. Ironically: substance. It was reduced to a near-mindless entity seeking to devour all in it’s futile quest to sate an emptiness it could not identify.” Luna smiled sadly with a surprisingly loving expression towards the Marines and Urta. “Something I had found already.”

“Wait, are you saying you defeated it with the power of Love?!” Princess Cadence gushed excitedly. Oh, right, she was here this whole time! Wait, when did she and the other natives leave Runner and Brennie’s storages? Wait, no, that ties into whatever the hell just happened after Manus and the Abyss were absorbed by Luna!

📜

“What was that?” A Thalmor agent asked himself as he looked around the strange world he was in and the seemingly godly human, which was blasphemous, floating before him in odd clothes that seemed strangely plebeian yet suitable for business. “Who are you?”

“Who I am does not matter. What does, is what will you be doing going forward?”

📜

“So, is that it?” Runner asked everyone with bemusement. “I was expecting a lot more to happen when we all ended up involved. This stuff tends to drag on for us.”

“You’re running your mouth again, dumbass. Don’t.” Brennie warned her with a glare and she wilted underneath it. “I-no, We need some peace and fucking quiet. Ruin it and you’ll be cleaning it up by yourself.” Harsh, but fair.

“Everyone? Has that sudden darkness passed?” I perked up excitedly and squealed when I ran for Zaeza and her son! “Meen-Rei!” My Akaviri wife cheered and ran to meet me, letting me spin her around in a joyful embrace when we met. “Oh, wait! Put me down! Dear, this odd time event has caused my son to have a name! I wish to introduce Zavej!”

“Mum! I can introduce myself~!” Zavej, her adorable son, whined at not getting to speak first.

“Yay! Our step-bro has a name!” Samantha gushed and led the charge of my kids in piling their snake-person step-sibling.

“Perhaps we should all get inside before the whole town shows up? Ponyville has the tendency to do that.” Rarity suggested and I suddenly found myself along with most everyone that wasn’t a Marine in Twilight’s levitation magic and carried into her palace.

“Good idea. It’s bad enough that-.” Twilight was interrupted by Celestia and the local Luna teleporting in with disturbed expressions, only to sigh in relief at the sight of us all. “All of the-.” A powder-blue winged argonian or other species of woman warped in. “Leaders of-.” The front doors barged in and a towering yak-like man bellowed along with a less bestial minotaur, both in the robes and crowns of kings. “The various nations local to our continent…”

📜

“Oh, thank the Gods that Twilight bit the bullet and let us get away from all the politics.” Brennie huffed as she plopped into a frankly sinfully comfy recliner in a random sitting room with everyone else all sitting and chatting amongst themselves.

“So...about that Deal?” Runner brought up and all the other Marines hummed in unison.

“Later. I just want to relax.” Brennie exasperated and they were all in agreement. “However, we can thank him for bringing our Empyreals over.”

“You’re welcome~!” A mysterious being that wore a cloak, popped into reality and replied. “Anyway, everything back home is in order for you to explore, discover and expand.”

“You’re a real charmer, Freedom.” Brennie complimented with a contented sigh.

“You’re also free to go to Paradise for a vacation whenever, that’s part of being free to make your own decisions.” The entity then vanished, as if he was never there.

“Why did it feel like he wasn’t being serious about the last one?” Neetshi questioned with a look of interest.

“Because he already knows my decision. The others can do whatever they want, so long as they don’t get in my way.” The Marines and Urta flinched away from her words.

“All I know is, I’m tired of adventuring and politics. I’m literally worshiped as the Goddess of the Sea and Sky and I’m so tired of it all.” Neethsi sighed and snuggled against Meen-Rei, who had fallen asleep on the couch with Shade almost the instant they sat down. “I practically embody freedom and I’m so stifled.” Runner and Collateral stifled snorts at the irony.

“Well, unlike someone with a spiked rod up her ass, you’re welcome to come live in Paradise with us. You’ve earned it with that horrid thing you went through.” Luna, their Luna, not the local one stuck in a sudden summit, declared while giving Brennie the stink-eye. Who replied by flipping her the bird.

“No, Lulu, even if she’s being a real dyke about it, she has the right to choose the hardest path. If I wasn’t so disappointed in our own people turning on their beliefs, I too would be just as die-hard as her about keeping to our guns to spite the universe. Instead, I’m willing to wait until they discover far too late how foolish they’ve been, then it will be much simpler to sweep away the mess the usurpers have caused and start over.” Urta sighed and pooled a bit on the floor.

“I know that I can’t stand to spend that long away from the action. I’ll be helping you, sis. At least until I hit another wall and I need a break, then I’ll be back. I’ve realized my limits, so I can work around them.” Runner said to Brennie with a supportive squeeze of her shoulder. “Besides, aren’t we forgetting something we’ll need to take care of soon?”

“Remind me.” Brennie responded.

“That Dragon Break. It isn’t a good idea to reverse it, but we should find the culprit and hold them accountable.” Neethsi sighed and then stood up to stretch. “Uhn, I feel odd. More…’real’? I only know what it’s like to not feel real from when I was fading away.”

“That’s because ya were seen by the Godhead! Ya lucky girl! Now you are more real than nearly anyone from here! I mean, we’re all real, as real as can be, but now yer even stronger fer it!” Sheogorath answered from a portrait of Discord. “Hey, laddie! Good to see ya again!”

