The Warden

It’s good, and kinda helps GPs with their resource issues by reducing the need to spend a NS on Scissor Hands. Though the fact that this won’t work with revived ED monsters sucks a lot, since any board that’s spammed out a lot of ED monsters has several negations to go along with it. Either way, it’s a massive step in the right direction. About time too.

It searches and then gives you the option of equipping because not all Equip Spells can instantly be equipped onto a monster on the field or if at all given the likes of Premature Burial and Symbol of Heritage. It's so you're not locked out of all the Equip Spells in the game by being forced to equip from the deck.

Well we don't have a place, so I've edited the Tournament section to now include custom formats as well planning and for use as tournaments. Problem solved.

"TI-82?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw thought as he strained to keep himself together. The connection between him and the Spirit was definitely failing, and god only knew how long he had before... why were there two Machinedramon? Heavens above if this form could sweat it would be as he tried his hardest to maintain his focus. He HAD to keep it together for everyone else, so that he could give them the best chance he had. He had to stand his ground, and face off with the monster as it charged its energy. Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw's shields trembled as he raised them up, waiting for the intercept. "Alright kid, let's hope this works" came the voice behind. The thespian nodded as the charging reached its climax, and it was all unleashed on him. And though his form flickered, he faced the blasts head on. His heels dug in upon impact, the Irony no Tate absorbing all of the energy while threatening to push him back. Seconds crept by, and the Mercurymon form shuddered as it held on for as long as it could until the end. And then, a tentative aim was taken. "D-DARK REFLECTION!" Both shields shattered as balls of energy erupted from them, a shower of glass and steel falling to the floor as one energy ball impacted Machinedramon's right arm at the shoulder, taking it clean off and leaving sparking wires hanging from the shoulder. The other ball struck the Infinity Cannons, violently exploding them into a shower of shrapnel and smoke, no doubt angering the monster. Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw gasped as he fell to one knee, data shedding off of him like a winter coat. Raising a shaking hand, he looked to the roof with hazy vision "And... scene" he uttered, collapsing face forward. A cocoon of data consumed him, turning him back to his frail human self who was very much knocked out cold.

"Theodore! Get its attention, and get it mad! Try to have it fire the cannons on its back! If we can do that, we can get out of here!" "Yes sir I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw began, his head tilting to the left before glitching back to facing forward. "I-I-I-I think something is-" Whatever else he had to say, it was cut off by a giant metal claw smashing him head on, his metal body sliding across the ground and smashing into the opposite wall, his face mirror cracking. The Mercurymon form shuddered, flicking between it and the human self rapidly before coming too as the Digimon. Groaning and grasping at an arm, Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw found that even when your body is made of metal, it still is very much capable of hurting. "M-Mr Henderson!" he called, the facade dropping as flecks of data shed from his form. "I don't think this form is going to last long! Get it to aim those cannons at me! I'll use what little power I have left to turn them back on it with my shields!" he announced, trying to keep his balance.

"Theo! Protect Kokoro and Touch!" It was as if his body went on auto-pilot, as Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw, playing the leading role of Mercurymon, dove forwards, holding both his shields above the two. It seemed insane to have done this given the huge rocks, and yet something clicked inside his mind. Yes, like the Digimon he too could use attacks. As the rubble made impact with his shield, his painted lips cried out "DARK REFLECTION!" It was as if the force of rocks was met with equal force, and were ultimately repelled away from his shields, which were angled to fire at Machinedramon. The rocks bounced off its robotic head, no doubt earning its ire. "Dearest Kokoro, listen well to me. Conner has acquired thy Spirit of Fire yes? Then tell him "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Please tell him this, as god willing I will needeth all the help I can get" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw requested, the strain of keeping the spirit together already weathering him. "Please fly fast little do- Err, little violent murder crow. Fly fly and give him the message he must know! I will shield thy escape!"

~~Her, the Ultimatum~~ Lydia was quiet as she overheard Ther- Itsu talk with Arthur and the others. They spoke of things irrelevant, and relevant, depending on one's point of view on the matter. "Therm- Blast, I hate doing that. Itsu, if and when Isamy dies and the Principle passes long, it won't matter if this "Tao King" would seek out the Door as the next Omni. It won't matter because the smartest thing for any one of us to do would be to fix the damage Isamy has done to the multiverse, and then destroy the Door to deny any other fool their mad quest in attempting to acquire it" she spoke in a direct tone. "The madness of the Origin War is one that does not need to be repeated. What we need to care about is, even if it's with a fool's hope, we change Isamy's mind. That isn't going to happen unless we break her so utterly she can't ignore our point further. Alternatively, we may as well just break her and cast her ashes on the winds. The Tao King can be dealt with in time, if need's be. Either way, we get what we want, which is denying Isamy's "happy ending"" she added, speaking those two words with adequate levels of disgust. Stretching her wings and flapping away a few loose feather, the Witch of Endings stared directly at Itsu through her helmet. "The question is: How hard will it be to finally end her delusions of grandeur? Honestly, I look forward to finding out what it means to bring an Omni to despair. Which reminds me," she remembered, turning to Arthur, "now that LERNA is a part of me I really do regret not seeing Protheus despair in his last moments. I imagine it must have been even more glorious than when he fled from me after I stole his sword."

"Okay, are you the Marquis of- WHOA! What the heck was that?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw exclaimed, noting the sound of explosions from nearby. ".eriF fo tiripS eht dna em yortsed ot skees eH !deraeppa htah taerht wen A" "So what do we do?!" ".lateM fo dlihC emag eht hsinif eW :elpmiS" "Metal. You are..." the thespian uttered, his eyes shimmering. Without a word (for once), he breathed upon the glass and wrote slowly in backwards letters. nomyrucreM ,lateM fo tiripS "Excellent! Let us rejoice in our union, to provide you with the power needed to overcome the beast that hunts us!" The statuette shimmered as it moved forward, moving through the glass like water, and floated before Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw. The boy embraced it, the figure fusing through his chest, becoming one with him in a flash of light. When it faded, he was alone, a metallic sheen to his hair and a new sense of brilliance in his mind. "Curious and intriguing. It would appear that the Spirit was a Digimon. Yes, that is what they are called. The Spirit... the power too.... Yes, I see it. Conner must have his, but we don't have the means to tame it. But we could.... Hmmm" he frowned. The knowledge was transient, and not all there in his mind. There was a light shining, but it only illuminated one small spot of a big pile. But within that pile, there was knowledge. "I can tame you, for a little while." Advent Heroism Tightening his scarf, Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw ran from out of the bathroom and flying through the cafeteria, a stream of data circling his hand. "EXECUTE!" With a hand reached out, he took a big leap to the entrance between the cafeteria and gym. "SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" There was a bright flash trailing the cocoon of data flying across the air, before it snapped open, a brilliant emerald knight emerging and landing with immense coolness between the group and the Machinedramon. "MERCURYMON!" Mercurymon brought his shield down in front of himself, his tassels and small beads attached to his hat still billowing about. He turned his head to Kokoro, and nodded at her before readdressing the holstile. "Machine dragon of metal, stand down! We can make talk of this as opposed to the obliteration thy offer. And if not, I will not hesitate to show thee my mettle!" he declared, the surface of his shield gleaming.

**Looks at the first person executed** Nanda?

Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw stared at the Confounding Mirror. The statuette in the Confounding Mirror stared back. "Marquis of Minerals?" he guessed. ".oN" "Duke of Diamonds?" ".oN" "Marquis of Diamonds?" ".oN" "Duke of Minerals?" ".oN" "Then what are you?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw demanded, his (mostly) endless patience exhausted. ".net fo eno ,tirips a ma I" The thespian tilted his head, trying to perform the mental process to decipher such nonsense. "A... spirit?" he figured. ".neT eht fo enO" "There are ten spirits?" ".sriap otni tilps era tub ,net rebmun eW .tcerroC" "So where are the others?" ".tiripS namuH sih dnuof htah eriF fo nesohC ehT .derettacS" "And who is the Chosen of Fire?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw asked, engrossed in the tale. ".rennoC" "Conner?" ".seY" The young man rubbed his hairless chin in thought, his scarf billowing in a breeze for some reason to denote the seriousness of the situation. "So if the Spirit of Fire has found Conner, then who are you waiting for?" ".uoY" "Me?" ".yltnerappA" "Surprising" he remarked, though very flattered. ".rucnoc I"

Sure, wynaut?

"And there he goes, the protagonist beginning the next chapter of his own epic. Ahh, to be young again" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw sighed wistfully. Of course, everyone else was on their own path too, with partners in hand. And well, to someone like Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw, he could simply smell the narrative at work. Which would mean.... Turning to the bathroom, thoughts of that strange little statuette flooded his mind. "Someone such as I couldn't really find a match with one of those creature, not unless it could match my sheer dramatic might. Though, that little statue in the mirror is intruiging. And well it's not like the others need my assistance. So, I shall exit stage right." Pretentious internal monologue concluded, the thespian naturally followed the path of drama to the bathroom, wherein he returned to the Confounding Mirror. Waving a hand before it, truly his hand did not reflect in the mirror's surface. It was indeed something else to see a sheen with no reflection, as if it were a monitor of sorts. "Curious say I, to the mirror that does not reflect." ".tcelfer htod ylurt rorrim eht taht I siT" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw blinked slowly, trying to process the Euclidean speech flowing through his mind like water through sand. "Verily? Could you repeath sir?" ".drloW morriM eht htelur ohw I .ees uoy taht I siT" "Umm, I'm still not quite getting it good sir." As if through the sheer heat of frustration, the mirror fogged, save for the statuette. And slowly words came back into view. "Call unto me as I see you? Well, who are you?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw inquired. His new friend, whomever they may be, was silent. "A riddle is it? Then would you happen to be the Lord of Mirrors? Or perhaps the Duke of Mirrors?" Nothing. Well, this was one hard turnip make no doubt about it. "If not, then I shall continue trying. As you may know we have nothing but time, and I, Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw, am not one for giving up riddles so easily. So game on my friend, and soon you shall see your deceptions shattered" he vowed.

~~Alison: 8000 || Saison: 7000~~ Saison was a bit, well, confused as she drew her first card. "Okay, so these Hecate cards kinda, popped off more than I expected. They kinda draw out advantage just as much as your Fortune Ladies do" she commented. "Yes. I will say I kinda enjoy it, since they're as much a challenge keeping track of all these spells as it does with my own deck" Alison nodded. "Regardless, it is your move." "Right. I uhhh, hmm. Okay, I know some of these cards. So I will use Fortunate Fortune to search out that Fortune spell that isn't really one in name. Which is, uhh...?" "Time Warp." "Yeah. I'll add and activate Time Warp, letting me Special Summon out Fortune Apprentice Null. I remember her from your duels, cause I'm going to tribute her to bring out Fortune Lady Fire!" Saison over-dramatically declared, placing the card on the field. "And because Null is also a Fortune Lady-but-not-really, her effect activates. So, I'm going to target and destroy... umm... I'll destroy Yellow Hecate." Alison looked down at her field and picked up Yellow Hecate, studying. "Okay, I'll chain her effect. So I will banish Hecate's Poison and then discard Crossroads of Hecate to destroy Yellow Hecate and one card you control, so Fortune Lady Fire" she declared. "Then it says I can add two Hecate cards to my hand, so I will make claim to Hecate's Gateway and Hecate's Coven."' "It does?" Saison asked, grabbing the card and reading it. "Huh, it does. Well that's good to know. It also says she has a protection effect too, so I should be able to end on her quite often right?" "Sounds logical. You could also include Royal Magical Library, to increase your ability to draw since all the Hecates can Special Summon themselves anyways." "That's a good idea and... can we stop dueling?" Saison asked. "Oh, why?" "Well," Saison began, "I kinda think it might be better if we all talked about the deck instead of like, getting my butt kicked by it. It sounded kinda fun, but yeah, this is kinda a drag." "It's a bit of an anticlimax, but I'll accept that. I'll take your surrender" Alison nodded, grabbing all of Saison's card and shuffling them. "Thanks. Honestly I probably wasn't going to last next turn anyways" Saison giggled as she gathered up Alison's deck. Nodding, Alison herself noted the bottom card of her deck. "This field spell mentions a monster called Gorgon, but I don't remember seeing it in the deck. Is it a boss monster you never acquired?" "Gorgon? Oh. OH!" Rushing over to her bag, Saison retrieved six cards and handed them to Alison. "Ah, Gorgon is a Fusion monster, and this Hecate here is an Xyz monster. I see now. Guess you conveniently forgot to give them to me to increase your chances of winning huh?" she teased. "Oh come on Alison, I'd never do that. I just got so excited I forgot to grab the extra deck cards" Saison giggled. "Still sounds kinda cruddy to me" Toni spoke up. "Well what do you know jerk?" Saison counted, poking her tongue out. "Some days I think nothing" Marcus added in. "If you three will cease squabbling, I think we should look over the deck. You have plenty of powerful cards, and there are ways to increase your means of getting cards. There's Royal Magical Library, to let you draw a card for every three spells you use" Alison suggested. "You could probably use Royal Decree or even Jinzo, since you don't use traps they won't affect you while stopping your opponent" Toni suggested. "There's also Allure of Darkness too for more draws, since the Hecates are all DARK monsters" Marcus added. "Oh! The Hecates are also level seven, so I could Sacred Sword of Seven Stars to draw more cards too, and the banish won't hurt since I think there's a spell that returns banished Hecate cards to my deck" Saison recalled. "With Boon though you should probably ease up on the draws, since you have plenty to work with. Allure and Sacred Sword are good choices though, and I think one or two Jinzos might help, since you can easily use Hecate monsters as tribute fodder" Alison commented. "I like that idea. Man, it's amazing how many different card choices I could add in here" Saison mused. "Oh! Have you guys heard about a new Dark Necrofear card coming out?" Toni remembered. "Yeah, Cursed Necrofear I think they called it" Marcus nodded. "I'm thinking maybe I could try out a Necrofear deck again, using these new support cards for it" Toni decided. "That'll be so cool! You'll be the spooookiest duelist in the school" Saison giggled. "Hey, the Lord of Darkness needs to get his fear-factor on" Toni boasted. "I look forward to seeing the Lord of Darkness reign supreme once again" Alison smiled.

Alison smiled tentatively. "That is true. Well then, let us see who will become the next leader of the Occult Club" she declared, drawing her deck from her bag. "Ha! Come on Ali, don't be so serious, I was only kidding" Saison answered, poking her tongue out. "I could never beat you anyways." "Well, with a brand new deck you are unfamiliar with, I have no doubt you'd lose quickly" Alison remarked. "Hmm, true" Saison nodded, tapping her lips and smiling. "Oooh, but I have a fun idea~!" "And what is that?" "How bout we duel with each other's deck instead? Just a fun little duel" Saison suggested. "Intriguing, but isn't that a little unfair since you are familiar with my Fortune Lady deck, and I have no idea what your deck even is" Alison pointed out. "Oh I know that, but it's not like I have any idea how your Fortune Ladies even work anyways. Not as well as you anyways. Besides, you're really clever, so I think you'd be able to figure out my Hecate deck pretty well." "So that's it? You wanna see how your deck is used so you don't have to figure it our yourself? Also nice deck choice." "Thanks! And well yeah, you're pretty clever Alison, so I figure you'd be able to figure out the basics of my deck so I can learn from there." "Well, we have a little time to kill, so why not?" Alison smiled, albeit weakly. "Awesome. Now you boys, how bout you referee to make sure we don't cheat?" Saison said to the background characters. "Oh yes, thanks for noticing we exist" Marcus sassily responded. "One should be glad you are noticeable, less you non-existent like ghosts" Alison spoke as she and Saison exchanged decks. Unfurling them, she raised a brow at the significant expanse of green card pervading the deck, and a distinct lack of traps as well. "You have an awful lot of spell cards in your deck." "Oh, the guide told me that the Hecate archetype need a lot of spells for stuff, so I built the deck with a lot of them" Saison explained, looking through Alison's deck. "Man, how do you even keep up with all these search effects?" "I should say the same. All these Hecate spells search" Alison noted. "Look, why don't you guys duel to find out what these cards do?" Toni spoke up. "Yeah, he's right. You ready to duel Ali? You can have the first turn, so you can do the wicked witchy stuff without interruption" Saison said. "You are most generous. Well then, let us begin!" With both decks shuffled and on the desk, both players drew their starting hand. ~~Alison: 8000 || Saison: 8000~~ Looking over her starting hand, Alison was met by a whole hand of spell cards. Taking one, it was placed onto the field. "Okay, i'm going to start with Hecate's Poison, which does 1000 damage to you, then let's me add a Hecate monster from my deck to my hand, then send a Hecate card from my deck to my grave" she announced. "Oof, already going for some quick damage Ali?" "It seems most efficient" Alison answered, looking through the deck. The number of different monsters she had available amounted to four choices total, with plenty of discard fodder. "Okay, I am going to add Yellow Hecate to my hand and, hmmm, I guess I'll send Red Hecate to the graveyard." "You're not gonna send a spell?" "No, I'm not. Because now I'm going to use Hecate's Vengeance to bring Red Hecate back from the graveyard, and then I'm going to send Violet Hecate to the graveyard because of Vengeance" Alison explained, taking the red witch and placing it onto her field while the violet (and much younger and beautifuller) witch to the grave. Saison was scratching her head at this. "Shouldn't you be filling up your graveyard full of spells so you can do stuff though?" "I'm seeing how well I do with monsters first. But you are right, which is why I'm using Hecate's Coven, which lets me add any Hecate card to my hand at the cost of of sending one, which all the cards appear to do. Well, magic has its price doesn't it? So I'm going to add Hecate's Boon to my hand, but then send Hecate's Key to my graveyard. .... You know Saison, I don't quite think this deck is for you. It requires a lot of thought going into doing what I perceive to be very long turns" Alison observed. "Which is why I'm having a smart girl like you test things out silly~" "Right, well, I will use Hecate's Boon to cast out Yellow Hecate from my hand to draw two cards, then I'll send another Hecate's Key from my deck to the graveyard. Then I'll, hmm. Oh right, I'll use Red Hecate's effect. So I'll banish a Hecate's Key from my graveyard, then discard Hecate's Herbalism so I can revive Yellow Hecate from my graveyard. And with the exhausting turn out of the way, I think I'll end it for now" Alison decided. "Okay, but like, don't those spells have extra effects? When they're in the graveyard during the End Phase?" "Do they? Oh right, it says here I can banish them and another Hecate spell to... reuse their effect? That's unique. So, let's see, this turn I've used Hecate's Vengeance, Hecate's Coven, Hecate's Boon-" "You've also used Hecate's Poison" Toni pointed out. "Thank you, so I've also used Hecate's Poison. So I have four spells I can potentially reuse, but I have only six total spell cards. Well, poison doesn't matter to me much, so I'll reuse Boon, Coven, and Vengeance by banishing Poison, Key, and Herbalism respectively." "So you're going to discard for Boon?" "Well, with the way this card is written, I only have to apply the effect, and not the discard cost, so no, I don't. I must say Saison, if you can get a handle of these cards you'll come out on top in duels, provided your opponents don't have anti-spell cards. Either way, in order I shall now draw 2 cards, and send Hecate's Gateway to my graveyard. I will then add Hecate's Spiritualism to my hand at the cost of another Hecate's Gateway. And finally I shall revive Violet Hecate while sending Hecate's Poison to the graveyard. And that, I believe, concludes my turn." Saison just sat there, quietly. "Wow, I kinda overestimated this deck huh? Maybe I should've dueled you using it instead if they can so much whacky stuff" she giggled. Alison: 8000 LP Hand: 6 (Hecate's Spiritualism + 5 unknown) Field: Red Hecate, Yellow Hecate, Violet Hecate Graveyard: Hecate's Gateway x2, Hecate's Poison Banished: Hecate's Key x2, Hecate's Poison, Hecate's Vengeance, Hecate's Coven, Hecate's Boon, Hecate's Herbalism

"Get him to the cafeteria, PLEASE, then... tell the others Kokoro and Chis might need help. There's more of these things." Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw let out a long, deliberate, tired sigh. "Some people I swear have no flare for drama" he sighed to Conner's not!corpse. "One tries to have a moment, and then the moment is spoiled by no one else playing along. Tis maddening and maddeninger I can tell you that much. Anyways Conner my chum, let's uhh, let's uhh get you to the cafeteria" he grunted, helping Conner up. Blimey for someone sans an arm he certainly wasn't light about it, though it would help if he could lighten up about it. "Still, these creatures are curiouser and curiouser. Like our earthly animals, yet strangely... animesque. It seems almost ludicrous to say that we've traveled to another world, or perhaps another world traveled to us?" Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw posited while helping Conner along to the cafeteria. "Hmm, I wonder if the creatures would be interested in joining the drama club?"

Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw was a bit bewildered by the ill-flung shoe revealing not one, not two, but three of the strange critters; one of which, a rather heavy one, just parked its obsidian derriere all upon Conner. What was even more bewildering was that someone actually saw fit to tackle the creature, rolling with it across the floor. Kneeling down by the felled boy, Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw brought Conner to his bosom, a fine tear gracefully dancing its last down his chin. "Oh Conner, sweet Conner. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, Ora, ora pro nobis; Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, Nunc et in hora mortis, In hora mortis nostrae. In hora, hora mortis nostrae, In hora mortis nostrae. Ave Maria!" he sang sweetly, cradling the other boy gingerly in spite of the clearly obvious fact that he wasn't dead.

|_)A Twisted Fate(_| "You're welcome" Lydia said quietly in regards to Arthur's thanks in his team's attempt on Protheus. Truthfully she hadn't intended it that way, or rather figure that the rat bastard was still alive. But regardless, there was a whole new matter. Hopeless Black felt cold in her hands, but errant sensations of despair drifted from it in minute vapours. What had she even done in creating that thing was impossible to comprehend, but what's done is done, and now she needed to face it. Away from everyone else, of course. Lydia took herself away from everyone present, to a less-populated segment of Itsu's reality marble, and she held the cold blade up. She could feel it, she could feel the raw despair emanating from it. "The witch's Barrier merged with the blade, and thus it became a physical existence due to the Madara" Avalon noted. "Meaning within it is where we'll find him, and her" the sorceress added. "Indeed" the dragon agreed, albeit hesitantly. "Are you frightened Avalon?" "Nothing frightens me, girl. However, I am still coming to terms with certain matters. But here I make nothing uncertain. We will descend into that dark ocean, and we will make that witch's power our own." "That's not what we're doing. But, here we go" Lydia sighed, embracing the blade and letting her mind in to the depths of the barrier. ~~Into the Depths of Despair~~ It was just as she remembered, albeit... different. Flying above sea level, the black waters of despair ran like a river across the ruined structures of some form of vaguely Japanese-inspired buildings, and the remnants of a castle. "It's Camelot" she realized in recognizing a structure. "Camelot, and something I'm not sure what it is. I don't know these buildings." "that does not surprise me, as you have never been to my world before." Twisting her head, Lydia found the centauric Madara existence slowly cantering along the air next to her. "Madara!" "once, perhaps. but i have forsaken the rights to that existence. the shinobi i was born from is gone, and i remain" the existence muttered with some bitterness. "So why are you still here?" the sorceress asked while landing on one of Camelot's ruined turrets. "i had hoped to find someone whose ideals would resonate with me. i worked with ARTURIA PENDRAGON in order to see through her ideals. but she failed. you interested me, and yet, you abandoned us both when HER power became too much. and thus we fell through a PLOT HOLE and came to the one i had hoped to crown as the rightful king: ARTHUR ANCYL. and yet, he too has rejected me. but now i ask this; why are you here? our power frightened you, and so you let go of us. so why are you back?" the centaur inquired, still standing on thin air. "Because I'm not scared anymore" Lydia answered. The energy being tilted its head. "and yet you are terrified." "But not scared" the girl asserted. "you seek to abuse our powers, again? mine of ideals, and HER'S of Infinite Possibility" the Madara asked, folding its arms. "my existence as of now may be worthless, but i can still find offence in such selfishness." "I'm not here to use any of you as tools, not anymore Madara" Lydia insisted. "I'm here because I want to make it up to both of you for dragging your lives out way longer than you were supposed too!" "then destroy the blade and be rid of us both. unless there is something you desire of us?" the energy being deduced. Lydia sucked at her teeth, and sighed deeply. "Yes. I still need your powers to fight Isamy, which is why I'm here. I'm here, to shoulder both of your burdens, and let you rest. To sleep forever within my own soul." The centaur seemed partially dumbfounded by this, its form wavering until it became that of the aged shinobi Madara, clad in black robes. "You presume to devour our souls and gain our powers all for the sake of fighting Isamy?" he demanded indignantly. "In short, yes. Just not specifically in that way. I want to apologize to both of you first, for forcing both of you together like this. It can't be good for either of you when LERNA's lingering power keeps you existing just for that little bit longer, and for you keeping her world and thus her power alive. You can't honestly tell me you are happy about this arrangement!" the sorceress insisted. The shinobi shook his head sadly, reverting back to his energy centaur form. "no. i am not happy to exist like this. i intended to die with the king i had chosen, and instead the only ideals i feel are ones of hatred and loathing for everything. she keeps me alive just as much as i keep her alive. but the ideals she has? they're ones i had forgotten millennia ago. i'm tired of feeling vengeance, and hatred, and despair. and yet, you promise to rid me of these feelings?" he asked. "I forced you two together, so I should be the one to end both of your lives peacefully" Lydia vowed. "that does not fill me with confidence. but i will hold you to your word, as i can feel the genuineness in your ideals of making this right. thus, i will lead you to LERNA. but do not expect to sway her easily" the Madara intoned, galloping off into the air. "As far as I know, you're the easy one" Lydia muttered, taking off after the centaur. Ruins upon ruins of buildings and chunks of Camelot repeated endlessly across the ocean of despair, the waters churning, wearing down the buildings one by one. In the distance the supports of a tower crumbled, and it collapsed into the ocean. "Are the two of you trying to destroy each other?" "it is a game of sorts. by being held by you i gained the ideal of hope, which juxtaposed her ideal of despair. she is wearing down everything, to return her barrier to what it once was. she will not succeed. but her efforts are nonetheless commendable" the Madara explained. "Is that why you are helping me?" "i am helping you so that this maddening existence may end. but yes, i have some small hope that you will succeed in your attempt. if anything, perhaps you are the only one who will get through to her, as i rarely have. we agreed on some things yes, like saving you from HOLLOW ISAMY. but beyond that, we have been in a stalemate" the former shinobi explained. "we even crafted two new FAMILIARS to aid us, but they proved little help. expected yes, but disappointing all the same." Soon the buildings began to lessen, and lessen some more, until very few stood above the waters. The rest drowned in the darkening waters, whose depths became unfathomable. And yet, up ahead there was a circle of rubble, almost like a nest with makeshift pipes gushing black water below. "Think this is the place?" Lydia facetiously asked. "it is good that your sense of humour remains. it is perhaps the one thing that will save you from HER." Going over the top, the two landed at the lip of an enormous basin of despair water that gushed from deep below. "LERNA! SHOW YOURSELF!" the sorceress demanded. "there is little need for shouting. she knew we were here before we were even here" the Madara pointed out as the water rippled. The basin bubbled and churned, waves splashing over the rim as one of LERNA's titanic heads breached the surface. it was far smaller than in her prime, but still quite large nonetheless. "You have come" it declared. "Why have you come?" She was certainly a lot less eloquent this time around wasn't she. "Yes, I've come. I've come to end this once and for all!" Lydia asserted. The titanic hydra head tilted, and soon two more heads emerged, each glaring as well as they could with their milky eyes. "You refused the call to serve. You refused and abandoned us. And now you wish to finally destroy us? Like you destroyed our physical body with your... hope" LERNA spat. "Then what are you waiting for? Fight! End us! And when you fail, we will drown you in despair. Drown you like we failed to do before!" "I'm not here to fight you, LERNA. I've come to apologize and finally put this whole situation right" was the correction. The heads were momentarily confused, for they came in for a closer look in spite of their hazy vision. "What madness speaks you? Apologize? You have come to apologize to us? For what? Ending our glorious despair? For using us as your plaything? You have many sins girl, so which will you apologize for?" "Dragging your life out. I'm not sorry for defeating you and setting Galina free LERNA. You attempted to drag everyone else down into your misery, and I nobody wanted a piece of what you had" the sorceress declared. "Understandable. There is nothing you could do for ruining our beautiful plans. Our beautiful despair! And yet, you assume I will concede to you? To accept any worthless apology you can muster? No, I think we will just destroy you instead" the hydra decided. Darkness poured into the three mouths, aimed directly for the girl and consequently the Madara. "Do NOT even attempt what you are doing, Witch." "Avalon? Where, where are you? Where... are...." Lydia's voice trailed off as all three looked to the sky, which opened up to reveal a single golden eye, its slit pupil glaring down and illuminating the darkness with the radiance of the sun. LERNA shrieked and plunged her heads beneath the water, to escape that dreadful light. "i was wondering where the dragon had gotten too" the Madara casually remarked. "Please!" LERNA's barely surfaced head begged. "Make the light go away! We cannot stand it!" "I will relent for now, Witch. But know this: Attempt to harm the girl again, and I will grant you the death you crave" Avalon promised, his eye closing, bringing back the gloom. "He is way too dramatic for his own good" Lydia sighed, shaking her head as the hydra's quivering head emerged. "It sickens us that you would coerce us with light to accept your apology" she snarled. "It's not like I couldn't handle you myself. But you should probably listen to me, since when Avalon is riled he won't listen to anyone." "Fine. We accept your apology. NOW LEAVE!" LERNA shrieked, sinking back into the depths. ~~Wait~~ "WAIT!" Perhaps it was out of cautious self-preservation, but the hydra obeyed, its head rising up from the depths. "We have given you what you desire. Now you can leave us in peace" she insisted. "And you hate that, don't you? You hate being told what to do just like you hate being forced to live with only half of yourself!" Lydia declared. The beast hesitated, and yet its many heads rose up and got close. Merely a foot way so every last blinded eye could stare. "What did you say?" each mouth demanded. "I'm saying you hate being bossed around just as much as you hate only being half of who you are, don't you?" the girl asked. The beast's many eyes narrowed, and yet they spoke nothing. "I'm right aren't I? Without Galina you're only half of yourself, a ghost that existed because the part that was Galina went on to find peace, and yet the Soul Gem remained with your barrier trapped inside it, with you as well. You still exist as the lingering fragments of a divided soul. And you hate it. You know you're missing a part of yourself, and because you hate giving up your life, you've been trying to fill it. To make yourself whole again!" "YOU KNOW NOT OF WHAT YOU SPEAK!" "I think I do. You're stuck between wanting to die and find peace, and clinging to life from sheer spite! Which is just like you! You're the Witch of Infinite Possibility. So of course you would find it possible to keep on living just as much as you find it possible to find a way to die!" Lydia asserted. "You should have faded away in the ocean when you had the chance," LERNA sullenly hissed, "because then you wouldn't be here to lecture us." ~~Oh My God~~ "What are you...," the girl said quietly, her eyes widening, "oh my god" she quietly realized. "That's why you tried to break me, isn't it? You wanted to complete yourself, but you couldn't complete yourself with a human soul, could you?" The hydra pulled away, not looking in her direction and slowly sinking into the water. "You didn't need to break my spirit to turn me into one of your Troys, did you? You just needed to wear me down enough so I would be weak enough for you to consume my soul so you can fill out ours. Because... I'm already, in some small part, a Troy!" For once the Madara seemed deeply interested, as its head gyrated between the girl and the hydra. "you are part familiar?" "I am, aren't I, LERNA!" the sorceress roared at the top of her lungs. "You would have been better off drowning, so you could live your empty life in the beautiful bliss of despair" LERNA said quietly. "ANSWER HER WITCH!" LERNA flinched from the meager rays of light. "Yeeeesssss. You are partially a Familiar, and you would have been beautiful. You would have served us well, like the others. THERMOPYLAE! XANSVITA! TITANOMACHIA! YOU FOOLS RUINED THEM! THEY WERE PERFECT! AND YOU RUINED THEM ALL!" "THEY WEREN'T PERFECT AND YOU KNOW IT! They were failed attempts to recreate your failed ideal of despair!" "THEY WERE CLOSE ENOUGH!" "I get it." The hydra hesitated. "You get what?" "I get it. Witches seek out other souls to draft into their forces, or their souls to devour. Because deep down, you crave the bonds you lost falling into despair, don't you? You acted as if they were expendable, but you still care about them long after they're all gone. I bet you felt it too, when Itsu Solace was outside of the sword. You felt Thermopylae, didn't you? And you want her back, right?" "You assume too much while knowing too little. We valued them as they were avatars of my dream: To spread despair across existence. They were perfect for their task, and you fools destroyed them all. You yourself destroyed us. And you destroyed the souls of the Troys yet to die. You used them against our last hope. You used them to harm Xansvita. We hate you. We hate you for wasting the souls we collected. We hate you for aiding in destroying Xansvita, the last of our Familiars. We hate you." "Then I'm sorry you hate me. But right now, right this moment... we're just repeating the talk we had before you lost. You told me hope was a lie, and I proved you wrong. I took away all your despair and filled it with hope. So now, why don't you do the same for me?" "Change your despair into hope? Preposterous." "No, change my hope into despair. So I may change it back into hope once more. Lend me your power, let me become the witch who decides hope and despair. So your broken soul, your broken existence can find rest!" "Why do you assume we desire that?" "Because you need a magical girl to fill the other half of your soul, don't you? You have so little fight in you because you lack one thing. The most important thing: The reason to FEEL despair. Without Galina, you no longer have her despair. You're just an empty shell. So let me fill that shell, lend me that power so we can bring about the greatest despair the multiverse has ever seen! Help me RUIN Isamy Maximus' happy ending." For the first time, in a very long time, the Witch's eyes widened, their milkiness lost as they stared with full, unmoving attention. "You ask of me my power so you can DENY all of reality a happy ending? To deny them the eternal hope that would destroy all despair? It would appear I was right, after all" LERNA mused, quite satisfied and excited. "About what?" "You really would have made a good Familiar, with a plan like that. I still hate you, Lydia Armstrong, but I cannot deny that I am absolutely delighted at the prospect of ruining an infinite number of happy endings. And to make that pathetic wretch Ismay Maximus feel true despair? That is all the sweeter to me. Very well, I will rest, safe in the knowledge that my successor will achieve what I have desired since my conception. Yes, yes Lydia Armstrong. I think you will indeed make a fine Witch" the hydra gleefully uttered. "Then what shall we call ourselves?" Lydia inquired. "if i may" the Madara spoke up, earning their attention. "given the situation, it seems only fitting for our new form to be called ULTIMATUM, the WITCH of ENDINGS. it seems perfect for the battle that lies ahead." "That name is agreeable. It is only fitting to be called that, which is more the pity. If only you were this agreeable on other matters. We could have achieved so much more, if you only saw things my way" the Witch sighed. "So I have your support?" "Begrudgingly. I will concede my existence, so long as you hold up to your promise, which I know you will. Otherwise that wretched girl will ruin everything by erasing despair. So to it that despair lives on!" "i will put my faith into your hope. hope that you will save the multiverse from ISAMY MAXIMUS." "Then prepare, as there is one last thing I must do, before we face Isamy." "We will be ready. Hmm, yes, it has been a while since I've felt this way. To have felt this overwhelming desire to destroy the hope of others. To make them wallow in the despair I languished in. Yes, this will be enjoyable." "Well, glad you will be enjoying yourself" Lydia shrugged, taking to her wings and flying up into the sky. The girl's eyes fluttered as she returned to herself, the sword she had embraced now once more a Soul Gem blackened with despair, and surrounded by an aura of crimson energy. "It is amusing that you got the Witch on her side by offering her the one thing she loves most. If we knew she was that easily swayed you should have opened with that." "Avalon...." ~~Avalon....~~ "Yes, I know what you are going to say. Save it, as I will happily do without your sentimentality." "You know what this means, right?" "It might come as a surprise for you to know that I am far more intelligent than you are girl." "Condescension aside, are you really okay with this?" "You saw your future self. I clearly am as you saw what she became." "Avalon." "What do you desire me to say girl!? "Don't do it?" "There must be another way?" The future is clear as day, so why concern yourself with pointless trivialities?" "Why did you break yourself up to begin with?" "What nonsense question is that?" "You seem okay being yourself, and yet you're just as happy to be broken up. You're happy losing yourself. Why?" "The answer is unimportant, because it changes nothing. But if you must know, it is because I have lived for so long living is meaningless to me, just as hope is meaningless to that despicable Witch or having nothing to believe in is as unimportant to the shade. I broke myself up so that I could live differently, without worrying about being powerful. The fragments, as you know, were exceedingly strong, but not invincible. Perhaps I craved that. Craved no longer being invincible. Whole I am insurmountable, a God. But apart a lone human tamed my elements. And in turn... I gained what they learned, and took it to heart. It's why I allowed myself to co-exist in you. I learned the value of things that aren't me, though I show it less than my feebler fragments. In the end... I tire of existing. I have done it for so long there is little for me to care about, which is why... no, it doesn't matter why." "You envy my ability to care. You can't care because you no longer see a point to doing so. So you envy people because even if it's for reasons you can't possibly understand, they care." "Yes. You understand. Just like you understand we cannot co-exist for longer. My soul would devour you unless I give mine to you freely. There is no other way." "You could manifest outside of me, and fight Isamy in your physical form." "No. I care not for the battle ahead. All I desire now is to fade away, like the others. In that you are lucky, gaining so much power through others who no longer wish to live." "That's not why I'm doing this." "I know. The thought alone brought fleeting amusement. Fleeting, yes. I am tired girl. Tired of waiting. If we are to end this, let us do it now, before you lose your nerve." "I lost that ages ago." "Very well. Goodbye, Lydia Armstrong. I wish you luck in this battle." "Thank you, Avalon...." ~~This World of Mine~~ Within everyone, there is a soul. Within this girl, there are two: Her weaker blue soul burning away, with the overwhelming majesty of a glorious gold soul surrounding it, protecting it from harm. And finally, it has relented. Wearing down, after so long, it stood opposite the blue soul, waiting. And what it was waiting for was a new soul to enter the fray, one born of the crimson light of ideals, and the crushing blackness of despair. Hope. Despair. Ideals. And finally, Determination. Before each other stood the blue soul, now the form of a girl way in over her head, and yet still determined to continue. And another the flickering black form of a hydra and a girl, who sought to fill the world with despair, and now is using that despair to bring hope. And another still being the flickering crimson form of an ancient shinobi, and a centaur. One born of the ideals to make the world better, and yet now had naught but one. The desire to bring about the ideal of hope and despair. And finally, the golden soul of a dragon too long lived. An existence from time immemorial, now waiting in earnest to vanish, to allow his creation to fight and bring about light to the darkness. They all looked to each other, and floated forwards, each form overlaying themselves. Flickering between girl. Dragon. Hydra. Shinobi. Centaur. Again and again, glowing brighter and brighter as the colours changed, birthing one hue of pure whiteness. And on the outside, a column of light erupted out of Lydia, consuming her in it as the light bent, forming a sphere of intermingling black and white. And even then the light broken out, shattering the sphere with golden, scaly wings flying the long, phoenix-like feathers of white and black. Flapping, the sphere broke, and the Witch of Endings was born. Their armour of gold, dulled not by time, not by dirt, not by famine, but dulled by holding back a sea of despair within it. The armour a cradle for the new world of despair to be dumped on Isamy. The one known both as Lydia and as Ultimatum stood, the column of light fading away, her senses expanding outwards. Tossing her head back, the powers that once were LERNA's and the Madara's were her own, and the stories of her allies were laid bare. The reasons why. The reasons when. Each story to be told, for another time. The senses retracted, and Lydia took her first step forward, a new might flowing from her. An aura of hope, of determination, of ideals. It was an aura to bring despair only in Isamy Maximus, to fool who would dare try to ruin her precious multiverse. No longer will this be allowed. The Sorceress Supreme. The Witch of Endings. Heir to the Throne of Heroes. She was all of those things, and she was ready. With her hand resting upon the hilt of Impure Future, Lydia now waited, standing before Itsu Solace for the final battle to begin, her tail gently coiling about on the ground. She was ready, for finally, at long last... she was complete.

On the morn of lunch, so to do the Seekers of the Beyond gather in their Realm of Night, so that they may commune with the spirits. In laymen's terms, a quartet of students are meeting in an unused classroom with the curtains drawn so they can play with an Ouija board. "This is boring" Marcus complained. "Seriously, we do a Ouija every day, so how about we do something different?" "Like what?" Alison inquired, removing her hands from the board. "Do you feel we should sacrifice a few students to summon Jinzo?" she facetiously quipped. "Again?" "Oh come on, that time was a complete accident and you know it" Marcus shot back. "I mean, he's got a point Alison. Ouija is fun and all, but we aren't really doing much occult stuff these days" Toni added. "I'm aware, but until weird happenings are afoot there is little for us meddling kids to do. It doesn't help that the club got only a fraction of a budget due to there being only four of us" Alison explained. "And like, that's not all bad is it?" the fourth member spoke up. The fourth member of course being a rather pretty girl with her blonde hair done up in ribbons and pigtails. "No Saison, it isn't. But I will admit I cam growing tired of this tedium" Alison admitted. "Then how about we have some duels then? I got myself a brand new wicked witch deck, and I'm itching to use it to take the leadership from you" Saison smirked. "Do you believe it's your fate to lead this sainted club from this day forwards?" "Come now Alison," Saison grinned, "you and I don't believe in fate."

This was the only way it could have ended.

I guess there can be only one Appmon in play.

Well, from one damsel in distress to another was it not when that girl, Remy was it? Remy almost collided with the force of two fencers locked in deadly duel. "Yellling? Moi. No, it was Conner spooked by a phantom in the mirror that distressed him so. Quite the peculiar thing too, resembling some form of art" he commented while the girl was distracted. Following her gaze, Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw tilted his head to the thuds from above, with a small trail of dust dancing their last on the way to the ground. "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more” he quoted while being dragged away. "Great gadzooks girl, it's merely some thumping" he complained while being pulled slowly backwards. "Really now," Theodore Oswald Dreifus Shaw huffily said, brushing Romy's hand from him, "it's probably something much like the imps or that one tadpole I saw getting curious above, or perhaps they are playing a prank? Seems likely with how light the thumping is" he explained matter-of-factedly. "Though if it concerns you so, then fear not!" he grandly proclaimed, placing a protective arm in front of her. "For I, your noble knight, shall protect the princess from the fearsome dragon!"

*Presses F to pay respects for District 3*