“As much as I would like to drag this encounter out. I was even more useless than the foreign draconequus.” Discord sighed and snapped his finger, summoning a regal Dwarf being held up by the collar by a ramshackle robot in a flak jacket and hooded hobo coat.

“I have found the perpetrator, Lady Eris.” Brennie groaned at Time Squad Elite; FL4K, reporting to Eris promptly.

“Yagrum. I should’ve known. Ugh...he’s one of my oldest friends and one of the few people I gifted with my unique Lycan-Corprus. If anyone alive knew how to properly use Kagrenac’s tools, it was you all along. Why? What do you have to say for yourself?” Neethsi demanded from the dwarf, who looked into her eyes without hesitation.

“To help this world, to revive my people, then I have nothing to say in my defense other than I could not ignore the wrong that was delivered to this realm for my people’s absence. I knew how to do it so that not only were they returned, they were humbled and remembered their folly. End me if that is the price I must pay for this world’s safety, security and prosperity.” Yagrum Bagarn bowed his head, still being held off his feet by the collar of his robes.

Everyone looked towards Neethsi, waiting for her final judgment.

“You have betrayed ancient oaths on ancient lips, ancient accords and ancient alliances. As far as I’m concerned, what’s past is past, what’s now is now. I render no judgment in my capacity as God-Queen of Vvardenfell; Nerevarine. No, your actions are to be judged by Outlanders, for your actions may originate from our lands, but they impacted the whole world. Kneel before the king of Morrowind and tell him of your actions and he will determine your crimes in a forum of his equals.” Neethsi then blasted him with a spell and he vanished.

“...Did you just pass the buck?” Brennie asked in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

“I absolutely passed the Septim. He’s my oldest friend. I’m biased. I’ve already dismissed his crimes from our homeland, it is up to the rest of the world what to do with him. I won’t voice further opinions, no matter how much I hope he is not slain.” Neethsi clenched her eyes and then turned into a giant white noodle that coiled in the middle of the room. “I wish to be alone, but simply not being spoken to will suffice for now.”

“C’mon, let’s go.” Brennie said as she shepherded everyone out of the room, wanting to give Neethsi her space.

“Did I sense someone mentioning me?” Penny Inoue Shepard asked when she poked her head out of Brennie’s cleavage. “Wait, how did I get in here? Urta? What am I doing here?” The mocha-furred slime vixen asked her twin sibling goddess, who shrugged.

“Penny? Surprising, but not unwelcome. Is the Milky Way in the same boat as Andromeda?” Brennie asked the twin.

“Yeah...Nexus has already evacuated everyone who hasn’t fallen for this bullshit to Paradise. Just when we were getting started colonizing Triangulum too...but after that assassination attempt on Twilight and...Luster Dawn…” Penny’s massive fennec ears wilted in sadness at mentioning the mare. “Luster is in cryostasis, too unstable to move. We’ll have to leave her behind, at least until Eris and the Time Squad say she’s safe to bring home.”

“And everyone was complaining about us closing off our borders.” Brennie scoffed because this was the ultimate reason why citizens from both Andromeda and the Milky Way were barred from ever entering Devorak save for a few exceptions in emergency scenarios.

“It’s all those Trumped-up lies spread about us being Corrupt when they have clearly fallen to Corruption somehow. We’ll get them back good once their sandcastle crumbles. Good luck babe. I know you’re not going to take a break, however miniscule, from giving your enemies Hell.” Penny smooched Brennie and then the dracowolf woman groaned when the slime vixen poured down her throat, vanishing within her cybertronian body.

“I fucking swear, did someone find a hatch between my digestive system and my other internals or something?” Brennie huffed with a pat of her stomach.

“That’s kinda creepy. Seriously, Urta, you didn’t see or feel anything to indicate that we might have hatches inside our bodies?” Hunter asked with a worried look. The idea of someone or something entering your body without realizing made his skin crawl.

“Not that I could see, maybe?” Urta said with a worried look of her own. “Though it could be kinda kinky if permission was given.”

“I want to head back to Lilmoth and see how things have panned out.” Brennie declared as they made their way towards the portal that connected this Equestria to Mundus. The only reason they knew about it was the very helpful directory sign on the corner of the intersection of hallways.

“That would be nice. I wonder if anyone else in town remembers like we do. Hearing about the Warp In the West is one thing, experiencing it is quite another.” Dar-Jah commented and his girlfriend nodded. “I’ll be back for Pinkie Pie, because what we had developed before was special. Sorry Pashja.” Dar-Jah apologized and the argonian woman snorted.

“Dar, you’re not getting rid of me so easily. Just because we met after the fact isn’t enough for me to leave you. I want to get to know this mare, she sounds fun.” Pashja said, the green scaled woman said and the Marines slowed down while the locals went on ahead.

“That seemed like a very ‘our’ universe or our wive’s universe’s response to such an issue. Is that normal?” Pillar asked Brennie with concern, only to receive a glare from her.

“Bro, don’t question it. However, it is our wives universe’s response. You really need to stop getting both universes mixed up. Just because we’re married to them, doesn’t mean we live by their standards. To me, it was bound to happen.” Brennie retorted with a huff of annoyance.

“That...has nothing to do with Pillar’s observation.” Hunter commented, only for Brennie to take Runner’s wrist before dragging her most sane sibling with her. Gods that was weird to consider. “Right, don’t question it.”

Next Chapter: Ch.86 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes