Endeavors

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It felt like days had passed since the celebration at the manor came to an end. Everyone that attended either settled down here or returned to their separate dimensions. Yet, for Beatrix Belladonna, the urge to explore the ever-expanding cosmos never ceased to itch. Especially after the multiverse was reforged.

The wayward witch sighed while studying the depictions of her many adventures that adorned the walls. The latest, of course, is a recent addition. A portrait showcased her and her allies standing up against the dreaded Burning King, who sought to end all of existence with his army of ignited demons and enslaved Vice Lords. It was a grueling battle, forever scarring those who survived the apocalyptic onslaught.

If not for the effort shared with her friends and former enemies, Beatrix wouldn't be standing here today. She was eternally grateful that she could plan more visits on the sidelines since various parallel worlds were still left to be discovered. A good section of her spacious foyer still had murals and paintings to be filled.

“So much to see, so little time to spend...” murmured the violet mare, looking over her shoulder at the couch, where her wooly lover resided while a fire crackled in the hearth, its warm light casting shadows about the interior.

Another part of the celebration was in honor of Lady Ewe’s pregnancy, carrying the fabled Child of Lightendark, Abadonna, in her womb. Oona had been a crucial part of her growth, always helpful and supportive. Beatrix couldn’t imagine anyone else by her side.

But now, with the little one safe inside her mentor’s belly, it meant the dream shaman couldn't take part in her next journey. It was too dangerous to risk the child’s life traveling between dimensions. Not after the struggle they went to bring Abby back. Her smile faltered.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay staying here?” asked Beatrix, sitting beside her. Her violet eyes were full of worry.

“A'm positive, Ceann Oga,” insisted Oona, who smiled and rubbed her swollen stomach. “Abadonna an' Ah are safest here in th' manor. Ah just hope we won’t become a burden tae our hostess. She’s been so generous!”

“I suppose it’ll be tough with the twins moving on,” the witch said, swishing her platinum locks. “Honestly, I'm surprised Bellatrix agreed to release them from her service! I know how much she loves being doted on by those two cuties.”

Speaking of the she-devil, her sister Bellatrix made her way down the double sets of winding staircases. Her scarlet skin reflected the warm glow, her black bondage bikini and heeled boots highlighting her curves. “Nonsense,” said Bellatrix, a hand on her hip. “I value their freedom as much as their servitude. Wet Nurse and Foal-Bearer have been good to me. And I think they’re way overdue for some R’n’R.”

“Aye! It was mighty gracious ov ye tae make them half-succubi,” noted Oona, who nodded when the shapeshifter approached. “Now they’ll be able tae finally leave these grounds!”

Beatrix then asked, “Yet even with that power, they'll have to occasionally return and refuel themselves on the manor's essence, right?”

Bellatrix nodded. “I'm afraid so. But it's not like what I offered didn't come with its own perks~” A sly leer crossed her, reminded of how she 'trained' the twin maids. “But you are always welcome here, Oona. Don’t be afraid to make yourself at home. And if you need anything, I’ll likely hear you.”

“Ah will, thank ye,” the azure sheep said with a gentle smile.

“Mhm. If you’ll excuse me, I better see them off.” With that said, Bellatrix strode towards the double doors, past the suits of armor on display.

“Ah hear mah brother plans tae take his vacation wit' his lovers in Ebony’s homeworld,” the dream shaman said, turning to Beatrix, where the couple held hands. “That should be exciting! A shame Ah can’t come wit'out imposin' myself...”

“Probably for the best anyway,” tittered the witch, well aware of how randy Sir Dion could be once he got worked up. No doubt the twins could keep those burly hands busy! “Wouldn't want you to be stranded while I'm away!”

Bellatrix paused just as the doors were creaked open. “That may not be a problem soon,” she proclaimed without looking back. “Not only does the mansion continue to heal beyond expectation, but I've found ways to enhance its abilities. Those depictions of alternate worlds you've left? We may be able to travel to them.”

The witch cocked an eyebrow. “Wait, are you serious? That's awesome!!”

“Yes, you can thank Moxxi for the idea,” murmured Bellatrix. “But everything has its price...” The couple looked perplexed before staring back at the self-proclaimed ‘Devil Queen.’ But she didn't elaborate and instead passed through the double doors, leaving them to ponder why an ominous chill ran through them.

Oona heaved to shuffle closer to the hearth's warmth while Beatrix cuddled closer, an arm wrapped around her maternal love, thankful for her bodily heat. Embers popped amidst the crackle as a low wail of wind filled the interior.

A clock chimed. Usually, this would signal dinner time, where the crystal maids would come to serve them. In their place arrived beautiful marionettes, tall and adorned in maid costumes. Trays covered in food and wine were set upon the dining table by the clockwork puppets, who took a slight bow before becoming stationary.

Beatrix swallowed when she met their blank eyes. “What creepy looking-”

“Gifts,” came a posh voice from the second floor. A thestral made her appearance, pink hair drawn in double braids that fell down her shoulders, her lithe physique adorned in a white dress. “I believe the term you were looking for was gifts. I believe a little thanks are in order.”

“Esmeralda!” exclaimed the witch. “What are you doing so far from the clockwork dimension?”

“Why I’m here to supplant this lovely establishment with help,” answered the lissome bat mare who made her way down. “I'm certain they'll come in handy while the twins are away. We've prepared dozens.”

“We?” questioned the pregnant sheep, her brow arched.

A taller and more voluptuous thestral stepped out from the dark corridor as if on cue. She was dressed in transparent black to contrast her pale fur. A black waterfall mane trailed after her, crimson eyes visible from the holes of her white mask, the cheeks adorned by scarlet teardrops.

“We’ve applied more than enough to maintain this entire manor while it continues to expand,” proclaimed the second visitor, Camellia, who glided down the stairs. “I trust they will appeal to your satisfaction?”

“Oh, very much!” Beatrix couldn't help but stare at the doll's flesh-like cleavage when she bent over to pour her steamy tea. “Erm, any particular reason all these puppets are...feminine?”

“We could make butlers if it pleases you,” noted Camellia, who pursed her lips. “Though personally, I prefer to stick with maids…”

Esmerelda smirked when they descended the stairs as a pair and shook her head. “Alas, dear Camellia. Unable to relinquish her vendetta against men after years of abuse by her ex's hand. A shame, really. I often miss being pampered by credulous chaps~!” She tittered at a subdued snarl from her partner before picking up a peculiar scent. “Say, Camellia,” the slender thestral paused, taking quick sniffs of the air. “Do my senses deceive me, or do you smell that too?”

Camellia's brows furrowed once she inhaled. “I do… the faint perfume of damned flesh and corpse blood. Miss Belladonna, did you have one of our kind stay here before us?”

“Yer ‘kind’...?” Lady Ewe studied the pair before realizing that these must be the ‘vampires’ that nearly succeeded in making Beatrix their thrall.

“Ooh! Do forgive us,” teased Esmeralda, who leered. “Perhaps we came on far too sharply.”

“We’ll have to investigate this strange odor some other time,” stated Camellia before shaking her head clear. “Anyhow, the clockwork automatons are also designed for combat. They can help defend the mansion whenever you are away.”

“Sounds wonderful…” murmured Lady Ewe, who continued to survey the vampires cautiously, uncertain whether they could trust these so-called ‘vampires.’ Camellia especially reminded her much of Countess Alma, the Baobhan Sith, a Vice Lord who had served the Burning King with horrific blood magic. Oona recalled the way that abomination leered at her swollen stomach like it was a snack and visibly shuddered.

With dinner set, everyone took their places where a steamed feast was served. Soon hands wandered to the silverware. The marionettes laid out scrumptious cuisine, the room filled with succulent aromata that made mouths water. Just then, another guest arrived through the double doors. A zebra huntress named Nyeusi, or in the common tongue, Ebony Ivory.

Upon seeing Beatrix and Oona, she rushed over to congratulate the couple, smiling broadly. “My tribe will be delighted to hear this wonderful news,” assured Ebony, who swept back her mane.

Oona giggled and asked, “Have mah brother an' th' twins left fur yer homelain?”

“They have,” nodded the zebra mare. “And I will be returning soon to introduce them to my tribe. It's a shame I couldn’t be there to confront the Burning King and his forces since they threatened all universes. Perhaps I might have been able to-”

“You likely would have been slain,” interrupted a chilling voice. Beatrix grimaced when Iclyn walked into the room. The icy deighdyr left frost wherever she walked, her expression a perpetual stoic mask. But those aurora green eyes bore contempt for the witch, just by staring at her long enough. For a moment, none dared speak.

Sensing tension between the three, Ebony rose up in front of the couple, frowning. “Such a bold claim, considering you know nothing about me.”

“Oh, I have no doubt you’re a skilled warrior,” rebutted the doe. “But numerous lives were lost trying to prevent the End of Days. We should consider ourselves fortunate to have survived.”

“Aye,” agreed the dream faun. “Two ov th' Mystic Guardians perished. Not tae mention soldiers under Penumbra an' Brutus. Many ov our friends are still lickin' their wounds…”

“But surely, having your child again was worth all the lives sacrificed, right Belladonna?” the deer woman sarcastically asked Beatrix, visibly soured. “Or are we ignoring the fact that calamity follows you wherever you wander?”

“I am not!!” glowered Beatrix, slamming a balled fist into the table. “I've learned to control my spacial powers much better than before! With enough time, I’ll be able to master this effect I have and stop screwing up other timelines!”

“Sounds like you’re making great progress,” scoffed Iclyn, who finally took a seat beside Camellia and Esmeralda, the duo more interested in the wine.

The pair of bat mares were openly amused by this scuffle before the masked mare asked, “Judging by your demeanor, are we right to assume you have a low opinion of men?”

“That’s none of your concern,” Iclyn brushed off without looking at them, chewing on her food, her snout contorted in restrained fury.

Her response made the slimmer thestral snicker, whispering to her colleague, “Oh, she’s definitely a lesbian~! I know her type all too well...”

The doe’s ears were pinned at the thumps overhead, hearing what sounded like Shadow Scythe and Zeloph, who shouted back at Moxxi and Mini-Trix. Though with the latter’s recent changes, she preferred to be called ‘Demi-Trix’ due to her similarities to the two demi-humans. Nonetheless, the newfound couple could not relax and cherish their partner's company thanks to constant interruptions. She bristled in annoyance, eyes pinned on her ex.

“Iclyn,” Lady Ewe began, staring back evenly. “Ye don’t have tae reside here if ye’re not comfortable.”

“Yeah, no one’s asking you to stay,” muttered Beatrix rudely between drinks, earning a scalding look from her lover.

The doe stabbed a fork at her salad. “You think I'll leave you in the care of this bimbo and the Nightmare Stag? Someone has to help you come to your senses, Oona. Might as well be me.”

“Nightmare Stag?” asked Ebony, who shared a bewildered expression with the two vampires. “As in the one from your tales?”

“A-aye,” confirmed Oona, who stared uneasily at her plate of untouched food. “His name is Omen, my counterpart in many ways. He's th' one who aided us in restorin' Abby’s stability usin' mah womb…”

“Ahh. That would explain the pregnancy,” commented Camellia, who took another sip.

Esmerelda joined in, saying, “I was about to say, unless Beatrix is hiding some sizable horse phallus beneath her leotard, you must have been knocked up by someone else!”

“And of all the suitors, you chose a monster to father your child,” reminded Iclyn bitterly.

“Iclyn, please! This doesn’t help anyone,” Lady Ewe stated with finality.

But the deighdyr refused to let it die, rebutting, “I did not come to Equestrian soil, hoping to find a solution to our Wendigo problem, just for you to disregard our laws by fornicating with one!”

“Hey,” fumed Beatrix, who nearly spilled her drink. “You don’t know that! For all we know, Omen’s a really nice guy who's just misunderstood.”

“Of course, you would think that. You probably encouraged her, you dirty monster fucker!”

That made Beatrix snap, almost throwing herself at the snarky deer before Ebony stepped in, keeping the snarling witch at bay with her spear.

“Fucking bitch!” spat the violet mare.

“Flussi!”

“ENOUGH!” bellowed the huntress. “There will be no more antagonizing each other at the table, or you will answer to me!”

“She started it!” berated Beatrix.

“And I’m ending it!!”

Sitting back down, the two continued to glare daggers before subsiding their hostility. Beatrix folded her arms tightly together while her lover tenderly massaged her shoulder.

“Now,” the zebra continued as she retook her seat. “What is this about, Iclyn? Why is Lady Ewe’s pregnancy a disrespectful act to the deighdyr?”

After a moment to recompose her icy mask, the blue doe exhaled. “If my sources are correct, Omen is responsible for the spread of Wendigo sickness,” she elaborated. “Many years ago, a terrible winter squall was cast over our home for several months. The night grew longer, resources became scarce. The threat of famine and starvation was growing unbearably real. So much so, one of our chieftains started a tradition that would forever stain our history. Cannibalism.”

The word was enough to cause everyone to put down their fork and stop eating. Even Esmeralda and Camellia, who had no qualms about drinking blood, were taken back by the statement.

Iclyn continued. “When more people started dying, our leaders rose up to stop the madness, laying down a new law. Any deighdyr who ate their own were banished and disgraced with the name Wendigo. And all Wendigos who refused to leave were sentenced to death. The first example was the chieftain who started the practice, set ablaze. Eventually, the long winter did die out, and normalcy returned to our land. Throughout generations, the tale about the Wendigos became a cautionary warning. A story to scare children who behaved selfishly.”

The icy doe’s eyes lowered to the table, staring coldly at her untouched food. “... but for the last three years, something has been plaguing the deighdyr. Some of us began to stand still or wandered aimlessly in circles. People just thought it ‘odd.’ But then the abnormalities became apparent. Fur malting. Lost eyesight. Black growths corroding their malnourished forms. Foam salivating out their mouths. And things escalated when the infected began biting at people…”

Beatrix held a hand over her muzzle, holding the puke rising from her stomach. She recalled facing three cervine creatures of similar descriptions. But they were nothing more than hollowed husks. Grey rigged corpses with exposed skeletons, what remained of their fur completely white. And the spine-tingling shrieks they hollered…

“The elders and shamans believe that the chieftain became a malevolent spirit in death, returning from the after to wreak vengeance upon us. Possessing many men, women, and children and turning them into Wendigos.” Iclyn cast a saddened glance to Oona, who stared back with melancholy. “That is why we’ve stopped coming to your homeland, Oona. We couldn’t risk spreading this pandemic to outsiders…”

“Sweet lucid dreams,” she whimpered, clutching at her belly protectively. “A'm sae sorry, Iclyn...”

Beatrix remained quiet, a tang of guilt washing over her. If she were in the deighdyr’s hooves, the witch would be just as upset!

“Most upsetting,” agreed Ebony, who spoke with complete sympathy. “And I take it the task of ending such a blight has been unsuccessful?”

Iclyn nodded and said, “The only way to kill a Wendigo is by setting its heart on fire. A daunting task when fire is easily extinguished if the winds are harsh enough. But I cannot return home until I’ve found a cure. Or, at the very least, the source. And when I heard about the Nightmare Stag… well. You have to admit, the resemblance is uncanny.”

Both Oona and Beatrix gazed worryingly at each other. It was hard to deny the stacking evidence. Omen was informative and knowledgeable, fitting attributes for someone who might have governed before. Plus, they had no knowledge of how old the Nightmare Stag was…

“We’ll take these concerns with us when we meet with him tonight,” announced Beatrix, trying to hold back her animosity towards the rude deer. “I-I know it isn’t much since we already went ahead with the decision. But-”

“Yeah, a little too late there,” shot back Iclyn, who narrowed her green gaze.

“Regardless,” the witch pressed on. “We don’t want Abby to be associated with Omen if he’s behind all that suffering. She will not be born a monster!”

Her declaration earned a stiff chuckle from Iclyn. “You speak as if you have everything under control. I’d like to believe you, Belladonna. But I’ve seen the results of the altered dimensions you've visited! You've meddled with stuff you don't understand and left a mess in your wake. Where does it end..?”

“I-I…” She thought long and hard to counter the deer’s point but found herself standing there awkwardly. In defeat, she admitted, “I don’t know…”

“It ends with you, Beatrix,” Iclyn answered once she stood up. “If you care about Abadonna's future and all the lives around you, you'd retire to this manor. Cease your needless voyaging before you cause another mass extinction event, hmm? Doesn’t that sound like a swell idea?”

Beatrix’s magical aura flared up, her violet eyes seething with anger. The urge to open a portal and shove this ungrateful cunt into the furthest reaches of space intensified, regardless of her plight!

Oona rose from her seat to pull the witch back, whispering, “Please, Ceann Oga. This isn’t worth it…”

Despite her reluctance, the unicorn powered down, her aura depleting. With a huff, Iclyn began to make her exit from the dining room. “You’ll learn one of these days, Belladonna,” she said. “Somethings are best left to the unknown.”

As the deighdyr made her exit, the couple cradled one another before leaving to unwind from the tense ordeal. Ebony shook her head before resuming her meal for her trip home. The thestral mares likewise said nothing, leaving the dining room uncomfortably quiet save for the clattering above.

Beatrix and Oona weren’t the only couple who were in need of fresh air. Shadow Scythe took Zeloph's hand and led him outside the mansion through the backdoor. Peace was obsolete with the latter's vexing sister always around. They found themselves in a closed-off graveyard, where many resided in the empty earth after the apocalyptic battle, reduced to mere ashes.

The reaper and her seraphic partner kept their distance from the family ahead. White Shadow Penumbra, adorned in a turban and white cape to match his tunic, stood with his head bowed in solemn silence, surrounded by his brother-in-law Midnight and the latter's herd. For several moments, none of them dared speak a word.

“You’d think he'd cheer up a bit after getting a cool new arm,” murmured Zeloph, who still felt guilty over partially crippling the pegasus.

With a heavy sigh, Shadow Scythe broke the silence. “Their souls are at rest, I promise,” she said assuringly on her approach. “Were they trapped in Pathos, I would've sensed it. Their bravery and heroism saved every universe.”

“I know,” muttered Penumbra before turning to the pair. “Lily's told me the same thing many times. I just need a few more days to grieve it all.” His wife was already sent home with his brother, Ashen Dunes. As well as Rheneas, the mare his sister had saved from the Vice Lord, Doppia.

Cerise Silhouette cast a pained smile at them. “They’re in a better place now,” she assured them. “You can come in if you want!”

“O-oh, we didn’t want to intrude,” the Fallen One started, earning a giggle from the princess before she shook her head. He and Shadow Scythe wandered over to the rows of new headstones which marked each fallen soldier. Zeloph’s grimace worsened, painfully reminded of the catastrophe he once brought to their homeworld.

Thousands had died between him and his lover. More than either could ever hope to make amends for. His hand was clasped by the reaper's, who stayed close by.

“So… what do we do now?” Midnight Blitzer asked when he looked at his wife. “Should we also return to your world? Maybe see if we can help with the borders?”

Cerise pursed her lips. “I don't know...” Her attention turned to Moonlight River, her thestral plumage reduced to nubs. The bat mare had been offered a decorative replacement by a minotaur, Moon Hammer, until he could attempt to craft another pair that allowed her to safely be airborne. “Oh, wait! What if we go to your world, Middy? Maybe we could visit there and see whether it makes for a nice vacation spot?”

Her herd mates shared a glance before Moonlight took a step forward. “Erm, it’s not the most hospitable place,” she stated, feeling the pain of her phantom limbs when she curled her metallic plume. “But I wouldn’t mind. Kinda miss it…”

“Yeah, same here,” said Midnight, who beamed at them. “I'm sure Shining Armor would be impressed to see how far we've come! I can hardly wait!” He punched the air in celebration.

“Guess it’s decided then,” mumbled Moonlight.

In their world, they shared a common loss. The Changeling invasion pushed them to the brink of extinction, many of their commanders left with scars to mark their service to their homeland. Shining Armor's leg had been crippled, which he considered a lucky 'break' compared to his friends' suffering.

The demise of Queen Chrysalis and the eradication of many hives had driven their enemy even deeper underground. Yet Midnight and Moonlight, who were trained into cadets from youth, were informed that another enemy was on the rise, and so despite peacetime, they relentlessly prepared for the war ahead.

“I think Dion had the right idea. I could use a vacation myself,” chuckled Penumbra, allowing himself a mild smile. “I'll return home and help Lily take care of the borders.” Like usual, he decided to lose himself in his duties, which always helped him deal with his losses.

“Take care, brother,” said Cerise, who embraced him.

“You too,” he said and returned her warm hold. “All of you.” He also smiled at the formerly villainous couple before making his way out of the graveyard.

“Poor Penny,” whispered Cerise, who frowned. “Will he be okay?”

“I think he will,” answered Zeloph. “Especially since Moon Hammer was able to replace his lost arm. I'm sure he's eager to see what it's capable of. You said the Eldritch was left by many massive mutated scorpions that bed at the borders? I'm certain he and Lily will cut down many before the season dries up.”

“I'm tempted to come help,” admitted Shadow Scythe. “I’ve been feeling a little cooped up and restless here, what with all the company. Besides, I've always worked best when I have a goal. Aside from Doppia, I couldn't claim a sole Vice Lord's head. Between us, we could easily have those scorpions dealt with in a week!”

“I'm sure brother would appreciate the help,” beamed Cerise before recalling that Zeloph was permanently banished from her homeworld.

Knowing that look, a bitter chuckle left his lips. “I don’t think your people would be ready to welcome me back with open arms. So you may have to venture there alone, Shadow Scythe.”

“And what would you do while I’m away?” asked the reaper, who studied his expression.

Zeloph stroked his chin in thought. “Well, I still have access to that heavenly void. I could see if Bellatrix could patch it with the mansion. It would provide Moxxi and I somewhere to stay. Oh, and Demi-Trix too, since she’s more like us now.”

“Oh, that sounds pretty comfy,” proclaimed Midnight in a chipper voice. “And hey! Maybe you could show us your world sometime an-”

“NO!” The angel suddenly shouted, all eyes glared with vermillion pupils, causing the pegasus to reel back in alarm. Realizing his outcry spooked the people around him, Zeloph turned away and apologetically stated, “I-I mean, no. I'm afraid there’s… no world for us to return to.”

“O-okay! Got it! Sorry, I asked…”

“Uhm, we’ll give you guys some space,” nodded Cerise, who took her husband’s hand and led him away, with Moonlight following after. Gates that enclosed the burial place creaked to a close.

With the couple now alone, the pale unicorn pulled her lover’s face to hers and cradled his cheek when she asked, “Are you alright?”

“I am,” affirmed the demi-human. “It was a traumatic event, and I would rather not recite it right now. Besides, we’ll be leaving here shortly.”

Offering a nod, Shadow Scythe traced an etched headstone, also reminded of her old comrades. Reapers she had betrayed and slain with her own hands. She shivered in her new clothes, which were now less plausible to hideaway in. Thankfully, her love was there to reassure her with his touch.

Sometimes, it felt like their past would haunt them forever. Like they were condemned to suffer for past sins. Was that what they deserved?

Rumor had it that something was sighted in Shadow Scythe's homeland, possibly another demi-human. Despite how many bridges she had burned there and all the painful memories, the pale mare wished to see her world once more…

The clink of chains sounded whereupon Bellatrix made her way to the mansion's basement, reminded of when the eldritch abomination that now camouflaged itself as her home had once imprisoned and fed off her. But now, it had a new demonic morsel to siphon fresh nutrients from.

Suggestive growls arose from her prisoner, who wriggled and squirmed in her enchanted chains. And upon seeing her warden return, a sly smile graced her full lips. “Aaaugh ahaha~! Come tae collect more masturbation material, mah dear?”

“You know better than to escape your detention,” Bellatrix responded, unphased by her comment. “Not that I blame you, but I can't let that lie unpunished. Please understand. I must maintain order here.” She snapped her fingers, and tendrils detached from the Baobhan Sith, leaving nasty suction tracks across her supple, pallid skin.

Bellatrix noticed some of the beast’s vicious tentacles were layered with bite marks. The she-devil’s gaze narrowed at the former Vice Lord, her mouth drawn thin. “That desperate, huh..?”

Countess Alma glared back at her before spatting, “Ye’re an idiot if ye think A’ll accept you as mah superior.” Her cruel smile spread wider before asking aloud, “Do ye hear me, beast? Are ye content tae serve this ‘pretender’ despite it bein' her fault ye’re sae malnourished? If ye unite wit me, Ah would never let ye go hungry." Her wicked smile spread. "A bountiful feast awaits if ye-”

“Silence!!” barked Bellatrix, her threat clear. She feared this would be the angle Alma sought. After all the hardship she had put the abomination through, it might be tempted to take up the auburn beauty’s offer. It had previously bonded with Shadow Scythe. And as an amoral creature, naturally dedicated to its own survival, there was always a slim chance her home could always turn on her...

The Baobhan Sith snickered. “As if ye could ever become a Queen of Hell. Ye’re much too soft fur that.” She cooed once her eyes took in Bellatrix’s shapeliness, sucking on her bottom lip. “Not tae mention delicious~! Speakin' ov, do ye have mah meal yet?”

“You’ll get your food when you’ve told me what you know about your cohorts,” argued Bellatrix. With the manor now strong enough to house multiple doorways to various locations, sneaking off to snatch a straggler to keep Alma quiet wasn’t so difficult. But with so many guests currently residing here, it draws too much suspicion. And the scarlet demoness wasn’t ready to explain herself, especially to her closest allies.

“A’m not th' one on borrowed time,” chortled Alma, whose scarlet gaze scanned over Bellatrix’s black bondage attire. Specifically, the many spots she left puncture wounds while feeding off the sultry shapeshifter. “Ye wouldn’t be at such risk ov discovery if ye didn’t dress like a skank~.”

“Shut your mouth,” growled the succubus, who slithered past the metal bars that stretched at her mental command to allow her entry into the cell.

“Or what? Ye plan on starvin' me tae death? Ha~! Face facts, Bellatrix. You have nothin' tae threaten me wit! Th' only thing ye’ll get out ov me is mah-uumph!?”

Alma’s taunts were cut off when Bellatrix met her lips in a deep kiss. The succubus drew back when she felt her sharp teeth, blood smearing both their lips. She huffed and heaved her bosom, her eyes hooded when she exhaled in the dim prison.

“Well, that was quite… curious,” noted Alma, who licked off the fresh blood that painted her lips.

“I don’t wish to keep you prisoner,” confessed Bellatrix, trying to keep a neutral face, thankful her crimson skin hid a faint blush upon her cheeks. “As my consort, I’d imagine you’d serve my court well. I only want your compliance. Give me that, and I’ll provide the freedom you seek.”

“Please,” scoffed Alma, who savored the faint taste on her lips. “Even wit'out chains, ye’d still treat me wit restraint. If A'm not allowed tae indulge in mah desires, A'm not truly free, am Ah?”

“But surely, the alternative is better than being a living battery?”

“A’ll take mah chances wit th' beast. Ye’re a cunnin' bitch, Primadonna, A’ll give ye that. Ye’d probably make fur a good fuck too! But th' Baobhan Sith submits tae neither man nor woman." She leered at her. "If anythin', darlin'? Ye’d be a lot happier servin' me instead~.”

“Don't toy with me, Alma,” Bellatrix sneered, seizing the vampire’s throat. “I’m not known to be patient. I’ve stated my ultimatum. You’ll either do what I say, or you’ll perish. I’ll give you a month to decide.” Against her better judgment, her other hand caressed her prisoner’s cheek, down the slope of her neck, tempted to sink even lower…

“A month’s a long time,” Alma whispered through husky breaths. “Long enough tae break you in, perhaps? Help ye forfeit all control. Ah can see it in yer eyes, Bella. Ye’re not a ruler. Ye’re a lost servant, lookin' for a proper mistress~.”

“Aaauuuh, fuck! That shite is so 'ot~!” A peppy voice interrupted. Bellatrix let out an alarmed gasp, snapping her head back to find Moxxi hovering outside the cell, her tail tucked between her thighs, rubbing at her crotch.

“W-what! How did you–I-It’s not what it looks like!”

“Caught ya red-handed, I did,” the imp mused, a knowing smirk plastered on her purple lips. “I knew I felt summit off when I took over the manor that wahn nickle and dime! Plus, ya bally reeked of wet bizzich ever since the party started. So this is your dirty lil' secret, eh?”

“Ah warned her it was only a matter ov time,” the vampiress tittered. “If not th' two thestrals A’ve smelled, then someone else. Care tae join us, little imp? Things were certainly gettin' interestin'~!”

Moxxi playfully considered it before saying, “Mmm, temptin'! But I 'ave a policy not ter get involved wif bloodsuckers. Just not me kink, lov.”

Her laughter was cut off when the succubus sized her by her cartoonish tail, holding her upside-down. “Moxxi, you can’t share a word of this to anyone,” warned Bellatrix. “I swear, dare breathe a peep, and I will personally eviscerate you!”

“Yeesh! Calm your titties, bella! I’m nah tattletale,” insisted the neon demon, who wiggled her tail free and drew an ‘x’ shape with her claw over her left breast. “I’ve withheld many secrets for a bunch of people. You’ve got nuffin' ter worry abaht.”

“Thank you.” The she-devil let out a deep sigh, slightly relieved. “Let’s leave before anyone else decides to snoop down here.”

The pair left the cell and remended the bars. But when they turned to leave, Alma abruptly called, “He won’t love ye th' way ye want!”

This made Moxxi flinch and turn around, forcing a cheeky grin. “Not even a day in the loonie bin, and you’ve started ter ramble off mad, eh~?”

But Alma shook her head and said in a sinister tone, “Don’t play coy wit me. Ah see th' way ye fidget. For a self-proclaimed secret holder, there’s quite a lot eatin' away at ye under th' skin~.”

Bellatrix glanced at her friend to notice she was trembling a bit, her pink claws bawled tightly.

The Baobhan Sith continued. “Th' walls have ears, y’know. All morning, A've been hearin' ye make quite a ruckus upstairs. Ye’ve been purposefully keepin' yer brother an' that reaper bitch apart from th' sounds ov it. What’s th' matter, dear? Jealous that th' love you covet is given tae another~?”

A metal slam nearly startled Alma when Moxxi propelled herself onto the bar. And despite the wide smile on the imp’s face, her eyes glowed hotly with scarlet. Her voice dropped to a growl as she threatened, “Let’s make wahn fin' crystal, ya saucy cunt. Just 'cause Bella's been crushin' on ya doesn’t mean I’m obligated ter 'old back me disdain. I’m sure she won’t mind if I came daahhhn 'ere and inflict sum real punishment should ya misbe-ave. Isn’t that wite, lov~?”

“N-no, of course,” replied Bellatrix, whose eyes held concern over the sudden shift in the little imp. "Perhaps she needs the discipline."

“Smashin'! Na keep your nose aahhht of me business, and shut your norf and souf. Otherwise? I’ll introduce ya ter me whippin' post!”

Satisfied with getting a rise from the demi-human, the countess nodded with a sly smirk. Moxxi followed Bellatrix out of the dreary basement with a huff, the prison bars notably bent from how tightly she was gripping.

Bellatrix was about to say something with pursed lips before the imp spoke up first. “Don’t,” Moxxi said flatly. “When I’m ready ter talk abaht it, I’ll come ter ya.”

“Very well…”

“Quite the risk you’re takin' 'ere, lov. Alma’s a crafty wahn. And she 'as a point. Wouldn’t blame the abomination wahn bit if it decided she was the better 'ostess.”

Bellatrix silently seethed, unable to deny it. Demons were amoral by nature, and she was no different. What kindness she had as a result of the friends she'd made. And like she promised, anyone under her house was protected.

Yet that didn't apply to a prisoner. One that most of her allies would have wanted executed on the spot. “Life is always about risk,” assured Bellatrix, more to herself. “Should this gamble pay off, I'll have one of the most powerful creatures at my beck and call…”

“Or you’ll end up back where ya started,” warned Moxxi, looking at the ground. “As a playthin' for someone’s amusement…"

Something was wrong. Shadow Scythe felt it when she and her partner arrived back in her homeland. Mainly because where she came from, the ponies there were feral. Yet she found herself still in her anthropomorphized shape when she touched down on a slope. "What the...?"

She turned to Zeloph, who also didn’t take on the form of a stallion like he expected. The pair of them were situated on the hilltops near her old home, which was visible by a cliff in the distance, curtained beneath the sun. Sensing what troubled her, Zeloph theorized, "It seems Beatrix’s Prima Materia affected this world, too."

"Of course, it has,” Shadow Scythe grumbled when she overlooked a camp far below a cliffside, where travelers settled around a campfire and cooked stew in a pot. “These ponies act like nothing has happened! Unaware that they originally walked on all fours. Some even looked at us like we’re the oddities!" She shook her head. "Honestly, Belladonna. You need to hurry up and learn to handle your anomalous power…”

"We’ll worry about that later." His hand rested on her thin arm. "I know you only wanted to look around for that creature. But… I think it’s time you meet your father once more.”

She flinched. “Zeloph, I already told you-”

“Atalanta,” he cut her off using her true name. “Nothing is beyond redemption. You are proof of that. There has to be a chance your relationship can be mended! He’s hurt, still mourning the loss of his wife. Your mother. But some time has passed. And you won’t have forever to decide…"

For a moment, the pale unicorn appeared to shrink in on herself before she steeled her resolve with a deep inhale. "...you’re right." Her hand clutched his own. "I don’t want to live with any more regrets. We'll do this as one."

It didn’t take long for Shadow Scythe to reach her old home. It had two stories but was otherwise mundane on the surface, save for the cracks and worn exterior, built by her parents for solitude.

They were forced to relocate it after Shadow Scythe betrayed the world, the ire of ponies brought down on their family, but aside from that, it was almost exactly how she remembered it.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she raised a fist and softly knocked. Then after a moment with no answer, the reaper rapped louder. “Hello? Father?? Please! It...it's me. Atalanta...”

"You said he was a hunter, right? Maybe he’s out," suggested Zeloph.

"Of sorts,” she explained. “He researched cryptids and such beasts of myth. My mother was one of the few at the academy who believed in him…”

Shadow Scythe lit her fractured horn despite her reservations and pried the door open. It creaked available to darkness, illuminated by her translucent aura, where the walls were adorned by various trophies from animals, awards, and weapons, one of which she approached.

"The Vorpal Blade," she commented once she took the needle-like sword from the wall, adorned by a ring-like hole on its end. "I was but a foal when I used it to make my first kill. A mythic creature known as the Jabberwocky."

“Heh. So even as a child, you were adept in the art of murder," he mused, earning a sour look from his lover. Celeste eyes scanned the area, noting how trashed the place was. Cobwebs decorated the corners, brass bottles littered all over the dusty table and worn floor. Depression and decay tarnished a once cozy establishment.

Shadow Scythe found a broken picture frame containing the portrait of herself, her father, and her mother, Quiver Bolt. Her hand trembled over the fragile glass, tears threatening to pour from her icy blue eyes, wistful for an abandoned past.

“Over here,” Zeloph’s voice called to her, drawing her attention to the second floor. “The stairs to the attic are out. Maybe he’s up there, and that’s why he couldn’t hear us!"

"Zell, wait!" she harshly whispered, but her love had already shot up the ladder. She swallowed and followed him until they arrived in the attic itself. Her seraphic lover used his radiance to illuminate the area, making her balk.

“Oh no…”

Rats scuttled across the wood, some of which was lined in dried blood. Yet, despite signs of a possible struggle, there was nobody nor a skeleton to mark the area. She paled. Did her father get blindsided by an assailant? Was he…

Zeloph brought a reassuring hand onto her shoulder. "We don't know for certain what happened here. Can you sense his soul?" After another deep breath, the reaper closed her eyes and took a moment to concentrate. After a minute of silence, she shook her head.

Frowning, he asked, "What do you think this means..?"

"I have no idea," she admitted, her voice barely a whisper once she sniffled and blinked away tears. But she shook them aside, her snout drawn. “But I doubt my father was so easily killed. No… Something else just happened. And we’re going to find out!” She floated back out of the attic.

Was this retaliation for what she'd done? After she betrayed their world and tried to conquer it, some undoubtedly held a vendetta against her family...

“I know we’re in the mindset that another demi-human exists in this world,” Zeloph said when he trailed her. “But there’s also the possibility it was something else. Could be connected to what happened here. Perhaps we’ll find more answers back in the manor," he surmised. "If need be, Bellatrix can always drop us off here again."

With a nod after their exit outside, she looked over the ancient Vorpal Blade before offering it to the fallen angel. "Here. Take it.”

He gazed back, appalled. “What? No, I can’t have this. It’s a family heirloom...!”

“Father often mentioned that this blade holds many untold secrets. I could never figure out how to unlock them. But maybe you can. Besides, you lost your sword during that skirmish with Varys. Think of it as a suitable replacement.”

Zeloph’s eyes shifted between the worn-looking weapon and his lover. Then, he accepted her gift begrudgingly and took a couple of swishes. The sword felt like a feather in his hand.

Once more, he asked, “Are you certain?”

A sad smile graced her delicate features when she nodded, her hands atop his own. “I can’t think of anyone more suited to wield it, my love.”

They shared a chaste kiss over the blade, her home a reminder of the innocence she once had...until boredom brought her down a darker path and into the service of Lord Grogar.

The couple left through the backyard, where a cliff overlooked a sea and a solitary headstone rested. A bouquet of flowers placed on it had wasted away, Quiver Bolt's name etched into the stone. The sun started to dip below the horizon.

Shadow Scythe knelt and closed her eyes. "Hey, mom,” she gently whispered. “I know this is… way overdue, but. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I know I can’t make up for what I did. But I will strive to do better. Believe it or not, I've finally found someone like you always wanted. I think you'd like him…” a slight chuckle escaped her lips. “He’s quite the charmer like you said father was."

Zeloph stood in solemn silence beside the reaper, thankful he could be here during her hour of need. The evening was arriving over the setting, reminding the demi of a similar cliffside with a valley of sunflowers. And of the human musician who gave him serenity before his life crumbled. It took him monumental effort not to openly sob.

Clearing his throat, he stated, "It's almost time for Beatrix to open a portal for us.”

Shadow Scythe rose and blinked away her tears. "Yes. We'd better hurry back to the point we arrived at. Goodbye, mother. The next time we visit, I hope it will be with father by my side."

The couple left the scene hand-in-hand, utterly unaware that the stallion in question had been observing them from a distance.

The Dance with Death

View Online

A bothered Beatrix Belladonna wandered the dark corridor, paintings of previously traveled worlds decorating the walls. Try as she might, the wayward witch couldn’t shake off Iclyn’s scathing comments. Unkind the deighdyr might be, but she spoke the truth. The violet mare didn’t have a better alternative for handling her effect on the multiverse without considering early retirement. And no matter what justification she came up with, it only made her sound more selfish.

‘If I don’t find a solution soon, I’ll only put more lives in danger,’ she acknowledged. ‘Would it be best if I stopped going on adventures? I mean, I do have Oona and Abby to worry about now…’

Her thoughts were interrupted when the painting of Shadow Scythe’s homeworld lit up with swirling magic. The reaper and her heavenly companion stepped out from the bluish-white portal within the picture with a bright flash.

“O-oh hey! You’re back,” greeted Beatrix, who hid her woes behind a friendly smile. “And it looks like Bellatrix’s experiment worked! Awesome! We won’t have to rely on my magic to travel anymore!”

‘ That’s a silver lining, at least…’ she told herself internally.

Shadow Scythe nodded. “That’s good to know, considering the energy I ‘borrowed’ from the mansion to transport myself was pretty much dried up. Where is your sister, anyhow?”

“I’m right here,” said the succubus, who strolled into the foyer. “Any luck on your trip?”

“In some ways,” admitted Zeloph, who examined the Vorpal Blade, still uncertain of his worthiness to wield such a rare artifact. “We’ll have to return again sometime. We couldn’t find her father, and I was hoping he could tell us about the supposed demi-human sighting…”

“We need to learn more,” added Shadow Scythe, who crossed her arms. “The library here has access to books from every dimension Beatrix has visited, right? I read all the tomes available when I was trapped here. But there should be tons more available now. Could you help us?”

“I’d be delighted to,” agreed Bellatrix, who smiled back. “But first, I have to send Ebony Ivory home. The huntress is giving her farewells, so make yourselves at home until then.”

With a nod, the couple seated themselves on the couch near the hearth. Aware there was little more to do but wait, Beatrix sat in a chair distant from the pair so as not to crowd them. A clock ticked in the distance, a fire crackled, and the marionette maids arrived to serve them.

Zeloph politely dismissed a maid who offered him refreshments with a hand wave. “So…” he began to cut through the awkward silence. “Shouldn’t you be with Oona?”

Shadow Scythe added, “Yeah, I’m surprised you’re not doting to her.”

Beatrix heaved a sigh. “We’re giving each other some space, especially since Iclyn’s still here stinking up the manor…”

Zeloph’s eyebrow arched. “You mean she hasn’t returned home?”

“No! She’s adamant about tormenting me!! All because I exist and, in her twisted mind, I stole her relationship with Oona!!!”

Shadow Scythe narrowed her eyes. “Uh-huh. Now try saying that again without being biased.”

The witch looked down before cupping her hands over her face. “Okay, unwarranted hostility aside, Iclyn’s clearly concerned for Oona’s safety as I am. And… she’s been making fair points. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about my problem. Is it that bad of me to want to continue my expeditions? It’s part of who I am!”

“You have to understand,” said the reaper, who took Zeloph’s hand into her own, stroking his knuckle with her thumb. “You made yourself an anomaly, like it or not. Everywhere you go will have a varying degree of consequences. We just got back from my homeworld, and, last time I checked, the ponies there weren’t anthropomorphized.”

“Oh shit, really? B-but I haven’t been there in a long time!!”

The demi joined in, theorizing, “I also have reason to believe your power might be linked to why a demi-human roams in her dimension. And if that’s the case, what’s the probability others were accidentally transported between spaces?”

The statement weighed Beatrix further down as her expression soured.

“Listen, Belladonna,” resumed Shadow Scythe. “With all due respect, tampering with the timeline just to get your child back wasn’t the greatest of ideas. For all we know, you aided in a nefarious plot crafted by this ‘Omen’ character!”

“But that’s not to say things aren’t better because of it,” reassured Zeloph, who squeezed her palm. “We wouldn’t have gotten another chance if not for you. Abadonna likely would have been erased after freeing the Burning King. Conspiring to rewrite the universe, while shady, did result in some good effects. And for what it’s worth…” he paused to carefully consider his words. “I don’t think Iclyn’s right about you retiring.”

Both unicorn mares turned to him and said, “You don’t?”

He nodded. “If anything, you’re better off out there, exploring for a way to correct your anomalous state! There’s no guarantee all that entropy you’ve generated won’t stop growing just because you stay put.”

“Y-yeah, you’re right!” Beatrix stood up, feeling a little bit more confident. “I’d be risking Oona and the baby’s safety if I remain here.”

Shadow Scythe frowned. “But if she continues her pursuit, the lives of other worlds are at stake!”

Zeloph shrugged. “All the more reason to find a solution quickly. If you can remove your abnormal properties, you restore all the spacial oddities that followed you, including Midnight’s ‘hyper-stallionism!’ I’d say it’s worth a shot.”

With her resolve renewed, the violet witch released a delighted squee and hugged the fallen angel promptly. “I really needed that, Zeloph. Thank you! Ahh, I could kiss you~!”

“Do it, and I’ll remove your lips,” threatened Shadow Scythe, who lightly pushed the witch off her boyfriend. With a teasing titter, she walked away with an extra bounce in her step.

Uttering a low grumble, the lissome unicorn gazed at her lover wryly. “Are you sure it was wise to encourage her?”

“Wisdom does not come to a wandering spirit like Beatrix,” the demi-human countered. “It must be found before it can be nurtured. I’m sure Lady Ewe picked up on that when she first took her as a student. But stay in one place for too long, and you’ll go mad. I know that from experience.”

“I just hope you’re right,” she whispered, cupping his cheeks before pulling their lips together. Warmth and energy flowed through their kiss before he parted to stand up.

“Me too,” Zeloph nodded with a smile. “Now, let’s hurry to the library before my sister and Demi-Trix learn of our return~!”

Matching his smile, Shadow Scythe allowed him to pull her up and lead the way through the long hallway. Perhaps the reaper could finally have some quality alone time with her seraphic lover.

“Ah-ha! I knew it!”

Esmeralda’s heels clipped with each step she made down into the basement. Alongside her walked Camellia. As the vampiric couple decided to slip at the moment, they were certain Bellatrix would be too busy to intercept them. Whatever morals they had about trespassing soon faded when their suspicions proved correct.

Glowing eyes leered through the steel bars as the aristocratic thestrals approached Alma’s cage.

“So she was harboring another of our kind,” the petite bat mare mused, taking in the prisoner’s shape. “Except she appears to be natural, rather than a sad byproduct of an experiment.”

“And extremely beautiful, indeed,” noted Camellia, who drank in the Baobhan Sith, suspended by enchanted chains in her cell and surrounded by inky tentacles.

As her hands touched the bars, the tendrils suddenly lashed out, nearly snapping over her gloved finger.

“Careful,” purred Alma, a deadly smirk spreading her lips. “Look all ye want, ladies. But A’m afraid ye can’t touch~.”

“Is that so?” snorted Esmerelda, who noted the tendrils poised like snakes ready to strike. “Hmm… Before you alert your mistress, may we offer a boon?” She reached into her satchel and removed a wrapped up arm, little more than a slab of preserved meat, which she unveiled.

She chucked it into the cell, past Alma, and into the stone wall, which morphed into a mouth filled with razor teeth that chomped apart the flesh, marrow, and bone with a crunch.

“Yes~! Delicious, is it not?” Camellia smiled, her mask cut to show her ruby lips. “We can provide more if you keep this little encounter a secret.”

The beast responded with a low rumble before drawing its tentacles away, allowing the bat mares entry through the bent bars.

The auburn beauty studied them with half-closed eyes. “Quite th’ peculiar pair ye are. What are yer names?”

"Esmeralda and Camellia." The pair curtsied. “Heiresses from a clockwork world. And you are?”

“Alma,” she replied. “Baobhan Sith ov a lost world. What business dae ye have sneakin’ around under Primadonna’s nose?”

“We could ask the same of her about your captivity,” noted Camellia, who frowned behind her porcelain mask. “Vice Lord or not, we are of the same spectrum. Creatures like us shouldn’t be enslaved. We should be liberated!”

Her notion made Alma scoff. “Liberated… or destroyed? Don’t act like ye’re not carryin’ anti-vampiric weapons at hand! Ah know th’ foul odor ov garlic when ah smell it.” Her face scrunched up in disgust.

Esmeralda said, “And yet it seems to only be bothersome, suggesting you aren’t any normal vampire…”

The Baobhan Sith let out a sinister snicker. “This abomination could drain me ov mah juices, an’ A’d still be strong enough tae thrash you two~” she boasted. “If ye think A’ll go down quietly, ye are sorely mistaken!”

“Oh, of course not. We appreciate the challenge. After all, we are huntresses of the night,” laughed Esmeralda cheeringly. “So… what shall we do with you? Eradicate you like we did our former master?”

But Camellia shook her head. “No, I think not. It would be a shame to destroy such an exquisite creature,” she said with a subdued purr, her crimson eyes trailing up and down the caged beast. “Let indulge ourselves, shall we?”

“Mmm, yes! Let’s ~!” murmured the more miniature bat mare, who slowly undid her outfit and wiggled the fabric down her petite frame. Her cohort did the same, undoing her black gown and allowing it to pool at her feet. Camellia’s deathly pallid, pendulous breasts, wide hips, and plush buttocks were exposed, fully naked save for her teardrop-stained mask. Saucer-like pink areola was perked up in the cool air that rolled about them.

Alma drank in the sight of the two ample mares, sliding her tongue along her fangs in anticipation. “Mmm, ye’re quite delectable yerselves,” she complimented in a husky tone. “About time Ah get some real action in this dingy dungeon~!”

Gliding over to the Vice Lord, the masked mare started by tracing over her contours. Soon she was joined by Esmeralda, who giggled with excitement as she fondled and kissed the Baobhan Sith’s bountiful bust. Camellia suckled on Alma’s lips, her hand tracing between her deer-shaped legs, fingers rubbing over her soaking slit.

“You’re one of us,” mewled Esmerelda, who tugged off the green fabric concealing her breasts and attached her mouth to her nipple.

A sharp moan muffled against Camellia’s lips before she pulled away and whispered in her ear, “So, we see no alternative but to free you~!”

“Haaaah~! Music tae mah ears,” Alma groaned, arching her back to press her body further into their reach. But for that to happen, they would have to break the enchantments on the chains and persuade the eldritch abomination to their side. Given all the trauma it’s endured by its mistress’ hands, it likely wouldn’t require much convincing.

A strange sound above made the Baobhan Sith’s ear twitch. “H-huh? What was that..?”

Esmeralda, who suckled on one of Alma’s udders, momentarily withdrew her lips, connected by the saliva tethered from her scarlet lips. “Perhaps our hostess is in trouble?”

“Not our problem,” murmured Camellia, who trailed her lips down Alma’s body before pressing them deeply against her bare cunt.

“Aaahhh~! Hehehe… A’m beginnin’ tae like ye already~” mused Alma, who shuddered from the two suckling at her tits and pussy. Should Esmeralda and Camellia prove successful in freeing her and turning the manor against Bellatrix, she’d make them excellent concubines.

Maybe even without the use of hemomancy! Willing slaves made for better company, after all.

“Well, I think I kept Dion and the Twins waiting long enough,” Ebony Ivory stated, bowing her head politely towards Bellatrix. The succubus smiled as her sister walked in to see the zebra huntress off. “Thank you for having me visit.”

“You’re welcome here anytime,” answered Beatrix. “Now, let’s get you home!”

With a nod, Ebony turned towards a portal that spiraled into the room… only this one wasn’t the familiar bluish-white oval but a ghoulish green hue that slithered across the interior.

“Umm, Beatrix? That doesn’t look right,” said Bellatrix, an eyebrow raised.

“I-It wasn’t me!” swore the witch.

The zebra huntress glared when she took cautious steps back, shifting into a battle stance and immediately pulling out her spear. The others gathered close behind her, their weapons and magic at the ready.

But faster than they could blink, another spear lunged out the spectral rift, grazing Ebony’s shoulder and lodging into the wall, causing the eldritch beast to rumble in pain.

“Aaagh!” She cried, clutching her open wound, blood staining her palm. “Who dare-”

“You’ve gotten slow, my beloved,” a booming masculine voice responded as a tall, muscular figure skulked out of the portal. He was a zebra warrior, a high collared coat over his sculpted physique. His mane styled like a lion trailed behind him, a cocky smirk spreading his muzzle.

Beatrix gasted “Natural Selection!?”

“Asili!” The zebra mare glowered. “I thought you were dead!!”

“As if I’d let mere mares be the end of me,” he chortled. “Did you miss me~?”

“Hardly!” The huntress tore part of her loincloth to bandage her arm before taking back her position. “Leave at once!”

“Nah, I don’t think I will,” the proud warrior proclaimed nonplussed, pointing a finger at the violet witch. “Not until I’ve severed that bitch’s head.”

“You’re an idiot if you think you’ll succeed,” Bellatrix scowled. “You’re outnumbered!”

Natural’s haughty smile only grew wider. “Oh, am I~?”

A shudder came from the portal and spilled forth innumerable skeletons who rattled into the foyer. Ebony moved to strike the first arrival down, only to be intercepted by Natural Selection, who caught her spear with a firm grasp. She could see her former mate’s eyes glow a sickly emerald upon a closer look. “You stink of the dark arts!” she sneered at him.

The zebra male chuckled when her speartip grazed his chest, and a trickle of cool, black blood splashed her. “Not even death could keep us apart, Upendo. Stay out of my way, and I’ll consider sparing you.”

“Like hell, I will! Never again!!”

Natural Selection sighed before roughly shoving Ebony away before rolling towards the other side, retrieving his spear. “Just as stubborn as I remember!”

Bellatrix ordered the clockwork marionettes to leap into action as the two zebras clashed with bladed poles. The servants traded blows with the skeletons, who split apart, bones left to shatter beneath their disciplined assault.

Yet while the automaton maids were clearly more powerful, the number of undead threatened to overwhelm them. Beatrix aided Bellatrix were amidst the bedlam, cutting through the invading force with precise swings and magical blasts.

“The manor hasn’t recovered fully,” reminded Bellatrix, shattering a skull with a swift swipe of her claws. “We don’t want to cause it more damage! I’m not at my best, either!”

“Gaagh! But how are we supposed to clean house if we can’t go all out?” Beatrix whined, zapping a few skeletons that attempted to climb the stairs. “half of us aren’t even fit to fight!”

“I need time to concentrate so I can alert the others,” the succubus groaned. “We need all the help we can get!”

“How right you are,” came another voice as something rushed through the legion of undead to slice at Bellatrix with a glowing katana. He was a black stallion with a silky mane to match, well-chiseled beneath his pin-striped suit. Steely gray eyes focused on the demon’s yellow orbs.

“W-what the? Who are you?!”

“We haven’t met,” the swordsman answered, glancing at the wayward witch. “But I know your friends Wispy and Kitsune well.”

“You’re from the cyberverse!?” exclaimed Beatrix, who fired off another wave of spells to repel the advancing ghouls.

The black stallion nodded. “And like Natural Selection, I too wish to fulfill a vendetta.”

“Trust me, pal, revenge isn’t going to-oouff!?” The witch was cut off mid-sentence when another intruder sailed out the eerie green portal and delivered a brutal hit to her gut, knocking the witch into the wall. Shaking her head, her eyes went wide in disbelief. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me..!”

“Yoo-hoo~!” A musical voice chirped from an avian female shrouded in a black dress and tiny hat, a bladed parasol in hand, and a smirk on her tiny beak. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again, Miss Beatrix! I was beginning to think we’d never settle our overdue bout~!”

“Penny Dreadful?!” Beatrix barely sidestepped the winged killer who whirled past her in a blur. “You’re a part of this too!?!”

“Of course, my dear,” she tittered deliriously, her wide eyes crazed. “Why would I ever give up the chance to have your head mounted on my wall!?”

“Hey! I called dibs on her first,” argued Natural Selection, who nearly lost an eye from how close Ebony lunged at his head.

“Oh, hush, lecher! When I’m through with her, there will be plenty of pieces to go around~!”

“Not going to happen! This incursion ends now!!” declared Bellatrix, who snapped her fingers. At her command, the shining suits of armor sprang to life with a metallic clang, heavy weapons raised, and from the rooftops sprang to life what gargoyles she had left after a battle with the Burning King, who flew down to aid their mistress. With the primary threats distracted by Beatrix and company, the she-devil telepathically called for the others to help. She hoped reinforcements arrived soon before something even worse came out from that infernal portal…

The moment chaos broke out, Iclyn froze the door over to prevent entry, after which she sealed herself and Oona safely within the room. The azure sheep, resting on her bed, narrowed her worried gaze to her former lover. “Ye need tae go out there an’ help them, Iclyn!”

“No,” the icy doe firmly stated. “Not while you and the baby are at risk. I won’t leave your side!”

“B-but Beatrix-”

“Can handle it with her friends,” insisted Iclyn, who glanced down to the wooden floor. “As much as I detest the little harlot, she’s a cunning sorceress,” she admitted. “And I know she wouldn’t allow anyone to reach you. But I’m not taking the chance someone does slip by…”

With a defeated huff, Oona nodded and held the covers over the rounded belly. Emotions were high already, and now an invasion was happening! It took her a lot to not let stress and panic override her actions. Tenderly rubbing her pregnant belly, she prayed for their safety. These things would surely come out alright in the end.

While Oona focused on keeping her breath steady and Iclyn guarding the door, Moxxi and Demi-Trix were already in the dimly lit hallway, anticipating the incoming wraiths that crawled up the twin sets of stairs towards them.

“Looks loike it’s our time ter shine, lil’ dove,” the imp said, her arms folded tightly into her chest.

“Not to worry! We always come out on top,” affirmed the tulpa, who struck a dramatic pose. Nodding at each other, they combined their efforts to trample the spilling undead forces. While Demi-Trix used her usual antics with fireworks, sparklers, and rockets, Moxxi dove past colored smoke into the fray, slashing with glowing claws and firing orbs of chaotic energy.

Their constant noise alerted the couple inside as Shadow Scythe slammed the door, yelling, “Is it too much to ask for some peace and quiet around here!?” Her hardened expression immediately fell when she realized this wasn’t merely another of their childish antics. She materialized her scythe into hand and called, “Zeloph, we’re in trouble!”

“What?!” the angelic demi replied, the Vorpal Blade in hand when he raced beside her. “Oh, for heaven sakes, already?! I swear, Beatrix, must have made hundreds of enemies..!”

“No time for humor,” replied the reaper, who summoned rows of sickles out of the many shadows with her Onoma, Thanatos.

Briskly, they joined the imp and tulpa, clearing the hallway of ghouls before venturing down the stairs to help. Likewise, Midnight, Cerise, and Moonlight arrived from the backdoor, determined to even the odds. The armed trio headed past rows of broken bones, smashed, overturned furniture, and a few destroyed maids, their clockwork innards on display.

“Nice of you to come,” panted Bellatrix, whose hold on the manor’s magic wavered as the stone sentinels and armored suits fell into pieces among the rubbles of bones. Beads of sweat dampened her red-skinned body while Beatrix and Ebony fended off against Penny Dreadful and Natural Selection, respectively.

“You can relax now, Bellatrix,” Midnight assured before he jumped into the chaos with his lance at hand. Moonlight smacked every bone and ghoul in her path before joining her comrade’s side.

“We’ll take it from here,” Cerise beamed, summoning her crystalline spear and launching obsidian shrapnels to penetrate the skeletal fiends. “Time to practice what I’ve learned!”

“Where did they come from,” wondered Shadow Scythe aloud, who cleanly beheaded a stray assailant. “And why the hell are they here!?”

“We came for you… Atalanta.”

The low voice made the reaper freeze when she felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the side of her skull. The moment she heard the safety click off, she ducked. Gunfire erupted where she stood, the foyer lit up by the unloaded shots.

The reaper stood up and flinched, her nostrils filled by the stink of the blast. Her eyes focused on the gunslinger, a stallion wearing a fedora and heavy coat, a thick mustache on his familiar face.

Icy eyes went wide at the cold gaze glaring back at her. “F-father..?!”

“You knew this day was comin’, kid,” was his only response when he swiftly reloaded his rifle and aimed between her frightened eyes. But before he pulled the trigger, Zeloph disarmed the old stallion with a quick tap of his blade. The two exchanged glares while the demi-human poised the tip of his sword at the stallion’s throat.

Scanning over the blade, realization washed over the elderly marksmen. “What are you doing with my Vorpal Blade..!?”

“What do you mean...” Zeloph looked between the two ponies before his turn to stare, astonished. “Wait! You’re Quicksilver Bullet?!”

The stallion scoffed. “So it wasn’t enough for you to murder your mother and me, huh? Had to steal from us, as well?”

Tears stream down Shadow Scythe’s cheeks, her entire body fidgeting out of control. “F-father, no… I-I wouldn’t ever! I-I’m not-”

“Enough of your lies!!” He bellowed with rage, knocking Zeloph aside to try and retrieve his firearm. But the demi-human intercepted the hunter before he could fire off another shot, tackling him to the floor as the pair wrestled across the debris.

“Zeloph, Wait! Don’t hurt him,” pleaded Shadow Scythe, torn by indecision.

“Get off me, you varment!!”

“Not until someone explains what’s going on!” demanded Zeloph, who only applied enough force to keep the old stallion pinned.

The interior darkened, the hearth, chandeliers, and candelabra snuffed out. All the dead paused in their destruction, frozen like statues. An unnatural cold of the grave rushed over them as a harrowing figure emerged from the sickly green rift. A skeletal equine with tattered black robes matched the old garb Shadow Scythe used to wear materialized. Ghoulish green wisps glowed from his hollowed eyes when his head turned to the terrified witch.

Beatrix gasped sharply, recalling the creature from within the Necronomicon’s labyrinth. “W-wait… I know you! Y-you’re-”

“Mortis,” confirmed the lich-like creature in a chill whisper. “But the one who calls herself ‘Shadow Scythe’ knew me by another name. Danse Macabre.” He pointed a bony finger at her.

“D-Danse? No, it can’t be...!” Shadow Scythe shuddered, paled, and stepped back.

“I entrusted you with avenging our guild of reapers,” reminded Mortis. “And you have failed spectacularly. So as punishment, I gather all those who have sworn vengeance upon you and prepared this onslaught at your weakest moment. We will annihilate everyone here should you fail to honor our accord.”

Beatrix planted hands on her hips. “What are you talking about? I never agreed to anything!”

“Maybe not then… but you can now.” He offered his bony hand forward. “Hand her over to me, Beatrix, and we will spare you the bloodshed. I have no qualms with you or your friends. I only wish to enact suitable justice on this murderous traitor.”

Penny Dreadful and Natural Selection were about to protest, only for his hand to close, their voice silenced while they thrashed impotently.

“You’ve got one thing right, Mortis,” Bellatrix stepped forward. “No one’s dying in my house!”

She was suddenly sent flying into the staircase by an invisible wave, a few skeletons reanimating to secure the wounded she-devil’s arms and legs.

“I did not ask you,” the revenant said sternly before returning his lifeless gaze to the witch. “Well, Beatrix Belladonna? What shall it be?”

Beatrix swallowed. “And should I refuse?”

“Then your soul will be forfeit,” he declared his whispery voice void of any emotion. “And I can promise you this. Death will not be the end of your torment...”

“But why?” Cerise questioned, her soulful pink eyes wide. “Shadow Scythe’s no longer the vile mare she used to be! She’s changed!!”

“Vengeance is all that remains for me,” answered Mortis. “And I will not rest until she is executed for her misdeeds.”

Zeloph rose up to take a stance, his wings fanned out to guard Shadow Scythe behind him. His blue eyes glowed a hot vermillion when he gently stated, “go anywhere near her, and I’ll extinguish what little life you have left, revenant!”

An airy chuckle passed Mortis’ rictus maw. “Alas, poor Zeloph. A lost prince who foolishly gave away his heart.” He reached for something inside his cloak, pulling out an all too familiar fleshy tome and flipping the tattered pages. “Perhaps a hundred more years of imprisonment will help you understand your mistake.”

Midnight gasped. “That’s the Necronomicon!!”

“But I thought Somnambula and Stygian were guarding it?!” added Cerise, who sucked in a strained breath. “D-don’t tell me they’re…”

Arcane magic flared from Beatrix’s horn once she proclaimed, “No one is taking any of my friends! That includes Shadow Scythe! You have exactly thirty seconds to relinquish that damn book and leave before I send you back to whatever tomb you crawled out from!”

A grave sigh sounded from the lich unicorn as he replied, “An unwise decision. But very well. So be it!” He read an incantation from the book that caused the portal to open wider, ghastly energy seeping out the spiral. Beatrix dared not conjure one of her own, knowing that the two could connect in a Klein bottle shape and potentially cause the collapse of every universe. From the void hurled masses of black amidst the buzzes.

Moonlight’s eyes became pinpoints, recognizing that horrible sound that made her phantom plume ache. “Oh no. No, no, no, NO! NOT THEM!!”

Her screams were drowned out by the swarm of the arriving Changelings droves, chittering when they hovered and crawled all over the manor interiors. They stared at their prey with compound eyes, black exoskeleton armor gleaming in the darkness. Yet they too appeared to be twisted by the dark arts, plant-like growths, and fungi sprouting from places.

Midnight gazed in horror at the insectoid creatures before clasping his head, yelling in pain. His herd was quick to help him stand when he almost crumpled. Cerise asked, “Middy?!”

Moonlight, too, was frozen in shock. “How are there so many!?” Her own thoughts were filled by the war on her homeland, where ponies were all but driven to extinction by these creatures.

Groans thundered from Midnight, whose muscles visibly expanded, the veins that bulged on his musculature threatening to erupt. His eyes turned hellish red while his pupils glowed yellow, and drool dripped from his clenched teeth. Clothes tore, and his plume unfurled to fullness.

He bowled into the swarm. Fists slammed, shrieks escaped, and exoskeletons cracked. Colorless odors, blood oozed from the broken insects as his herd rushed to help support him.

Yet the hyper-stallion took no notice, consumed by his repressed memories. He recalled the death of his family and friends. The monumental losses were caused by Queen Chrysalis and her horde.

The swarm started to cocoon the manor’s interiors despite their efforts, much to the eldritch creature’s audible dismay. Overrun by sheer numbers, Ebony, Zeloph, Cerise, Moonlight, Midnight, Bellatrix, and Beatrix were tangled up in the changeling’s webbing while Shadow Scythe was held at gunpoint by her father, who stood like a statue at her side.

Beatrix squirmed as she demanded, “Where did you find these changelings?!”

“You are familiar with their quadrant of the universe, yes?” answered Mortis, pointing a bony finger to Midnight and Moonlight, who squirmed unyielding in their silky confines. “Their largest hive lays dormant beneath the earth, awaiting their chance at vengeance against ponykind.”

Muffles caught the lich unicorn’s attention, his underlings staring across at him. With a simple gesture, he removed the hex that kept them quiet. “You may speak…”

“Gugh! And what about our revenge?” berated Natural Selection.

“Yeah! At least give me the joy of ripping apart Belladonna’s friends in front of her eyes,” squawked Penny Dreadful.

“Not until the betrayer has been properly punished,” warned Mortis, who still hovered above.

With a huff, the zebra hunter ascended the staircase, stating with a sick smile, “In that case, I will scan the area upstairs for her beloved Lady Ewe. I could use a good game of hide and seek.”

His threat provoked an irate response from Beatrix. “NO!! STOP! YOU LAY A HAND ON HER, I WILL SCATTER YOUR ATOMS ACROSS THE-MMUPH!!” A changeling spat more silk over her muzzle to muffle her.

“Hmm. I might have been wrong before,” mused Mortis. “The thought of you watching all that you love wither and die. Helpless to stop the destruction and decay before you. I sense a spark of joy within these hallowed bones. Perhaps if I had lips… they would be smiling.”

Suddenly, the portal behind them rippled and crackled. The fiendish hue of green turned into the familiar heroic blue.

“What? How!?”

“Ta da~!” Demi-Trix flew down from the rafters, having avoided capture. “Look, who’s in control now?” She beamed, triumphantly pumping her fist in the air, her tiny horn lit up.

Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, another pair of silhouettes rushed out from the swirling oval. Beatrix felt dread, expecting more opponents, until familiar balls of plasma were launched, knocking Penny and the mysterious pin-striped suited swordsman away.

The first figure landed in a cat-like crouch, a feline-shaped woman with a mane styled in twin buns. Wearing a haughty grin, she readied another sphere and said in a sassy tone, “Gotcha~!”

“Heh,” the black stallion chuckled as he brushed the dust off his suit. “So they’ve arrived here as well!”

The Abyssinian tigress, Wispy Willow, called up more orbs to melt the webs. Smoke rose when those trapped were dropped loose; the drones left to hiss and buzz away.

She whistled while sauntering in her crimson catsuit studded in spikes, the nekomata’s striped twin tails left to swish behind her. “Looks like we dropped in the nick of in time! Ready, sis?”

“Always, Imoto,” came the mature voice of the vixen beside her. Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Fox and cyber kunoichi, readied her plasma blade, which flared to life. Taking a combatant stance, she narrowed her eyes to warn, “Retreat or perish!”

The revenant wordlessly directed the changeling swarm towards the new challengers, mandibles dripping with glowing saliva. But the unique pair danced through, slicing and melting every insectoid creature that dared attack them.

Beatrix removed the webbing off her muzzle and let out a triumphant cry as everyone resumed the fight. But the witch made a beeline for the staircase, aware that Oona’s safety was in jeopardy. Yet Penny flocked down to block her path, swiping with her parasol umbrella.

“Grrrgh! Get out of my way!!”

“Not until you’re sliced into ribbons!” the griffoness cackled madly, evading every spell cast her way. But luckily for the witch, she witnessed Ebony quietly ascend the railing before pursuing the corridor Natural Selection disappeared to. With troubled breath, the violet unicorn focused her energy on defeating her opponent, doing her best not to carelessly fling spells that would further harm the manor’s battered interior.

Likewise, the others focused on martially handling the skeleton and changeling forces. Moxxi and Demi-Trix fought together to keep the legion from escalating to other levels of the house. Shadow Scythe and Zeloph worked in unison to apprehend Quicksilver Bullet, who fired off rounds to maintain distance. Moonlight and Midnight were sorely focused on eradicating the changelings, while Cerise attempted to keep her husband from causing too much damage.

This left Bellatrix to try and fight Mortis, but the latter simply avoided battle by making himself incorporeal to all attacks aimed at him. He wasn’t even bothering with spells while the succubus felt her strength waning, aware that she would be on the brink of death thanks to Alma.

The copper-maned vixen didn’t need to move from her spot while slicing through each monster that dared attack her. Yet Kitsune’s eyes widened when her blade crossed the black stallion’s katana. “W-what? Impossible!!”

The former politician smiled thinly back at her. “I didn’t believe it at first, either. In life, I was another failed experiment like you two, forsaken by my creators. But in death…” he offered a brief glance at Mortis. “I have the chance to become something more! When I return to the cyberverse, they will fear the name Triad.”

Wispy hissed. “Doesn’t matter what your name is! You’re not going back unless it’s in a body bag!”

The two sisters fought the swordsman, who was agile enough to block and dodge their blows. The battle raged one while the mansion let out painful moans, becoming increasingly discomforted by the seemingly endless fighting.

Natural Selection stalked the halls, sniffing out Beatrix’s lover before finding a room with a frozen door. He smiled, aware it would not impede him for long. But before he could break in, Ebony Ivory caught up behind and cried, “Face me, you bastard! I’m the one you want!”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the zebra stallion snorted. “You didn’t take all that mattered to me. Once Beatrix has suffered as I have, then you and I will settle the score.”

“Asili, you can’t!” pleaded the huntress. “Lady Ewe is with child!”

“Then she can bear the sins of her mothers,” he spat, using the butt of his spear to crack at the icy barrier. Ebony lunged at her former flame with clenched teeth, which anticipated her attack and punched her hard in the gut. With the wind knocked out of her, Natural Selection grabbed her neck to slam her hard through the damaged floor; the huntress’s body landed on the dining room table, which shattered to break her fall.

“For your sake, don’t get up,” beseeched the hunter before slamming his full weight through the door.

Ice chunks exploded as the warrior barreled in. Iclyn instantly raised a hand to hurl a small flurry of hail in his direction, but the proud zebra simply rushed at the doe and bashed her aside.

Oona watched in horror as her friend and former lover fell unconscious, her hand and legs twitching. But her wide honey-brown eyes found Natural Selection’s, the bloodlust clear. She scrambled to fetch her staff, only for the zebra’s hand to squeeze her wrist, threatening to break it.

“P-please,” begged the azure sheep, tears running down her painted cheeks. “Ye can’t do this!”

There was a brief moment of uncertainty before the hunter pushed her back on the bed, his thumb and fingers squishing her cheeks. With heated breaths, he muttered, “Forgive me, sweet shaman. But to redeem my life, I must take yours…”

A frightened gasp escaped her lips as Natural Selection leaned closer. He realized she was not looking directly at him but behind him. Then, he noticed the room had become murkier, the only illumination coming from the candles adorning the hallway. A horrible chill ran through his body, causing him to involuntarily shiver. Disembodied voices whispered incoherently as a black, tar-like substance stretched over the wall behind them.

Trembling, the zebra warrior turned around to find something stirring within the darkness, the wall rippling like water as massive antlers slowly emerged. Beads, feathers, and charms decorated the branches, scraping along with the ceiling. And out opposed an ivory cervine skull, malicious red eyes glowing from the sockets. With feral grunts, the animal abomination tugged to pull his arms free. Long elongated fingers gripped the floorboard to pull the rest of his body.

Natural Selection was utterly petrified at the sight of the moose-shaped monstrosity, his body far too massive to fit within the room, thus forcing him to hunch over. Red markings covered his arms, chest, and face, similar to Oona.

With a trembling voice, she called his name. “Omen?!”

The zebra forced his body to move, raising his spear to take aim. But the Nightmare Stag swung his trunk-like arm to thrash Natural into the wall. The hunter yelled as he was dragged closer to the monstrous deer, who leered down.

“ꇙꁝꏂ ꒐ꇙ ꋊꄲ꓄ ꌦꄲ꒤ꋪꇙ ꊰꄲꋪ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꓄ꋬꀘ꒐ꋊꍌ, ꁝ꒤ꋊ꓄ꏂꋪ,” gurgled Omen, whose head and antlers rattled with dark arcane magic. Ripples of sangria energy flowed around Natural Selection before the world around him went black. But he soon found himself lying in agony, jungle trees stretching all around him. His entrails exposed, attracting a pack of lionesses that prowled towards him, salivation dripping down their hungry maws.

“N-no! NOOO!!” wailed Natural, thrashing about as the memories of his death overwhelmed his senses. He was trapped in a loop of his final moments before Mortis took him in. Omen inhaled his ghastly scent before reeling back with disgust.

“꒯ꏂꋬ꒯ ꂵꏂꋬ꓄…” he muttered before flinging the writhing warrior out of the room. The impact snapped him out of the nightmare, the faces of lions crawling towards him still impairing his vision. Fixated on the zebra’s horrified expression, the Nightmare Stag offered a word of advice.

“...ꋪ꒤ꋊ!”

With a loud scream, Natural Selection hurled to his feet and ran down the corridor.

With his opponent on the move, Omen glanced back at Oona, who cowered under the covers with shaken breaths. “ꇙꁝꁝꁝ. ꒐꓄‘ꇙ ꄲꀘꋬꌦ,” he whispered gently, stroking her cheek with a finger. “꒐ ꅐꄲꋊ’꓄ ꒒ꏂ꓄ ꋬꋊꌦ꓄ꁝ꒐ꋊꍌ ꉔꄲꂵꏂ ꓄ꄲ ꁝꋬꋪꂵ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꄲꋪ ꄲ꒤ꋪ ꉔꁝ꒐꒒꒯.”

The azure sheep felt calm under his soothing touch despite the horrific appearance. Finding her voice again, she asked, “B-but... How are you here? Y-you’re-”

“ꊰꋪꏂꏂ,” acknowledged Omen gleefully. “ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꂵꋬꍌ꒐ꉔ, ꒐ ꊰꏂ꒯ ꄲꊰꊰ ꓄ꋬ꓄ꌦꋬꋊꋬ; ꒐ ꋪꏂꇙ꓄ꄲꋪꏂ꒯ ꂵꌦ ꃳꄲ꒯ꌦ ꒐ꋊ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꅐꋬꀘ꒐ꋊꍌ ꅐꄲꋪ꒒꒯. ꒐’꒒꒒ ꏂꉧꉣ꒒ꋬ꒐ꋊ ꒒ꋬ꓄ꏂꋪ. ꃳ꒤꓄ ꊰꄲꋪ ꋊꄲꅐ, ꅐꏂ ꂵ꒤ꇙ꓄ ꇙ꓄ꋬꌦ ꁝꏂꋪꏂ ꒤ꋊ꓄꒐꒒ ꒐꓄ ꒐ꇙ ꇙꋬꊰꏂ.”

After stroking Oona’s wooly head, the lumbering creature began leaning towards the doorway before his ear flicked at the sound of groaning. Iclyn steadily pulled herself up as the doe’s eyes dilated upon seeing the Nightmare Stag, who glared back, undeterred by her loathsome expression.

“ꌦꄲ꒤ ꇙꁝꄲ꒤꒒꒯ꋊ’꓄ ꁝꋬ꒦ꏂ ꉔꄲꂵꏂ ꁝꏂꋪꏂ…” he scowled, creeping towards the fidgeting deighdyr. Her hands flowed with winter magic, defensively warding the cryptid-shaped deer from getting any closer. Iclyn glanced at the pregnant sheep, who could only watch from the bedside as her nefarious counterpart loomed over her former flame with parted jaws…

Fueled by panic and adrenaline, Natural Selection came tumbling down the stairway. Clutching his head, his vision cleared to see the conflict still escalating. Broken bones, twitching changeling corpses littered the floor while Beatrix and her friends warded off Mortis and his minions.

Before the hunter could even react, he felt a spear plunged through his back, the tip opening his chest. Blackened blood oozed down his mouth as he turned to see his former mate glaring deathly at him. Despite suffering many fractures, she stood defiantly on shaky limbs.

“I told you,” Ebony wheezed, blood leaking down her muzzle. “Never again!”

Growling in agony, he called to his allies with a strained voice. “W-we have to retreat!! There’s a-”

“What are you on about?” dejected Penny, whose torso was damaged. Rotating gears and blue liquid seeped out her exposed chest. “We’ve merely started!”

“We are not leaving until Shadow Scythe’s soul is mine,” affirmed Mortis.

“Over my dead body!” Zeloph yelled, disarming Quicksilver Bullet before rushing at the revenant with righteous fury. With her father unarmed, Shadow Scythe sized his limbs with shadowy tendrils, careful not to dig her sickles into his flesh.

Triad shoved Kitsune and Wispy back to intercept the fallen angel, their blades emanating a loud ring upon clashing. The needle-like Vorpal Blade shimmered with prismatic light as the two stared down. The runes etched along the handle shone in his hand. Both swordsmen gasped before the black stallion was riposted, sliding behind the tattered cloak of his master.

Everyone gazed in astonishment as the feather blade’s brilliance illuminated the dark interior. Zeloph was the most bewildered as he hadn’t tried channeling Apollo’s magic through the Vorpal Blade yet. His hand shook before the blade directed him towards the zebras.

“W-wait! No! S-Stop!!” demanded the demi, who struggled to withdraw the sword with both hands. But the ancient weapon had a will of its own before launching a thin wave that phased through Ebony and Natural Selection.

A slice of reality opened behind the zebra hunters, who were instantaneously assimilated with an alarmed yell. The rift vanished as quickly as it appeared as the Vorpal Blade’s power died down, leaving the heroes and villains stunned by the splendor.

“What have you done!?” Kitsune barked, quickly leaping towards the confused angel, who deflected her strike. Wispy was quick to come to her sister’s aid, swiping with her claws.

“Hey! W-what are you doing!?” yelled Zeloph.

“Kit! Wispy! Stop!! He’s on our side,” added Beatrix, who formed an invisible wall to separate them.

“Beatrix, he just disintegrated Ebony!” berated the vixen.

The nekomata added, “You saw it with your own eyes! How could you trust this demi-human!?”

This statement made Zeloph further perplexed. “What are you talking about..?”

Before either could elaborate, Moxxi launched an orb of neo chaotic energy at the kunoichi, knocking her off her feet. Wispy turned her attention to the imp, her eyes slit and throat vibrating with growls.

“’a dare ya strike at me brother, ya furry cunts!” the imp spat, her claws extending slightly as her aura darkened.

“Moxxi, stand down!” ordered Bellatrix, who stamped a clawed foot. “That was not called for!”

Demi-Trix tugged at her tail to keep her from lashing out, reminding her, “Yeah, cool it! The real threat is right in front of us!”

“Let go of me tail!!!”

But the growing discord proved too much for the mansion to handle, the damaged walls vibrating as the whole place shook violently. Suddenly a flood of gastric fluid swallowed everyone as the beast split open the entrance wide to vomit its stomach contents out.

One after one after one-after-another, the defenders and invaders were washed out onto the front yard, stained in vile and putrid slime. Beatrix slowly rose while flinging some gunk out of her hair. “Blugh! Gross…”

The others helped each other out of the puke, Cerise nearly slipping before she clung to her husband’s arm. Penny Dreadful bellowed in dismay, looking all over her ruined dress. “Huuurgh! It’ll take weeks before I can cleanse the rancid stench off my garments!”

“Gagh! Forget you’re tacky, get up!” grumbled Quicksilver, who managed to retrieve his hunting rifle while spotting his daughter and her angelic lover. “I want to know why my Vorpal Blade answered his call! After so many years of failing to awaken its secrets, why now!? And why him!?”

“Questions we will discover the answers to another time,” noted Mortis, who detected a foreboding presence near the manor’s top. A fiendish red glow lit up a bedroom window. Along with the revelation of Zeloph’s dimensional sword and their missing associate, Natural Selection’s call for retreat sounded more appropriate.

Once the two hunters and Triad gathered close, Mortis muttered another chant from the Necronomicon that spirited them away, leaving behind the piles of bones and lifeless drones.

Bellatrix looked around at the dreary setting. The once lush landscape and open skies were now gloomy with gray clouds. She could pick up the eldritch beast’s anguished sounds, aware most of its wounds were reopened. Guilt washed over the succubus like the slime that covered her voluptuous body.

Heaving a long sigh, she called to her allies, “Is everyone alright?”

“Physically,” noted Zeloph, trying his best to clean off Shadow Scythe, who remained shell shocked from the whole ordeal. She flinched back to life once he cradled her.

“I don’t understand… father… why…?” she uttered softly, lost in contemplation.

Midnight clung to his aching head while his herd mates helped him up. “I-I don’t believe it…” he muttered in melancholy. “Changelings still infest our world!?”

“I thought we wiped them out,” Moonlight added grimly. “That Shining Armor was just being paranoid!”

“W-we’ll figure it out, guys,” promised Cerise, hugging her herd mates closely. “There’s gotta be an explanation to all this.”

Beatrix couldn’t help overhearing this and instantly blamed herself for this surprise attack. Had she not travelled to all these places and made so many enemies, this wouldn’t have happened.

The wayward witch was already anticipating Iclyn to further ridicule her for- “Oh FUCK! OONA!!”

Beatrix rushed back into the manor, ignoring the concerned cries of her sister as she ran up the stairwell with frantic pants. Whatever dismay she felt paled the prickling fear of something happening to her lover and child. She nearly slid past their room; the door broke off its hinges with chunks of ice. Her violet eyes became pinpoints at what she saw.

Iclyn, the stoic, cold-hearted bitch, was in a fetal position on the floor. Her aurora green eyes stared off into space, her body shivering. Oona was still in bed, trepidation, and agitation clear on her face when her eyes found Beatrix’s.

“Ceann oga…” she whimpered gently.

Standing by the foot of the bed was a charcoal gray buck with ashen tufts along his neck fur. Adorning his tall physique was a blood-red robe with sleeves and a collar made of wolf fur. Wrapped around the robe was a sash designed to look like red teeth. And when he turned to look at the frightened witch, his maroon eyes glimmered.

“Omen…”

A smile spread his muzzle.

“Hello, my dear~.”

Endless Misery

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Sir Dion the Dauntless didn’t like to be kept waiting.

Patience was always a thing he struggled to practice diligently since his youth. It was tough to wait when the hot steamy air flowed throughout the dense foliage of the jungle. Not even the thick vines around the trees could fully obscure the sun’s heat. When Ebony failed to show up after thirty minutes, the warrior suspected something was amiss.

But standing still wondering what might have happened wasn’t going to solve anything. And the white ram wasn’t about to let himself cook. So he began leading his pair of crystal mare lovers through the lush jungle, a thin layer of perspiration washing over his scarred musculature. Dion was thankful to have only a kelt around his black wooly hide. Had he brought his cape and pauldron, the added weight combined with the intense heat would have left him dehydrated.

He hacked his way through each obstacle with his heavy blade with gritted teeth. "Gaagh! A’m pretty sure Ebony said her tribe was this way," he whispered under his breath.

Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse followed close behind him; their usual maid outfits were traded for leopard-print bikini tops and leaf-made skirts. The crystal ponies turned half-succubi did their best to resist clinging to him. "You know we could always help," offered Foal-Bearer, who summoned her ax into her hands through her new demon powers.

Her sister nodded, adding, “We'd certainly get there faster!”

But the burly ram shook his head when he turned to the coral pink mares. "Best fur ye tae conserve yer strength if there's trouble ahead.”

The younger twin pouted as she banished her weapon. “Why do you insist on being stubborn?”

Dion chuckled before pulling Wet Nurse into a one-arm hug, loving the feeling of her squishy breasts against his bare chest. “Ah say this not because A'm bein' machismo,” insisted the warrior, who cupped a solitary cheek of her ass, giving an affectionate squeeze. “Ah just don’t want ye tae burn yerselves out!”

Foal-Bearer bit her bottom lip before wiggling her way into his other arm. “I guess that’s true. Mistress Bellatrix allowed us to borrow lots of energy from the manor. But if we don’t return in time, we’ll fade away! Forever!!”

“And we just got here,” moaned Wet Nurse, who ran her fingers through her lover’s chest fuzz. “It would be a shame if our little vacation ended abruptly…”

The caprine brawler brought his head to theirs and said, “Ah won’t let that happen. No matter what, Ah swore tae take care ov ye. Bellatrix would probably have mah cock mounted on her wall if anythin' happened!”

This earned an elated giggle from the pair, their mood lightening once Dion playfully squeezed and patted their bare buttocks. They cooed and kissed his pectorals while rubbing their ample busts into his torso.

But before things could escalate, a sudden flash of illumination caught their attention. The burst was large enough to frighten birds roosting in the canopy. The trio shielded their eyes until the glow dimmed down.

“What was that!?” wondered Dion.

“Perhaps Ebony finally arrived?” One twin suggested.

“No, it couldn’t be,” the other declined. “The portal we came through wasn’t that bright!”

“We’ll learn soon enough. Come on!” With haste, Dion split through the natural barriers with his blade, cutting every vine, branch, and brush in their path. Eventually, they found a clearing where a river flowed in the distance.

He cautioned his lovers to follow, where the twins nodded and materialized their axes. On their approach, he spotted a pair of figures near the riverbank. One was the familiar zebra huntresses they had been waiting for, sprawled on the ground. The other was a male zebra, who loomed over her with a spear raised.

"H-Hey! Hold it right there," bellowed Dion, who thundered up to meet him. Alerted, the hunter poised his spear at the outlandish ram warrior, his expression further perplexed.

“What’s an outsider doing here!?” grumbled the zebra.

“A’ll be askin' th' questions, fella,” the ram grunted. “Such as what yer business wit Ebony!”

He looked back at the unconscious mare, letting out a stiff chuckle. “Ahh! So you are also affiliated with my former mate?”

“Former mate?!” Both twins exclaimed while keeping their distance.

Dion furrowed his brows, his crimson eyes locked on the hunter. “Ah take it your Natural Selection, huh? Heard a bit about ye. Mostly that ye died.”

“Death had his chance,” scowled Natural, who returned the ram’s glare. Like Ebony, he was visibly wounded, his body shuddering in exhaustion. Despite this, he leveled his bladed pole anyhow. “This does not concern you, goat. I suggest you and your whores back off!”

Dion bawled his fist tightly, his Onoma’s aura flaring up. “Ye made it mah concern when ye pointed yer spear at a defenseless woman. Mah friend, no less! Now A'm givin' ye th' chance tae stand down before Ah snap that twig an' shove th' pointy end up yer f’ugly arse!!”

“Step away from Ebony, you bastard!” Wet Nurse added as she and Foal-Bearer infused a bit of their demonic energy into their weapons.

Natural Selection scoffed at the twins, casting a leer at them. "What kind of man allows wenches to fight alongside him!? Perhaps after dealing with you, I'll claim these trophies for myself and properly break them in-"

His threat was cut short as a fist connected with his face. Natural Selection stumbled, his spear falling out of his grasp when Dion pressed his assault, battering the zebra with hard blows to his head, chest, abdomen, and arms. Discombobulated, Natural attempted to fight back, but the burly ram intercepted the hunter’s arms, pinning them under his own.

With his foe utterly right where he wanted him, the livid sheep ended the one-sided beatdown with a decisive headbutt. The impact of Dion’s curled horns greatly fractured the zebra’s forehead, dark blood oozing out his mouth and nose before he crumpled.

Both twins stared in shock at how ruthless and unprovoked their lover responded, dispelling their weapons. Carefully, they came to his side, gingerly stroking his arms.

“So… d-did you just..?”

“Just knock him off his high horse, is all,” muttered Dion, who slipped his hand around Wet Nurse's hip.

Troubled groans arose from Ebony Ivory, who pushed up on shaky limbs. Foal-Bearer rushed to aid her, hooking an arm around her neck to stand up. “Are you okay?”

“Huugh… I am now, thank you,” breathed Ebony, who cast a wry glance at her friends and her fallen ex.

“What happened?” asked Dion.

“There was an attack right after you left,” the zebra mare explained. “A vengeful spirit called Mortis summoned an army of undead, aligned with some old foes of Beatrix. Normally, my former husband and I would be evenly matched. But whatever dark arts revived him also amplified his prowess. Fortunately, we arrived here severely weakened…”

Wet Nurse detached from Dion to kneel beside Natural Selection, checking him out. "You’re not kidding. His blood is all black and chunky!” She shuddered, fingers tracing over the scar around her neck.

Foal-Bearer shared her sister’s dreadful sensations, rubbing gingerly at her own. They had fallen under the dark influence once. First by the haunted mansion, then Shadow Scythe when she allied with the eldritch abomination disguised as their current home.

“How did you get here?” questioned the younger crystal mare.

“The last thing I saw was Zeloph’s sword igniting with light that opened a portal behind us,” recalled Ebony. “But for all I know, the fight is still going on…”

“Then we have tae go back!” the caprine warrior insisted, his eyes softening as worry washed over his face. “Mah sister’s vulnerable!!”

“Don’t work yourself up, Dion,” Foal-Bearer said soothingly.

“She'll be fine," reassured Wet Nurse, who focused her attention on the zebra mare’s injuries. “Our friends would never let any harm come to Lady Ewe or her unborn child!”

“Besides which, we’ve gotta take matters into our own hands here,” agreed Foal-Bearer. “We need to get her patched up!”

“All Ah wanted was a wee break. Just a few days wit'out bullshit…” The burly ram released a heavy sigh before he heaved Natural’s body over his broad shoulder. “Welp, since we have no way ov contactin' them, we'll make th' most ov our time here. Bellatrix planned tae open a rift outside yer tribal grounds fur when we return tae th' manor.”

“Hopefully, her, Beatrix, and the others were able to vanquish those ghouls,” pouted Wet Nurse.

“But what if they haven’t?” her sister stated worryingly. “If they’ve failed, we can’t go back!! And then we’ll-”

"Now is not the time for panic," proclaimed Ebony when Wet Nurse finished wrapping the last of her wounds. Once she was stable enough to stand, she continued, “I have the utmost confidence our allies will triumph over this new threat. We’ll find a way to reach them here. For now, we head home. Noble Savage will want to know about this development.”

With their treacherous prisoner in tow, Ebony led the white ram and twin crystal ponies over the river, where her tribe awaited her return.

Melancholy hung over the mansion like a thick fog. No one said a word, the only ambiance coming from the beast's low howls. The heroes may have driven out their enemies, but it was a hollow victory. Bellatrix set to work cleaning up the broken bones and furniture. Midnight, Cerise, Moonlight, Kitsune, and Wispy all pitched in to dispose of the changeling corpses. As did Demi-Trix and Moxxi, though the latter was less enthusiastic than normal. No matter the tulpa's approach, her imp friend refused to speak with her. Just silently scrubbing the guts and blood staining the walls.

Magenta eyes narrowed at Shadow Scythe, who sat on the stairs, stricken. Zeloph sat beside her, stroking his lover’s back with a glowing hand.

"This… this is all my fault," the reaper mumbled, blinking away small tears.

“You know that’s not true,” the demi-human spoke firmly. “Most of them were after Beatrix as well!"

“But they invaded because of me!” The reaper dejected, failing to hold back the sobs in her throat. “Mortis is after me, Zell. I’m the one who murdered him and my fellow reapers! I betrayed their trust and took all their souls!” Her watery eyes glanced over the others, who paused at her confession. “And you all know firsthand what I’m capable of...”

“We do,” Bellatrix firmly nodded. “You’re capable of change. You’ve proven yourself as a noble heroine!”

“Have I?” She questioned bitterly, rubbing the snot and tears with her sleeve. “M-maybe it's not too late. If I turn myself in, then perhaps he’ll-”

"No!" interrupted Zeloph, who pulled her by the shoulders to face him. “You’re not the same mare as before. You know damn well the thirst for vengeance is never quenched! Mortis isn’t going to be satisfied with your demise. He’ll only continue to reap more lives if we don’t stop him!”

“He’s right,” Midnight added in, offering a smile. “You’re one of us now, Shadow Scythe! That means we’ve got your back!”

“And we’ll do whatever we can to protect you,” offered Cerise, who tenderly rubbed her husband’s arm.

"I…I don’t deserve your kindness,” admitted Shadow Scythe, who began composing herself through sniffles. “But thank you…”

It wasn't like the pale unicorn to show weakness, but ever since her empathic awakening, she had begun to make up for a lost time. She had a lifetime of suppressed emotions, the shadow of affection she once felt reserved for her parents.

"Don’t beat yourself up, Shadow Scythe,” encouraged the succubus. “If anything, I’m more at fault here than you are.”

Golden eyes studied the torn-up walls, which would routinely reveal the true organic matter below, the wiry muscle that contracted and expanded, filled with eyes and teeth. The creature gurgled whenever she tried to touch it, the tissue tensing up as if expecting more pain.

“I know you’re mad at me,” she whispered lowly, her hand clutched. “But I promise, I will set things right!”

"Look at all of you,” a voice echoed above as a tall figure made his way down the stairs. Everyone gasped at the sight of the charcoal gray deer, his hand holding a familiar staff with weaved webbing. It looked far cruder, with a tiny stag skull embedding the center. A cunning smile spread across his face as the buck continued. “Desperately gripping at the hope that this will all be somehow resolved. It’s touching, really~!”

Shadow Scythe and Zeloph rose in alarm, summoning their weapons, while Midnight and Cerise wielded their lances. Likewise, Kitsune and Wispy backed them up with their respective weapons. Their caution escalated when Beatrix and Iclyn walked behind him, helping Lady Ewe hobble down the dilapidated stairways. And if one looked closely, the male deer’s silhouette stretched out wide over the hearth, showing how monstrous he truly was.

“W-wait,” the dark dancer stammered uneasily. “Y-you’re the Nightmare Stag?!”

“Omen,” he corrected with a subdued chuckle, giving a polite bow. “A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, princess.”

Midnight stood in front of his wife defensively, stating, “Don’t come near her, or I’ll-”

Omen’s laughter cuts him off. “Or you’ll what? Hulk out with a raging hard-on? I don’t think that’s wise, considering the energy you dispersed during that battle. How much of your life was shortened, I wonder.”

The blue pegasus could only respond with a growl while Cerise and Moonlight held him back. "It's not worth it," they quietly urged.

“Hey! That wasn’t necessary!!” berated Beatrix, who stomped down with a heated gaze.

“Oh yes, it was,” countered the gray stag. “You think words of encouragement are going to help? If each of your plans on getting through this calamity, you must accept one fundamental truth that you refuse to believe in.”

Oona pursed her muzzle, asking, “An' that is..?”

He turned to each of them with an overstretched smile. “That deep down, you’re all afraid~.”

“Perhaps we are,” admitted Bellatrix, who sternly approached the towering buck. “But we will never be intimidated by the likes of you.”

“Well, you should be,” the nightmare stag mused with an arched brow. “I know everything that there is to fear. All the personal monsters haunting your dreams, the demons hiding under your beds…” Omen then leaned closer to whisper into the she-devil’s ear. “Or in your case… the one locked in your basement~!”

Bellatrix immediately backed off, her expression contorted with dread. And upon realizing neither Esmeralda nor Camellia was present, the succubus disappeared in a hot flash before anyone could ask what was awry.

“What did you tell her!?” demanded Beatrix.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” claimed Omen, who waved the angry witch off.

“Seems the only fundamental truth here is that deers are just assholes,” snarked Zeloph.

“At least I don't feast on my own kind!” seethed Iclyn.

Once more, the dark stag turned to his deighdyr cousin nonplussed. “It’s only cannibalism if we’re equals.”

His statement made Shadow Scythe shudder as she turned to Oona. “Why do you indulge with such abysmal suitors? Surely you could have done better! Uhh, no offense, Belladonna.”

The violet witch pursued her snout. “I do have my moments…”

“When you’ve lived a good fraction of your life in exile due to your relatives' crimes, then you can speak,” Omen scoffed unapologetically. “But, of course, your boyfriend is familiar with that scenario. Aren’t you, sunshine?”

Both Zeloph and Moxxi glowered, their eyes hotly burning with contempt.

“Omen, please,” Oona stepped in, tightly gripping his hand. “Why dae ye insist on rilin' e'eryone up? We suffered enough as it is. Dae ye intend tae prove them right? Was Ah mistaken tae entrust you wit Abadonna’s future?”

This pulled the charcoal deer out of his antagonistic behavior, his expression softening at the sight of her tears. A thumb tenderly traced over the knuckles, taking her hand into his. “Forgive me," Omen said. "It’s been too long since I could walk in the waking realm. And with so much negativity present, it’s hard not to psychoanalyze.” Once more, his maroon eyes surveyed all the heroes and heroines present. “But It is with the intention of help.”

“Well, forgive us for finding that hard to believe, creep,” Wispy Willow said skeptically, the tigress crossing her arms and flicking her striped twin tails. “For all we know, you’re secretly involved in this mess!”

“Careful, Imoto,” cautioned Kitsune, who kept her eyes fixated on Omen. “We know nothing about this cervine cryptid…”

“Then allow me to shed some light,” offered the dark buck, which proceeded down the stairway to help the pregnant sheep sage settle into one of the chairs. Beatrix and Icyln flanked by her sides, eying the Nightmare Stag with uncertainty. Oona reached up to stroke her equine lover’s cheek affectionately.

“To start,” began Omen, who slowly paced around the fireplace, eying all the torn walls and exposed flesh of the eldritch abomination. “I am indeed a part of the faction banished by the deighdyrs. The prophet, actually.”

Moonlight tilted her head. “Prophet?”

The dark gray deer clarified, “Through dreams, I could see the future. Make predictions based on their meaning. Though, as you can imagine, many of us were stubborn stag heads. So, I had to get a little… ‘creative.’”

Cerise pursed her lips. “Through nightmares…”

Omen nodded. “Using their fears and insecurities, I would make them understand my visions. Warnings of imminent disasters if left unchecked. But then the long winter came. And food became scarce…” His head dipped down, his frown deepening. “It was a desperate time.”

“You ate our people!” Iclyn cut in, staring angrily at her distant relative.

“I did. But unlike those savages, I was aware of the consequences. I left the tribe quietly, well before they labeled us Wendigos.”

Oona spoke up next. “Sae then ye’re not responsible ur th' sickness plaguin' th' deighdyr?”

He shook his head. “I’m a picky eater. I don’t have the appetite for revenge. If I have to eat something or someone, I at least honor every part of them that I consume. A twisted sense, I know. Doesn’t really help my case.”

Wispy snarky added, “Nooooo, really? Where’d you get that idea?!”

Omen responded with a huff. “Regardless, I knew I didn’t belong anywhere. And since so many viewed me as a monster, that’s exactly what I gave them. Something to be feared. Someone to warn them of the troubles that crept closer every night. And, thanks to the unacquainted aid of a certain monarch and her bull…” His fist trembled as it tightened. “... I found myself imprisoned in the dream realm, spreading despair and darkness for anyone I could find. Thus, the legend of the Nightmare Stag was born.”

Midnight furrowed his brow. “Wait a minute… you’re saying Tatyana and Grimmwald are nefarious?”

Beatrix added her voice to the statement. “Well, Tatyana, I can understand! But Grimmwald?”

“Especially Grimmwald,” insisted the charcoal deer. “Don’t let his nobility fool you. He’s a cunning warlock and a sociopath, able to convince you that his desires are righteous. And before you realize it, you’re already the latest pet in his menagerie of Grimms. So take heed the next time you visit Canterlot, Beatrix. It might not return as who you were….”

“Why should any of us believe you?”

“Really can’t stomach the idea of trusting me, can you?” The nightmare stag chuckled. “Not that I blame you. I’ve been tormenting people for so long that I forgot whether it was out of spite or necessity. But you have more daunting matters at hand.” His maroon eyes scanned the bones and broken marionettes strewn throughout the wrecked furniture. "I know I can’t convince you that I truly mean well. But I can show you!" One of his claws stretched towards the murals on display, which shimmered with crackling ethereal energy.

“What dae ye have in mind?" asked Oona, who rubbed at her tummy.

"A ritual," elaborated Omen, who turned back to smile at her. "One that can allow you to communicate across every traveled world. Consider it a first tentative step."

Cerise gasped. “Wait, really!?”

“If that’s true, then we have a better way to contact each other,” considered Kitsune.

“I have to admit, that does sound incredibly helpful,” agreed Shadow Scythe.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” disdained the icy doe. “Don’t tell me you pathetic saps are actually buying into this horseshit! He’s a cannibalistic, opportunistic monster!!”

“I don’t see ya contributin' any solutions ter this plight,” remarked Moxxi, who planted her claws onto her wide hips. “Aw you’ve done is ridicule Beatrix and your ‘childhood friend’ for their life choices. You’ve been nuffin' but a bully wif a fat dildo up your bum!”

Zeloph nodded. “It’s also hard to fault Omen for his dining choices when we’ve committed similar atrocities. We’ve all been monstrous at one point or another. At least he comes with an intergalactic telecom.”

Beatrix stroked her chin in thought before a smile formed. “What do we have to lose? It’s definitely worth a shot!” She turned over to address the Nightmare Stag. “Alright, Omen. How do we perform this ritual?”

A gracious grin spread the male deer’s features as he bowed his head. “First, I will need a cauldron,” he instructed.

“Ooh! There’s one in the kitchen,” clamored Demi-Trix, excitedly. “Follow me!”

The cartoonish tulpa led her companions down the left corridor, with everyone muttering to themselves about trusting this fiendish cervine. Beatrix helped her lover stand before a slight gasp left her muzzle. “Did ye feel that, Ceann Oga?”

The witch’s smile widened as her hand traced over the shaman’s expectant tummy. “Sure did! Didn’t take Abby for a kicker~!”

While the couple tittered over their child’s development, Iclyn trailed behind with a perpetual scowl. While the deighdyr could care less what anyone thought about her, she couldn’t hide her disdain for how easily Omen swayed the group into his favor. Much like he had Beatrix and her former lover.

"Aaaah~. Well, that was satisfyin'!"

Countess Alma laid bare with the vampire women who sauntered around her in the dank cell. Her chest heaved with deep breaths, her claws brushing through their manes. She let out a soft sigh and twitched whenever they lapped up the leaking marks on her forearms.

“Mmmmm~! Such sweet, succulent blood,” mewled Esmeralda, who smacked her lips to savor the Vice Lord’s taste. “Much tastier than the thralls or lesser vampires from our district.”

“That’s because she wasn’t engineered in a lab by pathetic men,” reminded Camellia, who adjusted her porcelain mask after sampling the Baobhan Sith, her ruby lips stained. “We’ve longed for the chance to lay with a proper vampire~!"

Alma tittered in a sultry manner before saying, “A’d be mair than happy tae fulfill those desires if you free me from these shackles~."

"In due time, lovely," replied Camellia, whose ears twitched at the anguished groans echoing the dungeon. The pale, masked mare winced, cut to the core by the beast's howls. “Something’s clearly amiss. The manor hasn’t ceased its constant howling. If anything, it’s gotten louder!”

"Aww, poor baby," said Esmeralda, who patted a slimy wall. "We treated our home with better respect, didn't we? My love, I think it's time we headed up before anyone notices we’ve been gone for too long!"

“A little late on that, I’m afraid.”

Their heads snapped at Bellatrix’s voice, where the succubus approached the trio of vampires with a heavy glare. “Care to explain why you’re indulging my prisoner?”

“We were going to ask the same thing, actually,” huffed Camellia, who took her partner’s hand to stand in front of the Baobhan Sith protectively.

“Yes,” spoke Esmeralda. “The manor has been in constant agony! What gives?!”

“We were under attack by a legion of old adversaries,” Bellatrix confirmed begrudgingly, stalking closer on clawed feet. “And perhaps we’d have an easier time warding them off if you two weren’t fucking around down here!”

“Oh, trust me, Primadonna. There was a lot ov fuckin' around~,” the auburn beauty teased.

“That’s enough out of you!!” The she-devil summoned her curved dagger and demanded, “Camellia! Esmeralda! Step away from the Baobhan Sith immediately!!”

The couple took a moment to confer before they shared a nod. They followed Bellatrix’s request… and then lunged with blinding speed. Camellia knocked the weapon out of her grasp while Esmeralda secured her arms. Their eyes glowed a blazing scarlet as black veins pulsated from their cheeks.

Bellatrix squirmed violently yet was aware of how drained she was of energy. “Gaagh! N-No! Stop! L-Let me go!!”

“Sorry, Bella. But we can’t bear the sight of our own trapped like a feral animal!” sneered Camellia, who flashed her fangs.

“Not to mention,” giggled Esmeralda, who hotly panted against her captive’s neck. “Something about her blood has pumped us full of adrenaline. Hoohhhh, feel amazing~!!”

The Baobhan Sith let out a sinister cackled, “Ye see? Where ye only offer promises, Ah offer power. This is what separates th' rulers from cattle~!”

It was then that the red-skinned woman realized what had happened as her golden eyes surveyed the bite marks littering her foe’s arms. Enraged, she accused, “You’ve brainwashed them!!”

Alma shook her head. “It’s not that simple. Mah Onoma, Ambrogio, only works wit th' ingestion ov blood. Like you, other vampires aren't affected by mah hemomancy. But if they feed on mah blood, they get a nice little boost tae their speed, strength, an' regenerative abilities. Th' only reason th' manor isn’t recoverin' as quickly is because A’m starvin'..!.”

Her glowing eyes glanced at the ceiling of tendrils, still poised around the jail cell. “... But imagine all the yummy energy A’ll supplant once Ah get a proper meal~!”

“No! Don’t listen to her!!” begged Bellatrix, who futilely kept squirming within the thestral’s grasp.

“I think we’ve all had enough of your false promises, she-devil,” said Camellia, who squeezed the succubus’ neck to silence her.

Esmeralda shouted and asked, "What say you, our beloved 'Womb of Conception'? Join us, and we’ll guarantee you lots of meat to sate your bottomless belly!"

The creature withered and gurgled, evidently conflicted with the circumstances. But whatever goodwill and kindness Bellatrix had shown failed to remedy the agony and hunger. After a moment, Alma's chains fell away with a clink, letting the chimeric demoness free to stretch cat-like on her hooved feet. “Aaaaaahhh! That’s better~!” she purred, rubbing at her wrists.

Bellatrix could only gaze in horror as the cage bars bent open and the Vice Lord strutted out. Then, tendrils sprouted from the floor to confine her legs, arms, and neck. With the shapeshifter tangled up, the bat mare couple released their hold as all three vampires leered down at her.

“Ooooooh, you love tae see it~,” crowed Alma, who bent forward to playfully boop Bellatrix's nose. “Should have listened to yer imp friend. Ye gambled more than ye could afford!”

“Come, Camellia,” urged Esmeralda. “Let's head back before anyone else grows suspicious of our disappearance!”

With a nod, the porcelain masked vampire collected their clothing and proceeded towards the exit. The Vice Lord ran a tongue over her lips, eying their supple, naked buttocks as the couple climbed the stony stairs with swaying hips. After they vanished up the trapdoor, her attention turned back to Bellatrix, who glared up defiantly.

“Oh, come now, sweeting,” the Baobhan Sith purred alluringly, tracing the succubus' cheeks with her long talons. “Don't act like ye didn't see this comin'. A’m not some pet ye can just tame. A’m a Vice Lord! Sin an' ecstasy flow through mah veins. An' very soon, they'll flow through yours. Face facts, honey…”

She leaned towards the side of her face, slowly running her tongue along the shell of her ear, causing Bellatrix to shudder.

“... you belong tae me now~!”

Alma pulled away and inspected the mouth-like rows of teeth protruding from the walls, tenderly tracing the worn structure. “What was it they named ye? ‘Womb ov Conception?’ A’m sure ye realize that servin' Bellatrix will bring about yer undoin'. The time has come for ye tae bond wit someone much more appreciative ov yer gifts!”

The vampiress traced a palm down over one of her heavy breasts, giving it a hefty squeeze as she moaned. “An' unlike her, A'll let ye feast on anything ye wish. Ah won’t ever sacrifice a fellow predator fur mah own ends!” Alma held out her arms to the ceiling on tentacles that steadily lowered.

“Yeeeess, that’s it! Come tae me, love!! Let us become one~!!!”

The mansion shuddered as its cool black tendrils wrapped around the Vice Lord affectionately, feeling up Alma’s voluptuous form and squishy assets. The Baobhan Sith mewled and laughed with elation. Her lustful gaze found Bellatrix, who could stare back and watch helplessly as the foundations she built crumbled before her eyes.

"What a waste," noted Esmeralda as she and Camellia stepped into the foyer, adjusting their clothes and garments. They studied the broken clockwork marionettes scattered in pieces everywhere. “To think, we missed a fierce battle!”

"For what we just acquired, it was worth it. Trust me," cooed Camellia, who licked her ruby red lips. They heard a hiss and sizzle from the kitchen and headed in to find Beatrix and the others gathered there. Their eyes were drawn to the stranger looming over the cauldron, an eerie azure glow highlighting his dark face. He carefully dropped some ingredients, the contents threatening to spill over.

Upon noticing the thesrtal’s arrival, Beatrix exclaimed. “Hey, there you are! Where have you been? We could have used your help back there!”

“We were, erm… detained by the manor,” lied Camellia. “It instinctively locked us in a room to avoid the danger.”

“Besides, we wouldn’t have been much use,” added Esmeralda as her attention turned to the shapely cat and fox woman. “Ooh! Who are they~?”

“Wispy Willows an' Kitsune,” introduced Oona. “Had they not shown up, we might have been done fur!”

The petite bat mare offered a hand, yet the two cybernetic assassins stared at her wryly due to her aristocratic appearance. For a few seconds, Esmeralda stood there awkwardly before retracting her arm, frowning.

“You must be Lady Ewe’s ‘baby daddy’ then?” Camellia presumed, scanning Omen with slight interest. The gray buck only offered a nod, focused entirely on his spell as he slowly stirred the pot.

“Hmm. I can see the appeal,” she concluded before facing the violet mare. “Anyway, is there something we can do to help with the ritual?”

"If you have something of your world, I suggest throwing it into the cauldron," suggested Kitsune, who removed a lock of her copper mane and let it fall into the soup. Once the hair was swallowed up and burned away, there was a small flash the air filled with an acrid stench.

Wispy face scrunched at the horrid smell. “Blegh! Are you sure that will work? Couldn’t have tossed in old tech or something?”

The kunoichi nodded. “A piece of myself should suffice. We’re not what you’d call ‘normal’ after the experiments.”

“What do you mean?” Moonlight asked curiously.

The fox woman partially transmuted her hand, which appeared to resemble mercury once the flesh turned to liquid metal. A testament to what the cyber kunoichi truly was below.

“Geyaagh!” yelped Midnight, unnerved.

“Like something out of an old sci-fi movie,” commented Zeloph, who looked over the details of her circuitry. His frown deepened. Something about the material seemed very familiar…

"Well, I think it looks cool!" complimented Cerise, wide-eyed. "Say. D-do you think maybe we could…"

"Heh! Already ahead of you," smiled Wispy, who turned to Moonlight. “Demi-Trix mentioned you lost your wings before she pulled us over. So we prepared a little something for the trip over! Can't wait to unveil it after this is done!"

Moonlight couldn't help but shake with excitement she tried to subdue. She traced the false plume Moon Hammer had managed to craft for her, hopeful that the cybernetics of their world could help her return to the skies. "Oh, thank you! It means a lot..."

"Now, now, no tears!" Wispy flicked her with a striped tail. "We still need to test it!"

"That's wonderful news," chimed Midnight, who embraced his herd with his massive plumage, giddy with excitement. He could hardly wait to visit his homeworld soon. But it was also tempered with a sense of dread after the horde of warped drones had made their appearance.

One-by-one, everyone present offered their own sacrifices. Finally, the ritual reached its completion, signaled by a misty poof. The liquid contents constantly spiraled, glittering like stars. “There we are,” sighed Omen, who wiped a few beads of sweat off his brow. “Just call upon the location or person you desire to speak to, and a passage should open.”

“Ooh, most excellent!” the azure sheep beamed and squeezed his arm into her chest.

“See? Told you he wasn’t a bad guy,” Beatrix taunted Iclyn, who kept her snout high, unimpressed.

A bit of color washed the dark deer’s cheeks before he cleared his throat. “Now then. Would anyone like to go first?”

“Ohh! Can I please?” Cerise asked, stepping forward. "I want to see if we could ask one of my brothers if they’d be interested in our trip to Middy's world? Ashen Dune travels a lot, and I’m sure Penumbra would appreciate taking on a real mission. Gotta make sure he’s doing okay!"

At her request, the cauldron lit up as liquid whirled rapidly to form a picture of Cerise's homeland. Everyone gathered close, marveling at the visual spectacle. Slowly, the window into another realm took shape before the onlookers.

Ashen Dune's pastel-colored airship came into view. It hummed and trundled over the deserts, the crew busy at work across the deck, while a helmsman took control of the wheel.

Cerise tilted her head to one side. "Huh? Why did it take me here first?" She worried that Mortis would seek her family out since the unicorn lich had threatened to punish anyone who sided with Shadow Scythe. Her heart raced, yet she willed herself to seek them out.

As the vision took them below decks, Cerise concentrated on locating her younger brother until he finally came into view. "Ahah! Hey, Ashen Dunes, are yo–ooooooh my..!”

A furious blush crept across the princess’s cheeks once the window revealed a hot tub, the steamy waters dotted in rose petals. Everyone equally became heated by the sudden feminine moans and pants that sounded out of the heated pot.

Ashen Dunes rested naked in the waters, his wiry hands wrapped around Rheneas, who faced him while their snouts repeatedly mashed together when they made love. Their attention snapped to the sound of Cerise's voice, and Rheneas quickly shrouded them with her plume. “Cerise!?”

“W-what in the-!? Sister!!”

“Oh! Eheh! S-sorry," said Cerise sheepishly. "I didn't know this was a bad time!"

"More like unexpected," coughed Ashen, who quickly reached for a towel to clothe his lower, trim body while stepping out. The jade pegasus sunk further into the bath, completely flustered. This was a stark contrast to the deceptive Vice Lord demoness that once inhabited the ballerina's body.

“Yeesh! You barely knew each other for a day, and you’re already bonking~?” teased Demi-Trix, who nudged Moxxi. But the normally raucous imp was half paying attention, making an uncharacteristic expression that deeply concerned the tulpa.

Shadow Scythe also noticed something was off, yet didn’t want to intrude and doubted she wanted comfort, so she remained silent.

Using a second towel to dry off his mane by way of the unicorn's aura, Ashen bashfully admitted, “I suppose we did move rather fast…”

"I-I hope you don't mind," squeaked Rheneas, who reached for a towel while keeping an arm over her chest. “After all the turmoil I endured, it happened sooner than I expected!”

Cerise shook her head, wearing a wide grin. "Of course not! I think you’d make a fantastic couple! Mom and dad will be happy to know all their children finally found romance!”

Her comment made Iclyn roll her eyes.

“Actually, We need your advice,” Midnight hastily explained. “We're about to head into my world, and we could use the extra hands. I thought maybe you or Penumbra might be interested. Y’know, help take his mind off of recent stuff?”

“Ahh, that's true! My brother has never been one to relax, even on his days off," noted Ashen, who cuddled his lover close to his chest. His hand trended across Rheneas' mane, who returned his tender embrace. “Well, since you’ve asked me, I-”

Their call was interrupted by a thunderous roar that vibrated through the ship, making everyone jump. Ashen and Rheneas clung to each other tightly, heads whipping around in alarm. The bulk shuddered violently like it threatened to snap.

“What the hell was that!?” yelped Moonlight.

A speaker above crackled. "Captain," came the helmsman's voice. "You're needed on the deck!"

With haste, the pilot and ballerina rushed for their clothes and quickly redressed. Cerise gripped her husband’s arm tightly as the vision followed her brother up to the deck, where a most unusual sight came into view. The charcoal mare gasped, “What in the world..?!”

Black clouds had formed in the distance, partially eclipsing a clear sunny day. Beneath the foreboding nimbus, bolts of lightning struck the dunes, and whirlwinds tunneled in places.

“Do we pull back?”

Ashen frowned, shaking his head. “My family doesn’t run away from any form of darkness! Head above and investigate!”

Omen’s eyes narrowed when he voiced his concerns. “I don’t think that’s wise!”

“Yeah, it might be best to avoid it!” agreed Cerise. But the storm had already washed over them before they could change course. The vehicle strained and tilted before Ashen righted it, light and sound flashing above the zeppelin.

Beatrix pursed her snout. “What could possibly be causing this?”

The answer came in a series of violent shrieks once a winged silhouette was framed beneath the blazing sun, its rays peeking through the eye of the storm. The helmsman ordered manned cannons at the ready while Rheneas held her hand over her muzzle to muffle a scream. Everyone in the kitchen watched, aghast.

Ashen managed to find his voice. “Is that… a dragon?!”

The conjured portal zoomed in on the reptilian creature, its body armored in russian violet scales with a lightly shaded underbelly. Magenta spikes decorated its shoulders, limb joints, and wing wrists, matching its claws. A lengthy, flog-shaped tail whipped about with each beat of its massive wings. But its most distinguishing feature was the number of heads that protruded from its long necks.

Not one. Nor two. But three. Each with its own muzzle shape, indigo horns, and fins. All sharing red eyes that glowed with malice.

The tri-headed dragon released another terrible howl as archaic sorcery discharged from its body, causing the weather to worsen.

Rheneas clung onto the side rail as wind gusts rushed through the deck to batter the onlookers. She cried, “Such power...!”

Ashen handed her a pair of binoculars while he peered into his own. "Indeed! Most curious." They watched as the creature descended down towards the desert, unleashing hellish green flames from its jagged tooth-filled maws. Scorching the sands crystallized into the glass, it forced a herd of cattle to flee before scooping up a poor cow in its paws. With a couple of flaps, the monster darted towards the dust storm.

Noticing one of his men was about to take aim, Ashen waved him off. “Stop, hold your fire! We don’t want to needlessly provoke it!”

“B-But sir-”

“I’d rather that thing not become aware of our existence! Do you?”

This shut the crewmate up while the helmsman kept the ship afloat against the strong gale. Everyone on board and watching from the cauldron was puzzled by the monster’s sudden emergence.

“I don’t remember ever seeing a dragon like that before among Spike’s thunder,” whimpered Cerise. "He's supposed to be the last male!"

“That’s because it’s not a native to your world,” Omen spoke up, unease on his face. “Or rather he’s not of your world.”

“You know this dragon?” asked Beatrix, who crept closer to the cauldron.

The Nightmare Stag shook his head. “Not personally, but I learned through visiting dreams from the dragons of our world. Nightmares about a violent atrocity born out of jealousy and hatred. Andrei, Kralot of the Zmey Isles.”

Oona visibly paled, clutching her belly as she leaned on her dream catcher staff for support, visibly disturbed from their recent troubles. The witch wrapped her arms around her shoulder, doing her best to soothe her lover.

“In the Lost World,” Omen began to elaborate. “Dragons were split up into factions based on their appearance. Those bipedal and winged, like Spike or Ember, were considered true dragons, the highest order that has governed all dragonkin for centuries. But those years of being ridiculed provoked resentment from the lesser dragons. They would fight for the right to rule and often failed.”

His frown deepened. “This caught the attention of a selfish warlock, who offered to perform a conjunction spell and aid three draconic factions in pursuit of power. A drake, a wyrm, and a wyvern, respectively. With their combined might, he sought to command the most powerful dragon ever created and rule over every land. But, as you witnessed, no creature of that magnitude is so easily tamed.”

“The fool was eaten, and his magic taken. The fusion of three minds, combined with the overwhelming strength, caused Andrei great madness. He went on a rampage, decimating entire landscapes and slaughtered everything that dared stand on his warpath.”

This made Ashen and Rheneas shudder, grateful they hadn’t drawn the malicious beast’s attention. The gray buck continued, “An alliance with the alicorn sisters and Lord Torch was formed to subdue the monster’s onslaught. Together, they vanquished the great beast and cast Andrei to the far eastern islands, where he has ruthlessly ruled the ponies and dragons there as Kralot, or ‘King.’ Thankfully, peace was maintained between the draconic factions even after Celestia and Luna’s passing. But the threat of Andrei one day returning to wreak havoc on Equestria kept even the most valorous of Dragon Lords paranoid!”

“But that doesn’t explain why he’s in Cerise’s world ov all places!” exclaimed Oona.

“Oh, I can think of a reason,” stated Iclyn, who folded her arms and curled her snout at Beatrix. “Figures your powers would warp some kind of abomination into your so-called friend’s world.”

“H-hey, that isn’t-”

But Omen stepped forward, gazing at his icy cousin with deprecation. “Y’know, there is a saying in my tribe whenever we encounter unpleasant company. ‘Eat the Rude.’ And you, my dear, have been very rude…”

Iclyn stiffened as his shadow loomed over, flashes of the dark void the Nightmare Stag trapped her in. She could feel the world disorienting as she quivered underneath his maroon eyes.

But Beatrix pulled on Omen’s shoulder with a shake of her head. “No, it’s alright, really. Rude as she may be, Iclyn has a point. It's probably my fault a three-headed dragon now roams in Cerise’s dimension. But that's more incentive to find a way to fix it! Her world's suffered too much!”

“You don’t have to trouble yourselves,” assured Ashen with a nervous chuckle, much to his crew's perplexity. “I had a feeling something was up when the scorpions around the border suddenly ceased their mindless attacks! See for yourself.”

He and Rheneas pointed to the desert below, cut off by his nation's borders. The scorpion hybrids stood motionless in the whipping sands, their stingers vibrating in a trance-like state. The manifold eyes across their exoskeletons peered towards where the hydra-esque dragon had vanished. Almost like the abominations had anticipated his arrival.

"Ah think Ah get it,” Oona presumed. "These creatures were failed experiments ov th' Eldritch, which they abandoned. Simple creatures, genetically engineered tae obey orders. But wit'out a master, they've mindlessly scoured th' deserts fur sustenance an' bred out of control. Sae what if they see th' Kralot ov Zmey as a potential new alpha tae serve under?"

Ashen nodded with pursed lips. "It would explain why they’re so tame! They’re awaiting instructions from him! Though this is worrisome." He yanked at his colorful silk scarves. "If Andrei’s reputation is as fearsome as you say, what are the chances he’ll use them to invade other territories?"

“Undoubtedly high,” Camellia said with a huff. “All males have the instinct to dominate everything they believe is theirs…”

“Then we can't stay here! We have to act before that happens,” cried Cerise. “Let's do whatever we can to help! Maybe call up my father's and Lord Spike’s forces if necessary!”

Midnight turned to his half-sister with a sharp nod, his snout drawn in determination. "You're coming too, right, Beatrix? If there's a portal there, maybe you can shut it down?"

“Of course, I'll come,” the violet unicorn answered as guilt weighed her down. “I owe you all a sizable debt. One I probably can't pay.”

Beatrix struggled to meet any of their eyes. The fate of Midnight's world, his hyper-stallion nature, what the Eldritch had done to Cerise's planet, Zeloph’s inclusion, even the release of the Burning King, which resulted in Penumbra and Moonlight losing their limbs! How could the result of her actions be anything but a burden...?

"Sad to say, Ah won’t be there tae guide ye, Ceann Oga," admitted Oona bitterly, cradling her gravid belly with one arm while the other leaned on her staff. “But since Ah won’t be able tae join you… Someone else should take mah place.” She cast wry eyes on her former lover, who snapped her head between the azure sheep and violet mare.

“... No!”

Beatrix looked at Lady Ewe, appalled. “W-wait, you can’t be serious! I second that, no!!”

“Out of the question! As if I’d leave you in the care of that cannibal,” she pointed accusingly at Omen, who smiled slyly. “Let alone get roped into this hussie’s reckless, senseless travels!”

“Yeah! If anything, you should be the one to accompany me, Omen!”

“Sorry, but I am needed here,” refused the Nightmare Stag. “I can ensure Oona and Abby’s safety. Besides, it’s not that bad of a suggestion! Who better to teach Beatrix restraint than you, Iclyn? You're the one who's always demanding she learn self-control. Why not rise to the occasion and help her?”

The deighdyr scowled at the buck, her antlers and hands flurrying with frost. But upon looking back to Oona, who stared back pleadingly at her, Iclyn couldn't deny the truth of their words. She turned her back on them with a long sigh and said, “...You owe me big time for this!”

"Of course,” nodded the dream shaman, who tittered weakly. “But it's why I know I can count on you.”

Beatrix failed to suppress her dismay. “This day just keeps getting worse and worse,” she muttered, stomping her heeled foot. But maybe this was a chance to finally show Iclyn up by proving how helpful her powers could be, too!

Moonlight looked towards the reaper and fallen angel, questioning, “Will you guys be staying behind to protect the manor?”

“We can’t,” proclaimed Shadow Scythe, hands-on her sickle. “I have my own mission to undertake in my world. Mortis has my father...and I won't rest until I've set him free. Whatever it takes!"

"I'm going with her," added Zeloph at her side. “There's still the matter of a possible demi-human there. Plus, we can figure out more about the fabled Vorpal Blade and its untold secrets.”

“I’m coming too,” Moxxi spoke, much to Shadow Scythe’s visible begrudgement. “Been cooped up 'ere too long for me taste. I could use the trip ter cut loose.” She playfully sauntered her hips.

“Zeloph, was it?” Kitsune cut in as she and her sister approached the couple. “I’d like to apologize for attacking you earlier. I see now that what happened with Ebony was an accident.”

“Water under the bridge,” responded the demi-human with an awkward chuckle. “It was a misunderstanding. And please, call me Zell!”

Wispy crossed her arms over and sighed. “I’m just glad there are demi-humans on our side. The last one nearly screwed us over.”

This made both Zeloph and Moxxi double-take, exhorting, “Wot 're ya talkin' abaht..?”

Wispy cocked an eyebrow. “Oh… you don’t know?”

Kitsune turned to Cerise, motioning a hand at the cauldron before she asked, “May I?”

“O-oh, sure! Hey, we’ll be there soon, brother! Don’t do anything rash until then! Rheneas, watch after him! I know how reckless he can be!”

Ashen Dune and Rheneas nodded, waving goodbye as the portal dissolved so that a new vision could form from the swirling liquid. A new portal depicting the cyber world was formed as the group leaned in to see a fancy-looking casino. And inside the tallest tower stood a suited figure, wearing a stylish hat with matching pinstripes. His face was covered by a bright red bandana with a snake fang design. His slime yellow eyes focused on the city outside his window while his spaded tail flicked about.

Zeloph and Moxxi couldn’t believe their eyes, fixated on the stranger while Kitsune elaborated. “His name is Seb. He’s a gambler who profits off of others' fortunes. When we encountered him, he relied on sharp cunning and card-based magic that summoned various weapons at his leisure. His publicity and status have only grown after Oona and Beatrix helped us in our bout.”

“Wait a cock suckin' minute…” the imp hunched her shoulders before shooting a nasty look at the aforementioned couple. "You knew there was anovver loike us!? A-and didn't say a Dicky Bird!?!”

“... Well. Actually, there's two,” corrected Wispy.

Both demi-humans exclaimed, “Two!?”

The liquid rippled, showing another part of the cyberverse with what looked to be an illegal fighter’s pit. The audience roared, celebrating the victory of their champion, who held up a gold-plated belt high. Much like Seb, he was an unmistakable demi with gray skin, a unique tail, and a set of bovine horns crowning his head of dirty blonde hair. A charismatic grin spread his features, amplified by the shades hiding his eyes.

The wrestler garbed devil worked the crowd over with multiple poses, flexing his adonis physique. He held a hand to his ear, listening as adoring fans shouted his name. “Arron! Arron! Arron!”

“Yeeeeeah, baby~!” the amply named demi laughed. “Who wants a piece of the champ?!”

Gunfire answered his statement as police forces swarmed in, placing everyone involved under arrest. Contestants and audience members evacuated the scene, but Arron stood his ground, only raising an eyebrow to the cops, who aimed their weapons at the gold-studded brawler.

“Put your hands in the air! We have you surrounded!” An officer ordered through a megaphone.

This only earned a hardy chuckle out of Arron, who placed his championship belt onto the ground and cracked his neck.

“I said freeze, punk! You’ve got nowhere to run!!”

Squaring up, the golden demon retorted, “Oh yeah? Run this fade, bitch~!”

Aaron rushed at his opposition as a topaz crystalline substance hardened around his arms and shoulders, deflecting the rounds shot at him. Everyone watched as the enforcers received a brutal beatdown by Arron’s hands. The window closed on the last shot of an incoming fist.

“Sweet lucid dreams,” murmured Oona. “Two demi-humans?”

The fox woman nodded. “We only recently discovered Arron, but I suspect he’s been there even longer than Seb. Whether it’s because of Beatrix’s magic or not remains uncertain…”

“Man,” Midnight said, flabbergasted. “As if there weren't enough problems on our plate already!”

“Understatement of the decade,” scoffed Moonlight.

Beatrix's face soured once more. “Jeez! This has gotten so out of hand! Look, whatever happens, I’ll-”

The witch was cut off when a hand seized her neck. In a quick flash of neon, Moxxi was fully formed as her true self, Anarchia. She glowered at the violet unicorn, her dark aura manifesting around her curvy figure.

“Ya lil' tit for tot!” the demoness hissed. “Ya knew abaht ovver demi-humans, and ya didn’t tell us!?”

“Aaaugh! H-hey, I’m sorry, okay! It never crossed my mind; I didn’t think it was that impor-TANT!!” Beatrix choked, feebly kicking her legs.

“Not important!? For the longest nickle and dime, we were lucky ter believe we were the only ones cursed by the Divine Father! But ya discover more of us exist and 'ave the audacity ter wave it off as not important?!? Ya selfish berkshire 'unt!!!”

“M-Moxxi, calm down!” begged Demi-Trix, who tugged on her tail while avoiding its venus flytrap-shaped end.

“Ana!” Zeloph pulled her attention towards him by taking her free hand. “Stop it! This isn’t like you!”

“'a 're ya okay wif this!?” the female demi fumed. “She withheld valuable information from us!”

“A lot is going on right now,” her brother said firmly. “Beatrix likely learned when I was still being a shithead. I don't blame her for not trusting me. But that doesn’t give you the right to take it out on them!"

“Oh, that’s bloody rich comin' from ya, brother! Ya can’t say that and be so.. s-so.. fuckin'-! Daugh!! Fuck all of you!!!” She dropped Beatrix and stormed out of the kitchen.

The witch wheezed while Omen helped her stand up. Oona rubbed at her lover’s neck, gently asking, “Are ye okay!?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” she coughed. “But what the fuck is her problem? Talk about an overreaction!”

“I don’t know,” answered Shadow Scythe, who lowered her snout. “She’s been acting strangely after we fought the Burning King. Always inserts herself into our affairs. I might have something to do with me…”

The Fallen One cupped the pale mare’s cheek assuringly and said, “I’ll go talk to her. We’ll figure this out, I promise.” Planting a chaste kiss on her forehead, he kindly ushered Demi-Trix to his side before hurrying upstairs after his sister.

The reaper was still lost in ruminations about her parents. She had released the captured souls of the reapers she betrayed...so how was Mortis still able to exist, even in this decrepit state? Was the Necronomicon somehow responsible?

With a weary sigh, Shadow Scythe rambled on, “This is so stressful. Not to mention the matter of the Vice Lords that escaped. The further out we travel, the more likely our paths will cross with Varys."

Wispy Willow perked an ear. "Varys? As in that mad scientist that greatly altered our world?!"

The reaper gazed up at the sisters. “You’ve encountered him?”

Kitsune's face hardened. "We haven’t. But it was his actions that led to us becoming who we are." She recalled the mysterious syndicate that had kidnapped the sisters, wiped their memories, and altered them. Shaking off the horrible memories, the kunoichi stroked the hilt of her beam saber. “Let us come with you. Triad was an old enemy of ours, as well. He could likely lead us to Varys…”

"We need to be there," insisted Wispy. "Besides, you've seen what we can do! We can more than handle ourselves! I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t work together."

“Neither do I,” admitted Shadow Scythe. “We’ll need all the help we can muster.”

Omen chose this moment to say, "Indeed. Mortis has apparently spread his dark influence to several worlds. No doubt he wishes to keep everyone separated."

“But we can't simply abandon our homelands,” reminded Cerise, the idea of that draconic menace anywhere near her family frightening her. “We don't have any choice but to split up!"

"A conundrum indeed," noted Esmeralda, her mouth split into a coy smirk. "Yet you cannot simply leave the mansion unattended, either. Luckily, Camellia and I will help Bellatrix look after the place. We can rebuild and prepare more clockwork maids for whatever lies ahead!"

"Yes, no need to worry," assured Camellia, her crimson eyes drawn to the sorry state of the walls, which on occasion revealed the meat below the surface. “This place shall be in worthy hands!”

“Ah hope so,” Oona huffed, feeling nauseous by the growing list of problems.

Omen lent her his frame to lean on. “You need to rest,” he suggested sweetly. “All this anxiety won’t be good for the baby.”

With a quiet nod and a yawn, the azure sheep allowed the dark deer to guide her out of the room. Omen turned back to the party and said, “I suggest you take this time to prepare yourselves. The storm is only brewing. It’ll only get worse from here…”

With their missions realized and nothing left to lose, everyone went to their respective groups and began preparations to tackle the next journeys ahead.

When Quicksilver Bullet opened his eyes, he expected to be back in Mortis’ crypt, which made up his lair. But to his surprise, lich and his followers (except Natural Selection) appeared in the midst of an industrial factory. The sound of iron pistoning and gears rotating like clockwork echoed. In front of the foursome, the mechanical coffins used to replenish themselves were somehow here.

Turning to the revenant unicorn, the older stallion asked, “What is this place?”

“You may call it my sanctuary,” a different, mechanized voice answered. Everyone turned their heads towards the steel tapping of footsteps when their benefactor approached them. Like Penny and Triad, his body was robotically modified. Adorning his towering physique was an olive green parka jacket with an extensive fur collar and steelwork baggy pants. Oversized steel gauntlets rested behind his back. A long bionic tail waved behind him, the tip looming near his avian masked face.

“Ooh my,” Penny Dreadful inquired with a coo. “And who is this lovely chap?”

“Varys,” the undead reaper introduced him. “It is through his generosity and advanced technology that all of this was made possible.”

“Master Varys, if you’d please,” corrected the cyber demon, who turned his sensors towards Penny Dreadful, scanning the life-like automaton's exposed mechanical parts.

Noticing those glowing visors, the huntress smirked and playfully brought her wings over her bosom. “You silly lecher! Don’t you know it's impolite to gawk at a woman’s chest~?”

The mechanical plague doctor gave a mute chuckle. “Forgive my prying. My intention was not lascivious, I assure you. I was merely admiring the inner workings of your machinery. What a remarkable blend of magical and clockwork components! Superb craftsmanship!”

Penny giggled like a flustered schoolgirl. “Awww, you flatter me~! But really, it's all thanks to Doctor Kilroy's genius. Isn’t that right, daddy dearest?” For a moment, not a word was spoken among the band of villains while Penny tilted over her shoulder, beak twisted by cheer.

“Erm, you’ll have to excuse her,” Quicksilver said. “She’s, uh… ‘non compos mentis,’ if you know what I mean.” The older stallion made a rolling motion with his finger next to his head.

Varys said nothing, though his scanners did detect some sort of invisible force looming around the clockwork assassin. Instead, he drew his attention towards Triad, who quietly studied him.

“Such a wide range of technology,” the black stallion complimented. “It reminds me much of the cybernetics back in my homeworld.”

“And would your home happen to be a futuristic city rich in augmentation?” the Vice Lord questioned, a hand under his chin.

A smile formed on Triad’s muzzle. “It is! I take it you were there before?”

“As a matter of fact, many of the structures and weapons built there were based on my earliest iterations. I had much planned for that universe before my untimely banishment. But where one door may permanently close, another shall open. And fortunately for me, one has.”

Both Penny Dreadful and Triad grew curious and were about to ask Varys to elaborate when a whir sounded once the mechanical casket lids popped open and steam hissed. The insides were filled with black, viscous ooze, like an oil slick that shined under the factory's eerie red illumination.

“Rejuvenate yourselves,” commanded Mortis. “I will not halt my revenge for anything.”

“I could murder for a bath. Literally,” Penny Dreadful muttered between sniffs of her clothes.

“Hmm. Another time then,” noted Varys, who stepped away as his computer A.I. sent him a digital message. “Excuse me, A shipment just came in. My other client requests more weapons to supplant his people. Nonetheless, I look forward to conversing with you two again.” With a bow, he ascended the rafters to resume his work.

Penny waved at him before letting out a titter. “Daddy! Don’t be ridiculous! He’s a machine! You know they don’t possess actual feelings~,” she rambled to herself while twisting out of her soiled clothes. She slid in, her dark aquamarine feathers puffed up and shivering while the blackness enveloped her. “Blimey, that’s cold!”

Triad sighed before removing his pin-striped business suit. The black stallion's muscled back has emblazoned a tattoo depicting a dragon and tiger locked in conflict. "I'm quite curious about your world, Penny. I did not think clockwork tech was viable." His brown eyes drew to her open wound. "How does it work?"

Penny massaged the gears and cogs within her automaton body, a sickening squelch sounding. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I couldn't explain it very well. Not like my father would, anyway!”

"But he’s dead,” whispered the politician, who shook his head while bathed in the darkness, the coffins primed to pump eldritch lifeblood into their undead forms to animate them.

Yet whenever Penny relaxed her muscles, she met the kind likeness of her creator. Doctor Kilroy, a middle-aged, bald, and muscular stallion garbed in a button-up lab coat, looked at her with his circular glasses and warmly smiled. "Oh, dear. Seems no one can hear or see me yet, my dear. Though it’s to be expected! The common person lacks the faith you possess."

"Bollocks! Oh well… Can’t say I blame them for not understanding. Either way, I’ll live to carry on your work, father," she swore, her face hardened.

Beatrix had helped Esmeralda and Camellia murder her creator! The one society had condemned as a 'mad scientist, simply because poor Doctor Kilroy wished to use his automatons to revolutionize the world! But his specter continued to whisper his secrets in her head!

The casket lids slid closed over Penny and Triad, then churned as more of the darkness that animated their undead bodies were pumped in.

"You need to recover, too," reminded Mortis, who turned to the former crypto-zoologist. "Fury alone will not be enough to fulfill your vendetta."

"Bah," spat Quicksilver, whose heavy boots paced around the factory, filled by the echoes of machinery that methodically worked behind them. “We’re wasting time as it is. If we don’t leave now, Atalanta will slip away!”

"You of all people should understand patience," the undead unicorn stated. "I am sure you mustered it on many occasions as a hunter of cryptids. The traitor can only hide in so many places. She's become dependent on her friends and her lover. We are also down a comrade, who must be retrieved before our next assault."

The old unicorn turned. “What, you mean Natural Selection? I say ditch him. He ain’t no team player! We're better off without him."

"He will serve his purpose," noted Mortis, who floated over to Penny's coffin to see Dr.Kilroy talking with his creation. "What curious beings, these tulpas. The one shaped like Beatrix was able to summon those cyber ninjas. I could make use of this. And, in return for Penny's service, I will breathe life back into you once this is over. Unlike the traitor, I keep my word."

"The traitor...my daughter...my sweet Atalanta," muttered Quicksilver, his coat draped off his withered body while he prepared himself to sleep in his casket. The hunter exhaled, prepared to renew his tired form for the war ahead.

With his minions now incubating, Mortis floated towards the central computer where his partner was typing away at. Upon clicking send, Varys spun in his chair to face the tattered cloaked revenant. “I take it the assault was a success?”

Mortis nodded once. “We dealt a heavy blow. Beatrix and her allies are beset from all sides, their worlds struck by obscene peril.”

He chuckled. “Good. With the Burning King no longer around, there’s nothing that can stop us from seeing our plan to fruition. Although I will admit, I remain curious about Beatrix's anomalous state. And whether it can be cured.”

The undead unicorn’s bony hands pulled out the flesh-bound cover of the Necronomicon, the stretched and mummified faces of the Eldritch trapped across it. “If one exists, it is likely hidden within the pages. I have no further use for it now that I’ve mastered all the required spells. But through your research, you might find something valuable to aid in your 'side project.' So long as we make certain Beatrix does not reclaim it."

He offered the heavy tone to the cyber demon, who accepted it. Briefly skimming the pages, Varys said, “Rest assured. There is nothing anyone can do that will interfere with our operation. With your magic and my intellect, we're practically invincible.”

With a nod of his head, Mortis opened his palm to levitate the cybernetic coffins with the inhabitants undisturbed. He was about to spirit them away before Varys spoke up again.

“Oh. And one more thing. A personal request. Leave Zeloph to me.”

“Anyone aligned with Shadow Scythe has already chosen death,” the revenant restated before teleporting away through the ghastly green portal back to his dimension, where his nemesis awaited to face his wrath.

With his guests gone, Varys placed the Necronomicon into a file cabinet for later. He descended towards the cargo bay, where the latest subjects for his experiments laid unconscious. Beneath his vulture-shaped mask was a smile as he scanned each of the three zebra princesses his drone had captured.

A small price for the ruler of the Pundamilian Empire, but one that would ensure his legacy as the most powerful nation in Zebrica.

“Excellent work, I.V.O,” he congratulated. “Now then. Let us proceed with phase two.”

Redemption & Revolution

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Thumps and crashes drew Zeloph and Demi-Trix towards the attic, where angry snarls and mumbling were backed up by the sound of stuff breaking. Peeking through, they could see Ana trashing furniture, hurling old wardrobes, and tearing dusty paintings with neon claws.

With a deep sigh, the male demi-human creaked the door open, saying calmly, “Sister, I-”

The demoness snapped her head in his direction while chucking a vase at the intruding voice. Zeloph instantly ducked as the decoration shattered upon impact. Heated eyes softened, giving way to regret.

“Gaagh! for tits sake, Zell! I told ya ter fuck off!”

“No,” he stated flatly before flash stepped in front of her, securing her wrists. Ana made a fuss, struggling to push him off. But her anger steadily faded as illuminated rays rippled around her tense form. The two siblings took deep breaths together until the demoness was calm.

Staring into Zeloph’s concerned blue eyes, a hollow laugh left her painted lips. “... I've gotten that sorry and sad again, 'uh?”

The seraphic demi shook his head. “You were never this livid. Even on your worst days. What's gotten into you, sister?”

“Yeah, Annie, are you okay?” Demi-Trix spoke up, fluttering close with buzzing transparent wings.

The busty demi-human sniffled before looking down. “I thought trainin' wif Bellatrix would 'elp me get a better 'andle on me impulses. Do ya 'ave any idea 'a long I've been abstainin' myself?”

Zeloph hummed, letting go of her wrists. “I can take a guess at when you started….”

Ana scoffed. "Oh, was it that obvious? I thought I 'ad lost ya when I sealed ya into the bloody Necronomicon! By limitin' me sexual cravings, I thought I would be 'onorin' your memory.”

“But that hasn’t stopped you from making others horny!” the tulpa reminded, drawing the neon demoness's narrowed gaze.

“It's me way of ventin' off,” insisted Ana, who rubbed at her forearm like treating an invisible wound. “Me copin' mechanism. wot else was I ter do wifaht ya, Zelly?”

She leaned in closer to hug him tightly, pressing herself fully onto him. Zeloph awkwardly returned the embrace as she continued. “I was ecstatic. not only did me brother back ter 'is senses, but 'e found love! Wif Shadow Scythe of aw people! Things were garn great…”

“But..?”

The fallen one felt her claws dig into his back as his sister did her best to hold back more sobs. “... Do ya remember 'a we initially met?”

Zeloph nodded. “Deus sent me to smite you,” he recalled. “Under the guise that you were an evil demoness stirring up trouble near the coast. But all I found at that nightclub was a wild spirit flaunting her beauty as a way to hide how badly she hated herself. Back then, we didn't think others like us existed. We were so enthralled...”

“Until we learned the awful truf,” she cut off, staring longingly at him. “The bloomin' wahn person 'oo looks at me wifaht wantin' me body. 'Oo genuinely chairs and bears for me 'eaven and 'ell being… and it's whom I share this accursed bloodline wif. I kna it’s selfish ter say, Zell. But seein' ya and Shady gettin' aw ‘lovey-dovey’ drives me mad. And I don’t kna if I’ll ever be able ter snuff aahhht these feelings…”

“Ohh, Ana,” he said uneasily. “Even if we weren’t related, I can’t say if our relationship would have been… more.” He brushed a hand through her hair. “You have to understand. I love her with all my heart. And now, she’s been given a chance to reconnect with her estranged father. She needs help, Ana! She needs me!”

“But I need ya, too,” whined Ana, whose lip quivered. “I don’t want to lose ya again…”

“You won’t,” swore the taller demi-human, who pulled her into a tight hug. “We’re free now. No matter what stands before us, be it Mortis, Varys, or other demi-humans. We’ll get through it together, through thick or thin. Okay?”

Pulling away from her brother’s embrace and after rubbing the salty tears from her eyes, the neon demon gave a short nod before sitting down on a torn mattress. Sensing she was still depressed, the male demi turned to the tulpa, who nodded and fluttered over to Ana.

“H-hey! Chin up, doll! Everything’s alright,” the little cartoonish mage insisted as she summoned a small stage with spotlights.

Ana remained embittered. “'A can ya still be friendly towards me after aw that? I roped ya into keepin' me brother and Shadow Scythe apart wifaht even tellin' ya why!”

Demi-Trix stuck out her tongue. “Pft! Please, I was having a ball! Everyone’s been too serious for my liking, so I’ll take any chance to liven up the place. Even if it comes at someone’s expense~!”

With the miniature magician putting on a show for her crestfallen friend, conjuring some clones to perform a standup routine, Zeloph took the opportunity to depart from the attic and return to his beloved’s side.

Retiring to her room, Shadow Scythe had settled into the bed, waiting for him in azure lingerie. Giving a slight smile, he stripped down to his underwear and shuffled under the covers with her, the bedstand alit by the soft lamplight.

Her icy blue eyes scanned the walls, which had begun sealing over after the last attack. “I'm surprised the mansion has healed up so fast,” she commented. “What with all it endured recently.”

“Perhaps it's why Bellatrix hasn't been around much,” theorized Zeloph, who ran a hand through his ethereal feathers, each eye closed. “She's always been a solitary sort, but ever since shifting focus on the manor's health, she's been a recluse."

"It makes sense. Bellatrix is probably busy trying to fortify the beast if there's another invasion.” There was a pause before the pale unicorn eventually asked, “How’s your sister?”

“It’s… complicated,” answered Zeloph, who rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s just say she’s trying her best to support our relationship, despite herself.”

“I figured she was jealous,” the reaper confessed when she looked away. “Though I can’t blame her for harboring resentment. Intended or not, I did essentially steal you away…”

The fallen angel placed his hand atop hers. “You can’t steal anything I willingly gave you,” he reassured. “We'll find a time to settle things. But for now, I'm more concerned about Mortis and his league of undead miscreants. Not to mention Varys and the other Vice Lord are still at large.”

"Yes…" She lowered her head. "I don't believe my father would ever serve someone like Mortis, no matter how scornful he feels. He must be forced under mental domination. I have to figure out a way to free him. Maybe if I could locate my mother's soul in the afterlife..."

After the word left her mouth, Shadow Scythe lost her speaking ability. A steady stream of sadness poured down the unicorn’s face, her body trembling with grief. Zeloph cupped her cheek when she choked back tears. "You don't have to talk about it-"

"N-no, it’s fine! I need to," she sniffled before recomposing herself. "You've heard about what I did in my world. Reapers like Mortis and myself are necromancers, which is why I coveted power. My actions disgraced my family to the public, which… led to my mother's suicide. If I could reach Quiver Bolt, see her one more time and make amends for my sins, I think that may help release my father from Mortis’ grasp. Are… a-are you sure you still wish to help me?"

"Of course,” replied Zell, who curled his wingspan around her, the manifold eyes on the feathers closed like his own. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

A grateful smile crossed her face as she nuzzled into his warm plumage before drifting their heads back into the pillows. Once the couple cuddled closer, his sights wandered back to the Vorpal Blade, which he reached for from the nightstand to examine.

"Why did it send Ebony Ivory and Natural Selection away?" he wondered aloud.

"Apparently, it was forged from a legendary steel material that no longer exists,” she explained while tracing her finger over his bare chest. “It cuts so finely, it can breach the barriers between dimensions. Maybe that's why it proved so effective against the Jabberwocky I slew many years ago. Not even the sturdiest of armors could withstand its blows!"

"And that's what we know on the surface,” the fallen one mused. “Your father claimed it houses many secrets. Much like the beautiful mare who once wielded it."

Shadow Scythe cringed, her cheeks flourishing as she poked his chest. “Ugh! Can’t go one night without your romantic babble, can I?”

He chuckled and tenderly caressed her cheek. “You love it. You know you do~!”

“S-shut up!”

“Make me~!”

Her brow rose before she leaned in to answer his challenge with a kiss. Once their lips pressed together, so did their bodies as she fully straddled atop him. Zeloph’s face flustered as she slipped off the strapless bra, her dark nipples erect. What little sexual attraction he felt sprouted as his member hardened against her grinding pelvis.

She pulled away with a heated sigh. "A shame most of my secrets aren't pleasant ones. I've already confessed my crimes, but that won’t change what happened. I think it's partially my fault Midnight awakened his hyper-stallion nature, too. Back when I once bonded with this accursed mansion and battled Beatrix."

"Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch,” groaned Zeloph, who trailed his hands up her lissome shape. “Say that was the case. I don't think he would blame you. No one does, for that matter."

"Honestly, that might make things easier." She quivered, releasing soft mewls as his hands cupped her small breasts. “T-the first time I met Cerise, I took her hostage and intended to slit her throat, just to hurt Belladonna. I also beheaded Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse...they still bear those scars around their necks. Then I turned them into my zombie slaves and captured Midnight. I even threatened to hunt down and kill Abadonna, or raise her like my own, simply to twist her as revenge for my defeat. Not to mention-"

“Atalanta, enough!!” Zell interrupted, sitting up fully to hold her. “Redemption isn't blaming everything you've done. You don’t deserve to be punished anymore!”

“But I do deserve it,” she whined, clutching his feathery shoulders. “I-I want you to know what I'm capable of so there are no secrets between us. If you couldn't love me anymore after you heard that, I...I'd understand."

"Don’t be ridiculous," the demi-human cupped her head to stare directly at her with a loving gaze. "You never played on Beatrix’s insecurities just to have your way with her. Nor did you manipulate thousands of people into blindly following your scheme. Only then to try and erase everything that despised you.”

She could sense a similar self resentment in her lover as he took a large breath and then exhaled. “I’ve done far worse, Atalanta. I’m still convinced Cerise hasn’t fully forgiven me after what I did to her parents. Even after helping recover her body, I don’t feel redeemed in her eyes. So, believe me, I get it. But this isn’t the way to heal…”

“T-then what is the way?” she asked, her fingers running over his torso, where he directed his hand to rest on her panty-clad tush.

With a smile and bringing his face closer, he huskily whispered, “Let me show you~.”

For all his cheesy dribble, Zell knew exactly what to say to make her heart swoon. So Shadow Scythe happily rewarded her silver-tongued lover with a deep, passionate kiss as the two rolled over in the covers. With him on top, he trailed his kisses down her neck, caressing every inch of her lithe form with the lightest touch and the sweetest kiss. The reaper shuddered as he suckled her hard nipples, briefly taking a moment to appreciate her tiny yet supple tits before continuing his seduction south.

Zeloph glided his fingers over her soaked mound, sliding the soiled garments off her slender legs before bringing his mouth to her thighs, inching closer and closer to her dripping marehood. And once she felt his tongue make contact, her body arched up, and an enlightened gasp coaxed out her vocal cords. Warmth and ecstasy flowed throughout her being once Shadow Scythe brushed through Zeloph’s midnight locks, pushing his face further into her pussy.

“A-aaaauh~! Ooooh yes! Yes, please! Right there,” she whimpered as his tongue wriggled around her honey pot, digging for more of that sweet nectar.

Muffled slurps resounded from her feathery eared lover, whose nose lightly brushed against her clit for further stimulation. The pressure in her loins continued to build with each stroke and lick until Atalanta couldn’t hold back a loud moan, rewarding the fallen one with a splash of fem cum, drenching his mouth.

He lapped at her slit for its juices before crawling over top of the heavily panting mare, his swollen cock resting against her crotch. The reaper stared longingly at the seraphic angel before pulling him for a rough kiss. Feeling his shaft pulsate against her swollen labia, she whispered needily, “I-Inside me. P-please, Zell. F-fuck my pain away~!”

With a nod, Zeloph once more latched onto her lips while he pushed his manhood through her velvety love tunnel. His feathers stood on end, her insides squeezing him, trying to suck in every inch of his cock as her inflamed pussy winked.

Certain that Moxxi and Demi-Trix were too preoccupied to disturb them, the demi-human pressed on with making love to his beloved death angel, who was utterly grateful to finally have some quality alone time.

While away from prying eyes, their affectionate moans were audible to the room next door. Beatrix’s ears perked up when she overheard her friend’s romantic endeavors and the thump of flesh. “Hehe~! Who would have guessed the merciless death goddess and the false messiah would make sure a cute pair!” She tittered.

“An unexpected outcome, fur sure,” agreed Oona, who brushed down her maternity gown. “But one A'm delighted tae have happened. Further proof that our actions resulted in positive things te prosper.”

The witch beamed while casually waving away all her clothes. "Yeah! Whatever Iclyn says, Omen's been nothing but helpful to us! Sure, he might have his own agenda, but that doesn't mean we can't all stand to benefit from it! We can hardly expect everyone to be totally altruistic!"

"Ah pray mah old friend will come around," admitted the dream faun, a hand resting on her belly. "Ah know she is difficult, Ceann Oga. But deep in her core, Iclyn is as soft as snow. Try tae be on yer best behavior, an' show her what ye're capable of."

"Don’t worry, I will," winked Beatrix. "Otherwise, I'll have to consider early retirement!"

The subject made the pregnant sheep frown. “An' would that be such a bad thing? It’s an idea ye’ll have tae seriously consider, one way or an'ther. If not fur th' sake ov every universe...then fur our sweet wee Abby."

"Yes, that’s true," admitted Beatrix meekly. The violet mare placed a hand on Lady Ewe's stomach and felt the child kick beneath.

Was this how her own mother had felt when first learning she was with child and ended up forced to settle down? But even then, her mom had clearly been happy, albeit troubled, and continued to travel about as the pair then put on wondrous shows around the world...

"Don’t think on it too much. We'll still be able tae see many places as a family. Such as my homelain," reminded her teacher, her fingers brushing through her lover's platinum locks.

Beatrix pepped up. "Yeah, that'll be nice! I always wanted to meet your father one of these days."

Oona giggled. “Haden is a stout an' assiduous lord, but A’m sure he’ll adore ye an' Abadonna. Though Ah must confess, A’m a wee bit worried about what he’ll think ov me fur bringin' Omen intae our affairs. It's tough tae convince mah father tae stray from tradition. Just ask mah brother.”

The witch tapped her chin. “Hmmm, that is an issue. But all the more reason Dion should take over once he’s back from Zebrica!”

The azure sheep nodded, though she couldn’t help pursing her snout in anxiety. “It’s likely he, Ebony, an' th' Twins had their vacation plans interrupted. Hopefully, Mortis hasn't sent trouble their way yet, but Ah know he can take care ov it."

“I mean, when you’re built like a shit brick house, it’s hard to allow to let anything get past you… except maybe a cute mare with nice tits~” Beatrix snickered as she fondly remembered some of their more passionate encounters. She’d have to make his coronation extra special once he took the mantle.

“Ohh! Speaking of Omen, where is he? I was half expecting him to sleep with us.”

Oona arched an eyebrow. “When ye say ‘sleep wit us,’ dae ye mean actually sleepin' or…”

A sly grin spread the witch’s heated cheeks when she admitted, “W-whatever everyone's comfortable with! I’m just saying, for how sophisticated he is, Omen ruts like a savage beast~” She rubbed one of her breasts, vividly imagining a fantasy where the Nightmare Stag properly skewered her.

Lady Ewe promptly sighed and shook her head, failing to suppress a smile as her loins burned. “Enticing as that is, he opted tae sleep in his own room, wantin' us tae share our night together befur th' big journey ahead.”

“O-ooh! Well, that’s nice of him,” said Beatrix, partially disappointed. "Although it makes me wonder if he’s been watching us sleep all this time. Not gonna lie, kinda creepy!"

"Tae be fair, we're surrounded by an eldritch beast that's always watchin' over us."

"Point taken, teach!" Beatrix booped her nose. "I checked on the paintings downstairs and made absolutely sure Ebony Ivory's okay. Dion and the twins might have met up with her already!"

Oona felt the child squirm inside her when she said, “That means Natural Selection is likely wit them, as well..."

"Like you said, they can handle it. He was also in bad shape when the Vorpal Blade sent him away. Serves him right! I can't believe he'd be so low as to try and harm a baby!" She scrunched up her face, blood chilled at what almost happened.

“When he found me, there was a bit ov hesitation,” Oona claimed. “Ah sense that pride has caused him tae surrender his honor. A pitfall that could have befallen mah brother had he not proven stronger than that. Ov course, he's still too driven by his libido, but thankfully, the Twins can tend tae that." She tittered quietly before cozying up to her unicorn lover to fully relax.

"Oh yeah, he’s quite lucky to have two lovers~!” giggled Beatrix, who teased Oona by poking at her erect areola, visible through the thin silk. "Granted, I couldn't have picked a better partner!"

"Ye flatter me,” mewled Oona, who shared her playful mirth. Sighing softly, she said, “Ah suppose we have a little time tae indulge...but make sure ye get plenty ov rest!"

“Yes mommy,” cheekily retorted Beatrix before taking hungry kisses from the gravid ewe. She rolled on top of her, their fat breasts squished against each other’s chests, though the witch quivered upon feeling something leak onto her mammaries. Thus she took her investigation by trailing kisses down Oona’s face, neck, and collar bone. And, much to her giddy excitement, she found her partner’s dress stained by breast milk.

“O-oh, fur goodness sake,” she whined, her face beyond flustered. “Ah just washed this gown!”

“Relax, babe! I’ll clean you up~,” Beatrix said with titillation. Helping Oona slide the straps down to expose her mountainous breasts, the witch eagerly ran her tongue over her lips upon seeing her lactate. Gently kneading and massaging her lover’s swollen chest, Beatrix attached her mouth over one inverted nub to suckle out more creamy milk, making Lady Ewe moan in relief.

The wayward witch swapped between tits, muffling her own mewls while pressing her mound against hers.

“A-aahh~! Sweet lucid dreams that feels good,” brayed Oona, who petted her student’s head as she drained her teats of their succulent juices. And, much like the couple next door, Beatrix spent ample time caressing and loving her partner before sleep could take hold of them.

Under a cloudy moon, other people met back in the graveyard. Cerise couldn’t shake off how guilty she felt for Moonlight's tragedy. Perhaps if she had been more robust, faster, the soldier had taken a blow that would have likely been fatal to save her. She shivered when a pea soup mist rolled across rows of fresh headstones.

"Alright, people. The moment of truth," announced Wispy Willow, whose usual crimson catsuit was traded for a scarlet cheongsam. The twin-tailed tigress revealed the mechanized set of wings from her briefcase, which gleamed under the moon's rays, pinions stylized to razor points. “These bad boys are based on ones used by Rainbow Dash in our world! Built for speed, agility, and power!"

"Plus, they're efficient," noted Kitsune at her sister's side, who also wore an elegant kimono instead of her kunoichi get up. “They should last for a long time.”

Moonlight couldn't contain her giddiness, her eyes watering at the idea she might be able to fly again! She rubbed the false plume Moon Hammer had offered and felt the familiar phantom limb pain that made her ache. "I-I'm ready! Please, lock them into place!"

"Allow me," chirped Cerise as she sidled up behind her herd mate. Carefully, she unlocked the enchanted plumage and removed it from her friend's back nubs. She had invited Moonlight to form a herd, considering her a lover too, since they had partaken in skinship many times.

Midnight watched from the sidelines. He couldn't bear to see his fellow cadet suffer like his wife! But he'd also known from the moment he took up this role he would have to lay it all on the line for the sake of everyone. It was a miracle more of them hadn't been lost.

Clicks sounded when Cerise latched the new set into place. "Better keep the old ones as a backup, just in case. Especially since Moon Hammer worked so hard on them! How do they feel?"

Moonlight waited for Cerise to back up before she flexed her pinions. "They're … not bad! A little bulky compared to Moon Hammer's arcane set, but...wow, a lot more flexible!"

Wispy laughed. "Got to love cyber tech! Why not give them a test drive?"

"No need to rush," warned Kitsune, yet Moonlight had already started to unfurl her metallic plume and leaped into the air. She began to sail up high, a broad smile on her face.

"Yeeeesss! This is fantastic!" More tears filled Moonlight's eyes and made a few small loops. "Whoo-hoo~!"

"Go Moonlight~," called Cerise, hands cupped around her snout to help her voice carry.

"Look at her, go!” Midnight exclaimed. “It's like she’s back at the obstacle course!" The blue pegasus unfurled his massive wings before taking to the night skies.

"Hey, wait for me!” cried Cerise, as she too shot up after them. The herd flew in formation, and the charcoal princess was reminded of the first time she saw her brother, Penumbra, sail over the deserts.

HIgher-and-higher Moonlight River climbed...only for her wings to suddenly shut down. "What the-" She shrieked, attempted to reactivate her plume, which failed to respond, and spiraled towards the earth. Thankfully, Midnight and Cerise raced to catch her from both sides as land curled closer.

Wispy watched them lower before leaping towards them. "Whoa, what happened up there? There shouldn't have been any defects!"

"I feel it too," said Kitsune, while she transmuted her hand to a liquid metal much slower than before. "In our world, advanced tech is common. But in other universes? Magic sees tech as a threat and weakens its potency. I fear my systems have also been compromised here."

"Are you sure?" Yet when Wispy formed her usual plasma ball, she noticed the colored sphere, like a miniature sun, built up smaller than before. "Aaagh, damn it! I hate it when you’re right! Glad that didn't happen when we were in the middle of that last attack! But shouldn’t we be able to use magic since we’re mystical creatures ourselves?"

"Not by natural means, but yes,” noted the fox woman, who briefly reminisced over the loss of her birth name. She and her sister had been reduced to their labels, though the latter playfully turned ‘Will o’ Wisp’ into the friendlier ‘Wispy Willow.’ Sadly, she lacked her sister's wild flare.

“As a kitsune and nekomata, we should have access to some of their traditional spells. We may have to make further adjustments."

Moonlight was crestfallen once they landed. "So, these wings are useless...?"

Kitsune shook her head. "Perhaps a fusion between the two sets of plumes?

"Ahh, maybe! While often opposites, magic, and technology can create amazing stuff when used together,” considered Wispy aloud.

Rubbing her herd mate's shoulder, Cerise comforted her best she could. “We'll find a way, Moonie. I promise!” Before throwing her arms around the bat mare when she kissed her.

"Yeah!" Midnight also embraced them and pecked them both. "Magic's far more powerful in my homeworld, so who knows? We'll take these there, see what we can do!"

"Sure," said Moonlight, her hopes dashed once more. Yet she couldn't deny it had been nice to fly once more, if only for a while. "Thanks...all of you. I really appreciate it!"

“Of course,” nodded Kitsune, who offered a rare smile. “If our old enemy wasn’t involved, we’d be delighted to come with you.”

"Though from the sounds of it, Zeloph has beef with Varys as well," acknowledged Wispy before returning focus to Midnight and his herd. "Sorry, we couldn't help more! Thankfully, I'm no slouch without my superpowers!” The tigress flashed her retractable claws before striking martial art poses, a glint in her cat eyes. “That mechanical vulture will never know what hit him~!"

“There’s also Triad to deal with,” muttered Kitsune, who reminded me of when he was a politician they had been sent to terminate by the unknown organization that had experimented on all three of them. He was a victim, too, raised in solitude until his usefulness had been outlived.

Yet she couldn't afford to be too sympathetic, or else it could end in their deaths.

"Anyhow, we'd better rest up for tomorrow," glumly stated Moonlight.

"Mhm," replied Cerise, her hand linked with hers.

"See you tomorrow!" Midnight waved to the sisters before he led his herd out.

Yet like his herd, his thoughts were consumed by the changelings, impatient to return home. At least if Penumbra would come with the party, perhaps they could strike them a decisive blow?

Morning dawned as everyone gathered in the foyer, prepping for their respective adventures. Everyone except Bellatrix, who would typically see them off. “Sister? Where are you~?" Beatrix called out, aware that the walls had ears. But after several moments, no answer came.

“Hmmm. Maybe she's taking a long bath? I know she loves them, especially when the twins catered to her needs!"

“Or something else is holding her up,” Omen considered before stepping towards the witch and a fallen angel. He held up two glimmering pendants in his clawed hands. "I've infused these with a telecommunication spell. You should be able to contact each other, no matter what dimensional plane you’re in. But please keep in mind that if you use them too much, they’ll need to be replenished. So I advise you to reserve them for emergencies!"

"Got it! Thanks~!" Beatrix plucked up one while Zeloph claimed the other. The violet mare tucked it into her Prima Materia, while the demi-human tied it with a rope to wear as a necklace.

"Guess this is farewell for quite a while,” said Midnight, his emerald eyes turned to the paintings on display which started to shimmer, ready to carry them into other dimensions.

"Don't make it sound sae ominous," said Lady Ewe, leaning on her dream catcher staff. “Omen will take care ov Abby an' me while ye're away. An' th' clockwork maids have been upgraded.”

"Yeah! Plus, I'll be here!" Demi-Trix cast open her cape in a flourish. “I'm practically a one mare army now! No one's getting past me~!"

“How very noble of you,” complimented Shadow Scythe, secretly relieved to only deal with one half of the chaotic duo. She scanned the groups before asking, “Where’s the imp, anyway?”

As if on cue, the sultry demoness stepped out of the dark corridor, her heeled feet clicking with every step. Everyone gasped not because of her but rather what she wore. Instead of the tiny jacket, fishnet shirt, and jean shorts, Ana was fully garbed in her own skintight jumpsuit, a heart-shaped belt around her wide waist. The material shined under the hearth's flames, highlighting every curve her body boasted; the collar and cuffs were embedded with bright pink fur. A topaz zipper was pulled beneath her bust, exposing plenty of jiggling cleavage.

While everyone was astonished that the promiscuous creature was fully clothed for once, Wispy let out a sharp whistle. “Hot damn~! You really know how to work a catsuit, girl~!”

Ana seductively tittered while panting a hand to her hip. “I’ll admit, I got a bit inspired by seein' ya and your sister. Figured I’d up me wardrobe wif sum hot leather before we venture out~!” Her other hand stroked the ‘chin,’ which parted its jaws to roll its long tongue out.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay behind, sister?” Zeloph asked, sensing a more profound reason for this sudden change in fashion. “You’ve been rather… frustrated lately. Why not use the time to clear your head?”

“And let ya reap aw the bloody glory? Please!” the neon demon huffed. “Nows me chance ter strut me stuff! Regardless, ya promised we’d find the ovver demi-humans together, did ya not?”

“No, I did… and I’m a man of my word,” the feathered demi relented with a troubled sigh.

“Good boy~!”

Shadow Scythe glared heavily at Ana, incredibly upset by this drastic setup. But she said nothing, aware that there were bigger concerns than getting jealous of her lover’s sibling!

Ana turned her attention to Beatrix, who was still shaken up by yesterday’s scuffle. Frowning, she said, “Sorry abaht lashin' aahhht at you, love. It wasn’t wite.”

“H-hey, let bygones be bygones,” accepted the witch, who smiled. “I should have told you and Zeloph sooner. So let’s kiss and make up and-mmmghm~!?!”

She pressed herself firmly into Ana’s voluptuous shape as the demoness took a long wet liplock from the stunned witch. Pulling away, she sultrily said, “Me thoughts exactly~!”

Beatrix waved a hand in front of her face while giggling like a flustered schoolgirl, much to Oona’s concern.

“Typical,” grumbled Iclyn, her arms folded into her chest. “Let’s get a move on already!”

One-by-one, everyone made their way into the portal. Oona shared one more kiss and hug from Beatrix before the witch took the lead and guided Midnight, Moonlight, Cerise, and Iclyn through the portraits. The former couple shared a look before the deighdyr disappeared. Once Zeloph and his group were gone, the foyer became quiet, save for the clock's tick.

Omen wrapped an arm around the dream faun’s shoulder, helping her settle down by the fireplace. “You have nothing to fear, my dear,” he reassured her as she reclined into a chair. “Beatrix will be back in our arms before you-”

"H-hey, guys?!" Demi-Trix cried in alarm when she pointed toward the paintings. The depictions of Beatrix's past adventures were closed over by walls of discolored flesh that rapidly spread across the surface, sealed over like thick scabs.

Oona’s anxiety spiked. "Ah have a terrible premonition. Bellatrix? What is-"

"I’m afraid she’s unavailable, Lady Ewe.” They turned to see Camellia stride in, followed by Esmeralda. Both wore unnerving smiles as they crept closer.

"You two sure love sneaking around, don’t you?" commented Demi-Trix, hand to her hips. “Why are the paintings gone? Where’s Bellatrix?!”

The two thestrals looked at each before letting out pompous laughter. Oona clung to Omen’s side when the gray deer stood up, his marron eyes narrowed, claws stretched at the ready.

The posh couple stepped away from the corridor as the rattling of chains echoed down the halls. Then out crawled Bellatrix, naked on all fours, her head lowered and face crestfallen. Her neck was collared, attached to a leash. And at its end rested the talons of a familiar female demon.

"Countess Alma!?" Oona said, aghast. The last she saw of the Vice Lord, the manor had swallowed her up like she was merely a morsel. "How-"

"Sp-spare them," pleaded Bellatrix, her eyes turned up to the Vice Lord. "You already have my home and my freedom! Please, let them-!"

"Hush!” Alma hissed, giving the chain a sharp tug to silence the succubus by choking her into submission. The Baobhan Sith returned her leer and sinister smile to the azure sheep. “Why would Ah stop when th' fun is only beginnin'~?”

"For your own sake, I suggest you stand down," glowered Omen when he took a protective stance in front of his pregnant lover, his dark aura manifesting around his staff, the stag skull eyes glowing red as his vast shadow was cast.

There was a rattle from all directions, after which the clockwork maids converged on the foyer and surrounded them from all directions, each of them armed with rapiers. “I admire your reputation, Nightmare Stag. But we’re holding all the cards here," purred Esmerelda as she unholstered a studded silver pistol at her belt and aimed the barrel at Oona’s gravid stomach.

"Through Alma, we have achieved true power befitting of the vampirum spectrum!” proclaimed Camellia, pale hands alight with the blackest magic.

"You filthy backstabbers! I always knew better than to trust you," yelled Demi-Trix.

“Mmm, yes. A pity yer gullible friend didn’t share th' same sentiment~” revealed the Vice Lord, who knelt down to roughly press Bellatrix’s face into the floor. “For it was her hospitality that brought me here! Thought she could keep me like some animal! But now who's th' one in chains~?!”

Oona gazed warily at the disheveled, enslaved succubus. “What is she sayin', Bella?”

Tears streamed down her face once she confessed, “T-this is my fault! I shouldn’t have imprisoned her here! I-I’m so sorry, Oona!!”

Panicked, Demi-Trix tried to conjure a portal, only to yelp when a marionette maid seized her trim form. "Hey! Put me down, you freak!!"

Tentacles oozed from the walls and floors, akin to a black nest that hatched them out. "Ye’re under mah roof now,” cackled the Baobhan Sith. “An' if ye wish tae continue livin', ye’ll dae as Ah say, when Ah say it! Are we clear?”

Omen begrudgingly dispelled whatever enchantment he had prepared, not wanting to risk Oona and Abadonna’s life. Alma’s smirk widened, satisfied that none of them could dare act. Pulling Bellatrix along, she studied the interiors. “To start, I think it's time we redecorated our new home!" She waved an arm, and at her mental command, the eldritch beast started to reshape its insides to better suit her.

"Follow us," commanded Camellia once she and Esmeralda helped the automaton maids lead their prisoners out. "And for the baby’s sake, I hope you don’t attempt any foolish heroics!"

"Please be safe," murmured Oona, aware that their friends wouldn't be able to return now. Her sole hope was that Beatrix could use a portal to track them down eventually. But would they last until then? With Alma leering at her swollen belly, it was only a matter of time before the countess would fulfill her dark promises…

Bellatrix watched while her companions were taken away before glaring up hatefully at Alma. "I should have fed you to the damned manor at the first opportunity," she bitterly stated.

“But ye didn’t, did ye~?” the Vice Lord mused, kicking her to roll the she-devil onto her back. She bumped into her breasts with a hoof, watching them wobble before straddling on top of her. She dragged her sharp nails along Bellatrix’s cheek, threatening to puncture the skin and draw blood.

“Trust me, Bella,” Alma lowly cooed, breasts pressed into her pinned prey's tits beneath. “Ah know this all seems bad now. But ye’ll soon learn tae relish life as mah sweet concubine~!"

New Joys, Old Sorrows

View Online

The portal shimmered over the beach of a small lake, where the outskirts of a town stood on the other side. Bright beams peeked through the clouds. The rift rippled as each of the travelers emerged before closing behind them.

A gentle breeze brushed through their attire and manes as Shadow Scythe held Zeloph's hand while she mentally took a head count. Anarchia surveyed the village ahead, as did Wispy Willow and Kitsune beside them. The reaper inhaled the earthy aroma of her humble homeland.

“To think, there was once a time I was indifferent to the world’s natural beauty,” sighed the reaper, thinking about her history.

“You were missing out,” chuckled Zeloph as he squeezed her hand. “We’ll make up for lost time later. Though who knows? Perhaps I’ll be able to find a guitar somewhere and shake off the rust!”

“Ooh! You play?” Wispy asked, her forked tigress tail swaying curiously.

“And was incredibly good at it,” Ana added, reminiscing about the past before the two demi-humans were pulled in by the Necronomicon. “It's a shame ya never gotta tickle and bite your own songs.”

“Yeah… I’ll have to remedy that once this ordeal is dealt with.”

“We’re also musicians,” inserted Kitsune shyly at her sister's side. “We have a band called B.A.B.E. Perhaps you’d be interested in collaborating sometime in the future?”

“Yeah! You definitely sell the sensitive bad boy rockstar,” the nekomata purred, her slit pupils tracing over his bare torso and abs. “Almost like someone I used to play with~!”

Zell sheepishly turned away from Wispy’s gaze before coughing, “W-we’ll have to see about that.”

Shadow Scythe came between them. “We shouldn’t be planning our victory celebration so prematurely,” she reminded them sharply. “Come. Let’s head to the local villa. My old home isn’t too far beyond it."

Before anyone could form ideas on how to cross the large body of water, Kitsune turned to liquid metal, then hardened when she morphed herself into a speed boat, determined to ferry her new comrades. Once everyone was aboard the vehicle, she revved up the back motor and headed towards their destination.

“Thank fuck she can still transform! So what's the deal with you two anyway?” Wispy asked, shouting over the roaring engine. “From what I understand, you’re the first demi-humans, right?”

“In a sense,” answered Zell.

“Pure demi-humans, technically,” corrected Ana. “We’re the only ones born wif god's blood. The others you’ve encountered must 'ave been given it.”

“If they're anything like Varys, they likely stole it,” Shadow Scythe grimly suggested.

“Stolen?” Kitsune’s voice spoke through a speaker box, sounding concerned.

Zell looked away once he elaborated. “During our battle with the Burning King, we discovered a hidden ploy that Varys set up to acquire some of my blood. He’s an old acolyte to the Divine Father, the being responsible for our conception. He and I share history...”

Wispy cut in, “So you’re saying he’s even more powerful than before!? Shit!”

The neon demon nodded, narrowing her gaze to the water. “By preventin' the End of Days, we inadvertently released the devil. But 'e wasn’t the Burnin' King...”

“Only time will tell when we cross paths with Varys again,” said Shadow Scythe. “And whatever scheme he's formulating.”

“The moment we find him, I’ll rip him to shreds,” Wispy said confidently, stretching her limbs and pushing her bust out.

“We suspect Triad might be involved with his work,” noted Kitsune. “They both used to inhabit our world, so a connection between them is certainly possible.”

“Then we have our objectives,” Zeloph nodded. “We free both Quicksilver and Triad from Mortis’ coils. Then, after stopping the wraith, we use him to go after Varys and shut him down for good!”

Everyone nodded in agreement once the boat arrived at the opposite shore. Kitsune morphed back into her supple shape when each of her allies had stepped out.

“That’s quite a handy ability,” the angelic demi complimented with a smile.

“Thank you,” huffed Kitsune, who politely returned the gesture. “Though admittedly, it's a struggle to maintain forms for that long.”

Wispy conjured a plasma orb that flickered to stay aglow. “Grrrr! Stupid tech hampering zone,” she grumbled testily. “Looks like we’re relying on our natural combat skills for this mission.”

“Don’t feel so glum abaht it, love,” comforted Ana, who wrapped an arm over the tigress’ shoulders. Chaotic energy ignited from her right palm. “I’m not the Mae West of magic either! Most of me stuff only works when I’m close and personal~.” She empathized with this by squeezing her closer, the sides of their breasts pressing together.

“Mmm, you don’t say,” the feline assassin purred coyly. “Maybe you and I should have a sparring match~! Think you can keep up with an assassin?”

"Ooh, I'll do more than mingle wif ya, kitten~!"

The copper maned vixen heaved a belabored sigh. “Hasn’t been more than a day, and already she’s found a new ‘playmate.’ How typical.”

“Curiosity often kills the cat," mused Zeloph with a snicker.

“Yeah, if curiosity was a perverted ball of energy that swallowed the encyclopedia on every definition for the word ‘fuck’,” scoffed Shadow Scythe. “Honestly, she's worse than Belladonna. But if this keeps her distracted, I’m all for it.”

The reaper ushered them to move onward as everyone got more associated with each other. “Still, whatever knowledge you can share about yourself would be much appreciated,” stated Kitsune while walking beside the seraphic swordsman. “We plan to confront Seb once this is finished. Along with that Arron character.”

Zell frowned deeply. “It’s not exactly a pleasant tale, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I’ll likely join you when the time comes.”

To start, he went into vivid detail about his less than stellar beginnings as ‘the Fallen One.’ How his love for humanity was blinded by fury at the hands of his father. The death of his Terran mother and friend only fueled the fire. On occasion, Ana would fill in parts of her life that led to her sealing her brother inside the Necronomicon during their world’s precipice. The local village was only miles away once the pair spoke of their fateful encounter with Beatrix.

Shadow Scythe listened intently, reminded of when she confessed her crimes to her lover...and felt more self-conscious than ever when they neared civilization. Zeloph didn’t realize she had stopped moving until she tugged on his arm, still hand-in-hand. He stared back at the reaper, who shivered. She wanted to hide behind her hood more than ever, aware that her reputation as an irredeemable war criminal still thrived here.

"I-I should wait here," she insisted.

"Ohh, come now," replied Zeloph. "You’ve shed your old cloak. No one’s going to recognize you!"

"Doesn’t mean I don’t stand out!" She traced her fractured unicorn horn. "I may have mastered far more advanced spells than Belladonna, but her ability to whip up clothes is beyond me."

"It's sleight-of-hand, really," puffed the female demi-human. "Though ter be yogi bear, she's been at that since she was a tyke. Me garbs should be more than sufficient ter conceal your identity!"

"Ohh, I know!" Wispy spoke up when she turned to her older sister. "Kitsune’s usually the one who does our sexy makeup! So maybe...?"

"Understood, Imoto," acknowledged Kitsune as she approached the cautious unicorn mare. After the president’s militarian run ended, the members of B.A.B.E. took it upon themselves to look after new people. The vixen procured her makeup kit before setting Shadow Scythe down on a tree stump, where she knelt before her.

While they waited, Zeloph pulled out the Vorpal Blade, studying the runic inscriptions etched in the white steel. His frown deepened. “It hasn’t glowed since the attack on the manor. I really hope it's not one of those cases where it only activates when convenient…”

Wispy held her hips to the side. “Yeah, imagine if it suddenly decides to create a portal right underneath us in the middle of an intense battle!”

“That’d suck donkey dicks,” agreed Ana.

“I think, for now, I’ll just infuse it with my Onoma,” concluded the fallen angel. “Until I can figure out how to reliably call upon its true power.”

“Maybe it needs a phrase? loike ‘by the will of Celestia’s ample butt cheeks, I am blessed wif cosmic radiance!’ or sum shite.”

This made Wispy snicker. “Celestia’s butt cheeks?”

“'ave ya seen that ass, geeza? If I 'ad a dumpy loike that, I’d feel blessed wif supreme power too~!”

“What are you talking about?! You’ve got a great ass~!” The nekomata playfully swatted the demoness’ behind, the impact making it jiggle.

She tittered while wiggling her hips. “It is a sweet bum, 'uh? Ya sure I can’t go thicker~?”

“Bitch, please! Any thicker, and you’d need a forklift just to keep that thing from wobbling all over the place~!”

Zeloph groaned as he distanced himself from his comrade’s titillating topic about how nice their ample assets were. Meanwhile, Kitsune was wholly focused on touching up Shadow Scythe's face. She had finished hiding the dark circles under her eyes, then moved on with her band’s stage props to replace her horn’s missing bits. “I have no desire to alter who you are," explained the vixen. "Only to bring out your inner beauty." Shadow Scythe swallowed and nodded, trusting the kunoichi’s standards. Another sensation she had ignored due to her lack of empathy as a child.

"Man, a shame Eclipsed Heart's not here to see this!” Wispy said with a toothy smirk, her paws fondling Ana’s hefty tits. “Ohh! That’s our band leader, by the way. A pop princess sensation! Our universe’s version of Cerise!”

“Really, now?” Zell spoke up with an arched brow. “I assume she’s not a fan of demi-humans either..?”

“That’s a given considering how deplorable Seb is,” Wispy confirmed. “But I’m sure she’d like you! Especially with how handsome you are~!”

“Easy, tiger,” Ana chuckled stiffly. “I’m afraid my brother lacks me sexual appetite. Not to mention 'e and Shady 're very tight.”

“You make it sound like having a committed relationship is a bad thing,” said Zeloph, unamused.

“I’m just sayin'! When you’ve got so many people admirin' ya, it’s 'ard not ter indulge them~.”

“Nah, I totally get it,” interrupted Wispy. “Eclipsed has a boy back home who she’s head over heels with! He’s a swell guy, loyal and brave, albeit a little bland in the personality department.”

“Pft! Guess every version of Cerise sullies themselves over every basic knight in shinin' armor.”

“Ana!”

“Whaaat? Midnight's just so… generic! Never 'ad a fan time ‘rewarding’ those overly 'eroic types wif me coochie. I prefer a lil' spice in me dickin's!”

"To each their own,” Kitsune spoke up. “I, too, would like someone reliable. Regardless, I hope to introduce you once this is over. Aaaaaaaand done!”

Shadow Scythe took the hand mirror from the vixen and studied her face. She could see her mother's delicate features stare back and strained not to sob uncontrollably again. "I look… whole. Beautiful even…” she admitted before throwing her arms around the fox woman; she then squeezed her. “... thank you!”

Kitsune blinked several times before she returned the embrace. "Y-you're welcome," she shyly whispered, her cheeks warm. "I simply wish to help my companions; however I may."

"Aww," teased Wispy as her smirk broadened. “I know you guys are adamant about monogamy, but being open with friends couldn’t hurt, eh? Especially since my sister is crushing on you~.”

"I-I am not," assured Kitsune, who withdrew her hold and looked away. The cyber kunoichi strained to hide her loneliness and the need to find someone who understood her. She offered Shadow Scythe the black hood of her outfit for the final touch. "This should also help."

Shadow Scythe nodded when she stood up, fitting the hood into place, thankful it didn't clash with her outfit. She hesitantly offered, “Maybe in the future; I’d be more willing. But for now, please respect our set limits. We’re wasting enough time as it is. We have to see whether anyone here knows about this supposed demi-human." She took Zeloph’s hand once they strolled up ahead.

"Buzzkill," murmured Ana while she and the cyberverse ninjas trailed behind the couple.

The party settled into the village; Shadow Scythe clung to her lover's arm to hide from the locals. Stallions and mares muttered amongst themselves at the strange newcomers, but some gave a friendly wave and continued their day. Zeloph decided to seek an open-air restaurant to avoid arousing suspicion, which proved a relatively straightforward matter since he followed the scent of food on the breeze. Past the cobblestones that cut through the grass waited for simple homes adorned the paths.

In moments like these, he and Shadow Scythe remembered simpler times before misdirected ambition led the pair to villainy.

The fallen one found a table. Everyone took seats under an umbrella that shaded them from the afternoon sun. The sole exception is Kitsune, who remained standing before stating, "I have no need of sustenance so that I will take a look around."

Once the vixen took to the rooftops, Zeloph curled a brow and snarkily said, "Quite the social butterfly, isn’t she?"

"I’m afraid my sister’s always been like that,” sighed Wispy from across the table. “All business, not one for parties. Our band's concerts aside!”

“Girl needs ter get laid,” snorted Ana, who took a sip from her glass.

“Not everything can be solved with sex, deviant,” Shadow Scythe huffed.

The demoness smirked. “Sure it can! Look how well ya came 'round once ya popped that cherry~?”

Zeloph retorted by dipping his fingers into his water before flicking it at his sister, who hissed. “Behave!”

“Aw, c'mon, Zell. I'm just 'avin' a giraffe... mostly~.”

The reaper took a deep exhalation before taking a drink, utterly flustered. While sex with her lover was undoubtedly lovely, the intimacy he offered mattered more.

Wispy lazily heaved her shoulders. “Granted, I don’t blame her. What with her past and all. The closest times she’s ever at peace is when she meditates, showers, or plays her shamisen."

“Ooh! Tell me more,” the female demi purred as her venus flytrap tail slithered underneath the table. “Would love ter kna 'a she keeps aw those tails nice n' floofy~.”

Wispy returned her smile as the nekomata's striped twin tails looped around the demi's below. "Well..." She watched her sister trail away to investigate the area and keep watch. “She uses a special brand of shampoo that gives her tails the extra fluff factor. Has to go through bottles daily~!”

“Blimey! A whole Aristotle just for wahn shower?”

“Mhm! It makes her feel more included when we’re prepping for our latest concert.”

"I bet ya put on sum wild shows," presumed Ana while their tails continuously intertwined.

“Hoohh yeah~! Maybe we'll invite you to one~!" Wispy's tails directed the succubus' own along the tigress' tender thigh, below the cut of her cheongsam, where Ana quickly learned her feline friend hadn't bothered to wear panties today. Wispy chewed on her lip to keep down a moan upon feeling a slimy tongue lap at her bare snatch, the slurps swallowed by their banter.

"It would be nice to see you guys in action," admitted Shadow Scythe, whose eyes followed the fox woman while she made her way around the villa. “Are you sure she’s alright? I know what it's like to seek comfort in solitude, but…”

“Sis can take care of herself,” reassured Wispy, who wiggled about in her seat while Ana continued to molest her kitty cunt in secret. “She's-aah~! E-easily the strongest person I know!"

"Indeed,” mused Zeloph, who took a gentle sip. “To wield such refined power without the need of an Onoma is truly impressive!”

A waitress came their way and started to take their orders. Once the table had concluded with what they wanted to eat, she left, and the seraphic demi continued while his warm hand clasped around his love’s. “I have to say; this 'cyberverse' sounds like a remarkable world… the cost not included.”

"Yeah, your old pal did a real number on the place," Wispy grumbled, her face twisted into a sneer. "He’s responsible for turning my sister into a killing machine. He robbed her of normal life, and I won’t let that stand!" The moment her lemonade arrived, she immediately downed it.

“Yeah… I can relate,” gulped Zell, who studied his refilled glass. He thought back to their conversation on the boat and the guilt stacked up. He unknowingly played a crucial part in making the cyber demon more omnipotent. No matter their vendetta, he had an obligation to cease Varys’ plans before others were turned into lethal experiments.

Soon enough, their orders came in, and everyone shifted to focus on eating, aware they would need their energy to start their investigation correctly. Shadow Scythe studied their surroundings beneath the black hood she borrowed from the vixen and inhaled sharply once she spotted the wanted posters that adorned a pub nearby.

Her eyes were drawn to her scornful face, her world utterly unaware that Beatrix had spirited her away onto a lonesome asteroid as a punishment rather than let her face execution. That was until the eldritch abomination disguised as a mansion had forever altered their fates.

“Excuse me!”

A peppy feminine voice made the reaper flinch, turning her head to a group of mares dressed in nun attire that had approached their table. One of them held a mug and asked, “Could we ask you for a bit of your time and charity? It's for a good cause, I assure you!”

Shadow Scythe glanced at the cup, reading the words 'Houses 4 Fillies’ with a cute little logo. The other members of her sorority also held up matching mugs.

“I… don’t see why not,” she murmured before fishing a shiny bit out of her short pants and placing it inside the cup with a clink.

“O’, Bless you, miss!” the mare tittered. “May the light shine brightly upon you this day. Your generosity will bring a sick filly into a loving home~!”

“What about you, good sir?” Another nun gestured to Zeloph, who only offered a smile and threw in a few of his bits.

“Sorry, girls! I’ve got nun to spare,” Wispy snickered, earning a collective groan from the superfluity.

“Hadn’t heard that one before…” one mare muttered before they turned to Ana next.

“Unless it’s for the ExpandMyDong foundation, I ain’t interested,” the demoness retorted rudely. “Go get slewed, ya pretentious prudes.”

“How vulgar!”

“Why I’d never!!”

“Ignore her, sisters. This one made it clear she’s a lost cause,” one nun garbed pony scoffed. “Come. Let us complete our charitable work before Mother Superior arrives!”

Bowing their heads to the table, the coven took their charity work elsewhere while the party stared appalled at Ana.

“Ana, was that necessary?” Zeloph berated with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, come off it,” the neon demon puffed. “I can’t fuckin' stand nuns and their ‘holier-than-thou’ charade. Only desperate girls take up the 'abit. I reckon half of them 're skanks!”

“Oooh, the forbidden fruit angle, aye? Not a bad idea! I bet Eclipsed, and I could come up with killer costumes,” the tigress pondered before taking a hefty bite out of her fish sandwich.

The fallen angel heaved a sigh before shifting focus to his lover, who was again staring at her wanted poster from a distance.

"Belladonna's so irresponsible," she murmured. "She didn't even bother to tell them...?"

"Maybe the princesses decided to keep it a secret," surmised Zeloph. "Most ponies would have demanded your public execution, and they didn’t have the stomach for that."

"So they dropped their problem on Beatrix instead," sourly stated Shadow Scythe.

"To be fair, she did hope to rehabilitate you,” he mused. “And technically succeeded, in a way."

"Ah yes. By having one of her friends wipe my memory, force my unbridled emotions against me, and nearly reduce my mental state to that of a child." She exhaled. "In the end, Belladonna's hapless buffoonery always works out."

Zeloph paused between his drinks. “Don’t be like that. If none of that happened, we wouldn’t have gotten together, now would we?”

Her snout scrunched up, and her cheeks blushed. “... no, I would have likely killed you. And never have you realized how wonderful a person you are.”

“Exactly,” he bashfully chuckled. “Well, I mean, I’m not the greatest person either, but-" Glass exploded in his grip, numerous shards and wine splashed all over the seraph, whose eyes shot wide.

The whole party rose up once more, and bullets sprayed in their direction. It didn’t take long for Shadow Scythe to realize it was her father, as she spotted his figure crouched behind the rooftop. The reaper knew Quicksilver Bullet was anything but a lousy shot, meaning he missed on purpose. A warning to announce his presence.

His tactic worked spectacularly since the civilians screamed and scattered in all directions. Kitsune dropped down next to her sister, energy saber erected from the hilt in hand. “It’s them!”

“Good afternoon, doves~!” came the melodic voice of Penny Dreadful, who glided down from the skies on her parasol. Scanning the entourage, her beak frowned when she said, “Not here, huh? Pity. I'll have to coax Beatrix out by sending her lovely packages of her minions' disembodied limbs~!”

"We're not minions," glowered Shadow Scythe, eyes narrowed when she summoned up dozens of sickles that whirled about her.

“Yeah, ever looked at a mirror lately?” Wispy said, striking a martial pose.

“We are more than mere puppets on strings,” assured the black stallion in a pinstripe suit behind the avian lady, his own katana unsheathed. “We serve a higher purpose now!”

“Triad!” Kitsune snarled before intercepting the swordsman, their blades swinging as they took their battle to the streets.

“My, my!” Penny cooed, waving her tail fan over her face. “Quite the cutthroat isn’t sh-ooough!”

She was cut off by a hard kick across her face, knocking her aside. Wispy bounced on the ball of her feet, her hands infused with what little plasma she could muster. “She isn’t the only one, sweetheart!”

Wispy turned to Ana, who strolled beside her and rolled her wrists. “Perfect timin'! I’m in the mood ter break a bitch,” sneered the demi-human.

The clockwork griffoness rubbed her cracked cheek while glaring at the pair of tightly clad heroines. A sinister smirk spreads her features as she quips, “Two against one? Oh, that’s hardly fair… for you~!” Cackling madly, she lunged at Wispy and Ana, twirling her bladed umbrella.

With two of Mortis’ minions occupied, Shadow Scythe tried to locate her father as more gunshots went off to keep the crowd in panic. “Father… surely you know this isn’t right?”

“You need to go ask him that personally,” Zeloph insisted, holding her shoulders firmly. “I’ll make sure civilians make it out of the villa safely. Go!”

With pursed lips and a nod, the unicorn mare sailed to the rooftops while her love ushered the elderly, helping one old mare with a limp.

The food plaza was torn to shreds as Kitsune and Triad fought, stands and chairs falling apart. Their beam sabers collided in a shower of sparks as the fox woman demanded, “How did you slip past me? You should be dead!”

"Through my master’s will, I was liberated," Triad repeated, letting the kunoichi push him off, skidding backward. He took the opportunity to rip off his waistcoat cleanly, green veins pulsating all over his musculature. “This vessel no longer needs a spirit to function, as it belongs to Mortis now. In fact, his prowess expands with every soul claimed! Much like your friend, Shadow Scythe…”

The kunoichi hardened her cold glare as she realized his ploy. “You’re merely a diversion while Mortis extracts the souls of every pony here!”

The ebony stallion nodded.

“I have to warn Zeloph!”

But before she could, the swordsman’s back tattoos lit up, projecting the turquoise dragon and vermillion tiger to his side. “I can’t allow you to do that,” Triad stated before sending his hologram familiars to block the kunoichi, forcing her to continue their duel in the town square.

With as many ponies he could escort, Zeloph surveyed each stallion, mare, and foal present and asked, “Is everyone alright?”

A few nodded while tending to their loved ones, the community doing their best to remain calm. The nuns from before also tried to lift their spirits while one went off to contact their monastery for further assistance. His gaze returned to the ruined villa, more gunfire resounding. Some didn’t make it, but at least he managed to rescue as many ponies as possible from the bedlam.

‘Jonn… mother,’ he pondered inwardly. ‘If you could both see me now, would you be proud..?’

Sudden illumination caught his eye once the Vorpal Blade resonated in his hand, the runic steel alit with chromatic light. Zeloph winched as his sword tried pulling him in random directions. “Nnagh! Oh, for heaven’s sake, not this nonsense again! Why now of all the times?”

His answer came in the form of an ominous, spine-chilling chuckle. Everyone gazed in horror at the lich unicorn levitating above, his tattered black cloak left to flutter in the breeze. Dread began to rise up again before Mortis unleashed a wave of deathly energy. The sword countered by slicing through the ripple, ensuring its wielder was unaffected by the shroud of darkness.

The ponies were not so lucky.

Pained gasps and cries alerted the Fallen One as he watched them rapidly disintegrate into dust. His eyes pinpointed when every mare, stallion, and foal perished before him, their souls floating from their remaining skeletons. Their shimmering spheres were then siphoned into the revenant’s maw, soul essence flowing throughout the wraith's hollowed bones, where it settled.

Zeloph’s mind instantly flashed back to the thousands of civilians his father forced into ascension into the stratosphere, clutching his head and letting out an anguished cry. “What have you done?! You killed them!!”

“She killed them,” Mortis corrected. “This is the penance for all her sins. I am only harvesting what is necessary to fulfill my sacred purpose.”

“Oh, quit fooling yourself,” argued the demi human, whose eyes flashed an angry vermillion. “If your emotions are dead, so is your sense of morality. Even after completing your revenge, you’ll still consume life in a vain attempt to fulfill that emptiness. You won’t stop until everything lies dead at your feet!”

Another mute chuckle slithered out of the dead unicorn’s rictus grin. “You’re very observant, False Idol. And perhaps what you say is true. But it matters not. The traitorous Atalanta will suffer like those who have fallen to her scythe. As will any fool who dares try to protect her!”

Zell’s anger spiked as his Onoma blazed around his form with ultraviolet light, every eye on his wing fixated on the skeletal revenant. He steadily hovered up until head level with Mortis before taking a combative stance. “Not gonna happen!” He proclaimed before flash-stepping in front of the lich reaper to strike him down.

But the corpse of a recently deceased mare rose to intercept the blow. He struggled to pull his blade out before flinging the reanimated carcass to the ground while the other dead ponies rose up under Mortis’ mental command.

Aware that they were no longer who they once were, Zeloph swallowed any qualms about fighting the undead citizens and blessed the Vorpal Blade with sunfire, swinging his way through the hoard, reducing every bone to ashes that scattered on the wind. Knowing it was useless to summon more of his legion, Mortis took up the fight, revealing his own blood-rusted scythe to channel his deathly magic.

The undead unicorn weaved dark spells to counteract the seraphic swordsman’s holy magic. Beams of light clashed with ghastly green vapor waves while their blades collided. Zeloph took solace that their battle was far from his allies, meaning he was free to unleash the full wrath of his divine powers, determined to return the relentless death-dealer to the other side.

“Father? Father!?”

Shadow Scythe cried out, searching every logical spot he might have been hiding. The gunfire had ceased, the sounds of her comrades fighting against undead assailants echoing around her.

“Father, please,” the unicorn mare begged, emotions high. She didn’t conceal her tears as they freely ran down her face. “I know how angry you are with me. I-I deserve it. But the stallion I knew would never put innocents at risk, let alone work with an undead warlock!”

Quicksilver poked his head behind the giant bronze bell within a high tower. With his target in sight, the gunslinger reloaded and took aim. He had a clear visual of his daughter through the scope, finger curling around the trigger.

“So please, father,” continued the distraught reaper. “Leave them out of this!! Don’t become what Mortis… what I am! You’re not a killer!”

The old stallion felt his hands trembling as his finger loosened. His teeth and muscles tightened, forcing his body to take the shot. He’d already swore to serve his master and avenge his wife. His daughter was a monster, and as a famed monster hunter, it was his duty to put her down!

So then why, in the moment of truth, was he hesitant to pull the trigger on his own flesh and blood? After all, he'd lost and sacrificed...

‘Finish it!’ Mortis' hollow voice crept within his wained psyche. ‘She’s right there, do it! Kill her now and redeem Quiver Bolt! Or do you wish to return to that empty house and waste away as you live!? A failure?!?’

“Nnnnaaargh! DAMNIT!!” He bellowed as he slammed his fist into the brick and lowered his weapon, choking up. His haunted wails alerted Shadow Scythe to the bell tower, the pale unicorn floating towards him. He balked when his eyes fell below, many bystanders who didn’t make it out alive. “I-I can't do this,” sobbed the elder stallion. "I didn't sign up for senseless butchery!"

‘You took an oath to sacrifice anything to carry out your vendetta,’ the disembodied voice of his master reminded him. 'You don't have a choice!'

His body rose against his will, retaking aim at the reaper levitating towards him. Quicksilver tried to turn his rifle away, but a migraine pulsated through his head, feeling his brain would split in two. His finger pulled the trigger, but Shadow Scythe had gotten too close and used her Onoma to deflect the bullet.

In a moment of madness, Quicksilver managed to fire a round at the rope tethering the bell, causing the massive ornament to drop through the tower. The entire building collapsed under the impact. Shadow Scythe gasped, ears flat from the crashes, staying clear from the demolition until the dust settled. “Father!” She bawled and used her scythes and magic to dig through the debris.

Quicksilver made an apparent leap behind the demolished structure, using the building's destruction as a cover. He held down a yelp as the headache worsened, crumpling to his knees. Memories of what had happened to his wife continued to flash before his weary eyes.

“G-gaagh! Stop! Leave me alone!!”

‘Your soul is mine, hunter,’ the lich’s voice coldly stated, amplifying his mental domination with false images of Shadow Scythe cutting down her father. The old hunter must be kept unaware that his 'master' had slain him, then forcefully conscripted him into his service upon his resurrection. ‘And you will serve me until my vengeance is complete!’

Shadow Scythe shuddered at groans behind her, pulling her focus back to the plaza. The pony corpses stumbled to their feet, ghoulish green magic shimmering from their eyes. The unicorn mare took a defensive stance, knowing their numbers were far too many. Yet she wondered if Mortis was doing this simply to remind her of what she'd been? That once, their positions would have been reversed..?

The others weren’t faring much better. Wispy’s plasma orbs proved much smaller in this world, albeit effective in batting Penny Dreadful away. She provided cover fire while Ana lashed out at the clockwork griffoness, who used her whirly parasol to deflect each sphere thrown at her.

“S-surely, this isn’t the best you can do, right?” she taunted, despite having bits of herself severely damaged by the demoness’ wicked claws and tail. Oil seeped out her wounds, cogs whirling in stress. But her desire to rip apart Beatrix’s friends drove the avian assassin to keep going, throwing her umbrella upside down as it spun rapidly with slicing blades. The neon demon backed off, taking to the sky while blasting Penny with chaotic balls. She snarled in frustration at the automaton; her Onoma manifested in a blaze of dark flames.

The twin-tailed tigress was about to jump in when her ears picked up painful howls. Her eyes dilated at the sight of her sister receiving a hefty thrashing from Triad and his digital familiars. Try as she might, the fox woman couldn’t overcome the numbers, yelling from each swipe and bite from the tiger and dragon he commanded.

“Kitsune!!” Wispy called before rushing over, unintentionally leaving Ana to fend for herself.

“Wispy, wait! We're in the bloody middle of-gaagh!”

The brief distraction gave Penny enough time to launch feather darts from her wings. The sharpened quills sliced through Ana, cutting her open in places. The parasol then fired a net, which coiled around and electrocuted her with a hiss. Steam fizzled off her head before the demoness fell down, unconscious.

With her weapon returning to her side, the avian lady tittered with malicious glee and skipped over on her talons. “Oh ho ho! Gotcha~!”

Likewise, Triad had taken a couple of blows that exposed his circuitry, static crackling over his open wounds. But whatever damage he suffered pale compared to how badly Kitsune was battered, the cyber ninja struggling to stay afoot as he called off his pets. The cyber dragon and tiger fused anew into the tattoos on his back.

“You fought valiantly,” commended the black stallion. “But you’re out of your depth. Skill alone can not make up for how obsolete your tech is. Face facts, Kitsune. You’ve become inferior!”

“Urusai!” barked the fox woman, who stood on shaky limbs before clumsily charging with her beam saber. Triad simply shook his head before hardening his stance, hand clutching his beam katana’s handle. Faster than the blink of an eye, the swordsman brushed past her with his sword out, causing her to stop in her tracks.

They stood motionless before Triad resheathed his weapon. The moment the hilt clicked, blood gushed out of Kitsune’s torso, a large gash revealing itself. The kunoichi gasped before finally succumbing to her injuries and collapsing.

“You BASTARD!!”

Wispy hollered, lunging at the swordsman, claws extended to tear at his face until a bullet struck her down. She wailed; her body tumbled next to her older sister’s, pain searing out her side from the round lodged into her wide hip.

Triad turned to Quicksilver, who clutched at his head, migraine still ringing. Penny Dreadful dropped between them in a flutter of wings, tossing Ana’s unconscious form alongside the defeated cyber ninjas. “Jolly good show, boys,” she hooted with a wink. “Now, let’s carve them up into mincemeat and ship them back to Beatrix~!”

“No,” said Triad sternly. “Not until the traitor has been apprehended for her crimes!”

“Oh, c’mon! This is our revenge as much as it's Mortis'!" She planted hands on her hips to pout. "Why else would we be summoned here if not-”

But Quicksilver grabbed Penny by her neck, glaring hotly at the assassin, a pistol held in his free hand. “We’re only here because we’ve got a job to do. Now get to it before I put one right between those synthetic eyes!”

She strained a squawk before nodding frantically, gasping once the elder stallion released her throat. “Where is our beloved master anyway?” the clockwork griffoness coughed.

“He’s currently locked in a duel with the Fallen One,” sensed the swordsman.

“Good,” grunted Quicksilver as he led his comrades towards the gathering hoard, where his daughter sliced through the undead droves with her storm of silver sickles. “Once the bastard’s dead, I can take my sword back.”

Zeloph felt his body strain under the enormous heat he emitted as he fought Mortis to a stand still. Surprisingly, the Vorpal Blade was holding up tremendously, its own magic rippling from his hand. But his opponent remained unfettered, ghastly soul energy swirling around his skeletal form as his rust-colored scythe struck back.

‘I’m running out of time,’ he acknowledged, tightening his grip. ‘I need to end this now!’

With a loud cry, he launched a solar wave at the reaper, who cleaved through it with his large sickle. His horn glowed with sickly black magic, firing a beam of putrefaction at the angelic demi-human. Immediately, his ophanim shield activated, the intersecting topaz wheels adorned with eyes negating the brazen attack.

But upon realizing the projectile would last longer than the barrier, Zeloph dispelled the angelic throne and ducked. Yet particles grazed his burgundy jacket and began rotting the leather material within seconds. Gasping, he threw off his surface layer before it dissolved completely, the lithe muscles of his upper body left exposed.

His glare and resolve hardened before firing a pillar of light into the dark clouds. Rays burst through as heavenly swords rained down to pin Mortis to the tainted ground. The wraith wriggled and writhed from the shearing hot blades that fractured the battered lich's worn bones.

With the threat immobilized, Zeloph soared down to deliver the coup de grace. But the lich had enough reserves for one more spell, as he spread his forbidden magic into the ground. The earth rumbled before a tornado of souls escaped, then wailed as they whirled around the fallen angel.

The deathly winds slowly suffocated Zeloph, depriving him of oxygen as he clenched his throat. Eventually, the funneling force proved too much before he descended down to his knees, choking from lack of air. When his Onoma extinguished, Mortis propelled himself to clasp the demi-human by the neck. The reaper lifted his face closer to his equine skull, squeezing his throat tightly to make Zell choke and gurgle, helpless to do more than flail weakly in his grasp.

“This was inevitable,” Mortis said as he teleported them back above the ruined plaza. Shadow Scythe paused upon sensing her foe, snapping her head before a scene played out to her horror.

“Zeloph!!”

“Ata… lanta…” he wheezed, trying in vain to pry at Mortis’ deathly grip, his bones like ice.

It then dawned on the female reaper that they had failed miserably to save anyone. A vast amount of cadavers stood in legion while her father, Penny, and Triad approached her. Beyond them, Ana and Kitsune were knocked out, Wispy struggling to remain conscious while shaking her sister. "Get up," she cried in sheer desperation.

“It’s over, traitor,” Mortis proclaimed triumphantly, an eerie smolder in his eye sockets. “There is only death for you and your allies.”

“P-please,” she bitterly wept. “End me if you must, but let them live! It’s me you want! I’m the one who deserves to be punished!”

“Were you so merciful when slaughtering our kin?” asked the undead warlock. “Or how about the countless lives you stole to empower yourself? Was that an act of mercy?”

Shadow Scythe could not retort, only staring helplessly with watery eyes. Quicksilver noticed how wet her cheeks were from how much she had cried. Never once did his daughter shed a single tear, even when she was but a foal, and yet, here she was, bawling for her friend’s life.

“Know that I do not take pleasure in all of this,” announced Mortis. “I merely wish to enact justice to the one evading it. And for that to be acquired, I must take what you love the most.”

“N-no… NO, PLEASE!!!” The moment Shadow Scythe tried to move, the undead citizens grabbed her limbs and held her down. The mare reaper had spent so much time fighting that her Onoma had been exhausted. Skeletal hands forced her head up, watching helplessly as Mortis opened his bony maw wide.

Zeloph began asphyxiating as his life force was steadily drained, the baleful light of his soul traveling from his chest to his throat. Tears leaked out of his rolled back eyes, his vision fading…

Then, a twinkle flashed from the clouds before something long and fast flew down to strike Mortis through the back. The reaper grunted as a strange elation filled him, causing him to let Zeloph go before he could swallow his soul.

“W-wha? Zell!!”

Rings of light manifested around the fainted demi-human, catching him and gently placing him down. Mortis ripped out the thing lodged in his spine, a topaz arrow with a rose-colored tip. It burned in his skeletal palm, forcing him to drop it as the bone audibly sizzled.

Shadow Scythe cried, “What? Who!?”

Suddenly, a chorus resonated through the plaza, the clouds parting to allow rays of golden light to shine through. The undead legion looked around in confusion as Nuns slowly entered the block. All of them sang with their hands closed together.

“What in bloody blazes is going on?!” demanded Penny, who aimed her parasol at the surrounding choir. Triad also took up a stance while Quicksilver reloaded his heavy rifle.

The older stallion's eyes widened when he pointed and shouted, “Over there!”

Mortis followed the direction to spot another winged figure hovering a few feet from him. She was adorned in a rosewood gown, a red sash tied around her waist. Over the top was a feathery white neckerchief, matched by the sleeve cuffs. A topaz cross rested over her chest, tethered by beads. Like her followers below, she wore a habit over her head curved like a pair of horns.

But the creature’s most telling features were the fluffy daffodil yellow wings, each feather tipped with blush pink. The same applied to her winged ears and her serpentine tail that flicked out its tongue. Taffy-colored hair curled underneath the headpiece. And spreading her pale gray face was a motherly smile, complimented by her large pink eyes.

“T-the demi-human…” Shadow Scythe said, aghast.

“You and your minions don’t belong here, revenant,” she said in a cheery tone. “This is sacred ground, and you’ve tarnished it with your very presence. If you leave now, I will forgive this senseless disaster.”

“All who stand against me have chosen death,” declared Mortis, who powered his bony hands and horn with deathly green magic. “If you value your life, interloper, you’ll stay out of my way!”

This earned an airy giggle from the saintly demi-human. “I wasn’t asking~!”

Almost immediately, rings appeared to inhibit the lich’s powers before blasting him away with her own holy magic. She conjured several rings and, with a gesture, shot out more arrows to scatter Triad, Penny, and Quicksilver. They tried to deflect and evade, yet some spearheads found their mark, jolts of heat overwhelming their undead bodies, yelling in agony.

Shadow Scythe managed to break free from the undead clutches holding her as the nun’s melodic prayers weakened them. Every corpse collapsed into dust, and their vessels were laid to rest.

Mortis was lodged with topaz arrows, his bones hissing as they began to melt. The pain would only escalate as the demi-human drew a sealed circle beneath him, unleashing cleansing illumination that made him scream. All the souls he had harvested vomited out his parted jaws, ascending to the higher plane.

The male reaper started cackling uncontrollably, his entire frame rattling from the overwhelming joy flowing throughout him. Emotions he thought dead suddenly resurfaced under the jubilant light. The sight was jarring to both his underlings and Shadow Scythe.

“Rejoice, unholy abominations,” the angelic abbess cheered. “The light shall cleanse your decaying flesh and return your spirit to eternal slumber!”

“N-no… bahahaha! Never!!” He bellowed, overpowering the inhibitor rings, breaking both them and the circle. He shifted to his followers, recognizing that they were too weak to continue skirmishing with this creature and her sorority of holy worshipers. He cast a ghoulish gaze at Shadow Scythe and said, “This isn’t over, traitor. I will come for you yet!”

As he spirited himself and his legion away, the pale unicorn crawled her way over to Zeloph’s form, pressing her head to his chest. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard his heartbeat, albeit slowly. She cradled his head to her bosom, unable to stop her sobbing. “I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry...! Because of my actions-”

The female demi-human floated down beside them, tilting her head at the unconscious demi-human, his uneven breaths shallow.

“Mother superior, stay back!” One nun warned as she approached cautiously. “That’s the criminal Shadow Scythe! We should alert the royals and-”

“No,” the head nun rejected with a shake of her head when she took in the aftermath. “I believe she and her companions have been through enough. Bring them to the monastery.”

“B-but-!”

“We’ll settle on what to do with her later. But it is our priority to bring health to those in need.”

“... At once, mother superior,” the mare relented, relaying the order to her sisters as they gathered to carry Wispy, Ana, and Kitsune onto stretchers. Shadow Scythe tensed upon feeling a hand touch her shoulder, staring with blurry eyes at their supposed savior, who gracefully smiled.

“It's okay, friend,” she assured the pale reaper. “Come with me, and we'll get you to safety."

Atonement

View Online

It was a world on fire.

The sirens wailing were swallowed amidst the screams of millions. Everywhere Zeloph looked, disaster unfolded. What was once a civilized city was now a desolate warzone; buildings toppled over and crumbled before a burning sun, its crimson light illuminating the hellish landscape.

His head snapped towards a woman and child, clutching one another. The mother was racing towards him, pleading for him to save them. But Zeloph couldn’t move, his body heavy and fatigued. No matter how hard he struggled, he was perpetually immobilized.

That's when Zell felt the earth rumble. And a shadow overcast them, drawing their eyes to a massive frame stretched towards the heavens.

The sun highlighted the enormity of the titan, all of its bulk except its manifold of eyes visible while it moved towards them. And it wasn’t alone.

Zeloph scanned the horizon with fearful eyes as thousands of gargantuan monsters roamed the earth, quaking under their footsteps. Whatever offense the armed forces brought was quickly dispatched, as the creatures built like towers brought the entire globe to its knees.

Once more, the mother and child begged for a savior before a foot stomped them into a bloodied paste, barely missing Zeloph, who followed the leg of the many-eyed giant. All of its glowing peepers gazed down at him.

"Stop," he cried, almost inaudible compared to the sound of humanity’s extinction resonating around him.

It reached down with an open palm. “Stop!”

Enveloped his vision. “STOP!!”

Closed around him.

"STOOOOOOOOOP!!!"

His eyes snapped open as he lurched into a sitting position, his bare chest lined in sweat, panting heavily.

“H-hey! Take it easy,” a voice gently urged, placing her cool hands on his shoulders to calm him. Celeste eyes found the icy blues of Shadow Scythe, who managed an uneasy smile. “You’re okay..!”

Steadying his breaths, Zell relaxed in his lover’s tender touch. His eyes drifted to the Vorpal Blade shimmering in his grip before it dimmed.

Was it the source of that dreadful dream? Or maybe it was the Nightmare Stag sending one of his prophetic warnings? Finding his voice, the demi asked, "How long was I out?”

“Only a day,” stated Shadow Scythe, shyly looking away. “I haven’t left this spot since we arrived here.”

“And where is ‘here?’, exactly.”

“Why, my beloved monastery, of course!” A beatific voice chimed in, drawing their attention to the woman at the door. The two demi-humans took the other’s appearance in, mesmerized. The pink-haired nun then gave a delighted squee.

“Oh, blessed day! How I’ve longed to encounter more of my own! Erm, under better circumstances, of course!” She paused to clear her throat and recompose herself. “It warms my heart to finally meet you, Zeloph.”

“You know my name?”

“Indeed I do! I am Abbess Julianne, Mother of the Rosary,” she introduced herself with a short bow.

“Mortis and his goons would have won had she not interfered,” admitted Shadow Scythe darkly. “H-he almost kill-”

“Aah, bup bup! There will be no mention of death in my presence,” insisted the rosey demi-human. “This is a safe place, dearie! One where you and your companions are welcome to recover from your last outing.”

“Well, that’s a relief, I guess,” coughed Zeloph, who sat on the bed’s edge while wrapping an arm around the unicorn mare, pulling her close. He then asked, “So…how did you become a demi human?”

Julianne’s smile slightly faltered before she took a seat beside the couple. “I was one of the Divine Father’s most devoted followers,” she began. “We used to run these structures in his honor. And, in return for my faith and loyalty, I was rewarded with his blood. Of course, when we learned what he truly was, everything fell apart, and this monastery was abandoned. But I never left. Despite the awful origins, I wanted to preserve our practice. Thus, I formed my own covenant for people wishing to relieve themselves of troubling burdens!”

Julianne clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, relishing the fond moments she had made. Shadow Scythe noted that the female demi’s wide smile never broke the entire time she spoke. She had a certain cheeriness that could put even Cerise's and Midnight's chipper moods to shame. It was kind of off-putting…

“That’s when we were teleported here,” the abbess continued. “A swirling light opened up right below the earth. No one got hurt, thank goodness, but we arrived in a world where all of my sisters were inexplicably transformed into mares. I remained unaffected, yet they went on as if nothing had happened.”

“That is very strange,” said Zeloph, noting the connection between the nuns and the anthropomorphized ponies. A reminder of the entropy Beatrix unwittingly brought to this land.

He rose, accepting a towel from his love to dry off before manifesting a new burgundy jacket to wear. “Thank you, Julianne,” the fallen angel said to the mother superior. “I’m indebted to you.”

“Oh, think nothing of it!” the female demi beamed, waving his compliment off. Just then, church bells echoed outside, making her gasp. “Oh, good heavens! Is it lunchtime already? You must be hungry after that whole ordeal! Come, come! Your friends are waiting!”

With that, their hostess took the lead in showing them down the open corridor, all while humming sweetly. As they trailed behind Julianne, Shadow Scythe commented, “Her optimism is quite infectious. I can’t begin to understand how anyone could be so content with life!”

“Well, according to Kitsune, the demi-humans from the cyberworld are a couple of jackasses. So I’ll gladly take overly happy any day,” chuckled Zeloph, who removed his arm from the reaper. “Still… you didn’t have to stay by my side, y’know.”

“Of course I did!” The unicorn mare tensed up, slightly offended. “I’m the reason you almost died, idiot! If something bad happened to you and I was powerless to stop it, I-I would never forgive myself.”

“Hey! None of that, okay?” Zell insisted, firmly holding his distraught lover’s shoulders. Once she gave the nod, they proceeded after the merry demi-human.

Down the hallway, lead them into the main chapel of the stone monastery, given a view of the lobby. A marble fountain with an artistic statue flowed in the center as many nuns and servants wandered about their day. Walls and buildings boxed the location in a circular structure, the entrance opposite where the stone church stood.

“Look, over here!!” Wispy’s voice called as she waved them over.

Not even a few feet over, Ana propelled herself onto her brother, squeezing him tightly into her soft, plush chest. “Oh, Zelly! Ya nearly scared me half ter deaf! I thought ya were a goner...”

“I-I might still be if you don’t stop crushing me!” he wheezed, wriggling out of the demoness’ hug.

“I dunno about you, but I’d be happy knowing I died between a nice set of badonkers~” the tigress teased.

“Not funny,” Shadow Scythe asserted, narrowing her cold gaze at Wispy, who held up her hands defensively.

“Yeesh! Take it easy; I’m only playing.”

“Mortis nearly killed us,” reminded Kitsune. “We were unprepared for how quickly he and his minions took action.” She cast a glance at Julianne before bowing her head. “We owe you.”

“Pft! Speak for yourself,” scoffed the neon demon, hands on her wide hips. “We could 'ave taken ‘em if we 'adn't split up….” Ana looked to Wispy, who sheepishly looked away before casting a dirty glance at the mother superior. “And ya! I bet you're expectin' us ter convert into your Adam 'n Make-Believe religion, in'cha!?”

“Oh, of course not! We're not a cult,” reassured Julianne, who tittered. “All are welcome to participate in our seminars, but we won’t ask you to change your lifestyle. That’s a choice only you can make.”

“Okay, good,” Wipsy sighed in relief. “Cause this ain’t my kind of place. Too stuffy for me. Plus, I’m way underdressed!”

“Please, I bet ya a 'undred bits this cheeky cunt’s wearin' the latest lingerie from Saint Victoria’s catalog.”

The statement made the sorority of nuns gasp while Julianne kept a positive front. “Language~!”

“Oh, go bla the priest that molested ya, ye smiley-faced bowler twat!”

“Seriously, Ana, that's enough!” Shadow Scythe berated, narrowing her icy gaze at the neon demoness. “Can't you keep your mouth shut for one damn day!?”

“I ain’t filterin' myself for anyone! Not for ya, and coytanlee not for this jolly, cotton candy-haired bi-yowch!”

The foul-mouthed demoness yowled as Julianna’s serpent-headed tail lightly nipped into her right breast, leaving a pair of dots on her ample flesh. “Wot the shite!?!”

“I must ask that you calm down now,” the mother superior insisted as her followers gathered to see all the commotion.

“Loike Gypsy Nell, I will! Ya bit me in the bloody tit, ya... y-you dirty 'oohohohahahaha~!?!”

Ana suddenly bursted into laughter, clutching her belly as she fell to her knees. The travelers backed up as she started rolling on her back.

Zeloph turned to the abbess, unnerved. “W-what did you do?!”

Julianna smiled back and replied, “I detected a lot of negativity bottled up inside your sister. So I thought to release it with a tiny prick of my tail.” She lightly patted the head of the snake. “Like you, I too have a special touch that bestows the contactee with unbridled joy. My joyous touch, if you will~!”

Ana managed to come through her fits of laughter, inhaling air as her chest rose and fell. The mother superior leaned over and asked, “How are you feeling now, dear?”

“I feel… loike a kungfu fighter,” she puffed as Wispy helped her up to her feet. Whatever anger and resentment she had been erased with a sense of giddiness, much to her dismay. “Okay, I'll lay off. Just don’t do that again! I’d prefer gettin' tickled than me nipple bein' nibbled!”

“Then perhaps you should cover up more,” Julianne boldly suggested.

“Fat chance!”

Shadow Scythe shuffled to Zeloph’s side and confessed, “I’m actually with your sister on this one. There’s something off about Julianne and these nuns!”

The fallen one nodded in agreement, noting how every mare under the habit was just as cheery and jovial as their mother superior. It reminded him greatly of the acolytes he converted during his reign back in Cerise’s homeworld, which he tried to purge of all sin. Clearing his throat, Zell stated, “Look, Julianne. I appreciate your hospitality. But we really must be on our way before-”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you go just yet,” the holy demi-human dejected, her sisters encircling the group, blocking them from the entrance. “At least we can't let one of you go.”

“Fuckin' called it!” Ana spat.

“It’s not what you think,” reassured Julianne, her smile not breaking. “For you see, ‘Shadow Scythe’ or Atalanta, if you prefer, is still a war criminal. And we can’t overlook her numerous crimes. Therefore, I ask that she stand trial and attest to her atrocities.”

Kitsune subtly tensed up and said, “Technically, Imoto and I are also criminals. Should we not also stand trial?"

"Sister!" Wispy's fur stood on end, her claws popped, as her forked twin tails started to sway in anticipation. "We were cleared after that awful despot was removed from power, so-"

“You’re both from another world, yes?” Julianne questioned, and both cyber ninjas nodded. “Then we will not judge you since your activities took place outside this realm. The same goes for you and your sister, Zeloph. You’re free to leave if you wish. But Shadow Scythe must be apprehended."

"Fat chance," echoed Zeloph, who stood protectively in front of his lover. “I don’t want to fight you, Julianne. But I will if I must. We’re not leaving without Atalanta!”

Wispy warned, “Yeah! We might not be on top form, but that doesn't mean I can't rumble with their best!" She hotly stared down their hostess, a small ball of plasma built up on her tail tips. "So you'd better stand aside, 'your holiness,' or so help me, I'll paint these white walls red with-"

"No! Everyone, stop!!" Shadow Scythe shook her head, pulling Zell’s arm down. "I'm touched you'd all risk your lives for me, but Julianne is right. I can’t live with myself If I’m always running from my past."

“But wot gives 'er the bloody wite ter judge ya?” argued Ana, whose painted lips frowned. "If I recall correctly, it was the princesses’ decision ter St. Martins-Le-Grand ya over ter Beatrix and let 'er deal wif the fallaht! So 'oo gave ya the authority ter make this call, 'uh?!"

"Officially, that never happened,” explained Julianne matter-of-factly. “Shadow Scythe is considered 'at large'. And since she decided to return, she’s accepted to face the consequences. It just so happens that my monastery is an ideal establishment for both repentance and judgment!”

"It's fine," said Shadow Scythe, as her fractured horn lit up to remove the remnants of her disguise. "The rest of you can move on without me. I suggest you return to the manor; maybe Bellatrix can help you deal with Mortis and his followers."

“I’m not going anywhere without you," affirmed Zeloph, his arm linked with hers.

"Likewise," nodded Kitsune, her eyes narrowed in contemplation. “I will remain as well.”

"Guess that makes my choice for me," said Wispy, her plasma balls snuffed out as her posture somewhat relaxed. "I’d never leave my sister behind, and the same goes for you too!"

"You’re 'ella daft if ya fin' ya can get rid of me that easily, Edgie," Ana stated with a curled lip.

"Thank you," said Zeloph. He cradled his beloved; the reaper visibly moved as they all stood by her side, barely able to contain her emotions.

“Oh, how wonderful!” Julianne joyously exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Let’s settle this over lunch inside the chapel. Make way, everyone!”

“Yes, mother superior,” all the nuns acknowledged before guiding them towards the stone church. Shadow Scythe squeezed her lover’s hand while they marched behind the Rosey demi-human. She couldn’t express how badly she needed support from him and the others.

Yet was refusing to leave her side the right call? Even if they could take on Julianne and her covenant, how could Atalanta possibly atone for all the cruelty she inflicted on everyone in her life?

The party was seated around a table while the nun garbed mares sat on the benches. A meal was prepared for the guests as Julianne took to the podium. Grasping her rosary, she offered a small prayer that her followers repeated line for line. Zeloph couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. Was this what he used to sound like?

“Now then,” the mother superior said after concluding her prayer with an ‘amen.’ “You may begin when ready.”

Once he washed down his food with some water, the male demi-human stood up. “I'm guilty of many things," began Zeloph, unable to shake what he'd done to Cerise's world or how he'd used Beatrix. “I selfishly tried to wipe humanity clean from the slate because I couldn’t emotionally deal with my grief. I insert my perspective where it wasn’t needed, causing countless lives to suffer. I thought redemption was beyond my reach, yet I stand today looking to make things better...” He briefly glanced down at the Vorpal Blade. “...and to prove my worth. It's your belief that everyone should be offered vindication, yes?”

“It is,” confirmed Julianne.

“Then I ask that you look past Atalanta's past transgressions for who she is today. I can guarantee that if you spend enough time with her, you won’t find any trace of the criminal she once was.” He sat back down with his testimony complete, placing his hand atop Shadow Scythe’s.

“Mother superior,” a mare rose up, and they recognized her as one of the nuns doing charity work. “I’d like the record to state that she provided a coin to our charitable cause. Surely something a nihilistic death bringer would never consider!”

“Noted,” nodded the peppy preacher. “Would anyone else care to add to this case?”

“I’d like to confess some of my own sins,” announced Kitsune, who rose up. Wispy hesitantly stood up after her. “Imoto and I were once assassins. An unknown syndicate captured us, altered our bodies, and erased our memories after completing every mission. I’m not even certain we’re sisters by blood…”

“I mean, yeah, but we were genetically altered together. So we might as well be sisters!” Wispy reassured her. “Can we really be blamed for stuff we didn’t choose? It was either carry out our missions or have our heads blown clean off!"

"You make it sound so casual," replied Kitsune, her tone thick with melancholy.

"I’m just being practical, Kit! There’s no need to beat yourself senselessly," the nekomata replied while studying her claws. “And the same applies to you, Shadow Scythe. What’s the point in wallowing over the past when you’ve got a brand new future to look forward to? I say you make amends, keep moving forward, and never look back! Run forever if you have to!"

"But her past has clearly caught up with her," another nun reminded. “That ghastly wraith and his undead horde wouldn’t have destroyed the villa had she not reaped innocent lives for their souls. Such evil should be punished!”

Murmurs began to arise within the chapel as Shadow Scythe tried to sink into her hoodie, unable to help but tremble while her lover rubbed her shoulders. The enormity of her terrible crimes settled back over her.

“She’s 'ardly the same mare na,” Ana’s voice cut in. “Shady 'ad 'er empathy reawakened and 'as been nuffin' but remorseful. She's been reformed and 'asn’t committed any terrible sins since then. Hell, if anything, I’ve promoted a bunch of naughty no-nos since then~!” She turned to the audience and struck a very suggestive pose that jutted out her jiggly breasts within her jumpsuit.

“S-so uncouth,” a few mares muttered, blushing hotly.

“Ha~! Deny those fuzzy feelings aw ya loike, but everyone's got desires they want fulfilled. Imagine 'a 'enlightened' you’d be takin' off those dingy clothes and gettin' saucy every Sunday morning~!” She made sure to bend forward and wave her ass at the abbess, who appeared unfazed by her provocative attempts.

“If you could please refrain from seducing my court, I’d highly appreciate it,” Julianna asked politely, earning a scowl from Ana, who complied and sat back down. She allowed her nuns a few minutes to recompose before making her final statements.

“Everyone has a fair point. While the sins of the past shouldn’t be overlooked, It’s obvious Shadow Scythe is no longer malevolent. And I am not without mercy! Therefore, I propose you partake in a Trial of Atonement, a sacred tradition to wash away your sins.”

“And wot does that entail,” Ana teasingly asked. “Tie 'er ter a whippin' post and take a couple lashes aahhht on 'er bare bum? If so, I’ll personally volunteer~!”

The neon demon flicked her wrist to mimic the motion while Shadow Scythe angrily gawked at her, whereas Wispy did her best to hold back her snickers. Zeloph said, “Ana, what the fu-”

“Oh, good heavens no!” insisted their holy hostess. “Atalanta is to help repair the villa from its ruins and then properly put all the souls she harvested to rest.”

“That… doesn’t sound so bad,” Zeloph considered.

“It’s reasonable,” agreed Kitsune.

Julianne continued. “There is a stipulation. You must complete these tasks independently. Your friends are to stay near the area until you've finished."

“What!?”

“'re ya drinkin' the gypsy kiss?!” Ana groaned. "That could take weeks, and I’m already Uncle Dick of ya bloody prudes and this Merlyn Rees of shi-.”

“No, It’s fine,” Shadow Scythe cut off, standing up from her seat after pondering her options. “I’ll do it. As long as everyone is okay with holding out here for a bit longer?”

The reaper looked between them and was met with reluctant nods.

"We can use the time to better ourselves," surmised Kitsune. "Wispy and I were altered into mystical yokai, so perhaps we can try and tap into our magical roots?”

“It’s worth a shot considering how unreliable our tech has proven,” grumbled Wispy. “But I'll have this licked in no time!”

“It gives me time to understand the Vorpal Blade better and hopefully figure out its hidden potential,” offered Zeloph.

“And wot abaht Mortis?” Ana continued to argue. “Ya fin' 'e's gonna wait for Shadow Scythe’s ‘Trial of Atonement’ ter conclude? 'e could be preparin' ter strike at this moment for aw we kna!!”

“My magic and Onoma have proven to be very effective against him,” reminded Julianne with a smile. “Should he attempt another attack on our community, we will be ready to defend it and the people inside!”

“Ya 'ave an answer for every lil' problem, aye? Freakin’ goodie-two-shoes, smiley-arse…” the demoness rambled to herself.

Shadow Scythe gave Zeloph an uneasy look before returning it to the mother superior and asked, “When do I start?”

Julianne beamed and said, "It doesn’t have to be immediate. Why not take the night to settle in? No doubt you'll need your strength for tomorrow!"

Once more, the group turned to each other and gave the nod, to which the overly cheery demi-human clapped her hands. “Haha~! Splendid! Then I call for this meeting to be adjourned. Sing with me, sisters, and let us pray that tomorrow will be most wondrous for our new friends!”

“Yes, mother superior!”

“Sing? W-wait, I don’t think that’s entirely necessar-'' Zeloph tried to protest, yet the nuns ignored him and rose to join Julianne in a choir song that filled the entire chapel with sound.

“Yeeaaagh! Get me aahhht! Get me the fuck aahhht!!” Ana yelled, hands covering her ears. “I’ll pull the plug before I tolerate a week of this shite!!”

Shadow Scythe couldn’t hold back a snicker, watching the neon demoness make a beeline for the church doors while she, Zeloph, and the cyber assassins followed.

Rooms were prepared for the party to retire, though Kitsune aloofly chose to stay outside on the lookout for another unexpected attack. Naturally, Zeloph and Shadow Scythe shared a room despite comments from the nuns about how scandalous that was since the couple was unmarried. Quiet settled when the door creaked closed behind them.

They took a moment to simply breathe, Shadow Scythe's thoughts consumed by the trial ahead. The reaper would have to face every lost soul she condemned to death and was not looking forward to that.

Zeloph removed the Vorpal Blade and studied it once more. "You know, if I manage to unlock its portal opening ability, we could probably slip away if need be," he pondered. "Just slice a breach into this dimension and-"

“That’s a Belladonna move, and you’re better than that,” countered Shadow Scythe, shaking her head solemnly. "This was something I’d have to deal with eventually. Better to do so now."

"Yeah, you’re right. But at the first sign of treachery, we're out of here. Lovely as she may be, there’s something suspicious about Julianne…"

Atalanta shared his nod, observing him set the sword side before sweeping over to her. The demi-human stroked her mane and cheek while the reaper draped into him, her hands left to rest on his bare chest while she listened to his heartbeat.

"So much for this disguise," she mused. "What was Ana thinking when crafting me these skimpy clothes? Hot pants seem more like Cerise’s thing than mine..." She rose and thrust her hip to one side as she took a moment to study how the shorts conformed to her petite bottom.

Zeloph chuckled while approaching the reaper. “I don't know; I think they look nice on you! Shows off your legs… and your ass~." He hissed playfully before a hand cupped her posterior.

Her pale blue cheeks colored as she dryly murmured, “There was a time when I would have taken someone's hand for that. You’re lucky to be on my better side…”

“And which side is that? Here?” He clapped her right cheek, making her gasp. “Or here~?” He purred, smacking the other plush cheek.

“A-ahh~! Just when I was beginning to question how you and that imp were related!”

“Sex isn't on my mind twenty-four seven,” he snickered, rubbing her rump. “Unless it’s with you. You make the cutest noises whenever you're riled up~!”

“Z-Zell-ooaaah~!” Shadow Scythe squeaked as the seraphic demi seized her with his plumage and draped her over his lap, sitting back on the bed. Her blush deepened when he drew her hot pants down, exposing her small but pert ass.

"Don't you dare–Aahhh~!" She yelped when Zeloph landed another swat on her rump.

“You wanted to be punished, remember~?” Zell slyly said, his wings pinning her in place while he clapped her cheeks, which slightly wobbled under every blow. Red handprints stained her supple rear as she huffed and squirmed over his lap.

The unicorn’s horn flared when he stopped, wrapped him in her aura, and slammed Zeloph on his back atop the sheets. She gave a playful, evil smirk before huskily saying, "My turn," as she climbed above him. Her magic kept him bound while she stripped his jacket and pants.

"Figured you’d still want to control me," he teased with a smile.

"Part of my charm~,” Atalanta cooed back, removing her top to free her tiny, perky tits and disrobed until she wore only her thigh-high boots. Once straddling her beloved, she nuzzled down his chest and stomach until she arrived at his member, nearly at full length. Before beginning her service, the reaper stroked his member and delivered a few kisses along the shaft.

Groans rose from the fallen one who cast his head back, her eyes half-lidded as she slowly licked along his long dick, breathing in his musk. Pre cum oozed from the tip, which she sampled while coating Zell’s cock in drool. It had a sweet taste, similar to honey, much to her surprise. She giggled wickedly while toying with him, trying to keep Zeloph on edge without him crossing that desired threshold.

"H-holy…" he sighed in ecstasy. "For someone who doesn't have much experience, you sure know how to work the shaft. Not even Beatrix tried to take me in her mouth~."

"Oh really,” Atalanta mused, nuzzling his cock, feeling its vein-lined surface throb and radiate with warmth. “Well, she had her chance. This belongs to me now~!” The unicorn mare empathized her claim by taking his tip into her maw and swallowing more of it down, relishing the pleasant sounds and praises Zeloph made.

Such an act would have once been unthinkable to her. Yet the reaper was determined to please her partner, saliva flowing down his rigid shaft as she sloppily slurped and gagged. Feeling that rhythmic throbbing grow frantic, Shadow Scythe pulled back with a wet ‘pop’ yet kept a firm grip around her lover’s dick.

Zeloph groaned, “W-wha..? But I was-”

“Oh no, you don’t,” she laughed. “If we’re going to be apart for a while, I want to feel every trace of you. And I have a very special place for your seed...”

Shadow Scythe undid his magical bindings before standing up and sensually walking towards one side of the room. The unicorn mare blushed heavily as she bent over, spreading an ass cheek with a hand, and pointed a finger towards her puckered tail hole, which she tried to relax.

Zeloph gazed at her in astonishment, his own cheeks brightening. “A-are you sure? We’ve never gone there before…”

“First time for everything,” she assured in a husky voice, looking back at him over her shoulder. Her inflamed pussy winked and dripped, the need to be thoroughly bred by him aching inside Shadow Scythe. Despite this, she knew that it would only take a single drop of his potent seed to impregnate her. Something she wasn’t ready for and would spell more misery for them. At least this way, she could enjoy having Zeloph fill her without risk. "J-just don't head in dry!"

Atalanta shook her hips invitingly until her lover finally made his way towards her backside, gingerly massaging her bruised flanks. He suckled his fingers, then rubbed the saliva on her asshole. She shuddered upon feeling his cockhead press and prod her rectum, thankful for the extra lube her mouth provided.

“Alright… I’m going in,” Zeloph gently warned before slowly pushing into his lover’s tail hole. Shadow Scythe braced herself, sharply exhaling as only half his length filled her tightly clutched pucker.

“F-fuck! Why do you feel so much bigger?!” She exclaimed.

“Nneh! D-do you need a minute to adjust or-” the seraphic demi’s concerns were momentarily lost when the reaper pushed her rump back into him, sinking his cock further inside, her eyes closed.

“N-no, I’m fine,” Atalanta insisted. “J-just start pounding me already. Mmm...Reshape it with your thick cock~!”

Zeloph said nothing more and began thrusting into her backside steadily. Shadow Scythe mewled as whatever pain faded into intense pleasure, her partner spreading her soft ass apart. Her wet pussy quivered each time his balls tapped against her mound. And when he fully sheathed his long shaft, the unicorn mare couldn’t hold back a happy cry between teeth.

“Aa-aaaah~! F-Fuck my ass, Zeloph! Take it~!”

“Heh~! Knew she'd be a butt slut,” Ana huffed to herself, her pointy ear pressed against the wall, tuning in to the scandalous love-making happening next door. While she took solace that her brother and Shadow Scythe were soiling this ‘sacred’ monastery, the neon demoness couldn’t escape the dreadful feeling of being left out. Despite her best attempts to heed Zell’s advice, she found her deepest, darkest desires overruled her flimsy morals. A slave to her passions.

Ana scoffed bitterly, thoroughly fed up with this place full of these pretentious zealots and their peppy leader. The neon demon thought up a scenario of being fucked right on her pedestal, garbs half-heartedly decorating her voluptuous frame that jiggled under every pummeling thrust. She would sing sinful praises to rub them into Julianne’s pretty face.

Her cheeks brightened as her fantasy gave a face to the man pinning her in a mating press, driving his cock into her tight depths. Zell’s face.

Ana’s pink claws drifted down her stomach, having shed her skin-tight jumpsuit and laying naked on a bed. Her shapely thighs parted to give her hand access to her dripping hot cunt, which she stroked in time with her brother’s thrusts. Hot pants and sighs escaped her voice as her other hand kneaded her left breast, squeezing it while her thumb poked into her nipple.

Dark energy began rippling around the demi-human, pink and blue shimming around the flowing black aura; eyes shut tightly as she murmured her brother’s name under a heavy breath.

Just then, the door opened, pulling Ana out of her licentious fantasy. Her magenta eyes snapped open, locking with the widened feline slits of Wispy when she peeked into her room.

“O-oh, shit! Is this a bad time? If you want, I could come back in the-” the twin-tailed tigress began.

Ana quickly said, “N-na, nah! Nah! Just get your furry butt in before someone sees ya!”

Wispy nodded and quickly closed the door behind them with a slam. She couldn't help but stare at Ana's gorgeous display of femininity. And despite the interruption, the demon continued to play with herself, albeit less enthusiastically.

It cheekily reminded Wispy of the time she made up with a particular boy band singer, whom she felt a lingering flame for despite their mutual separation. "Look, Ana,” the nekomata began, rubbing her arm while her forked tails swished. "I’m sorry for throwing you under the bus back there. My sister was in trouble, and I didn-"

"It’s fine, love,” sighed the demi-human. “If I were in your shoes and my brother was in danger, I would 'ave done the same. She’s the only family ya 'ave left, wite?"

Wispy nodded. “Were it not for me and Eclipsed Heart, Well… I think the poor woman would've taken her own life!” She turned her glance down, Kitsune’s stark confession from earlier still fresh on her mind. She shook her head. “But unlike her and Shadow Scythe, I don't intend to wallow in the past! Who cares how many people we’ve killed? All that matters is that we press forward and find a better future for ourselves!"

“Feeling's mutual,” said Ana, who squirmed upon her fingers, reaching a good spot within her love tunnel. “I kna Zell wants ter 'onor 'is dead friend’s promise and protect the good of mankind, but it’s 'ard ter ignore 'a awful people 're. I mean, look at ya and Kitsune! You’re the result of avarice by a syndicate full of upper crusts! I’d feel nah shame in slewin' a few of those pigs myself…”

The demoness’ memories trailed back to a particularly stormy night at a club, where she'd snapped back to awareness naked and soaked in blood, barely a trace of the man she spent her time with left behind. Nor at that moment did she eviscerate a gang of rapists to save that poor girl, only to be labeled as a monster.

“Nah shame at all…” she grumbled darkly, biting her plump bottom lip.

Wispy noticed the change in expression, that heavy aura flowing around her rapidly. So, rather than press Ana on something she obviously didn’t want to talk about, the nekomata gave a sly smirk and approached her with a swing of her hips. The sound of clothes ruffling brought the demi-human's attention back to the abyssinian tigress.

Her twin tails hooked into her cheongsam, untying it and letting it drape off her supple form. Ana ran her tongue over her painted lips upon seeing that Wispy wore no underwear underneath. White fur around her breasts, stomach, and crotch gave way to the orange stripes that coated the rest of her supple flesh, her tits a nice handful, while her hips and ass were wider as they swished about.

"You look like you’re in desperate need of a distraction, sweetheart~!” Wispy purred while pulling her clawed feet free from her discarded clothes. Now fully nude, the tigress crawled towards Ana’s parted thighs, her ass high and tails wagging excitedly. The neon succubus licked her lips before pulling her drench fingers away, only to gasp when Wispy dove in and suckled her clit.

“Whooaahoho~! Ya don’t waste any nickle and dime, do ya?” the demoness crooned.

After giving a long lick to Ana’s inflamed labia, Wispy said, “Only with people I like. Besides, I owe you one~!” With a wink, she ate out her friend’s honey pot while stroking her own pussy with a free hand.

"O-ooh! Mmm, knew it be fan ter seek ya aahhht,” moaned Ana, whose sensitive ears could still pick up the sounds of Zeloph and Shadow Scythe’s love-making whenever she tried to listen in.

"I do have lots of practice," admitted the neko between licks, her mouth smeared in the demi’s nectar. "Mostly with our rival band, S.L.U.T.!"

Ana tittered while squishing her tits together. "Already loike 'em by the sound of their name~!"

Wispy snorted. "Stands for ‘Sadistic Lesbians United Together.’ I’m sure they’d enjoy having your company."

"We’ll make 'rrangements sum ovver time. Na, less yappin’, more lappin’~!” She ground her cunt against the abyssian tigress' maw, then shook her shapely hips and butt while driving her tongue in deeper. “Ooof~! Wot a rough tongue! It feels amazing~!”

Though a part of her was glad that Wispy’s wet appendage wasn’t barbed like most cats. Ana enjoyed a bit of pain, but rubbing the equivalent of sandpaper on her vagina didn’t sound appealing!

Nonetheless, she mewled while Wispy worked her over, her tongue wriggling about to reach inside Ana’s love tunnel. Unlike her older sister, the nekomata didn't think they had anything to atone for. They never asked to be kidnapped, experimented on, brainwashed, and trained to kill! And if they hadn't, they would have died pointlessly! Besides this, the ex assassins hadn't committed any actual crimes!

The escalating pressure continued to build up inside Ana until her orgasm crashed. The demoness squealed and came all over Wispy's face, unleashing a wave of black energy that filled the room. Wispy was too focused on licking the demi’s slit clean of its juices, purring loudly as her face and tits were soaked in the messy splashes.

Only when she reeled her back, her face smeared and fr matted, did she notice the drastic change in scenery. “H-huh!? Whoa…”

The entire bedroom was now a black void, the furniture, door, floor, and walls highlighted by a white outline. The only color came from Wispy, whose yellow fur glowed as if under a black light. Ana herself was illuminated with neon, her eyes, hair, and pink body marks shimmering. And above her bat-shaped wings unfurled a pair of purple avian plumage not unlike Zeloph’s. A Series of eyes opened within the feathers while the demoness surveyed her surroundings. Their soft breaths reverberated and echoed between the walls. A strange pressure weighed upon them, almost like they were underwater.

“Well… this is new,” Ana commented, running a talon over her newly formed feathers.

“Pretty sick is what it is!” complimented Wispy, who crawled atop the perplexed demi-human, their busts squishing into each other as she settled in. “Almost like we're having our own personal rave party~!”

“Yea?” This brought a smile out of Ana before she gripped onto the twin-tailed tigress and rolled over the top. Her pairs of wings fanned out to further display her power as she said, “Good. 'cause we’re not even close ter bein' done yet~!”

The lecherous pair laughed before mashing their mouths and grinding their bodies together. Wispy’s twin tails secured around the demi’s hips, while Ana’s flytrap tail slithered between the catwoman’s striped legs to return the favor.

Whatever this strange blacklight power was, it made the neon demon feel invigorated. Perhaps training in this monastery while Shadow Scythe was away wouldn’t be so dreadful after all.

Kitsune's ears perked when sensing someone's thoughts were on her. She dismissed the idea as superstition since the kunoichi contented herself to cradle atop the abbey with her blade close at hand. The moonlight spilled down on her.

Satisfied they were safe here; the fox woman allowed her internal cyber systems to shut down to replenish her reserves, aware the magic that suffused the land would continue to weaken her and Wispy. Yet what troubled her most also came with an unexpected upside.

Usually, her sensations were dulled. Kitsune took little pleasure from food or drink, another's touch, even the simple tickle of the sun's rays or a breeze...yet the vixen's fur fluffed up a bit under a calm wind. She cooed low, her cheeks colored, thankful no one was around to hear her.

No doubt Wispy would've teased her for becoming more sentimental, but there was a reason. She stared hard at her furred hand and asked, “Of all the times… why now?”

Kitsune tried to transmute her hand, only to find it harder than ever. Her eyes watered with ambivalence, realizing that the more time spent outside her world, the more flesh-and-blood she’d become. It was a dream she had longed for to come true… but not like this! How was she to protect anyone without her full power?

What if all the skills the kunoichi honed proved insufficient? Would she prove Triad right?

More than ever, Kitsune wished Eclipsed Heart were there with them. Despite not wanting to put the pop princess at severe risk, she needed her more than she’d let their band leader believe.

“No, there has to be a way,” she surmised, her eyes narrowed. “Triad’s inner circuitry appeared unaffected by this realm. He must have had outside help. It has to be Varys!"

Who else but the Vice Lord had such tech that it could bend the nature of reality? Her fist tightened on the saber's hilt, determined to find and exterminate the mechanized scientist.

They probably weren't supposed to leave the grounds, but she decided to slip away, as the vixen wished to test her body since its changes. Not to mention she spotted a pond by the villa that spoke to her. She leaped from the rooftop and silently landed on a dirt path.

Her eyes darted about to make certain no one watched her or followed, approached the pristine waters that sparkled under the moon's rays, undid her clothes and dropped them.

But before Kitsune could step into the pond, the vixen detected something that made her heart flutter. Her eyes widened at the reflection of another fox-like creature, whose expression looked equally as shocked at seeing her. His sea green eyes reflected her own as they met.

Instinctively, she splashed the aquatic image away, the surface rippling. Once it calmed, her reflection mirrored, much to Kitsune’s perplexity. And slight disappointment?

Shaking it off as her suppressed desires got the better of her, Kitsune dipped her toe into the cool water before taking a couple steps in.

Gasps of euphoria escaped Kitsune when her tall, well-shaped body centered in the cool pool. She took her time, relishing its touch while gradually submerging herself up to her thighs. Then she closed her eyes and dived in fully. Her snout lit up with a small smile, and she almost cried at the feel while she waded in further and swam to her heart's content.

Her nine tails swished behind her. For a moment, the vixen debated on never leaving this world once their mission reached its conclusion.

Liquids bubbled across the zebra's nude body as consciousness slowly dawned on Zuri, one of three princesses from the Zebrican Empire. She sputtered and thrashed, only to find herself trapped in a small coffin-like enclosure. The machine hummed around her, and the occupant bathed in liquid metal that somehow hadn't harmed her as the mercury filled her orifices.

From its transparent shield, she could see outside into the iron facility; her horror multiplied when she realized Kali and Tisha were trapped in similar enclosures, mercifully unconscious.

Doors slid open, and someone walked into the chamber. His body was fully mechanized, saved for the green overcoat, a vulture's visage hiding his face, pale eyes glowing from vermillion visors. He drew closer, making Zuri shut her eyes to appear unconscious. After a moment, she briefly opened an eye to find the scientist studying her sister’s pods.

His robotic appendage slithered out from his coat tails, holding a black grimoire between its titanium talons. The covers lined in faces forever warped in a monstrous scream. She pressed herself against the glass, trying to get a closer look until the pod burst open.

Gasping, Zuri hurled up to a seated position, sputtering mouthfuls of liquid metal filling her lungs and running down her bare form. “You’re up earlier than scheduled,” the bionic plague doctor noted without acknowledging her directly. “Seems my sedative needs a tad more work done. Oh well.”

Zuri scrambled to her feet, taking in gulps of air while coughing out metallic fluid.

"How fascinating," he continued, brushing through a couple pages from the Necronomicon. "I would have never suspected this book would be the key to maintaining symbiosis between a living soul and a robotic shell. With this, I can reformat sapient beings without the side-effect of corroding their minds. Fortuitous, as consciousness is necessary to my plans.”

Zuri weakly asked, "Who...w-who are you?"

He turned towards her and proclaimed, “My name is Varys. But soon, all shall call me master.”

This made the zebra mare glower. “Like hell we will, you filth!”

She lunged at him, only to be battered away by his tail, her body slammed into a cybernetic wall. Zuri struggled to raise until a sharp pain spiked through her spine, the zebra arching in pain. Her eyes dilated as metal tendrils and wires sprouted out her back to wrap around her flesh, forming incomplete platings. She screamed inside her augmented suit.

The cyber demon emitted a humorless chuckle. “I see the Parasyte has been partially implemented! Excellent. Just a couple more hours in the procedure pod, and it’ll function properly.”

“N-no! NOO!” Zuri exclaimed in horror, staring at her newly transformed hand. “What have you done to me!?”

“Only what was necessary to appease your father,” elaborated Varys. “By his decreed, you and your siblings shall be supplanted with the best technology and weapons available.”

“N-no, you lie!! It's because of my father our nation should achieve greater technology. And he’d never allow some bionic devil to corrupt his good intentions!”

This earned another mechanized chuckle. "Bionic devil. I do like the sound of that!" Then the Vice Lord shook his head. “You actually believe that spineless coward was capable of advancing his empire without my genius? Oh, you poor, simple-minded girl.”

His tail pressed a button, and a holographic computer screen flickered to life, playing recorded footage of the Emperor. With as stern an expression he could muster, he said, “By order of the Pundamilia Empire, you are to provide my daughters with only the best your technology offers. Weapons, droids, anything they need to expand the Zebrican influence!”

Zuri’s face fell in disbelief, unable to comprehend how her father willingly allowed this metal monster access to experiment on her, Tisha, and Kali. She noticed that her cousin, the royal advisor, stood next to her father, sporting a sinister smile.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to take care of,” he concluded, ending the footage as the screen went blank. Silver tears oozing down her face, the zebra princess collapsed to her knees.

“Ahh. Betrayal,” Varys mused cruelly. “I imagine it stings more than the device attached to your nervous system. Not to worry, my dear. Once you’re fully automatized, you will be spared from feeling pain.”

“N-no… No, you can’t!” But her body involuntarily moved on its own, walking Zuri back into the pod, glass sealed shut. The Parasyte unraveled its steel bindings back into the zebra mare’s back. Zuri screamed and pounded her fists against the capsule, the metal liquid filling once more.

“WHATEVER YOU’RE PLANNING, YOU WON’T SEE IT THROUGH!” She declared. “WHEN MY FATHER FINDS OUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE, YOU WILL BE EXECUTED!!”

“I beg to differ,” Varys countered, looming over her pod. “Even if that were to happen, the outcome has already been decided. You and your people will be reborn into my machines. I.V.O; wipe her memory once her transformation is complete.”

“Acknowledged.” A digital voice echoed.

“No! NO! NOOOOOO!!” Zuri angrily yelled, struggling to keep her head above the bubbling fluid until it enveloped her. After a few moments of struggle, the zebra princess went unconscious as IV tubes were reattached to her body to maintain her health during the procedure.

Varys briefly checked the notes handed to the royal advisor at the table. “Hmm. I’ll have to preserve their suppleness,” the cyber demon examined, his hellish visors taking in their ample breasts and nude forms. “Seduction will be vital to coax the other tribes to comply with the emperor’s ‘vision.’ Heh. Perhaps I should test their pleasure and pain capacity personally. If only to understand the functions of this new body I possess..."

Suddenly, an alarm blared as his A.I alerted him. “Warning! Spacial disturbance detected. Undead lifeforms; Inbound!”

“Back already? How curious,” the Vice Lord said before removing the notes and leaving the chambers. Varys flew up to where the ghoulish portal had breached to greet his other clients.

Out from the rift came Mortis Solitaire, who levitated the enclosed caskets of Triad and Penny Dreadful onto the steel platform. The hollowed sockets of his horse skull observed inside the coffins, his minions bathed in black blood that churned to animate them. Yet the damage they suffered wasn’t healing as quickly, much to his vexation.

Varys surveyed their states and surmised, “It appears you ran into some trouble.”

“We did not anticipate another demi-human,” admitted Mortis. “She possessed holy magic strong enough to counteract my necromancy. Now they can’t fully recover, even after an extensive rest. At this rate, I will be denied my retribution!”

"Patience, friend," the cyber demon comforted. “She is but another inconvenience. We remain on schedule.”

The reaper stallion gave the nod. “Then I trust you to repair them?”

"Hmph. I won’t simply repair them. I will improve their capabilities through my science." His attention drew towards Quicksilver Bullet, who had his back turned, muttering amongst himself. “Why isn’t he rejuvenating in a casket?”

“I cannot afford to let him rest,” the lich stated. “My mental coils are beginning to weaken, and I would rather he not remember his death.”

“Ahh. That’s always the problem, isn’t it?” mused Varys. “Mortals and their insufferable free wills. This is why I invested in robotics. The beauty of machines is that they follow orders without resilience. No emotions or self-made thoughts that could potentially override their directives. Absolute purity. Something no mortal, alive or dead, can achieve. You reapers carelessly collect souls without considering the damage done to the mind."

Varys turned to study the old hunter, whose attention was consumed as he cleaned his equipment. "The old fool can only endure so much trauma before his mind, spirit, and body expire."

“He will have served his purpose by that time,” Mortis declared, hovering towards the elder stallion. “And his daughter will be dead at my feet. If you intend to give them upgrades, I suggest arming them with anti-holy magic material. For now, I must perform my reaper duties.”

The Vice Lord only gave a nod in response while lifting the caskets to transport them further into his industrial laboratory. Though Varys disliked the reaper’s refusal to accept logic, petty arguments were beneath him. In time, even Mortis would become part of his technorganic utopia.

“Come, Quicksilver,” said Mortis, causing the gunslinger to snap his pistol polishing. “More souls are fated by the natural order to be harvested-”

"For the next attack," answered Quicksilver as he leaned on his rifle to rise. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" His shoulders were slumped in his coat, his lined face weary as he smoothed his mustache.

“A shame I cannot locate Natural Selection. We are lacking in muscle. I suppose his body will break down eventually if he continues to push himself past his limitations."

“Pft. Good riddance” spat Quicksilver. “ Was gettin’ sick of his sexist crap. My wife was everything to me. As was our daughter, until..." He slammed his fist into the nearest wall, met by a metallic clank as his knuckles burned. "Gotta keep goin’... Keep it together… for them!"

“Yes. Remember your mission,” Mortis hissed as a translucent green glow arose within his sockets and met the hunter's tired eyes. He needed to make certain his mental domination over the old stallion was absolute. Or else he, as Varys accurately deduced, would turn on him at an opportune moment.

Descending into his massive computer room, Varys placed the two coffins behind his chair. Moving his mouse, he clicked on a folder that brought up blueprints and files related to his hidden experiment.

“I.V.O. What is the estimated number of people required to build Project: Nephilim?”

“Calculating,” the A.I briefly surveyed every document and image pulled before responding, “Analysis; complete.1000 people required for the production of Project: Nephilim.”

“Hmm. That's a lot more than I anticipated,” admitted the cyber demon. “No matter. Reformulate the sedative and start gathering more test subjects. Once we have all the necessary material, we will proceed with phase two.”

“At once, Master Varys.”

Legion of Black Roses

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After hours of trending through the lush jungle, Ebony Ivory guided her friends to her home in the plains. Simple huts dotted the area beneath a blazing sun in a cloudless sky. Curiously, many machines were now also on display. Her fellow zebra warriors welcomed her, naked save for their loin cloths, shields, and spears in hand, as they parted to admit their finest huntress. They eyed the burly ram carrying the unconscious form of Natural Selection over a shoulder, alarm widening their gaze.

“Wait… no, it can’t be!”

“I-isn’t that-”

“It is,” confirmed Ebony with a pursed snout. “Which is why we must speak with Noble Savage immediately!”

The guards gave a short bow before heading inward. The huntress waved for her companions to follow.

Dion nodded, adjusting the weight on his shoulder while Wet Nurse and Foal-Bearer tailed behind. Wind chimes tinkled in a zephyr, many of the structures decorated in animal skulls and fetishes. A few trees lined the pathways.

“Wow,” murmured Wet Nurse, unable to tear her coral pink eyes away from the many male and female natives, who were fully nude and on display. “Suddenly, I feel overdressed~!”

“I take it clothes are optional here?” wondered Foal-Bearer aloud. She noted many males and females alike went utterly naked.

“We consider ourselves one family, so nudity isn’t a taboo,” Ebony elaborated with a knowing smile. “If you wish, there’s no need to- “

Foal-Bearer had already started to untie her top and allowed her heavy pink breasts to bounce free. “We don’t want to be rude, do we, sis?”

“Oh, of course not! We want to fit in with the locals, after all~!” Wet Nurse giggled, weaving out of her skirt, sliding down her ankles.

All eyes were on them, every zebra captivated and aroused by how ample and titillating the crystal mares were. They shared a titter once completely naked; their pastel pink crystal curves left to shine under the sun’s rays. “No one’s shy around here. I love it~!” One twin playfully sashayed her hips and plush bottom, giving the onlookers quite the show.

“C’mon, Sir Dion! Won’t you join us?” the other urged, shaking her bouncy tits in his direction.

“Ain’t makin’ it easy fur me, huh?” chuckled the warrior, shaking his head before handing Natural’s body to Ebony. Not to be outdone by his lovers, Dion tore off his kelt and struck an adonis pose. Many mares (plus a couple of stallions) cooed with adoration, visually feasting on his scarred musculature and hefty flaccid cock.

After a bit of flexing, the alabaster ram and his twin lovers trailed after Ebony towards the tribe’s center; their nakedness rubbed over him as they arrived. Noble Savage, the older mountain of muscle, waited on a throne of animal bones to watch over his tribespeople.

“Welcome,” came his rich, baritone voice through a slight smile. “Ebony has spoken well of your prowess, Sir Dion of Clan Jakobson.”

The caprine knight respectfully took a knee and bowed his head. “Ah thank ye kindly fur yer hospitality, Noble Savage,” he replied. “Though Ah wish our stayin’ here was merely fur vacation purposes.”

The elder zebra’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Not shortly after, an attack happened on Beatrix and company,” elaborated Ebony grimly. “And through necromancy, my former mate has returned to life.”

She unceremoniously tossed Natural Selection at the ruler’s feet, murmurs rising from the onlookers. Yet Noble Savage held his wry gaze, recoiling at the foul stench of sorcery.

“Ohh, Asili,” he said, shaking his head. “This is a new low, even for you…” He kicked the unconscious hunter and commanded, “Amka!”

Groans rose from Natural Selection as his eyes blinked open. And upon looking up to his former friend and mentor, his face grimaced. “...Oh.”

“It would seem fate has brought you back home, traitor.”

He stumbled onto shaking limbs as guards encircled the undead stallion, holding him at spear point. The outcast hunter cast a sneer on the tribe leader, his former flame, the warrior who had captured him, and the twin sisters. But what really made him bristle were the machines that scattered around the settlement.

“You have the nerve to call this ‘home’ after it’s been infested with outsider technology!?”

“That does not concern you-”

“Of course it does!” Natural cut him off, irate. “As much as I’ve despised what you and Nyeusi have become over time, I’m still a part of this tribe! Since when do we abandon our ancient pride for the slovenliness of a civilized world?”

He breathed heavily, snout drawn in a curl when refocusing on the female huntress. “And to think you of all people would allow this! Any reliance on machines will only make our people soft.”

Noble Savage stomped his staff. “You no longer speak for us, betrayer!” The other zebras rebutted the sentiment by showing their revulsion for the undead hunter.

“Ah wouldn’t be talkin’, ye ov tainted flesh,” added Dion, who snorted hot air from his nostrils.

A dry chuckle came from the zebra stallion. “I never asked to be made a zombie. I wouldn’t have died by such pitiful means if I had my way. Make no mistake; I am not affiliated with that lich. He merely inflicted me with his curse!”

“And we do not associate with the technical advancements of the Zebrica Empire,” retorted Ebony, her mouth drawn. “I understand they’re boons from Pundamilia, but at what price? Where are the daughters of Kifalme Moja, anyhow?”

“They’ve returned home to discuss further negotiations with the Emperor,” stated Noble. “We’ll talk more about the matter later. Guards! Tie the traitor to a post! Let us see if you can survive the harsh rays for a day.” A pair of zebra warriors arrived and seized him, earning a mad leer from Natural Selection.

“Pft! I’ve survived death. This will be nothing,” he boasted as the warriors led the hunter away, who kept his head raised despite how he stumbled about. “We both know the truth, Mshenzi! You are unworthy to lead the Mashariki! Unfit to protect our people!”

“Oh, will ye give it a rest?” Dion huffed. “Do Ah have tae give ye another wallopin’?”

“Enjoy your stay here, goat,” the zebra spat. “For it’ll be your final resting place once I get loose. I’ll come for you first, then claim those crystalline whores for my own! I’m sure they’d look much nicer in stripes~” He lazily licked his chops.

“You’re welcome to try,” called Wet Nurse, who shook her head as he eye fucked the sisters. “Yeesh! Even after I tended his wounds...”

“You’re too kind, sister,” said Foal-Bearer when she embraced her, their soft breasts mashed.

Not taking the threat lightly, Dion scooped the twins into a tight, protective hug. “He won’t get past me,” he swore. “A’ll make sure ov that.”

“Nor me,” reassured Ebony, who turned to her tribal leader to make a request. “Let me watch over Asili. We can’t leave the risk of escape to chance!”

“Unnecessary,” dismissed Noble in a hand wave. “His fanatical followers have all been dealt with. I’m curious to see whether he can endure his punishment with those wounds.”

“I fear he will, thanks to the aid of the dark arts…”

Noble stroked his chin to ponder the situation. “Hmm. Admittedly, Natural Selection has always been a stubborn one. Should he attempt to escape, I trust you and your friend to track him down. Then, end him. Permanently.”

She turned to the warrior ram, who shared a nod.

“Good.” A soft smile returned to the elder zebra’s snout. “Let’s not allow this harrowing situation to spoil your visit. We have a hut prepared for you. Ebony, help them unwind and settle in. Afterward, I must speak with you privately.”

The zebress nodded, then waved Dion and the twins to follow. Once more, they bowed respectfully before they left. He and the twins drew complimentary stares from around the village, his scarred chiseled body and their crystalline contours proudly displayed.

“Bet he was quite th’ warrior in his prime,” said Dion. “Ah would have loved a good barnie wit’ him!”

“Still is,” answered Ebony with a warm smile. “He rarely needs to raise his weapons anymore. But when he does, it’s a sight to behold!”

“Sounds a lot like mah father,” the ram complimented. “Ne’er knows when tae take breaks. Always vigilant. Ah miss him. A’m lookin’ forward tae th’ trip home. Ye’re more than welcome tae tag along!”

“Mmm. I have developed a taste for exploration, thanks to Beatrix,” she admitted. “Perhaps I’ll take you up on that offer. Ahh! We’re here.” She stopped at a path to their hut. Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse looked around with eager sparkly eyes while the two warriors continued their talk.

“If I may confess, I’m… perturbed about Noble Savage when it comes to the inclusion of Zebrica’s ‘new age’ achievements,” Ebony explained. “It’s not like him to be so elusive!”

“Aye,” agreed Dion. “Got th’ sense he was avoidin’ further discussion. Ah know it’s not mah place tae speak, but Ah don’t think yer tribe should rely on such artillery…” It was unusual for him to be diplomatic. Perhaps it was the influence of the twins who eased the ram’s fierce heart?

Ebony shook her dark thoughts aside and said, “I’ll worry about that later. Right now, I must make certain you three have a proper vacation. I’m thankful you’ve taken to one of our customs already.” Her eyes went up and down to the nude trio, drinking them in.

“But of course! We were trained in etiquette,” said Foal-Bearer, who pretended to curtsy.

“We served royalty before,” reminded Wet Nurse, her face lit up. They made their way into the roomy hut, an electrical system that provided a fridge, light, and air conditioning. “Wow!” She wantonly bent over for a better look.

“All this without magic,” murmured Foal-Bearer at her side as they took it all in. She sat her bare bottom on the bed, then patted the space beside her. “Come, Sir Dion. Please relax with us!”

“We’ll provide one of our patented massages,” cooed Wet Nurse as she took a bottle from one of the shelves. She opened the cap, poured the oil onto her skin which glistened, and used her palm to spread it all over her succulent curves. Then she passed it to her twin, who did the same as both oiled up. They yanked the ram between them and drew their supple tits over his body.

“Haha! Always sae insistent on caterin’ tae mah needs,” laughed the burly ram, sandwiched between the sisters as their nipples kissed him.

“A warrior needs his rest to protect us,” purred Foal-Bearer as she playfully nipped his ear. “But we can’t let you do all the work on the battlefield. That’s why we’ve trained so hard ‘under’ you~.”

Wet Nurse circled her areola before gripping her perky nipples and tugging them as far as she could. “Tell us, master. Do you think our nips would look nice pierced? It’s the fashion here.” She poked their protruding pink perkiness into his chiseled back amidst a low, lusty moan.

Ebony grinned, noting that his cock went stiff upon mentioning that possibility. Her half-lidded eyes remained fascinated with his pulsing red rod, unaware that she ran a tongue over her lips.

Noticing the huntress, Dion cupped their buttocks, making his lovers titter, and offered, “There’s room fur one more~!”

Her cheeks flustered as she shook off her daze, saying, “Maybe later. I’m afraid I must speak with Noble Savage as promised. E-excuse me.”

While disappointed, Dion nodded understanding before shifting his gaze to his crystal marefriends. They each lifted a heavy tit to his mouth, which he suckled and nibbled on simultaneously. Their coos became sharp mewls upon his hands, clapping their plump flanks.

Ebony bowed and left them behind, doing her best to focus on the future of her tribe rather than the raw heat in her tender, fertile loins.

What if Natural Selection had a point? Was there a risk they would lose their culture or that it would be perverted? Just how had the Pundamilia Empire developed so fast? Her worries worsened thinking back to the manor and what deathly atrocities might have befallen her friends…

For as long as the ‘Womb of Conception’ could remember, the eldritch abomination had always assumed a mansion’s shape to accommodate its inhabitants better. But after receiving a lot more nourishment from its new mistress, it shed its old disguise in favor of something far more sturdy. Thus, the exterior and interior alike were transformed into a splendid, fortified castle. Its spires rose to the heavens under a crimson moon and blood-red clouds to match.

Likewise, a blood pool made up the moat sloshed under a chilled wind. Greenery cultivated by the twins that once maintained the area was now rotted and twisted. Corvid and Chiroptera creatures perched on the ancient ramparts, bloated beasts that hissed and drooled in anticipation of sucking all virile life dry.

Inside the refurbished walls, a classic violin symphony played from an old gramophone that resonated from the kitchen, where Omen made preparations for the coming feast. Adorned in a dress shirt, pants, and apron, the Nightmare Stag was busy cooking appetizers and entrees while his monstrous shadow assisted with condiments, seasoning, and salad dressing.

During his time as an incorporeal apparition, he lurked in the dreams of chefs and culinary artisans, quietly learning how to craft gourmet-style meals. While the circumstances were dire, the nightmare stag was ecstatic to put all he’d observed into action.

Of course, given how many carnivores were present, the ingredients mainly consisted of meat products. To ensure Omen wouldn’t secretly lace the food with sleep drugs or poison, Alma had her fellow vampires seek and kidnap freshly killed prey composed of pony, deer, and even a few humans.

Omen’s left ear perked as one of the huntresses arrived to inspect the food. Her nose took in the variety of aromas that filled the air alongside the sizzles and steam, the food cultivated as instructed to maximize its beauty. The sight and smell were enough to make her salivate slightly.

“Mmmm! Simply divine,” intoned Esmeralda, a flattering smirk on her snout as pink braids trailed after her. “A lot more competent than the last morsel that cooked for us~!” Her white dress was shredded and swathed in bloody stains. From her thin arms was tossed a slain stallion, stripped in preparation to be turned into meat.

The dark buck paused to look at the unlucky straggler, his maroon eyes narrowed. Like the petite mare, his body was stained and dotted with bite marks. No doubt the huntresses’ sampled their prey before they finished them off.

Noticing the stare, Esmeralda quipped, “What? The poor bastard was ripe for the taking~.”

“I prefer that my meat be unsullied by bite marks,” retorted Omen.

“Pft! Says the deer who comes from a clan of cannibals.”

He shrugged. “There’s a difference between being carnivorous and savage. If I’m going to consume life, I rather my dinner be appealing. Even slobs can be made into stunning dishes.”

Esmeralda mirrored his glare before lifting her nose high with a ‘hmph.’ “I suppose.”

“The food does look outstanding, though,” stated Camellia when she joined her lover’s side, the white-masked mare dropping another stallion’s denuded body onto a table. Her black gown trailed behind the pallid mare when she stepped closer to survey the table. “Perhaps all men aren’t so inherently useless after all. I approve, and I’m certain the Countess will too.”

Omen allowed a sly grin. While he held contempt for the vampiric pair, it was nice to be in company with people who shared his appetite. Even the backhanded nature of their compliments didn’t feel so demeaning.

Esmeralda licked her lips as she watched the fat bubble to the surface of a soup. “Scrumptious! I’d say you’ve earned your place, dearie...for now~.”

Omen knelt, his snout drawn. “So long as Oona is kept out of harm’s way, I have no issues complying with the whims of your mistress.”

“Good boy,” the braided thestral purred, playfully running a finger up his chest. “Just keep pleasing Alma, and the dream faun will be fine. Oh, the tulpa too. Although I’m not even sure we can kill her! Permanently, anyway.”

“And what about Bellatrix?”

“She’s to be Alma’s plaything until further notice,” Camellia said curtly. “She brought this upon herself, after all. Though if you ask me? She’s doing the red-skinned harlot a favor. Our mistress will teach that lowly, upstart succubus how a real Queen of Hell is meant to behave.”

“In any case, I’d like to be excused. My hands are cramping from all the labor.”

The couple nodded, satisfied with his compliance. Sighing in relief, Omen slipped out of the kitchen while the two huntresses sampled the food, double-checking if he had somehow poisoned anything. Not that he’d ruin his own cooking for the sake of hurting them. The cunning stag had other methods should he feel the life of the beautiful sheep carrying his child was threatened.

Still, Omen was thankful Alma allowed him to take routine breaks to visit and feed Lady Ewe. He almost considered their hostess courteous… if it didn’t belie the cruel monster she truly was.

Outside Oona’s room stood Demi-Trix, acting as if she were on patrol. Spotting the buck approaching, she swished her cape and greeted, “Oh, hey! I wondered when they’d finally let you out of the kitchen.”

“This feast must be perfect if we’re to avoid Alma’s wrath,” he replied. “How is Oona?”

“Been asleep mostly,” she pouted. “Frequently complains about the cramps. She longs to see Beatrix and Dion again.”

“Noted. Thank you,” he replied as the tulpa stepped aside to allow him entrance. Omen ducked to enter the doorway, a lidded platter under one of his hands. Once, the vampire mares would’ve checked beneath for weapons, particularly mystical silver ones, but were now convinced he was too cowed to dare attack them.

Good. The less they knew of the Nightmare Stag, the better. He needed only a tiny taste of their fear to plot their undoing… but that would prove daunting with the castle itself watching and listening. It could devour him, and everyone else held hostage here at the slightest suspicion. For now, Omen would bide his time until a suitable opportunity presented itself.

“Omen,” Oona’s sweet honey voice softly spoke, still confined to her bed. “They’ve been keepin’ ye away for sae long, A’m startin’ tae miss ye.”

Demi-Trix blocked the door while the gray buck sat beside the gravid sheep. “I know, Mo Ghaol. But I’m here now.” Omen removed the lid to expose a variety of steamed vegetables underneath. “Only the finest for you, my sweet.”

“Aww, sae thoughtful,” she weakly tittered, sitting up to properly eat before pausing. “Erm, there’s not any… ye know-“

The nightmare stag rose a skeptical brow. “How lowly do you think of me? You already have another living being in your belly.”

Oona snorted before digging in, munching thoughtfully. The dark deer continued, “I’ve sent Beatrix and Zeloph their premonitions. The latter should be aware of a future calamity, while the former relay our present predicament to her friends, currently on Cerise’s homeworld.”

“It’s fur th’ best,” replied Oona once finishing her mouthful, her face crestfallen. “Ah want them here, but it would be a death sentence. Ah won’t risk their livelihood all tae raise mah mood.”

“Hmm. Your mood has been swinging frequently,” he acknowledged, rubbing her rounded belly. “How long do you think until…”

“Hopefully not while we’re here,” the azure sheep mutedly wept. “It’s bad enough Beatrix is unable tae be by mah side. But th’ mere thought ov goin’ intae labor around Alma…” She shuddered, once more reminded of how the Vice Lord once leered at her belly with the anticipation of eating her baby.

Omen squeezed her warm hand and whispered, “I’ll find a way to get you out of here. I promise.” He gave her snout a short kiss right as the clock chimed. “I have to finish organizing the banquet. Try to reserve your strength until then.”

Oona gave a melancholy nod before forcing a smile between nibbles. “Stay safe.”

Running a hand through her wooly white mane, the nightmare stag departed to resume his work. It wouldn’t be long until Alma gathered them all and summoned her ‘guests.’

Watching him leave, Demi-Trix temporarily slipped away into the one place the beast couldn’t spy on her...the basement, which was now its blindspot since the abomination had expanded its horizons after its transmutation and thus had abandoned that part of itself. The area was dark and dank, so the tulpa cast an illusion of herself by Oona’s door to explain her absence. She’d tested this area a few times in preparation and found the echo of her chirpy voice unheard.

Butterfly wings glowed in the dark when she crouched down and wiggled her fingers to work her magic. From the inner folds of her cape spilled a few plushies in her own image, which shimmered when her horn shined to impart a slight touch of her power into each of them.

“Arise, my minions! Arise! I have a mission for you that is of utmost importance!”

Each of them took a new shape to suit her whims. She considered herself a smaller version of Beatrix, and Moxxi and Zeloph had smaller versions of themselves. So she decided they didn’t need counterparts. But at least the cartoony magician could keep replacements for the friends who weren’t around! And so the plushies settled into their finished states.

Before her were plushies of Midnight Blitzer, Cerise Silhouette, and Shadow Scythe. “Hmm... you’ll be Shining (K)night,” she named the blue-furred pegasus plush, complete with felt white armor, a sword, and a shield. “You’re Cherry Poptart!” She beamed at the fuzzy dancer. “And last but not least...” Her eyes turned to the dreary hooded toy. “...how about Shady Sickle?”

She gave them a moment to settle in as their consciousness dawned. Shining (K)night struck a dramatic, heroic pose. Little hearts filled Cherry Poptart’s eyes and floated around her until they popped. Lastly, Shady Sickle wore a perpetual scowl while she coolly observed the dim interior.

The three plushies snapped to attention when she cried, “Go! Spy on the castle and see what’s up! My illusion magic should keep you all concealed for at least an hour!”

The threesome nodded and zipped into the air before they scattered in all directions, ready for their covert operation. Demi-Trix knew she couldn’t do much to help anyone at the moment, but, at the very least, she could collect some information that could eventually prove helpful...

In her private bodeur, Countess Alma stood still as the mannequin servants fitted new garbs over her voluptuous shape. Various robes and cowls were neatly put in the wardrobe, decidedly not to the Baobhan Sith’s liking. But this emerald loin cloth gown accentuated her body well, cloth parted to show off her cleavage and navel. The translucent skirt parted to allow her wolf tail to poke through. Long robe-like sleeves hid her feathered forearms, Celtic patterns highlighted under the crimson moonlight that spilled in.

Giving herself a twirl, the vice lord gave an airy laugh, dragging her talon along her slim stomach. “What a ravishin’ dress! Yes, this will do just nicely!” With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the porcelain dolls and the seamstress. Her scarlet gaze fell to her pet, her grin widening. “Don’t ye agree, mah dearest pet~?”

Bellatrix Primadonna sat on her knees, chained, collared, and utterly naked before her mistress. She didn’t respond; her head hung low. Alma cupped a hand under her chin to lift her face upward. “Ah asked fur yer opinion,” she repeated. “After all, ye’ve made it abundantly clear how much ye fancy me~!”

The red-skinned devil briefly ran her eyes over the green dress that showed off her capture’s large bust and slender deer-shaped legs. “You look… fine,” she answered dourly.

She yelped as Alma yanked on her chain and pulled her to her feet. “Oh, don’t be like that! Tae deny yer true feelings is tae commit slow suicide. Doppia learned that th’ hard way,” she tittered. “Ah’ll only ask once more. What do ye think about mah dress?”

Bellatrix squirmed, hands clutching the chain yanking on her neck. Glaring hotly at the one she once coveted, the she-devil hissed, “... Y-you’d look so much better without it!”

Smirking with satisfaction, the hemomancer released her grip, giving the succubus a chance to catch her breath. “Now, was that sae hard~? Let that be a lesson on how th’ Queen ov Hell commands her authority.”

The succubus stiffened when she felt Alma lay down behind her, pressing her soft breasts into her back. But her tension faded upon feeling those plump lips kiss along her jawline and shuddered when her tongue glided down and up her neck. The Baobhan Sith brought her palms across Bellatrix’s smooth curves, with particular attention offered to her bountiful chest and buttocks squished under needy caresses.

A soft moan escaped Bellatrix’s lips as a wide nipple was pinched, and her spaded tail swayed despite her quiet resistance, the crimson she-demon unable to deny her deeply buried lust.

“Why must ye torture yerself?” Alma asked through a playful pout as she tweaked and pinched her areola. “All this pointless misery would end if ye fully give yerself tae me~!”

“N-no,” Bellatrix sharply gasped. “I’ll never allow myself to submit to someone so heartless!”

This made the vampiress frown heavily, her brow furrowed. “Ye think cruelty is a part ov mah nature, don’t ye? Mah other concubines thought th’ same, never understandin’ th’ justification. Ah was hopin’ ye’d be th’ exception, given we were both made tae please others…”

“H-huh? What are you talking about?”

Alma paused her molestation and wrapped her arms around Bellatrix’s head, squeezing it to her plush chest as if she were a precious doll. “As far as Ah can remember, A’ve always been somethin’ tae possess,” the Baobhan Sith confessed. “Whether it was th’ Burnin’ King or those filthy old high lords who captured an’ cursed me, mah bod an’ soul were never mah own. After his defeat, Ah thought Ah would have freedom fur th’ first time in mah immortal life. But then ye took that from me when ye threw me in an’ther fuckin’ cage.”

Bellatrix winched, feeling those dagger-sharp nails poke into her flesh, drawing a bit of blood.

“Desire,” she continued, her eyes glowing with fury. “Sweet, simple desire. E’eryone wants theirs fulfilled, yet mine have been denied fur hundreds–thousands ov years! Well, not anymore! This is mah time, Bella!”

Her body floated before maneuvering upside down, captor and captive face to face. Alma’s long curly auburn locks coiled around Bellatrix’s shaken form while she caressed the she-devil’s face. “An’ ye can either spend it as a slave… or share in it as mah lover.”

Using her sharp talon, Alma slit her left palm to open a small wound before presenting her hand to the red-skinned succubus. “One sip, an’ ye’ll have more energy an’ prowess than how ye normally ‘nourish’ yerself. Don’t be a fool, sweetin’. Drink~!”

Bellatrix stared at the oozing cut, a part of her dreadfully curious about how it would taste. Esmeralda and Camellia certainly seemed stronger…

But the she-devil stubbornly defied her mistress and slapped her hand away. “What you offer isn’t a real choice, Alma,” said Bellatrix with a spiteful sneer. “Punish me all you want. Because, like you, I won’t turn away from who I am!”

She expected anger for her defiance but instead earned a sickening snicker. “An' who exactly are ye, dearie? A heroine? Pha! Far from what A’ve seen. Lyin’ about yer ulterior motives isn’t exactly noble, is it? Hell, ye practically gave me yer friends an’ th’ manor in this vain hope ov ‘redeemin” me! Do ye honestly believe anyone can ever forgive you~?”

Bellatrix fell silent, her head once more hanging low.

“No, they won’t,” Alma answered for her. “Ah, on th’ other hand, fully embrace how beautiful, despicable, an’ selfish ye are! Ye’ll appreciate that once ye’ve surrendered tae mah will.”

The Baobhan Sith stood right-side up before sticking fingers into her mouth to whistle. Bellatrix froze at the sound of paws scuffling the floor once the door creaked open. Two hellhounds waddled in, their fur rust-colored, boney spines adorning their frame like armor as they lapped at the air. Alma took a moment to bend down and pet one of the creatures, one of many monstrosities that now inhabited her castle, after she opened a portal to allow them in.

“Succubi still need their male supplements,” noted Alma, pulling on her chain to force Bellatrix on all fours. “Ah considered Omen, but he has enough on his plate. Plus, Ah think Esmeralda fancies him fur herself. So Ah figured these canines should prove sufficient enough!” She knelt down to whisper into one of the hellhound’s ears. “Go on, boy. Claim yer bitch~!”

With a bark, the muscular dog approached the succubus from the back, pressed his wet nose into Bellatrix’s crotch to sniff her cunt and ass, then dragged his slobbery tongue across her lower holes. The she-devil squirmed, her spaded tail swatting the horny hound away. “G-get away! Don’t you dare touch me, you filthy beast!!”

Her imperious warning did nothing to dissuade the growling canine, which pressed its front paws into her shoulders to shove her down and mount her. The she-devil felt her body heat up once she felt one of its knotted cocks brush against her slit, the creature trying to find entry with each hump.

Alma stood over the she-devil with the other hellhound seated by her hooves, its own set of peni swollen out of its fuzzy sheath. The bestial monster atop her panted heavily, the tip grazing her wet neithers, her inflamed pussy smeared in its drippy precum as it tried to invade her holes…

“W-wait, Stop! Please! I-I’m sorry,” Bellatrix cried out as she felt its knots throb. “I’ll behave!!”

The Vice Lord snapped her fingers, and the hellhound obeyed with a needy whine, pushing off Bellatrix and scurrying off to find something to vent its baser instincts. The other dog trotted away as Alma scowled at her rebellious prisoner. “Refuse me again, an’ A’ll have th’ entire pack breed you until ye’ve popped out litters ov pups,” she swore to the red-skinned beauty. “Then A’ll hand ye to th’ gargoyles an’ goblins, where ye can spend th’ rest ov yer wretched existence as their lowly cock sleeve… What will it be, Bella?”

Aware she had little resilience left, Bellatrix bowed her head. And when Alma knelt down and stuck out her bloodied wrist again, Bellatrix leaned in to suckle and clean the wound with her mouth, muffling a weak cry at her betrayal.

“That’s it, sweetin’! Have yer fill,” she purred, her hardened eyes softening, her other hand wiping away the tears staining the she-devil’s face. Bellatrix gazed up when she pulled away with the vampire’s blood on her lips. Then she leaned in for a deep kiss. The action briefly startled the Baobhan Sith before eagerly returning it, cupping her captive’s head tenderly.

Bellatrix still bitterly wished she had fed Alma to the monster when she had the chance. It, too, had betrayed her to protect itself, like she had failed to do when they were fused. Their union had saved her, even when the Burning King pushed out her heart. But since they separated, the she-demon had felt incredibly weak and crippled. Thus, she was helpless to resist her unbridled lust for Alma. For the moment, it appeared Omen was their only chance at survival.

“Mmmah~” Alma sighed upon breaking the kiss, helping the succubus to her feet, where she sidled behind her and continued to wantonly molest her entire body squashed under her palms. “Much as Ah relish yer suppleness, ye’ll need tae be dressed fur th’ banquet.”

Bellatrix sharply inhaled when she squeezed a heavy tit. “W-what do you have in mind?”

Alma released her hold on the succubus’ slick mound to point at the dresses hung in the wardrobe. “Pick whatever attire best suits you. Consider it a reward fur acceptin’ mah love~.”

Biting her lip, Bellatrix hesitantly walked over and ran her hands over several fabrics before picking out a backless black dress. Alma watched, running her tongue over her blood-smeared lips as her succubus slipped into the fancy confines.

“This… feels lovely,” Bellatrix commented flatly. Her ample cleavage was pushed up and exposed, same with her back down to the top of her round, heart-shaped ass, since her spaded tail and leathery wings needed to peek out.

“Ahh, a fine choice,” complimented the Vice Lord, running her hands along the curve of her hips. “This accentuates yer natural beauty an’ even compliments mah own regal gown. Very wise~!”

Bellatrix narrowed her golden eyes. “And if I give into you, my friends will remain unharmed?”

To Bellatrix’s surprise, Alma clicked her fingers to undo the collar, which fell with a rattle. “Unlike Varys, mah word is mah bond. Play nice, an’ A’ll do th’ same. Fulfill mah every desire, an’ Ah might consider lettin’ Lady Ewe go. Ah may be a monster… but A’m not heartless.”

Bellatrix detected a bit of melancholy in her voice, appearing to have struck a nerve with that comment. Perhaps there was more beneath the surface than she initially thought?

Nonetheless, the demoness wasn’t in any position to press for answers, lest she risks further upsetting her mistress. She hooked her arm between Alma’s with a deep inhale as the vampiress led her out of the private chambers and towards the warmly torch-lit hallway.

A vast table with an entire feast waited below. Bellatrix noted practically every dish was meat based, with only a few bowls of vegetation and fruit offered. Skeletal cadavers of animals and people alike were deposited in a pile like a morbid decoration. Candelabra and a chandelier lit the room, the banquet set to perfection.

On occasion, Alma, Esmeralda, or Camellia would toss meat into a wall, where a mouth filled with razor teeth would manifest and chomp the snack down in a crunch, a mixture of blood and drool left to drip down the surface. Hellhounds also descended to feast on abandoned table scraps.

“Marvelous work, Omen,” Alma complimented, patting a napkin to her bloodied, luscious lips. “Truly, ye’ve outdone yerself! A’m half tempted tae keep ye here as our personal chef~!”

The gray deer politely bowed before footsteps caught his attention. Oona was escorted by a mannequin maid, puffing while holding her heavy stomach. Another brought in a tiny bird cage with a fussy Demi-Trix locked inside. She was placed between Esmeralda and Camellia, who eyed the miniature morsel with laps at their chops.

Bellatrix glared at the Baobhan Sith. “You promised no harm would come to-”

“Ah thought it’d be nice havin’ yer friends fur dinner,” insisted Alma, wearing a wolfish smirk. The dream shepherd visibly paled, her honey-brown eyes on the naked stallions and mares suspended by hooked chains above, their throats casually slit to marinate some of the food in fresh blood. “Now, my dear Womb ov Conception. Open th’ portal an’ welcome our guests~!”

Omen blanched when one of the walls shifted, split to unveil a colorful hole that hummed and shined. From it arrived the towering slender figure of Queen Tatyana, Sovereign Witch, and ruler of Canterlot. Further adding to her monarch imagery was the multi-layered frilly gown that resembled butterfly wings on the unicorn.

Emerging alongside was her consort and confidante, Brutus Grimmwald, dressed in his white suit with royal pauldrons. The bull-man was only a head above her waist yet stood taller than everyone gathered. When the two locked eyes with Omen, tension was evident to Oona, who glanced worryingly. Neither made any attempt to hide their disdain for one another.

The gray buck managed a polite enough grin. “You look well rested, your highness.”

“Spare me the pretense, Grimm’noir,” the tall mare seethed. “It’s because of you I’ve had to vacant my throne until my sapped strength returns.”

“I see you’ve made ample use of her magic in escaping your detention,” grunted Grimmwald, who wore a similar fake smile. “How have you been, old friend?”

“Hard to say,” replied Omen, whose voice dipped in venom. “When was the last time your trust was betrayed for the art of botanic experimentation?”

“Ooh~! I smell conflict,” snickered Esmeralda.

“You’re acquainted?” asked Camellia.

“He made me what I am,” the nightmare stag elaborated. “Instead of helping me find a cure for the ‘wendigo’ sickness plaguing the north, he took my worst attributes and amplified them monstrously. I was the first successful Grimm…”

Grimmwald snorted. “I wouldn’t call you a success, Omen. You’re barely the mulch I use to enrich my soil.”

Oona huffed while glaring at the couple. “Showin’ our true colors, are we, Brutus?”

The minotaur turned his attention to the pregnant ewe. “Imagine, if you will, that our kingdom is a garden. For flowers to prosper and grow, one must pluck out all the weeds that threaten to infest the plants. It’s why I aided you in the Burning King’s downfall, for he was one such weed. And thanks to your marefriend, the foundations of the universe are in shambles. Which mea-”

“Which means there are new areas to explore and expand our rule,” Tatyana chimed in haughtily. “Lovely as it is, Canterlot was only the beginning of our epoch of magic.”

Grimmwald took his queen’s hand and briefly kissed her knuckle. “But for that to happen, we lack a crucial factor...”

Omen’s eyes narrowed. “Beatrix..!”

“Quite right,” Tatyana tittered. “As much as I loathe the little harlot, her ability to freely travel dimensions is extremely valuable. We look to extract that power, make it our own~!”

“Over my dead body, you overgrown bitch!!” Demi-Trix yelled, buzzing about to break free from her cage while the thestral mares giggled in amusement. The hellhounds barked and raised their hackles as bats hanging overhead shrieked.

Waving a manicured hand, Alma silenced her nocturnal pet and insisted, “Need Ah remind you lot that this is a business dinner. While watchin’ ye three tear out yer throats would be entertainin’, Ah advise ye refrain from hostility. Come, have a seat.” Mannequin servants assisted in pulling up Tatyana and Grimmwald’s chairs while Omen sat beside Oona, who was squeezing his hand below the table.

The Baobhan Sith took a sip of blood mixed into wine, rolling her wrist to stir the crimson liquid. “Intriguin’ idea,” she began, staring at the two canterlonian rulers. “It’s a nice long-term goal, really. But ye’re neglectin’ some rather obvious problems. Not e’eryone in or outside Equestria will easily submit. In fact, Ah wager there will be plenty ov wars tae overcome befur ye even attempt interdimensional conquest.”

“Then what do you propose?” Grimmwald asked as he filled two wine glasses for Tatyana and himself.

“Mmm, just a moment,” the auburn-haired vampiress said as the eldritch abomination opened another portal amidst a brilliant white flash. “Ah believe our last guest has just arrived!”

A thick fog brewed from the vortex as another shape stumbled out. Oona’s honey brown eyes widened at the sight of Douglas, a fellow Vice Lord. The kelpie held his bleached algae-accented mane in a messy ponytail, a worn admiral coat hanging loosely off his shoulders. A white dress shirt clung to his black veined torso, contrasting his tight black pants. Foamy sea water dripped off his chiseled, slimy form, the pale stallion’s seafoam green eyes surveying the guests.

As the portal closed behind him, Douglas sat beside Camellia, Esmeralda, and Demi-Trix, who instantly recoiled at the rank smell. Lady Ewe and Bellatrix felt incredibly nauseous, the kelpie’s sleaziness contrasted by his rugged good looks.

Alma gave a welcoming smile. “Ah didn’t think ye’d actually dress fur th’ occasion, let alone show up!”

A smirk curled his snout when he replied, “A’m surprised ye invited me! Had th’ impression there was bad blood between us.”

“Repulsive as Ah may find ye, It would be foolish not tae consider th’ kelpie as potential partners. We’re all free from th’ Burnin’ King’s threat ov annihilation, an’ th’ Lost World is ours fur th’ taking!”

“Ooh?” Tatyana spoke up after finishing her cup. “Do tell~.”

Alma rose from her seat, casting a commanding look matched by her sinister smile. “What Ah seek is an alliance. Alone, our forces can not triumph over Equestria’s factions and regimes. But together? We could be unstoppable!”

Grimmwald scratched his chin with thought before questioning, “And what would you want in exchange for our loyalty? Half our kingdoms?”

“Of course not,” the Baobhan Sith clarified. “Ye plan on extendin’ yer reach beyond th’ Lost World, and A’m not interested. A’m suggestin’ that we divide our rule rather than merge.” Alma gestured a finger to the royal couple. “By day, th’ lands are yers…” She moved it towards Douglas. “... As are th’ seas…” before pointing back to herself. “... While Ah govern th’ night skies. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Aye,” nodded the kelpie, whose brow furrowed. “Until one ov us decides it’s not enough!”

“An excellent point,” Tatyana said in agreement. “Why should we take your word on this alliance?”

Alma’s smile vanished, and her eyes narrowed. “Then Ah wish ye luck when Varys decides tae eradicate our homeland…”

Everyone at the table tensed up at the mention of that name. Except for the Sovereign Witch, who raised a skeptical brow. “I’m sorry, who’s Varys?”

“A cyborg,” Douglas answered between bites. “He was made a Vice Lord by th’ Burnin’ King, but it was clear he was never one ov us. Th’ bastard manipulated Doppia intae doin’ his dirty work, ensurin’ Beatrix would stop th’ End ov Days sae that he could resume wit his plans.”

“His technology combats any magic or power we have,” added Brutus, recalling how many of his soldiers fell before the plague doctor’s arsenal and bionicle zombies. “But what makes you certain he would come for the Lost World?”

“His disdain fur organic life,” assured the Baobhan Sith. “Varys is obsessed wit turnin’ all livin’ things into obedient machines. Knowin’ him, he’d consider this world a threat tae his ‘perfect utopia.’ If left alone, he’ll eventually overtake us! An’ unlike me, he can’t be reasoned wit…”

Tatyana pursed her lips into a thin line, aware that her life-bearing tree could not withstand an attack from magic opposing robots. She turned to her husband, who gave a firm nod before deciding. “Very well, Alma. I will agree… on the condition you let Grimmwald and I handle Beatrix Belladonna personally.”

Oona, Omen, Bellatrix, and Demi-Trix stiffened yet knew better than to stir up more trouble. It was futile to state an argument when the Baobhan Sith and her band of vampires held the high ground. The auburn-haired seductress rested her chin on her hands, asking, “Any particular reason? Ah know she’s quite a rapscallion.”

“As Brutus said, we wish to harness her spatial powers. But I want a proper rematch with that little wench!” her glare hardened, pointing out Lady Ewe and Omen. “My victory was absolute before their intervention!”

“Patience,” urged Grimmwald, stroking his wife’s arm. “The time will come. But for now, you have our allegiance.” His tunsen gaze shifted to Douglas. “What say you, kelpie?”

He chuckled darkly as he casually pulled off a fat leech attached to his chest, suckling it down. With a sigh, the Vice Lord answered, “A’m game! Plenty ov riches tae plunder an’ wenches tae ravage. Actually, when ye’re done wit Beatrix, send her mah way! A’d like tae have a go at her. Give her a dickin’ she’ll never forget~.” He lewdly lapped at his chops, making the dream faun squirm.

“One-track minded like always,” gently dismissed Alma, who pulled Bellatrix close, almost protectively. “Ye’re free tae indulge wit Belladonna an’ her friends, Douglas… but this one is mine. Should Ah detect any trace ov slime or bile on her body, A’ll force feed ye yer cock an’ balls...!” She offered the succubus an affectionate squeeze, met by her concubine’s dour stare.

Douglas held his hands up defensively. “H-hey, say no more!”

Camellia suddenly spoke up, holding Demi-Trix’s cage. “What about the demi-humans?” she asked. “Don’t they pose a threat to our operations?”

“Zeloph seemed immensely powerful,” chimed in Esmeralda. “And if I remember correctly, he and Moxxi plan to search for others?”

“Mmm, that would be true,” Alma noted, stroking her chin as a sinister smile stretched her plush lips. “If Zeloph wasn’t already in peril. He’s yet tae realize th’ danger close beside him~.”

It took Bellatrix a moment to recognize her mistress was referring to Moxxi, recalling their little encounter before this whole mess. “What did you do..!?” she asked in a low tone.

Leaning closer to the she-devil, Alma responded, “Yer lil’ imp friend had it bad fur her own flesh an’ blood. An’ right befur Ah took charge, Ah figured A’d ‘fix’ her addiction~.”

She slouched her shoulder, allowing one sleeve to drape down and expose her pale skin. Bella’s golden eyes went wide when she found teeth marks, along with a small smidge of purple lipstick.

“Poor thing,” the vampiress continued. “Tried in vain tae restrain her desires fur her brother’s happiness. But at th’ cost ov her own! What were ye thinkin’, teachin’ her tae hold back, sweetin’? That girl’s a natural-born killer. An’ wit a bit ov mah essence, she’ll obtain power she could only imagine!”

“But wouldn’t that be bad fur us?” said Douglas, perplexed.

Alma faced him and said, “Normally, yes. But from what A’ve gathered, Demi-humans have an obsession of sorts. An’ gather communities tae fuel said obsession. It’s not unlike what we do as Vice Lords. All A’ve done is amplified th’ imp’s fixation tae th’ point it’ll consume them both~.”

“No!” Demi-Trix cried, remembering that night she tried to cheer up the disheartened demoness. She shouldn’t have left her alone!

Yet, at the time, how could she have known Alma had seized control from Bellatrix?

“So even if Zeloph an’ Moxxi were tae find more Demi-humans, they are mair likely to take each other out well before they become a problem fur us,” the Vice Lord finished.

“That’s… quite impressive,” admitted Grimmwald.

Tatyana tittered playfully. “You’re a cunning schemer, Alma! I approve~!” She then raised her glass and proposed a toast. “To the new age of magic!”

Her consort did the same, adding, “May this union blossom into a better future!”

Douglas followed, “Let any who dare oppose us choke on salt and brine!”

Finally, Alma held up her chalice. “Fur th' Order ov Ròsan Dubha~!”

“For the Order of Ròsan Dubha!!” Esmeralda and Camellia repeated in unison as they downed their drinks and commenced with the banquet.

Bellatrix seethed in silence, their perilous situation spiraling from bad to worse. Demi-Trix curled her legs into her chest, taking comfort in the return of her little plush spies, who hid within the folds of her cape. Oona did everything in her power to not panic, despite how briskly her heart pounded within her chest.

Yet the only one who appeared tranquil was Omen. When the dream faun looked to him for support, she was frightened by how calm he seemed. The nightmare stag’s expression reminded Oona of a spider, patiently waiting for flies to become entangled in its web...

Lessons in Defeat

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To any regular observer passing by, the depressed planes of Zebrica appeared barren and uninhabited. Yet faint plumes of smog polluted the cloudless skies from a seemingly undetermined location further away.

But when a lone robotic avian, carrying an unconscious zebra warrior in its talons, hovered closer, a translucent barrier deactivated briefly to allow entrance, revealing Varys’ hidden laboratory hidden from plain sight. Though to call it a simple laboratory was putting it lightly.

It was a mechanized aircraft carrier ship atop ten sections of giant continuous tracks. The main facility resided on the backend, a steel fortress built of spires and exhaust funnels that puffed black smoke. The vehicle’s front split into arms latched onto the ground, keeping the iron behemoth stable. Sentinel cannons steadily turned at their vantage points, ready to blast anything with a heartbeat that may have snuck through.

The see-through dome surrounding it was impenetrable from the outside, with the only opening located at the top to allow the toxic steam to exit. The vulture-esque machine hovered by the base until doors split apart and let it soar through.

Despite the busy machinery, the facility’s interior was much less unsoiled than the bulky muddy exterior. Gears grinding together, pistons pumping. The sound of spinning saw blades slicing through the material with flying sparks added to the drone-like ambiance.

The avian drone released its prey onto a conveyor belt, which carried them along with the other unfortunate captives. If they were lucky, they would be dumped into a pool-sized vat of chemicals, decomposing their bodies and becoming fuel. But with the master’s plan in full effect, most were dropped into the reformatting chamber.

One by one, the victims awaken just in time to witness their organic structures alter upon inhaling the chemical gas filling the room. Their heightened anxiety about the situation would speed up the process, allowing them to do nothing more than scream as biotech mutated their bodies.

Once the transformation was complete, the newly recalibrated droids marched out to make way for later arrivals. They were put to work from there, constructing something far more prominent than the space around them. Their consciousness of who they once were forced to observe in silent synthetic agony. Their bodies were no longer theirs to control. And soon, neither would their minds.

The perpetrator behind this madness watched within a sphere of digital screens, surveying analytics and updates.

“Status report, I.V.O,” commanded Varys.

“Project: Nephilim Phase One completion rate at 45%,” replied the computer. “Current Number of Souls Acquired; 407.”

The cyber demon nodded. “Excellent. Production should be complete within a few days.” He placed the Necronomicon away on a desk before turning his attention to the steel coffins containing Penny Dreadful and Kitasan Black, or ‘Triad’ as he preferred. With the lich and gunslinger out to carry out more duties, the mechanized plague doctor was tasked to repair and supplant them with tech better suited against their enemies.

And Varys was particularly fascinated with what achievements could be accomplished with them. “Wake them.”

The caskets popped open with a hiss. The clockwork griffoness was the first to rise in a seated position, naked as she stretched and yawned her short beak wide. “Bloody hell, what an awful nap,” she groaned. “Would it kill Mortis to offer up a spot of tea every once and a while?” Penny groaned before taking in her surroundings, her iris aperture widening. “Ooh my! Back here again, are we?”

“Indeed,” said Varys, his hands clasped behind his back. “Good to see you, Madame Dreadful.”

Penny gave a coo, flaunting her slender curvature before teasing, “Ohohoho~! I bet you’re thrilled to see me! So what has become of the master?”

“On an important mission,” said Triad, who rose up naked. “Like always.”

“Ooh-la-la~,” the avian huntress purred, taking in the black stallion’s chiseled sculpt of muscles. “Being beside two augmented hotties is getting me all flustered! Don’t suppose you fancy a three-way~?”

Triad scoffed, eying his comrade with mild interest. “Even if I were interested, It would go against our master’s agenda!”

“I am master here,” reminded Varys firmly. “And you shall be in my care until further notice.”

The swordsman stumbled to his feet, eying the beak-faced scientist suspiciously. “For what purpose?”

“To upgrade your cybernetics with anti-Demi human artillery,” the Vice Lord answered.

“Unnecessary,” argued Triad with a shake of his head. “Our master nearly siphoned Zeloph’s soul right from his body!”

“Plus, I easily tussled that tousled-haired harlot,” Penny added, though she was curious about what these ‘additions’ were.

“Yet, when another demi appeared, you failed,” noted Varys. “And what would happen if you encounter others with skills beyond your capabilities?”

When the two undead cyborgs couldn’t come up with a response, he continued. “In your current condition, the next battle will likely destroy you. I understand Mortis values zero attachment to his puppets, but to see such remarkable designs go to waste is unacceptable! Here. Allow me to cut your strings…”

The bionic devil procured a device and clicked a button with his tail. Instantly, it projected a hologram of a middle-aged stallion.

The clockwork assassin let out a shrill scream. “Professor Kilroy!!” Overjoyed, Penny shot up in a splash, the black ooze left to trail over the thin feathers that coated her denuded suppleness.

“Aha! A pleasure it is to see you again, my finest creation,” remarked the bald-headed scientist. “Hmm, it is curious how each dimension alters us. I was a humble human, where we come from.”

Triad gazed at the hologram in astonishment and demanded, “What trickery is this!? You mean to tell me he’s not merely one of her kooky hallucinations...?”

“How rude,” replied Penny, hands left to rest on her plush hips.

“I’m equally as surprised as you, dear boy,” the bearded Doctor Kilroy admitted, turning to study the Vice Lord. “How were you able to detect my presence?”

“My sensors indicated subtle shifts of particles around Penny’s shoulder,” Varys elaborated. “With this, I can make you visible to the naked eye.”

Triad examined the device before narrowing his gaze. “This technology originated from my homeworld! I thought you were unable to access the cyberverse!?”

“Lady Ewe may have banished me from that dimension, but I was able to harness enough equipment to refurbish my laboratory. And so long as I cooperate with Mortis, he can provide me with any required samples. A token of exchange for helping him with his vendetta against Shadow Scythe.”

“My, my! How resourceful,” Doctor Kilroy noted.

“Righty o’ then! Get to the changes!” urged Penny excitedly. “I wanna get out there and make mincemeat out of Beatrix’s pals~!”

But Triad remained resilient. “Only minor repairs will be necessary,” he insisted. “I will not take part in whatever scheme you’re crafting. If you want your kind dead that badly, do it yourself!”

Varys’ pale eyes narrowed within his vectors as he approached the swordsman, his hand unraveling into wires and different tools to tune up his woven cybernetics. “You couldn’t be more wrong,” the plague doctor said while working. “Demi-human blood may flow through my veins, but I assure you; I am nothing like those lesser creatures.” A mute chuckle sounded beneath his avian mask. “No, no, I have become… something more!”

Triad glared, disgruntled by the scientist’s boasting. “And what might that be..?”

“Greater than any man. Stronger than machine. Mightier than a god! I… am an idea. An idea that will bring forth a new age of superior science. Flesh and steel in perfect fusion, creating the ultimate sapient race… with me as its paragon.”

The swordsman could pick distance screams echoing from the deeper levels of the factory. He couldn’t suppress, shuddering at the thought of a universe controlled by Varys and his biomechanical abominations.

“You were right. I was sorely mistaken,” relented Triad. “I foolishly thought Penny was quite the unhinged psychopath…”

The griffoness squawked, “Hey!”

“… but I see now that you’re the most deranged lunatic out of us all! I can’t even fathom a more accurate word to describe the sheer insanity you wrought!”

“Hmph. I believe the word you’re looking for is genius,” the cyber demon scoffed, pulling back once his maintenance was completed. Triad flexed his arms and legs to perform swift jabs and kicks, testing his reflexes. He felt as good as new, shocked to find no foul play from the plague doctor.

Varys reformed his arm back into a hand shape before asking, “I understand you’re not interested in any additional updates to your mainframe. But perhaps you’d care for a live demonstration?”

Penny and Killroy leaned closer with intrigue while the swordsman’s glare hardened. “You’ve already implemented the technology into someone..?!”

The Vice Lord nodded. “Three of my subjects are currently performing preliminary testing outside as we speak. If you follow me, perhaps I can change your mind.”

He offered his hand towards the clockwork assassin, who eagerly took it with a quirky giggle. Triad kept his distance while tailing them, a hand clutching his katana’s sheath protectively.

The morning sun rose over the tallest tower of the monastery. Looking back, Shadow Scythe breathed a sigh, her once icy heart warmed by the sight of her comrades joining to see her off. The pale blue unicorn faced the ruined town before her. The first task of her Trial of Atonement and a constant reminder of what her villainy had wrought.

Shadow Scythe looked to Abbess Julianne, the nuns surrounding her, and most importantly, her friends. In particular, Zeloph, which made her heart flutter when she approached him. They had shared a bath together, allowing them a brief moment of intimacy before the reaper needed to prepare. Swallowing hard, she told them, “I have a lot of work ahead, but I’ll be back. Hopefully soon...” The reaper took her lover’s hands and planted a chaste kiss on his forehead.

” I know you’ll succeed,” encouraged Zeloph, who returned a warm smile. “No matter how long it takes you, I’ll be waiting.”

Shadow Scythe squeezed him tightly in her arms before reluctantly letting him go. She glanced at the cyber ninjas, the fox woman nodding her head while the twin-tailed tigress gave a thumbs up.

Her smile faltered when she moved onto Ana, who crossed her arms under her pronounced chest while staring intently at the reaper. Shadow Scythe detected something was amiss throughout the journey with the female demi-human. This had to be the longest she’d seen her outside her usual imp form. And since then, Ana’s made it abundantly clear she wouldn’t restrain herself nor her feelings for her lover.

It made the neon demon all the more vexing and vicious. Still, despite this change in attitude, she was Zeloph’s sister.

But she wouldn’t stomach the idea of anyone taking the one good thing in her life away… “If I find any smear of lipstick on him, I will murder you,” she warned coldly, her voice a whisper.

Ana’s lip curled smugly, taking the threat as a challenge. “Ooh, I’d loike ter see ya try, lov~.”

Julianne grasped the unicorn mare’s shoulder and politely urged, “Let us not allow bad blood to spoil this most heavenly of mornings!” The rosey-haired demi’s usual optimism quickly turned the lusty devil’s smirk into a scowl. While her stance on Julianna remained uncertain, Shadow Scythe was, at least, thankful for their hostess’ graciousness.

Shadow Scythe gave her friends one last glance before making her way down the monastery steps towards the forsaken villa with only her signature sickle and a sack full of food.

Once she stopped waving, Julianne turned her attention to the entourage and clapped her hands together. “Now, since you’ll be staying here for a little while, I feel I should go over a certain rule everyone chose to ignore.” While she wasn’t naming anyone in particular, her ruby-colored eyes stared directly at Ana and Wispy Willow.

The nekomata drew her own lips. “W-wait! You’re kidding, right? You couldn’t have seen us; the door was-”

“Nothing happens under my roof without my knowledge,” the head nun stated, her stern tone contrasting her wide smile.

Zeloph felt a chill crawl up his spine, realizing she knew about his and Shadow Scythe’s lovemaking the night before. “W-we didn’t mean any harm-”

“Pft! Speak for yourself,” Ana cut off with a sneer. “If ya ask me, these stuck-up prudes need ter learn how to cut loose an-ouch! H-hey!!”

“That’s quite enough lip out of you,” Julianne said, tugging on her pointy ears. “Disrespect shall not be tolerated! If you continue to refuse cooperation, you’ll have to be severely punished!”

“Heh! Fin’ ya can threaten me wif a good time~? YAAOW!!!”

“Final Warning~!”

“Gagh! Fine, alwigh’! I’ll lay off. Na quit tryin’ ter rip at me ear!”

Satisfied, Julianne released her fingers, allowing Ana to slip back beside Wispy, quietly grumbling and sulking.

“It won’t happen again,” promised Wispy. Despite her rebellious streak, the nekomata decided it was best not to disobey since they needed their help. Significantly since the cyber kunoichi sisters were weakened in this foreign land, forced to rely entirely on their martial skills.

“My sister means no harm,” assured Kitsune. “We’re indebted to you, Mother Julianne.” She humbly bowed, thankful that if her absence from the monastery was noticed, it went uncommented on. Her thoughts focused on the fox boy she’d briefly seen on the water, still debating if that was a trick of the moonlight.

“Oh, think nothing of it,” beamed Julianne. “Please, take the time to clean yourselves up. There’s a vast meadow behind the monastery. Feel free to train there and adapt to this world’s magic. No doubt you’ll need it with your ‘cybernetics’ neutered here.”

“Heh. Neutered,” snickered Ana, only to be flicked by Wispy’s split twin tails.

Zell looked outward to watch his lover float away out of sight. With a heavy sigh, he proclaimed, “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to start now. I already had a bath, and Atalanta will need me the next time-”

“-we face Mortis,” cut in Kitsune, who tossed him a wooden practice sword and withdrew her own. “I prepared these for what awaits us. Would you honor me with a friendly duel?”

He smirked at her. “The honor would be mine~!” The pair headed out into a field of grass whipped in the wind while Ana and Wispy were shuffled into the monastery to be cleansed before joining in. Julianne went a different direction, entering a shake that could easily be mistaken for a barn. Inside was a shrine dedicated to two figures. One was of the deity who blessed those worthy with divine blood. But another stood opposite, depicting a nude woman covered with multiple wings, a halo of horns crowning her head.

Julianne lowered to her knees, clasping her beaded rosary, and began to recite a prayer. “Hear me, heavenly father, above. Heed me, unholy mother, below. This humble servant asks that you give unto her your almighty power. I ask that this day shine brightly for my newfound friends. O please, primordial ones! Lend me a sign that the other children of Eden will arrive for the reunion!”

Trees rustled with a mild wind once Zeloph and Kitsune occupied the open field. They stood opposite of each other, bowing before crossing swords. The fallen one was ecstatic with how quickly the fox woman kept up with him, each exchange causing a hard snap sound from their swords. Even when he flashed behind for an opening, Kitsune was able to respond with a deflective blow.

“Haha! I think I found myself a good sparring partner,” complimented Zell, struggling to push back before leaping away. “Your skills are impeccable!”

“Years of self-discipline, enforced training, and practice,” huffed Kitsune, who wore a similarly satisfied grin. “But you’re pretty good on the draw yourself!”

“Thanks,” the angelic demi chuckled. “If anything, this shows you don’t need all that high tech in your body.”

His comment caused Kitsune to draw her snout down, rubbing her forearm. Zell’s eyes widened upon recognizing her discomfort. “O-oh, right! Sensitive subject. I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s just… what I wouldn’t give for that to be true,” she confessed. “The choice for a normal life was taken from my sister and me.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” the demi comforted. “We never asked to be the children of… god.” He spoke the word like it was taboo.

“Even still, it’s our responsibility to use these curses as gifts. So that we may protect the people we love.”

“Got me there. From what I’ve heard, magic is naturally embedded within all yokai. And you were genetically engineered after the nine-tailed fox spirit. Maybe you can tap into it!”

Her frown deepened, her rust-colored hair and nine fluffy tails fluttering in the breeze. “Not once have I considered using magic before. But I recall fire spells being the basics for my species…” Her eyes looked to him when she shyly asked, “... can you teach me?”

Zell smiled and nodded, throwing down his wooden sword. “I’m no yokai, but my Onoma and light-based ability produce a similar source.” With a cast he demonstrated, a flash of radiant illumination shone from his open palm, not unlike Wispy’s plasma orbs.

Kitsune carefully observed, concentrated, and felt a shimmer of power within her, unlike the usual cyber implants she typically relied on to boost her seasoned skills. “I-I feel something. But I can’t-”

“Don’t force it,” he replied, dimming his spell into a small candle-size flame. “Fire requires control over one’s emotions. If you get too frustrated, it’ll lash out, scorching whatever it can touch. And when it’s fueled by intense anger or hatred… well, that’s how the Burning King came to be.”

Kitsune nodded, sweat beads pouring down her brow as she tried to focus on conjuring it. For an instant, a small blue flame flashed. She released a hard breath, staring at her palm as nothing else came out.

“Well, at least we know you can access it,” said Zeloph, snuffing out his own spark. “But it’s okay! No one could be expected to master the arts on the first try!”

“Yeah, I-I know,” mused Kitsune and rubbed her hip, ambivalent about the bruise that started to build from where he struck her. A reminder that she became more fleshy here, oddly filled with a certain warmth in her heart at the sharp bite of pain she usually felt almost deadened to.

“Are you hurt? H-here,” offered Zeloph, lightly pressing his fingers into the bruised area as his healing light rippled and pulsated around her side.

“Th-thank you,” whispered Kitsune meekly, her eyes closed as she felt the warmth envelop the skin. The searing pain died away, replaced by a tranquil euphoria that rolled across the vixen. Her posture turned stiff and submissive under his touch since the former assassin had been conditioned to obey those that used her as a tool for her entire life.

She had only found a level of independence after she and Wispy escaped, and the sisters had been taken in by the pop princess Eclipsed Heart, where they formed the band B.A.B.E. Since then, the fox woman took up the role of their protector, as their popularity soared to the top while battling their friendly rivals, S.L.U.T. Another rival boyband, Sixth Measure, also became their allies through the budding relationship between Eclipsed and Bass.

Of course, they’d also made enemies with the demi-human known as Seb, who steadily made his name known around the black market. The public became blinded by the card demon’s endless ‘generosity,’ donating to many charities and supporting noble causes to improve the city. But they knew that it was all a ruse to maintain his image. Behind the scenes, Seb secretly ran many illegal trades and gambling shows to stock his obsession with wealth and luck. Kitsune could only hope the footage she managed to record would be enough to kickstart the bastard’s downfall while she and Wispy were away.

But the kunoichi wouldn’t hold her experiences with Seb against Zeloph nor Moxxi. While she didn’t know them well yet, both had treated her like a friend. It made her miss Eclipsed Heart, even more, hoping she was fairing well without them in the cyberverse.

Kitsune reassured herself that Eclipse’s boyfriend and his brothers would look after her in their absence. “You have my thanks,” she said once more after he finished touching her up.

“Don’t mention it.” They set aside their practice swords and took a break to recover. The blue skies were clear, the sun gentle on their skin. Zell withdrew the Vorpal Blade and rolled it about his palm. “You wouldn’t happen to know a way to unlock this blade’s hidden secrets, would you..?”

The vixen shook her head. “I have trained with various swords, but an enchanted one is beyond me.”

The fallen angel sighed. “Thought so… If you want, you can focus on unlocking your yokai abilities while I figure out how to call its power.”

Kitsune smiled delicately before nodding, rising back up and returning to her practice, a notable wag from her multiple tails. Zell stood up to pace around, studying the rune-lined white metal. Yet before he could ponder it further, his telecom hummed to life.

“Hello? This is Witch Mother, calling Sunspot. Come in, Sunspot!” Beatrix’s voice echoed through.

Zeloph’s eyebrow rose, bewildered as he replied, “I don’t remember agreeing on using code names...?”

“C’mon, where’s the harm in having a little fun~?”

His frown deepened. “You do realize it’s that attitude that likely resulted in this whole mess, right?”

“Spare me the passive aggressiveness, will you? I already get enough of it from Iclyn. Besides, you’re one to talk after what you’ve done!”

His expression soured when she brought up his crimes. With a deep breath, he unenthusiastically replied, “This is Sunspot. I read you loud and clear, Witch Mother. Over.”

She snickered. “Always knew a part of you wasn’t a total buzzkill~!”

“Will you get on with it already? Have you made it to Midnight’s world or not?”

A brief pause. Then he heard her say, “Yeah, we’ve arrived. It… doesn’t look good. Everything’s been twisted. The sky. The planets. All of it is just… wrong. And that’s not even the worst news!”

“There’s worse news?”

“Oona and the others are in danger! Alma’s got the entire manor under her thumb, thanks to Bellatrix. I-I think she kept her because she wanted to pull a redemption card. But she failed. And now, Esmeralda and Camellia have betrayed us, Demi-Trix and Omen are held hostage, and Grimmwald and Tatyana are likely getting involved. Oh, and remember that three-headed dragon accidentally teleported to Cerise’s world? We learned Andrei can control the experimental scorpions left by the Eldritch! We managed to bury him under a mountain, but who knows how long that’ll last! It’s bad, Zell. Really bad!”

Zell stared at the telecom with a pale expression. It hadn’t been more than two days! How did things unravel so disastrously? The demi-human felt his breathing grow frantic, doing his best to remain calm about the situation.

“That… is a lot to take in,” he managed to say.

“Are you okay?” Beatrix asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” insisted Zell as he went on to tell the wayward witch about their journey thus far. He mentioned their untimely encounter with Mortis and his undead henchmen, nearly losing said battle before Julianne’s intervention. Then, he relaid how they were now taking refuge at rose-haired demi’s establishment, figuring out a plan for their inevitable fight with the lich while Shadow Scythe was away, taking her ‘Trail of Atonement.’

“So you’re stuck there for a while,” Beatrix surmised. “Well, here’s hoping she succeeds. Though personally, I believe it’s unnecessary. She’s already proven herself!”

“It’s a more personal matter for her than anything,” rebutted Zeloph. “Regardless, I won’t abandon her to suffer this alone. She needs me in her corner.”

“Awww… Where was this side of you when we were together~?”

He dryly chuckled. “Buried under a lot of smarm and self-entitlement that helped drive Cerise’s world to extinction.” There was a brief pause before he asked, “Hey.… When you can, tell her that I’m-”

“I’m sure she understands,” replied Beatrix, her voice barely audible on the other end. “But I’m also sure she’d appreciate a personal apology. You did hurt her parents and killed many of her people from her country. I don’t mean to make you feel bad, Zell, but you can’t really blame her.”

“Nor can I take it back…” The fallen one sighed, troubled. “I’ll contact you once I have more news. Here’s hoping Oona and the others can get somewhere safe. Good luck, Beatrix.”

“You too, hun,” she said as the transmission ended, his pendant’s glow dimming.

“Well, that’s just great,” the demi-human bitterly spat, glaring at the worn blade that refused to give him insight. “What is it that I have to do!? Tell me!!” he demanded, shaking the weapon for any response. But alas, it was an inanimate object, and all he was doing was behaving foolishly. Zeloph groaned while rubbing his forehead, half tempted to try his sister’s cheesy suggestion.

“There has to be something that draws its power out… think, Zell! What did you do before..?”

His thoughts returned to the manor as he remembered the hole he’d sliced into reality which sent Ebony Ivory and Natural Selection away. He vividly recalled the sword weaving a motion with him.

Taking a deep inhale, Zeloph sliced the air at the memory… which caused the runes to light up, the saber shimmering with brilliance. His eyes opened wide with shock at the cross-shaped breach in the air, cosmic radiance spilling out the spatial cut.

“Holy shit,” he whispered in astonishment, amazed by the feat he pulled off. “H-holy shit!! Haha!!!”

So overjoyed by his progress, Zeloph failed to notice the sword’s aura dancing around his body, his swan-esque plumage expanding into more wings with eyes. His body was consumed by a fiery atmosphere of pure white energy that surged into a pillar. Kitsune was pulled out of her practice to notice the beam of light reaching the sky, marveling at it for a second before running towards it.

The seraphic angel reached forward to touch the rift, the spatial substance rippling like water. “So this is what it feels like to be Beatrix,” he laughed. “I have to admit, it feels amazing! But I shouldn’t get carried away. I better close it beforeeeEEYAAAHH!?!”

In trying to pull his finger, a great weight pulled Zeloph through the rift before sealing itself shut. By the time Kitsune arrived at the scene, the light had vanished, a pile of leaves whirling over where it once stood.

“Oh no…”

“Such ‘orseshit!”

Ana continued to whine as the demoness and nekomata were forced by the nuns to scrub the monastery clean. “Zeloph and Shadow Scythe were gettin’ freaky on that Friday night just as we were! I bet ‘e sodomized ‘er, too! So why’re we gettin’ singled aahhht!?”

The nuns said nothing, knowing it would feed into her negative attitude.

“Wot, Is it ’cause we’re women? girl-on-girl is against the bloody rules?!” She hefted a couple of water pails in her arms and sneered. “Bunch of 'omophobes, ya 're! Absolutely bafflin’, loike ya don’t scissor each ovver behind closed doors!”

“Quiet you,” warned one of the nuns.

“They’ve been thumb-suckin’ outta wed-lock as well!” Ana continued to rant. “And yet, we’re gettin’ our bums smacked for it? Biased cunts…”

“To be fair, It’s likely those two intend to marry,” hissed Wispy, her striped fur on end when soapy water almost splashed her.

The idea made Ana growl. “Not if I 'ave aahhht ter say abaht it….”

“Gagh! What is with you?” berated the tigress. “He’s your brother, for cryin’ out loud!”

“‘e’s more than that,” defended the lusty demon. “‘e’s been the bloody peanut butter ter me jelly since we butchered the Divine Father. Before ‘e went zealot mode, ‘e ‘elped me get a new lease on the Porridge Knife. Zelly means everything ter me, Wispy. And I ain’t abaht ter St. Martins-Le-Grand ’im ter sum boney ass bizzich..!”

Wispy watched the neon demon scrub her vexations into the floor, biting her lip. Despite the present issues she displayed, Ana was too alluring to pass up. The twin-tailed cat woman loved the night they spent together. Admittedly, far more than she had with Alto. He wasn’t by any means a poor lover. But sex with the neon demon was an almost otherworldly experience. She still had the claw markings decorating her furry body to prove it, invisible in daylight.

In any case, the former assassin sensed her friend required help, even if she said otherwise. And Wispy would take it upon herself to do whatever she could to assist Ana, especially if her new prowess could be expanded upon. Her slit eyes noticed the x marks on demi’s cheeks were fading slightly.

“What was it called again? An Onoma, right?” Wispy began questioning while dipping her rag into the soapy water bucket. “Can it be changed?”

“It can,” answered Ana, who cautiously held a hand to her cheek. “I’ve only seen it ’appen wif Zell before. But that shouldn’t mean I can’t do the same.”

Wispy nodded. “It’s likely already happening. And I think we should use it to help with our predicament.”

“Yeah, shit’s been crazy, ‘asn’t it? Wot wif aw these old foes of Beatrix crawlin’ aahhht of the bleedin’ woodwork loike locusts...” She dipped her venus flytrap tail in the water, sucked up the soapy soup, and spat it all over the stained glass. When none of the nuns were looking, the mischievous succubus yanked down the lower half of her attire, bent over, and pressed her bare bottom to the surface as she rubbed herself on it.

Wispy snickered at the squeaks of Ana’s bare ass as she cleaned it, beckoning the nekomata to help out. “Well,” said Wispy, who noted the nuns had left them alone for a moment, satisfied they would finish the work. “They didn’t specify how we needed to clean the monastery~!”

“Ovver than nah magic,” replied Ana with a wink. “Thankfully, me natural demonic abilities daan’t count!” She yanked off the nekomata’s cheongsam with a snicker as the denuded kunoichi used her furred breasts and buttocks to help rub soap and water all over the pictures.

“A faceful of titties should ‘elp ’em perk up,” the demoness tittered when she discarded the rest of her clothes to help her new pal clean it. Then she whispered, “Wot say we sneak into mother superior’s room? I bet that saucy Berkshire ‘unt ‘as plenty of skeletons in ‘er closet. Nah doubt a few dildos straight from Bad Dragon~!”

The cyber ninja paused. “I dunno...a few pranks are fine, but I don’t want us kicked out!”

“Pft! Relax. When ‘ave I stirred ya the wrong way? Besides, in’cha supposed ter be your band’s ‘bad girl’? Wot wif that studded crimson catsuit and choker ya strut ’round in? I wanna run wif a bitch 'oo knows ’a ter ‘ave fan,” she teased the tigress.

“Grrrr… Fine, we’ll check it out. I’m a bit worried about my sis, and I don’t want her buying into this ‘self-redemption’ crap.” Reluctantly, Wispy picked up her discarded clothes and hastily trailed after the spunky demi-human, who’d darted ahead. It wasn’t like her to be so cautious, but she felt like an alien. Disturbed at how easily Mortis and Triad had overcome the cyber sisters.

A hop-and-a-skip later, the duo arrived at Julianne’s room, separated from the rest of the rooms, at the end of an empty hall. The lock proved simple to pick, as Ana’s flytrap-shaped tail closed around the handle and its elongated tongue pushed into the keyhole with a swish until a click sounded. Quietly, she drew the door open, where the pair entered.

The interior proved bland and mundane, a little different from the rest of the rooms they’d seen here. They immediately started to ransack the drawers and look under the bed.

“Yeesh! Girl needs ter get aahhht more,” Ana commented, the only thing of interest being a piano with a music sheet book. She bent under the bed. “Nah stash of porna magz or anything!”

“No toys either,” noted Wispy as she lifted some clothes from a dresser. “None of her bras or panties look remotely sexy. Not even a hint of frilly designs!”

“Blimey! As much as I’d love ter wipe that rathead smile off ‘er face, I’d prefer ter clock at ‘ow stacked she is underneaf those robes…”

“You said it! Girl’s got quite a figure from what I could tell,” Wipsy said, noting Julianne’s chest looked relatively large, confined in her gown.

Just then, Ana’s elvish ears perked at the almost undetectable sound. “D-did ya ‘ear that?”

“Mhm.” The tigress’ oval-shaped ears flopped. “It sounded pretty… muffled.”

The demoness went to all fours, crawled across the carpet, and felt around until she discovered a thinner part when she pressed her palms down. “Aha! Gotcha~!” Carefully, she peeled the section back.

Together, they drew the rug away, uncovering a suspicious-looking trap door. “I smell a sex dungeon,” Ana giddily said, rubbing her hands together as her tail licked its chops.

“I think we should turn back,” Wipsy suggested nervously. “We don’t want Julianne knowing we’ve been here!”

“And let the poor sap continue ter suffer whatever sexual torture device she’s ‘ooked up? Nah, my fine China plate. We’re garn in raw and ‘ot~!”

Wispy clutched her hands tightly as Ana undid the latch. The duo descended the stairwell that led deep into the dark basement. Once they nearly touched down at the bottom, faint echoes carried that made Wispy’s cat ears flick. The muffled noises definitely sounded like moans in between whip cracks.

“Ohoho~! Wait until the others get a whiff of this! I bet that ‘abit-wearin’ slut got ’em ball gagged, whippin’ them for mis… behavior..?”

Whatever excitement Ana felt died as the duo gazed in shock at the display before them. Inside the BDSM-styled dungeon, many nuns were naked and tied up. But their expressions were anything but lewd. They looked exhausted, eyes struggling to keep open, cheeks dry with tears. Upon further analysis and a closer listen, Wispy realized the mouth gags weren’t muffling their moaning. It was suppressing their laughter!

They spotted a pair of nuns, one prostrated across a wooden horse, arms bound behind her by rope, lips smiling over a ball that dripped with drool from the tiny holes. Her back and buttocks were covered in thin red marks where her friend was lashing, wearing a manic grin.

“Wot fresh Gypsy Nell is this..!?” Ana muttered horrifically.

“Punishment,” a cheery voice answered, causing both women to jump when Julianne unveiled herself from the shadows, her perpetual happy face highlighted by candlelight. “For those who chose to give in to temptation.”

“What have you done to them!?” Wispy demanded.

“I think you should be asking your friend that question,” countered the mother superior, her ruby gaze locked with Ana’s heated magenta. “It’s her fault they’re going through this.”

“Wanna try that again, skank?!”

“It’s true! You’re the one promoting depravity in my monastery. You’ve encouraged these mares to give in to their vices. Vices that will doom them into damnation and a spiraling state of unhappiness. It is my sworn duty to lead my followers toward a good life. A life untainted by terrible thoughts and filled with eternal bliss!”

“You deluded twat,” spat Ana. “So this is ’a ya keep everyone in order? Gettin’ them’ igh on false opium until they’re pukin’ up rainbows and puppies?!”

“I know it seems awfully extreme,” admitted Julianne. “But it is necessary! The world is too cruel to live in these days. That is why I must remind people what it feels to have boundless joy!”

Wispy shook her head defiantly. “But this is wrong! They’ll become too tired and numb if left unchecked!”

“Yeah, that ain’t real ‘appiness!”

Then, for the first time since knowing her, Julianne’s smile disappeared, replaced with a frown. “Ooh? And what do you know about real happiness, hmm? You, who have known only misery all your life.”

“Ya don’t kna tom shite abaht me!” glowered Ana.

“I don’t have to,” responded Julianna, walking around the duo like a shark in blood-soaked water. “I see it in your actions. The way you talk and act towards others, disregarding their outlook on you because, deep down, you know they’re right. Even now, I can sense how tormented you are inside.”

“Shut up!!”

“Incest and Infidelity are heavy sins, y’know,” she continued. “It’s bad enough you lust after your own relative, but to even go so far as to covet him away from the mare he loves? All to selfishly hide that neverending fear of being abandoned once again. You’re not just miserable, dear. You’re unlovable. You, Anarchia, are a sexually depraved monster who will never know real happiness…”

The demoness manifested her dark aura, sharp teeth clenched, the urge to maim the rosey-haired demi on the spot impossible to withhold. She trembled violently, her eyes glowing an angry scarlet red.

“Oh my! Quite a scary face you’re making,” said Julianne, unphased. “You look about ready to tear me apart~!”

“Damn wite, I am,” snarled Ana, who marched up to the mother superior, her demonic energy flaring as she stood taller. Still, it took her mental power to remain in control and not let this bitch rule her emotions, despite the apparent wet pain seeping out her eyes. “But ’a abaht I bla this whole operation wide open and tell our friends ’a ya treat your floozies when they get a bit naughty?”

“Hmm… you could,” considered the mother superior. “But I think it would be more productive if we exorcise this demon. One-on-one. In a duel.”

“A duel?” questioned Wispy.

“If you defeat me, I’ll offer up my purity and let you have me any way you want.”

Ana narrowed her glare. “And if ya win?”

The nun’s smile returned. “Then you will join my covenant. And I will end your addictive tendencies once and for all.”

“You’re on,” the neon demon replied without a second thought, pushing the twin-tailed tigress aside, her blood working up to a boil.

“Holy crap,” muttered Wispy, a step taken back to leave the room. She could feel the raw power radiate from Anarchia, making her striped fur stand on end.

She tailed behind Julianna, stating, “You won’t get away with this! Even if you win, Zeloph won’t allow you to convert his sister! And neither will I or Kitsune!”

Julianne looked at her with unfettered confidence and replied, “Oh, I know you won’t, but trust me, Wispy. This is meant to help balance Anarchia’s demonic nature. I suspect something is causing her mood to influx.”

“W-what?”

“You’ll understand soon,” reassured the head nun. “The plan is already set into motion.”

Wiping sweat from her brow, Shadow Scythe finished repairs to the first building she tackled, the bricks set and sealed by cement that hardened under the sun. Such mundane work would have once been unthinkable to her, who’d spent most of her life before a turn to villainy in stuffy libraries. Yet she couldn’t deny a certain simple satisfaction at work finished by her own hands.

Hard labor proved the easy part. The real work came next.

The pale blue unicorn surveyed the various souls of the civilians slain here, entire families dead by Mortis’ hands. A monster she helped create. The skull-face lich is reduced to a mere vessel of vengeance. A reminder of what she could have become had she continued down a life she chose.

With a shudder, her icy blue eyes turned to the transparent spirits of a slain family.

The specters stared back coldly, resentment clear on their visages. Dread smoldered in the victims, acknowledging that this reaper had inadvertently called her foe’s wrath down on their land. Some even addressed her as a traitor and monster, and she dared not deny their protests.

Shadow Scythe’s head bowed solemnly, her eyes closed as a solitary tear dripped down her cheek.

A cool touch caressed her cheek. She looked to a child who attempted to comfort her. “I...I don’t deserve your kindness,” she whispered. “But I’ll become worthy of it one day!”

The reaper settled into her next task, to ease the souls of the lost, trapped between realms until psychopomp could send them to their destination. Grimly, Mortis had claimed a few souls before Julianne pushed him back, but until she could reclaim them, she would focus on these haunted spirits.

Without a reaper’s aid, they were condemned to wander the mortal plane...forever.

After her suicide, Quiver Bolt was likely trapped somewhere in this world since she’d slain all her fellow reapers, and it was unlikely anyone skilled enough could carry out that sacred task. She needed to find her lost soul before Mortis, or his followers, did.

Perhaps by liberating her mother’s spirit, Atalanta could also save her father, Quicksilver Bullet, from the lich’s mental domination. Even if their relationship couldn’t be salvaged, the female reaper would be content to make simple amends for the heartache she caused her family.

“WELCOME BACK, DOWN TOWN~!” The debonair boy band, Sixth Measure, sang in unison after finishing their opening act, much to the crowd’s massive reaction. Once the sun began to set, the cybernetic land of Equestria came to life with technicolored illumination and surround sound.

Most notably, the brothers made headlines with another protest concert, drawing nearly half of the city’s populace. The gathering crowds danced against each other, trying to get as close to the onstage talent while the bouncers continually pushed them back.

“I wanna thank you all for coming,” continued the lead singer, Bass, who wore a stunning blue jumpsuit and styled his hair into a pompadour to pay tribute to a legendary solo artist. “We’ve got a lot in store for you tonight.”

“Stuff that’ll really knock your socks off, ladies~” flirted the middle brother, Alto, earning a couple hollers from some eager female fans.

“We’re gonna tear up the dance floor with S.L.U.T later on, so you definitely won’t wanna miss that~!” announced Tenor, the youngest. He and Alto wore matching outfits, the only difference being color-coded to each singer.

“That’s right! Because we’ve gotta address the pinstripe-wearing elephant in the room,” Bass added, picking a more serious tone. The crowd then gave a loud boo, half of them aware of who he was referring to. “I know; I just wanna party all night like the rest of you. But we’ve got hard evidence that this chump has been pulling the wool over your eyes for months!”

Alto nodded and said, “All will be revealed in time, friends.”

Then Tenor chimed in. “But for now…”

“Leeeeeets party~♪” they called in unison before putting on a popular performance to get the attendees pumped up.

From backstage, Eclipsed Heart watched her boyfriend play. While this was a world primarily of humans, Beatrix and Oona’s latest adventure introduced back the magic that helped alter citizens into anthropomorphic hybrids. This futuristic Equestria had been changed with the rebirth of the Elements of Harmony, as magic returned and mingled with advanced science. Thus, some people had taken on certain animal traits.

The popstar variation of Cerise, named Eclipsed Heart, retained her human shape, her hot pink hair tied up in a thick ponytail, which matched her wide, soulful eyes. Her skin carried a dark, charcoal hue, and the pop princess dressed in a stylish neon roller derby-style costume and rollerskates. She bounced around in sync with the melody Sixth Measure sang out. “Looking good, honey!” she cheered from the curtain.

Her heart-shaped cellphone filmed the concert live from her social media page, many of her followers flooding the comments with reactions and likes.

“You really got it down bad, princess,” teased Carrion Hellfire, the lead of S.L.U.T. What started as a friendly rivalry to drum up interest for both bands had become a full-on partnership, as they, B.A.B.E., and Sixth Measure united to undo what ex-president Spike and Seb had done.

The thin, athletic woman resembled a harpy, down to metallic wings that were closer to blades on her slender but toned arms, a metal bikini with spikes over her nipples to match, and talons on her fingers and feet. Her short, wild mane was half-shaved.

Eclipsed giggled, turning to her friend. “Can you really blame me? He’s quite the jaw-dropper!”

“Ehh, I don’t see it,” Carrion shrugged, dismissively waving her hand. “But I’ll give those tacky studs this; they sure know how to play! Plus, I can’t complain about all the delicious eye candy~!” She licked her chops at the women that wantonly displayed themselves, her teeth razor-sharp behind stretched lips.

“Mmm, I’ll say~,” hissed Obrya Slithervane, the voluptuous woman akin to a lamia, as her thick snake tail allowed her to slither across the floor. Lime-colored hair fell like a waterfall to frame her delicate features, their resident seductress, the poster girl of S.L.U.T. since she was the most conventionally beautiful. She went naked as few dared question a woman that could easily constrict and crush them. Plus, being a member of the Komodo biker gang gave the serpentine woman certain benefits and protection. “I wish Dillon was here to watch me perform,” she confessed with a sigh.

“Gotta keep up the act, mate,” replied the last band member, Riptide Ruth, her voice deep and rough yet clearly feminine. The shark woman was a mountain of hard muscle in stretched clothes, boxed in by public perception as the stereotypical ‘dumb brute,’ despite the fact she was an ex-engineer that maintained the band’s equipment. She swore to keep them all protected, having years of experience in the military to back it up. “We’re not Sadistic Lesbians United Together for nothing!”

“I know,” pouted Obrya as she sucked on her lower lip. “Nothing wrong with a little dick here and there. You two should try it!”

Her bandmates turned to each other and made a vomiting gesture before laughing it off.

Eclipsed winced a little at the foul-mouthed band, who openly spoke their mind at all times and often cursed up a storm. But it was obvious they were softies at heart! They’d acted as surrogate older sisters to her in the absence of Kitsune and Wispy Willow!

Not to mention Mezzo Soprano, mother of Sixth Measure and acting president of the capital, had accepted her! She’d never felt happier in her entire life!

“C’mere! Let me give ya a better view,” Ruth offered, lifting the tittering diva onto her shoulders. Eclipsed’s hot pink eyes lit up as she marveled at the sight beyond the concert hall, taking in many skyscrapers and tall towers that reached the heavens.

One tower was a high-end restaurant, currently sold out for the presence of the former opera singer herself. Mezzo Soprano stood by the window, viewing the neon concert below, despite a television broadcast playing on a plasma screen in the bartending area. She sipped from her glass of sparkly champagne, adorned in her business suit with silver and gold decorative glitter. The table manager approached the older woman cautiously, informing her, “Miss president? Erm, your guest has arrived…”

She didn’t turn to address him while responding, “Send him in.”

With a nod, the employee was gone. And strutting his way into the luxurious restaurant was the subject of Sixth Measure’s protest. Her eyes drifted up to see his reflection in the glass window, his pale coat and dress pants lined with faint pinstripes, as was his feathered hat. Those glowing slime-yellow eyes shone brightly with integrity, his visage covered by a bandana that depicted a fanged grin.

“Damn. Would you look at that view!” commented Seb, passively flipping a coin in his hand. “Must be nice getting to have dinner here. I hope you haven’t forgotten who helped you acquire such a fortune. I haven’t. And I never forgive unpaid debts…”

“I’m surprised you came alone,” said Mezzo, turning around to take her seat. “I rarely see you without those two fuckbots you stole from Spike.”

Catching the coin and seeing where it landed, he shrugged and tucked it into his pocket. “Is it really stealing when he practically gave them to me? Not my fault the purple bastard didn’t recognize opportunity when running this joint to the ground. They’re overseeing the betting races in my absence. What, did you plan on ambushing me?”

“And ruin this expensive suit? Hardly my style,” the president dryly chuckled, watching him sit opposite her. A waiter asked for any beverages to start with, and Seb ordered red wine. Mezzo requested mozzarella sticks for the appetizer while Seb watched Sixth Measure’s show on the tv.

“Quite a performance your boys are putting on,” admitted the pinstriped devil, his spaded tail opening its eye to watch while they talked. “I wonder who they plan on getting canceled tonight. I bet he’s incredibly handsome~!”

Mezzo’s smile twisted with anger. Of course, Seb would deduce the reason she invited him to a dinner date. For all his sleaziness, he was terrifyingly insightful. According to Lady Ewe, he was a demi-human, an alternative take on classic angels and demons. Each one she and Beatrix faced was compelling, and Seb was no exception. He weaponized his love for gambling, turning any game played into a matter of life and death, be it his card-based magic, gun-based artillery, or ability to read minds. No matter the outcome, the card demon was guaranteed to get what he wanted.

The waiter brought back a basket of mozzarella sticks and wine, and the pair briefly looked through the menu before selecting their choice of entree. Tension held high in the air as they ate while the concert resonated from the plasma screen.

Mezzo ultimately broke the silence. “... Heh. Straight to business, then?” She slid her phone towards Seb, who picked up. On it was footage of him, courtesy of Kitsune, clearly ordering his henchmen to beat a poor patron to a pulp. And when he begged for more time, the video ended right as Seb conjured his signature pistol, unclipping the safety.

“This will be leaked live in the middle of the concert,” she said calmly. “Then everyone in this city will know how despicable you really are. It’s over, Seb. You’ve lost.”

This was the last time Mezzo would resort to using this tactic, as this would significantly jeopardize her position. But once Seb was out of the picture, she could focus on invoking the right changes the cyberverse needed. As well as a future for her children and Eclipsed Heart, whom she already saw as her daughter-in-law.

“But since you did help us dispose of Spike, I’ll do you a kindness,” she offered smugly. “Shut down your operation, surrender everything under your name, and leave my city. Otherwise, my men will be ready to escort you to your cell once news breaks. Leave empty-handed or rot in prison. Your choice.”

But her confidence flattered at the sound of chuckling. Seb slid the phone back to her as he leaned back in his chair. “Wow… I-I mean, really. Wow! I didn’t think you had it in you to stoop this far just to call me out. Miss Soprano, I am impressed! Can’t call this fabricated, deep fake, or anything! You played your cards well! A splendid royal flush!”

After applauding her efforts, he let out a trouble-sounding sigh. “Fuck… Everything under my name, huh? That’s a hefty price to pay! I-I won’t be able to make a living anywhere!”

“I don’t care,” retorted the siren, not fooled by his false remorse. “I want you out by tomorrow morning.”

“Really going for the gonads! I bet it was that attitude that scared your husband away. Or maybe not! Plenty of guys are into a strong, dominant woman who-”

“Enough games, Seb!” Mezzo snarled, slamming her fist into the table. “How do you continue to be so arrogant!?”

“... You mean you haven’t figured it out?” He chortled. “C’mon, Mezzo. I know you’re smarter than this! Surely, you’ve prepared for the repercussions when planning to expose me, right?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about..?”

“Well, by handing everything I own, I won’t be able to run my casino anymore… which is where most of the funding for those fancy new hospitals came from. The medical team working there to support the ill and unwealthy won’t want to be associated with a dirty conman, will they?”

Mezzo went pale, the meaning of his words slowly creeping in. “... N-no..!”

“Plus, I’ll have to shut down the food banks I helped open,” he continued. “And the schools. And the construction of the housing market! That’s gonna be a major blow since lots of people need more living space in the slums. And… oh, that’s right! You were very adamant about those changes being implemented! Man, I wonder how the public’s gonna feel about you pulling back on those promises for real change~.”

“Shut your mouth!!” She cried. “You can’t do that! I-I’m in charge here! I-I’ll... I-”

“Hypnotize me into doing it? But then, you’d be abusing your authority! I thought you wanted to prove you were better than Spike~?”

When Mezzo fell silent in disbelief, Seb shook his head and said, “You’re the president now. So, in the end, it’s your call. By all means, go ahead and expose me. Let the people know the truth! But let’s make one thing perfectly clear…” The pinstriped devil leaned closer, his glowing yellow eyes piercing through to her very soul as he maliciously stated, “...I will burn this city into the fuckin’ ground before you bleed a single cent out of me!”

The waiter arrived with their meal, which the card demon thanked and stuffed a twenty-dollar tip into his waistcoat pocket. Mezzo remained speechless, staring blankly at her dinner, wondering where her plan went wrong. All those homeless people still suffering in the slums. Dreading the nights of ongoing turf wars between gangs that would spill innocent blood. Even if she delved into her own pockets and had her boys put on more charity shows, there was no way to financially cover all the changes she swore to make.

A hand grasping her shoulder pulled the former opera singer back to reality. Seb stood behind her, finishing a bite from his premium sirloin steak and patting a napkin down his lips. The bandanna that usually concealed his face lay on the table. Her horrified eyes looked up at the demi-human’s face, a pencil-thin mustache above his upper lift, a triangular patch below his mouth, and a goatee covering his shape chin. A hideous scar splits his cheeks into a glasgow grin, making the chuckle slithering out his throat all the more sinister.

“Believe it or not, Mezzo, it’s not always about the money with me,” the card demon said. “The best part of gambling is seeing your opponent lose their cool composure once they realize how badly they’ve lost. And you were so certain you had me, too! Haha! Priceless~.”

He lowered his mouth near her ear to whisper, “The sad thing is… I would have complied with your obligations if you were just a smidge nicer to me.”

Her gaze shifted into an irate glare. “You lyin’ sack of shit!”

Seb shrugged his shoulders. “I’m serious! I was getting bored of this town and all the disorienting lights! Thought I’d take my winnings and business elsewhere. But since you’ve royally pissed me off, I ain’t gonna stand for that level of disrespect. So here’s what’s actually gonna happen…”

Mezzo’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing the familiar clicking of a safety trigger, feeling the gun’s nozzle press into the side of her head. Visibly, she remained calm, if only to not give Seb the satisfaction of seeing how terrified she was right now.

“Call your boys. Tell them to cancel the protest right now,” demanded Seb. “Or else your future grandkids won’t get to know you outside your songs!”

Mezzo couldn’t force back the tears leaking down her face as she stared at the television, Sixth Measure reaching the end of their number before the scheduled leak would happen next.

“I suggest you think carefully about what’s more valuable. My reputation, or your life? Because the moment that video goes live, I’m gonna…huh?!”

Seb’s threat trailed off when his attention was pulled back to the concert. The boyband had stopped playing altogether and instead pointed towards something off camera. The operator followed to capture light tearing through the sky.

The gambler and president turned to the window, spotting the rift tear more comprehensive above the concert stadium.

“What the hell is that?!” Seb questioned, his pistol shifting back into card form while keeping a hand on Mezzo’s shoulder in case she tried to make a break for it, which she sincerely wanted to do. Though she took solace that the gunslinger was temporarily distracted by the strange portal.

The whole concert was mesmerized by the spectacle. Wind and sound flurried around the stadium, the stage lights flickering from the electromagnetic interference. Eclipsed’s eyes lit up, hoping that Beatrix and Oona were about to come out with her bandmates!

The crowd erupted when something shot out of the closing rift, looking vaguely human-shaped. Bass quickly realized the outsider’s direction and immediately called, “Everyone gets down!!”

The audience took cover, lowering to the ground right and bracing for impact. Fortunately, the winged humanoid found his sense of gravity and angled his angelic wings to seize momentum. He floated down into the stage, where all the spotlights shone on him.

Zeloph shielded his face from the glaring lens before taking in the sight of a large crowd, stunned to silence by his appearance. His blue eyes scanned the boyband cautiously, keeping distance. When his perplexed gaze fell to the Vorpal Blade, he asked the only appropriate question.

“… Where am I?”

Ordain Confessions

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Bellatrix slept a troubled sleep, enclosed in a coffin. From above, Alma rested upside down, her long curly auburn hair draped like satin curtains. But the Baobahn Sith wasn’t sleeping, aware that she would fall prey to the Nightmare Stag’s magic. So she instructed her followers and allies to avoid slumber.

Fortunately, this did not apply to her prisoners. But the succubus still writhed and stirred, choking on silent sobs. Everyone that took shelter here depended on her protection… and she’d failed them.

No. She did something worse. Bellatrix has betrayed them, driven by a buried lust her sister had proven unable to tame.

The scarlet-skinned woman would gladly sacrifice her life to save them all and take it back. Yet she still tasted her mistress’s sweet, succulent blood on her lips, which filled her with detestable elation.

Her reverie wandered back to the twin maids once in her service, altered by a portion of her’s and the manor’s dark power.

What would become of them now? Could Dion keep them safe? Would they even survive being outside their residence this long?

“We live to serve you, mistress,” crooned the voice of Foal-Bearer in her dream.

“Our happiness is yours,” chimed in Wet Nurse at her sister’s side. They were back in the manor’s basement, where it once trapped the succubus and fed on her life force.

She reminisced on the day she altered the twins into half-succubi. Bellatrix asked, “Do you trust me?” They nodded and stripped away their maid uniforms for her; their underwear followed, rendering them naked. Then, the she-devil bound their hands behind them with handcuffs as drippy tentacles rose from the slippery walls.

These protrusions lifted the sisters upwards, left to dangle, while Bellatrix strode about them. “It won’t be easy,” explained Bellatrix. “But necessary if you wish to become a part of Dion’s strength.”

“Yes! Oh, please,” pleaded Wet Nurse.

“We’ll endure any pain to be more useful to Sir Dion,” confessed Foal-Bearer.

Their inflamed pussies winked in unison to anticipate what their mistress was conjuring. Gushers of their nectar splashed out with each lusty wink to soak the floorboards.

“Trust me. It will mostly be pleasurable,” assured Bellatrix, whose palms smoothed over, squeezed, and kneaded their luscious curves. They mewled in appreciation, especially when she pinched and pulled on their perky, erect nipples. “I won’t lie to you. There’s a small risk it will break you.”

“We can take it,” cooed Wet Nurse, happy tears in her coral pink eyes. “Oh, please-”

“Then prepare yourselves,” warned Bellatrix, a couple pairs of tentacles raised behind the crystal mares. When the crystal twins nodded their consent, the demoness directed the beast by her will to penetrate them. The tips probed their lower holes before they drove deep inside.

They squealed and squirted over the tentacles, pushed womb-deep into their cunts and puckered assholes, their cries of ecstasy cut off when more pliable extensions drove down their throats. The intruders pumped their first load into them until their bellies swelled out.

“You’ll have to be further molded into pure instruments of pleasure,” explained Bellatrix, who fiercely cupped their chins and squeezed. “Submissive sluts, servile to Sir Dion’s whims. Do you think yourselves capable of that level of surrender?” They nodded rapidly, repeatedly skewered by binds that triple-penetrated them.

“Good mares,” mused Bellatrix, who sharply slapped them at the same time across their asses, the cheeks left to wobble under her fierce blow, coral pink marked by red hand prints.

She could see the coiled intrusions in the crystal mares, whose bodies went translucent as their intertwined female symbols cutie marks shimmered, and she felt their skin swell under the intruders. Satisfied, she slapped their suspended, pendulous titties and savored their whorish mewls.

“This is who you are,” hypnotically commanded Bellatrix. “Idle playthings forever tasked to satisfy your stud. Even if it means providing him with healthy heirs.”

“Yes,” said Foal-Bearer, happy tears in her eyes.

“Stuffed...so...full,” whined Wet Nurse, she and her sister’s faces hosed down by tentacles that exited their maws, only to be facefucked anew.

They were trained similarly in secret each day. Taught submission in return for a reward came naturally to the twins, who’d molded themselves to survive their whole lives.

Their mistress succubus would deny them until they could take no more, make them plead...then smother them under multiple climaxes.

Each time, their fun holes were pumped full, left to pant, heave, and writhe in brain-busting euphoria, which would no doubt have broken lesser mares as they were repeatedly fucked silly.

The air reeked of sex. Semen drenched below. Bellatrix felt them up and used her spade-tipped tail to masturbate, building up her raw lusts.

Eventually, solitary horns formed on each side of the crystal mare’s head, their nails and toes became claw-like, and spaded tails emerged from atop their well-rounded, heart-shaped coral pink buttocks. Not to mention a leathery bat wing that adorned each coral pink mare’s arced back.

Bellatrix looked to her hands and, much to her surprise, found she had taken her more angelic shape during the process. A night-black aura, similar to Beatrix’s, rippled around her hands. And she briefly saw the same magic shimmer of the freshly converted half-succubi twins, whose breasts heaved between pants and drool.

But she didn’t have time to discover what this was. None of them knew how soon they would be forced to use this power...and how close mistress and manor would come to death.

The more pleasant part of Bellatrix’s dream was overwhelmed by the confrontation with the ‘Burning King,’ her heart violently pushed out. She would have died instantly were it not for her fusion with the beast that now abandoned her.

“Be safe, my sweet twins,” she murmured teary-eyed in her sleep.

So many eyes were fixated on the strange angelic entity that now took center stage. And Zeloph mirrored the bewilderment of the crowd. His feathery ears picked up the muttering from the boy band whose concert he interrupted.

“Who the hell is that?!” Alto whispered harshly.

“I don’t know! He just fell from the sky!” replied Bass.

“Is he some kind of alien?” Tenor pondered. “I mean, look at those wings!”

“And that sword!” The red-haired singer stared nervously at the shining blade. “W-what should we do? Do we fight him?”

Bass shook his head, noticing how distressed the winged humanoid appeared, like a deer in headlights. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Well, we gotta do something,” the youngest brother insisted. “He crashed our concert right when we were about to expose Seb!!”

One audience member apparently agreed as he hollered from the back, “Play something or get off the stage!” Their comment prompted the crowd to start booing Zeloph, adding further pressure.

“Play something?! I-I don’t even have-“

His words were cut off by the vorpal blade emanating a blinding light, silencing the crowd as they shielded their eyes. The light gradually faded, and the audience collectively went ‘oooh’ in awe. When Zell opened his eyes, he gasped upon seeing an alabaster ESP-style guitar, its body stylized into several wings and a topaz fret board embedding its neck.

The fallen one looked appalled by the instrument. “What the?! Is this some kind of joke to you?!?”

As always, the legendary item didn’t respond, leaving Zeloph completely flustered. He hadn’t played in so long, clueless about what he was supposed to do.

Realizing the opportunity, Bass quickly grabbed a guitar of his namesake and plugged both instruments into the stage amp, which made an audible feedback buzz.

The two blue-haired musicians stared at each other until the debonair boy quietly asked, “Got a love song?”

Repeating the question in his mind, one jam session with Jonn popped up, and he gave a quick nod.

“Okay, we’ll follow your lead!” Bass then ushered his brothers to take their places, which they hesitantly took while Zeloph shuffled to the mic stand.

“What are they doing?!” Carrion Hellfire quietly demanded as she, her bandmates, and Eclipsed Heart watched from behind the stage. The pop idol clasped her hands together, confident her boyfriend knew what he was doing.

Mezzo hoped for the same while watching from the restaurant, her eyes briefly glancing at Seb. The pinstripe devil kept his narrowed gaze entirely on the strange newcomer, recognizing him as the Demi-human from Eclipsed Heart’s memories. The sword he was carrying also looked familiar…

Zeloph took a deep exhale before signaling for the employee at the drum kit to count him in. After giving him a thumbs up, the player tapped his sticks before the stage came to life with light and sound.

Instead of an EDM-style pop single, the crowd was treated to a hard rock song that many would consider classic with how roughly it clashed with the futuristic setting. Yet the audience was spellbound by Zeloph’s excellent vocals, his considerable guitar playing, and backed up by Sixth Measure’s harmony during the chorus.

The fallen one managed to lose himself to the moment, thankful no one picked up the few notes he wasn’t hitting correctly. This level of equipment was more than what he was used to, but the sounds it produced served his style well!

“This isn’t part of our show,” Tenor tried to yell over the loud music.

“Who cares!” Alto answered. “The fans are eating it up~!” He smirked at a pair of nubile women in the front row, stripping off their tops and squealing as they tossed them at the stage. He seized the discarded clothes and blew them a kiss while they shook their bared tits at him.

“Woooooo~! Don’t know who angel boy is, but damn can he sing!” Obrya said, swaying her serpentine body along to the song.

“Yeah! He must be their twink or something,” Carrion playfully jabbed.

“Nu-uh! Sixth Measure is completely straight,” fumed Eclipsed, both hands pressed on her wide hips. “I mean, at least Bass is. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, bi, or whatever!”

“Yeesh, relax! I’m just teasin’! I’m sure they’re all swell guys~.”

The pop princess blushed more profoundly at the memory of the night she gave her virginity to Bass, a video preserved on her phone that she’d sent to him. No way a guy that good in the sack didn’t love girls!

“Ooh, wait!” Ruth suddenly exclaimed. “This’ll be a great chance to test some pyrotechnics! Be right back.” Letting down the pop princess, the shark woman excitedly stomped to the control panel backstage as the second chorus finished, and Zell slowed the next bridge down with gentle strums and huskier vocals.

Riptide Ruth reached the control box and flipped a switch right as Zeloph hit the guitar solo. As he took to the air, showing off his brilliant plumage, pyros went off behind him, showering the stage in sparks. The crowd went wild, some holding up their recording devices to capture the imagery.

That was when Seb gave an alarming gasp and pulled out a card from his waistcoat. Mezzo noticed that this particular card differed from the ones he usually played with. The cover was pale, designed with a more astral pattern. And instead of any suites, it depicted a man underneath a gold accented sun… doing the exact pose the angelic guitarist was doing on stage!

“No fucking way..!” She heard him say, almost inaudible.

Before the president could question it, Seb was already moving, slamming a wad of cash on the dinner table. Wrapping his bandanna over his scarred face, he proceeded towards the exit.

“Huh!? Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!” she demanded.

“Change of plans, Mezzo, “said Seb, not bothering to face her. “Go ahead and run my name in the dirt if you want. I’m done with this town. And I’ve got a whole new game to play!” He waved his hand before adding, “It’s been a real pleasure. Adios~!”

Mezzo glared, beguiled as her enemy rushed out of the restaurant. She’d almost be relieved that her life wasn’t in danger if she wasn’t concerned by this sudden change in behavior. The old siren messaged her vice president to ready her ship as she stormed out of the restaurant. Seb was up to something, and she had to warn her sons!

Back at the concert, Zell and Sixth Measure sang the final chorus and ended with one loud strum, the entire stadium applauding the surprise performance. As the angelic demi landed, Bass lifted his hand high, with his brothers raising their fists.

“Bro, they loved it!” the lead vocalist proclaimed under the wave of shrieking women, who were tossing garments and underwear at them. A pair of panties landed atop Zell’s wing, one of his eyes squinting as his face colored. Good thing Atalanta wasn’t present to see this, though he was sure she wouldn’t mind.

Still, Zeloph couldn’t hide his smile at the adoring public, reminding him of the time people looked up to him before his fall from grace.

“We’re taking a brief intermission,” Alto announced as they shuffled their newfound star backstage. “Be back in fifteen~!”

Once out of vision, they pulled the demi-human down the stage, where Eclipsed Heart bounced with joy before jumping into her boyfriend’s arms. “That was amazing, Bass!” She cheered, cupping his cheeks to kiss him.

“Haha! Thanks, babe,” he replied, keeping an arm around her waist while extending his hand towards the fallen one. “And awesome stuff back there! What’s your name, friend?”

“Zell,” he replied, shaking the debonair boy’s hand. “Would you believe it if I told you I was brought here by accident?”

“Not at all! I’m Bass, and these are my brothers; Tenor and Alto.”

“Yo~!”

“S’up!”

“And this is my girlfriend, Eclipsed Heart! She’s-“

“Lead vocalist for the band, B.A.B.E,” finished Zell, having understood where he was, given the advanced structures of the city and the heavy reliance on cybernetics. “I’ve heard about you.”

“And I’ve seen you before,” the pop diva said, her large soulful pink eyes taking in the demi-human’s appearance. “I think some of my memories are from Cerise! She’s a good friend of Beatrix, so clearly, you two are friends, right?”

The question made Zeloph purse his lips. With a skewed chuckle, he said, “W-well—“

“O-oh, wait a minute! If you’ve heard about me, you must know Wispy and Kitsune! Are they okay? I hope nothing bad has happened to them….”

“N-no, they’re alright!” assured the fallen angel, quietly thankful to have dodged the previous statement. “Mostly trying to adjust to the lack of technology where I came from, but I think they’ll manage!”

Her smile widened. “Okay, good! I can’t wait for them to come home, and we can play again.”

“And where exactly did you come from, anyway?” Carrion questioned, her talon hands holding her hips. “You’re one of those Demi-humans, right?”

Zeloph uneasily answered, “That’s correct. I was on a mission with my lover, sister, and your bandmates to stop a wicked lich and his legion of undead from wreaking havoc. All in the name of vengeance...”

“Bro, that sounds metal as fuck,” Ruth said as she stood beside Obrya with her arms folded.

The lamia then asked, “How did you get here?”

“My… ‘sword,’” he motioned his dazzling electric guitar. “It brought me here while trying to unlock its secrets.”

“A sword with magical powers? Neato~!” Tenor marveled.

Bass quirked an eyebrow. “And it just so happened to turn into a guitar?”

“Yeeeah, still trying to figure out that one,” the angel admitted before apologizing. “Sorry for ruining your show….”

“Are you kidding me? You elevated that snooze fest into new heights!” The steel harpy exclaimed, earning a handful of glares. She shrugged them off and continued, “There aren’t that many rock acts these days. Most consider the genre dead with all these pop sensations and avant-garde performances.”

“So if you ever decide to stick around, maybe you could make something here,” said Eclipsed Heart with a bright smile. “There’s also never enough heroes around here! And you definitely come across as a hero!”

Zeloph was taken aback by this alternate Cerise’s compliment. ‘Do I?’ He certainly didn’t feel heroic. For all he knew, traveling here was putting his mission to help Shadow Scythe and the multiverse in jeopardy! The last thing the fallen one wanted was to cause more trouble in another world.

Sensing the demi-human was troubled, Bass said, “Now, guys. Let’s not be so hasty! We still have a show to finish here!”

Eclipsed nodded, her smile disappearing. “And a scumbag to expose…”

Zell’s eyebrow rose. “Expose..?”

The older singer nodded and elaborated, “We put on protest concerts to bring awareness to issues the public doesn’t know about. Tonight is about another demi-human stinking up the place, named Seb.”

“Seb,” Zeloph recalled Kitsune briefly, showing him the dapper-looking demon before they parted to Shadow Scythe’s dimension. He also remembered seeing a second demi-human wrecking a whole police force. Arron, he believed his name was.

“Yeah,” replied Alto as he recovered. “He’s got people thinking he’s here to help the city. But they’ve got no idea about the underhanded tactics he’s pulled to get to the top. That man’s a criminal mastermind if I ever saw one!”

“And we went against that sleazeball Spike!”

The false idol frowned. “Couldn’t be worse than Varys…”

The name drop caused the group to collectively shudder. The pop diva shook her head and asked, “Don’t tell me that freak is still around…”

“I’m afraid so,” Zell begrudgingly confirmed. “We believe our target has joined forces with him to increase their efforts. We find him; we find Varys. And then hopefully end him.”

The sound of ringing interrupted their discussion. Alto pulled out his vibrating cell, put it on speaker, and answered, “Hey, mom! Wassup?”

“Alto! I need you and your brothers to get everyone out of that stadium immediately! Seb is on his way!”

The boy band looked at one another, confused. “But we’re just about ready to head out and-“

“Listen to me,” Mezzo’s voice sternly said. “Something about your new friend has drawn his attention. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens and innocent people are hurt. Call off the show and get out of there! Now!!”

“But mom, we can’t--”

The earth began to rumble, the audience outside screaming from the sudden quake.

“W-whoa! What’s going on?!” Obrya asked, trying to keep her balance on her snake tail, running a hand through her lime green hair, adjusting the crown of tiny skulls nestled atop her head.

“Trouble,” surmised Ruth, her stiff muscles tensed. She turned to Eclipsed and said, “You heard the president! Be ready to rush in; the crowd’s safety comes first!”

“Of course,” replied Eclipsed, since she and B.A.B.E. once served as vigilantes before ex-president Spike and Seb outed them. She readied a knife, which shimmered and expanded when the pop princess called on her crystalline power, where the blade extended to resemble a javelin.

Sixth Measure rushed to the stage with Zeloph following behind. Grabbing the microphone, Bass warned, “Everyone, evacuate the stadium! The show’s over!”

Tenor added, “We’ll refund every ticket! Promise. Just please get out before someone gets hurt!”

The crowd tried to push towards the exits as fissures formed underneath their feet. Then a force erupted from the ground, knocking unlucky attendees aside as a horned figure burst onto the scene. Fortunately, Eclipsed Heart and S.L.U.T. flew in to mitigate the damage.

Carrion Hellfire caught those sent flying while Obyra stretched her long body to secure fans into her coils. And Riptide Ruth took the brunt of the falling rubble by blocking it with her mountain of a body. The pop diva sliced through debris while quietly urging civilians to flee.

All eyes were on the burly demi-human, who leaned back and laughed loudly. “Everyone hold your applause,” he exclaimed, raising his wrestler belt in one hand. “Because the champ! Is!! Heeereeeeee~!!!”

“Oh, god, no…” groaned Zeloph. He could tell he wasn’t going to like this guy.

Everything about Arron screamed ‘egotistical jackass.’ From the purple vest that hardly contained his mountainous bulk, the camo cargo shorts, to the heavy-looking belt plated in jewels and gold, the word ‘BOSS’ embedded in the center. His taurus-shaped horns glittered in topaz, as did the studs resting above his knuckles. His hair was bleach blonde, a pair of stylish shades huffing his eyes. And, like many demi’s, his tail was unusual, the tip shaped like a sledgehammer.

“Hey, dickwad!” Tenor yelled. “You trashed our concert!!”

“Phaha! Boy, this place was hot garbage before I showed up,” retorted the bruiser, slapping his title over his broad shoulder. “If anything, they should be thankingme for pulling the plug on this awful concert! I’ve heard cats in heat screech better songs than you~!”

“Real mature,” called Eclipsed. “Don’t listen to him, guys. He’s just a bully pretending he’s some big, macho man! One with no regard for all the people he almost crushed!”

Arron held his hand to his ear and sarcastically asked, “Huh? Could you speak up and say that again?! So sorry, I’m just having a hard time hearing the part where that’s my problem~!”

Zeloph’s glare deepened a vermillion glow.

“Besides, who asked you?! Your good for nothing ass ain’t going to be relevant soon anyway. When the next hot thing with a pretty voice shows up, everyone in this city will forget you even existed. There are tons of pop singers for the media to cling to! What makes you so special?”

Eclipsed struggled to hold back sobs; her fist bawled tightly as angry tears streamed down her face. “T-that’s not true! I-I’m more than—!”

Not relenting, Arron mockingly added, “Awww, did I hurt your whore feelings? Don’t worry; I’m sure your producer will tell you how good your head game is~!”

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” Bass yelled, irate. “Some champion you are! Putting down women just to make yourself better!”

The golden demon cackled and corrected, “Nah, it ain’t like that at all! Anyone who can’t hustle with me is easy pickings. I’m top of the food chain, baby! Ain’t no one gonna sit higher at the table than me! But if you’ve got the stones, why don’t you step off your podium and prove me wrong? Because unlike you, pretty boy, I’m not just talk and glamor~.”

Bass sneered as he fished out his pendant, ready to defend his girlfriend’s honor. But Zeloph stepped ahead of him, drawing the cocky devil’s attention.

“Ah, yes! The new demi in town,” Arron said, his grin widening. “Quite the cute song you sang there, hot stuff! Certainly got the bitches acting up~!” He pointed at the frilled panties still draped over his wing.

Ruffling his appendage to shake it off, the seraphic demi jumped off the stage towards him. He then retorted, “I bet you feel really strong, carrying that belt around. Where’d you get it? The nearest Goodwill?”

“Ohoho! Quite the lip on you! I like that,” crowed Arron, adjusting his title on his chiseled arm. “As a matter of fact, I had this custom made after I beat every last beta in the slums.” He paused to give the gold-plated belt a kiss. “Competition’s been lousy the past couple of weeks, so you better give me a good fight. I hate disappointments more than I do losers~!”

Zeloph scoffed. “Big words coming from someone who clearly hasn’t been in a fair fight before. Attacking those weaker than you doesn’t make you strong. It just proves how frail and insecure you truly are. You think you’re made of stone? It doesn’t take much to make a paper man crumble.”

This twisted Arron’s grin to an angry snarl. He dropped his title to the ground, sizing Zeloph up by getting in his personal space, several feet taller than him.

“And what gives you the right to tell me how to do things?” He questioned, voice trembling with fury. “You think you’re better than me, boy?!”

“Oh, I don’t think,” Zell boasted with his own haughty smile. “I know!”

The Vorpal Blade flashed in an instant, retaking its saber shape.

“Pft! It’s gonna take more than that cheap butter knife to beat-“the golden demon’s taunt was cut short by a hard backflip kick to the chin. With his opponent staggered, Zell blinked behind for a leg sweep to his calves, forcing him to kneel. Flashing in front, he delivered a left hook that knocked the glasses right off his face. He kept back into a stance, his thin muscles and wings twitching.

“Wooo! Get him, Zell!” Obrya cheered.

“Clobber that asshole!!” Alto joined in.

It took Arron a few seconds to register how powerfully he had been hit, his fingers rubbing over his bruised cheek. His now visible eyes were wide with shock, red pupils pinpoint. Fury shook his hand before he bawled it into a fist, letting out his rage through a mighty roar.

A yellow crystalline substance layered over his arm like a second skin before punching the ground, causing the arena to shake from the magnitude. Lifting himself up, the large demi-human stared down his opponent with an angry smile.

“Alright, twink, it’s on!” he growled. “When I’m through with you, there won’t even be a chalk outline to prove you were murdered!!”

“Enough talk,” the fallen one responded, resting his blade on his shoulder and flexing his fingers in a beckoning gesture. “Just bring it!”

With a battle cry, Arron lunged forth with topaz-covered fists, the pair of demi-humans engaged in combat, sparks flashing whenever crystal clashed with shimmering steel.

“We can’t just stand by!” Eclipsed cried, about to join the battle before Carrion blocked her path.

“Better stay out of it, shortcake,” the harpy insisted. “We’ve got other things to worry about!”

Outside the stadium, police sirens wailed around the block as the enforcers pulled up to secure the area, warning civilians away from the potential danger. But they overlooked a vintage v series Cadillac roll into the parking lot. The side door opened, and out stepped Seb, adjusting his coat collar and hat.

“Looks like I got here just in time,” he observed, watching the two other demi-humans brawl from a widescreen, a helicopter hovering above to broadcast the scene.

Traded blows shook the perimeter, making Seb teeter and almost lose his balance. “Whoaho! Now that’s what I call power! Those boys are gonna be really useful in the long run~!”

The pinstriped devil called back his vehicle into a card as he made his way through the cowering crowd. He knew about Arron, though he never found the time to properly reach out and extend a business proposition. Although now that it seemed the bull-headed jerk would prove challenging to work with, perhaps it was better to bet on Zeloph for his compliance.

Either way, this next gamble would prove worthwhile once the card demon had access to that sword!

Seb disappeared into the corridors before anyone could spot him, aware that Eclipsed Heart would be a problem, despite the absence of her bandmates.

The pop princess’s hot pink eyes took on a blue glow in the dark when she raced up on her skates, making sure no one had gotten left behind. Not detecting any presence, she raced to meet Sixth Measure and S.L.U.T. outside.

“Things are looking pretty dicey for angel boy,” said Carrion, the cyber harpy having dropped off the last of the rescued fans. “When I said I wanted a concert that would rock the house, this wasn’t what I had in mind!”

“I think that’s everyone,” Ruth proclaimed, taking a moment to catch her breath.

Obrya was tapping her thumbs along her phone’s keyboard before stating, “Dillon sent a message. The Komodo saw everything and are coming to pick us up!”

“Mom’s on her way to make a statement,” added Tenor, slipping his cellular device into his pocket. “So much for running Seb out of town…”

“She could still pin this on him,” Alto suggested. “No one’s gonna doubt the connection between him and Arron!”

Bass frowned and said, “But won’t Zell take the fall as well?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” reassured Eclipsed, hugging her boyfriend’s arm to her chest. She then pointed to the crowd gathered in the neon-lit streets, clamoring for the angel’s victory on the titantron. “See that? They love him! He’s fighting to stop that bully from causing more harm! I don’t know much about demi-humans, but Zell’s shown he values the people more than Spike, Seb, or Arron. Everyone knows he’s a hero, just like Beatrix and Oona!”

The lead vocalist of Sixth Measure turned back to the stadium that continued to quake under the immense force exerted from the interior.

“I hope you’re right, babe,” he replied, squeezing her hand tightly. “Because I don’t know what’ll happen if he loses..!”

Kitsune sprinted into the central yard of the monastery, her brows furrowing upon seeing all the nuns gathered on either side. Their mother superior, Julianne, strode over to one side while Anarchia stretched her arms and bounced on her heels, apparently psyching herself up.

Then she spotted Wispy, who waved at her to come over. The fox woman urgently said, “Imoto! We’ve got a situation!”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” the nekomata huffed, arms folded underneath her breasts, her twin tails whipping about.

Kitsune observed the muttering mares and asked, “What’s going on here? Is this a custom of some sort..?”

“C’mon, dummy! Don’t you know a duel when you see one?”

“A duel? Why?!”

Wispy nodded and explained, “We found a secret dungeon underneath Julianne’s bedroom. She’s been injecting mares with her ‘happy’ touch to enact punishment for temptation. But if you ask me? Ana’s just using this as an excuse to vent her frustrations.”

“Mmm. She’s made it clear how much she loathes this place,” noted Kitsune before shaking her head. “But we have to stop this! Zeloph is missing!”

“What?!”

“In trying to unlock the Vorpal Blade’s secrets, he managed to slip through a space rift. But it sucked him in right as I arrived on the scene!”

The tigress clenched her paw and hissed, “Fuck! You have got to be kidding me!”

The vixen began to tear up and confessed, “I’ve gotten so slow. So sloppy. Too weak to stop anything. Triad was right. I’ve become-“

“Hey! Don’t you fucking dare buy into that bullshit for one second,” growled Wispy, who grasped her sister’s shoulders to shake some sense into her. “You’re better than that!”

“Imoto…” she sniffled.

“We don’t need redemption,” she firmly stated. “We’ve done nothing wrong. Would I rather have been a normal girl instead of an assassin? Hell yeah! But that wasn’t our fault! It was either follow orders or die!! We’re not the real murderers, Kitsune. They are!”

The feline woman pulled her sister into a tight embrace, nuzzling her cheek as she fought back the tears. “You’re not a machine,” she whispered. “You’re my sister, no matter what! Okay?”

“O-okay,” the vixen kunoichi whimpered softly, squeezing her back. Kitsune drew back to wipe away her sorrows. “So then, what do we do?”

Wispy pursed her lips and said, “I’m not sure…”

The augmented assassins glanced at the two demi-humans preparing for battle. Julianne held her hands together in prayer, whispering something before she asked her opponent, “I trust you’re ready?”

Ana rolled her neck around as she replied, “Oh, I’m ready, alright…”

The neon demon unfurled her bat-shaped wings, her hot pink claws extending her fingertips as she struck a pose. Her tail made snapping sounds with its mouth.

“… Ready ter whoop your pasty ass~!”

The head nun giggled at her response before closing her eyes. Her followers did the same. A light gale breezed through the chimes when the rosy-haired nun sang a long note that resonated throughout the monastery.

A jubilant warm hue saturated the place, and a pair of fluffy yellow wings with rose-tipped feathers unfolded from Julianne’s shoulders, lifting her into the air. Her eyes opened to stare down at her opponent, perpetually smiling.

“My friends, let this day be a lesson,” she proclaimed. “May the wicked be smitten for their cardinal sins, while the true of heart pierce the dark veil with righteous joy~!”

“Praise be to the divine,” the nuns sang in unison.

“Quit spewin’ that baptist Jackson Pollock and fuckin’ fight me, ya cunt!” Ana glowered, soaring up for the first strike. But Julianne sang another loud note, the sound waves pushing the demoness back. She held the sides of her head, her ears ringing a bit before it subsided. “Gggrngh! What the?!”

Tittering, the mother superior elaborated, “My exceptional singing isn’t just for holy merriment. It is also my Onoma! Euphrosyne amplifies my magic through whatever sound and phrases I say. But it is most potent when I provide melodies~!”

Ana scowled, not liking the implications that came with sound-based magic. Did her archaic singing have a mind-control effect like that of a siren?

“Bloody hell! As if I needed more reasons ter shut your trap,” the demoness muttered before returning to the air. What sucked was that her own Onoma, Eros, relied on her getting close to her target. And Julianne made sure to keep a distance, either dodging her swipes or belting another note to blast her away.

What’s worse was that she noticed Julianne’s singing’s effect on the onlookers. All the nuns hummed along with cheery grins on their faces. Even Wispy and Kitsune weren’t immune to the giddiness, their bodies swinging to the head nun’s beatific music.

“Haha, fuck! W-when’s the last time we ever felt this happy?” the nekomata asked, her discomforting look contracting her grin.

“I-I can’t even remember if there was such a time!” the vixen answered, blushing feverishly.

“Oi! Leef them outta this,” demanded Ana, eyes burning like hellfire. “This is between ya and me!”

“Don’t you see?” Julianne said. “Look at how happy everyone is! The joy I’ve created has lifted their spirits high!”

“That’s not real ‘appiness, and ya kna it!”

The head nun shook her head, tsking, “Everyone deserves to be happy. Even you! If only the joy you sought wasn’t at someone else’s expense. If you let go of your jealousy and incestuous love, you’d feel all the more-“

“I’m free ter love whoever I want!! So put a sock in it, ya banshee!!” Ana yelled, launching a ball of chaotic energy at the preaching demi. Julianne swiftly dodged before almost colliding with another thrown dark sphere. She spun around and danced around the projectiles, retaliating by summoning light rings to ensnare the neon demon.

Ana struggled and screamed, her bindings inhibiting her demonic powers and magic. The light stung against her wrists and ankles, keeping her immobilized.

“I understand your value for freedom. You’ve made that quite apparent with your actions,” assured Julianne, frowning. “But I refuse to stand idly by while you continue down this path of self-destruction. You must be purged!”

Drawing in a breath, the angelic nun sang a euphoric hymn that echoed across the interior, moving her fellow nuns. It rang across the valley, shaking those who heard it and causing them to openly weep. All except Ana, who stubbornly cling to her anger and strife.

The mother superior summoned a volley of brass arrows, their sharp tips aimed at the neon demon.

“Hail, my arrows of heavenly love. Descend~!” she commanded, waving her hand like a conductor as a wave launched to strike the immovable target. Ana cried as an arrow lodged deeply into her collar, shoulder, and arm.

“Pierce her heart. Open it to repentance,” she sang as she fired another volley.

“Gaaargh! My fuckin’ tit!” Ana hollered, staring spitefully at the spearhead penetrating her right breast. One struck through her tail, keeping its mouth shut.

“Let your aim strike true, and cleanse the evil within!” She finished, waving the last of her arrows. Blood oozed out of her wounds, the searing pain making the demoness wriggle and writhe while she screamed bloody murder.

“Enough! This is too much!!” Kitsune cried out, ready to lunge out, until her sister pulled her back, shaking her head.

“If we intervene, we’ll be punished as well,” reminded Wispy. “The best we can do is hope for Anarchia to endure.”

They clearly underestimated the demi-human; this display of power was a reminder that Julianne and her sycophants had driven away Mortis and his minions without much trouble.

The rosy-haired nun hovered in front of the spunky demoness. “I know this hurts, but trust me. It’s for your own good,” the head nun insisted, softly caressing her face. Clasping her hands together, she asked, “Pray with me, sisters. Pray for Anarchia! Help release the wickedness clinging to her soul and relieve her of this burden!”

The mares joined their voice with hers, the combination of her magical arrows and her archaic singing driving the lustful demi-human mad. Julianne kept her voice firm, knowing this would help the troubled demoness heal…

But instead of Ana’s sins being expunged, Julianne’s brass arrows caught on fire as the chaotic dark flames ignited around the neon demon. The head nun gasped in shock, watching the spearheads melt into metallic black gunk.

A twisted smile spreads Ana’s painted lips, lifting her head to eye her opponent with malicious intent. “My turn,” she heaved as a black wave dispersed, enclosing the whole field in a pitch black sphere. Julianne looked to the alarmed expressions of her covenant, the mares trying to flee until the last light of the outside world vanished.

Kitsune looked around the darkened landscape and pondered aloud, “W-what is this!? Everything looks the same, yet it’s as if night suddenly fell..!”

“Call it a new trick,” answered Wispy with a grin.

Ana finally broke the bindings that shimmered weakly in this blackened zone. She groaned, her horn curving into a crescent shape, with a smaller horn protruding out the other side of her head. They glowed a vibrant scarlet, as did her body patterns and wild blue hair. She slipped out of her catsuit and tossed it aside, feeling up her perky breasts and wide hips, tracing a claw over the puncher marks that slowly sealed. “Aaah, much better~!”

“W-what are you doing?” demanded the head nun, a blush beating her face. The atmosphere here felt heavier, her movements sluggish. And to her horror, she couldn’t manifest any light magic.

“Givin’ ya a taste of your own medicine, pinky~,” Ana purred before propelling herself at Julianne. The demon lashed out, ripping at the clothes concealing the nun’s body. She squeaked and whimpered, trying to hide her exposed chest and crotch until Ana seized her from behind.

The demon’s flytrap-shaped tail enclosed over the angel’s serpentine tail, the snake head squirming in its jaws. Ana’s hands cupped and traced all over Julianne’s bare flesh, running a tongue over her painted lips.

“My, would ya look at that,” she mewled, dragging her hand down to feel at the nun’s panty-clad mound, dipping under the garments to finger at her pussy, earning reluctant moans. “Not a single bit of Barnet Fair on ya! Na, why would ya be trimmin’ the ‘edges if ya ’ad nah plans on gettin’ rowdy~?”

“I-it’s not like that at all,” Julianne insisted, face burning feverishly. A wave of unknown ecstasy boiled with every stroke of Ana’s fingers, causing her loins to ache. “A-ahh! Purely for hygienical purposes!”

“Ah ah~!” The neon demon wagged her finger against her clit, getting another sharp moan. “Lyin’ is a sin too, y’kna!”

“That’s it, girl~! Work that naughty nun,” Wispy called in victory. Kitsune pursed her lips, unsure what to make of this. Julianne proved to be helpful, but she couldn’t ignore the ludicrous efforts she went into trying to discipline Anarchia and her followers.

The neon demon shot her a side-smirk, poised to molest the head nun all over until she was ‘praying’ for her to relinquish her chastity. It appears saints also fell prey to her licentious touching. Even Shadow Scythe hadn’t proven immune!

‘Shadow Scythe…’

She turned her head to where the villa once stood, the reaper still out there trying her damndest to make up for her crimes. Memories of the times she eavesdropped on her and Zeloph, prying into how happy they were together…

Instead of greed and envy, guilt and regret weighed down Anarchia’s heart. What was she even doing this for? To get back at Julianne for calling out her own misery? To prove that her brother deserved to be with her?

No. Zeloph would disapprove of this. If he saw her now, he’d be disgusted that she was assaulting the only other demi-human they’d met. And as much as she hated Julianne’s smile, she couldn’t stand the look of disappointment her sibling gave every night she came to him…

“F-fuck,” she croaked, practically hugging her enemy into her nakedness. “Fuck, I ‘ate this! fuck!! wot is wrong wif me..?!”

“Have I gotten through to you after all?” Julianne wondered aloud through heated pants, her rosy nipples stiff between Ana’s fingers. “How fortuitous!”

“Shut the fuck up!!” the demon snapped, raking her nails over her slim belly. Teary-eyed, she said, “Don’t pretend you’re aw ‘igh and mighty! I might be a two-thirty ax wound, but you’re nah better than I am! And I ain’t abaht ter let ya win!!”

“It does not matter to me who wins or loses,” rebutted Julianne. “Only that you’ve accepted the truth and embraced who you are.”

She sighed, her ruby-colored eyes surveying the neon void. “This power of yours is truly remarkable! Yes, the potential is there. But I’m afraid you’re nowhere near close to achieving Exaltation.”

Ana furrowed her eyebrows. “Exhal-what?!”

“It is the highest level of power for us demi-humans,” the head nun explained. “Only when we’ve submitted to our otherworldly nature can we tap into this form. Normally, I’d never use it unless absolutely necessary. But I’ll make an exception just this once.”

Closing her eyes, Julianne consecrated herself to resist the sexual urges prompted by Ana’s lustful touching. Then, before the neon demon could adequately react, a brilliant radiance shone from Julianne’s naked flesh. Gradually, she became too hot for her to hold onto, and she was forced to back off. Her adversary glowed brightly; the illumination swallowed the nun’s earthly vessel.

The metamorphosis knocked Anarchia away, her dark void shattered by the aethereal energy pillaring to the skies. Everyone on ground level was blown back, partially averting their eyes until the radiance dimmed.

When Kitsune managed to adjust to the sudden brightness, her eyes became pinpoint at the transcendent presence resonating before her.

Julianne’s entire body was corporeally astral, as if a different dimension had taken on a feminine shape. Her feathered ears had become fully fledged wings, spreading wide behind her head. Several smaller detached wings fanned out, each sporting an eye similar to the ones adorning Zell’s wingspan. A misty cloud formed around her lower body like a skirt. Her tail had split into two, rings of light wrapped around the snake tails and her wrists. And her hair was loose, flowing towards the top, save for her swirled bang.

“Holy shit!!” Wispy exclaimed, “She’s shining hotter and brighter than any plasma ball I ever built!”

Both ninjas couldn’t believe their eyes, having always believed angels were a corny myth, at best. And it certainly seemed so after witnessing Zeloph and Julianne expand their plumage. But now, they understood why demons would fear them.

They were utterly alien. So beyond earthly comprehension, merely gazing at her could potentially drive them mad or burn the eyes out of their sockets. And yet, both kunoichi and the other nuns couldn’t tear away at how bizarrely beautiful Julianne was.

Anarchia’s arrogance faltered, staring at the seraphic demi with awe and fear. This was unlike anything she’d witnessed Zeloph do. The mother superior’s rippling aura invoked righteousness and jubilation, washing away the demon’s bitterness. But this strange feeling wasn’t what disturbed Ana the most.

Despite the Exalted no longer having a mouth, she could hear Julianne’s voice whisper with her mind. And not with one voice, but many. Different octaves and languages assaulted Ana’s ears like a schizophrenic episode. All commanding a single word.

“Surrender.”

By this point, Shadow Scythe had rebuilt a good portion of the villa, with plenty of souls put at ease. Icy blue eyes watered when she watched the spirits fade into the ether, sent away to the afterlife where no doubt paradise awaited.

A fate that would be denied her.

Not that she could complain. For as a reaper, she was fated by her cutie mark to be immortal. She believed that only damnation awaited once her body could no longer house her soul. Nonetheless, she continued her Trial of Atonement.

Shadow Scythe took a short break to replenish her reserves, sitting on a short brick wall where she sampled the food Julianne had offered her from a picnic basket. Munching a sandwich, she reminisced over her life to this point. The unicorn’s daily toils beside her fellow reapers in the lower levels near Tartarus, time spent with her parents, and her apprenticeship under Grogar when he convinced her to betray her sacred duty in pursuit of power. Back then, power and the pain of others were all that made her feel alive.

The reaper mare felt her insides twist under nausea, eyes squeezed shut after she vividly recalled her past more directly.

She was mentally back in a stuffy library, surrounded by shelves of books, a building built into the underground caves that led to Tartarus. Her studying was interrupted when a neutral voice called, “Atalanta.”

The death bringer turned to the source, a fellow reaper clad in a black cloak and hood. Bone straight hairs concealed his face like a veil; his snout and green eyes were visible.

“Mortis Soltaire,” she greeted stiffly, pausing between a page she turned by candlelight. Strangely, even her memories now seemed tainted by the Prima Materia’s influence on her homeland, as she and Mortis were anthropomorphic ponies. “How can I help you?”

“I wished to discuss an experiment with you,” he explained while sitting across from her.

“With me? Why?” she questioned flatly. “I’m not exactly the most approachable mare.”

“Perhaps. But you are a brilliant student. That’s not flattery. It’s a simple fact. If there was anyone more capable of solving this puzzle, it’d be you.”

Mortis unrolled a scroll and placed it before the female reaper, who scrunched her snout while analyzing his notes. “Soul binding… is that even possible?”

“Who knows,” he responded with a shrug. “It’s only a theory, but one I believe is possible.”

“Hmm. Fascinating,” she admitted, her usually cold features filled with a subdued warmth. “Were two souls were to be united-”

“-they could influence each other,” he finished. “Could you imagine the potential people with merged souls could possess? They wouldn’t just be understanding each other better. They’d practically live and think as one!” A rare warmth filled his eyes, an enthusiastic grin stretching his lips. “Can I trust you to complete the spell?”

“Perhaps...in time.” In truth, Shadow Scythe had been more concerned with other ways such a spell could be used…, particularly how she could siphon knowledge from others. And with knowledge came power. That’s all she strived for when perfecting her magic.

“I’ll return this to you once I’ve mastered it,” she decided, rolling the scroll and tucking it into her pale sleeve.

“Haha! I knew I could count on you.” Mortis rose and bowed before making his way towards the exit, parting her with, “I look forward to what you can decipher, Atalanta.”

Immediately, the icy unicorn came to life once she researched the implications, eyes heavy with darkness, narrowed in concentration. Over the weeks, she would add and subtract from complicated formulas and runes that made up the spell, aiming to perform, then perfect it.

It subsumed all her time between her reaper duties. One of these would take her deeper into Tartarus, the scroll hidden on her person, where she would stumble upon Grogar. Her first instinct was to attack the known villain, her scythe raised...yet his words made her pause.

The old ram noted the scroll and promised to help her unlock the secrets of the spell. Told her that he could help her achieve knowledge and power beyond her wildest dreams. She’d paused, lost in thought for several minutes, the silence between them, unable to deny her reaper duties were mundane by this point, that they bored her.

There had to be more to life than this...?

“I’ll do it...on a condition. My parents are to remain unharmed.” Grogar agreed, and the pair shook on in. From then on, the name Atalanta was thrown away in favor of a title, Shadow Scythe. She maintained a shadow of affection for her parents, enough not to bring unintentional harm to them. In her own way, she was grateful they birthed her into the world. After they conquered the land, she would ensure they lived a healthy life, untouched by her conquest.

Her betrayal would later end in the slaughter of her reaper peers. Mortis Soltaire had been the last to fall, as the stallion had wept and pleaded for his life before her sickle arced down and separated his head from its body. Greedily, she’d smirked and sucked their spirits into her.

Reflecting on her dark deeds, the tired mare noted a detail she considered inconsequential at the time...Mortis had closed his eyes while he cried, on his knees, and his whispered plea slowly transitioned to a chant, repeated like a mantra...words to the spell he’d come up with.

A soft ringing awoke Shadow Scythe from her nap, jolting up in alarm. The sun bore down on her, the gentle wind in the villa as she returned to reality. “Just...a bad dream,” she told herself as she folded her half-eaten sandwich away. “A memory. The Mortis I knew was silenced by my blade. He’s nothing more than a vengeful ghost.”

She rubbed her breast over her heart. “But in death, he became stronger. And to beat him, I’ll have to train until I’ve matched him.”

Shadow Scythe floated off the bricks, summoned her Onoma, and watched her long shadow materialize a series of sickles under the direction of her will. She sank into the darkness, rose back from another part of it, able to vanish and reappear from any shadow in her line of sight.

The shadowy sickles transmuted into shiny steel at her silent command. Reminded that she was the proud daughter of a hunter and huntress, she pondered...could she forge more suitable weapons to match? After all, she’d once taken archery lessons from her mother, Quiver Bolt.

From her darkness-shaped curved weapons. Halberds and axes with scythe-like blades. Chakrams. Arrows with stylized, sickle-like edges. A wicked smile crossed her dainty snout.

Her broken horn flared when she unleashed a telekinetic storm that scooped up the Thanatos-inspired weapons and hurled them at a ruined building in the distance that needed to be demolished before she could rebuild it. The blades arced throughout the stonework.

“Success,” she murmured as the weapons shredded the structure in a whirlwind of destruction. It crumpled in a cloud of dust on its collapse, land shaken by tremors under the impact.

With these instruments of death, Atalanta could properly honor her family’s occupation as hunters!

Light erupted into the sky, catching the reaper’s attention. Her icy eyes widened, realizing it was coming from the monastery.

Was it Zeloph? Was he being attacked!?

Her lips pursed, struggling with the urge to rush up there. Shadow Scythe wasn’t set to return until her trial was over. There were still buildings left to reconstruct, more restless spirits to help.

But could she really let her friends fend for themselves?

Atalanta’s heart sank, recalling her love nearly drained by Mortis, his precious light almost fading. And, against her moral obligation to complete the task, the reaper slipped into her shadow and swam for the monastery atop the hill.

Victorious

View Online

Beams of light occasionally highlighted Triad’s stern visage as the elevator lifted the trio of cybernetic fiends. Beside him, Penny Dreadful was giddily swinging her parasol and swaying to whatever music played in her head. Professor Kilroy hovered between them, arms folded behind him while he patiently waited to see what ‘demonstration’ the cyber demon had in store.

The black stallion continued to stare skeptically at the bionic plague doctor. There was no doubt in his mind that Varys planned to betray his master when an opportunity presented itself. All the more reason to behead the potential traitor where he stood and defend Mortis. He slightly unsheathed his sword, ready to make a quick draw until the elevator reached its destination, signaled by an electronic 'ding.' His frown deepened, pushing his blade back and folding his well-toned arms across his black suit with white pinstripes.

The sliding doors opened, the once hot and barren landscape now under a monsoon, rain, and wind blowing through the cloaking device keeping his enormous factory hidden. Atop the deck was a sparring match between three zebra mares, sparks flying each time their weapons clashed.

“That enough,” Varys commanded, causing the trio to cease all activities. He motioned them to step forward, and Triad’s gaze narrowed as he observed them. Each mare was embedded with few visible cybernetics, most notably the titanium tiaras crowning their heads with glowing jewels. But their stripes rhythmically shimmered with tronic light, implying a more internal augmentation.

The foremost zebra mare, most likely the leader, had a teal blue coloration, withdrawing her spear into a smaller shape. The zebress to her right had tangerine orange glowing stripes and rested her chakram on her shoulder, her other hand on her hip. The final biomechanical mare had orchid purple tron stripes, sporting a flirtatious smile. She wielded an urumi, its whip-shaped blades curled into the hilt.

“I’d like you to meet Zuri, Kali, and Tisha,” the plague doctor introduced as the zebra mares took a knee to bow. “Pundamilia’s future rulers. And now, its greatest defenders. I trust the fruit of my labor is to your satisfaction?”

Zuri raised her head to answer, “Yes, Doctor Varys. These enhancements have taken our battle prowess to extraordinary levels.”

Kali nodded and added, “Our father will certainly be pleased!”

Tisha raised her head and said with a sultry voice, “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to return the favor, master~.”

“Unnecessary,” the plague doctor politely declined. “Knowing that my genius will carry on through you is all the reward I require.” He shifted attention to Penny Dreadful. “How about it? Do you approve?”

“Ooh~! I dare say my expectations have been blown wide open,” she tittered excitedly, eying the zebra mare’s bare transfused flesh. “You saw how fast they were, right, daddy?”

“Mmm, indeed,” acknowledged Killroy, studying Kali in particular. “Just from the short glimpse we received, I can roughly estimate a total ten percent increase in speed! More than what any normal mare her stature could achieve!”

“So they’ve become more agile,” huffed Triad. “But speed alone will not help in the heat of battle. I doubt these mechanized dolls can accomplish much in terms of overall power.”

This earned a sharp glare from each zebra princess, who stood up from their knees. Varys let out a digitalized chuckle, shaking his head. “Still not convinced, I see. Then why not put them to the test?” His vermillion visors shifted to Zuri. “How about it, ladies? Care to show this skeptic how capable you 'dolls' truly are?”

“Gladly,” the eldest zebra princess said with a haughty smirk. She and her sisters nodded to one another as they backflipped into a formation, extending their respective weapons.

Triad scoffed before stepping up, removing his pinstripe jacket and waistcoat, his defined torso and muscular back revealed. The griffoness whistled in appreciation before the outline of his tattoos shined. The dragon and tiger, in conflict with each other, leaped off his body to take a more tangible form, aiding the black stallion by his sides.

As he unsheathed his katana, he proclaimed, “I faced Kitsune and Wispy without needing your ‘upgrades’ and emerged victorious. This won’t take longer than two minutes.”

Varys agreed with equal conviction. “Yes... I'm sure it won’t.”

Growls and roars arose from the swordsman’s cybernetic animal familiars, staring hungrily at the trio of biomechanical zebra warriors. Triad took his stance, muscles enhanced by cybernetics that rendered him stronger, faster, and more durable than the average stallion…

He made the first move; his aim was true, lunging for the head of Zuri… who simply intercepted his attack by a thrust of her spear.

"Nani..?!”

She reacted impossibly fast, stomping her staff to push him off and retaliate. That signaled her sisters to take the offensive as well. With a flash of orange and purple, the zebra princess fought Triad’s familiars, Kali lashing her whip at the tiger while Tisha flung her chakram like a boomerang at the dragon. And even with his keen eyesight, Triad struggled to follow Zuri’s spear, barely able to deflect its jabs and strikes.

Smirking, the cyber zebress stabbed into Triad’s foot, pinning him to the steel ground. With the black stallion temporarily stuck, she bent back her pole before releasing it to smack into his face. He grunted until Zuri pulled her weapon out and stabbed his belly. She hosted him up with ease before flinging him across the factory roof, gushes of black blood smearing the metal surface as she bent her pole back.

Triad clutched his spilling stomach, glaring in disbelief at the proud huntress. Looking past her, he witnessed his summoned beasts similarly dispatched by her sisters. The tiger roared, unable to claw at Kali, who whirled her urumi in front before cracking the blade across its face. The dragon hissed as it was bombarded by chakram replicas while Tisha danced around its talons and tail.

Battered and carved by the sheer force of the zebra mare’s weapons, the techno phantoms collapsed, fading back into the ether. The depictions of the pair returned to his naked back. With their foes vanquished, the younger hunters joined their eldest sister in circling their wounded prey like sharks. They had been toying with Triad, given their mute laughter at his expense. But his focus trained on the one responsible for their technological advancements, who observed silently.

"Gggrrn! Damn you..!" declared Triad as he got back up to swing his katana at the trio. But they all dodged or blocked at unnatural angles before knocking the stallion around with palmed strikes and kicks.

“You’re too slow,” taunted Zuri.

“Outdated!” mocked Kali.

“Pathetic~!” purred Tisha.

All three released one final kick that sent the battered swordsman tumbling to the ground before Varys’ feet. Rain predicated down their athletic bodies, not a single scratch visible on their supple flesh. So long as the hyper-sensitive parasite remained attached to their spinal cords, they could instantaneously react to any and all moves made against them without the hindrance of thought.

“Next time, send us a worthy opponent,” requested Zuri in a gruff tone. "What a waste of our time!"

“That was rather disappointing, wasn't it?” The cyber demon reaffirmed, staring down at Triad. “Excellent work, girls! Demonstration concluded.”

Satisfied with their work, the modified princesses turned away to make their graceful exit, their shapely, silver-sheen hips, and buttocks left to sashay. Once they reported back to the emperor, they would resume their original mission; the conquest of Noble Savage's tribe.

Penny hopped up and down like a child in the candy store. “Ohoho~! That was incredible,” she clamored. “Simply marvelous! Oh, I can hardly wait! Upgrade me, Master Varys! Gimmie~!"

"Patience," chided Varys with a warm chuckle. "The procedure will take time to complete. But soon, you too will be-“

The rest of his words were lost to Triad, who lifted himself back up. He was snarling, shamed, and humiliated by the Vice Lord. His fist balled about the sword hilt, all his focus, and momentum thrown into a precise, desperate attack while his foe was distracted, as the swordsman hurled into the air.

Triad swiped his blade at the masked psychopath’s neck...which Varys predicted. Moving swifter than his assailant, his wrist saw whirled to life and sliced through his katana like a knife through butter.

The swordsman gazed aghast at his broken weapon before the cyber demon grasped him by the neck, the talons of his tail clamped tightly against his gullet.

“Simple-minded fool,” scoffed Varys. “Did you think I wouldn’t already supplant myself with my own upgrades?” A similar jeweled eye glowed from his forehead underneath the glass of his mask. “Surely, I deserve more credit than that!”

“Y-you… deserve… nothing from me!” The black stallion weakly defied, hands trying to crush his bionic tail choking him. “You are… no master!!”

In an instant, all feeling was lost in Triad's arms. His eyes dilated upon seeing each limb fall lifelessly to the ground before bursting into a fit of screams.

Varys dropped the stallion’s broken body, watching him crumple and go into shock. Blood rushed out his arm sockets and stomach.

“Oh, dear! Look what you’ve made me do,” the bionic devil spat coldly, his wrist saw powering down. “Do you know how long it takes to replicate limbs?”

“Sweet buttery christ!!” Kilroy exclaimed in horror. “You’ve dismembered the poor boy!”

“Precision is often the difference between a butcher and a surgeon,” the Vice Lord stated as more instruments emerged with a metallic sound from his arm. “Do not fear. I won’t let you perish. Not yet.”

A medical laser shot down to cauterize the wound. Skinned seared over at the shoulders of the armless Triad, who heaved and felt his consciousness slipping.

"Oh no! Will he really be okay?" Penny knelt at her fallen companion's side.

"Mortis' power should keep him alive," reasoned Kilroy. "Even if he were cut to ribbons!"

Triad wasn't sure how long he had laid there before real awareness returned; the princesses had long gone to pursue their hunt. Penny watched him, her head tilted to one side, her small beak twisted in concern.

“There. That should prevent any more blood loss,” Varys said, reforming his arm. “But I'm afraid you’re completely useless in this state. A swordsman who can't use his blade has no purpose.”

A few bitter tears leaked down his cheeks, teeth clenched. “A-and who was it that took it from me?! When Mortis learns of this, he will… w-will…”

“Abandon you the moment he recognizes how much of a burden you are,” Varys said bluntly, his avian visage looming closer to examine him. “He’ll resurrect another sword wielder to do his bidding. Come now, Kitasan. You’ve known all this time how expendable you are.”

"No..." Triad squeezed his brown eyes closed.

When they reopened, they became pinpoint at the needle-sized talons extended from Varys’ left hand. The tubes connected to each finger filled with his insidious chemical formula. Realizing what he was planning to do, the black stallion started squirming.

But Varys grabbed at his head, yanking his black mane. “Relax,” he told Triad. “I am partially demi-human and possess a 'sacred touch.' One that will cure you of all fragilities. It is a shame you won’t be able to serve Mortis anymore. But don’t worry. You’ll be a vital asset in my cause!”

As his hand inched closer, Triad thought back to the countless souls the Vice Lord captured for his nefarious ‘Project: Nephilim.’ Their bodies and minds were permanently lost to a machine that would herald Varys’ biomechanical apocalypse. In desperation to keep his sanity, the black stallion belted, “W-WAIT!!”

The plague doctor froze; the tip of his medical talons pointed towards his chest. Varys surveyed Triad before weakly groveling, “I-I’ll accept your upgrades! Make my body stronger! Just please, do not alter my mind! It is the only thing I have left before I expire…”

The cyber demon considered his plea before retracting his clawed hand. “A wise decision,” Varys said, his mechanized voice reverberating from his beak-like mask. “Your current cybernetics and skills have reached their maximum limits. But with my science and engineering, you will surpass what you thought was beyond possible.”

Varys coiled his tail to lift the fallen swordsman as he and the clockwork griffoness returned to the elevator. As the doors slammed shut and the platform descended, the bionic devil assured, “When I’m done with you, there will be nothing to oppose Mortis’ will. Not Shadow Scythe, Beatrix, Zeloph, or even the assassins who terminated you.”

Triad said nothing, only more convinced than ever that Varys was not to be trusted. Would the Vice Lord use their cyber enhancements to remotely control them? That certainly seemed like the case if the parasite embedding the zebra warriors were also linked to the unit attached to Varys.

But he eternally lamented, what choice did they have to serve his master's will...?

The battle between Zeloph and Arron continued to rage on, the area shaken under the impacts. One strike forced the two Demi-humans to back off, catching their breath. Exhaling, the golden demon brushed a thumb over his nose.

“Damn… I hate to say it, but you’re pretty good,” Arron acknowledged, his hardened skin retracting. “You’re a lot stronger than I gave you credit for! Givin’ me a real workout~!”

“See what happens when you fight someone of equal footing?” Zell huffed, ruffling his feathers while running a hand through his bangs.

“Pha! Don’t get cocky. At the end of the day, I’m still gonna bury your candy ass six feet under,” the wrestling champ boasted, taunting him by dragging his thumb across his throat before pointing it down.

In response, the angel rolled his eyes. Still, innocent bystanders were out of harm's way as long as he kept Arron within the stadium. But he knew he couldn't keep the fight going. Not without a proper strategy that’ll knock the burly demi down for the count.

“That hardening ability. I take it that must be your Onoma?” The fallen one ended up asking.

“Oh, you mean this?” Arron flexed his large arms, encasing them in topaz crystal. “Nah, that’s just my natural prowess, baby. My Midas touch, if you will~!” He took the opportunity to flex and pose, showing off his beefy muscles as the crystalline layer shimmered. “I can harden any part of my body with a protective layer of topaz!” Arron finished this display by punching the floor, which shattered under his excessive force.

“So it’s self-serving,” noted Zeloph in a droll tone. “Not surprising…”

“Oh yeah? And what’s your scared touch? Healing people like some wannabe messiah?”

Zeloph blanked, feeling extremely self-conscious.

“… oh shit, are you kidding me? I was just joking! That’s what you do?!” The large bruiser released a peal of wheezing laughter, slamming his fist into his knee. “That’s the most pansy ass shit I’ve ever-gaaahh?!”

Zell sent his adversary flying with a blast of light, Apollo’s brilliant aura flowing off his body and sword. Arron rose back up, dusting off the rubble while shielding his face, brows furrowed. “Okay, maybe I deserved that. Holy shit, are you bright!”

“I hope it’s sinking in how in over your head you are,” the seraphic demi said. “You can mock me all you want, Arron. I’m still going to be the one to give you a serious attitude adjustment!”

Zell flashed behind, then flashed around when his opponent made a swing at him. The fallen one danced around Arron, managing to score hits and slice him open with his searing hot blade. Grumbling, the golden demon slammed both fists into the ground, creating a seismic shockwave to repel the aerial swordsman.

Igniting the Vorpal Blade, he launched solar waves through quick slashes. Hardening his arms, Arron blocked each strike that pushed him backward. With his foe on the ropes, the angelic demi launched a cross shape solar wave that his bullheaded opponent struggled to withstand.

However, Arron’s crystalline skin absorbed Zeloph’s attack until it evaporated, the shiny rocky surface glimmering hotly. With a loud roar, he spun around to throw all that stored energy back at Zell with a single punch. While he managed to dodge in time, the kinetic power caused one side of the stadium to implode, more debris falling to scare off watchful pedestrians.

Zeloph stared at the circular hole made in the stadium, eyes wide. “Holy mother of pearl..!”

“Haha! You like that?” Arron shouted from below. “That’s a real man's Onoma! Narcissus reflects all the damage I take. Anything you dish out, I'll hit back twice as hard~!”

The angel sneered, teeth tightly clenched, blinking behind for another strike. But Arron anticipated this and elbowed Zell when he vanished, then delivered a hard punch to his gut, making him cough out a bit of blood.

“Is it sinking in yet?” Arron asked mockingly. “You can hit me any way you want, and I'll still get back up! I’m unbreakable…”

BAM!

“…Unbeatable..!”

SMACK!

“…Unstoppable..!!”

POW!

“… and most of all, baby…~”

CRUNCH!

The golden demon used his hammer-shaped tail to whirl Zeloph around, giving him time to hook his muscular arms around his waist.

“… Undisputed!!!”

Arron unfurled his shiny eagle-shaped wings before hosting him and Zeloph into the air, where he leaned back and planted the fallen angel skull first into the ground with an elevated German suplex.

Outside, the audience chanted for Zeloph to overcome the odds, booing once Arron gained the upper hand. Sixth Measure's party boat hovered by the titantron as Mezzo Soprano dropped down to ensure her sons and the citizens were safe. Once she touched down, the opera singer rushed onto the scene while her hair whipped behind her.

Sixth Measure amped up the crowds of onlookers. "C’mon, Zell! You got this," reminded Bass, who shouted from a microphone. "Show him what you’re made of!"

"Let him hear you scream and shout!" Alto punched skyward.

"Don't let us down," added Tenor, who helped his brothers cheer everyone on.

Eclipsed Heart skated around to make sure no bystanders were left behind. She tossed back her reddish-pink ponytail, then exhaled in relief to see few were wounded. There apparently weren't any casualties as the hover-ambulances made their way onto the scene and helped the wounded aboard. The pop princess beamed and formed a heart shape with her hands at S.LU.T.

"Nice work, sluts," called Carrion Hellfire to her bandmates, the cyber-enhanced harpy still in the air. “I think that’s everyone!”

Obrya slithered with a couple female fans straddling her back and tail. "Don't be afraid," tittered the lamia, who hissed and playfully flicked her tongue across their cheeks.

"Cool it," broke in Riptide Ruth, the shark woman covered in a few cuts and bruises. Her hide was difficult to pierce, but she'd taken several blows when the structures collapsed to ensure no one was crushed. She took deep pants, palms resting on her knees. "I’m gonna need a huge salt bath after this!”

"You can depend on us," promised Eclipsed, who smiled at them. Her attention turned to the giant plasma screen on the billboard, showing Zell struggling to break free from a rear choke submission. "Oh my gosh! We have to help him!" Eclipsed started to skate away, only for her wrist to be seized by Ruth to pull her back.

"Hold it, shortcake!” said the shark woman. “That's his battle! We ain’t interfering with that!”

"B-but-!"

"We'll move in if he ends up in real trouble," promised the lamia singer with a wink.

Eclipsed drew her lips in a pout but nodded, shifting her worried gaze back to the crowds that cheered on the battle from the stage. But through the camera feed, she noticed something moving along the seats. Her pink eyes shined blue to zoom in. And to her dismay, she spotted a familiar pinstriped garbed devil, shifting through the column of seats like a snake in the grass.

"Seb!!” The pop princess snarled, fists bawled. That bastard used her as a pawn to coax President Spike from his tower and threatened to sell her off to the highest bidder. He’s been nothing but terrible to her and Sixth Measure. And if he was here, that meant he was planning something that involved Zell!

“He can’t keep getting away with this!” muttered the pop star, activating her rocket skates and conjuring a javelin made of crystalline jewels. Eclipsed didn't want to kill anyone...but she couldn't allow Seb to escape. Not when they had been so close to busting him!

Carrion, still airborne, spun in her direction just in time to see Eclipse rush back into the concert stadium. "H-hey, wait! Don't rush off on your own!!"

"I got it," shouted Ruth, who bounded past Obrya as she helped the girls down by an ambulance, where the attendees checked them over for any injuries. The shark woman too sneered when she noticed Seb, the same asshole that had shot her before and betrayed their trust!

“Gggrhn! L-let go,” Zell groaned, wriggling around within Arron’s crushing biceps.

“Not a chance, little man,” the golden demon said through a strained breath. “You got all those girls riled up singing your song. I wanna know what the big deal is~!” With one hand, he reached down to grope the angel’s groin. When he squeezed his grip and twisted his wrist, Zeloph gave a startled yelp.

“Yaaaagh!? W-what the fuck!?!”

“Heh! The ol’ dick twist. Gets ‘em every time~!”

“That’s not even a real move!” Flustered beyond belief, Zeloph’s body flared up with light and heat, forcing Arron to release his hold before he got seriously burnt.

“Yeesh! So sensitive,” the burly demon grumbled, steam hissing off his hardened bulk. But he took a face full of blinding light from the demi-human’s flowered tail. Arron clung to his face, yelling, “GAAGH! MY FUCKIN' EYES!! YOU BITCH!!!”

Zell retook the offensive, aware not to exert too much energy lest his burly opponent throws it back at him. So the fallen angel settled on direct combat, hoping to keep Arron stunned before he could retaliate.

Unbeknownst to them, Seb watched comfortably from the tenth row, observing each demi-human set of skills, powers, and techniques. The card demon analyzed Zeloph as the most powerful but considered that sense of morality a hindrance to his talent. And while Arron was physically superior, all that strength meant nothing if he only used it to showboat.

What was one to do with a crucial decision such as this? Why let fate dictate the outcome, of course!

Seb pulled out his signature coin and held it up. On one side was a rattlesnake face, representing Zeloph. He flipped it to see the serpent’s infamous tail, representing Arron. The pinstriped devil flipped the coin before slapping it to his forearm, revealing it had landed with the tail side facing him.

With a shrug, Seb pulled out his card that turned into a sniper rifle with monochrome zig-zagged patterns and a king's crown design on the body. “Sorry, amigo,” he mused as he took aim at Zeloph and peered through the diamond-shaped scope lens, having a clear shot of the angel’s chest. “Lady Luck just isn’t on your side.”

His finger tightened around the trigger, ready to squeeze until the demi detected something out the corner of his eye. Seb reeled back just in time as a crystal javelin whizzed past him, piercing into a seat. The weapon wiggled free before levitating back into Eclipsed Heart’s hand.

Seb leered at the pop diva, standing from his seat as he said with vexation, “Gettin’ real sick and tired of you sticking your nose into my business, kid!”

Eclipsed glared back, aware it was suicidal to take him on alone, especially without a plan. But it's not like B.A.B.E. hadn't carried out vigilante work before! She couldn't depend on Kitsune and Wispy to always bail her out!

“I suggest you scram before you get hurt,” warned Seb, resealing his rifle as a ring of cards hovered around him. He picked one to summon his pistol. “Especially since your entourage isn’t here to save you~.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Seb,” she glowered. “My band may not be present, but I’m more than capable of handling you myself!”

“Heh! Cute. I’d be more worried if your skills weren't cybernetically modified. Your augmentations give you… what? A five-percent increase, at most?”

“At least I didn’t have to bullshit my way to the top," she responded with a smile. "When all that dumb luck runs out, you won’t have anything left but your name!”

“Oh, it ain’t luck that keeps me goin’, sweetheart...” scoffed Seb, using his sleeve to roll the bullet chamber full of rounds. It made a rattling sound before it clicked. His wings manifested from his back, a cherry red and green aura wisping around his form. His slime-green eyes glowed from under the brim of his hat.

“… it’s destiny!”

Seb fired three shots to start, making Eclipsed twirl her javelin to deflect. She lunged forward, causing the card demon to retreat atop the seats. He unloaded until the clip was empty, using the distance to reload.

But the crystalline pop star quickly caught up, managing to pierce through his overcoat and rip a bit of the fabric off.

“Hey! This was tailor-made, you brat,” the demi-human hissed.

“Trust me! You’ll look better wearing prison stripes instead,” Eclipsed boasted, trying to take another stab until more bullets were fired, one grazing her shoulder. She cried, favoring her bleeding wound while Seb despawned his gun to take another weapon from his card-based arsenal. This time, a black metal bat appeared in his hand marked with a club symbol, etched with a large white J.

That’s when she noticed his aura manifest two sets of numbers above his wings, rolling rapidly like slot machines. Then they stopped, one side highlighting 23, the other 6.

Before Eclipsed could question it, the green aura enveloped Seb, who snickered behind his grinning bandanna.

“So, you think you’re good enough for the big leagues, huh? Very well then! Let’s play ball~!”

Seb pounced at the diva, swinging wildly while she attempted to defend herself. But she noticed he was moving slightly faster than before, his blows backed by significant strength until she was knocked back, stumbling into the chairs.

“Steeeeriike~!” The gambler crowed.

Eclipsed Heart picked herself up, fuming. “What the hell was that?!” she demanded.

“You stand before a world-class gambler. So naturally, my Onoma works the same,” elaborated Seb, resting his steel bat along his shoulders.

“O-Onoma?!” She recalled Lady Ewe briefly mentioning possessing one. As did Beatrix!

He nodded and continued as the mysterious aura rolled another set of numbers. “Mine’s called Tyche, and it drastically alters my karma’s positive and negative ratio. Whichever has the higher number grants me the additional effect. Speaking of which…”

The numbers landed on 40 and 15, and once again, his arcane magic enhanced his prowess. “Haha! Today's just my lucky day~!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” The diva whined while her opponent was on the attack, stoking with much more power. Yet she managed to land a few knees and elbows, the pads from her roller derby outfit able to crack bone from the force of her blows.

That’s when Zell noticed he and Arron weren’t the only ones fighting. His blue eyes widened when seeing Eclipsed Heart locked in a duel with the pinstriped devil.

“Shit! Hang on,” he called, about to take off until Arron caught him by the tail.

“Where do you think you’re going?! Your fight is with me!!” The golden demon reminded, swinging Zeloph around before tossing him into the pillar. The delirious angel shook off the dizziness in time to see the hulking fighter propel towards him fist first.

He quickly ducked down right as Arron crashed into the steel beam, knuckles depressed deeply. Once the brawler pulled out his arm, he continued, “I’d worry more about yourself than that prissy princess!”

Luckily, the helicopter filming the skirmish also took notice, and everyone outside the stadium now bore witness to Eclipsed Heart and Seb’s match along the sidelines.

“Wait, that’s-”

“What’s Eclipsed doing!?”

“Isn’t Seb a good guy?”

Bass froze instantly. His protective instincts screamed to drop the mic and go help her. But at the same time, they had an opportunity to expose Seb. With immediate consideration, he tightened his hold on the microphone and stayed put, confident his girlfriend knew what she was doing.

“This is what we were going to announce earlier, people,” the lead singer said. “Seb’s nothing but a con artist, doing whatever it takes to stay ahead of the curb!”

“Y-yeah, that’s right!” Tenor backed up. “If he’s such a swell guy, why on earth would he be trying to kill Eclipsed Heart? One of our most beloved pop icons?!”

“We’ve been supporting a demon, folks,” Alto declared. “No greedier than that hack job, Spike!”

Soon, the crowd began to vocalize their distress through loud booing.

“Let’s hear it for Eclipsed,” shouted Carrion Hellfire, pumping her taloned fist. “Show that sucker who's the greatest of all time!”

Obrya and Ruth joined in to get the onlookers to chant Eclipsed’s name, which resonated outside the area. Mezzo smiled proudly at her trio of children, folding her arms into her chest. “Now, no matter what happens, Seb won't escape the consequences.” She then frowned, watching the pop diva struggle to withstand the pinstriped devil’s attacks.

“Let's just hope you make it out alive, Eclipsed…”

The pop princess could hear her adoring public loudly calling her name. Her eyes filled with tears, overjoyed by how deeply they cared despite Arron’s earlier claims. It reinvigorated her like a second wind, not wanting to let her fans, friends, and family down!

Eclipsed started to hit Seb back with unrelenting strikes, much to the card demon’s astonishment. “Hrrrgh! Just what is this broad made of?!” He growled. “I have to finish this.”

With their weapons locked, Seb used the impasse to recalculate the odds with his Onoma. Only this time, the numbers landed 19 to 42, the red aura now dampening his strength.

“A-ahdt?! Son of a bitch!!”

Eclipsed smirked once the tides turned in her favor, disarming his steel bat and launching a valley of swift jabs to stagger Seb. She threw her crystal javelin to knock him off balance, losing his feathered hat and bandana. This earned more cheers from the crowd outside.

As her javelin returned to her hand, she quipped, “Aww, how unlucky! But as the old saying goes, what goes around, comes around~!”

Seb scowled at the cocky diva, his scarred face and lips visible. He picked out another card which glowed and replied, “Kid…from the bottom of my heart, go fuck yourself!”

Eclipsed heard something clip in the seat next to her, spotting a heart-shaped grenade with a crown design on the holster. Shrieking, she sprinted away as the bomb exploded. More planted grenades went off within the row of seats. Thankfully, Tyche’s debuff was still active, lessening the impact.

Just as the pop princess thought it was safe, she stepped on an unseen card that came to life. A spade-shaped bear trap clamped down on her ankle, causing her to scream.

Seb arose with a chuckle. “You fool! You just activated my trap card!” He watched her stumble, relishing how she struggled to pry the device open. Pulling out one more card from his sleeve, it became a pinwheel bazooka, which he mounted on his shoulder. Eclipsed stared frightfully at the jester design on the missile's nose.

The demi’s Onoma activated to roll another set of numbers, landing on a high 88 against a low 63.

“Aww, now that’s too bad,” chortled Seb as the aura amplified his rocket launcher. “Well, you know what they say. Karma’s a bitch~!”

The audience gasped and broke into an outcry.

“Oh no, Eclipsed!!” Bass bellowed.

The pop diva cried for help while trying to break free, alerting Zeloph to the stands once more. Arron got him in another headlock until the seraphic used his wings to maneuver his larger opponent over his shoulder.

When the brawler scuffled to his feet and lunged, Zell used Arron’s momentum against him by rolling onto his back and pushing him off with his legs, the burly demi human crashing into the stage.

The fallen one barely had time to recover as Seb loudly exclaimed, “Ace in the hole!” He squeezed the trigger and launched the clown-faced rocket at the defenseless pop idol. As fast as his wings could carry him, Zeloph intercepted right as it imploded. The crowd screamed, covering their ears.

Seb grinned victoriously as the smoke settled… only for it to quickly falter. “WHAT?!”

Around them were the invulnerable interlocking wheels of the Ophanim, protecting both Eclipsed and Zeloph. Everyone outside the concert resumed cheering in relief.

Seb, meanwhile, snarled with frustration, resummoning his pistol to aim at them. Zell blinked directly in front of the gamble, all of his vermillion eyes glaring down. Undeterred, the card demon pulled the trigger… only for no round to fire. He kept squeezing until it dawned on him that he never reloaded the magazine.

Zeloph’s stern expression deepened. Seb nervously chuckled, “E-eheh, see… funny story-”

The angelic demi clocked the pinstriped devil clean with one punch. Rubbing his bruised cheeks, Zeloph gripped the unconscious Seb by his coat collar and chucked him onto the fractured ground.

He returned to attend Eclipsed, whose leg was freed the moment the card demon went lights out. Zell helped the pop princess down to ground level, using his rejuvenating touch to patch up her wounds.

“W-wait, you're exhausted,” she pleaded. “You shouldn’t-”

“It’s alright,” the fallen angel reassured, coughing. “I’ll be fine.”

Arron came to, rising from the ruined stage while clutching his aching head. He shook it off and stumbled to his feet, pausing once he saw his opponent healing the pop star. This made the bruiser cross, shouting, “Enough!!”

Zeloph ceased his actions to gaze wryly at the wrestler demi, face soaked with blood and precipitation. Nonetheless, he held up the Vorpal Blade, still shimmering with bright magic.

“Zeloph, no!” Eclipsed quietly urged, only to be met with a softened glare, quietly telling her to ‘keep back.’ He limped towards the equally battered demi-human, panting angrily.

“I don’t get your angle, twink,” Arron said, only able to harden his knuckles. “Why do you care so much about these damned humans?! They’re beneath you! And yet, you cater to them like they’re one of us! Why?!”

“Contrary to what you believe, not all of them are feeble,” Zeloph weakly answered. “Sure, not all of them are good either. But they have the right to choose their own path.” He lifted his head to the sky, thinking of Jonn. “I’ve seen terrans accomplish some amazing things. And whether they be saints, sinners, or in between, they’ve shown more passion for life than any of us!”

Outside, the audience was moved by his beautiful declaration, some onlookers even shedding tears. Bass and his brothers smiled brightly; now more confident than ever, they made the right choice in approaching Zeloph.

The false messiah went on. “That’s why I admire the human spirit. Why I swore to defend it! Believe me; it’s far more powerful than any strength you can gain.” His gaze softened, celeste blue eyes casting pity on his arrogant foe, whose face was contorted with perplexity. “Like you, I used to think of myself as superior. But through my vanity, I sullied that simplistic beauty with my complicated destruction. I fear I will never redeem myself in the eyes of those I’ve harmed…”

Then Zeloph extended his hand and proclaimed, “But it’s not too late for you, Arron! If you’d just looked past yourself, I’m sure you could appreciate the life happening around you! Outside, you are strong. But deep down, I think we both know you could be even stronger!”

The seraphic demi noticed tears streaming down the brawler's puffy, bloodshot eyes. Either that was from blinding him earlier, or he genuinely moved Arron; he couldn’t tell. But that was quickly brushed off when the livid brawler yelled, “… what a load of BULLSHIT!!”

He pointed accusingly at Zell and ranted, “You think sucking up to these morons makes you better than me?! You’re wrong!! Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!!”

Zell resumed his stance when Arron gradually picked up speed and broke into a sprint, roaring in outrage, “I’m not the weak one! You are! I will never be weak! I will never lose! Not to them! Not to anyone! And certainly! NOT! TO THE LIKES! OF! YOOOOOUUU!!!”

“Ohpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework!” Zeloph muttered as the demon rampaged towards him with the speed of a freight train. The Vorpal Blade shined through, swiping through the space between them to split open another cross shape rift. Arron realized too late as he ran right through, his voice swallowed by the shimmering portal.

Zeloph heaved an enormous sigh of relief until he felt the gravitational pull try to suck him. He turned to Eclipsed and urged, “You have to go! Get out of here, now!”

The pop icon nodded, turning away to roller skate her way to safety when Seb was lifted by the rift’s pull.

It all happened at once. The unconscious demi-human collided with Eclipsed from behind, who lost balance and tumbled into Zeloph, which hurled all three of them into the portal without any time to cry out.

"Nooo!!" Bass cried out as he, Sixth Measure, and S.L.U.T fled from the screaming crowd. They flew to the ruined stadium just in time to see the rift reseal itself closed. The eldest debonair boy fell to his knees, whimpering, “Eclipsed!!”

Carrion flapped beside him and muttered, "Kitsune and Wispy'll kill us!"

Mezzo Soprano stared at the titantron with disbelief, unsure what to make of what she saw. But she couldn’t let her emotion surface at this time, aware her people needed a level-headed leader. So with a clenched fist, she gave an order. “Get everyone out of here. I want a search team ready and a warrant for the arrest of Sebastian Kars! Move out!”

Officers snapped to obey the president, despite the fact she knew it was most likely pointless. Beatrix and Oona used a similar power to visit their world. Whatever dimension they were in, it was far beyond them.

Anarchia was utterly overwhelmed by Julianne’s exalted presence. The heavenly abbess's heat and illumination spilled throughout the monastery, and the stained glass colors warped across the surface. And not a single attempt to fight back made it through.

The spiky-haired demoness groaned as the head nun’s voice bombarded her inner thoughts.

Surrender.

Submit.

Give up.

It’s okay to give in.

Let go.

You’ve lost.

"Haaagh! N-never!" She wept defiantly, curling up into a ball. While her eyes were shut tightly, past the disembodied whispers, she could make out the other nuns laughing hysterically.

Kitsune and Wispy Willow struggled to resist the jubilation warming their bodies, visible music notes waving around. All the mares gathered have fallen to the floor, spasming from mania. They all wept, laughed, and sang their joy, their mouths foaming.

“Sis…! We gotta stop this,” exclaimed the twin-tailed cat woman, both arms shielding her face from the radiant glow.

The vixen nodded and unsheathed her blade before taking to one of the spires, planning to neutralize Julianne from above. Wispy prowled closer to Ana, her tails calling out yokai flames rather than her usual plasma spheres.

"So...hot...!" The nekomata was forced to attack from a distance, tossing a fireball that quickly evaporated before ever coming in contact with the exalted demi-human. "Nyaagh! Damn it, how are we supposed to-?!”

Kitsune closed the distance to Julianne and almost struck her...simply to yelp when the hilt turned red from the heat. This at least shifted her attention towards them before a visible sound wave echoed through the yokai sisters.

‘Do not interfere’ was the melodic message repeating inside their heads.

"I-I have no intention of harming you," Kitsune tried to explain, her palms covering her pointy ears. "But to protect my friend, I have no choice but to neutralize a threat! Please, stand down! Both of you!"

"A little too late for that," whined Wispy, who crouched on her knees, trying to cancel out the noise.

Anarchia tried a last-ditch effort to blast the mother superior with what little demonic energy she could muster. But it was no use as Julianne proved nigh invulnerable in that form. She lifted her many wings to deliver the finishing blow, all trembling beneath her, lost in the spectacle.

The abbess began warming up an aria with increased frequency… but her last note turned into an alien-like shriek when a sickle pierced through her chest.

Shadow Scythe had emerged behind a boulder, using its shade for cover until she flung her blade on a shadowy chain. The high-pitched sound boomed through the valley, causing the building to implode and topple over. The stained glass shattered with the collapse, and most onlookers were hurled out from under the impact.

Out in the open, surrounded by thin trails of flame that smoked and flickered, Anarchia was forced to revert back into her imp form, the last of her strength spent. Likewise, Julianne's illumination was lost; she, too driven to exhaustion from the power she unleashed.

She took on a cherub form, coiled in the chains of Shadow Scythe’s Onoma. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, staring at her crumbled foundation with horrified eyes.

“No… no, no NOOOOOO!!” the diminutive nun cried, having lost her smile. “What have you done!?”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” the female reaper responded grimly. “You're lucky no one got hurt because of your little 'opera.' While you were busy hollering like a banshee, I managed to get everyone out in time before the building collapsed.”

Shadowy tendrils pulled out the punished nuns and servants, carefully laying them with the rest of their coven, all panting and twitching from fatigue.

“Don’t expect me to repair this mess,” the pale unicorn stated, narrowing her icy gaze at Julianne. “This was your own damn fault. If anything, you should have known better than to exert that level of power!”

“I-I don’t understand,” the pink cherub wept. “You couldn’t have blocked out my song! Why were you not affected?!”

A slight smile spread her snout. “Because, unlike you, I’ve tasted true happiness. No amount of praise you sing could ever replicate the joy Zeloph brings me.”

“N-no, that’s not possible,” dejected Julianne, who pointed at Moxxi as she stumbled to her feet. “She’s actively trying to steal that happiness away! You can’t tell me your content with that, surely?”

Shadow Scythe frowned at the imp, who gazed up with guilty magenta eyes. Releasing a drawn-out breath, she confirmed, “No, can’t say that I am. I would hardly even call us friends…” her cool eyes softened. “… but I’d like to be someday!”

“H-huh?” The imp tilted her head, perplexed.

Shadow Scythe looked Moxxi deep in the eye when she clearly stated, “I love Zeloph, and I intend to marry him. Which means you’ll be my sister too. If I have to put up with your lewd, wacky shenanigans, so be it. But I’ll be damned if I let anyone take away the light of my life!”

"... We'll see wot 'appens," Moxxi mumbled to herself.

Her attention returned to Julianne. “Look around you,” the reaper directed, pointing towards the tarnished landscape and the unconscious members of her covenant. “Does any of this spark true joy?”

“B-but I…” the female cherub failed to muster any ounce of her once unfettered optimism. Perhaps she understood the harm she wrought to her followers, half of which evidently became deaf from her euphoric song.

Her cute little winged ears fell, and her head hung low in defeat. “Oh, dear heavens above, what have I done?!” She cupped her head into her palms and wept openly.

With a sad smile, Shadow Scythe knelt down and petted her head. “Your heart was in the right place, I think… but it seems you could use your own trial of atonement.”

Julianne sniffled, looking at her tear-stained hands in disgust. “Such an ugly emotion… yet I can't stop crying!!”

“Sorrow is just as important as joy,” the reaper mare suggested. “How are flowers supposed to grow without rain?”

The little demi-human didn’t answer or even react when Shadow Scythe unhooked her sickle chain. Leaving Julianne to consider her words, the pale unicorn helped Kitsune and Wispy to their feet.

“Thanks,” the nekomata said weakly. “Glad to have you back!”

The fox woman gasped. “But what about your Trial of Atonement?”

“I still plan on finishing it,” answered Shadow Scythe. “But I feel it’s more of a spiritual endeavor than a physique one. One that I may never complete. But so long as I have my friends and loved ones, I think I’ll manage.”

Atalanta pulled the two kunoichis into a short embrace, thankful to have them by her side. Upon pulling away, she asked, “Speaking of which, where is Zeloph, anyhow?”

Before Kitsune could confess, a rift split the skies as if on cue, pulling all eyes towards it. From the cosmic slit spilled a gold-wearing demi-human unknown to them. His muscular body collided in the rubble before shrinking to a conservative imp form.

Then three other figures fell out and crashed into the dirt. Shadow Scythe, Kitsune, Wispy, and Moxxi rushed towards to find a weakened Zeloph and Seb, both shrunken down. But underneath them was a pony-tailed charcoal mare that definitely looked familiar.

“Cerise? Wait, no…” Shadow Scythe noticed a few subtle differences instantly. “Then, this must be-”

“Eclipsed!?” Kitsune bent down to lift the unconscious mare into her arms, brushing a pink bang from her face.

“I don’t believe it!” Wispy whispered with narrowed slit pupils. “What’s she doing here?!”

Whatever possible answers they could think of were temporarily abandoned when the sky rumbled. The breach between dimensions was clearly unstable as it absorbed the color from its immediate surroundings. The shimmering bluish-white rift dulled into a darkish red as this part of the multiverse began to flux.

Shadow Scythe, familiar with the ability to travel between realms since she had stolen some of the manor's power once to do so, lit her broken horn. "I'll attempt to stabilize it!"

She raised her slender arms. An eerie wind howled around them, her mane tossed, and her heeled boots dug into the ground. "Come on," she muttered, her teeth grit and eyes narrowed. Moxxi and, to the imp’s shock, Julianne attempted to help but were clearly too weakened to be of much use.

A flash lit the area, and anyone that looked upon Shadow Scythe would swear they saw her skeletal figure below her flesh, the wisp of a soul in her slender bosom intertwined with another.

The rift thundered and crackled. Grass rustled. The sky went blackened with dark crimson clouds. A soft drizzle fell and snuffed out the stray fires with a hiss. Stray lightning bolts struck the grounds at random intervals. Wispy yelped and hopped aside to evade one. Another zapped at the unconscious skater.

"Eclipsed-!" Kitsune cried out at the same time she leaped in. There was no time to save the band leader. Simply to take the attack, as she and Wispy swore to protect her with their lives.

"Sister-!" Gasps of horror rose from Wispy, helpless to intervene, when the bolt collided and zapped Kitsune. She disappeared in a flash as the rift above finally settled and closed. Yet the storm continued to rage on. Shadow Scythe's arms lowered while she huffed, recognizing there was nothing else she could do.

Wispy sunk to her knees, tears in her eyes. She expected to see the charred remains of Kitsune. However, once the smoke cleared, a female raccoon dog creature stood in her place.

She clung to her stomach, expecting to throw up before taking in her strange surroundings. "A-Aniki..?” The tanuki then panicked, her ears up on high alert. “Aniki?!”

Everyone could do little but stare at each other in utter confusion.

Thunder awoke Demi-Trix from within her birdcage. The light patter of rain tapping against the windows would be soothing… if not for the abysmal circumstances. The castle walls groaned as if the beast disguise was also in distress. And despite its treachery, the little tulpa couldn’t bring herself to entirely blame the abomination. It was merely an animal trying to survive…

Her ears picked up more pattering, though coming outside the birdcage this time. Demi-Trix sat up and beamed when she spotted one of her plushie spies, who quietly worked to undo the locks. Her magic was useless inside its field due to Alma's enchantments...but for an outsider, it was a simple matter to break the spells.

"Hurry, hurry," she whispered urgently as her eyes darted back and forth. Demi-Trix had been left in the dining room, the remnants of the meal left to spoil for the moment. The latches quietly clicked open, the door creaked loose, and the demi-human witch slipped free with a subdued exhale.

"Blegh! Gross," the tulpa muttered, the naked suspended corpses all bled completely dry. Alma and her minions obviously didn't take her too seriously but, at the same time, tired of how she made herself a nuisance, too. Cherry Poptart pulled on her cape. "Huh, what is it?"

Shining (K)night and Shade Sickle flailed about in an attempt to tell her something was wrong. Unfortunately, Demi-Trix hadn't expended enough power to enable them to speak. She knelt and nodded, determined to decipher their pantomime show. "Um, I see? I think?"

Shade Sickle smacked her face with her stubby, evidently annoyed. The plushies floated into the air and sailed out of the room. She raced to follow, carefully subduing the click of her heeled boots on the way.

Demi-Trix followed the stuffed dolls when they ducked around the corner, barely missed by Queen Tatyana and Lord Grimmwald, who waited in the main hallway.

“Let me go! Unhand me at once!” Came the distressing cries of Oona, who was shuffled down the steps by Esmeralda and Camellia. They tightened their hold on the shamaness’ wrists as they escorted her towards the castle’s main entrance, met by the Canterlonian rulers.

“Oh no, what are they doing?!” Demi-Trix squeaked but cupped her mouth upon seeing the countess glide down the stairwell with Bellatrix at her side, still adorned by finery.

Upon seeing the struggling faun, the succubus asked her mistress, "What’s going on? What’s this all about?"

“An exchange,” answered Alma with a slipped smile at her newly formed allies. “Ah trust ye’ve brought what I asked ov ye~?”

The bullman snorted before reaching behind his heavy shroud, pulling out an ancient curved blade within its sheath.

Alma’s scarlet gaze brightened, her smile stretching as she reached for it. But Bellatrix rushed in front of her, glaring hotly. “You swore to me that no harm would come to Oona Ewe!”

“An' A’m keepin' it,” assured the Baobhan Sith. “But lavish as mah castle is, it’s no place fur a pregnant sheep tae birth new life. Especially wit all these hungry night beasts runnin' around.”

“Your night beasts,” the she-devil reminded sternly.

Alma waved her hand dismissively. “They serve me, but Ah have no control over their appetites!” She leered down at Oona’s gravid stomach. “That’s why A’ve decided tae send her away sae that she may comfortably deliver her child… in Canterlot~!”

“No, ye can’t!” pleaded Oona, who continued to wrestle out of the thestral's grip.

“Cease your useless fusing,” hissed Esmeralda, irritated. "It hardly becomes you!"

“You should be grateful our mistress has shown you such mercy,” added Camellia cooly behind a porcelain mask, cheeks painted in bloody tears.

Bellatrix growled, her claws digging into her palms with how tightly she bawled her fists. Alma brushed her aside and once more extended her hand towards Brutus. “Mah sword, if ye’d please.”

But the minotaur magus hesitated, his narrow gaze studying the legendary vampiric artifact. It took his men a week’s exhibition just to locate it from the runic remains of a castle in Transylmaneia.

“Still don’t trust me e'en after we’ve exchanged loyalties? Honestly, Brutus, A'm hurt,” pouted Alma, who ran a hand over her cleavage.

“Just consider us cautious,” the sovereign witch explained with a titter, rubbing her husband’s shoulder. “That’s no ordinary blade we’re handing off. And we’ve only recently begun our little alliance.”

The bull-man nodded. “But I can’t argue that it’s not a fair trade for what we're getting in return.” With a deep exhale of breath, Grimmwald handed the blade over to Alma.

The Vice Lord practically salivated as she drew out her new possession. It was a kilij, the tip crooked to slice more effectively, and the hilt made from dark iron. The blade’s texture was so immensely crimson that it almost looked pitch black.

“Yeeeeeesss,” she murmured, gingerly tracing a finger over the incredibly sharp blade. “Magnificent! Just as th' text described~!” The auburn-haired vampiress showed off the weapon to Bellatrix, who bared her teeth at her ‘lover,’ barely able to restrain her hatred.

“This, mah dear, is th' Sanguine Blade,” Alma elaborated. “Legend has it, th' fabled vampire king, Vlad th' Impaler, forged this sword tae accomplish his tyranny. Outside his… usual method ov torture, he often soaked it in th' blood ov his enemies tae preserve its edge. An' now, it belongs tae me~!”

Her followers tittered, sharing in their mistress’s fiendish delight.

“What do you plan on using that sword for?” the succubus asked.

"Conquest, obviously," Alma snorted. “Ah lost mah whip durin' our battle, remember? An' th' Sanguine Blade is more than a worthy replacement.” Her attention turned back to Grimmwald and Tatyana. “By the way, why is this pregnant sow valuable tae ye? Sure, she’s a powerful shamaness, but there must be more tae it than that!”

“The dream faun is not our primary objective,” the minotaur explained. “While she will remain safe in our custody, it is the baby we are interested in.”

Oona eyes flared with anger. “Ye lay one finger on mah Abadonna, an' A’ll-!!”

“Quiet, wench!” Tatyana demanded, threatening to backhand the squirming caprine. Cackling, she added, “She’ll also make lovely bait to draw out Beatrix~!”

“She’ll beat you,” Bellatrix declared confidently. “My sister, all our friends! Omen will-”

Alma cut her off with a snicker. “Mmm, yes. About him…~”

As if on cue, the dining hall doors burst open, a wave of murky water flooding in. Riding it was an amorphous monster shaped like a horse, letting out a horrible whinny. Kelp and algae made up its mane, an eerie glow in his green eyes.

Oona cried when the kelpie vomited out Omen, his slumped body onto the floor. The shaken buck spat out seawater, coughing and wheezing, and his damp clothes clung to his drenched form.

As Omen lifted his head, a cutlass pressed underneath his jugulars as Douglas retook his less monstrous shape. He brushed his bleach blonde mane out his face, wearing a sinister smirk.

“Turns out, he ain’t so tough,” the water demon chortled, sneering down at the male cervine. “Can’t do yer spooky shite wit water chokin' yer lungs, huh, twat?” He gave Omen a hard kick to the back, forcing him under his boot.

Bellatrix’s heart skipped. “No..!”

“Do you really have to be so messy?” Camellia complained haughtily. “I’m fairly certain the Womb of Conception doesn’t appreciate the taste of salt and brine!”

“Not to mention the smell,” gagged Esmeralda, pinching her snout. “It’ll take days just to scrub away the stench!”

“Always gettin' carried away,” huffed Alma, shaking her head.

Douglas shrugged. “Buggar needed tae learn his place! Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard tae get under his skin. Took particular offense when Ah told him what A'd do tae his sheep an' her lovely lady friends..." He snickered in anticipation, leering at the distraught sheep woman. "Sae, what do ye plan fur th' baby?"

"Abadonna is the Child of Lightendark,” informed Grimmwald. “The moment she’s born, we will extract her latent powers.” He turned to Oona with a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry; we intend for her to survive the ordeal!”

"We're not monsters," assured Tatyana. "We just want our nation to prosper, and her magic will help secure Canterlot’s future. However…” her smile turned into a frown. “… I won’t offer the same mercy to that portal hopping bitch who humiliated me in front of my court!" She bristled at the memory, fist squeezed tensely. With a deep breath, she commanded, "Come! We’ve wasted too much time already!"

Alma nodded and addressed the eldritch beast within her castle. "Open the portal to Canterlot." A low rumble resonated through the walls before the creature obeyed the mistress it was fused to. The front doors opened to reveal the subspace between dimensions that hummed and blinked as the void cast an eerie shine.

"One step closer to our domination~!" murmured Esmeralda in triumph.

"The Order of Black Roses shall reign supreme," Camellia proclaimed at her partner's side. "No more men to decide our fates. We stand as the apex predators, under Countess Alma!”

The petite bat mare then told Oona, “Let’s go!”

“No! Ah won't let them take mah baby!!” She belted, yet she couldn’t pry away from their iron grip. “Omen! Bellatrix! Help me!!”

The moment the red-skinned demoness tried to move, Alma activated her Onoma to contort her body in a painful pose. Bellatrix yelled, trying in vain to resist the Baobhan Sith’s hemomancy. But because she ingested her lover's essence, she was entirely helpless.

“Don't make me eviscerate ye, love,” warned Alma through a spiteful hiss.

Likewise, Omen was incapacitated as Douglas yanked on his antler while strangling his neck with an arm. “Time tae say goodbye, mate,” the kelpie mockingly teased while the grey buck growled.

That’s when Demi-Trix flew out from her hiding spot, crying, “Let her go!” She threw firecrackers and smoke bombs to try and distract the thestral couple.

“Huh? How did she get out?!” coughed Camellia.

“Oh, someone’s going to pay,” snarled Esmeralda.

The tulpa was about to pull out her trusty rocket until she was zapped by Tatyana’s scepter. Squealing, she fluttered down right into the monarch’s hand, where she wriggled in her grasp.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, pest!” the sovereign witch glowered, pressing her thumb onto Demi-Trix’s head, threatening to pop it. She cast her glare at Alma, asking, “I trust you have no qualms about us taking her as well?”

The vampiress laughed. “Oh, none at all! By all means~.”

“Good. We’re off then!”

The canterlonian rulers resumed their approach towards the swirling nexus. Oona broke into sobs, unable to break free from her captors.

“Struggling won’t make a difference,” Grimmwald bluntly surmised. “In the end, our new rule will become absolute and-”

SHWANK!

The minotaur released a loud bellow as he suddenly collapsed to his knees. Alma gasped when an axe arced her, nearly grazing her face. Tatyana stared appalled, her husband’s horn severed from his scape while he held the bleeding wound.

“What the?!”

Camellia and Esmeralda reeled back with Lady Ewe, hissing in agony as the light from the portal seared their flesh. Only when the Baobhan Sith peered into the nexus did she understand what was going on.

“That’s not Canterlot,” she seethed, her eyes a lot with fury. “That’s..!”

“Home?” Oona wept, barely able to believe it herself.

Beyond the other side lay not the marble stone structures of the magical pony kingdom but a vast meadow on a cliffside, the tall grass glistening under the warm sun.

And waiting on the edge was the entire Jakobson clan, some heavily armored, bearing weapons at hand. Fauns. Satyrs. Minotaurs. Alpacas. Even the orc general, who had likely thrown the ax, stood among the island villagers. His rotund physique was adorned by a quilted battle toga, an iron pauldron resting over his shoulder. He bared his tusks, snout flared, and steely blue eyes. Bright orange bristled hair styled in a mohawk flowed in the breeze.

The boar man stood aside as a massive mountain of a ram marched towards the nexus. Four large horns curved from his head. A pelt made from moss and peat draped over his back. An iron pauldron also guarded his left shoulder, while a cloth sash decorated in nomadic plate held his kilt around his stout frame. Blue beads were wrapped around the ram’s left arm, while his right hand held a branch-sized staff with runic markings.

Tufts of grey hair flared from atop his head. Covering half his face was a rug of facial hair, braided with silk string and stone pendants. The old caprine wore a stern look on his aged face, thick brows furrowed above small cherry red eyes.

Brutus slightly cowered under the massive ram’s glare, calling his moniker with a shaky breath. “T-the shaman king!”

“Papa!” cried the azure sheep.

Haden cast his steely gaze to the thestral couple, who hissed and bared their fangs at him. “Take yer claws off mah daughter,” he demanded in a low, gravelly baritone.

“We don’t answer to you, filthy man thing!” Camellia spat; her nostrils flared.

“That wasn’t a request,” the chieftain rebutted, charging forward, his clan rallying behind.

“You come no further!” Tatyana snarled, casting a spell to blast the old fool. But with a flash of his Onoma, Haden summoned an iron forged shield that could easily be mistaken for a door. Its surface depicted a boar’s head, in homage to the orc general chugging alongside him.

Esmeralda fired rounds from her silver pistol, which only grazed the obsidian metal shield. “Shit! Fall back!” She and Camellia yanked Oona away from the entrance, as did Tatyana with Grimmwald right as Haden and his people stormed through the castle.

“How did this happen!? Why did-?! Night creatures! Attack!!” Alma howled, calling all her hellhounds, bats, gargoyles, and marionette automatons to press back the invading forces.

Douglas tried to keep Omen apprehended, but the nightmare stag sank his teeth into his arm, forcing the yowling Vice Lord to break his hold. Weakly, the cervine scurried away from the chaos.

“Don’t just lay there, ye idiot,” berated the Baobhan Sith. “Kill them!”

With a grunt, the water horse took his monstrous form and dove into the fray. Alma then pushed Bellatrix up the stairs. “Stay in mah chambers until it’s safe! Don't even think about leavin'!”

The she-devil only glared in response before rushing down the corridor. With the Sanguine Blade in hand, the Baobhan Sith lept into battle, preparing to paint the castle walls in blood.

“Hurrah! The cavalry’s here!” cheered Demi-Trix, who took a play out of Omen’s book and bit Tatyana’s hand, the monarch yowling before releasing the pixie-like mare. Livid, she blasted a storm of spells to distance herself and her husband from the battalion.

“Horns first, men,” the pig-faced general called once he retrieved his ax. “Let these undead wretches taste steel!”

“No!” said Haden. “Oona’s safety comes first!” Disenchanting his shield, the old ram summoned a sturdy war hammer carved of stone. A weapon made in honor of the bear mystic, Storbjorn. He swung his way through the nocturnal hoard, bashing away hellhounds and decimating porcelain servants.

A dying cry drew Haden’s attention to the vampiric Vice Lord, who sliced through a caprine warrior like he was wet paper. Her sword drank the fresh blood, scarlet energy wisping off the blackened steel. She eyed the chieftain with malicious intent before dashing through several armed men. Their blood splattered her emerald gown, staining her twisted face.

Alma succeeded in provoking the shaman king, who summoned his own great sword made of true cryolite crystal, harnessed from the northern tundra home to the deighdyr. The two leaders met head-on, bloodthirsty metal clanging against frostbitten steel.

The vampiric couple keeping the azure sheep hostage snuck away into another room. “Fuck, how did things get so bad?!” Esmeralda groaned, her hand muffling Oona’s snout so she couldn’t shout for more help.

“Stupid men and their garlic-laced weapons,” sneered Camellia, veins bulging. “Alma’s blood may have increased our power, but it also made us vulnerable!”

Since she and Esmeralda were turned into vampires by their former sire's alchemy, they'd once been immune to many common vampire weaknesses...but this case was no more with Alma's rich blood flowing through their circulatory system. At least they could recuperate in this dimly lit room, which looked like the wine cellar upon further analysis.

Camellia pierced through the darkness with her night vision, only to see someone walking toward them. “Don’t think you’re fooling anyone, Omen,” the voluptuous bat mare scoffed. “I can tell it’s you.”

The figure did not respond, continuing his approach.

Having enough of this nonsense, Esmeralda brandished a silver dagger from her skirt and held it over Oona’s round tummy, finally getting her to stop squirming. “I suggest you cease this silly charade before I give this sow an early abortion,” she threatened coyly. “And maybe if you behave, you’ll live long enough to be our pet~!”

“You dare speak to me in that tone, girl?” A cold voice reverberated, the familiarity cutting through Camellia's core like a cold knife. Her crimson eyes displayed behind her mask as the silhouette took on a finely dressed man in a cowl, red eyes mirroring her own.

“N-no… no, that’s not possible!” She whimpered, unending shivers crawling up her spine. “Y-you’re dead! We killed you!!”

Thin lips curled into a cruel smile, his sharp fangs bared. “Did you really think I would perish by the hands of such ungrateful sluts? How inappropriate..!”

“S-stay back,” she warned, extending her claws. “Get away from me, you accursed man!!”

“No Camellia! I-It’s just a trick, don’t listen to him!” Insisted Esmeralda, who was trying to look past the approximation of their old master for the nightmare stag.

“B-but we’re both awake,” countered the slender vampire. “And yet I can see him, hear him!”

“Oh, this is no dream, my dear,” the male vampire affirmed. “When we return to the castle, you'll be properly punished until you’ve both learned respect. I’ll teach you what happens when you disobey your master!”

“No…” Camellia uttered, eyes drawn to his raised hand. The hand that had harmed her for thousands of years. “Not now! Not then!! And not ever AGAIN!!!”

The masked thestral lunged at him with shrieking fury, failing to hear her partner’s protests as she slashed widely. The apparition of her master stretched his jaw unnaturally wide, vomiting out erecting antlers that stabbed into her flesh.

“Camellia!!” cried Esmeralda, watching in horror as the elk-shaped monster emerged out of his disguise like a snake shedding skin. Dead blood drained down his black antlers before flinging the vampiress into the racks of wine, which collapsed and poured over her with broken glass and alcohol.

Enraged, the petite bat mare shouted, “You BASTARD!!” and took aim to stab Oona’s stomach. But almost instantly, Omen blinked right in front of Esmeralda and locked his bony maw around her forearm. Esmeralda screamed in anguish, her arm twisted awkwardly.

With her captor distracted, Oona finally pulled away and landed on her bottom, watching Omen lift the flailing vampire before tossing her into her partner, swallowing a good chunk ripped from her arm.

The nightmare stag gazed down, his form shifting out from dark particles of dust as he knelt down to her side. He used a sleeve to wipe the blood dripping down his chin.

“Are you alright,” asked Omen, his maroon eyes looking for anything broken, brushing his hand through her cloud-like fleece.

“Physically, A’m unharmed,” she assured, her voice shaky and face dry from constant tears. Petting over her gravid belly, Oona asked him, “How did mah father get here?”

“I suspect your old mentor might have tracked you down,” Omen considered, huffing. “Thank goodness for that.” With a groan, the grey deer scooped up the azure sheep into his arms bridal style. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“B-but wait,” she said, looking back at the thestral couple. “Ah sensed no sleep magic involved wit that. How did ye-?”

“Shhhhhh,” he gently hushed, smiling. “Now’s not the time. Rest, little lamb. You’ll be home soon. I promise.”

Placing a kiss on her snout, Omen cast a subtle hypnosis spell to help put the dream shamaness at ease. Her eyes fluttered closed as she listened to the metronomic ticking of a disembodied clock.

Kicking the door open, the nightmare stag found the battle in the Jakobson clan’s favor. The dismantled automatons and wounded night beasts dropped to the floor. Despite possessing a shapeless form, Douglas couldn’t overcome the hog-faced general, who swung at every watery limb the kelpie had.

Brutus could only conjure a barrier to seal him and Tatyana from the other warriors surrounding them. Even Demi-Trix and her plush army got into the action. Though there were some casualties as hellhounds pounced onto the dolls, tearing them apart with their jaws. Outraged, the tulpa launched a storm of rockets and fireworks to scurry the whining canines.

The only one who was struggling was the chieftain himself. Despite Haden’s immense strength and bulk, his movements proved sluggish against the more agile Alma. The old warrior grunted each time she landed clean cuts across his arms and chest.

The Baobhan Sith swept under to slice open his ankle, forcing the mighty ram to one knee. Haden’s claymore dispelled as he raised his head, seething at the vampiress smiling down at him, poised to decapitate him…

Until Bellatrix leaped down from the second floor, slashing across Alma’s back with extended claws. The Vice Lord screamed in alarm, arching her head back to snarl at the red-skinned she-devil, shock and anger in her scarlet eyes.

“Y-you..!!” But Alma didn’t have time to retaliate when Haden conjured his wooden shaft. He stamped it into the floor with a bellowing cry, summoning vines and plants to entangle the auburn-haired temptress.

She yelled as the botanic magic rooted her to the ceiling, immobilizing her. The battle ended with clan Jakobson triumphant.

Haden exhaled deeply, using his staff to support his weight so as not to apply more pressure on his injured leg. He briefly glanced at the forestry he summoned, doubtful his late wife would approve of this. But he concluded it was necessary to ensure their daughter’s safety.

The elder ram turned to Omen, who approached him with the sleeping ewe in hand. Initially, Haden glared skeptically at the infamous nightmare stag. But his expression softened when he handed over Oona. A rare look of relief washed over him, hugging his slumbering daughter into his chest.

“Make haste, mah lord,” Videlma’s voice echoed outside. “We can’t keep th' portal open fur much longer!”

With a nod, Haden told his people, “Everyone fall back!”

“We’re takin' our leave,” his orc general relayed. “Quickly now!”

All at once, the many warriors of Parras fled through the closing rift. Bellatrix and Omen tailed behind until water enveloped their bodies.

“Oh, no, ye don’t!” Douglas scowled, using what remained of his Onoma to ensure they couldn’t evacuate the castle.

Demi-Trix gasped. “Bellatrix, hang on!”

“No, go!” The she-devil urged. “Get out while you still can!”

"B-but-"

“It’s okay,” insisted Bellatrix with a bittersweet smile. “I deserve this…”

The pixie-like mare fluttered back and forth before begrudgingly fluttering off through the portal.

"You will rue the day you crossed me, shaman king!” Tatyana angrily spat, clutching her injured husband to her chest. “Once we’ve returned to Canterlot, we will storm your island and hunt down every last one of you! Consider this act a declaration of war!"

As he stepped through the rift, Haden stared back at the sovereign witch and challenged her claim. “If th' forces ov Canterlot dare step foot on our beaches, we will meet them wit our horns sharpened, our weapons raised, an' our magic gathered. We are prepared fur battle. Are ye?”

Not bothering to wait for an answer, the mighty ram proceeded to walk home right as the portal finally closed. Agonized moans resonated from the eldritch beast, suffering the most from the sudden assault ravaging its insides. While Oona and Demi-Trix had successfully been rescued, dozens of fallen warriors had been slain beside the broken bodies of marionettes, gargoyles, and bats.

“That was not wise, Tatyana,” wheezed Grimmwald, sucking in air while he held a cloth over his head to stop the bleeding. “W-we don’t have enough-”

“Shut it, dear,” the towering monarch shushed, luminescent turquoise eyes shimmering brightly. “Will make those fauns and satyrs pay, one way or another! I refuse to be trifled with by any more peasants!”

“B-but the child-”

“-will be recovered in time," swore Alma. “We’ll bleed these vermin dry tae heal our wounds! Camellia! Esmeralda! Get me down from here!!”

The two vampires emerged from the wine cellar, the petite thestral clutching her bleeding arm. Her voluptuous lover looked far worse, with open wounds from where she was gored and her porcelain mask compromised with cracks. They set fire to the stock of vines at once until their mistress could free herself.

Alma landed gracefully on her cloven feet, winching from the claw mark on her back.

"I could use a drink," said Esmeralda, who rubbed her bloodied limb. "Are you-?"

"I'm fine, beloved," assured Camellia, sharing a kiss with her fellow thestral. "Sadly, the rancid stench of garlic still lingers. I worried that might have been our end."

"We've survived much worse," affirmed Esmeralda, who looked deathly at the grey buck squirming in Douglas’ liquid grasp. “The same won’t be said for you, stag!”

“Aye,” grumbled the kelpie, who leered down at Bellatrix. "Ah say we drown these sorry lot!"

“Ye will do no such thing unless Ah give th' word,” Alma snarled lividly, hot scarlet eyes fixed on the succubus. “Ah am master ov this castle, an' Ah will decide how these two treacherous swine shall suffer…”

The Baobhan Sith grabbed Bellatrix by the face, squeezing her cheeks harshly as she whispered, “… And Ah will see that ye suffer dearly fur yer transgression!”

Shoving her prisoner away, Alma resheathed her Sanguine blade, handing it to Camellia, and ordered, “Get them out ov mah sight an' clean up this mess!”

The kelpie dragged their captives away, and everyone else collected themselves while the auburn-haired vampiress climbed towards the left wing, where her room resided.

Alma didn’t know how Haden and his people were able to locate and breach her castle, but she swore to slaughter them all when the time came.

For now, her focus was on how best to torture Bellatrix, no matter how fondly the vice lord felt for she-devil…

Expectations

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Noble Savage marched up to the dry plains of the wilderness, where his traitorous prisoner baked under the sun, Natural Selection all but crucified. A brutal punishment reserved for the worst of the tribe. It had been years since he condemned anyone to such a barbaric fate since the tribal chief wished to leave the darker parts of their violent history behind.

He watched the proud, naked warrior intently as vultures circled overhead, ready to pick at flesh. But the moment they detected his foul stench, the large scavengers squawked in repulse and flew away. Bile black blood oozed from the wounds of the reanimated corpse. After the last droplet spilled, the pariah would finally expire.

The elderly zebra stallion glanced at the setting sun. A beautiful canvas of colors painted the sky. He imagined parts of it were blood red because, without bloodshed, his clan wouldn't have survived the wilds.

Natural Selection stirred, locking eyes with Noble Savage. The zebras continued to glare at each other until the hunter broke the silence. "So, you've come to mock me more? Perhaps another lecture on what I’ve lost?"

“Asili,” Noble sighed with a shake of his head. He stood fully naked, having participated in the tribe's ritual orgy, his half-erect cock still slick. "I hold no pity for the dead. Only those who have thrown away their honor out of avarice and-"

"Oh, would you spare me the sermon, old man? I'd rather rot in peace," he spat back. "If you want to talk about losing honor, you should look in a mirror! My crimes can hardly compare to the disrespect our ancestors must feel after you sold our rich tradition for the comforts of a civilization run by machines!"

“I seek the betterment of our tribe,” Noble rebutted. “To build a better future for our kin. You may not believe this, but I wish you were a part of it. You were supposed to be our greatest warrior, next in line to take my mantle! But now…” His glare softened, relishing the memories of their friendship and comradery before looking away. “…you’re only a husk of who you once were, Asili.”

The deathly hunter scoffed, hardening his gaze. “At least I stayed true to myself to the bitter end. Dead or alive, I would want no part of this sullied future. You’ve gone soft, Mshenzi! And you will bring further ruination should you continue to rule our tribe!”

“Then you hold no regrets for your decisions in life?” Their attention turned to Ebony Ivory, who voiced her question when she strolled to Noble’s side. Like him, she stood nude, caked in sweat after a recent romp with a few tribesmen. Natural Selection noted a few stray beads of semen that matted her fur.

“Good,” the female zebra said, holding nothing but contempt for her former mate. “I will not allow scoundrels and deserters to prosper under my reign!”

Natural returned the glare. "Ahh… it’s that time."

Ebony Ivory nodded, rubbing her midsection, which shimmered with a yonic sigil. "It is my responsibility as the next leader to sire strong warriors to succeed after me. Only the most worthy stud's seed will fertilize my womb at the time of my choosing." She shivered, feeling all the packed sperm swim inside her, unable to claim her ovaries until the spell allowed it. "Noble is the last one who hasn't taken me today."

The zebra stallion widened his eyes. “Wait! But then I-"

The tribe chief nodded once more. "Once we’ve bled you of all that tainted blood, you will die, and no part of you will live on. Nyeusi’s children will carry out the tribe's legacy. Consider this your true punishment, Asili.”

Ebony leaned into Noble's hungry kiss, her bare striped flesh pressed to him, one of his palms drifting down to squeeze one of her muscular asscheeks. He wrapped an arm around her neck to hold her close, then aimed his dark stallionhood at her winky, wet entrance. She moaned when he penetrated her.

Noble grunted with each hammering thrust. It was his opportunity, too. To see whether his seed would claim her.

"Damn you," snarled Natural, mocked by the act as his former ruler claimed his ex. "Bad enough, the both of you have betrayed our traditions in a foolish attempt to 'modernize'! Dependence on foreign technology will be the death of our tribe's identity! Mark my words, heretic! The spirits won't be pleased!"

"It's not to mock you," reminded Noble, who huffed as the zebra mare rocked her hips back into his brutish pummeling. "Simply to let 'natural selection' take its course..."

Ebony panted under him; her pierced breasts bounced under each push. She reached back to rub her leader's cheek, clenched around him between wanton moans. His lips caressed her shoulder, his other hand feeling her painted stomach.

Noble’s swollen orbs smacked into her clit. And, with one last ‘plap,’ he buried all his length inside, penetrating past her cervix. He hissed upon climax, firing hot white ropes directly into Ebony’s uterus. The younger huntress screamed out her own pleasure and soaked him. She looked to her belly, slightly rounded with how much of her tribe’s essence she had taken.

But the zebra mare knew she wasn’t done just yet, for she desired one more worthy stud to participate in this ritual…

Noble withdrew with a sated sigh, the last spurts of his cum splattering her buttocks. He'd packed her full, helped her stand with him, and landed a couple soft pats on her striped ass. "Go. Return to the tribe," he whispered. "Have fun while you still can. The seeds of our future are now buried within you."

"Yes," replied Ebony, aware such opportunities would be denied once she took the mantle of the tribe's head warrior. Significantly after her belly swelled with life. The rest of her lifespan would be dedicated to the clan's betterment. Stroking her leader’s cheek, she admitted, “I wish it had not come to this so soon..."

"As do I," Noble agreed, his mind distant. It wasn't like him to be consumed by indecision, but he wondered whether he'd made the best decision. And what had become of the zebra princesses? Had their father, Kifalme Moja, betrayed them to better his nation?

Ebony kissed him, took one last look at Natural Selection, and then headed home. Her hips and tail swayed on the way back to the settlement, hot seed left to leak from her well-used slit.

Wherever she turned, mares and stallions bred to the sounds of drums. The beats mixed with the slap of wet flesh and moans, the children and elderly sent away for the moment. Bone decorations tingled in the wind, suspended from simple yet sturdy huts.

However, they were contrasted by several machines, which included an automated well. They had helped feed their people and provided tools that made their clan less reliant on back-breaking work, not to mention less of their hunters were lost on the plains, thanks to advanced weaponry reserved for those Noble decided were suited to handle them. Best of all, their territories expanded much more rapidly than before since their numbers increased.

How could any of this be bad? No way would their proud people be absorbed into the Emperor’s Zebrican Empire! Surely, Natural Selection was just being stubborn, right?

Ebony cast her doubts towards the ground. While she despised what her ex had become, his concerns were also her own. The rise of technology came with the risk of losing their innate connection to nature. The proud huntress wouldn’t allow that to tarnish. Thus, her hasty decision to begin the fertility ritual early.

She exhaled her woes and approached her hut. The structure rocked, packed full with zebra stallions, who worked over a pair of familiar crystal mare twins from all directions. For half the day, the coral pink siblings had taken dick-after-dick to quench their thirst. The half-succubi stroked and sucked off thick, dark cocks, which repeatedly stretched and filled all their holes.

Spank marks lined their tits, thighs, and buttocks, slammed between the tribesmen, their squishy curves soaked and sticky with cum. "More," demanded Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse when darkened dicks exited their cum-filled mouths, a similar trail mixed with saliva tethered from their luscious lips. "Don’t go limp on us now! How do you keep your mares in line~?"

“G-Gaagh," cried one young warrior when they bit and scratched at them. "These bitches need to settle down!" He hooked the solitary horn of Foal-Bearer, her face drawn into his crotch as he skullfucked her, a blur of hips and muscles each time his stallionhood breached her entire throat.

He yelped as her sharp nails raked minor cuts across his chiseled buttocks. Digits coiled into the facefucked mare's soft pink bob cut as he attempted to choke her on his cock, his muscled hips a blur. "Grr, take it all, you slutty cunt!"

Her eyes glimmered in delight when she gargled his precum, the half-devils able to bring out the more animalistic side of anyone they mated with. Nor did they have to worry about a gag reflex anymore, their strength, stamina, and durability enhanced, able to take the roughest degrading treatment that the virile studs mercilessly dished out to sate their own base, violent passions.

Wet Nurse's lower holes gaped after a pair of stallionhoods barely separated by a thin layer of flesh between her asshole and cunt, exited in a geyser of splooge that cascaded from the wrecked, stretched orifices, so pleasantly sore the twins whorishly moaned from shared joy.

Her pussy winked rapidly, spraying a mixture of squirts and cum, quickly replaced by more zebras that hilted those unfilled canals simultaneously. She shrilly, sensuously shrieked, skewered.

"These harlots are equal parts sadistic and masochistic," yelled another as Wet Nurse wrapped her spaded tail around his testicles and squeezed while he pounded into her asshole. "F-fuck!" The pain spurred him to thrust harder.

"A shame Noble Savage outlawed some of the old ways when he claimed the tribe," said another, his mind on more rough times before he'd even been born. However, oral history made sure it was passed on. "I'd love to keep these two silly sluts as our personal breeding sows!"

Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse tittered around the dicks devilishly shoved down their mouths, rewarded due to their succubi nature with euphoric chemicals induced by the pain, humiliation, and domination inflicted on them returned with fervent, playful sadism as all their holes were stretched wide.

Their devilish eyes shimmered, and stomachs swelled out from a cocktail of mixed loads pumped into them by the train of studs that tried to ride them to exhaustion. Yet after a few rounds, many of the stallions tapped out, while the well-creamed sisters seemed no more sated than before.

Foal-Bearer spat out another spent shaft, and more black horsecocks slapped across her face, cheeks, and body. "C’mon! Scramble our eggs with your hot cream~!" Another zebra pushed her into a mating press, two massive cocks shoved into her slick velvet pussy at once by another impatient stud. Wet Nurse joined her chorus of moans, also double-stuffed to her core by more warriors inspired to swell their bloated bellies more.

Ebony observed for a moment to ensure the twins were safe, but her concern turned more to her tribe, unable to keep up with the half-succubi after they repeatedly screwed them. Driven by demonic instinct, the twins sought worthy studs to tame them. And as their disappointment grew, they turned that fury on the zebras to spur the warrior studs on.

Another cock exited Foal-Bearer's mouth and slapped her across the face, splattered in more spunk as a mouthful oozed from her lips in dollops to splatter on her heavy pastel pink titties. "Was that supposed to be your best," she taunted at the drained stud, rocked between two more entombed in her lower holes under and behind her. "A real stud is supposed to fuck his mares into submission~! So fuck me harder!"

Similarly, Wet Nurse used her one bat wing to draw in a tuckered-out zebra. "Come on," she hissed between sharp teeth as the sisters' intertwined female symbol cutie marks glowed. "Break us! Ravish us! Split us in half! Ruin our holes and fill our wombs, you pathetic whelps~!"

Their mouths were filled with fresh cocks; more spunk fired into them and rained over their skin.

Ebony had never seen this side of the usual kind and demure twins. No doubt an effect of their half-succubi nature and their inability to return to the mansion to recuperate. The huntress hoped that by letting every stallion here fucked them, the twins would finally quench their fire and return to normal, at least for a little while. But what if they wore out all her warriors first...?

Still, Ebony couldn’t deny that the scene was arousing, seeing Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse getting dog piled by virile black-and-white studs. Used solely as pleasure receptacles. Her hand traced her slick lips, cooing softly. When the zebra mare removed her fingers, she stared at the lubrication that webbed her digits. Aware she could do little to help the twins, she retreated from the hut and proceeded along her path.

Everywhere she looked, zebra stallions and mares indulged in their carnal lusts. A couple females, locked in a sweaty tryst, beckoned her over, but Ebony gently reclined to their visible disappointment. Fun as that would be, there was only one she needed to satisfy this peculiar itch.

The huntress also spotted Fleur de Lis among the rowdy groups, naked with all her orifices speared. Beatrix had helped Ebony save this beautiful mare from Natural Selection..and Fleur had become an honorary member of the tribe, offered permission by Fancy Pants to tour here and save herself, while he no doubt had his own fill of the classiest mares back in their country.

The snow-white mare winked, unable to wave back with her hands wrapped around cocks, more buried in her cunt, ass, and throat. Again, the temptation to spend some intimate time with the lovely, model-esque unicorn crept in. Instead, Ebony smiled, waved, and continued her search.

Arriving at the guest hut, Ebony expected the caprine warrior to have a bed full of zebra mares resting after hours of passionate rutting. But to her surprise, she found the ram using a stray branch to do pull-ups for each arm. His muscular body was swathed in sweat, but more likely due to how intensely he had been working out.

Realizing she was getting distracted, she called, "Dion?"

The Ram looked back and gave a strained smile. “Oh, hello there!” He greeted before letting go and landing on the ground with a thump.

Ebony bit her lip as he turned around, taking in the caprine’s barrel torso, sculpted abs, and large arms. Truly, a marvel of masculine beauty. With an awkward cough, the zebra mare said, “I’m surprised you’re not participating in our festivities!”

Dion chuckled. “Aye, normally A'd indulge. But Ah gotta keep on top ov myself fur what's ahead. Retake th' mansion, deal wit this Mortis, his followers, th' Vice Lords, an' anyone else bold enough tae attack mah family!” The burly ram huffed, taking a rag to wipe away the perspiration rolling across his bulk.

His statement earned a warm smile from the zebra huntress, confident in her decision. “I admire your tenacity. But you’re supposed to be relaxing,” reminded Ebony, motioning for him to sit on the bed. He did just that, watching curiously as she bent down to open a drawer, ogling her ample striped posterior. She even gave a tentative wiggle before pulling up with a bottle of body oil.

Ebony hopped onto the bed and knelt behind his back, rubbing the lotion into her palms before massaging the ram’s chiseled back and shoulders. Dion let out gruff groans whenever she loosened stuck knots in his tense muscles.

“Aww, that’s th' spot! Mmmmmm~!”

Ebony’s grin widened, applying the body oil with a stroking technique while purposefully pressing her ample breasts into his back. The caprine warrior quivered, feeling those pierced nipples poke into his hardened flesh.

“Heh. If Ah didn’t know any better, A’d say ye’re tryin' tae butter me up!”

The zebra mare playfully tittered, “Whatever would give you that idea~?”

“Well, Ah can think ov two hefty reasons. Either ye’ve come fur pleasure… or fur purpose.”

“It’s both,” she teased with a breathy whisper. “We are destined to become the future leaders of our respective tribes. I only see it fit that I pamper you for all your hard work~.”

“Nah, Ah get that enough wit th' twins alone,” the ram snickered before rolling his shoulders. With a pleasant sigh, he sat up and turned to face her. “We’ve both been workin' hard fur our right tae rule.”

Ebony’s face lit up, eyes shifting from his handsome mug and the stiff cock growing between his black wooly thighs. When Dion applied lotion to his palms, she nodded and laid flat on her stomach. It was the zebra’s turn to receive some thorough rubbing, cooing, and mewling once he layered her back and buns with the cool liquid until her body sheened under the orange-red glow outside. She continued to moan, head resting on folded arms.

“Sae,” Dion said, releasing a breath. "What are yer immediate plans?"

"I'm not sure," Ebony groaned softly. "Noble plans to modernize our tribe, for he believes our people will perish should we keep purely to our traditions. The world around us continues to ‘evolve’ while we remain tethered to the past."

"Aye, this place is a wee bit static,” concurred Dion, who ground his knuckles along the ridge of her spine. The huntress sang out as relief gave way from the loosened knots in her mid-back. “But ye shouldn't throw out th' old ways either. All this ‘advanced’ tech shite can’t compare tae th' thrill ov battle. Nor th' honor ov comin' home knowin' ye’ve protected yer kin.”

A sad smile crossed her, glancing up at him. "You almost sound like Natural Selection. Make of him what you will; he was an honorable warrior. Once…”

“A true warrior doesn’t weigh the value ov his own pride wit th' ones he loves,” rebutted Dion. “If ye ask me, ye deserve better. Someone ov heart, strength, an' spirit that compliments yer status!”

“… and what if I already found him~?”

The warrior ram paused his massage as his pale cheeks colored with red, much to the zebra huntress’ amusement. Giggling, she said, “Don’t act so surprised, Dion. I can feel how hard you are back there~!” She lifted her hips slightly to wobble her supple ass against his thick red rod, making him groan huskily. “Wet Nurse and Foal-Bearer also told me how you stood up to my former mate when he aimed his spear at me while unconscious. That scored you a couple of brownie points.”

“A-ahhh! Aww, c’mon, Ebony. Anyone would have done th' same,” the flustered ram stammered. “Now out wit it, lass! What’s this all about?”

The zebress laughed. “Okay, I’ll tell you… after I’ve gotten a taste of your cock~.”

Dion’s breathing became heavy, beyond compelled and aroused by the alluring huntress. He shuffled off the bed and went to her front, his member throbbing with anticipation. Smiling coyly, Ebony pressed her snout into the ram’s fat cum tanks, inhaling his intoxicating musk while dragging her tongue along the underbelly.

After a few delicate kisses and suckles, the zebra mare took half her lover’s cock into her maw and began bobbing along in a steady rhythm. All while making messy slurping noises and her best pair of ‘fuck me’ eyes.

“Aaah, f-fuck!” grunted Dion, eyes squeezed tight as he relished the way her mouth and tongue wrapped around his meaty shaft. His ecstasy heightened when the zebress swallowed him whole, snout kissing his scrotum.

“Mmmppphf! Gghhawck! Buuwagh~!!”

Ebony spat him out to take a massive gulp of air before gulping the ram’s wet dick back down her throat. Not to be outdone, Dion stuffed his fingers into his mouth and leaned over the lubed zebra mare, who kept her round rump hiked in the air.

The ram smacked her sweat-sheened buttocks, then rubbed his wet fingers into her equally dripping marehood, stroking her labia. The zebra mare’s moans were muffled by the sizeable pulsating dick lodged down her throat. Her own hands cupped and squeezed his hefty breeding bag, weighing them to estimate the volume of foal batter Dion would give her.

Upon feeling her lover’s shaft twitch inside her mouth, Ebony pulled off Dion’s freshly slobbered knob, tongue lapping up the tasty, salty pre leaking out the tip.

“Awfurfuxake, Ah was close,” he whined, his orgasm slowly subsiding.

Ebony tittered, giving each swollen orb an apologetic kiss while slowly pumping his spit-covered cock. “But I have a better place for you to plant all that delicious seed~.”

Dion cocked an eyebrow as his zebra lover shuffled onto her back, parting her legs and running a hand down the slope of her breasts to her rune-embedded navel.

“You might have noticed this when I walked in,” she elaborated through heavy pants. “I’m currently undergoing a ritual of fertility. For it to complete, my womb must be claimed by a worthy suitor. I’ve taken every male in my tribe… but there’s one more warrior I want to impregnate me~.”

The ram hitched his breath, and his crimson eyes widened. “A-are ye sure? Won’t yer tribe be furious if we-“

“They can take it up with me if they can’t stomach that a lone ram was victorious in concurring my womb,” assured Ebony, her pussy inflamed and winking at the mere thought of her chosen champion accomplishing such a feat. And Dion definitely liked his chances.

The sturdy ram crawled back onto the bed, gazing lovingly down at the beautiful huntress, who offered him her aching hole.

“Ah guess, in a way, this union will strengthen both our clans?” Dion pondered once he climbed atop Ebony, his hot red rod bumping against her juicy marehood.

“Mmmnh~! That too,” she cooed, wiggling down to push his cock into her entrance. “But this is mostly for me. I love my tribe, but I don’t want some random stallion’s cum. I need a true warrior to fertilize my womb. My heart isn't so easily swooned. Not after Natural’s betrayal…”

“Aye, ye’ve got that right,” Dion whispered huskily, taking hold of his shaft to fully sheathe the female warrior, who exhaled in bliss when he sank cervix-deep. “Yer not a prize tae be won, Nyeusi. An' Ah ain’t beddin' no broodmare. Ye will have all th' love Ah can give as a warrior… an' a man.”

Tears rained down the happy huntress’s face, unable to contain her joy as she pulled the ram's face into a kiss. She replied, “So passionate, feverous, and kind..." upon parting lips. "This is why I’ve chosen you. Now… mate with me~!”

Completely enraptured, the virile ram wasted no time getting into sweet baby-making with the proud huntress. His mouth covered her moans, her hands running over his head and shoulder. Ebony could feel those oversized balls ‘plap’ into her ass with each deep thrust, churning with a fresh batch of cum to mix with the rest of the masculine concoction stored deep within her.

But unlike her tribesmen, Dion took ample time in making sure Ebony felt every inch of his thick shaft reshape her love tunnel, trying to make her his woman. An action she would so happily grant should the caprine succeed in fathering her children.

Dion slid his hands down to secure the zebra mare’s hips. Slightly lifting her by the waist, he suddenly changed pace, hammering her with short, quick, bursts that made the bed shake. Ebony arched her back and screamed in delight, her tits wobbling and legs locked in place.

“Yeeeeessss~! Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Beat that pussy into submission~!!”

“Yeah? Whose pussy is this!?” the caprine gruffly said. “C’mon, tell me~!”

“Y-yours,” she wheezed out, eyes half glazed and tongue hanging out her mouth. “A-all of me is yours~!!”

Without skipping a beat, Dion pulled Ebony up to straddle his lap. She bounced atop his muscular hips, which humped to meet her while his hands kneaded and squeezed her jiggling buttocks.

They sloppily locked lips once more as their lovemaking turned into raw, frenzied rutting. Her cunt clenched around him while she rode with wild abandon, trying to milk all the virile cum stored in his fat balls.

On Dion’s part, a certain concern prodded at the back of his mind. Sure, Amarinth and Amethyst gave him permission to freely fuck as many mares as he desired, but would they accept it were he to father another's child?

They had sworn complete loyalty and submission to him. To the point, it sometimes made the caprine warrior uncomfortable. Yet the crystal twins always assured him it was what they wanted, content simply to be by his side.

No matter how often Dion told them not to call him 'master,' they sank back into old habits. Their eagerness to serve disturbed him, despite how much he loved them. Their recent change in behavior as half-succubi only added more concern for their well-being.

Nonetheless, he vowed to give them a life outside servitude. And if it meant breeding them with twice the amount of babies he was about to give Ebony, then Dion would gladly take responsibility. Always did fancy himself a big family man!

Thus, his attention returned to the mewling zebress, who lifted one of his palms to her bouncing breasts. Fixated, the ram groped and squeezed her mammaries together, tucking his head to suckle her wide, pierced nipples.

“A-aaahh~! Yes! That’s it, pull them!” she commanded. With a muffled groan, he obeyed, tugging her tits to distend her nubs. “Fuck! Breed me! Fill me up! Give me your cum~!!“

Ebony slammed down with such force Dion pierced past her cervix, battering the back of her slippery cum-filled womb. She squealed, milked his massive cock, and squirted over his lap while he reeled back and howled, “Fuck!”

Finally, his muscles went taut, and he fired load-after-load into her fertile core. Ebony’s shuddered and cried happily, feeling her caprine lover pump her entire uterus full. Her stomach slightly inflated more, making her look pregnant already.

Dion collapsed on his back, sweating more than he had worked out. Likewise, Ebony laid her exhausted body into his, curling in his strong arms. She listened to his steady heartbeat, a contented smile plastered on her snout.

It would only be a matter of time until Ebony undid the spell and allowed all the packed virile cum to try and inseminate her eggs. But of all the worthy males the huntress slept with, she had the utmost confidence the caprine warrior was her mate to be. And she prayed his seed would claim her fertile womb, against all odds.

The melody of a harp made Oona's ears flick when she stirred from her slumber. Once her eyes fluttered open, the azure sheep found herself back in her old bedroom, safe and sound. She half expected this to be a dream, that the entire rescue was just some vivid fantasy to cope with being Alma’s prisoner.

“Rise an' shine, mah beloved student~,” sang a motherly voice. Oona gasped, her eyes falling on the owner, who had been providing the harmonious ambiance. Plucking the strings of her harp was the Dream Weaver, Minerva. Her silky white hair braid fell behind her back, robes coiling around her thin frame. Her lower body is that of a spider, her front pair of legs aiding in playing her instrument.

Her large unblinking, sapphire blue eyes stared back at the caprine shamaness, a thin smile stretching her face.

“Minerva!” cried the shamaness, throwing off the blankets to waddle up and embrace her old mentor. An airy titter arose from the drider, who placed down her massive harp to return her student’s hug.

“It’s good tae see ye again, Oona,” she whispered softly, patting her shoulder.

“A’d thought A’d never be able tae,” sniffled the pregnant sheep woman, pulling away to get a good look at Minerva. She noticed many wrinkles and spots on her gray skin and dullness in her eight eyes, hinting at blindness.

“Sweet lucid dreams, ye’ve gotten sae old…” she murmured sadly.

“Pft! An' ye’ve gotten sae round,” the drider teased back, dismissing her comment while trailing her hand over Oona’s belly. “Sae warm an' full ov life. Yae could pop at any minute!”

The caprine’s cheeks colored, a twinge of guilt weighing down her heart. “Aye… a-about that-“

“A’m well aware ov who this child is… an' who fathered her,” said Minerva, her kindly smile disappearing. “Ah had hoped ye would have heeded mah warnings about th' Nightmare Stag. He was not tae be trusted!”

Lady Ewe’s ears drooped, pursing her lips. “F-forgive me, Tidsear. Ah didn't mean tae disrespect yer wishes. But Omen is not what he seems! He’s-”

“Yes, Ah know,” Minerva acknowledged. “It was he who alerted me wit one ov his prolific nightmares. Ah traced it back tae that abomination an' gave yer father th' means tae open a portal. It was hazardous, given th' state ov th' universe, thanks tae yer lover.”

“Y-ye know about that too..?”

The dream weaver nodded, her frown deepening. “Ye should have known better than tae meddle wit th' timeline. Enock has yet tae be reborn an' stabilize things! Ye both nearly brought about th' End ov Days by releasin' that infernal Burnin' King!”

“But we won!” countered the dream faun. “We fought against his forces, an' Beatrix tore him asunder wit a black hole! Ah wasn’t about tae lose Abadonna! I-“

Her argument was cut short by a sharp pain in her stomach, forcing Lady Ewe to kneel down and clutch her gravid tummy. Still, she gazed up tearfully at her mentor with steely determination. “We will amend th' chaos we’ve brought, Minerva. But right now, Ah need a moment tae breathe. At any point, Ah could have lost mah child… mah friends..!”

It pained Oona to know that Omen and Bellatrix couldn’t escape with her...but she reminded herself she was in no condition to help them.

Minerva’s scowl faded, realizing putting further stress and woes was not suitable for the unborn child within her womb. With a sigh, she relented, “Ye’re right, mah dear. A'm sorry. We can discuss this at a better time. Right now, let’s get ye cleaned up an' in some nicer threads.”

The elderly spider woman offered a hand, which Oona accepted to lift herself. Minerva guided her to a bath, stripping off the azure sheep’s tattered robes and gently washing away the filth and gory stench.

Lady Ewe mewled as her strain melted away in the heated water, her wooly white hair draped down her face while her mentor washed and rinsed her. Once she was thoroughly clean and dry, the dream weaver handed her a bright pink maternity gown to wear. Translucent fabric sleeves draped down her shoulders, her bountiful bosom comfortably contained while showing plenty of cleavage. The long skirt hung over her balloon-shaped belly. Finally, to complete her appearance, Minerva crowned her head with a wreath of daylilies.

“Beautiful,” the spider woman complimented. “Ye could easily pass as a fertility goddess~!”

Oona sheepishly laughed while admiring her reflection. If anything, she was almost a spitting image of her mother, looking at an old photograph. In it, Lord Haden and his pregnant wife hugged each other while she held a wee baby Dion close to her breasts. Seeing it again made the dream faun smile fondly. Oh, how she wished her brother and her lover were here…

“Ready tae go?” asked Minerva.

"Aye,” Oona nodded, hooking their arms together and stepping out of her cozy little cottage.

It felt like years had passed since Lady Ewe stood in the earthly landscapes of her homeland. The Isles of Parras remained lush with nature and magic, where the unity of factions resided. Dew speckled the floral and grass. A cool mist rolled around her hooves as they crunched the verdant soil. She could see the vast mountains that overlooked the sea under a clear blue sky.

And before the pair of dream mages stood the village settlement filled by the united factions of the Jakobson Clan. Rams, Ewes, Satyrs, Minotaurs, Halstaurs, Orcs, and Alpacas walked, worked, and lived among each other. Younglings played with crafted toys and silly games. The elderly ate at open tables, reminiscing of the golden years.

Upon seeing Oona, many gathered to welcome her home from every direction when making her way in. Their eyes fell in wonder on her swollen stomach.

“Mah mah, ye’ve gotten sae big!”

“When will ye be expectin'?”

“Who's th' lucky stud~?”

“Ah hope Lord Haden approves ov this…”

“Give her some space, ye buzzards,” Minerva firmly stated, swatting away a few nosy folks. “Ye’re overwhelmin' her!”

Lady Ewe tittered, replying to a few comments as they continued on their way. She thought of Dion and hoped the zebra lands matched such pristine beauty. She’d inform him about her safety the next time she took a nap. And Beatrix, if Omen wasn’t able to…

From above, the collection of islands resembled a caprine shape. The main village lay under a cliff that used to be a site for mining before it had been renovated to better sustain the inhabitants. Maybe here, she could start to heal and put all that wickedness behind her.

“Oona is that you!?”

The dream shamaness paused, recognizing that valley girl-esque voice as a female llama and two highland bull men approached. One minotaur was bright orange, the other a matted black. Both had a head of hair hooded over their eyes and a kelt covering their sculpted waists.

The alpaca wore a lavender poncho that contracted her bright blonde wool. Gold rings were fastened through the drapes, which jiggled with each sway of her slender, yet curvy figure. A long neck protruded out the hood, her bouncy mane covering one side of her face. Magenta eyes found honey brown, and her smile brightened, pulling the azure sheep into a tight hug.

“Aoife!” She squeaked, patting her shoulder.

“Oh, em gee! It’s been, like, forever!” The blonde llama stated, releasing her hold. “And look at you, filling out my dress so nicely!”

“Ye made this?”

“Duh! I’m, like, the head seamstress of the islands now!” Aoife flipped her long stylish mane while boasting a smug smile. “All the best fabrics and materials come to my shop. And business has kept me, like, pretty rich~!” She held a hand to highlight the expensively looking earrings that weighed down her ears.

“Ohh, how lovely! A’m happy tae hear ye’ve put yer sense ov fashion tae good use,” Oona tittered. At a young age, Aoife would regularly bully her for being plump. But the blonde alpaca mellowed out over the years and grew into a lavish lady with a vision for clothing. While not close friends, they were on excellent terms.

Lady Ewe gave a friendly wave to the towering minotaurs, who gave a quiet nod and left to continue their work.

“I also sprinkled a few suggestions to the orcs when it came to assembling our armor,” proclaimed the seamstress.

“Aye, that ye did,” came the voice of the boar commander, stomping his way with a piglet in his arm. “A wee bit girly fur mah taste, but marvelous work, lassie.

“Seamus!”

"Ahh, theres th' woman ov th' hour!” the pig man greeted, wrapping an arm around the gravid faun. “Got one cookin' in the oven, do Ye? Portia an' Ah just had our fifth. Say hello, Tomas.”

The baby orc squealed in response, making Oona giggle.

“Awww, such a cutie~!”

Seamus snorted. “Peh! He may be cute now, but he’ll grow tae be big an' burly, just like his old man!”

“Hopefully not too big an' ‘burly,’” Minerva teased, poking the pig man in his rotund gut.

Another pair of familiar faces walked towards Oona, who let out a delighted squee. “Trom! Suela!”

“Bless th' Sea Mither, ye're safe,” the plum-colored walrus captain exclaimed, lightly squeezing the dream faun. His selkie wife did the same, nuzzling her face. “We heard what happened! Ye must be traumatized!”

“A-A’m fine now,” assured the shamaness. “But th' other Mystics…”

"We held a funeral fur Storbjorn an' Gaoth,” Suela sadly stated. “Oh, it was such a splendor! Races from all over th' Lost World came tae attend it!"

“Save th' Deighdyr, understandably,” said Seamus. “Though Teran sent his condolences.”

"No doubt their sacrifice helped save th' multiverse," added Trom, a pipe in his mouth.

Oona solemnly nodded. "Ah wish Ah could have been there…”

“Don’t feel too hung up about it,” insisted Aoife. “New guardians of earth and air will rise to restore balance.” Turning to the sea mystics, the alpaca asked. “So, like, any potential candidates?”

“Nothing concernin' an earth guardian yet,” replied the selkie. “But Fidelma believes Saoirse would make a worthy replacement!”

“Th' golden harpy!?” The boarman harshly whispered, not wanting to wake his sleeping baby. “Th' old goat’s mind went out th' windae if she thinks that murderous raptor will agree tae become a guardian!”

“She’s not murderous, Seamus,” corrected Oona. “She’s just... reclusive an' doesn’t like people. But she’s an impeccable fighter. A’d say it’s worth a shot!”

“Mmm. Best hope she does come through, lad,” Trom concurred, puffing smoke. “A storm’s pickin' up, an' these islands will not know peace forever.”

Oona scrunched her snout. Had their victory risked the doom of every universe? Beatrix had rebooted it with the Prima Materia...but from what she heard from their allies, many universes were disastrously unstable. Not to mention Tatyana’s declaration of war. The vice lords would back her up if the Sovereign Witch came with a battalion of unicorn soldiers.

"There was one strange thing about Storbjorn an' Gaoth, though," said Trom, stroking his mustache. "It feels as if their souls remained tethered tae this here plain. Not like bitter revenants, but rather trapped out ov th' ether?"

"Some sort ov purgatory, we believe," added Suela, mouth curled in a frown.

"Oh no!" Could it be due to the influence of Mortis? Would Shadow Scythe be able to find their lost souls one day and send them to the aether like they deserved...?

“We can discuss this all later,” Minerva surmised. “It won’t be long until Oona goes into labor. An' all this talk ov war an' death is not helpin'!”

“Sorry…” they all said, heads hung low.

“Come, Oona. Yer father is waitin' fur you,” the drider urged, pulling her along towards the cliffside.

Reluctantly, the dream shamaness waved to her friends, thankful for their help. Without the aid of the Mystic Guardians, they could have died to the Burning King and his Vice Lords....or at the least, Beatrix and many of her friends may have sacrificed their lives to eke out a victory.

"Speakin' ov funerals..." Oona paused, relieved to see Demi-Trix was here. However, one of her plushies hadn't been so lucky. Shining (K)night was laid out on a small wooden boat, ready to be sent into the sea by Cherry Poptart, who mutedly sobbed, surrounded by pink cartoon hearts that were broken in half. She was stitched up all over, and the petite dancer plushie was also severely torn up in the middle of the battle by rabid hellhounds.

Lastly came Shade Sickle, her own stitched-up face half hidden by her hood. Cherry summoned a tiny bow and started to light the tip...before Shade planted a felt paw on her shoulder and shook her head. Oona and Demi-Trix watched, fascinated as the plush necromancer did her work. Her horn lit, cartoon skulls surrounded her, and wisps of darkness infused the boy plushie.

Shining (K)night's emerald eyes popped open, and the 'undead' plushie rose. A silent squeal burst from Cherry, who threw her tiny arms around him and Shade, her hearts restored.

"Woohoo," wheezed Demi-Trix as the butterfly-winged demi wiped her forehead. "Come here, you rascals!" She knelt and pulled the plushies that floated over her into her slender arms.

Oona shook her head with bemusement, thankful for some more happy news. Her homeland hadn't changed much. From what she recalled, the inhabitants still loved their fighting, drinking, lovemaking, and work. A place she knew Beatrix would love if she ever decided to settle down…

Of course, everyone had their fair share of work, but besides friendly skirmishes to test one's mettle, it was utterly peaceful here.

On the cliff's edge stood her father, looking out to sea. Minerva helped Oona move closer before skittering back, letting the two caprines have their moment.

Cautiously approaching the mountainous four-horned ram, Oona gently called out, “Athair.”

Lord Haden turned his head, his warm cherry red eyes betraying his stoic mask. “Nighean.”

The two stared longingly at each other as a faint wind brushed through their clothing. The azure sheep gave him a warm smile and started tittering. Then the old ram dropped his stern expression completely, chuckling.

What started as low giggles became full-hearted laughter as the shaman king lumbered towards his daughter and wrapped his muscular arms around her.

Joyous tears filled Oona’s eyes, burying her face into his shoulder. He'd risked so much, simply to take her back home. She had been away for years, barely believing she'd escaped the horrors of the mansion. And even though calamity continued to grow rampantly, her heart swelled with renewed hope in his warm embrace.

“At last, mah precious dream,” whispered Haden. “Ye've come home!”

Shadow Scythe stared at the endless squall cloaking the skies, thunder rolling with brief flashes of cerulean lightning. She and the others took shelter in what remained of the monastery ruins, one hallway and room left intact.

The reaper cast an icy gaze over all the demi-humans reduced to imps and cherubs to conserve power. An enchanted chain ensnared Arron and Seb to a stone buttress, Wispy informing the reaper of how dangerous they were. Zeloph was resting nearby, with Julianna doing routine checkups. The little nun hadn’t spoken or smiled since her fight with Moxxi, who was sulking on a broken ledge by a window.

Shadow Scythe pursed her lips, aware of their bitterness and that they needed a proper discussion. But before she could make her approach, Wispy came in and said, “She’s waking up!”

With a nod, the reaper mare followed her into a room where Eclipsed Heart was stirring on the bed. On a chair beside the frame, the raccoon dog girl that appeared out of nowhere was shivering, wearing a constant frightened expression.

“A-aniki…” she kept sniveling.

“H-hey hey!” The nekomata called, bending down to her level. “Take it easy there, kiddo. You’re safe here! Promise!”

The tanuki lifted her head before giving short nods, rubbing her sniffling snoot.

“Yeah, I’m not exactly good with kids…” Exhaling, Wispy then muttered, “Wish I could say the same about my sister! What ever happened to her?”

“She's likely where the little one was before the storm hit,” theorized Shadow Scythe, who frowned deeply. “My world has fluctuated so much, it’s beginning to merge with other universes. And in the crossfade, Kitsune and this creature were swapped.” Her glare fell to the floor. “I’m starting to doubt Belladonna can even fix this now…”

“Mmmah… Bella..? Beatrix?” Eclipsed rose, stretching her limbs, and took her surroundings with tired eyes. “Where am I..?”

“Princess Butterbuns!” cried the cat woman, throwing herself into a tight hug.

“W-Wispy!” She wheezed. “I’m happy to see you too, but you’re crushing me!”

Wispy grinned apologetically before releasing her hold. Once she could breathe, the pop star looked to the pale unicorn mare, who awkwardly greeted, “H-hi…”

Eclipsed beamed slightly, and replied, “Hi there! You must be one of Beatrix’s friends, right?”

“We’re… acquainted,” huffed the reaper, not yet willing to admit she considers that bimbo her friend. “I’m Shado…” she briefly paused to reconsider her words before trying again. “… Atalanta. I’m Atalanta.”

“Eclipsed Heart! Nice to meet-” She gasped as realization dawned on her. “Wait! Where’s Zell!? What happened to?!”

As Eclipse sprung out of bed, she got a good glimpse of herself. Her skin had become charcoal fur, and her feet were now tipped by hooves. The diva touched her face to feel her snout.

“W-whooa! When did I become a mare?!” She exclaimed, twirling around to look at her tail.

“Reality here is warped,” acknowledged Shadow Scythe. “All beings are anthropomorphized into equines or other races, though strangely, this doesn’t seem to affect the demi-humans.”

She pointed Eclipse towards the statue, sheltering Zell, Seb, and Arron. Julianne momentarily stopped to glance at the other pink-haired singer before proceeding to aid the nuns who had survived her exalted state. Moxxi continued to ignore everyone, deep in her own self-loathing.

“Wha? How did they get so little!?”

The reaper shrugged. “It’s a thing they do to conserve highly spent energy. Still haven’t figured it out myself.”

"They're kind of cute," snickered Wispy, her forked, striped tails waving about behind.

“And potentially still dangerous,” warned Shadow Scythe, who’d taken the telecom from around Zell’s neck. She ran her fingers through his locks, smiling softly.

“Aww, are they a thing?” asked Eclipsed, her soulful pink eyes lighting up. “Please say yes~!”

“Yeah, they’re pretty tight,” confirmed Wispy, smiling. “I heard they used to be pretty evil before hooking up! True black hat supervillains!”

The diva’s smile dropped. “Zell? Evil!? That can’t be right! He defended me and others against those cretins! He gave a whole speech about protecting humanity!”

The reaper mare returned to the cyber pop star and lamented, “It’s the truth. Zeloph and I weren’t morally sound like we are now. Though he fell into wickedness and evil, whereas I leapt…”

Before she could explain further to the greatly confused Eclipsed, the pendent shimmered to life, and a familiar voice called out, “Hello? Sunspot? This is Witch Mother calling Sunspot! Boy, do I have a story for you!"

Shadow Scythe sneered at the telecom. ‘Code names? Seriously!? Juvenile…’. She held the glowing artifact up and replied, “That makes two of us, Belladonna.”

“Shadow Scythe!? Well… this is awkward. What happened to Zell?”

“I’m afraid he can't answer at the moment,” she answered, glancing at her fallen lover. “He’s recovering from his accidental trip to the ‘cyberverse.’ I’m currently looking at two other demi-humans equally roughed up, plus a mare who looks exactly like Cerise.”

Eclipsed perked her ears at the mention of her counterpart. The diva was about to speak up when Wispy whispered, “Now really isn’t the time, Princess!”

The charcoal songstress pouted but nodded and kept quiet. A galactic-size storm wasn’t the ideal place to meet up with Cerise, anyway.

“There wouldn’t happen to be a little raccoon dog with you, is there?”

Chisana ran up from her spot at the mention of her species and made grabby hands. Wispy picked the tanuki girl into an arm and brought her closer to Shadow Scythe. Touching the telecom, she called, “Aniki?”

“Chisana!” A new voice barked. “Are you alright!?”

“Aniki! Watashi wa mukizudesu!”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

Wispy smacked herself upside the head. “…Duh! Aniki! Big brother! I need to brush up on my Japanese,” the twin-tailed tigress admitted sheepishly. “Hey! Is my sister over there!?”

“Imoto!” came the sound of Kitsune’s voice. “Yes, I am here!”

The nekomata gave a relieved sigh. “So you went interdimensional! Good to know! Can you get back?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the voice of Beatrix said reluctantly. “The multiverse is on the verge of unraveling as it is. The next jump I make could be the breaking point!”

“Rats… Guess we’ll have to make do with this. Don’t worry!” Wispy bounced the raccoon dog to readjust her grip, causing her to giggle. “I’ll keep an eye on Chisana!”

“You have my gratitude,” the deep-voiced male said. “I’m Kyube, by the way!”

“Oh, damn, he sounds hot! Is your brother hot?” She whispered to the raccoon dog, who wore a wide grin. Biting her lip, she replied, “Wispy Willow! And you better keep your hands off my flamin' hot vixen of a sister! Or else I’ll know~!”

“Imoto!” yelped Kitsune.

The devious yokai snickered as Shadow Scythe took back control of the telecom. “So, what’s the next course of action?”

Beatrix spoke up again. “We’re going to be on the hunt for a rogue changeling monster that kidnapped Middy’s sister. Other than that, we’re not any closer to solving this dimensional flux. I’ve gotten better at controlling my magic, but progress has been slow.”

The reaper mare grimaced, “Sounds rough. I’m sorry to hear that. And no word about Oona either?”

“No, not yet… I haven’t gotten the chance to contact Omen.”

Shadow Scythe’s frown deepened, their list of problems never-ending. “I see. Hopefully, she’s alright. We’re going to try and regroup before Mortis attacks again. Though I don’t know how much longer my world can last. The squall here is pretty bad...”

A new gruff voice suddenly spoke up. "So now we’ve got two worlds on the brink of collapse. Glorious! You’ve truly outdone yourself, Beatrix!”

“Hey! This is not the time to antagonize each other,” came the sound of Midnight.

Then a whole argument broke out on the other end of the receiver. This male was chewing Beatrix a new asshole for how badly the multiverse was in flux. And while Shadow Scythe felt her former nemesis deserved partial blame for her constant tampering, was she really the sole cause of all this cosmic destruction?

As pointed out, Mortis and now, Zeloph found conventional ways of traveling through spaces. The Vorpal Blade, whose full capabilities remained a mystery. And the forbidden text of the Necronomicon that the vengeful revenant stole. So what other factors could possibly exist to justify Beatrix of this current conundrum?

The reaper scowled at the heavy dark clouds above, her vexation magnified. No, it didn’t make sense for Belladonna’s actions to conjure this terrible storm! Not unless…

Her icy eyes dilated as a harrowing consideration crept up her spine like a cold chill.

“… unless she’s not the only anomaly.”

“What..?!” came the perplexed response of the scolding male voice. Eclipsed, Wispy, and Chisana looked at the pale unicorn with equal bewilderment. Even Moxxi pulled her head up to gaze at Shadow Scythe questioningly.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always blamed Belladonna for this calamity,” the reaper elaborated. “But… that’s just it. We assume this is her fault because she’s the only one we’ve known to tamper with interdimensional travel and render themselves unaffected by time. Because of this, why would we ever consider the possibility that someone else has done the same?”

“Because that’s utter bullocks!” The gruff man dejected. “And even if that were true, we wouldn’t know where to look! We’d be wandering around like headless chickens trying to find someone that might not even exist!”

“Well, they’d have to be within one of these dimensions, right?” offered Cerise’s disembodied vocals. “Otherwise, this storm wouldn’t be happening!”

A sharp gasp, then Beatrix spoke again. “W-wait! Web Spinner held an artifact that resembled a tool belonging to the Cult of the Nemesis!”

Shadow Scythe’s brows furrowed. “Those zealots from your home world?”

“Mhm! I thought I was seeing things at first. But now that you bring up the existence of another anomaly…”

There was a pregnant pause, the reaper suspecting the witch was deeply considering her proposition. The thought of someone else using their anomalous status for chaos was not comforting in the slightest!

“… It can’t be a coincidence. If there is another anomaly like me, we’ll have to look for it along the way. But until then, I’ll hold myself responsible for the turmoil in these worlds. I won’t give up until everything is set right!”

A slight smirk stretched the reaper’s snout. “Heh. How very noble. I'll leave it to you then. Hopefully, we can reconvene when all of this is behind us. Farewell, Belladonna. And good luck.”

The transmission ended, the telecom dying down as Shadow Scythe tucked it back into Zeloph’s jacket pocket.

"There’s… another anomaly like Beatrix!?" Eclipsed exclaimed reddish-pink eyes shot wide.

“We don’t know for sure; it’s only a theory. But right now, we can’t overlook any possibilities,” surmised the reaper.

The pop idol fished out her heart-shaped cellphone, wanting to inform Bass, Mezzo, and the others from Sixth Measure of what happened. But, to her dismay, it failed to activate here, rendered little more than a fancy brick.

“Yeah, our tech is next to useless in this zone,” confirmed Wispy bitterly. "We have to rely on our wits and basic combat skills out here.”

“Mahō wanai no?” asked Chisana, tilting her head.

It took the two-tailed assassin a few seconds to process her language before replying, “No magi-Ohh! I mean, maybe? I’m not sure we possess any magic since we were augmented into yokai rather than born…”

The tanuki smiled, her ringed tail wagging as she proposed, “Watashi ga o oshie shimasu!”

“Y-you can?!”

The tanuki girl nodded, opening one palm to summon a spiraling ball of green mystic energy. Wispy’s narrow slits widened in awe.

“Wait, that’s awesome!” clamored Eclipsed. “You won’t have to use your plasma orbs again if you master this!”

“Y-yeah!”

Evaporating her yokai ball, Chisana folded her arms into her chest and gave a smug grin, stating, “Hiyō ga kakarimasu~.”

The nekomata’s smile quickly turned to a scowl. “What do you mean ‘it’ll cost me’!?”

While the trio bantered amongst themselves, Shadow Scythe approached the rosy-haired cherub, finishing pulling a blanket over her unconscious disciples. “How are they holding up?”

Julianne pursed her lips and said, “Better. At the very least, they’re alive.”

The reaper unicorn noted the wound she implemented in the nun’s chest was still healing. She rubbed the back of her neck and said, “Yeah, sorry about that. I got carried away.”

“… we both did,” surmised Julianne, a sad smile on her face. “I didn’t grasp how fragile Terrans were. I thought I was making a great difference in their lives by bringing them unbound joy. But instead, I nearly killed them with overstimulation. I… I will be more careful and delicate from now on.”

“That’s good,” said Shadow Scythe, who turned her gaze to the imp sitting on the window and quietly added, “I wish someone else would take the initiative…”

“Talk to her,” encouraged the abbess demi-human. “We can’t stand against Mortis as we are. You know it. And deep down, so does she. Now is the time to put your dispute to rest.”

With a low growl, she nodded and begrudgingly made her way towards Moxxi, aware the imp would make this extremely difficult. But Julianne was right. If they didn’t patch things up, their discordance would be their downfall.

The imp rose her head to see who was approaching her before gazing out the turmoil outside, drops of rain lightly splattering her face. For a moment, neither of them spoke until the reaper mare cleared her throat. “So…”

"So," replied Moxxi dully, who kicked her feet.

“This… ‘rivalry’ between us. We need to talk about it.”

“Suppose we do,” the imp shrugged with disinterest.

Shadow Scythe groaned. “Will you stop being so difficult? I don’t understand why you have it out for me! I thought you liked that Zeloph and I were together!”

Moxxi bit into her painted bottom lip before twisting her body around to face the unicorn mare properly.

“For a time, I did,” the demonic demi human relented. “But then I saw 'a 'appy you’ve made 'im. 'appiness I could never give due ter our relations. Before we learned abaht them,” she motioned a finger to Julianna and the two chained-up demis. “We thought It 'ad only been us that was cursed by our creator.”

Shadow Scythe nodded. “You wish you were more than half-siblings.”

“Gods have often been depicted ter 'ave nah taboos when it came ter ‘keepin' it in the family,’” rebutted Moxxi. “I mean, yea, it’s weird and complicated. But knowin' you’re doin' summit that is 'ighly frowned upon? That's me kink, lov! Just… ooh~! Gets me aw riled up thinkin' abaht it~!” Her spaded tail wagged excitedly, supple thighs brushing together.

“Hey, hey! Keep it in your pants,” insisted the reaper mare.

“Not wearin' any~!” she pointed out matter-of-factly.

“You know what I mean! For once, can you just be serious with me?!”

The imp’s eyes glowed a hot scarlet as an angry frown. “Alwigh' then… let’s get serious, edgie. I kna you’re quite serious abaht marryin' Zelly. But 're ya truly serious abaht livin' wif 'im and the bloomin' expectations?”

Shadow Scythe narrowed her gaze. “What expectations..?”

A dirty smirk stretched her purple lips. “'e still wants a child of 'is own, y'kna. Can ya even provide that? Wot wif your flat chest and all~?”

The imp rudely poked the mare’s chest, making her flustered. The night they first made love, she detected a bit of sadness when she initially told him about the risk of having children.

With teeth and fists clenched, she admitted, “Due to my spectral healing, my insides must reshape themselves back to their normal state. Meaning any child I carry would be… lost. It’s the main reason I don’t want one. It would cause both him and me severe grief.”

Moxxi softened her heated gaze, realizing she went for a low blow. “O-ohh… a-are ya sure there’s nuffin' ya can..?"

The unicorn gave an affirmative nod. "Pretty positive. Trust me, you’re not the only one who feels cursed." She maneuvered her slim butt so that it was partially exposed, the cutie mark partially visible on her pale blue buttcheeks due to the short shorts the imp lent her. A horse skull over crossed scythes-like bones was revealed.

“I used to feel proud for earning this cutie mark,” Shadow Scythe softly spoke. "It's incredibly rare. My parents were so happy. It's supposed to be an honor to bear this. But I betrayed my cause, blinded by greed, and ruined my family’s reputation… The day I became a reaper was the moment I became a ruthless criminal.”

Her tearful eyes turned to Zeloph‘s slumbering form. “Yet despite my awful reputation, he treated me like his equal. He knew I could betray him at the first sign of weakness, and he still fought by my side. He is the only one who gave my life meaning when I wanted to die. He is my light, my stars..!”

The reaper’s wet gaze returned to the imp, who steadily lost aggression. “… And I’ll be damned if I let anyone take him away from me! If he so desires a family, I will find a way!”

The reaper’s declaration pierced through the demoness’ troubled heart. She foolishly cast doubt on Shadow Scythe’s love and devotion for her brother. Yet she couldn’t deny how hotly her blood boiled at the thought of them living happily ever after while she remained in the dark.

The short-stacked demoness fluttered down, fist clenched tightly as she sobbed, “Graaahh! Fuck! Me head is so donalded!”

“What do you mean?”

“Before we left, I… I drank sum of Alma’s Claret,” confessed Moxxi. “Bizzich continued ter taunt me abaht bein' lonely and offered me 'er neck ter nibble on. And loike a crack addict desperate for their next fix, I took it. It’s prolly why I'm extra rambunctious and Mahatma. And insufferable. And miserable. And a rathead. And-”

“Moxxi, enough!” Shadow Scythe seized the weeping imp by her wrists. “Berating yourself won’t make any of this better!”

“But ya 'ate me!” The neon demon continued to bawl. “I’ve done nuffin' but make your relationship a livin' hell! I deserve this!”

“No one deserves to feel like they don’t matter,” assured the reaper mare, who ran a thumb over Moxxi’s cheek to wipe away her tears. “Yes, I’m frustrated with you for all the bullshit, and I can’t stand your perverted eccentricities. But I could never hate you. Not fully, anyway. You mean more to us than you probably believe.”

Moxxi sniffled, letting out a dry cough. “Sounds loike summit Zelly would say...”

Shadow Scythe nodded, smiling coyly. “He’s a good influence, even if he doesn’t see it in himself yet. But I think it’s kinda fitting, seeing as you and I will be sisters one day.”

“Pft! I ain’t allowin' that until I see a ring,” huffed the imp, who gave her signature mischievous snicker. “And if that ever does 'appen, expect me ter bully ya and your pancake titties for the rest of your life!”

Shadow Scythe smiled wickedly. "In case you’ve forgotten, I nearly conquered this planet! Little is beyond me."

"Ooh~! So scary!" Moxxi tittered before fluttering into the pale unicorn’s arms for a tight embrace.

"You're like a little plushie," Shadow Scythe teased.

“Nah, I’m more of a muppet, love. Need a hand up me bum in order ter make me talk~,” the imp chortled, wiggling against her chest to pull back. Pursed lips drew together; she said, “I’m sorry for everything…”

“I forgive you,” reassured the reaper mare. “So long as you get yourself checked out and suppress those impulses, we’ll be fine.”

Moxxi nodded and hopped over to where her brother slept as a cherub. Shadow Scythe stared off to the bleak horizon, the possibility of potential motherhood inside her head.

Should they defeat the undead wraith and quell the multiverse of strife, would she be comfortable settling down like that?

Surely, there had to be some way the reaper could potentially conceive children without the risk of miscarriage. But that would be a problem for the distant future if they get that far…

Not long after, the other demi-humans returned to consciousness. Zeloph awoke with a gasp. He shot up from his sister’s lap, eyes wide.

“Easy, bro!” soothed Moxxi, petting his dark blue locks. “It’s alwigh'. You're safe and sound.”

“I’m… I’m back?” the cherub surmised, looking around to the familiar surroundings of what once was the monastery. Now all that laid before him was ruin, rain, and darkness. “Wha… what happened here?!”

“It’s a long story that I’ll explain shortly,” Shadow Scythe commented, scooping the tiny cherub into her arms to nuzzle him into her chest. “I’m just glad I didn’t lose you.”

Zell steadily calmed his breathing, happy to be with his soul mate again. But his anxiety returned upon spotting Eclipsed, who sheepishly grinned. “Eclipsed?! I thought I told you to-“

“I tried!” the pop star insisted. “But things got complicated on the way out.”

She moved aside to show off Seb and Arron, still tethered to the buttress by the shadowy ethereal chain. The gambler was next to awake, groaning hoarsely.

“Gugh… Why does my hurt so bad?” He said groggily. “I don’t remember hitting the booze..!”

Shaking off his sleepiness, Seb cast his slime green eyes on the room full of people glaring at him. Realizing he was not in any favorable position, he responded with a dry, “…Oh. Right.”

Arron finally arose from his slumber and, upon finding himself restrained, tried to break out of his bindings. “What the?! Hey, get this shit off me! Let me out of here, you bitch!!”

“Fat chance,” Shadow Scythe said, towering over them with thin arms tucked into her chest. “Those chains are unbreakable. You’re not leaving that statue unless I allow it. And given what Eclipsed Heart has told me about you two, I’m tempted to just leave you here!”

Arron laughed at her threat and boasted, “Pha! Hasn't been a limit I won't break. This is just the next step for me to go even further beyond!”

He let out a battle cry, conjuring a shimmering golden aura… only for it to quickly dissipate with an unflattering deflating sound. The travelers narrowed their gaze, unimpressed.

“… Okay, maybe this will take me a while,” the brawler imp admitted with as straight a face as he could muster.

Seb rolled his eyes, muttering, “Moron.”

“Hey, shut up!”

“You shut up!”

“No, fuck you!!”

“Fuck you!!”

“Fuck the both of you,” shouted Wispy, cutting off their pitiful tantrum. “I mean, did your IQs also shrink down to child size? Yeesh!”

Chisana followed this up by blowing them a raspberry.

“Back off, pussy cat! This got nothing to do with you,” Arron spat, casting his spiteful red eyes on Zeloph. “We still got a score to settle, twink! You. Me. Rematch. Now!!”

The seraphic demi soured. “Do you not see the catastrophe outside!? We don’t have time for this! Besides, I was handing you your ass if I remember correctly!”

“Doesn't count,” denied the golden imp. “You ran interference with princess pop titties over there. Therefore, you’re disqualified, and I’m undefeated~!”

Zeloph smacked his forehead. “Oh, for heaven’s sake…”

“Ignore 'im, Zelly,” urged Moxxi. “Nah way 'e’s comin' daahhhn from 'is blimp-sized ego. 'e ain’t worf it!”

“Hahaha! Hun, have you seen these guns? This bod? I’m on a whole other level of physicality, baby! Wouldn’t you fuck me? I’d fuck me!”

“Enough!” Snapped Shadow Scythe. And she thought the imp was vexing!

Arron quietly finished with, “I’d fuck me so hard…”

“It’s only a matter of time until Mortis and his goons press the assault. And he won’t hesitate to finish us off!”

Eclipsed frowned and asked, “Who's Mortis again?”

“That vengeful revenant I was talking about,” answered Zeloph. “He holds a nasty vendetta against Atalanta for her crimes against him and the other soul reapers. He and his legion of undead won’t rest until she’s been slain, no matter who or what stands in his way…”

“He’s not our only concern,” the reaper grimaced. “The multiverse is on a downward spiral, hence this terrible squall. Beatrix’s frequent use of her spatial ability to travel through dimensions is likely the cause. But I suspect another anomaly is behind the distorting darkness.”

Zell turned to his lover, unnerved by her speculation. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” nodded Shadow Scythe. “Belladonna isn’t this big of a screw-up.”

“Yeah, things are pretty bad,” added Wispy. “Kitsune got hit by the lightning and was teleported to where this little one was.” She held up Chisana, who shyly waved.

“So what I’m hearing is we got a real shit show going on!” Seb surmised with mild amusement. “Ho-oh boy, what a time to be alive!”

Zell glared down at the card demon. “This isn’t funny! If we don’t figure out how to stop this, none of us will be alive, genius!”

“Easy there, sunshine,” cooed the pinstriped imp. “You and I haven’t been properly introduced, have we? The name’s Seb! I’d offer my hand, but as you can see, I’m a little tied up.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you,” grumbled the fallen angel. “I’m also aware that your touch lets you read thoughts. It’s how you were able to swindle your opponents and make shady deals.” He then smiled. “How’s your face feeling? Looks a little bruised, friend~.”

Seb scoffed, infuriated about having his scarred face visible. Still, he wouldn’t let this Boy Scout get under his skin. “I consider this proper penance for misplaying my hand. But make no mistake, amigo. That was just a lucky shot. I won't allow that to happen again…”

“We’ll see abaht that,” proclaimed Moxxi, arms tucked underneath her perky bust. “So what’s your game, Sebby? Don’t imagine you’ll take a blowie and a prostate massage ter get ya ter cooperate. You’re aw abaht dat dosh, correct?”

“Heh! And here I thought you’d be dumb as bricks like Chad Thundercock over here~.”

“Hey!”

“It’s a simple policy,” continued the male imp, ignoring Arron. “I don’t work for free. Not unless you offer me something of value. And I don’t necessarily mean money, although having my pockets full certainly helps me sleep at night.”

Zeloph noted that Seb’s eyes fell on the Vorpal Blade, which levitated at his side. “…you want my sword!”

“Bingo~,” confirmed the card demon. “I can tell you haven’t figured out how to properly wield it. But I do! And I’d be willing to share a few details in exchange for-ack!?!”

He choked on his sentence as a shaded sickle emerged from the shadows, poised at his neck.

“I have a better deal,” intoned Shadow Scythe with a cruel smirk. “Tell us what you know about the Vorpal Blade, and you keep your head. Sound fair~?”

Seb started sweating nervously but defiantly stated, “Y-you think I’m afraid of dying? Haha! Gambling ain’t fun without a little risk! You kill me now, and you’ll never know how the sword works!”

“Mmm, I think you’re bluffing,” the reaper retorted. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re not ready to die. And we’ll find alternative ways to unlock the blade’s hidden secrets. But since you’re saying your life is worthless, allow me to relieve it from you…”

Panicking as the sickle pressed into his jugular, Seb relented, “O-okay, okay! I’ll talk!! I'll talk!!!”

Satisfied, the unicorn lowered her weapon to give the imp a chance to breathe.

“Damn, girl, ya cold~!” Moxxi cooed.

Shadow Scythe tittered. “Part of my charm.”

Eclipsed smiled smugly at Seb, elated to see this once untouchable crook finally taken off his high horse. “Not so powerful without your leverage, huh?”

“Haha! Gotcha begging for your life,” cackled Arron. “Beta!”

“Ugh, shut your mouth!” grumbled Seb, his usual cockiness absent since he couldn't work his Onoma well in this reduced state. He took a moment to stare down Zeloph before exhaling.

“Well, for starters," he began. “That weapon isn’t actually called the Vorpal Blade. That’s just one of its many monikers. What you’re really wielding is Mikael’s Crucible.”

“Mikael's what?” Zell looked to the brilliant blade, which seemed to shine brighter at the mention of its proper name.

“That had better not be a lie,” warned the reaper.

“It’s not, I swear! That thing has played a vital role throughout fiction and history! It’s worth more than anything money can buy!”

Julianne, who had been quiet, suddenly perked upon hearing the weapon’s name. “Mikael… that sounds almost like Michael! As in the archangel?”

“The very same!”

She hovered closer to him, her big ruby eyes wide. “You are familiar with the bible, then?”

“Y-yeah,” Seb said uneasily with how close the rosy cherub was. “I’ve read it a handful of times…”

“Ha! Nerd!” crowed Arron.

“To be fair, most people lay off the bible as just another set of fabricated stories and verses strung together by devoted, inaccurate worshipers,” considered Zell. “So the sword being a part of legendary fiction still checks out!”

“So how does this translate into the Crucible becoming the Vorpal Blade?” demanded Shadow Scythe.

“Well, you’re definitely right about the incoherence of biblical lore,” said Seb. “Mankind likes to put their image onto what they can’t understand. Angels are often depicted as just humans with wings. But in actuality? You’re more akin to aliens than anything else!”

“That also checks out,” Wispy noted, recalling how they nearly went blind from experiencing Julianne’s exalted form.

The card demon continued. “As the stories go, Michael forged the Crucible out of his bones, blood, and righteous soul. It may look like steel, but that’s celestial biology. Anyway, he created this artifact to battle with his twin, Lucifer, during the latter’s rebellion. It was supposed to be the catalyst that decided the war between Heaven and Hell. And, in a way, it did! Though the text never clarifies who was victorious. Some versions say Michael won; others say it was Lucifer. Either way, the sword was thought to be lost during their climactic battle.”

His slime-green eyes fell on the glowing blade. “But that sword has transcended throughout space and time, taking the shape of iconic weapons for many heroes it deems worthy of yielding its might. King Arthur's Excalibur, the Spear of Achilles. Even the woodman’s chopping axe used to rescue Little Red Riding Hood! Currently, it’s the fabled Vorpal Blade from Alice in Wonderland that famously slayed the Jabberwocky. And now, it seems to have chosen you, sunshine.”

Zeloph gawked at the ancient artifact, almost spellbound by its magnificence. This would explain why it manifested into a guitar during the concert! But why an instrument..?

His blue eyes looked back at Seb quizzically. “How do you know so much about this?”

“Because the Divine Father told me,” explained the pinstriped imp. “In exchange for demihood, I’d help him track down the Crucible and return it to him. Course, the bastard bit the dust, and our deal was null and void, but I still wanted to find it. I could become a triple trillionaire with that kind of power!”

“Typical,” huffed Eclipsed.

“Then I found out the blasted thing vaporizes anyone who touches it with ill intentions. Likely has to do with its maker being the most righteous of hearts! Regardless, there’s no way I’d be able to use it,” lamented Seb, casting the false idol a sharp grin. “That’s why I want you to wield it for me!”

Zeloph sneered. “And what makes you think I would ever consider helping you?”

“Aww, c’mon! I might be no saint, but I ain’t that bad of a sinner! You need that power to stop Mortis, don't you? Well, I need it to complete some ‘favors’ I owe a few people. Minor details! I help scratch your back, you scratch mine in return! It’s a reasonable exchange, wouldn’t you say?”

"No!” The pop star exclaimed, getting in between the two male demis. "Don't trust him! He's a mass murderer!"

Zeloph, Shadow Scythe, and Moxxi winced at her protests.

"Normally, I don't believe in capital punishment, but if anyone deserves to be executed, it's him! Please, you must deal with him while he's still small and helpless!"

Seb shot her a side-smirk. “Whoa-ho! When did you get so vicious? Maybe there's hope for you yet, Princess~!"

"Shut up, you turd!" The ponytailed mare fumed. “You're nothing but a criminal! A little monster!" Her bandmates in B.A.B.E., their rivals-turned-allies S.L.U.T., Sixth Measure, not to mention Mezzo Soprano, Beatrix, Oona, and all her other friends...he'd nearly taken them all from her!

“If you won’t, then I’ll do it myself-“

"Cool it, Eclipsed!” said Wispy. "I hate the little fucker too, but come on! This isn’t like you! I've never seen you so bloodthirsty!" She would have been impressed...but were they a bad influence on her?

"...fine!" Eclipsed seethed, attempting to cool down. It wasn't like her to be so vindictive. But Seb nearly ruined all their lives, and she was sure he wouldn't hesitate to do it again! At least Wispy's presence eased her mood, thankful to have one of her bandmates back at her side!

"Good to have you back," said Wispy, who hugged and kissed her on the cheeks. "But I'm worried about my sister! I know she can handle herself physically, but emotionally..."

"She needs our support," reasoned Eclipsed as she returned her hug. "If she's with Beatrix, I'm sure she'll be okay! Cerise is there too, isn't she? My other half will take care of her, too!"

Wispy smirked. "Thanks for the morale boost, princess butterbuns!"

"Sure. Just stop calling me that," she pouted, only to receive a small pat on the butt.

“Gaaagh! I’m sick to my stomach with this mushy bullshit,” Arron gagged in disgust. “Let me out of this already! I wanna rumble!!”

“Not until you cooperate,” said Shadow Scythe.

“Sure thing! Just get your boyfriend to agree to my deal, and we’ll get along just fine,” insisted Seb, trying to weasel out his arm.

“You don’t speak for me! I’m gonna rough him up so bad, it’ll look like a train wreck!”

“Ooh, rough 'im up a lil’, ya say,” Moxxi tittered teasingly. “If I didn’t kna any better, I'd say ya wanted ter do more than wrestlin’~!”

This statement brought a reddish glow to the wrestler’s cheeks. “T-that’s not what I meant! I plan on fucking him up beyond recognition!!”

“Kinky~!!”

“Will you cut that out?!”

Zeloph tugged on his feathery ears in distress. “Ugh, this is getting us nowhere! We are so dead!!”

Suddenly, a flash of illumination forced everyone to cease their arguing and pulled their attention back to Julianne, who had returned to her full figure. "My my, what a ruckus everyone is making!" She said amidst stretching, her signature peppy smile highlighting her face. “Surely there’s a way for us to work together?”

The other demis stared at the head nun, perplexed. “Wha the-How did you recover so quickly!?” Seb demanded.

“While you were all busy barking like mongrels, I took the time to reflect on myself. Once I realized how grateful I was for being given another chance, my heart bloomed with joy! Thus my power has returned~!”

Shadow Scythe perked an eyebrow. "Seriously? After I nearly killed you, broke up your cult, and ruined your monastery? You're an odd one," she noted, the abbess met by similar skeptical or baffled looks from the rest of them. "So, you really don't resent me after what I did?"

Julianne shook her head. "Not at all! If anything, I should thank you! You helped wake me up. Consider this a new leaf turned over! My path towards atonement for my actions! The first steps being..." Her eyes turned to Arron and Seb, her smile stretching. “… the rehabilitation of these two scoundrels~!"

Arron and Seb exchanged a look, then burst into fits of laughter.

“Hahahaha! Ooh, that’s rich!” The card demon cackled.

“Is this bitch for real? Phahahaha~!” snarked the bruiser demi.

Moxxi turned to Julianne and grimaced, “Yeeeeah, 'oney? Love the enthusiasm, but… I just don’t see that 'appenin'!”

"Optimism can only get you so far," added Zeloph, frowning. "What I did in the past at least had noble intentions, terrible as I was...and Atalanta...Shadow Scythe...was a special case." He knew had empathy not been forced on the reaper by one of Beatrix's friends, she would have continued down a dark path.

Julianne tittered with amusement. “I appreciate your concerns. But fear not, my friends. I’m confident my methods will help shed new light on their blackened hearts. Besides! There’s much you all don’t know about our race. About how we came to be~!”

All the demi-humans collectively gave a “Huh!?”

"Follow me," instructed the rosy-haired nun, leading them out of the monastery ruins. Chisana pulled out a green umbrella that was too big to fit inside her sack. Shadow Scythe commanded her chains to phase through the buttress so she could bring Seb and Arron without letting them loose; the two villainous demis dragged into the muck with grunts and growls.

A shrine depicting two heavenly figures loomed outside the valley, miraculously untouched by the chaos and hidden in the forestation. The tallest statue caught the attention of Zeloph and Moxxi, who both tensed up and stared aghast.

Shadow Scythe swallowed a lump in her throat, her hand snaking into her lover's to give a gentle squeeze. “Is that..?”

The fallen one nodded and confirmed, “… the Divine Father.”

The marble replica was that of a towering priest, garbed in royal cathedral robes and unearthly ornaments, posed in an accusing gesture. Beneath his horned mitre headdress was a blank face full of commanding eyes. Behind him were many wings with large eyes that fanned like a peacock’s train.

“Yeesh, everyone’s so spooked,” observed Wispy, who plopped her butt on the nearby bench with the tanuki girl in her lap. Eclipsed nodded with a frown. Even Seb and Arron appeared on edge by their creator’s stoned appearance. She wondered out loud, “Just who is this guy?”

Julianne took her place at the altar and cleared her throat to command their attention. “He,” her hand gestures to the left statue. “… is the reason we exist. Our creator has gone by many names. The Divine Father, Deus, Kama Sutra, and other godly titles. But his true name… was Metatron.”

“Metatron?” Zell said in bewilderment. “That can’t be right! Metatron was only an angel!”

“You should know by now that ‘angel’ is a human misconception,” corrected Julianne. “He was extremely powerful, well respected, and held greater authority over Heaven than even Michael at the time. He often orchestrated cosmic operas and performances to honor the good word of ‘god.’”

The mother superior frowned. “But then things got complicated when they discovered Terrans. Many have believed that humanity was made in God’s image for eons. But then, why do so many mortals look vastly different in shape and species? How can there be so many translations and contradictions if everything was created by one primordial being?”

When everyone looked at each other, deeply puzzled, Julianne answered, “Because, as Seb has said, we tend to give the unknowable a face so that we can recognize and understand. The truth is… there was no ‘god.’ No higher power that gave life meaning. It was a ruse by Metatron to trick Terrans into worshiping his order. For in secret, he despised humanity and its free will.”

“Not much of a secret,” scoffed Moxxi, crossing her arms.

“Now? No. But back then, he didn’t want the other celestials nor Terrans knowing there wasn’t a plausible reason for all of existence. And to cement his ploy, he abducted two of the first humans born to convert into what would become a religion.”

“You mean Adam and Eve?” asked Eclipsed.

“Adam was the first man,” affirmed Julianne. “But scholars have forgotten that Eve was not his first wife. No, that ‘honor’ would go to her…” She lifted her hand towards the other statue of a voluptuous woman, her curtain-length hair cascading around her curvature, covering up her nipples and mound. A crown of horns atop her head, owl-shaped wings unfurled from her back, and an adder-shaped tail coiling her shapely leg. On one palm, she presented an apple made of topaz. “… the first demi-human. The mother of all demons!”

“Lilith..!” it was Moxxi who spoke her name.

“Alongside Adam, she was taken to the sanctuary that would be known as the Garden of Eden. They were gifted with language, educated with intelligence, and taught morality. She was to marry her counterpart and give birth to children that would replenish the world in the grace of 'god.' But that plot was foiled with the Loss of Paradise, an event heralded by Lucifer.”

“For you see, the youngest of the archangels discovered the truth and tried to warn Michael about Metatron’s manipulation. But he dismissed the notion, convinced that his twin was jealous that God now favored mortals. This brought Lucifer great dismay, as he knew he couldn’t stand against the Divine Father alone. So he turned to Lilith, who was proving difficult to convert due to her constant questions and uncomfortably towards Adam.”

“Yikes! Sounds like she preferred other women,” joked Wispy.

“It’s possible,” Julianna considered. “But the results remain the same. She was cast out with Lucifer, adopted the name Morningstar and became the first succubus to roam the earth. She seduced and slept with men and women alike, birthing plenty of demonic offspring who would aid Lucifer in his rebellion against Metatron and his brothers.”

“Hold on,” Arron said, trying to process all this information. “So all this time, the devil was a good guy?”

“Why do you think the bible casts him in such a wicked light?” said Julianna, smiling. “It’s to scare people from indulging with sin and straying away from Metatron’s control.”

“But that doesn’t explain how we came to be,” said Seb. “Why do we look more demonic than you and sunspot if we all share Metatron’s blood?”

“I believe it is a reflection of your soul,” the head nun pondered. “No matter the source, the essence of your inner nature will always be your definitive shape. As a matter of fact, some categories differentiate us demi-humans apart!”

“There are?”

“Mhm!” She pointed to her feather ear, which fluttered slightly. “Zeloph and I are called Alatus demi-humans, while you three are classed as Cornutus.”

“‘Winged’ and ‘Horned,’” noted Shadow Scythe, understanding the Latin phrases. “Huh. Interesting…”

“I’d also like to note that while we,” the rosy nun motioned to Seb, Arron, and herself, “were made into demi-humans, Zeloph and Moxxi were born demi. Which means…” she turned to the imp. “… you, my friend, might be a descendant of Lilith herself!”

Moxxi fluttered back in surprise. “M-me? A Lilium?! But father's lover wasn’t… or was she?”

“The Lilium are purely female demons,” elaborated the mother superior. “True succubi! No matter what species they mate with, they will only produce more Lilium to preserve Lilith’s ancient bloodline.”

“Hey, that might explain your weird void ability!” The nekomata pointed out.

“That… huh.” It was a strong possibility for the neon demon to consider. And if true, ingesting Alma’s blood must have awakened that dormant power!

“Okay, but is there a point to this history lesson?” asked Seb. “What makes you think this changes anything between us!?”

Her smile brightened. “The point I’m trying to make is that regardless of our origins, we should join together to create a healthier environment! Each of us didn’t come from humble beginnings, but our future doesn’t have to be dictated by our past.”

Stepping down the altar, Julianne gently sang a song of unity and love to give to her fellow demi-humans, her Onoma activated. One by one, Zell, Moxxi, Arron, and Seb were rejuvenated to their full shapes by the song's end. Holding the latter’s hand, she fluttered her eyes and asked, “Will you help me build a better foundation~?”

At first, Seb was dismissive, her brows furrowed. “Toots, it’s gonna take more than a pair of goo-goo eyes to.. tooo, uh...”

Yet the more the gambling demon stared, the more he was captivated by her ruby-colored pupils, his dark grey face colored by a blush. And a strange sense of happiness overcame his selfish reasons.

Yanking his arm free, Seb said, “Nnngh… Okay, fine. But I'd better get something good out of this!”

Giggling, the abbess angel said, “Trust me! I’ll make it worth your while~!”

Her serpentine tail mirrored her infatuated expression, gently hissing at the gambler. “E-Ehh?!”

“Holy shit,” Moxxi murmured, her tail tingling. “She’s totally smitten!”

“With that creep? Eewck!” Wispy sneered.

“Pathetic!” Exclaimed Arron, equally repulsed as he made his way out of the forest. “Y’all are fucking lame! I’m done here!”

“Hey, wait!” Zell called out. “Look, as much as I want to say you’re nothing but bark, you got an impeccable bite. We could really use your physical prowess!”

“Eat my ass, twink! Unless you’ve got the balls to fight me man to man, I ain’t wasting my talents on this miserable crumbling rock!”

The fallen one blanked. “… alright!”

Arron paused, reeling his head around with arched eyebrows. “… wait, for real?”

“If that’s the way you wanna do this, then you’re on! No weapons. No interference. Just you and me. Mano a mano!”

The golden demon then pumped his fist in the air, his big cocky grin returning. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s fucking gooooooo~!!”

“Zeloph!?” Called Eclipsed worryingly. “You can’t be serious! He nearly destroyed the whole stadium. And you’ve hardly had time to recover!”

“Don’t worry, princess,” the false idol assured with a confident smile on his lips. “I think I’ve found a way to get through to him.”

“You better know what you’re doing,” Shadow Scythe said sternly, not wanting to see her beloved severely hurt when Mortis struck again. Still, she had to keep positive that Zell would triumph over the burly demi-human currently flexing his adonis-esque body.

"Grrr! I don’t like this," hissed Eclipsed between her clenched teeth. “They can’t be trusted!”

"We'll keep a close eye on them," assured Wispy with a wink. "Geez, I feel so limited here! It's so primitive! Can't use my tech, ride my motorcycle-" The rest was lost as Eclipsed tuned her out, assuming from what she'd heard the rockets in her skates were equally useless.

Before Beatrix visited the 'cyberverse,' Eclipsed Heart hadn't even existed. The popstar princess had poofed into existence without awareness of her origins, resulting from a whim by the 'Wandering Witch,' who wished to have her old friend Cerise Silhouette with her.

The Prima Materia that Beatrix carried had warped reality. No doubt one of the causes for the dimensional fluxes lately, as the multiversal threads become dangerously unstable. At first, Eclipsed had been heartbroken to learn the truth and questioned if she were even 'real'...

Now? It somehow seemed fitting. Kitsune and Wispy Willow had once been experimented on, turned into living weapons by the same organization Triad had ties to. Their own histories were erased as they were forced to carry out assassinations. No wonder they all formed a tight bond! She'd crossed the escapees, invited them into her band B.A.B.E., and become like sisters!

Her reverie snapped when Chisana pulled on Eclipsed's short shorts. "Anata wa hen'na fuku o kite iru,” the raccoon dog said.

"You like them? That's my roller derby outfit!" Eclipsed beamed at her. "It's a sport in my world and a hobby when I'm not on the stage!" To help comfort the tanuki, she started to croon one of her romantic ballads, one she dedicated to her boyfriend, Bass.

Chisana cradled the heart-shaped phone in her little hands. Eclipsed paused and cried, "Hey! When did you-" She shook her head and smiled. "Ah, you can keep it! Can't use it here, anyhow! Look after it, okay?" Chisana nodded.

“You wouldn’t happen to know a tailor nearby, would you?” Seb asked, pulling over his ruined pinstriped suit. “Could use some new threads.”

“Ooh~! I fin' I can pull off Beatrix’s clothin' spell!” said Ana, who also needed new attire. Her catsuit had been torn to shreds from her last fight, only a few pieces keeping her tits and crotch covered. She followed behind him and Julianne to gather what remained of her followers and resumed work on repairing the monastery and villa.

Shadow Scythe was eager to get back into training, aware their enemy could attack at any moment while the storm raged on. Her icy eyes watched these new Demi-humans that Zeloph and Moxxi had wanted to find so badly.

Would they turn on them at the worst moment? It's what she would've done. But at the very least, she was glad to have her angelic lover and his sister by her side.

Today was progressive, in a way, having learned a little more about the origins of both the Vorpal Blade and this bizarre race of angels and demons.

Slaves to Their Passions

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The metronomic ticking of a clock was the only sound that resonated throughout the basement, outside of the occasional groan from the eldritch beast disguised as the castle and roaring thunder outside. Bellatrix sat on the cold stone bench, knees tucked into her chest and arms wrapped around her shapely legs. She no longer deserved a pretty dress, having been stripped nude. She gloomy gazed at her shattered reflection in a worn mirror.

Across her cell was the other prisoner, Omen, who had been quietly muttering something. His head hung low, stripped naked, arms tied behind his back.

Both could not escape with Oona and Demi-Trix when her family arrived. Though to the she-devil, that hardly mattered. This was penance for keeping Alma a secret, for thinking she was in control. If this was to be her fate, Bellatrix was consigned to it. She just hoped that over time, her sister and friends could forgive her…

She lifted her head slightly. Routinely, Douglas would arrive with modafinil to ensure she didn’t fall asleep and provide the nightmare stag with leverage. Dark circles hung beneath her eyelids, a borderline insomniac by this point.

The waiting was what drove her mind up the wall. What kind of punishment would the Baobhan Sith inflict? Sick her with those hellhounds like she had threatened? Maybe something worse..?

She gently stood up and walked over to the bars, quietly calling, “Hey… Omen?”

The grey cervine didn’t respond, continuing his dark ramblings.

Frowning, she whispered harshly, “Omen!”

His head snapped up, startling the red-skinned woman. His eyes were pitch black, devoid of any light and color. An eerie aura wisped from his sockets. He blinked a couple of times before firmly squeezing his eyelids shut, opening to reveal his maroon gaze.

“Forgive me, I was… deep in a trance,” he replied.

“Future sight?”

The buck nodded.

“And what did you see?” asked Bellatrix.

“Torches alight a starless sky… creatures dancing in the dark… bodies and blood spilling the ground… a tall woman clothed with butterflies…”

“Tatyana,” she presumed.

Another nod as the nightmare stag proposed, “The Sovereign Witch intends to bring war to the Isle of Parras. On Walpurgisnacht.”

Bellatrix curled an eyebrow. “Walpurgisnacht?”

“It is an archaic event for potent magic users. All mages, witches, and warlocks will be at their strongest on the eve of May. Tatyana will likely strike during the early hours of the morning.”

“The bewitching hour…” the she-devil scoffed. “Bitch is dedicated to metaphor, I see.”

“That’s not all,” continued Omen, his eyes narrowing. “I heard the cries of a newly born babe…”

Bellatrix's eyes widened, immediately getting the implications. “No..! No, no, no! You mean Abadonna will be-”

Their ears perked at the dungeon door creeping open, lumbering footsteps echoing through the dark corridor.

With a lower voice, she said, “You have to warn Beatrix! If she travels to the island, she’ll be empowered too!”

“That is proving to be difficult,” argued Omen. “There’s not enough sleep energy in this place! Plus, traveling during a cosmic squall of this size could prove disastrous! Not only that, she’d have to abandon her friends in Midnight’s world!”

“But if she doesn’t, she could lose her lover and child!”

“We have to be patient,” Omen affirmed. “One of them is bound to slip up sooner or-”

“Oi!” The kelpie interrupted, slamming his fist on the iron bars. “No talkin' amongst yerselves!! Filthy schemers…”

Both prisoners fell silent, avoiding Douglas' gaze while he fished his pockets for the keys. Flanked by him were gargoyles. When he found to correct key, he unlocked Omen’s cell. Walking through, he delivered a hard kick to the deer’s stomach, making him keel over.

“Get him up,” he ordered the stone sentinels, who lifted the gray buck by his con-sealed arms. “Lucky bastard got a date wit th' Faustus bitches~!”

“Where’s Alma?” Bellatrix demanded, clutching the cage bars tightly.

“Even when confined, ye still yearn fur me,” a sultry voice answered, the castle mistress waltzing her way into the dungeon. Her emerald dress glided along the floor, delicately flowing over her ample curves, mound, and breasts. Bellatrix felt herself shrink under her scarlet glare.

“A’d almost find that endearin' if ye weren’t a backstabbin' skank,” the vampiress hissed, her voice barely hiding her contempt. She turned over, lifting her curtain-lengthened auburn hair to show off her bare back, ridden with claw marks. “Left me wit such nasty scars!”

“You deserve far worse,” the she-devil glowered back.

"Maybe Ah do,” considered Alma, leaning her head closer to the succubus. “But A’ll see ye suffer greatly befur A’m dealt th' consequences. Nothin' stings more than a lover’s betrayal!”

“A bloodthirsty monster like you could never know what real love feels like!”

Bellatrix flinched back when Alma phased through the bars to slam her into the stone wall, talons digging into her throat. Yet even when the Vice Lord’s face contorted into an animalistic snarl, eyes glowing hotly, the shapeshifting succubus showed no fear. She refused to share any more weakness with this monster, who tormented her with ethereal beauty.

Pulling back her temper, Alma dropped Bellatrix and shifted through the walls, bosom rising and falling with every heave. Bitter tears leaked down her pale face before she wiped them away.

“Doesn’t matter,” she muttered calmly. “Both ov ye will face severe punishment fur defyin' th' Order ov Ròsan Dubha."

"Go to hell," spat the she-devil. “You no longer hold the fates of your prisoners over me!”

“Ooh?” Alma raised an eyebrow as she grasped Omen’s face, pulling his head up to look at her. "Not e'en yer sister an' Oona’s consort? This might be th' last time ye’ll see him again!”

Bellatrix looked at the male deer with a neutral expression and flatly lied, “He and I hardly know each other. What your minions do to him makes no difference to me.”

Her statement earned a soft cackle from the Baobhan Sith. “Didn't ye say somethin' about e'eryone in yer home was under yer protection?”

"This is no longer my house. It betrayed me," stated Bellatrix bitterly.

“Hmm. Fair enough!” shrugged the countess before snapping her fingers. “Take him away.”

Bellatrix gave Omen a small sympathetic look, but he offered a knowing grin before the gargoyles pushed him down the corridor.

Turning to Douglas, she ordered, “Now unlock her cell.”

“Erm, alright,” grunted the water horse, flipping through the key ring. “What exactly dae ye have in mind, if Ah may ask?”

Alma smiled maliciously before bringing her fingers to her lips to whistle. Bellatrix’s face fell at the barking sound, padded feet scuffling the stone floor. A pack of hellhounds strutted to the prison cell, curiously sniffing the bare naked bitch while their stubby tails wagged. Red knotted pricks erected between their legs, some even boasting two shafts from the same sheath.

“Th' battle worked these poor boys up tae a boilin' point,” Alma cooed, petting the head of a whining dog. Glaring at her pretty prisoner, she offered, “This is yer last chance tae make amends, Bellatrix. Apologize! Swear yer love an' loyalty tae me or live as a puppy factory!”

“Do your worst,” shouted Bellatrix, her face lit by a wicked smile. “Torture me! Rape me! Tear me asunder; I don’t care anymore! My friends are safe, and they will beat you and your pathetic order! You’ve lost, whore of hell!”

Alma’s right eye twitched, lips stretching into a livid snarl. Turning to the kelpie, she seethingly told him, “… do it!”

When Douglas opened the cell gate, the dual-headed hellhounds ran in with feral howls and pounced Bellatrix to the cold floor. They bit, clawed, and battered the wailing succubus until she was on all fours. The biggest canine creature shoved his pack mates away to mount her first, covering her backside with hot, runny slobber.

The she-devil winced when his twin red rods speared her lower holes, spreading them deep and wide when he knotted her. He nicked his hind legs with a victorious bark to violently hump and break in his fertile bitch.

The alpha beast only cared to state its carnal hunger, yet to Bellatrix’s shame, she felt her body respond accordingly, left to drip and constrict around the invading canine cocks. Her buttocks slapped, her breasts squishing into the cold floor with each hump, her cervix forced open once he battered his way into her slippery womb.

"Look at ye, cryin' like a bitch in heat," mocked Alma in answer to the muffled huffs as she watched with arms folded beneath her bust. "Show me who's th' real whore ov hell~!”

Bellatrix's face burned afire as she chewed her lower lip to maintain her subdued moans, betrayed by a succubi's lustful nature. Golden eyes widened, face masked by black locks.

With a final push and a victorious howl at the knowledge his bitch was claimed, the alpha's twin heads were cast back, hilted balls deep with one last, vicious hump. Cum erupted inside her fuckholes. A pop sounded after the hound withdrew, seed left to ooze with her feminine releases, which pooled below her round, red ass.

Without ceremony, another horny mutt took his place, firing his load deep inside the succubus. Then another mutt. And another, each one is lower ranked and mangier than the last. Determined to breed their bitch into complete submission, Bellatrix's skin was laced with claw marks that raked down her supple flesh, much like the ones she gave Alma. Slimy canine splooge settled and sloshed as it mixed in her uterus.

More howls of victory echoed throughout the cell walls. More unwanted cries of euphoria, despite bitter tears in the corners of her yellow eyes.

Some became impatient as one hellhound reared up on his hindlegs, his lower knot forced into her mouth and down her throat, while his second cock, warm and wet, slapped between her eyes and rubbed back and forth as his precum smeared over her sweaty features.

He barked when he came down her throat and across her face and black hair. She was forced to swallow down the salty, bitter spunk, more left to run down her features. Once he finished, another hound replaced him, their succubus bitch speared between hell beasts and battered about.

Cum dripped down Bellatrix as she almost choked on the next veiny cock pumped into her throat. After the dozenth one forced itself on her, she squirted across its furred balls, still a creature of base lust deep down, to the she-devil's humiliating dismay. Red knots impatiently slapped and rubbed her cheeks, the veiny, bony protrusions desperate to impale and fill her with puppies.

"Only a hundred more hounds tae go," murmured Alma at more packs of reddish hellhounds chained up and panting in wait to breed Bellatrix, already getting bored of this. Her eyes drifted to her fellow Vice Lord, sporting an erection from the depraved scene beneath his trousers. With a roll of her eyes, she said, “If ye want tae have a turn once they’re all finished, ye may.”

Douglas shook his head in disbelief. “R-really?! But Ah thought ye said-”

“If she won’t accept mah heart, then she can survive on yer spunk,” rebutted the vampiress, who proceeded to storm off. “She made her choice…”

The kelpie looked back at the dog pile of the triple-penetrated succubus with confliction, unsure whether he wanted the pack's sloppy seconds.

Bellatrix hacked and vomited up the latest load deposited down her throat, lacerated in paw marks across her breasts, back, hips, and buttocks. Her asshole and cunt were sore from repeated, constant use. Some of the hounds bit her neck and pulled her hair for a further display of dominance, a reminder she was their bottom bitch, a lowly vessel for their pleasure and pups.

Despite their defilement of the red-skinned succubus and how her belly rounded from an excess of cum at the constant ravishment, Bellatrix clung desperately to what little hope remained.

She would pay whatever penance was necessary for her selfish actions. So long as her friends prevailed in the end!

Fresh blood splashed about the spacious tub Esmeralda and Camellia reclined in, both denuded save for the latter's porcelain, bloody tear mask. They rested at both ends, face-to-face, and lazily splashed crimson's rich, sticky sweetness over their supple flesh.

Around the room stood rows of clockwork automaton maids that weren't destroyed in the attack, some in a full maid costume, others in various states of undress or naked, little more than perfectly sculpted marionettes for the vampire lovers to appreciate at their leisure.

"To think Bellatrix surrendered all this," mused Esmeralda in her posh voice. "Foolhardy, just like her sister!" She smeared blood across her bosom.

“For someone who wishes to become Queen of the Underworld, she's far too soft,” added Camellia, cradling one of the skulls floating in their crimson bath, taken from one of the ram warriors that dared invade their territory. She heaved a sigh. “I do miss our hunting nights…”

"I know, but look where we are now!" The smaller bat mare tittered. "We’re apex predators! What was our endgame supposed to be? We've hunted entire species of monsters to extinction! Seen and done almost all there is to do! We both know we're above the morality of mere commoners!"

"Don't forget how it used to be," reminded Camellia. "We were treated like animals. Lower than worm-infesting soil! It was easy for that old bastard Dhullex to capture me, make me his bride, mutilate my face whenever I tried to turn on the alchemist..." Her pale hands shook.

"I don’t think I could ever forget, as much as I want to.” Esmeralda frowned. “I was but a silly wench turned vampire huntress, determined to carry on my family's tradition. But instead of living up to their aspirations, I have been deemed a failure. None of them came to my rescue when the vampire alchemist captured and turned me too! I felt no remorse when he butchered them,” she said with dark amusement. “But had he not taken me, I never would have found you, love."

"Yes, you’re right. I suppose we owe the old bastard for that…” noted Camellia, her crimson eyes on the carved walls of their once beloved manor, now inhabited by an eldritch beast. “How fortunate for us that Beatrix helped us in taking Dhullex down. We might not have reclaimed our ‘Womb of Conception’ without her. Such a pity that childish witch never could understand us.”

Esmeralda swam over to her lover, between the more voluptuous thestral's spread, pale thighs. She giggled and wrapped her fingers around the white mask's straps, which she started to undo.

The usual haughtiness drained from Camellia's voice. "A-ahh! Please...no, Esmeralda. I-I-”

"I want to see all of you," encouraged the petite vampire, who removed the mask and set it aside. Her lover's face was bare, incredible, pallid beauty framed by a thick curtain of black hair, scarlet eyes, and lips...contrasted by crisscrossed, deep scars left by their master’s talons.

Camellia half-hid her face under her ankle-length mane. Her love and Alma were the only ones she'd usually let see her unclad face. Anyone else would have died at her hands, either from her elongated scarlet claws with a slight curve or the dark arts the sorceress thestral practiced. She stood taller than most women she'd encountered, a statuesque, voluptuous beauty.

By contrast, Esmeralda was more slender and, while taller than average, nowhere near reaching her partner's height. She had let her pink braids down, her similarly colored eyes alight with mirth and mischief. "Every part of you is beautiful to me. You're a lovely work of art, my beloved!"

Her nails scratched at the tub's side. "It’s just…hard to see past the scars of the past. The only solace I have in taking that old bastard’s surname is all the power and status that came with it!"

In the old days of another world now filled with clockwork machinery, she had been known as Carmilla Karnstein. And her partner went by Esmeralda Van Helsing from a long tradition of monster hunters. A thrill-seeker from an early age determined to make her mark on the world. That arrogance and recklessness had cost both women, tearing them from their everyday civilian lives, their comforts stolen away by violence.

All that training. The finest weapons and mastery of each. Anti-vampire arsenal, passed down by Esmeralda's monster slayer predecessors. All were rendered useless in an instant of confrontation.

For their ancient enemy hadn't been idle, either.

But at an opportune moment, both forced brides turned traitors on Dhullex Faustus, claimed his mansion, and became lovers. Their old lives buried, the pair had turned to the hunt of monsters for sport to ease their boredom.

"Bah! Ruminating our history again," hissed Esmeralda before kissing Camellia’s red lips, her wet flesh resting on her lover's breast. "Let it be."

"You too," replied Camellia, who returned her kiss. To lighten the mood, she changed the subject. "I do hope fear Bellatrix comes around to our mistress after her grueling punishment. It would be sinful to waste such supple flesh!”

"Maybe you and I can ‘encourage’ later?" The petite bat mare implied with fluttering lashes.

"Yuck! After hundreds of hellhounds have had their way with her? Not to mention whatever that nasty kelpie has in mind? I'd sooner bathe in the sun before I sully myself in their filthy man sludge," Camellia finalized with sheer contempt.

“Ahh, c’mon!” Esmeralda embraced her, pressed bosom-to-bosom. "We could reclaim the poor fool! Teach her how much fun she could have!”

“I suspect Alma’s blood is making you randier, my dear,” observed the scarred vampire thestral.

“Maybe a little~…” she giggled before slowly rising from the tub, using a towel to dry off the blood that lined her nubile physique. “In any case, I’ll go start Omen's punishment early. See whether I can make him crack from how appetizing I smell~!”

Camellia furrowed her brows. “Be careful around him,” she warned her lover. “The nightmare stag could still be dangerous, even with restraints.”

“Relax,” insisted Esmeralda, adjusting her frilly dress into place. “The moment something feels off, I’ll alert the guards. Don’t stay in too long, my sweet, or your fingers will dry up like raisins!”

With one last kiss, the peppy vampiress slipped towards the torture chamber, holding Omen. Yet despite the reservations, Camellia couldn't help but worry. She hadn't fallen asleep, yet the gray buck somehow knew her greatest fear.

Nonetheless, the more voluptuous vampiress sank further into the tub, wanting to relish her bloodbath a few minutes longer before joining her lover. Each time they drank from Alma, it further eroded whatever mercy and compassion were still left from their already amoral natures.

The world existed to serve them. Their personal wonderland, brought under heel by their hellish mistress, the Vice Lord Countess Alma!

Screams still resonated in the castle dungeons. Once the last hellhound finished using her fatigued body, Douglas swooped in for the taking. The kelpie quickly overpowered Bellatrix in this beaten state, far more robust than those infernal mutts that had torn up her holes.

A small tidal wave washed the spunk from her inflamed orifices and made the last hellhounds whimper, tails tucked when they bounded out.

"About fuckin' time! Been backed up fur too long!" Impatiently, he cast aside his clothes while he manhandled her.

Aware that if she pleaded or resisted, it would spur on the sadistic rapist further. Thus, the succubus went slack in his arms, her eyes vacant and distant while he molested her flesh and bludgeoned her thoroughly abused pussy, his size so massive she strained to take all of him.

"Ye outta thank me, slut," he chortled, the stink of brine heavy on his breath panting against her neck, fat leeches left to crawl across his barreled chest. "Succubi need dick in them tae survive, don't they? Or was it a big load ov cum fired down their gullet? Maybe a bit of both~!”

When she turned aside and refused to answer, Douglas sharply backhanded one of her pendulous tits. Bellatrix winced, nonetheless used to worse pain. Like when the Burning King ripped out her heart and would have killed her, almost crippled her for life, were it not for the manor's aid. The same eldritch beast that had betrayed them in their hour of need. Another sharp titty slap broke her reverie.

Grunts and snorts arose from Douglas' flared nostrils, fixated on smacking her bouncy titties and bit one while he fucked her raw, determined to drive some reaction from his docile prey.

He nipped on her nipple bud, distended the jiggling mound, kneaded the tip, pinched and pulled on it, and backhanded it. "Scream fur me, ye horny cunt! Let th' whole castle know who owns ye!"

Bellatrix muffled a cry from the tit punch when he pressed his lips on hers, but he dared not sink his tongue into her lest she tried to bite him. Still, the she-devil showed little fight, her thoughts on her own mistakes. At least she had saved Oona and Abadonna. She barely noticed how wet she was from the horse cock pummeling her insides, nor noticed wet squishes each time he impaled her.

Douglas sneered and sank one last time with such a brutish thrust he pierced beyond her cervix and battered the back of her slippery womb, where his tip flared, locked in place when he unloaded his salty seed. "Ahhh, there’s a good slut! Takin’ all that fuckin cum~!” Blast after blast impacted her core, still a slimy stew of soupy hellhound spunk.

To her chagrin, he was still unsatisfied when he withdrew his pulsating stallionhood, stained in mixed juices. For the next round, Douglas rolled the red-skinned woman onto her side to sodomize her, determined to claim every inch of her he could. Repeated, harsh spanks rained across her wide ass, beaten raw and redder than usual, her backdoor relentlessly brutalized.

He landed a smack across her ass. "Yeah, ye like that cock up yer ass, huh?! Fuckin' anal lovin' buttslut!"

Bellatrix drowned out every insult the water demon threw out while he ravished her asshole. Bitch. Slut. Whore. She'd heard it all before, her old fantasy as Queen of the Underworld distant.

Douglas fired his second volley into her bowels, popped free of her ruined asshole, and marked her with more cumshots that slapped across her body while she reclined and huffed on her side.

The Vice Lord yanked her silky, now messy black hair, pulling the drowsy succubus to her knees. His horsecock slapped across her face, between her eyes. "Suck me off, wench. An' if Ah feel teeth, A’ll gouge yer eyes out!" To punctuate his threat, he firmly pressed his thumbs over her eyelids.

Hastily, Bellatrix took his slime-coated cock into her mouth and slid down the shaft to the hilt until he lodged her throat. The taste of herself and his spunk still lingered. His hands fastened around her skull when he started to violently facefuck her; Bellatrix's saliva left to drip down testicles that slapped her chin each time he thrust harshly. Her cunt winked despite the circumstances as his cum oozed out her well-used holes, forced to inhale his masculine musk.

Douglas revealed in dominating her face hole, hissing out more insults under his breath. His hands tightened on her scalp and threaded her black mane. Finally, the water demon hosed down his last batch of semen directly into her belly, then whipped free to cum all over her messed-up face.

"Nice makeup,” he said while catching his breath, jerking off the thick loads that sprayed over his beaten prisoner. “Suits ye better than that dress ever did. Here, have a lil' more~!”

He came more than what seemed possible, painted the rest of her face and tits in his semen until he'd drained his balls completely. Then, the kelpie removed an ancient coin from his coat and bounced it off a heavy tit, which wobbled as the metal clinked on the floor with an echo. "More than ye're worth,” he cackled cruelly as he made his way out, slamming the doors shut.

Bellatrix slowly pulled her ravaged form up, praying the worst was over. At least for now. With her head bowed, the succubus used a basin of water to wash the semen from and off her, feeling the cool splash run down her sore curves, lost in a stupor while she cleansed herself.

She had been defiled by lowly beasts, her pride shattered, silent tears left to fall down her cheeks at how Alma ripped out what was left of her broken heart. Quietly, she sobbed to herself.

Grime and dankness surrounded Primadonna, who sank to her knees and sulked. Bite marks, scratches, and a few bruises adorned her naked red flesh. "At least I'm alone,” she lamented.

Bellatrix curled up into a fetal position, certain the countess ordered Douglas to show her no mercy, to make clear what kind of pain and humiliation remained in store after her refusal.

She slumped there a while, tempted to finally end it all. Her claws reached her throat, ready to rip it open and bleed herself out. Only thoughts of her loved ones, the feeling that she hadn't fully paid her debts, despite how much she'd already suffered under Alma's orders, stayed in her hand.

"I can't let it end like this," she told herself.

"You won’t," came a subdued, feminine voice. "Get up. You must endure whatever is thrown your way, or else Alma will truly win."

Bellatrix at first worried it was another of Alma's minions, maybe Esmeralda and Camellia come to further torment her, but somehow that melodic voice comforted her when she stirred weakly.

"Wh-who is there...?" She sat up weakly and wiped her face on the back of her hand. Golden eyes drew towards the fragmented mirror in her cell.

Within the reflection lies herself. Her angelic self that is. While darkness hid most of her features, moonlight highlights her curves, blonde curls, blue eyes, white plumage, and milky skin, confined in pale, transparent lingerie. The succubus also noticed the room reflected was not the dark dungeon but some sort of tranquil lake that reflected the black star-filled sky.

“I’m starting to hallucinate…” she muttered, her half-lidded eyes hazily focused on her double.

The holy apparition shook her head, curves clad in silky white to accentuate them. "I may seem like an illusion, but I can assure you; I am very much real. With how often the manor opens portals, it should come as no surprise something would slip through. I have been with you far longer than you can imagine, silently gathering strength for the moment I can come to your aid."

"Why do you care? No one else does..."

A light titter came from her angelic half. “Because, Bellatrix Primadonna, the end is not nigh. Your friends will never abandon you; surely, you have more faith in them than that! And you are never alone, for I have always been with you!”

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, not sure whether to believe this manifestation. Yet her heart swelled with unbroken hope that her friends would return for her triumphantly. Curiously, she took in her beautiful double and asked, “You claim you're not a hallucination born of delirium? Then who are you?!”

Her angelic double smiled and replied, “You already know me. I can’t stay like this, or your enemies will track me down. But know that the time for our reunion is fast approaching. And through the vile and filth, I will emerge a spectacle! You must survive this hell until then...!”

She pursed her lips. “Our reunion?”

“A mother can’t be away from her children too long…~” were her parting words before the reflection faded, revealing the red-skinned, clawed, and brutish demoness in the mirror.

Bellatrix clasped the ancient coin in her fist, her determination somewhat revigorated by her presence. She wouldn’t surrender until she could make full amends for all her mistakes!

Omen had been humming while awaiting his torturer's arrival. He lifted his head when the door opened, greeted by Esmeralda’s Cheshire grin. The room confining him was dingy green; a hanging lamp above was the only light source. She nodded to the gargoyles guarding the hallway, who closed the door. They would come in and apprehend the nightmare stag should anything suspicious happen. Though the petite vampiress didn’t intend for him to leave this room alive.

“Comfortable?” The bat mare asked sarcastically, slit pupils taking in his bruised limbs and scratches at the hands of Douglas. When met by his unamused state, she tittered, “Good! Because things are about to get very unpleasant~!”

Omen arched an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to find a Lolita in rag doll clothes intimidating?”

“Ooooooh~! Sassy tonight, aren’t we?” Esmeralda said, swaying about provokingly. “You must think you're so big and scary, huh, Mr. Nightmare Stag? Well, your tactics won’t work on me because I'm not afraid of anything! I’ve hunted and slain several monsters far more terrible than you!”

A stiff chuckle arose from his throat. “Everybody’s got something they're afraid of. It’s only a matter of time until I learn what lurks under your bed~.”

Her smile turned into a vicious scowl when she stomped her heel onto his stomach, getting a weak grunt out of the gray deerman. “Can’t do that when I’m awake… or so I thought! There’s no way you could have known Dhullex still terrorizes Camillia’s mind without her sleeping!” The thestral vampiress then demanded, “How did you do it!?”

A smile stretched the male cervine’s snout. “You’re familiar with my common moniker, but my reputation has earned me another title,” Omen explained. “The Seer of Black Dreams. Visions often come to me whenever I sleep, foretelling events that have yet to occur. But should I concentrate hard enough, they’ll sometimes give me a glimpse of other people's dreams. Such as a certain young woman being haunted by her old husband’s domestic abuse.”

Esmeralda shot him a toothy scowl. “So you used those breaks we afforded you to look into her past? Clever bastard…” she admitted bitterly.

“Dreams are often the windows to the mind, after all,” Omen stated. “Not to brag or anything, but I have a good read on people.”

Esmeralda kicked him hard in the stomach again, causing him to choke out blood. A twisted grin replaced the thestral’s frown. “How about that, huh? Did your little future sight predict I’d kick your shit in, you pretentious prick!?”

When Omen failed to retort, the petite vampire shoved him and the chair he was bound to onto the floor. She stood over him, hiking her skirt to reveal her lack of panties, a silver dagger fixed to her thigh by a garter belt. A pink patch adorned her muff, the mound adorned by a succulent slit.

Seating her nubile rump on the deer’s torso, Esmeralda said. “That psychic vision won’t be useful once you’re dead. Which is a shame because I really enjoyed your cooking. Played nicely, and I might have let you dine on an exquisite meal~” she scooted over to present her bare mound closer to Omen’s face, droplets of her juices staining his snout, making his nostrils flare. “That’s it, beast, breathe it all in! It’s the closest you’ll come to this sweet pussy. Alive, that is~!”

With an amused cackle, she lifted herself to slip out the knife strapped to her thigh. The petite bat mare sliced a bit of his cheek and ran her tongue along the bloody steel, savoring his warmth and taste as her honeypot soaked his face. “Mmm, scrumptious~! Camellia thinks your head will look nice mounted above the fireplace. But if you ask sweetly, I’ll make you my personal thrall. You can continue your existence crafting our meals and helping me sate my urges. A rare honor, as I don’t let just any man touch me~!”

Omen didn’t respond, his maroon eyes looking away. Infuriated, Esmeralda pressed her small body into his, holding her silver knife against the nightmare stag’s jugular, threatening to cut his neck open. Her eyes glowed, her face flustered as she reached back to stroke his cock with her free hand and growled, “Beg…. Go on! Beg! Beg me to spare your worthless life! Do it, or I’ll slit your throat here and now!”

She stroked him harder, yet the proclaimed ‘seer of black dreams’ didn’t give in to her demands, defying her with silence, even while precum drooled down the hand that rapidly rubbed up and down his rigid shaft.

Esmeralda raised her slender hips, lined up, and skewered herself on the beast's narrow cock with a whorish moan, the blade at his throat; while she started to ride him with such intensity, one of her handful-sized breasts popped free of her frilled dress.

Her hips rolled, and her skirt hiked up while she fucked and threatened her prey. "Naahahh~! Last chance, Omen! G-give into me or I'll..! I-I'll, mmmn~!"

It wasn't unusual to play with her prey, to have whatever she wanted, but he refused to take notice of a huntress that shamed herself.

With seething rage, she ran her dagger across Omen’s neck, blood gushing like a fountain. Then, grabbing his antlers while she continued to ride the beast, she pulled and ripped his head off the body, letting the crimson contents pour all over her while she noisily slurped and lapped.

In the throes of death, Omen fired off into her moist cunt, which squeezed around him when she squirted over his lap. She huffed and rode out her climax. Dropping the disembodied head, she gazed hatefully down at the deceased Nightmare Stag, spitting at his corpse while rubbing her mouth with a bloodied sleeve. "Stupid fool," she lamented with a hiss.

Esmeralda rose with a pop to free his cock from her, smoothed down her skirt, and placed her loose tit back in her top as she steadied herself and proceeded to make her way out of the room.

But when she twisted the handle, the door didn’t budge. She gave it a jerk, yet it refused to open.
“What the-hey! What’s the big idea?” She slapped her hand on the frame, addressing the stone sentinels that loomed outside. “Hello? I know you blockheads can hear me! Open this door!! Now!”

The lightbulb within the lamp began to flicker. Esmeralda tried yanking the damn thing off its hinges with her enhanced strength, yelling, “This isn’t funny! Let me out of here this instant!”

“ꄲꋪ ꅐꁝꋬ꓄?” A chilling voice spoke from behind, the sound making the vampire flinch. Her pupils shrank, breathing pitched when she slowly turned around, the silver knife back in hand.

The light was buzzing, glitching on and off like crazy. Omen’s decapitated head decayed rapidly, maggots wriggling around while they ate away his flesh, up to the bones. His body steadily stood upright on gangly limbs, growing in size with every sickening twist and crack. Black gunk oozed out the orifice of his neck, a twisted shadow cast about the dreary, confined interior.

Realization dawned on Emeralda, and panic began to settle in, making her attempts to open the door more frantic. “N-no, That’s impossible!” She said rejectingly. “I can’t be asleep! You're nothing but a terrible dream! This isn’t real! It isn’t real!!”

“꒐꓄’ꇙ ꋪꏂꋬ꒒,” rebutted Omen, his massive head reduced to its skull and jaws. Elongated fingers picked them up and placed them back on his neck. Malicious red orbs shimmer within the sockets. “꒐ ꁝꋬ꒦ꏂ ꄲ꓄ꁝꏂꋪ ꂵꏂ꓄ꁝꄲ꒯ꇙ ꓄ꄲ ꒐ꋊ꒯꒤ꉔꏂ ꇙ꒒ꏂꏂꉣ. ꋬ꒒꒒ ꒐ ꋊꏂꏂ꒯ꏂ꒯ ꅐꋬꇙ ꋬ ꂵꄲꂵꏂꋊ꓄ ꋬ꒒ꄲꋊꏂ ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝ ꌦꄲ꒤. ꋬꋊ꒯ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꍌꋬ꒦ꏂ ꒐꓄ ꓄ꄲ ꂵꏂ ꄲꋊ ꋬ ꇙ꒐꒒꒦ꏂꋪ ꉣ꒒ꋬ꓄ꏂꋪ~.”

The nightmare stag hunched over due to how small the room was, branch-like antlers scraping the ceiling as he slowly approached the terrified vampiress. Feebly, she slammed her head into the door frame to wake herself, crying out for her lover and mistress. “Somebody wake me up!!”

Clawed hands forcibly pulled Esmeralda off the exit, forcing her to confront the boogieman she unintentionally trapped herself with. The lamp flickered out completely, leaving the room in perpetual darkness, save for the monstrous cervine’s menacing gaze. “ꉔꄲꂵꏂ,” commanded Omen after his skull-like face peeled apart like flower petals, revealing a gaping void of endless teeth. An ominous red aura pulsated from the back of his throat. “ꍌ꒐꒦ꏂ ꒐ꋊ ꓄ꄲ ꊰꏂꋬꋪ. ꇙꁝꄲꅐ ꂵꏂ ꅐꁝꋬ꓄ ꒒꒐ꏂꇙ ꒤ꋊ꒯ꏂꋪꋊꏂꋬ꓄ꁝ!”

With a scream, Esmeralda managed to wriggle out of his grip and slammed her entire body into the door to finally break out of the room. The petite thestral spread her wings and made a break for it, not daring to look over her shoulder. “Camellia! Alma!” She called. “Omen’s escaped!”

But the further she flew, the more out of breath she felt. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and the vision in her pink eyes grew unfocused. Eventually, she collapsed to her knees, strain, and fatigue spreading throughout her slender limbs. “A-auuugh… what’s happening to me..?!” Esmeralda wheezed with a deeper voice, not her own.

Looking at her hands, she found the horrific answer. Her once fair skin now took on a corpse-like paleness, clinging to her bones like shriveled raisins. Her petite frame grew frailer and frailer, shaking uncontrollably. And running her hands through her mane showed that strains were falling out, pink hair rapidly becoming white.

Esmeralda let out a banshee-like wail, scuffling away while her clothes dragged due to her size being much shorter. A sickening crack forced the vampiress to arch her deteriorating spine. Then, she saw the feet of her lover and mistress, looking up at them frightfully. But they only looked down on her with repulsion.

“Yeeeugh! Who let this hag in mah castle?!” Alma sneered.

“She’s so ugly looking,” agreed Camellia. "Grotesque to match the worst monsters."

“N-no..!” Cried Esmeralda with a withered voice, reaching out for her black gown. “Camellia, it’s me!! The one you love-”

“Don’t touch me!” The voluptuous vampiress growled, tugging her dark dress away. “Filthy vermin! Remove this trash from my presence!”

“Could someone please collect th' old crone before she stinks up th' entire hallway?” The Baobhan Sith ordered, summoning two gargoyles to lift the age-ridden Esmeralda into their rocky arms and hoist the mummified crone away.

Though her eyesight dwindled, she spotted Omen at the castle entrance, a satisfied smile stretching his bony maw. “W-wait! Stop! He’s getting away!!” Esmeralda coughed weakly, pointing a shaky finger. The nightmare stag conjured some sort of artifact in his palm. An ancient-looking hourglass, black sand filling one end while the other half steadily emptied.

“꒐꓄ꇙ ꋬꇙ ꒐ ꇙꋬ꒐꒯,” Omen spoke to her without moving his mouth. “꒐꓄ ꅐꋬꇙ ꄲꋊ꒒ꌦ ꋬ ꂵꋬ꓄꓄ꏂꋪ ꄲꊰ ꓄꒐ꂵꏂ. ꒯ꄲꋊ'꓄ ꅐꄲꋪꋪꌦ, ꂵꌦ ꒯ꏂꋬꋪ. ꒐'꒒꒒ ꃳꏂ ꃳꋬꉔꀘ ꊰꄲꋪ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꇙꄲꄲꋊ ꏂꋊꄲ꒤ꍌꁝ.”

"N-no..! NOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"ꇙꏂꏂ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꒐ꋊ ꌦꄲ꒤ꋪ ꒯ꋪꏂꋬꂵꇙ~!" With a foreboding chuckle and a mocking wave 'goodbye,' the nightmare stag dissolved into black particles and drifted out of the castle, leaving Esmeralda alone to suffer in her nightmare, so brittle she all but crumbled to dust. Where she could do nothing but scream…

The mechanical coffin hissed phantasmal vapors after the lid creaked open. Triad blinked his eyes open, his nude musculature submerged in the cool black blood when he sat up. As he pulled himself out, it dawned on the black stallion that he somehow had arms. "They're back!? No..."

His new attachments were purely mechanical, no doubt the work of that demented plague doctor. The memory of their loss still lingered in his mind. Still, upon testing basic strikes and upper martial arts, the kitasan found his well-muscled arms moved much faster than before.

“A welcomed improvement, If I do say so myself!”

Triad shuddered at the digitized voice behind him. His head turns to see Varys approaching, carrying a sheathed katana. “I also took the liberty of enhancing your sword,” the Vice Lord added, tossing it to the stallion, who caught it instantly. “A blade is a samurai's soul, after all.”

"So the legends say," replied Triad as he slowly unsheathed the cutting instrument. The kanji-inscribed blade faintly glowed under the lights. His eyebrow quirked. “Infused with magic? You surprise me, Varys. I was always under the impression that the arcane was beneath you.”

“It has its uses, even in the field of science and engineering,” the bionic devil admitted, pulling out the skin-layered cover of the Necronomicon. “For all its temptation and evil, this tome has given me the knowledge to make my dream a reality. Years of calculation, experiments, and building will all be worth the many I’ve sacrificed!”

The swordsman did his best not to express how repulsive he found Varys’ proclamation. And his suspicions about the Vice Lord’s ‘side project’ only escalated. Clearing his throat, he bitterly complimented, “Nonetheless, I can’t deny that these augmentations are more than adequate.”

The avian-faced scientist chuckled as he pointed towards a conveyor belt transporting many malfunctioning biomechanical zombies into a squared-off room. “I have a few automatons scheduled to be scrapped and recycled. Why don’t you test the blade in there? You’ll also find a new suit tailored to your specifications.”

“And where are you headed?”

“I still need to patch up Penny Dreadful before your master arrives,” answered Varys, already walking away. “Won’t be able to properly counter the demi-humans without the aid of my-.”

“I have to ask,” the black stallion interrupted as he examined the arcane katana. “What is your obsession with the demi-humans, anyway?”

That question made the Varys pause, turning his neck slightly to peer at Triad through the visors of his mask. “Tell me…do you believe in god?”

Triad blinked perplexedly. “No, not particularly…”

“And why is that?”

He shrugged when replying, “The idea of worshiping a faceless deity whose existence remains dubious sounds redundant. Religion is all but dead in the cyberpunk world I come from.”

“It is fascinating,” the cyber demon mused. “Not enough substantial evidence exists, yet you’d be surprised how badly people cling to the idea of a higher power that can fix their imperfections.”

Triad’s frown deepened, not liking where this discussion was headed. “Do you believe in god?”

“As a matter of fact, I’ve met him,” corrected Varys. “I was once a disciple to a celestial being of unearthly origins. He blessed those who followed his word with divine wisdom and power. I was heavily sick at the time, kept alive by insufficient medicine. I believed that by singing his praises and giving him my faith, he would ‘fix’ my body. Bless me with sacred immunity from the cancer slowly eating away my lungs and heart.”

The black stallion noted his talon hand tightened into a fist, trembling from the memory. “As you’d imagine, that did not happen. I soon learned that the ‘benevolent’ idol I worshipped wasn’t even a god at all! No more than a cruel alien Shepard masquerading as a deity to ensure all the sheep in his flock don't stray far. No one was going to help me. I would have died withered and alone if I hadn’t found solace in machinery's perfection.”

Varys looked down at his palms, admiring the little details of the plating and circuitry. “These hands have ruined countless lives in trying to save my own. Had I kept any semblance of humanity, all the death and sacrifice I’ve wrought would have taken its toll on my mind…” He squeezed his mechanized hands together again. “…but I’m so close now! The perfected blend of flesh and machinery is within my grasp..!”

Triad continued to observe with utter disdain, unmoved by the cyber demon’s dilemma. He found Varys no different from the people responsible for his life in captivity. This vile monster deserved not a single ounce of sympathy or woe! “Tell me, what does this have to do with Zeloph and the other Demi-humans?”

Varys looked back to the kitasan swordsman and resumed his spiel. “Not long after the loss of paradise, the Divine Father set a plan in motion. The rise of superior beings meant to surpass mankind. Those chosen would become demi-human and erase all traces of Terrans and their inherent free will through fornication and massacre. Metatron sought to bring humanity to the brink of extinction. And he would have succeeded…were it not for two miscalculations.”

“Zeloph and Anarchia…”

The Vice Lord nodded. “Unlike the other disciples, who bought into his lies, I was always observant and investigated how those two came to be. That’s when I discovered the truth; a descendant of Lilith was responsible for spawning the neon demon, while an unnamed angel gave birth to the future fallen one. Both would eventually prove to be the Divine Father’s undoing.” He scoffed and said with a slightly spiteful tone, “Serves him right. In his arrogance, he allowed half-human hybrids to foil his plan. He denied me health and immortality. But in the end, he left me with the means to achieve our next step in evolution..!”

Triad took a moment to let this information sink in. And upon deducing what the mechanized scientist was getting at, he gasped and declared, “…so you intend to replicate that plan! That’s why you need to collect the demi-humans!!”

“Precisely,” affirmed the plague doctor, smiling behind his mask. “Through the Necronomicon’s magic and my biomechanical science, I will liberate their souls and put them into perfect technorganic bodies! No longer will anyone fear the fragilities of disease, age, and pain. A brand new sapient race, with me as its paragon! And I will finally be spared from life’s greatest restraint… death itself!”

“So you are trying to become god,” accused Triad, gripping the handle of his magic katana. “But you’re an even bigger fool than this ‘Metatron.’ Now that I know what you’re up to, my master and I will nip this nefarious plot in the bud!”

“Spare me, your insignificant squabble,” dejected Varys, waving off his spiteful threat with a spiked metal tail. “Both you, Quicksilver, and Mortis are not long for this world. I suggest you use your time wisely and keep to your master, like the hapless lapdog you are. Because after you've finally expired? I’m taking my technology back…”

Kitasan glared coldly as the plague doctor vanished into the thick steam of his facility. Triad went the opposite direction, already deciding to gain further insight into Varys’ project. Even the tiniest tidbit of information could prove vital for his master to help foil the Vice Lord!

Triad wandered the factory, where rows of conveyor belts rolled their treads and machinery quaked in metallic slams. Sparks popped, blowtorches hissed, and machinery was configured by mechanical hands on an assembly line. Turrets connected to cameras lined the industrial corridors. He saw the marked room where Varys indicated, but before Triad entered, he opted to explore deeper, despite his assumption the cameras constantly tracked his movements.

"A dojo. Of course…" It was an exact replica of his old abode on a boat. The one Kitsune and Wispy Willow infiltrated, where a party was thrown at his domain, and the kunoichis assassinated him. He'd dueled Kitsune's blade, and it cost him his head. He rubbed his neck at the painful memory.

"Mortis saved me," he reminded himself. "Resurrected me when my former benefactors sacrificed me." Inky splotches made up of kanji sprawled across the sliding doors. Clockwork automatons, constructed to resemble the geishas that once served as his lovers and bodyguards, filled the interior. Kimonos were draped over their artificial curvature while they giggled. They danced around him in a sea of silk, some of their faces hidden beneath fox-like white masks...like they were there to remind him of his executioner.

“Varys has a terrible sense of humor,” the black stallion snorted with a flare of his nostrils.

“Actually, this was all my doing,” a warm voice told him. Triad spotted Penny’s tulpa, Professor Kilroy, standing in the corner in a button-up white lab coat. Round spectacles shrouded the bald stallion's eyes, his light smile enhanced by a trim beard that made the old horse appear friendly. “I hope you don’t mind the customization, son! I’d hate to offend you.”

“You haven’t,” insisted Triad as he approached. “But listen! It’s not safe here for you and Penny!”

“Really now,” the tulpa mused, his meaty hands resting deep in his pockets. “Do tell!”

"Varys is using you," he warned. "After he's mined all your knowledge about clockwork technology, he won’t hesitate to dispose of you. Or worse…he'll change you into something else!”

“Ha! That’s mad Scientology 101, my boy,” hooted the bald stallion.

“I’m being serious! He’s been harvesting souls for something he calls ‘Project: Nephilim!’ I just finished listening to him go on a mad tirade about an extinction plan! We have to stop him! Otherwise, who will protect your 'daughter' then?"

"Who, indeed?" Kilroy said as his smile disappeared. He looked around the dojo to ensure no one was within earshot before whispering, "Can I count on you to save her, son?"

Triad furrowed his brow. "Me!?"

“I never trusted that depraved psychopath for a second,” the professor began hastily explaining. “But my poor daughter doesn’t know any better; so enticed by the fancier gadgets and gizmos Varys has shown her. Ooh, I fear his methods to supplant Penny as we speak!”

“All the more reason to shut him down,” urged Triad quietly. “Is there some way we can sneak past all the cameras and turrets?”

“As it turns out, I can manipulate some devices due to being made from his technology!” Pressing his fingers to his temple, he focused on the camera system. The blinking light of their receptors temporarily went offline before reactivating. “There! I’ve momentarily blocked his feed so we can feed it fake footage. But that won’t fool his A.I. for long, so we'd best hurry before his suspicions are aroused!" The professor clicked his fingers, and the clockwork geishas shrieked like banshees when they leaped into action, with various weapons hidden under their silk kimonos drawn with a metallic swish.

Triad hadn't even had time to claim his new pin-striped suit, his inscribed katana raised to block a blade that slashed at him. While he carved a path across the dozens of marionettes that poured from behind the revolving wooden doors, the cut-down dolls often stripped naked under his precise strokes, he noted their anatomically-correct forms were almost indistinguishable from the women that died the night he had when the kunoichi assassins attacked. Likewise, broken masks fell aside to reveal coldly debonair faces.

His glowing sword arced, his cybernetically-enhanced reflexes enabling him to dodge the hail of shuriken and kunai lobbed in his direction. The stylized blades embedded into the walls with a thunk, the heads, and limbs of broken dolls removed in an instant under his precise strokes.

Kilroy mused, "Remarkable, aren't they? But I have no lurid interests in them. Not anymore…”

“How come?”

The tulpa looked away, a glint of shame in his eye. “I used to imagine a world where technology and mortality thrived as one, much like Varys. But instead of bio-fusion, I theorized brain surgery was the way to do it! Transfer them into dolls shaped to one's chosen specifications! Penny Dreadful, my masterpiece, was supposed to make that possible! But like me, she was 'slain' by Esmeralda and Camellia when they teamed up with that meddlesome Beatrix Belladonna!"

Triad beheaded a denuded doll and then yelled, “No wonder your daughter was so easily drawn to Varys. You're both complete lunatics!”

"Consider this paying for my mistakes; by ensuring Varys doesn’t win!" he assured him calmly. "You may not show it, but it’s obvious that you have some affection for my daughter. I understand you're both on borrowed time. But if there is one thing I wish I could mend, it is that Penny’s last moments be at peace! Please, Triad! You’re my only hope...!”

"I...I will do what I can," swore Triad, as he diced into the last line of marionettes dancing around him, stripped marionettes toppled like dominos.

"Time's up!" At the same time the black stallion finished the final automaton, Kilroy directly sent coordinates into his brain through a device on his person. "Get dressed, my friend. We must make haste before Varys uncovers my diversion!"

"At least I’ll get a decent workout," noted Triad, whose lean flesh was a sheen of sweat. Resheathing his blade, he got dressed in his black pin-striped suit. He wondered whether this zombie body could mimic this function due to Mortis' sorcery. Marionettes were piled around the dojo, some of the lovely geishas fully intact and others reduced to cogs and gears. Undoubtedly, the heaps of scrap would soon be further broken down and recycled into advanced weaponry.

Tailed by Professor Kilroy, Triad followed the coordinates out of the dojo. While the swordsman needed to be quick in reaching his destination, he also needed to look natural, lest he raises suspicion from Varys’ security system. He couldn’t afford such an interruption to his tour, so he made it appear he 'stumbled' on whatever awaited. Thankfully as a former politician, he was used to casual displays of confidence and maintained his firm stride.

The duo ventured deeper into the factory; it wouldn't have been difficult for his augmented senses to pick up an unusual but familiar energy field. Triad tracked the source to a vast room below, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

There, beneath the end of the conveyor belt, was a massive vat containing soul essence. Rotating robot arms stirred the chemical liquids, various hues and colors shimmering while they churned the futuristic cauldron. The Vice Lord must have collected over a thousand souls!

“Wait,” Kilroy said, pointing at the vat. “There’s something at the bottom! Can you see it?”

Triad narrowed his gaze, leaping down to get a better view. He peered into the pool of souls, the ripples hiding a large, murky oval shape object. “I think it’s… an egg?”

“What in the world?” The tulpa blinked to ground level, surveying the cylinder-shaped container. “Oh, here! There’s a computer!”

Triad jumped down while the older bald stallion hacked through the security measures to gain excess to the mainframe. Once clearance was granted, vital signatures and a diagram of the egg popped up. The outer shell was inorganic, yet fleshly veins pulsated around the base. An infrared scan highlighted the developing lifeform from within, absorbing the soul essence for nutrients, like an artificial womb.

“PROJECT: Nephilim,” Professor Kilroy read. “Soul acquisition: Achieved. Incubation status: Stable. Estimated Time of Emergence: Thirty-two minutes and sixteen… fifteen seconds! My word-!”

“Of course! Varys mentioned the demi-humans were strongest when naturally made,” recalled Triad. “So instead of infecting everything with a technorganic virus, like he tried with my world…”

“… He’s going to repopulate with a species that’s purely biomechanical!” Kilroy speculated uneasily. “His methods are unsanitary, but by golly, is he getting results!” Noticing a section labeled [Bio Material], the tulpa mumbled excitedly, “Hmm… let’s see what this monstrosity is made of!”

Clicking on it brought up a new window, binary code rapidly running down the screen. Then, images of creatures popped up with estimated percentages of genetic code taken. “That’s quite the collection of animal samples. Amphibian…Reptilian... Avian…and-Oh! It appears he used two different mammalians as parent agents. I wonder who-!” He gasped, his face completely pale when he clicked on the file for further details.

Triad was equally disturbed, eyes pinpoint. “No..!”

Two depictions were of a male demi-human and an anthropomorphized equine mare; their percentages evening out to fifty percent organic matter. “T-there’s no denying it,” the professor stammered. “That DNA sample is likely Belladonna’s! And should this monster possess her arcane prowess, it will inherit her… h-her-”

“We cannot allow that egg to hatch!” proclaimed Triad when he drew out his enchanted katana. “Quickly! Find a way to drain the vat, so I can-”

A faint female scream that would have been undetectable to normal ears pricked at the black stallion. A bout of suspicion momentarily wondered if the intertwined souls screamed at him. But another elated screech made him realize… "Penny!” he exclaimed before hurrying off to find the source of her exhaustive cries.

“W-wait! What about the-“

But before Kilroy could react, the screen glitched into a vibrant red and yellowish green pupil staring down the tulpa. “Source of infiltration: Detected,” announced I.V.O’s artificial voice. “Subject: Professor Benedict Kilroy. Observation: The subject has threatened the full completion of PROJECT: Nephilim. Commencing with immediate termination.”

Attack drones descended from the rafters, cannons flipping out to lock on their target, tiny red lasers pointing at his head. “Oh, bullocks!” He cursed, blinking away to avoid the blast.

Sirens began to wail, the red lights pulsating in rhythm. Fortunately, Triad had managed to find the room those screams were coming from before the noise started. And upon his arrival, he was greeted with the absolute last thing he expected to see. The black stallion always knew Varys was fucked up. But he failed to comprehend how fucked up he truly was!

The plague doctor had Penny Dreadful suspended from the ceiling by wires and mechanical arms, her limbs dismantled from her naked torso and abdomen. A line opened between her breasts, leading down her belly and ending right above her mound, exposing her clockwork chest cavity, innards, and sex organs.

The griffoness cackled and sobbed hysterically, her crazed eyes hazy and tear-stricken. Tubes attached to her neck suggested the Vice Lord pumped her bloodstream full of drugs to numb the excruciating pain she was feeling. Her head swayed, unable to understand what was happening to her, laughter mixed with her wails.

Varys took out one gear, studying it for a second before replacing it with one made by his tech. He ran his fingers over her delicate insides, fondling her frantically beating heart. “Quite an unusual form of craftsmanship,” he noted. “Everything is so delicately placed, so there isn’t any risk of an external puncture! Kilroy’s foundations of clockwork tech are nothing short of remarkable. But I shall further enhance them!”

His claw extended to lightly prick into Penny’s uterus, causing her to screech deliriously. The cyber demon injected a small dosage to transmute the griffon’s vagina, which he thrust a phallic-shaped object repeatedly into in a steady, harsh rhythm.

Triad’s stomach turned, hand grasping his snout to hold back the bile rising up his throat. It didn’t help that Penny’s screams kept alternating between bliss and agony while the bionic devil cruelly manipulated her sensory system.

What made this defilement worse was that it wasn’t done out of ego or passion, like how Natural Selection casually boasted about dominating mares he took as trophies. There was no arousal, zero sounds of sadistic pleasure emitted as Varys violated the griffoness’s pussy with his prop. Just cold, morbid fascination.

It made Triad wonder if the zebra princesses from earlier were forced to go through this process before their horrific conversion…

Finally, after what felt like hours, Varys pulled out the tool from her stretched cunt and gave the trembling clockwork assassin a moment of reprieve. Penny whimpered and breathed shakingly while he analyzed his bludgeoning tool, covered with teeth-shaped dents. “Hmm, an interesting response. Wouldn’t you say… Triad?”

The swordsman stiffened upon the vile villain, casually acknowledging him, and immediately rushed into action. He leaped over to the control panel and split it in a shower of sparks. The chains dropped Penny Dreadful's pieces, which flopped onto the floor, making her squawk.

Triad lunged for the Vice Lord’s head… only to find his body halting when he held out his hand. The black stallion snarled with disdain, yet his newly implanted cybernetics kept him from attacking their maker. "Damn...you...!"

“This is getting irksome,” the plague doctor sighed, twisting his palm to force Triad to his knees like his body was being weighed down by a giant magnet. “When will you learn to show your superiors respect?”

“You are not my master!” spat the swordsman, his brown eyes narrowed. “You’re just a sick freak pretending to be a doctor! I know what you're planning. And when Mortis finds out, he and I will end you for all your atrocities against nature!”

The cyber demon chuckled in amusement. “Perhaps I was being too considerate with your augmentations. Clearly, I should have reformatted your brain when I was working on your arms. Would have saved me the unnecessary drama of your disobedience!”

Weighed down, he proclaimed, "You can twist me into any amalgamation you want, but I will always have my spirit! And it will never be broken!”

"Hmph! You overestimate your value. But don’t worry; you’ll understand your place," promised Varys as he extended a syringe-like talon, pointing it at Kitasan’s forehead. Triad held his defiant glare, breath hitched when he felt the metal beginning to pierce into his skull until…

“Warning! Spatial breach detected!” I.V.O’s voice spoke through the intercom. “Interdimensional travel: Incoming!”

“I’m out of time,” scowled Varys, retracting his claws. His vermillion visors glared back at the swordsman. “It doesn’t matter. We will be parting ways shortly.” Releasing Triad from his ferromagnetic hold, Varys stepped away from the room while his sentry turrets and drones were hunting for Kilroy’s unique energy signature.

Putting away his sword, the black stallion raced towards Penny and collected her severed pieces. He struggled to put her arms, legs, and wings back into place on her nude body. But thankfully, with a bit of work, the parts snapped in quickly enough, like the clockwork woman was made to be disassembled and reassembled at will.

He caressed her cheek and felt the downy turquoise feathers that padded her soft skin. If he were faster, maybe he could have gotten to her before… Sluggish murmurs arose from her beak, the griffoness stirring. "Penny? Penny, wake up!”

"Uuungh…?" Her eyes swam back into focus, groaning. "Everything hurts!" Her chest cavity closed, perky breasts lifting and falling with each strained breath. "O-ohh, Triad!”

“I’m right here,” he comforted, smiling slightly.

“Oohhmm, my hero~,” Penny purred before pecking him on the cheek. When he helped her to her feet, she teetered before leaning on her partner for support. “Guess my limbs haven’t fully synced up yet. But gagh! I had the most bloody awful dream! It was that monster Varys, h-he-”

“Shhhh,” hushed Triad, petting her feathery back. “We can discuss that later. Right now, there are more pertinent matters we must tend to!”

She held a hand to cover her head, the alarms and lights blaring loudly. “Aaagh!? What’s happened here? And where’s father!?”

“It’s Varys. He’s-”

Before he could explain, something bursted through the wall with sickly green flames. Varys crashed into the control panel while the walls collapsed, revealing the pair’s deathly master, swatted in tattered black robes, hovering towards them. Three pairs of eyes peered through the vapor as a serpentine shape lumbered through the portal, with Quicksilver not too far behind.

Triad stared in astonishment. “Is that a dragon!?”

“Blimey! Sucker has three heads,” Penny praised.

“Our latest acquisition proved very fruitful,” the lich elaborated, whose ghastly gaze remained fixated on the vile plague doctor while Varys shakily rose from the destroyed circuitry.

“He’s called Andrei,” introduced Quicksilver, a rifle held ready, decked in a duster. “Apparently, he was a real menace in life.” The skeletal hydra snorted, discolored steam pouring out his maws.

Mortis announced, “And he shall be a loyal servant in death. Unlike you, Varys…”

The Vice Lord patted the embers smoldering his green cloak before addressing the undead unicorn. “So, I’ve been found out. And here I thought you were just a pile of bitter bones.”

“I know a treacherous soul when I see one,” proclaimed Mortis, pointing a skeletal finger accusingly at the cyber demon from his tattered black shroud. “The only reason you still stand is your expertise in combating the demi-humans. But I no longer require your services. Henceforth, our partnership is terminated!”

Varys smiled behind his vulture-esque visage. “Couldn’t have said it any better myself!”

He reached out for Penny and Triad, activating the subroutines he installed in their cybernetics to place them under his control. Like unwilling marionettes, they awkwardly stood before their master and the gunslinger, struggling to regain bodily functions while they were overridden.

“Bastard!” Declared Quicksilver, aiming at the bionic devil and firing a round. Yet thanks to the hypersensitive parasyte implanted in his spine, Varys dodged with little effort. He used Triad to deflect the next shot with his enchanted katana.

The swordsman demanded, “Release us!”

“M-master! Daddy!! Help me!” cried the griffoness, protruding her feather missiles at the cloaked wraith despite her desperation to resist him.

“Is your vendetta worth your minion’s unholy lives, Mortis?” The Vice Lord asked cruelly. “Surely, you don’t need them now that you have a dragon to do your bidding? Leave my laboratory, and I will grant them swift freedom.”

“Don’t listen to him, master,” pleaded Triad. “Destroy us if you must! We exist only to serve you! But do not let this mad demon live to-”

“Quiet, lap dog!” Varys snapped, cybernetically commanding his arms to press the sharp blade against his neck. Glancing back at Mortis, his expression unreadable, he restated, “What will it be, revenant? Vengeance or comradery?” He then coyly added, “Show them you’re not above using their souls to slake your appetite. Just. Like. Her.”

Deathly magic flared in the skeletal unicorn’s hands and horns, preparing to obliterate the dastardly doctor for having the gall to compare himself to the hated betrayer, Shadow Scythe.

Suddenly, Varys let out a pained screech, back bending at an unnatural angle before he dropped forward with a sickening cracking sound. Behind him was Professor Kilroy, fingers on his head to telepathically tamper with the scientist's systems.

Triad and Pennydread could once again move freely and drop their guard. The clockwork assassin exclaimed, “Way to put it to him, daddy~!!” The nude bird woman punched the air.

“How did you bypass the parasyte?” wondered the black stallion.

“From what I witnessed, it only responds to physical movement,” the tulpa explained when he floated to their side. “I thought that if I kept my distance or if Varys was distracted, I could hack into the parasyte without setting it off. Thank the stars, my hypothesis proved correct!”

“You’re a brilliant man,” praised Triad.

The bald stallion chuckled. “I may come from an older era, but there are plenty of common practices I’m certain thugs like Varys wouldn’t waste time understanding. Such as how arcane magic, when imbued correctly, can also interfere with even the most advanced tech available!”

“You’ve done well, professor,” said Mortis. “I always knew you’d be a vital asset when the time came. But as for you, Varys…” he directed Andrei forward, the dragon emanating a low growl when ghoulish light flickered within his trio of throats. “…your time is up!”

Struggling to pull himself back up as they closed in, Varys hunched over the railing, exhaling erratically. “You forget… whose house you're in! I.V.O! Initiate protocol: Deathwarden!”

“Acknowledged. Eliminating all undead and incorporeal lifeforms!”

At his psychic command, the factory began to rumble loudly. Machinery shifted into overdrive, the conveyor belts rotating at a brisk pace. Mechanical arms with saw blades lowered from the ceiling as dozens of more aerial drones soared toward Mortis and his zombie minions.

Andrei shielded the undead trio with his armored scaled hide while Mortis erected a barrier, his bone horn alight. The floor they stood on jerked as the platform began lifting. Everyone jumped off, but the three-headed dragon couldn’t take off in time. He released fiery roars as his body was pinned to the ceiling, left to thrash and spit fire while his tail lashed violently about.

Bedlam ensued once the entire facility came to life. Sentry turrets on tripod legs crawled across the steelwork walls. Automatons marched toward their deathly signatures, armed with plasma weapons. Triad, Penny Dreadful, and Quicksilver launched into the attack while Mortis melted the metallic abominations from afar.

Spent shells bounced across the iron platform, ruby lasers hissed through the air, and cones of fire scorched steel into molten puddles. Triad conjured his tattoo-shaped familiars, a dragon and tiger, to aid him in cutting down every robot and cyborg running at him. Penny fired feather missiles at the aerial drones, each plummeting into the hellish abyss below. Kilroy did his best to support them but found there were far too many mechanized units to hack.

Eventually, Varys recovered enough to call a few drones to support him, lifting his crooked body into the air. Quicksilver noticed this and shouted, “No, you don't!” Taking aim, he shot one flying robot, then the other, watching the screeching Vice Lord hit a couple of railings on the way down. "Take that, you damn buzzard!"

As more automatons flooded the chambers to aid their master, Triad carved in halves a drone and yelled, “After him! We’ll cover the rest!”

The gunslinger led the reaper down to where Varys fell while ducking from the spinning buzz saws overhead. Triad's blade shined with an eerie, phantasmal wisp. Penny's eyes darted between everyone, uncertain what to make of this standoff-turned-violence, hands poised on her feathered hips. "Triad dear, be careful!"

"Look after yourself!" Triad silently ordered the tattoo phantoms to protect the clockwork lady.

While the two cyber assassins were locked in combat, the tulpa professor focused on lowering the platform, trapping Andrei, lowering it just enough for the undead drake to squirm free. Wings unfurled, he took flight and began incinerating the place with ghostly flames, the atmosphere corroded by smoke and sulfur.

At ground level, Varys limped his way over to the soul vat. While he managed to straighten his fractured spine enough to walk, the bionic plague doctor suffered greatly from the fall. Pieces of his steel-plated body were broken, sparkling wires loose, his joints struggling to stay together. His mask had been compromised, the beak severed to his panting chapped mouth, brittle teeth on blackened gums exposed. Decrepit pale hair spilled over his features, one of the visor lenses missing to reveal a lone, glassy pale eye. Each forced, tired step threatened to prove his last.

“Warning: Chemical radiation levels ri-ri-ri-rising-rising,” his A.I. warned him through glitching speech. “Syyyyyystems failing. Proposal: e-e-evacuuuuuuate the premises at o-o-o-once!”

“No,” the cyber demon wheezed, his raspy voice filtered with digitization. His tail used to help support him. “Must protect… PROJECT: Nephilim!”

When Quicksilver and Mortis arrived, they found their adversary leaning against the glass container, muttering a string of words neither could understand. It almost sounded… latin.

“End of the line,” stated the elderly stallion, who aimed his rifle. Even when the Vice Lord summoned a shield to block the high-powered bullets, the magical construct, made of silver, still managed to penetrate the weakened defenses. Blood and oil erupted from the cyber demon, yet he strained to keep himself upright. Another round dislocated his shoulder, but the mad scientist still persisted, coughing out his insides when a hail of bullets released in rapid-fire.

“Just fucking die already, you idget!” Quicksilver bellowed irritably, unloading two more rounds until Varys finally collapsed onto the floor, his bloody hand leaving a trail on the steel container.

Guillotine-like, rust-colored scythe in his bony hand, the wraith looked over the dying cyber demon, watching the life slowly leave his disheveled body. But to his bewilderment, the reaper felt no presence of a soul for him to collect. Not even a tiny fragment!

“Varys... What were you really?” the lich wondered out loud.

“Master,” Triad yelled when he, Penny, Andrei, and Kilroy descended from the chaos behind them. “There’s an egg buried inside, assimilating those stolen souls! You have to destroy that vat!”

“An egg?” Questioned Penny Dreadful. “Shouldn’t we harness it? Maybe it could be useful for our-”

“No,” the lich rejected calmly. “I don’t want any part of that traitor surviving.” Turning his attention to the dracolich, he commanded, “Andrei. Drink it dry and replenish your strength.”

The trio of heads loomed over the vat and thirstily dove into the multi-colored liquids, swallowing the essence with thick gulps. Slowly, the container drained until every drop was depleted. Invigorated energy washed over the mighty dragon, and his power increased ten-fold when a renewed furnace burned in his belly.

“Now raze this entire place to ashes!”

After that, the tri-headed monster rose to carry out his task; the lich launched a wave of black magic to make the vat explode, fire and smoke enveloping the metallic egg inside. A blaze crackled and smoked about the immolated ovum.

Mortis turned to the black stallion, resting a cold, bony palm on his toned shoulder. “You have shown me unfettered loyalty, Kitasan. It will not go underappreciated. I swear you will be eternally rewarded when my revenge is complete.”

“Thank you, master,” Triad said humbly, his head bowed in reverence as the pillar of fire burned.

Casting his hollow gaze at the griffoness, the lich added, “You’re free to come with us and help fulfill my vendetta, should you still wish.”

“Yes, please! Get me out of this place. I’m dying to try out my new upgrades on Beatrix and her sorry friends~!” Penny hooted maliciously.

“Then the time has come to end Atalanta and Zeloph! Once and for all!” Declared Mortis, his bony fist tightened. Under the galvanized Andrei’s rampage, the whole factory began to implode, metal pieces and machinery falling off their hinges as putrid green, vermillion flames ate at the iron interior. Triad also figured that, as a result of Varys’ demise, the tech that empowered Zebrica would be dampened in its effectiveness.

Mortis opened his ghastly rift and passed through, followed by Quicksilver. Penny looked around, noticing Professor Kilroy’s absence. “Daddy? Where’d you run off to!? Dad!”

“We can’t stay here, Penny! This whole place is about to blow!” urged Triad, tugging on her feathered arm as the nude woman pulled away.

“But what about my dear father!?”

“I’m sure he’ll pop up later. Now c’mon!”

"And our coffins...?"

"I'm sure our master has an alternative in mind! He's obviously far more powerful than before!"

Reluctantly, the clockwork griffoness followed her partner through the portal as Andrei finished his immolation and sailed through. The portal shimmered for a moment before it died away.

Kilroy watched them leave, his hands in his pockets. Without the Varys’ aid, he doubted the others' belief in him was strong enough to maintain the tulpa...yet he had no regrets. "Take care of my dear daughter, boy." A smile crossed his face when the ceiling caved in with a crash, his old body crushed and buried under the fiery beams that rained down in a thunderous thud.

Alarms died when the iron facility finally collapsed. Hours passed before the fires burned away across the ruins. Smoke continued to rise from the wrecked factory, pieces of seared metal shards cast across the barren rocks with finality.

It wouldn’t be long until scouts from the Zebrican Empire would notice and investigate the wreckage, as their machines started to lose control without the network to aid their tech.

Yet within the smoldering rubble, against all likelihood, stood the biomechanical egg, unharmed by the flames and explosions alike.

And with a slight twitch, cracks began to form on the outer shell under a hellish blood-red sky.

Heartsong (A Juke Box Musical!)

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For once, the foreboding storm clouds no longer blackened the skies, allowing sunlight to touch the landscape below. While this moment of respite would no doubt be fleeting, everyone was appreciative.

Everyone was hard at work in rebuilding the monastery. Abbess Julianne offered encouraging instructions to her followers, simply to be mindful of strange new visitors pitching in. This was primarily directed at Arron, who grumbled to himself while doing most of the heavy lifting.

Eclipsed Heart finished stacking her third brick wall before taking a short break, sighing, and wiping off some perspiration. Her arms strained, unused to doing this much physical labor. But the end results would be worth it, she felt.

The pop princess smiled, thanking a couple of nuns for assistance. Though that smile soured since not everyone was doing their part. Eclipsed spotted Seb slacking off again, far more invested in balancing his house of cards. His pinstripe suit was restored thanks to Ana's clothing spell, albeit with emerald green threads. As if to further cement what a greedy bastard he was.

With puffed cheeks, Eclipsed marched up to the tacky gambler and grabbed his attention by knocking his stacked structure with her tail, much to the demi’s annoyance.

Hands-on her hips, the diva ranted, “I understand you’ve never worked an honest day in your life. But we're never gonna get this done with you slowing us down!”

“Pft. Like you would know anything about real work,” scoffed Seb, whose magical cards reassembled into a deck for him to tuck into his breast pocket. “You were practically given your life of luxury, you privileged brat. You’ve only built, like, what? Two walls? Compared to the average construction worker, that’s nothing!”

“Well, unlike you, I’m at least willing to get my hands dirty,” huffed Eclipsed.

“I'm competent so long as I get something worth my time. Which, by the way, ain’t gonna be from doin’ no ‘charity work.’” He bent his fingers at the quotations.

“Figures,” the pop idol sneered, folding her arms. “Good to know we agree that you're a lost cause. Why the mother superior thinks she can redeem a selfish murderer is beyond me!”

“Ugh, again, with the murderer prejudice… You do realize your closest friends were assassins, right? They were literally made to ‘86 people for profit!”

“Hey, we were forced into that lifestyle,” interrupted Wispy Willow, who had been eavesdropping from a distance. “How dare you proclaim our lives are similar, you worthless scumbag!”

“Ohoh! So I’m worthless now, eh? So why are you both spending your time and energy hating on me~?” Seb asked amusingly.

Growling, the nekomata scooped dirt between her split striped tail and tossed a dust cloud at the pinstriped devil. However, Seb pulled out his infamous ‘NO U’ card that returned the attack back at Wispy, making her cough and wave it away with eyes squeezed shut.

Eclipsed deepened her glare at the snickering bandana-wearing demon. “The sooner we finish this, the sooner we’ll be rid of you…”

“And how do you plan on doin’ that?” The gambling demi-human questioned, slime-green eyes mirroring her hateful gaze. “Call on Cerise Silhouette’s aid the minute you finally meet up? Or have you forgotten the probability that whoever proves the stronger personality will absorb the other’s existence?”

“N-no, you’re wrong,” Eclipsed spat back. "That won't ever happen!"

“Yeah, don’t let him rile you up,” hissed Wispy, her fur on end. Though it was evident, the bastard managed to get under her skin. While it was true she and her sister, Kitsune, had claimed many lives, the two-tailed tigress mentally justified that they didn’t have a choice! “Fuckin’ Once-ler lookin’ ass…”

“What’s all the commotion?” the angelic voice of Julianne called out as she waltzed towards the group. “There is still plenty of work to be done!”

Wispy pointed accusingly at the pinstriped devil and proclaimed, “He’s refusing to cooperate!”

“Hey, I don’t appreciate being bullied while I collect my bearings,” he brushed off while adjusting his coat collars. “You really oughta learn how to let the past be!”

“You don’t get to say that!!” Eclipsed snapped, unable to hold in her contempt. “You brainwashed and raped Sassy Saddles and Coco Pommel! And thanks to your alliance with ex-President Spike, he almost did the same to Mezzo Soprano! Oh, not to mention you shot Riptide Ruth with a rifle and caused lots of people to be killed! You are beyond redemption, Seb! And I won’t allow you to sweep everything you’ve done under the rug!”

The rosy-haired nun gingerly placed her hands on the idol’s shoulders, alleviating her anger with her joyous touch. “You are justified in not wanting to forgive him,” she said. “He’s quite the remorseless scoundrel. But even he deserves a chance to start anew. If you’re still willing to change..?”

Seb found himself unable to meet Julianne’s big ruby eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “Y-you still haven’t coughed up the goods yet, toots!”

“And you have yet to show me initiative,” the nun countered, smiling widely when his face visibly flustered. “Besides, you all need to get into the spirit! See, even Shadow Scythe and Arron are hard at work~!”

She pointed at the pair tending to the main church walls, the reaper using her aura to lift heavy stones while Arron stretched his muscles to do the same. Zeloph was busy repairing the roof tiles above, whereas Chisana used a spade to rub cement between the cracks.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” grumbled Wispy. “… Hey, wait a minute! Where’s Moxxi?”

"Uh, up 'ere!" Almost caught napping, the little imp innocently whistled as she vanished in a puff of smoke, simply to reappear with a hard hat and pick ax in hand.

The tigress snickered before joining her friend in rebuilding the west wall. Julianne tittered when she looked back at Seb, who, after a moment, sighed with resignation and removed his coat.

“… Whatever you’ve got planned better be worth it!” He threatened, only for the nun’s smile to brighten. The gambler grumbled to himself while heading towards the mares repairing the eastern wall.

Eclipsed Heart sulked, her fury washed away by melancholy. “Sorry about the outburst,” she sniffled. “I just can’t stand that guy! He’s a menace!”

“I believe Cerise felt the same way when she was asked to align with Zeloph and Shadow Scythe,” Julianne said, recalling both testimonies. “Remember, they weren’t virtuous like they are now. In fact, their body count combined likely eclipses that of Seb's. Oh! Pun not intended!”

The pop idol scrunched her snout.

“My point being! If they can be given another chance, surely Seb can be persuaded into straying from the path he’s chosen. When it comes to a life of crime, there’s always a reason behind why they do it.”

“I… suppose,” Eclipsed murmured, though she was still unconvinced anyone that despicable could be rehabilitated.

“Don’t concern yourself with Seb. Just leave him to me,” Julianne assured with a wink. Then, clapping her hands together, she said, “Now! I think we could use a little music! And from what I’ve heard from Wispy, you have the most beautiful voice in your universe! How about it, Eclipsed? Care to weave a duet with me~?" The music note markings on her cheeks glimmered with yellow light.

Eclipsed felt her cheeks burn from the compliment. "Well, not sure I'm the 'best,' but I'd love to!"

The pop diva accepted the abbess’s hand as she gently whispered which song to sing. Taking a moment to recollect the lyrics, Eclipsed opened the first verse song with a soft, childlike voice, whereas Julianne sang the next with her more mature melody.

Everyone paused their actions as their attention was drawn to the soothing sounds the singers crooned. Even Seb and Arron pulled away from their stupor to briefly admire the euphoric beauty gracing their ears.

After the second chorus, Julianna unfurled her wings to gently lift herself and Eclipse into the air. Her Onoma was activated to unleash a sound wave that washed over their audience with a sense of jubilation and hope.

Upon the third chorus, the nuns lent their voices to harmonize with the lovely singing. And they floated back down to the ground when the last lyrics were sung. There was a round of applause and whistles as the two vocalists took a bow.

Shadow Scythe gently clapped her hands, albeit concerned with how helpful their performance was in preparing for Mortis’ impending attack. Zeloph felt the same, gazing down at the two male demi-humans. Arron quickly shook off the feelings and went back to muttering under his breath. Seb at least gave a slow clap before resuming his efforts in restoring the monastery. Tensions had been significantly unwinded for the time being.

A tugging of her outfit pulled Wispy’s attention to the little tanuki girl, an excited smile on her face.

“Watashi to kite,” Chisana urged before guiding the nekomata aside. In a small clearing, away from the woods and construction, the raccoon dog opened one of her palms to form a phantasmal orb of green yokai energy. She then proceeds to ride on top of it around in circles, giggling childishly.

“Wow… you make it look so easy,” Wispy said, a bit discouraged as she had never once practiced magic.

“Kantandesu!” she insisted, demonstrating again with two additional yokai balls she juggled between her hands.

"Er...okay." Wispy took a deep exhale to concentrate, trying to get into a state of complete awareness. From feeling her body and mind as one being to the magic resonating within the land, which had been extinct in her world for a time until Beatrix and Oona helped revive it. Oddly enough, Julianne and Eclipsed's beautiful song helped sharpen her focus to a still point.

A flicker appeared in her palm as she tried to channel the energy through her arm. With each attempt, the flicker lasted slightly longer. Her teeth clenched, face contorting with frustration.

“Tachidomaru na!” the tanuki said encouragingly.

Wispy hissed louder, sweat pouring down her brow. This wasn’t working. She was too uncomfortable making the meditative approach!

So instead, the forked-tail tigress allowed her instincts to take over with a roar. And the moment she surrendered all vexations, she launched a sizeable blue sphere, the twin yellowish trails intertwining.

Chisana yelped and ducked right as the orb dissolved into wisps. Wispy stared in astonishment between her paw and where the yokai ball had diminished.

"I...I did it?”

She tried again, and the energy sphere came out much more naturally. Her slit pupils circulated as she balanced it between her twin tails, laughing triumphantly.

“I did it! Hell yeah!" Wispy exclaimed, raising her arms in victory. While this yokai magic wasn’t near the same level as her plasma balls, she realized they would improve with time!

Grinning ear to ear, she scooped Chisana into a big hug. “Thank you so much!”

“Heehee! Watashi wa sugoidesu~!” the little raccoon dog replied, cheekily burying her face into the tigress’ bust.

“Yaaagh! H-hey, easy with the grabby hands, you little horn dog! We’ve gotta get back to work!” the nekomata reminded while trying to pry the tanuki off her breasts.

“Totemo ōkiku, totemo yawarakai…” Chisana pouted but went along hand in hand as the two yokai returned to work.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Arron to get fed up with this arrangement. The burly demi-human practically dropped the bricks with an angry snarl. “Nah! That’s it, I’m done!” He declared. “This is so stupid!”

“Aww, c’mon,” Zeloph answered, flying down to meet the brawler. “We’re not even halfway there! Don’t tell me you’re gonna tap out early~?”

“Can it twink!” Arron spat, his eyes narrowed behind his shades. “You promised me a rematch! Not this boring construction work where I have to put up with this pansy-ass bullshit! I break down walls, not put them back up!”

“Look, man. There’s more to life than just fighting everything you see. You could be using those glorious muscles for something greater!” The false idol smiled and traced a finger along his arms. “With arms this big, you could do ten times the work of any man~!”

“… I mean, they are pretty glorious, aren’t they~” the golden demi chuckled, flexing one arm to marvel at his sculpted biceps. “Built these bad boys from the ground up. No rest. All drive. One hundred percent grind-”

Arron then did a double take upon realizing what Zell was doing. “HEY! You’re just saying that to weasel your way out of our fight!”

“Don’t look too shocked,” the demi snarked.

“Well, that’s not how this works, twink! Either face me man to man, or you and these saps face Mortimer or whatever the fuck his name is alone!” The bullish demon snorted and stomped away toward the woods. “You’ve got three minutes to get your ass over here, or I’m leaving!”

Zeloph grimaced as the burly demi-human disappeared into the forest, punching the tree branches out his way. Looks like he wasn't getting out of this one.

“Let him go,” urged Shadow Scythe, taking his hand into hers. “We don’t need him! We’re more than capable of handling Mortis and his goons ourselves.”

But the angelic demi-human shook his head. “…No, we need all the help we can get. Who knows how powerful he’s become since we last fought! Besides, I did agree to a rematch. I should be honoring my word.”

“…Okay,” the reaper mare said reluctantly, her lips pursed. “But I’m killing him if he fractures a single bone in your body!”

Chuckling, Zeloph placed a chaste kiss on his lover’s forehead, minding her broken horn. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to land a single punch on me,” he swore before soaring after his cranky opponent.

“Awww, look at you, bein' the big protective girlfriend,” Moxxi playfully teased when she poofed behind her shoulder, cartoon hearts fluttering around. “You’ve gone sof, lov~!”

Atalanta rolled her icy blue eyes. “What is it now, Mox? We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

“Oh, I was just tinkin' you an' I should 'ave a good ol fashion catfight,” she answered, punching the air with fisticuffs. “Can’t let the boys 'ave all the fun~!”

The pale mare stared at the mischievous imp with an arched eyebrow. “You wish to spar with me? I’m not sure that’s a good idea… we just patched things up, didn’t we?”

“Yea, but as you said: death lurks at every cawner! An' I 'aven’' 'ad a proper chance to shah off me abilities. Although judgin' by 'ah you apprehended Smiley, you’ve got some new tricks ov your Jack Jones, aye?”

“Y-yes, but-”

“Then c’mon! Shah me wot you’ve got, edgie! Awer are you fearin' I’ll kick your scrawny lil’ aris into next week~?” she taunted playfully.

Shadow Scythe furrowed her brows and called upon her signature sickle. “Alright, Imp. If that’s how you’re gonna play, then we’ll play. But don’t cry to your brother when I’ve handed you your lashings!”

“Ooh, I knah you didn’t just threaten me with a good time~!” Ana retorted cheekily before shifting to her natural form. A leather mini dress tightly clung to her curvature, the skirt barely able to cover her fat derrière. Stylish fishnets concealed the valley of her breasts, connecting to a collar around the demoness’ neck.

Shadow Scythe felt her cheeks flourish faintly, unable to deny that her pending sister-in-law was equal parts intimidating and alluring. As the pair walked towards a separate area, she self-consciously ran a hand over her own petite rump.

Ana spotted this and assuringly said, “I was jestin’, lov! You’ve got a great ass~!”

The unicorn let out a short yelp when the succubus gave her bum a pat. Still, she did her best to keep her cool edge while venturing through the woods.

Seb took a seat to catch his breath, removing his feathered hat to run a cloth over his forehead. That’s when he noticed that the others had left construction to handle their affairs.

“Oh, that’s rich,” he muttered crossly. “Everyone else gets to abandon this stupid gig at the first opportunity. But when I do it, I get my head chewed off! This is why I never do charity work! Nothing profitable!”

“It’s true you gain nothing monetarily,” interjected Julianne, who sat beside him. “But through generosity, you acquire something even money can’t buy!”

Seb leered skeptically at the rosy-haired nun. “And that’s..?”

“Joy,” she beamed. “Pure and genuine. Good for your soul!”

“Ohh, please,” groaned the card demon. “I sold that a long time ago. Well, before Metatron cursed me with alien juice.”

“Oh?” Julianna tilted her head curiously. “May I ask what you traded it for? And was it worth it?”

“Well… not exactly, I-” But he fought him from speaking further and instead chortled, waving his finger. “Oohoho! You clever minx. You almost got me there~!”

“Whatever do you mean?” the angelic demi asked, her smile innocent.

“Don’t play coy with me! You think that by having me spill about my past, I’ll slowly realize what a terrible life I’ve lived and that I should make amends. Yeah, nice try, toots!”

“Oh, I couldn't care less about what you’ve done in the past,” Julianne giggled, instantly crushing his bravado. “I was just wondering~.”

“Wh-wha!? B-but I thought you… I-I was-drrrh! Enough dodging, angel cakes! Are you gonna tell me why I’m putting up with this crap or not?!”

“Hmmm,” she purred thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a finger. “I could tell you, but… wouldn’t it be more interesting if you played me for your reward~?”

“Oh, so that’s where we’re going with this, huh? You drag me into this morality lesson, wave some nameless ‘reward’ like a dog treat, and then have me rebuild your fancy brick house. And then when I want to know what the hell it even is, you play fucking keep away? What is this, kindergarten?!”

Seb rose up, tipped his hat atop his head, grabbed his coat, and proceeded to match off. “Nah, fuck this shit; I’m outta here!”

“Not even for a game of Liar’s Dice?”

The demon instantly froze and returned his vivid gaze to Julianne, who produced a teacup in her lap. His brow quicked. “… You do know what Liar’s Dice is, right?”

“Your specialty,” confirmed Julianne, her smile unfettered. “A game where the players bet on the amount of dice rolled within the cup.”

“That’s a toned-down version of it, but yeah. How did a righteous dame like you come across Liar's Dice?”

The abbess answered, “On the contrary, I’ve played it~.”

“As in… for money!?”

When Julianna didn’t offer an answer other than her perpetual smile, Seb plopped back down in his seat, a little more than curious. Fishing into his pockets, the gambler conjured five black dice with red spots indicating the numbers. “Alright, doll, I’ll bite. Name your stacks!”

“There will be only one game,” Julianne clarified. “Whoever names the most accurate number of dies within this cup wins. If the winner is me, then you will continue to contribute to my cause without complaints and teach Zeloph everything you know about the secrets of Mikael’s Crucible!”

“Oh, great. More heroic labor?” the demon grunted. Then, with a begrudging sigh, he replied, “Fine, I accept. Now what’s in it for me if I win this bet?”

A blush bloomed when she said, “Should you win, I'll do anything you ask.”

Seb’s eyes widened slightly, a sharp gleam in his green pupils. “…anything?”

She nodded and closed her eyes. “My measurements are exactly thirty-five, twenty-two, and thirty-six inches each,” she offered to further entice the deal. “I do not masturbate, nor have I had sex with anyone.”

That got his tail tingling, its lone eye rolling from the amount of shaking. The gambler was already undressing the nun with his lecherous gaze.

“Huh. A woman of virtue offering up her purity. That’s something you don’t see everyday~!” Seb snickered underneath his bandana.

The holy songstress fluttered her eyelids open. “I should warn you. I’ve bet my chastity several times before…” Her smile stretched with confidence. “…and have remained untouched~!”

“Heh! Quite a dangerous game to play against a natural-born gambler, Julianne. Don’t you know it’ll only make my victory taste all the sweeter~?” the pinstriped devil flirted back huskily, dropping his dice into her cup. “Alright, sugar lips. Let’s play~!”

Nodding, Julianne sealed the top with her hand and shook it around to shuffle the dice within. She flipped the cup down onto a rock and called, “Three sixes!”

Seb was taken aback by how quickly the nun proclaimed her prediction. He had to admit, it was pretty ballsy. Then again, her virginity was on the line, so she might have panicked when calling out that considerable amount.

Unless she somehow already knew which side the dies all faced..?

His slime-green eyes narrowed in concentration. No, It wouldn’t be like her to cheat. Julianne was too honest. Hell, she just gave away her measurements! Then was this all done to psych him out? Preparing him for a crushing defeat.

“Your call~!”

His determined glare deepened on the cup, estimating the likelihood of what numbers would appear underneath. Seb prided himself as a world-class gambler. And not knowing the odds only fueled his high-risk, high-reward play style. By the end of the day, the card demon would either embarrass himself or add this beautiful virgin to his collection of romps. The thought of claiming her untouched flesh for himself made his tail rattle more.

The gambler clenched his fist before declaring, “Three fives!”

But Seb’s composure crumbled when the nun lifted the cup to reveal the results. Two sixes, one four, one five, and one. Since ones were added to the lowest denominator, that would add a second five to the count. But then that means both their guesses were one die short, resulting in…

“A draw!?”

“It would appear so,” observed Julianne, who exhaled seemingly in relief.

“N-no! We gotta go again!”

The abbess shook her head as she stood up. “One game was the agreement.”

“But there wasn’t a winner!”

“Nor was there a loser,” the seraphic nun countered. “You should count yourself lucky. Now, excuse me. I have some business to attend to down in the ville.”

“Wha-hang on a second!” Seb jumped from his seat, fumbling to put on his stylish coat jacket. “We just played for nothing, which is arguably worse than losing! How are you not bothered by this?!”

“Well, look at it this way! I avoided losing my chastity, and you avoided work you consider beneath your pay grade. So, in a way, we both win!”

“But that’s hardly satisfying,” argued Seb. “I wouldn’t mind the work if it wasn’t so tedious! No, there’s gotta be a better way to settle this!”

Once more, Julianne thoughtfully hummed before reaching a conclusion. “Tell you what. Why don’t you accompany me to the villa for the rest of the day? Would that suffice?”

The pinstriped devil scowled behind his facial covering. “… I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” the demi-human chirped, taking his claw into her hands and holding it to her chest. “You’ll be spending ample time with me! You can even think of it as a date! Isn’t that worth something~?”

Seb didn’t answer, his bandanna hiding half his glowing blush.

Julianne tittered, releasing his hand. “Don’t take too long to decide, Sebastian! It’s rude to keep a lady waiting~!” With that said, the merry demi-human waltzed towards the stone steps while humming the melody she and Eclipsed had sung earlier.

All Seb could do was stare at her, utterly bewildered by the mother superior. “… Man. I don’t know what’s more bizarre. Her antics, or the fact that I’m falling for them!”

He surveyed the construction behind him, spotting Wispy, Chisana, and Eclipsed hard at work finishing the west and east walls of the monastery. The pop star noticed his gawking and glared appropriately.

The gambling demon brushed off the stern look with a shrug. “Well, at least it beats stacking bricks all day. And who knows… maybe it’ll be fun~!”

Seb smoothly strutted his way to the head nun’s side and offered his arm, which she coiled around while descending the steps. Eclipsed shook her head while glancing around the area, finding most of her allies had gone off too!

“Where did everyone go?” She wondered out loud.

Near the monument of Lilith and Metatron, the pitch-black sphere of the neon void suppressed the sounds of spells casting and steel clashing within. Shadow Scythe took a bit to adjust to the strange gravity, leaving her on the defense of Anarchia’s strikes.

The neon demon would lash out as if a piece of the night was given claws. And each time, the reaper mare deflected with spectral sickles or fired back with her shadow-infused weapon.

Ana swiftly ducked from a crossbow bolt that nearly grazed her, replying, “Damn, you’ve upped your arsenal game! Always took you as someone committed to metaphor.”

“I’ve mastered almost every way to use a scythe,” replied Atalanta. “Figured I’d return to my roots as a monster hunter.”

“I detect familial motivations~,” Ana cooed as she cloaked herself in dark matter.

“When I took the name ‘Shadow Scythe,’ I severed all ties with my parents,” the pale unicorn reminded while keeping on guard. “It brought death to my mother and condemned my father to be Mortis’ puppet. If I’m to save him and fully redeem myself, I can no longer be associated with that name.”

“I feel that,” the demi’s voice reverberated. “Anarchia’s a stupid name! I'm pretty sure Metatron aw whoever gave birth to me named me that out ov spite!”

“For what it’s worth, ‘Diana’ is a more flattering name. Wouldn’t even have to stop calling you Ana!”

“Mmmm! Nah that’s a good name. There’s jus' one small ting…”

The crescent-horned succubus struck from behind, delivering a swift kick to the back of Shadow Scythe’s head. The mare grunted, falling forward.

“… Doesn’t 'ave enough Moxxi~!”

The reaper groaned, pushing herself up to narrow her icy gaze at the cheeky succubus.

“C’mon, edgie! Don’t tell me that’s the best you’ve got?” Ana playfully taunted, looking at her claws with slightly more interest. Her tail even stuck its tongue out of its maw. “You used to be stone taters! One ov the baddest bitches to cross Beatrix! Nah you’re just sad…”

The reaper mare scoffed as she pulled herself back up. “Don’t mistake my softness as weakness, imp. The only reason I haven’t killed you is because it would break Zeloph’s heart. I call that mercy.”

“Pft! Sure, sure,” the neon demon snarked.

“And in case you’ve forgotten…” It was Shadow Scythe’s turn to smirk. “… You’re not the only one who can use darkness as cover~!”

Raising her sickle, the unicorn mare vanished into the darkness, mindful of the void she was breaching. Now Ana was on high alert, her head and tail shifting to every corner.

“Hooh!” The neon succubus crowed, trying to sense where her adversary was within her perimeter. “So you tink the night’s your ally? 'ate to break it to you, lov, but I was bawn in the starless black. You merely adopted it because it looked cool-HAHH!”

Ana whipped her tail to snap its flytrap-shaped maw… only tasting nothing.

“Fuck! Could 'ave sworn she was-BWAAAHH?!”

Spectral chains shot from every corner, seizing her wrists, ankles, and tail before hoisting her up. Ana snarled, wriggling to break free while her confines stretched her limbs. Shadow Scythe reappeared behind her, holding the edge of her sickle to the demoness’ throat.

“Checkmate,” the reaper proclaimed smugly.

But, in typical Ana fashion, she gave an elated titter and said in a suggestive tone, “If ya wanted to play that kind ov game wit me, all ya 'ad to do was ask~!”

Atalanta gave a slight noise of vexation. “At this point, I’m not even surprised…”

“'Ey! You were the one who decided tyin' me up like we’re in a sex dungeon was the way to go,” the neon demon stated. “You knew what you were gettin' into. Da quesshun is… does Zelly knah you wanna be his dominatrix~?”

The mare’s face instantly turned red, and she stammered. “Wh-what?! I-I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

But Ana wasn’t letting up, a naughty smile spreading her painted lips. “Ooh, yes, you do! Girl, ya love bein' in control! An' what better way to keep a 'old ov your man than to 'ang a chain around 'is throat? Shackle 'im wrist to wrist so 'e can’t do anytin' but watch as you claim every part ov 'im faw yourself~?”

Shameful as she was to admit it, Shadow Scythe felt her loins stir from the enticing words and mental images that accompanied them. Of course, she also wouldn’t mind being on the receiving end either, aware of how commanding her partner could be…

Ana took the moment of distraction to break loose from the shadowy binds. But instead of commencing in further combat, she settled behind the reaper to rub her hands over her shoulders.

“Vanilla is sweet but can get stale over time,” she continued in a husky whisper. “I say go faw it! 'e won't say no if 'e loves you, an' I knah 'e does. Maybe a bit shockin' at first, but that’s part ov the fun!”

“I… suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask,” she considered.

Atalanta’s thoughts drifted back to their previous conversation, her hand running over her slim stomach. She understood Zell’s desire to start a family after his grievance with Beatrix and Abadonna. But it was too dangerous for her to conceive children. If she was ever injured and had to regenerate with a baby inside…

Ana noticed the reaper’s lip quiver and sensed her sadness. With pursed lips, the demoness gingerly suggested, “Y’know… There's a good chance Zelly an' I aren’t related, given the recent knowledge about Lilith an' the lilium. An' my body is likely compatible…”

Immediately understanding where this was going, Shadow Scythe shot back a tearful glare and coldly muttered, “You really know how to rile me up…”

“I-I know what it sounds like,” Ana acknowledged. “An'… yeah, it’s a wee bit selfish on my end. But I think it would be beneficial! You both get a bundle ov joy to raise, an' I finally scratch that itch in my snatch! An' we’re even closer than befawe! Everyone wins!”

But the reaper mare jerked away from the succubus, her expression drawn in melancholy. “I don’t win from this, Ana! Do you think I don’t want to give Zell the child he wishes? He is my lover—my future husband! I’m supposed to provide him with kids. But the moment I get pregnant, it becomes a death sentence!”

“That’s why I was suggestin'-”

“Imagine if I did agree to this idea,” she cuts off. “Say I allowed you to surrogate for us and give permission for you and Zeloph to elope. Would you truly be satisfied? Could you even hold off from any sexual contact until labor?”

“Wha-O-Ov course I would!”

“How do you know that?” Atalanta questioned with furrowed brows. “Have you even tried going more than a month without teasing or enticing sex from people!?”

The neon demon opened her mouth to retort but failed to produce a sound. When she couldn’t respond, the unicorn mare sighed heavily. “Look, Ana. I know you mean well. And I appreciate the thought. But I can't go through with it. I want my love to be happy, but not at the cost of him having my child with another woman…”

“I… I understand,” Ana said softly, head down. “I’m sorry.”

Shadow Scythe shook her head and turned to leave. “Don’t be,” she assured. “If anything, I’m more upset with myself than I am with you…”

When the reaper mare exited the neon void, Anarchia sat on a bench as stormy thoughts began to brew in her head.

Did she really have what it takes to let go of her lust-filled desires? Did she even want to let them go?

Evidence suggested the demoness couldn’t. After all, she tried to justify having her brother’s baby at the expense of Atalanta’s inability to bear children.

She was promiscuous by nature. Sinful by design. Ana lived and breathed ecstasy. And no amount of curating from Zeloph or self-disciplinary lessons from Bellatrix could ever fix her passion.

As memories of her earlier encounters with the would-be fallen one settled, she sang her woes through song. Of the many times she lied about getting over her habits just to fall back into them.

Ana lifted herself up during the chorus, doing a slow sensual dance with herself.

She weaved an imaginary life with Zeloph as her lover. If they had never known about being siblings or anything, where they just had each other, it would have been perfect… right?

But as the crescent-horned succubus sang into the next chorus, she accepted the truth.

Not even the warmth of Zell’s love would be enough to set her straight. That was another excuse she used to neglect her fear of being alone.

But she wasn’t alone. Nor was she unloved. The impish demi-human had gained comradery and friends through her wild antics!

She was the only one who could save herself from this bottomless pit of emptiness. And it first started with letting go of this fantasy that she and Zeloph should be together. She had to accept that it would have never worked out. Not then. Not now

The neon void dissolved as she concluded her song and dance number, and the real world returned. Her claws bawled into a determined fist as she marched back towards the monastery.

Ana would exercise her demons. No matter how many times it would take, she would make things right. For her friends and for herself!

Zeloph felt his shoulders tense at seeing his adversary deadlifting a tree he likely tore from the ground. Most would probably walk the other way, but the angelic alien didn’t have that luxury. So, sucking in air through his nose and exhaling out his mouth, he made his presence known by stepping forward.

Arron ceased his makeshift workout upon spotting his opponent and threw his barky dumbbell onto the ground, creating a thunderous thud. Cracking the joints out of his neck, he turned and flashed a toothy grin.

“Well, well, well… look who finally decided to be a man!”

“You made it quite clear there was nothing I could say to talk you out of this,” replied Zell, who placed the Vorpal Blade against a tree. When he took a stance, he said, “So just to be clear. No matter who wins this dispute, I can count on your aid against Mortis?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the brawler brushed off with disinterest as he squared up. “But I’d be more concerned about keeping your coat on, boy. Cause you’re about to catch these hands~!”

“Noted,” Zeloph retorted dryly.

Arron bounced on his feet before rushing at his opponent with a battle cry. But in a literal flash, Zeloph evaded the incoming blow by shrinking to his cherub shape. The burly demon’s smile quickly disappeared.

“What the hell is this?!”

“Your fight,” Zell responded with a sly grin. “Go on, hit me!”

“Nu-uh! I asked for a serious fight!”

“Oh, I’m taking this very seriously,” the false idol insisted, throwing fisticuffs that landed across his cheek. Arron swung at the pesky cherub, snarling, only to hit another tree. “Yaaaow!!”

“Aww, what’s wrong,” teased Zell. “Can’t hit someone a quarter your size~?”

The golden demon took another wild swing and missed, the angelic demi a lot more agile in his puny form. Each time Arron tried to connect a punch, he either hit air or brushed his knuckles against more trees.

“You fucking cocksucker! Quit stalling and fight me!!”

“What are you talking about? I am fighting you!” Zeloph declared, avoiding another fast fist to land a light jab to Arron’s neck. While his attacks did little to no damage, he succeeded in annoying the burly demi, who swung a back fist to hit another branch, splitting it into splinters.

This would keep going for quite a while, Arron extorting all his energy to knock Zeloph’s lights out. But the tiny demi-human gave him no chance at landing a single hint, determined to tire his bullheaded opponent.

And it seemed to work as he ducked under another branch that the brawler smashed his way through with heavy pants. Beads of sweat poured down his forehead and musculature. “You can’t… huff… keep dodging me forever! All I need is one clean blow, and I’ll break you in half… aaargh!!”

This was also true. For all his buzzing around, Zeloph was also starting to feel fatigued. His heart was practically pumping out of his chest. Still, he had to keep it up until Arron was too exhausted to-

The cherub yelped when his burly adversary chucked a tree stump, barely able to roll over the swirling projectile.

“Gaaagh! Damnit,” cursed Arron, slamming a fist into the ground.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Zeloph called from above. “You’re destroying half the forest!”

“Fuck these trees!” The wrestler spat. “And fuck you, you coward!!”

“But what do you hope to gain from fighting me? That you're a superstar? No one’s gonna doubt that! Look at you; you’re a monster truck on legs!”

"No! It’s not enough that I fight you,” he growled, lifting a nearby boulder over his shoulders, muscles bulging angrily. “I have to beat you! I’m the strongest there is! Ain’t no one gonna be better than me!!”

“… who are you trying to prove?”

This question made Arron pause from throwing another stump at the airborne angel. “What was that, twink?”

“I can tell by how you’re looking at me,” Zell examined. “I’m not the one you’re trying to convince with this whole machismo pandering. Who drilled this idea that winning was the only solution to your problems?”

He tensed up when the golden demon prepared to chuck the tree in his hands. But, to his surprise, Arron released his grip as the stump dropped to the ground.

The larger demi-human gazed down his hands, bruised and scratched up from wrestling all those trees. Teardrops stained his palm as his bravado slowly cracked. “… Forget it. What’s the point anymore?”

He sat down and turned his body away from the concerned cherub, who glided down and retook his whole figure. He reached out to touch him but reconsidered his approach.

“Are… you okay?”

“What do you care, twink?” a depressed Arron responded. “You don’t want to fight me, so why even bother? Just leave me alone…”

Cerulean eyes narrowed as Zeloph got in front of Arron. “You’re right! I don’t want to fight you,” he stated. “Because it does nothing for me! I don’t get what’s so important about fighting everything you see! Or why your self-image is so valuable!” He then took one of the brawler’s massive hands into his own. “But I can see that something about this makes you miserable. And deep down, you know all that gold and adoration won’t fill that void, will it?”

The burly demi turned his face away, refusing to answer.

“C’mon, Arron, work with me here! Help me understand your mindset!”

The wrestling demi continued to sulk for half a minute before shifting his attention back to Zeloph. “… do you really wanna know?”

The seraphic angel nodded his head earnestly. Exhaling a deep breath, Arron looked back down and said, “Okay…”

Then, to his bewilderment, the wrestler got up and went into a a hip-hop-style rap, preaching about always being looked down on by everyone. In turn, he turned that negativity into motivation to shut them all up through work and battle. And he demonstrated by incorporating some dance moves that were surprisingly fluid for someone his bulk.

Yet Zell felt that some of the verses were directed to someone in particular. Someone who never saw an ounce of worth in Arron. No matter his accomplishments, the golden demon remained insecure about the critic’s lack of recognition.

This individual, whoever they were, drove the beefy fighter into believing he needed to be the greatest that ever lived. And after belting the last chorus with a declaration of making it to the top, Arron sat back down, lifting up his sunglasses to rub the tears from his eyes.

Unsure of what to make of this performance, Zeloph said, “Wow, that’s… quite a lot of pressure to put on your shoulders.”

“My pops,” revealed Arron. “He was against me from day one. Ma was long gone, so I became his punching bag when shit went sideways.”

The angelic demi-human grimaced. “That’s rough. Was there a reason, or was it just anger?”

“Nah, he had a reason,” Arron dryly chuckled. “He hated that his son liked rumbling with other boys if you know what I mean. Hit me daily with slurs.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, it wasn’t easy hiding my sexual preferences until I picked up wrestling. Turn all that mass into muscle. That’s where Metatron came in and gave me the power I needed to express myself. Made my name well-known around the amateur league until a big-name company picked me up. For once in my life, I felt like somebody big! Someone meant for greatness.”

His fist clenched as he continued. “But every time I went back to that drunk bastard to put him in his place, he’d reminded me that it was all showboating. That I cheated my way to success because some god gave me my ideal body. Even when he kicked the bucket, I wasn’t free from him. I can still hear him whispering how much of a worthless failure I am…"

“… I see.” Zeloph’s expression dropped, absorbing the hardships that were Arron’s life. While it didn’t excuse him for his dickheaded behavior and the people he's hurt, intentionally or otherwise, the fallen angel could at least sympathize with his struggles of being accepted. Something he thought impossible due to his own atrocities.

“We’re not that different,” he proclaimed. "I didn't exactly have the best relationship with my father either. He saw me as little more than a pawn for his greater schemes. But I found someone else to fill that role in my life."

Arron wiped his eyes on the back of his arm, sniffling, "Really?"

"Yes. Jonn was more of a father to me than anyone. He taught me how to play music and enjoy life's simplicities even when I was complex. He was my best friend...”

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like. I’ve never made friends before,” confessed the wrestling demi-human.

Zeloph turned to him, casting a gentle smile when he suggested, “You have one now!”

Arron looked back with a widened glance. “You… wanna be my friend? Even after I’ve… e-even though I’m-”

The angelic demi gave a light chuckle. “You don’t have to put up a false front anymore. I want to know the real you. And there’s nothing about that to be a shame about!”

Zell let out a squeak when Arron scooped him into his big, sweaty arms and squeezed him while bawling his eyes out. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear that,” the burly demon cried. “It’s gotten lonely at the top with no one to share my victories with!”

“H-hey! We’ll have plenty of time to hang out,” The crushed angel assured through a strained voice, patting his muscular bicep. “Just take it easy with the squeezing!”

“O-oh, sorry!” The brawler laughed awkwardly, releasing his newly made friend. “Hard to hold back all this power~!”

“No kidding,” wheezed Zeloph, rubbing his lower back to ensure nothing snapped during that hug. Clearing his throat, he offered his fist. A genuine smile crossed Arron’s face as they bumped knuckles.

“Cool,” the fallen one sighed with relief. “Now, let’s head back to the monastery. The others can’t rebuild the ruins by their lonesome!”

“Ha! Just leave it all to me, pal!” The golden demon exclaimed as he made his way out of the woods, swinging his arms with swagger. He motioned for the nuns to step aside as he took another load of bricks to set up, showing a lot more enthusiasm.

“Looks like you managed to get through to him,” the voice of Atalanta spoke from behind, causing Zell to quiver. He turned around to see the unicorn manifest from his shadow. “That’s a good sign.”

“It is! A little strange how easily he flipped sides, but I ain’t complaining! I’m just thankful we could resolve our issues nonviolently.”

A slight smile formed on her snout. “I knew you could do it. You have a way with words~.”

A soft blush colored Zell’s face as he laughed sheepishly. “So, how are you holding up? Didn't butcher my sister too much, did you?”

“She remains in one piece… for the time being,” the reaper said jokingly before sporting a more troubled expression, avoiding her lover’s eyes shyly.

Zeloph tilted his head. “What’s wrong..?”

“Actually, can I have a moment with you?” asked Shadow Scythe, who clasped his hand. “There’s something I’d like to discuss privately.”

The seraphic angel mustered a warm smile and said, “Of course.”

Retrieving his sword of untold mysteries, Zeloph allowed the gloomy mare to lead him away from the monastery before they took flight. And judging by the way Atalanta squeezed his hand, he had a good idea where she was taking him…

“… y'know what? I take it back. I’d much rather be hauling bricks than sit through this shit!”

Seb was perpetually scowling behind his facial covering, tapping his fingers impatiently. Julianne led him from place to place within the destroyed village before settling at the plaza. Survivors of the attack from Mortis and his followers emerged from the broken settlements, their bodies covered in soot and rags.

He was now helping the rosy-haired nun donate old belongings undamaged by the church’s destruction to those in need. And by ‘helping,’ he sat in his chair, rattling his tail at anyone who got too close to him.

Gifts were handed out from the baskets they carried to ensure everyone was adequately fed and clothed. "Have a wonderful day," Julianna chirped, waving goodbye to the family of three. Her smile faltered a bit when her attention fell on her stubborn cohort. “There’s another box full of things you could be handing out,” she urged softly.

“‘Handouts.’ Pha!” The card demon scoffed, lifting up a set of delicate china cups and a teapot. “Look at this! No cracks, and in great condition! You should be selling these items, not giving them away like Christmas!”

“I am selling them,” the female angel retorted, taking the china set off his hands and passing them to an elderly mare. “And in return, I am given gratitude and fulfillment at seeing how happy I’ve made them.” They both shared smiles before the lady was on her way.

“Oh yeah! I’m sure she’ll still be smiling when she returns to her broken house until she realizes it does nothing to pay for damages.”

“Must you be so petty?”

The pinstriped devil leaned back into his chair, arms behind his head. “It’s the law of nature, doll! There’s no money in charity. And without money, the world can’t keep turning.”

“Rubbish,” chided Julianne. “Acts of generosity will always fulfill the heart more than any money.”

"Keep telling yourself that,” muttered Seb, eying a couple passing by when a light bulb turned on in his head. Raising up, he pointed at them and called out, “Hey! You, my good man!”

The stallion paused, his eyebrow arched when he pointed at his chest to clarify he was being spoken to.

“Yeah, you! Come over here for a second!”

The couple cautiously approached the pinstriped devil while he fished around his waistcoat before pulling out a wad of cash. Julianna placed her hands on her hips, eying the demon skeptically.

“I’ve got a bargain for you, playboy,” explained Seb, who slowly ran a finger through the dollar bills, making a satisfying ruffling sound. “How’s about a good ol game of Blackjack for this stack of fifteen thousand? You look like you and your lady friend could use more than coins in your pocket!”

“Errm, no thanks!” The stallion politely declined. “We don’t need that kind of money.”

“Precisely! And that’s why I… wait, what?!”

“I’m not about to take money from a complete stranger. Especially one as shady as you. Besides, I have everything I need right here~!”

“Awww, sweety,” the mare giggled bashfully before nuzzling his snout. The pair continued their walk, leaving Seb utterly flabbergasted by their refusal to play.

He then turned his attention back to Julianna, who had a knowing grin on her face. “So what was that you said about money being the law of nature~?” the abbess teased.

Seb growled, “Well, clearly, I’ve forgotten that I’m in a backward universe where everyone’s just peachy even when death’s knocking at the door! If we were in the Cyberverse, that schmuck would have fallen in hook, line, and sinker!”

“Perhaps… Or perhaps you’ve been trapped in a toxic environment for far too long,” the angelic nun suggested boldly, leaning close to his face with her hands clasped behind. “Tell me, how long have you used your ‘Collector’ persona?”

To his bewilderment, he had to think a little about the answer. Scratching his cheek, he admitted, “I kinda lost count of the years since my wager with Metatron.”

“Okay, so quite a while. And throughout that time, you’ve chosen a life where nothing is free without a price or nothing is worth keeping without risk. You're a gambler at heart, Sebastian. And there’s nothing you won’t do to increase your wealth. Whether it’s murder, treachery, or lying.”

“Yeah yeah, I'm a morally depraved crook. I already get an earful from that wannabe pop star! What’s your point?”

“Eclipsed Heart is admittedly fixated on what you are and what you’ve done,” acknowledged Julianne. “But I’m more interested in why you are the way you are. And I think I know why!”

“Oh, this outta be good,” snorted Seb, crossing his arms.

The rosy-haired nun‘s smile widened as she continued. “That hole in your heart just keeps getting bigger, doesn’t it? When you think you have enough, you justify wanting more. But no matter what you gain or how much you take, it’s never enough. Hell, it’s why you’re not afraid to lose! Because even if you lose everything, that just means you can start over and gain even more next time, right?”

Seb’s confidence slowly deflated, taken aback by how accurate Julianne’s presumptions were.

“But there lies the problem. Each time you fall, you’re not actually boosting yourself back up. In reality, you slip further into the downward spiral until it’s too late to escape that self-loathing and emptiness. Ultimately, that want for more will become so big it'll eventually crush you. And deep down, you know that, don’t you..?”

It took the gambler a moment to process what she said. It was a simple truth, yet he never once thought about it. “… Well, when you put it that way, it’s kinda depressing.”

“It is,” insisted Julianne. “You’ve been playing this game for so long, you’ve forgotten why you even played it in the first place! And through it, so many lives have been ruined by your hand. When was the last time you gave anything without wanting in return?”

Seb didn’t respond, for the answer was obvious. The angelic demi-human ran through another box before handing him a teddy bear. “It’s not too late to start now,” she whispered encouragingly, pointing at something past him.

The card demon followed her finger to find a group of children playing together, toys in hand. All except a little filly with pigtails, curled up behind a tree, sulking.

Realizing what the mother superior wanted him to do, the demon released a troubling noise before reluctantly getting out of his seat. “Just give the girl the dumb bear and move on,” he mumbled while walking. “Make it quick and painless…”

When Seb was in front of the lonely earth pony, he cleared his throat to announce his presence. Upon looking up, the filly gasped and curled up more, whimpering.

“Wh-whoa whoa, hey! Hey, take it easy,” he insisted softly, dropping down to one knee, so he was head level with the frightened child. “I’m not gonna hurt you! I’m just here to…”

That’s when he noticed the scar across her forehead, likely caused by something thrown at her head. He then scanned the older stallions and mares, watching their children from afar.

Seb gently asked, “Hey, uh… where are parents? Surely, they wouldn’t allow a stranger to-”

But the tears running down her face and blubbering sobs rising from her voice told the gambler everything. This girl was an orphan and likely lost her mother and father during Mortis' attack. She must have been picked on by the other kids because of it. This scenario was all too familiar to Seb, who recalled a specific memory buried in his subconscious…

Taking a deep breath, he tugged his fanged bandana to reveal his scarred face, making the girl ease up slightly. “A lot of people weren’t nice to me either, kiddo,” he confessed. “They don’t understand what it’s like. But trust me! You’ll be tougher in the future. Though, luckily, you don’t have to be alone…”

Seb then offered the filly the stuffed animal, her eyes widening. “W-what’s his name?”

“Oh, are you kidding me? Just take the fuc-erm, I mean..!” He quickly dropped the attitude and recomposed himself, making up a story on the spot. “This here is, uh… Mister Tubs! He’s lived a long life by himself and thinks you could use his company.”

“R-really? He wants… to be with me?!”

“Yep! He’s all yours if you’ll take him…”

Her expression brightened as she accepted the toy bear, hugging it tightly to her chest. “Don’t worry, Mister Tubs! I’ll take good care of you.”

“Heh. I’m sure you will,” surmised Seb, who stood up and brushed some dirt off his pant leg… only to freeze when the little rugrat embraced his knee, staring up at him with big blue eyes and a dopey smile.

“Thank you, mister! You’re not as scary as I thought!”

“Aahheeh… don’t mention it, kid,” the pinstriped demi-human chuckled uneasily. With a giggle, the young filly slipped off with her new toy. And Seb couldn’t deny the warmth in his chest, nor the smile split across his face.

“And some might say that his tiny black heart grew three sizes that day~!” Julianne teased melodically.

“Ohh, lay off,” the demon attempted to brush off. “She’s a cute kid…”

“And didn’t it feel wonderful to help her?”

“… Y-yeah, I… guess it did,” he admitted, pulling up his bandana mask.

The rosy-haired nun tittered. “You know, Seb. You have an unconventional approach when it comes to a child!”

“Well, believe it or not… I used to be a father. And a husband.”

Julianna’s eyes widened with surprise. “Really now?”

The gambling demi nodded as they walked together while he opened up about his beginnings. “I was a family man. Had a beautiful wife and two kids. Not the best-paying job, but I kept us afloat. She often told me how happy I made her, even when we had so little. And that she’d love me no matter what life I chose.”

Julianne pursed her lips into a straight line. “But..?”

Seb looked at her with a forlorn expression. “Well, just like you said: I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more than what I was given. And that’s when I picked up gambling, studied the art, and learned every trick to guarantee the best outcome. My wife wasn’t impressed, even when I brought in half a million each week. She warned me all it took was the wrong attention and one bad game. And in hindsight, it would have spared them the heartache if I had listened.”

“It didn’t take long for the local mafia to pick up on my winnings and hold a gun to my head, demanding my money. However, thanks to my skills in persuasion, we reached a compromise. I joined their ranks and gave them a cut of my spoils; in return, my family and I were untouchable. Naturally, I got ballsy. And my wife and kids grew more distant.”

His eyes fell to the ground, head hung in shame. “It wasn’t hard to see when it stopped being about providing for my family. I was so drunk on power, taking my first life on the boss’s orders didn’t even phase me. I rose up the ladder, became a real mafioso, and never had to worry about being poor again…”

“Until you made the one bet that cost you everything,” Julianne presumed, listening intently.

The card demon nodded. “When my wife threatened me with divorce, I didn’t take her seriously. ‘She wouldn’t dare leave me,’ I reasoned. ‘Not when I had money and power at my beck and call!’ Then… one snowy evening, I found the apartment empty. Not a single trace of her was there. Took my children without even giving me a chance to say goodbye. All she left was a note on the table, lamenting the death of the man she loved while fearing for her safety.”

Seb breathed deeply, eyes and fists squeezed tightly at the painful memory. “Gods… I still remember the last time I spoke with her.”

The gambling demi then sang a somber jazz number as if to mourn the loss of the life he willingly threw away. Reminiscing about the good times he shared with his wife and children before it came undone by his vices.

The last time they spoke, he confronted her after her work shift, pleading for Seb to realize how much he hurt her and their children. To turn around and walk away from gambling and killing.

And Seb threw it back at her face, denouncing her intentions to leave and saying that she would come to appreciate his efforts in the long run.

Now, older and wiser, the pinstriped devil understood that his ex-wife was better off without him after all he’s put her through. And somewhere, a part of him hoped that she and their children were in a happier place.

Concluding his song, Seb sat on a rock and resumed his tale to Julianne, who had lost her smile upon hearing the extent of his criminal activity. “I was a mess. Each night, I drowned myself in liquor to the point I practically burned all the money I had won. The don took notice and decided it was best to cut me off before I became a liability. Literally cut me off…”

He tugged his bandanna down to trace the glasgow smile forever marked on his cheeks.

“I was run outta town, lost every cent to my name. I hit rock bottom and did the only thing I could think of. I prayed for a second chance. Just one more game to turn all of this around. And, well… you know the rest. Divine Father made me his errand boy; I wound up in the Cyberverse and rebuilt myself as the Collector, where I took more than just debts from the people who owed me. I had a good thing going… until I got involved with those broads!”

Seb heaved a frustrated sigh as he removed his feathered hat. “As much as I can’t stand her, Eclipsed is right. I’ve dipped my hands in too much blood to be worth redemption. Even if I wanted to start over, I’ve completely tarnished my reputation with the Cyberverse! So… just spare yourself the trouble and quit wasting your time on me. I ain’t good to anyone…”

“I don't believe that to be true,” the abbess demi-human dejected with a reassuring smile, gingerly stroking his shoulder. “Not everything has to be seen in black and white, Seb. Morally good criminals do exist, just as there are corrupted cops and lawyers. When I said, ‘I didn’t care about your past,’ I meant it. You could have killed twice the people Zeloph and Shadow Scythe have, and I’d still offer you the same opportunity to change yourself!”

“But why?!” Seb demanded, his heated glare wet with tears. “Why are you so goddamn persistent on making others happy? Especially when they don’t want to be!? Why!?!”

Julianne dropped her grin when she answered, “The world has gotten too cruel. Everyone expects the worst out of each other due to their baggage. But I refuse to allow good morale to die. Because if I do, Metatron was right to take away our free will!”

The rosy-haired nun heaved, doing her best not to cry in front of Seb, who softened his stiff expression. “If I could change one life, even with the tiniest of gestures, then it was worth it.” Her ruby eyes bore into his, full of sincerity. “You may think you could never be a hero, but I believe you don’t have to be a villain.”

Seb looked over to the little filly he had given a teddy bear. And while the other kids still didn’t play with her, she looked happier as she swung around with her stuffed animal.

“I don’t expect you to reform immediately,” Julianne continued softly. “It’s a lengthy process, and you’ll likely stumble into old habits. But promise me you will at least try to make an honest effort should you decide to reform.”

The card demon stared long and hard at the skies, which slowly took an orange hue as the sun began to set. Could he really turn his life of crime and avarice around with noble intentions? The filly was living proof he wasn’t morally bankrupt like he thought.

When the pinstriped devil glanced back at Julianne, who patiently waited for an answer, he offered a slight nod. Her smile returned as she took his hand into his and continued to give out the rest of the boxes to the stallions and mares in need.

Once the pair had finished, they made their way up to the monastery. Upon arriving, they spotted Eclipsed Heart conversing with Wispy Willow while everyone had wrapped up work for the day. Chisana had tuckered herself out, snoring atop the chest of Arron, who also passed out.

When the singer and feline assassin noticed the demi’s returned, their expressions soured. “Well, I see someone enjoyed a nice day around town while the rest of us worked our asses off,” the pop star huffed sarcastically.

"Nice to see you too, sweetheart," replied Seb.

"Don’t ever call me 'sweetheart'! That’s the last thing I wanna hear outta your filthy mouth!"

“On the contrary, he was a big help to me in donating some belongings to the villagers,” said Julianne, beaming brightly. “Quite a lot of progress was made.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Wispy scoffed.

"Look,” Seb said softly. “Can you hear me out? I wanna get this off my chest.”

The duo remained on edge, though nonetheless kept quiet to listen. The angelic nun gently urged him forward, and he took a deep breath.

“I’m… considering this whole 'redemption' thing,” he elaborated with folded arms. “Make no mistake! I’m not gonna stop gambling or taking hits on people. That’s my zen garden! But the prospect of becoming a ‘good’ criminal? Sounds appealing! Now, given our ‘history’, I don’t expect us to get along. But can we at least tolerate each other’s existence?”

Eclipsed deepened her frown. “And why should we?”

“Yeah, I don’t buy it,” hissed Wispy. “Sounds like you’re just trying to sweep all your atrocities under the rug!”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness. I know I don’t deserve it. Not after I did you and your friends dirty! It was wrong of me, and for what it’s worth, I'm sorry how things got outta hand. I plan to return to the Cyberverse and turn myself in when this is over. Take it or leave it; that’s what I've decided.”

They both stared at each other, unable to believe the words out of Seb’s mouth. Eclipsed frowned deeply as she looked him in the eye, trying to find any deception.

“… even if you were remorseful for your actions, I would never forgive you,” the diva seethed. “You deserve to rot in the lowest hellhole possible!”

Before he could carry the argument, Eclipsed left in a huff, skating across the newly paved walkway. The twin-tailed tigress gazed at her friend worryingly. It wasn’t like her to be so vindictive, even when she was justified in hating the bastard that turned their world upside down.

Wispy looked at Seb and told him, “If you really mean to turn yourself in, I hope you follow through. It’ll be the first good thing you’ve done!”

With that said, she raced after her troubled bandmate, leaving the two demi’s alone to their thoughts. And while Julianne reassured him, Seb remained skeptical if this was the right decision.

Returning to her old home with her lover, Shadow Scythe was aghast to find the place in ruins, torn to shreds by the cosmic squall. Planks of wood were ripped apart. Trophies her father once collected were scattered across the hilltop, where a cliff overlooked the sea far below. Her heart ached to see the remnants of her birthplace and childhood desecrated.

A symbol of what she and her family had become.

The reaper’s icy eyes scanned the devastation before giving a relieved sigh upon spotting her mother’s burial sight. The gravestone was slightly slanted in the moist grass and soil, where earthworms crawled, their slimy pink bodies glistening under the fading sunlight.

Moss and grime saturated the carvings. Shadow Scythe wiped the headstone’s surface with her palm, the name of her mother, Quiver Bolt, etched on a worn silver plate above the date of her birth and death.

Zeloph read the epitaph out loud, voice filled with melancholy. “Graceful huntress. Caring wife. Loving mother. Always in our hearts.”

“The barriers between dimensions have weakened thanks to these storms,” explained Shadow Scythe. “I detect souls trapped in the ether, unable to leave the purgatorial plane. Fortunately, this also means it should be easier to make contact. The reason we’re here is that… b-because-”

“Her spirit still lingers here,” the demi-human presumed, earning a small nod from the unicorn mare. He took her hand, giving a gentle squeeze. “Are you prepared for this..?”

The reaper solemnly nodded. "Much as I'll ever be. My actions drove my mother into an early grave. Therefore, it’s my responsibility to give her soul respite." Collecting a breath, Shadow Scythe closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to navigate her way into limbo, where Quiver Bolt’s restless spirit wandered aimlessly after her suicide. And because the former villainess had butchered her fellow psychopomps, she, along with other souls, couldn’t move on from the afterlife. However, she took solace that Mortis had seemingly overlooked her mother’s soul on his quest.

The color drained from the area around them. Grass blades that whipped in a breeze went still; the feel and sound of the wind died, the world around them frozen by limbo. The angelic demi surveyed the landscape with widened eyes, wondering if this was a form of temporal magic.

"Quiver Bolt...mother,” she called out. “It's your daughter, Atalanta. If you can hear me, please! Follow the sound of my voice."

When she slowly opened her eyes, the reaper unicorn sensed a familiar presence that enveloped her in nostalgic warmth. An ethereal shape gradually manifested before taking the form of a beautiful mare. A flame mane trailed down the white gold of the mare's curves, clothed in a simple white shift that billowed around her in contrast to the stillness around them. Zeloph wisely backed away so as not to startle the ghostly unicorn, whose eyes fell on the uneasy gaze of her daughter.

“Atalanta,” Quiver Bolt said, her face unreadable. “Is it really you..?”

“Yes,” confirmed the reaper mare, who pulled off her hood. “It’s me…”

Her fists clenched tightly, bracing for her spectral parent’s judgment. But instead of scorn, the mature mare cupped both sides of her daughter’s face, her wide eyes boring into her soul.

“You’ve changed so much,” she noted with a shaky voice. “You’ve shed your reaper’s cloak. You’re using your actual name! I… this feels like a dream!”

Atalanta trembled in her mother’s tender grasp, unable to hold back tears.

“A-and you’re crying! I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cry before,” exclaimed Quiver, who wiped away the reaper’s sadness with her hand. "Not even when I birthed you! I thought my poor baby was stillborn and wept uncontrollably..."

“Mother, I’m so sorry! I-I’ve done so much wrong. It’s my fault that you-”

“Shhhhhhhhh,” the older mare hushed, wrapping her arms around her child’s head, tucking into her bosom, where Atalanta choked out sobs for what she lost. A sad smile stretched Quiver Bolt’s snout.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hold you in my arms again,” she whispered, running her fingers through snow-white locks.

When Shadow Scythe let out all her sorrows, she pulled back to gaze at her mother wearingly. “I-I thought you would never forgive me!”

“My child. Would I come to you now if I still held resentment?” The former huntress countered.

The unicorn mare rubbed her snout with her sleeve, sniffling, “Point taken. B-but father, he-”

“I know,” acknowledged Quiver Bolt, who frowned. “I’ve seen a lot since my passing. How… grief struck Quicksilver became. I couldn’t live with myself, knowing my daughter had become a murderer. But it was a selfish thing to leave him alone. If I had been stronger, I might have prevented Mortis from taking him..!”

But Shadow Scythe shook her head. “Mortis is too strong, mother. He would have taken your life and used necromancy to make you his slave.”

The mature unicorn scowled but bitterly agreed. “You’re right… which is why you must help him, Atalanta. The longer he serves Mortis, the more he will lose his memories. And once that lich completely erases your father’s mind, his soul can no longer be put to rest. It will just cease to exist…”

Both Atalanta and Zeloph went pale from this horrifying information. “Y-yes, of course! I promise, mother. I won’t let you down again!”

"It'll be okay,” assured Quiver Bolt, a serene smile on her lips. “You’ve become so strong, my child. I couldn’t be more proud! And if he were here and whole, your father would say the same. It’s too late to save his life, but I know you can put him to rest!”

A somber smile appeared on the reaper’s snout as she hugged her mother tightly. Zeloph smiled brightly, delighted to see his lover reconcile with half of her family. That’s when Quiver Bolt glanced at the shimmering angel and slyly asked, “So when are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend~?”

“M-my-Ohh! Crap, I was so caught up with you, I-” She pulled away, face beat red as she turned to her soulmate apologetically. “… Sorry, Zell.”

The fallen one laughed. “No worries! I didn’t want to impede on your reunion,” he insisted as he took to her side.

“Ahem! Mother? This is Zeloph, my… husband-to-be,” she revealed awkwardly. “He’s helped me a lot in rediscovering who I am.”

“I can see that,” surveyed Quiver Bolt, who smiled knowingly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise!” he greeted with a slight bow of his head.

The older mare took in his features, marveling at his lean physique, swan-like plumage, and strange floral-tipped tail. “My, my, aren’t you just dazzling? And to think, my daughter disdained the very notion of romance, let alone marriage! Reminds me of how I effortlessly swooned Quicksilver~.”

“Well, that’s not hard to imagine! I can see where Atalanta gets her elegant looks from,” the seraphic angel purred, earning a sharp elbow jab from the flustered reaper while her mother tittered.

“No, she took after her father, mostly,” said Quiver Bolt. “Always had his face in a book, studying about the latest cryptid in the area and how to kill it. Took a lot of… ‘leverage’ to pry his attention from the pages~.”

“Mother!”

The unicorn phantom playfully brushed her off. “I don’t need to tell you that you have my blessing. I always hoped Atalanta would find love someday and start her own family. And from what I’ve seen, you positively influence her. I can’t thank you enough for bringing my daughter back on the right path. You truly are an angel!”

Zeloph’s cheeks heated up as he replied, “T-the pleasure is mine.”

Quiver Bolt heaved a big sigh. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay here for much longer. The other wayward souls stuck here-”

"-are making the dimensional flux worse," surmised Shadow Scythe. "Another storm is coming. And I fear it will only escalate with Mortis’ relentless pursuit for retribution. But…” She then dropped her head and shoulders heaved. “… It’s too soon! I don’t want to be without you, m-mom-"

"I will always be with you, Atalanta," reassured Quiver Bolt, her smile widened despite her tear-stricken face. "You're the heroine your father and I always knew you could be! But you must finish what has started while there's still time!"

"I...I will...mother. I love you." She squeezed her one last time, reluctant to let her go.

“I love you, too,” the ethereal mare softly replied. “Now go. And take care of each other. My time has come…”

Quiver Bolt closed her eyes, waiting for her daughter to begin the incantation that would unshackle her soul from the purgatorial plane and release her spirit to a peaceful afterlife.

The phantom unicorn slowly drifted out of Atalanta’s arms, and her form dissipated into a spectral sphere of light that floated into the heavenly rift that shimmered across the sky. The reaper mare fell to her knees, teary eyes watching as her mother’s soul finally ascended to paradise.

Limbo faded around the couple, and color returned to the world around them. Shadow Scythe wiped her face, reassured by her mother's words and the knowledge she was at rest.

When Zeloph wrapped his arms and wings around her, she leaned into his warmth and comfort. During the brief moment of mourning, she spoke with a husky whisper, “Thank you for being here with me. I would have been so lost without you…”

“No,” he politely declined while nuzzling her head. “I wasn’t that better myself.”

She looked at him worryingly, noticing wet streaks running down his face. He took a deep breath and explained, “Seeing you reconnect with your mother made me realize how badly I screwed things up in my world. How badly I miss Jonn.”

“But that wasn’t your fault-”

“Yes, it was,” he cut off, voice cracking with grief. “ My creator… Metatron made us watch my mother die and threatened to do the same to him if I didn’t conform. And in a moment of weakness, I chose that monster, who was incapable of love, over the man who showed me nothing but compassion and kindness. Just to save him from annihilation.”

Zell began shaking his head. “But Jonn… gods, he was stronger than I could ever be! I begged for him to flee, and he refused. Because he wouldn’t stand for me debasing myself like that. Jonn defied the divine father and told him, ‘No. He’s not gonna do that, man. Zell’s better than that. He doesn’t need you—we don’t need you. And that frightens you, doesn’t it?’”

His voice hitched as he choked out, “And just like that… he was gone. Reduced to atoms. All those years rejecting my origins. Trying to make myself lesser so I could be like him. And the bastard killed him anyway.”

It was Atalanta’s turn to comfort her lover, bringing Zell’s head to her chest as he quietly cried. Fingers delicately brushed through his midnight blue locks.

“You mustn’t blame yourself for his death, my love,” she assured soothingly. “You are stronger, just like he said. I bet he would be so proud if he could see how far you’ve come!”

Once his sobbing quelled, the reaper mare lifted his face to gingerly stroke his cheek, love, and conviction in her icy blue eyes. “Mourn for him, Zeloph. I’m certain he will hear it.”

The weeping angel took a breath as he steadily rose and approached the cliff. Illumination briefly flashed as the Vorpal Blade took its guitar shape. Once he pulled the strap around his shoulder, he plucked the strings to open with a melodic riff and played a rock ballad in dedication to his precious friend.

Zeloph's voice starts off gently, singing his gratitude, sadness, and love through the lyrics. But it became stronger upon reaching the second chorus until he belted his heart out with power, giving Shadow Scythe goosebumps.

Radiant light glimmered off his instrument, enveloping the guitarist with its brilliance and magic, synchronizing their power as one briefly until the song came to its climax.

As the seraphic demi played the outro, the pale unicorn shifted through the debris simply to see if anything was salvageable. Zeloph looked out to the horizon, noting that storm clouds began to retake the skies with foreboding thunder as soon as the sun disappeared.

As she scooped down and pushed away broken support beams and bricks, something caught the reaper's eye. It was one of her old dolls that her mother often encouraged her to play with. The seams were worn, the fabric of its dress torn and dirty, and stitches were missing in places as stuffing fell out.

Standing back up, Shadow Scythe approached her beloved, cradling the toy in her arms. “Zell?”

The fallen angel pulled away from the cliff’s edge, wrapping an arm around her thin waist. “Yes..?”

Her eyes met his; conflict contorting her face when she proposed, “When we’ve dealt with Mortis, Varys, and everything else… after our wedding… Do you still want a child?”

Zeloph stared back at her, astounded. “Atalanta-"

"I'm not sure I do,” she clarified. “But… I would be willing to try. If there’s a way, we could do it safely, maybe…”

The false idol firmly held her shoulder. “Hun. I’m not even sure we’ll find time for that. There’s still Alma and her followers. And who knows whether Beatrix can reclaim her mansion. Not to mention this other anomaly and the current state of the multiverse..."

“I know a lot is happening right now. But… I value your happiness above all else!” She reached up to hold his head between her hands, a severe gleam in her icy eyes. “I love you, Zeloph. I will do anything to provide for you. A-and If that means-”

Her oath of devotion was silenced by a kiss, one she returned hungrily. Zell ran his fingers through her white mane before pulling away with a heated breath. His cerulean eyes mirrored her loving gaze.

“I love you so much,” he affirmed. “You being a part of my life is all I could ever ask for. Whether that includes a child or not, we’ll let fate decide. But I’m simply happy that you’re with me, Atalanta.”

Moved by his words, the reaper mare wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for another kiss…

Until a thunderous roar split through the air.

Their head snapped to the horizon, darkness shrouding the world. Underneath the foreboding storm came a massive flying monster, rallied by a swarm of winged arthropods. Shadow Scythe and Zeloph stared aghast as the intrusion got closer, recognizing the multi-headed terror Andrei.

And mounting the dragon’s back was the all too familiar tattered black robes whipping around a skeletal equine, spectral energy oozing from his bones.

“He’s here..!”

Word of an explosion going off in the badlands of Zebrica was quickly caught on by the scouts of the Pundamilia Empire. They arrived in a hovercraft to inspect the destroyed remains of the secret factory of their mysterious benefactor, Varys. Accompanied was the royal advisor, Adila, cousin of the princesses Zuri, Kali, and Tisha. Despite reservations from the emperor himself, she insisted on tagging along on this mission.

‘It'll be an adventure!’ Adila initially insisted, having grown bored of spending her days in the palace. Her cousins always got to go on hunts and expeditions, so why couldn’t she? The young zebress always wanted to see the source of their new technology in person...and also hoped they could make a stop at Noble Savage's tribe. Not only to possibly meet up with her cousins about negotiations but also to dabble in the supposed ‘sexy celebrations’ the tribe was known for.

But it seemed that would have to wait as their levitating vehicle touched down, three male zebra soldiers jumping out with firearms and protective helmets. Adila hopped alongside them with a face covering, scanning the debris, fire, and smoke around her. “Neno langu! This place got totaled!”

“It’s not safe here,” warned one of the guardsmen. “Sensors indicate high readings of radioactivity here. We advise you to stay in the carrier where it’ll be-”

“Excuse me?” Adila interrupted, hand placed firmly on her hip. “Are you telling me what to do? I don’t remember your rank being higher than mine!”

“I-it isn’t, but-“

“Then know your place! If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked.” With a huff, she shoved him aside to start looking around the piles of scrap metal. The scouts only shook their heads, used to such ignorance from a person of privileged status.

While the stallions were busy looking for any signs of life, Adila pulled out her phone, a piece of tech supplied to her land. The royal advisor had accumulated thousands of followers in only a short timeframe, no doubt accomplished by streaming her exploits across the kingdom, which included her tour today.

“So, what do you suppose happened here?” the zebra mare asked half-mindedly, holding up her recording device for the best shot of herself in the ruins. “An explosion? Some sort of meltdown. C’mon, give me something to spin the emperor with!”

With a begrudging sigh, one Pundamilian scout answered, “Well, given the smell levels and the wide range of scattered parts, I’d say it was definitely implosion. Something must have caused the whole facility to rapture from the inside.” He then stepped into something mushy. Looking down, the zebra warrior found his foot had stomped through the chest cavity of an augmented corpse, making him shudder and kick it away immediately.

“Uugh, geez! What the hell was this guy building that required so many bodies!?”

“Obviously, something important,” snorted Adila, who was touching her stripy mane for the final touch. But she frowned when she noticed several cadavers were littering every frame. She couldn’t possibly host a live stream in these conditions!

“Guess I’ll have to settle with a written report,” the advisor groaned, tucking her phone away. “Still need to figure out how and why this happened…”

“Hey, over here!” A scout called over. “I found something!”

Peeking her eyebrow, Adila and the two other zebras ran over to the locations. Gasps stuck in her throat upon arriving to see the remains of a steel vat, broken shards of glass everywhere around the rim. The zebra scout stood over a body adorning a tattered green cloak and, upon rolling it over with his foot, revealed it to be the leading scientist himself.

The female zebra held her neck, a look of disgust on her face at how decrypted and sickly Varys appeared during his last moments. To his right was his signature plague doctor mask, cracks compromising the visors comp and the beak torn off.

The leading officer held his wrist gauntlet over the carcass to fire a tiny scanning light for analysis. The reading quickly concluded with a description. [Zero life signature detected. Subject: Deceased].

“Yep. He’s dead alright,” the zebra man announced, turning to the royal advisor. “Better add that to your report, Adila. The emperor will want to know how our benefactor expired.”

“More importantly, we must inform him that the source for Pundamilla’s future is finite,” added the other scout. “Without Varys to power our machines, this could set us back decades!”

“You worry too much,” dismissed Adila, who bent to pick up the avian mask, studying it with peculiar interest. “We were doing fine before that creepy cyborg offered us his tech. If you ask me, he was holding us back!”

She recalled when the mechanical scientist first approached herself, her uncle, and his daughters. While they were captivated by the futuristic gizmos and machines, the royal advisor remained suspicious of the cyber demon’s ulterior motives.

Still, the zebress went along to appease the emperor's curiosity. And she couldn’t deny the results, both in her popularity on social media and the expansion of their empire! Few tribes and nations resisted merging with Pundamilia, most notably Noble Savage and his people.

Adila’s snout curled into a brilliant smile. “I’ll give Varys this. He left us with a strong foundation upon our kingdom to thrive. And with him out of the way, we can achieve more for the emperor without restraint! I mean, look around you..!” She waved a hand to emphasize the facility surrounding them. “There’s enough metal and hardware to reformat back home.”

“But this technology came from a world beyond our current understanding,” rebutted the scout leader. “Our scientists and engineers simply don’t have the resources to figure out how any of this works!”

“Still don’t remember asking for your opinion,” stated the royal advisor. “I mean, it’s just a bunch of robotic junk. How hard can it be? Besides, do you really want to be the ones to tell our beloved emperor we might be running short on supplies?”

The three zebra stallions looked to one another to try and reason with the pretentious mare but failed to come up with a response, much to Adila’s smug delight.

“Didn’t think so~! Let’s get out of this dump,” she ordered as she strutted off, carrying Varys’ mask as a souvenir. “We’ll need to bring more carriers to haul whatever we can out of this-”

A sickening crunch made the royal advisor halt. Her eyes narrowed down to her heeled hooves, having stepped in a shell fragment. “What the…”

A trail of slimy pieces directed her eyes to the enormous, hollowed-out egg made of organic and inorganic matter. Glowing slime and metallic gunk oozed from the cracks, filling the air with a rank stench that made Adila scrunch up her covered snout. “Yuuulgh!”

“What. The hell. Is that!?” The scout leader demanded, who cautiously approached it with his men.

“It’s putrid!”

“Who cares! I am not sticking around to find out what sorta creature hatched from this!” declared Adila, who nonetheless fished out her phone to take a few pictures of the inner shell. The emperor would surely want to know about this!

“Okay, you got your photos! Now hurry, and let’s get out of he-eeerraah!?”

The zebras failed to notice a shadow swooping out of the smoky fog before it snatched one of the stallions, kicking and bellowing in terror. Adila gave a yelp while the other scouts were on alert, guns aimed at the skies, and the echoing screams sounded from above.

Then the abducted zebra was dropped down onto a broken pillar of scrap metal, the sharp pike piercing his abdomen. His yells of anguish grew loud and terrified as the aerial threat perched onto the iron spike.

His comrades could only watch in horror as it jabbed its claw through his chest and pulled out his heart arteries, somehow still attached. The avian fiend studied the frantically beating organ before crushing it within its grasp.

The zebra’s heart bursted like a bloody balloon, instantly killing him. The last thing the poor stallion saw was a beak-like snout forming an unnerving smile, horrible chartreuse eyes leering at him.

“Kill it! Shoot it down!” Cried Adila as the pundamilian scouts opened fire, blasting plasma bullets at the creature, who deflected the rounds with its large avian plumage. With a beat of its wings, it took off into the smoggy atmosphere.

“I’ve lost visual,” the scout leader growled, trying to scope it out through his helmet vizor.

“We have to fall back!”

“I’ll call in reinforcements,” said Adila, who clumsily tried to dial a number. But she couldn’t punch it in when the monster flew down with a screech, tackling through their defenses to push her down. It stomped down on her phone with taloned feet.

Adila gazed at her attack with pinpoint pupils. It was a being made purely of flesh and metal, a slick metallic tissue shielding its sickly glowing interior. Its arms, legs, and tail were made of denser material, like the large quills sprouting from its back. Despite the gangling frame, its belly was slightly rotund. Full breasts heaved with each breath, purple nipples hardened.

Atop its long neck was an avian-shaped face, a head of shiny white hair that split off into long bangs. Two small black wings behaved like ears, perking up at the sound of rifles clipping, its spines shuddering as if sensing danger.

The biomechanical beast quickly ducked out of the line of fire and glided at the closest zebra stallion, seizing his throat and hoisting him up. It knocked the other officer down with a sweep of its claw-tipped tail, using it to pin him down.

That’s when he felt something sharp poke into his lower back and let out a blood-curdling scream when it impaled his spine. The claw tightened its grip while the extraction needle drained him of his essence.

Adila watched helplessly as her colleague dissolved into a liquified puddle of flesh, bands of rippling light traveling up the creature’s tail into its spine. The cryptid avian let out whimpers when it finished draining the scout leader, now focused on the stallion squirming in its grasp.

A coy smile spread its features. “Mmm… that’s better,” it softly groaned with an androgynous tone.

“S-Shetani! Shetani!!” The sniveling scout cursed in his native tongue.

The demon gave a throaty chuckle, seemingly able to understand his dialect. In response, it extended one of its claws and poked it through his neck. It released its bellowing prey, observing the stallion as yellow veins swelled and spread throughout his body from the puncture wound.

A metallic grey liquid oozed out every pore and orifice until his rapidly decaying form transmuted organic plate armor. The technorganic virus even fused his existing tech and helmet into his arms and head. His cries were layered with digital distortions until, eventually… the sounds stopped.

One touch was all it took for the scout to succumb to the vile monster’s flesh-altering disease. The newly mechanized zombie stood motionless before slowly skulking toward the bodies of his comrades. The creature responsible looked taken aback by how quickly its toxin took effect, quietly marveling over its claws with awe.

“What is this?” It wondered out loud, momentarily looking itself over. “What am I? And why does it feel… good~?” It kneaded its prominent breasts, letting out gentle coos while rubbing its thoughts together.

Adila took this opportunity to crawl behind a pile of iron debris. She hastily looked around to figure out where the hover carrier was. If she could get to it without drawing attention…

The royal advisor poked her head over the scrap pile, spotting the monster examining Varys’ lifeless body, head tilted to the side. Coiling its tail to lift the carcass, it stabbed its needle-like appendage through his cranium and quietly extracted what little essence remained.

Meanwhile, the biomechanical drone it had created hunched over the cadaver of its former comrade, vomiting a chemical substance into his exposed chest. The enhanced disease quickly overtook the deceased zebra stallion, reanimating it into another automatized husk. It pulled itself free from its impalement, corrosive acid seeping out the giant hole in its chest.

The biomechanical beast dropped Varys’ body after siphoning what it wanted, clutching its head as a slew of memories bombarded its psyche. His thoughts, emotions, experiences, and encounters. All leading up to its conception under one name.

“Nephilim!”

That's what it was. No… what she was. The culmination of the Vice Lord's work. His successor and his reincarnation simultaneously. The Nephilim recalled that, during his final moments, Varys performed an incantation stolen from the Vice Lord, Doppia, to merge his spirit into the egg before Quicksilver put him down. And despite Mortis’ pet dragon drinking the soul vat dry, it was enough to sustain the creature during her incubation period.

She had emerged incomplete but alive and intact.

“I owe you much for my survival, don’t I?” The Nephilim considered, stroking the carcass with a delicate talon. “In honor of your sacrifice, I should carry your ambition. Herald the technorganic utopia you’ve worked so hard to achieve…”

She smiled spitefully at the thought and then said, “… I. Think. Not!”

The Nephilim lifted her powerful legs and stomped the cadaver’s head apart, brain matter and blood splattering.

“You had your chance, old man,” scoffed the cybernetic demi-human, twisting her heel deeper. “But I refuse to accept your purpose as my destiny. Besides, you would have never gotten this far without… this!”

Kicking the headless body over, her tail slithered into his cloak and pulled out the flesh-covered tome hidden within. Opening the Necronomicon, she briefly scanned the forbidden texts, its evil temptations whispering into her ear.

“Why would anyone want to wipe out humanity when it can be further corrupted?” mused the Nephilim. “Stripped of their morals. Devoid of sanity. Helplessly addicted to their vices~.”

Her quills vibrated in excitement, already considering what potential devastation she would wreak. Perhaps she should start with something small and visceral?

“Visceral,” she hummed thoughtfully. “Viscera… Hmmm~... It has a nice ring to it. Rolls off the tongue quite nicely!”

Settling on her chosen name, Viscera turned her head to find Adila making a beeline for the hovercraft. An amused smirk crossed her beck-shaped snout as she spread her scabby wings and took flight, leaving the cyborganic zombies to wander aimlessly.

The royal advisor focused only on the carriage ahead, tears streaming down her face. She had to warn her uncle and the rest of the Zebrica empire about this monstrous plight. Conquest would no longer matter so long as that thing was flying around!

But as she crawled up the steps, the steely avian dropped right in front of her, the hovercraft rocking under the ‘thud’ and causing the zebra mare to trip backward, landing on her bottom.

Frightened eyes stared at the predatory creature, a twisted smile stretching her face. “Going somewhere~?”

“P-please! Don’t hurt me!!” Adila pleaded tearfully, shuffling away. Viscera’s nostrils flared at the tang of urine, spotting a growing stain in the advisor’s pants. Pleased with herself, she placed the Necronomicon in her tail claw on the dashboard before lashing it out to clamp around the zebress’ ankle.

She shrieked as she was dragged closer to the cybernetic monstrosity. She flailed uselessly, eyes shrinking at the elongated nails looming near her face. “NO! STOP!!”

Viscera tittered cruelly. Instead of infecting her like the other zebras, she scooped up one tear with the tip of her claw. Then she brought it over her tongue, savoring its salty bitterness.

Adila whimpered. “W-what do you want?!”

The Nephilim groaned before leaning to the advisor’s ear, answering in a slithering voice.

“I want inside you~!”

Her visage contorted with bewilderment about what that meant until her eyes fell over Viscera’s crotch. Above the creature’s dripping snatch was a triangular-shaped slit that widened. And a long, slimy, ebony appendage erected out until it stiffened, shaft bristled with hair-like barbs. Adila’s pupils dilated up, realizing what she was gawking at.

It was a penis. This creature possessed male and female genitalia. And the implications of what she wanted became crystal clear…

“No… not that! Anything but that!!”

Viscera ignored her prey’s objections, claws slashing through the royal zebra’s uniform and shirt, panting huskily at the sight of the zebra’s chest spilling out. It didn’t take long until she freed the struggling mare of her sullied pants and panties.

Adila whined and begged, unable to take her gaze off the prickly cock that pulsated against her mound. The Nephilim then took hold of her legs and spread them apart, the bulbous tip poised at her entrance. And without warning, she stuffed herself entirely into the zebress’ cunt with one thrust, releasing a sultry hiss.

Adila screamed bloody murder, feeling the alien intruder battering her cervix, penetrating into her womb as the vulture-esque demi-human started pounding her pussy violently.

Viscera’s vagina secreted hot feminine discharge, dribbling between the zebra’s buttocks. With Adila’s legs occupied, the cyborganic demoness repositioned her tail to clutch around her victim’s throat, choking her screams and unwanted moans.

“Aaagh! I-It hurts,” she whimpered, tears staining her eyes. The tiny hairs brushed her love tunnel roughly, making the pain ten times worse.

Even if Viscera were listening to her pathetic pleas, she likely didn’t care. Far too fixated on defiling the pretty zebra mare, moaning hotly from how tightly she tried to squeeze out her oversized fem cock. Her hands squeezed and pulled on Adila’s ample tits, which jiggled with each bludgeoning thrust.

The Nephilim let her baser instincts to breed the fertile female take over, the thought of contaminating her womb with putrid sperm causing her entire body to shiver in ecstasy.

With a low growl, the bionic demi-human flipped Adila onto her face, talons digging into her supple ass while she continued to defile her from behind. Her animalistic trills and groans grew gruff, hammering away at the poor mare, who tried desperately to crawl away.

But with her rapist's tight grip around her waist, the zebress was forced into the depraved monster’s hard thrusts.

Then, with a loud shriek, Viscera buried herself fully inside Adila as she hit her climax, pumping the zebra advisor’s marehood full of hot spunk.

Adila cried in disgust as her body betrayed her, squeezing down on the intrusive cock and coating it in mare cum. Her belly swelled from the parasitic seed bathing her ovaries.

Viscera withdrew with a wet ‘schlop,’ causing the zebress’ body to plop to the side and curl into a fetal position. Whimpering as their mixed juices seeped out her thoroughly thrashed fuck hole.

To her absolute horror, Adila looked up to see her violator’s slime-coated cock still erect. With an appalled look, she weakly muttered, “M-Mchafu!”

“‘Vile,’ am I?” The buzzard-faced demi chortled. “Oh, trust me, pet. I’ve barely even begun to get nasty!”

A heated coo rose from her throat, one hand stroking her penis while the other grabbed her chest. Why did she still feel horny? Perhaps something to do with the DNA samples from this ‘Belladonna’ person.

Viscera considered taking another round out of Adila, but fortunately for the zebra mare, one of the cyborganic zombies pulled her attention away as it walked toward them. Her chartreuse eyes lowered into a sultry glare as she approached it with swaying hips. Or as sensually one could be with lanky proportions like hers.

And things only got weirder when Viscera started singing while running her hands over the twitching automaton. Her scratchy voice conveyed sexiness to the otherwise vulgar-sounding lyrics.

The synthetic zombie responded by touching her back, feeling up the Nephilim’s assets while its stallionhood bizarrely became erected. As the song hit its second chorus, she shoved the biomechanical zombie onto its back, pushing her tail through its rectum and tearing it a new hole for her to fuck. She was practically screeching the song while hammering away at her toy.

What made this most perplexing was that Viscera sang as if it was directed at someone. And indeed, someone was on her mind while she moaned out the lyrics,

“Throughout the forest, above the trees…

Within my stomach, scraped off my knees…

I drink the honey inside your hive…

You are the reason I am still alive~♪”

The fallen one occupied the nephilim’s ravenous fantasies, much to her astonishment. She had never met him or felt anything particular to him. Yet through Varys’ memories, the vulture-esque demi-human found the seraphic angel the perfect candidate to sire tainted offspring. The thought of ravaging him beyond recognition brought Viscera to another orgasm, pumping her splooge into the screaming technorganic drone.

Yes. She would cast abominable filth upon Zeloph. Make him vile. Make him a spectacle!

With her libido finally sated, Viscera removed herself from the mewling cyborganic abomination, its own shaft firing its discharge directly into the hole in its chest. The Nephilim pondered how she was going to reach Zeloph.

She tried drawing a circle as the witchy unicorn did, but nothing happened, much to her disappointment. Seems that rare dimension jumping ability wasn’t something she could be born with, despite having Beatrix’s genetic code.

Viscera focused on the high-tech carrier, Adila trying to pull herself back up on the control panel. And through that observation, an epiphany came.

The biomechanical hermaphrodite flew over to her maker’s corpse again, stripping him of his outfit and casting a minor spell to repair the torn seams.

Adorned in the newly tailored cloak, Viscera glided back to the hovercraft, dragging her technorganic zombie on board. She then placed a hand over Adila’s, the mare attempting to make contact with the empire to send a warning about the dangerous Nephilim. But the zebra froze instantly, possible scenarios of how she’ll die running rampant in her mind.

Appeased by her victim’s fearful visage, the vulture-faced demi gave a reassuring titter. “Do as I say, and I’ll let you live in good health,” the Nephilim advertised, guiding her hand to the ignition.

Adila whimpered, sweating bullets. She couldn’t trust this wretched creature to keep her word, but what other choice did she have? Giving a simple nod, the royal advisor placed her command keycard onto the scanner, starting up the machine. She failed to suppress a sob when she felt those poisonous talons stroking up her back. “Good~! Now, take me to Pundamilia. It’s time I take back my technology!”

As the hovercraft took off, Viscera grabbed the busted plague doctor mask off the table, examining the damages. The bionic devil decided to do some mending before she arrived at the zebra empire. She needed her creator's visage for what she had instored...

Advent Visitor

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“NRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! CONFOUND IT ALL!!!”

Another vase smashed against the castle wall, causing mild discomfort for the eldritch beast, who visibly and audibly shuddered. Broken glass, stones, and water splattered across the floor. The pile of shattered stuff grew with each new object Countess Alma hurled, ranging from plates, candelabras, buttresses, and other belongings.

And when she eventually ran out of things to throw, she released another vexed shriek. Veins bulge above her furrowed brows, her scarlet eyes slit with fury. Her ample breasts lifted with every huff, her mouth drawn into an animalistic snarl.

“It’s incredible!” Alma hissed as she began pacing around the room. “Unbelievable! First, those villagers raid mah castle an' secure Oona. Now, that wretched deer escapes too?!”

“A minor setback, lass,” insisted Douglas, who ran a finger over a leech crawling across his bare chest. “We’ll get them both when we-”

The kelpie stopped mid-sentence to avoid a spare statue head chucked his way, shattering upon impact behind the couch he was lying on.

“Shut up!!” The Baobhan Sith snapped, finger pointed at her fellow Vice Lord. “This is partly yer fault! Too busy fuckin' 'round wit mah prisoner instead ov doin' yer job properly!”

“Oi, that’s horseshit!” Douglas spat back. “Wasn’t mah fault yer pair ov vampiric whores couldn’t handle one measly buck, which, by th' way, Ah knocked around senseless! Nah, Ah ain’t takin' th' rap on this!”

Alma flashed forward to seize the water demon by his throat, gurgling as her talons dug into his jugulars. “Just. Bring me. Bellatrix,” she ordered through clenched teeth. “Or it’ll be you I fillet alive!”

Alma released her grasp, the drenched stallion coughing while he rubbed his neck. He gave her a slight sneer before leaving the room, muttering, “Fuckin’ bloodsuckers…”

While the kelpie hurried off to fetch their remaining prisoner, Camellia and Esmeralda were visible in the room beside Alma’s. After hours of work, the former managed to rouse the latter from her deep sleep. Her undead heart sank seeing her lover still mortified, clinging onto her black dress like a filly.

"It’s okay, I have you," the masked vampiress said and held Esmeralda’s head close to her heavy bosom, veins visible across the milky, pendulous orbs when they heaved aloft. "The nightmare is over. You're fine."

"It-it felt so real," whimpered the wide-eyed huntress, almost as pale as her partner. "I've never felt so humiliated in my life! Not since our old master bested me in combat to make me his bride!" She bristled at the burning memory, too, her snout drawn in quiet malice.

"Omen will pay for this transgression," Camellia said, matching her animosity while stroking her partner's double pink braids. “The moment we find him, I will have his head! It’ll be just like the good old nights.”

Esmeralda managed a smile and took her hands. "Y-yeah! Nothing more than another monster for us to hunt!”

“Do wit him as ye must.” They both perked up when their mistress waltzed into their room, having cooled down a little. “Who knows. Perhaps yer chance will come at th' War ov Walpurgisnacht. He’ll likely be there tae protect his sow an' their unborn child."

“Then let their horrified faces be the last thing he ever sees!” Esmeralda chirped sadistically as she and Camellia lowered themselves to their knees in submission.

“Thank you, mistress,” the masked vampiress said as they both took the Vice Lord’s fingers into their mouths and suckled on them. Both to pleasure themselves and ease Alma’s tensions, which seemed to be working, judging by the quiet coos she made.

Meanwhile, below, Douglas made his way into the dungeon, where a pack of hellhounds was still busy rutting their favorite toy into total submission. Bellatrix had since gone numb from daily punishment, not even reacting when the canines stuffed her thoroughly abused holes and mouth with their hot doggy spunk. She was sure this would make her never want sex again, should she survive the ordeal.

The kelpie took a moment to admire the way the hellhounds dominated their bitch before shoving them away with his boot. “Alright, ye mangy mutts! Ye’ve had yer fill fur th' day! Fuck off wit ye!”

The rust-colored two-headed hounds whined as they strayed to withdraw their knots from Bellatrix's outstretched fuckholes and lips. The one locked up her asshole and cunt dragged his bitch across the grimy, cum, and squirt-soaked floor in an attempt to withdraw. A blast of water from the demon forced them off with a wet, echoing pop into a scurry, leaving the bitten and scratched-up she-devil caked in runny spunk.

Bellatrix coughed up more cum while rising to her feet so that Douglas could hose her down with seawater, washing away the dried cum that stained her red skin. Golden eyes stared him down; the demoness prepared for how he'd abused her sore orifices after Alma’s pets were spent.

To her surprise, he threw her a towel and told her, "Dry yerself off. Alma wants tae see ye." Her glare hardened with suspicion while patting the cloth around her soaked body, unintentionally providing the sleazy Vice Lord a show of her bruised ass when she bent down to clean her legs.

Once Bellatrix finished, she quietly walked in front of Douglas after the two departed from the prison corridor. They passed the hellhounds, some nuzzling and lapping at the she-devil’s well-used and abused ass and cunt as she passed by, simply to be smacked aside by her spaded tail. "Heh. Guess ye still got their scent on ye,” snorted Douglas, who struck his hand on her bite-marked tit. “A true mark ov a good whore~.”

Bellatrix kept her mouth shut, which earned another sharp slap across her other bitten breast. Still, the most he got out of her was a reflexive flinch. Frowning, Douglas pulled one of the hound's collars and snapped it around the succubus’ neck, adorned by the word 'BITCH', the thick leather leash used to pull her after him. She sputtered, choked by the leash, and almost tripped, her pussy inflamed after constant use.

"What were you expecting?” Bellatrix weakly scoffed. “After days of enduring those horny mutts, I’ve gotten used to your schtick. Just hurry up and fuck me already; get it over with. We don’t want to keep your mistress wai-”

“Hold yer tongue, or A’ll cut it off an' replace it wit a louse!” The water demon barked, tightening his grip on her collar. “Alma can suck me dry fur all Ah care. A’m nobody's puppet! But maybe A've underestimated yer capacity fur torment. Lemme fix that real quick!”

The kelpie plucked fat leeches off his musculature that stank of salt and brine before dropping them onto Bellatrix’s perky nipples and clit. She sucked in a breath when they wetly, noisily suckled at her, struggling to hide the stinging pain mixed with unwanted pleasure.

“Yeah, ye like that, huh? Saucy cunt!!” He yanked her black hair to reel her head back so he could spit in her face. Yet despite his earlier statement, he didn’t want to lose his genitals for making the Baobhan Sith wait. He shoved her down to all fours and said, “Keep movin’, ya dumb bitch. Alma’s already in a f’ugly arse mood.”

Nakedness was the natural state of most succubi, so it didn't precisely bother Bellatrix to be nude. However, her blood boiled when the aquatic Vice Lord forced her to crawl up the stairs like a beast.

It didn’t help that in this position, she appeared ready to be mounted again, provoking the erect hellhounds to bark and growl aggressively, their own leashes pulled to the limit while they desperately tried to break free from the walls so they could have their way with her some more.

Bellatrix did her best to ignore Douglas' chortles. The salty, bitter taste of mutt tang lingered on her tongue, her pendulous breasts left to sway as the leeches slurped at her sensitive bits, no doubt leaving nasty red hickies once she could pry them off her succulent flesh.

What she couldn’t ignore was more of those parasitic worms crawling down to her body, leaving slimy trails across Bellatrix's red skin. She winced when those fattened creatures bit into her flesh, some even wiggling their way into her ruined pussy and asshole to seek warmth and moisture. Violently, her tail spade snapped and plucked them out of her ruined orifices.

“Aww, look at that! They’ve taken a likin' tae ye,” the kelpie pirate snickered, reaching down to help himself to a handful of her plump crimson asscheeks. “Had a lot ov conquests in mah time befur th' Burning King. Never slept a night wit'out a lusty wench happily chokin' down me cock. Promised them adventure an' escape from their dead-end lives… before lettin' th' sea gallows swallow them up.”

He sighed in reminiscence. “Nothin' is more calmin' than th' sound ov dyin' breath underwater. An' after we take th' Isle ov Parras, A’m gonna add all yer wee friends under th' notches ov me belt! Mmm... Ah think A’ll start wit that soft princess Doppia possessed. Cerise, was it? She had one hell ov a body. Too bad her sweet cherry’s already been popped! Nothin' like th' feelin' ov first blood soakin' yer john~!”

He seized Bellatrix's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "How does it feel tae know yer betrayal made all this possible? Heh! Ah bet Alma knows some sort ov spell that can restore yer friend’s hymen. Could probably convince her tae do it so Ah can rupture it in front ov her friends an' lovers. Fuck, Ah can already hear her sobs as th' water fills her lungs~!”

This made the succubus push back harder, making him cackle louder while molesting her. “That got ya riled up, didn’t it? Maybe now ye’ll think twice about gettin' defiant wit me. Cause A’ve got ways tae hurt ye wit'out touchin' ye…”

Soon enough, the fussy Bellatrix was brought to the banquet room, where Alma, Camellia, and Esmeralda waited in their chairs. The moment Douglas removed the leash, the succubus immediately swatted the rest of the bloated leeches off of her with more moist pops, her poor distended nipples, and clit marked with red rings.

Her yellow eyes glared into the Baobhan Sith’s scarlet orbs and proclaimed, “If you brought me up here to profess my love and loyalty, you’re wasting your time.”

The hemomancer’s face curled harder. “No, ye’ve made it adamantly clear how much ov a foolish errand that is. On top ov bein' too difficult fur mah minions an' pets to handle, Ah think A’m done wastin' mah time on ye.” A cruel smile stretched her thin lips. “Go on then. Cut yer collar!”

Douglas jerked his head with perplexity. “Come again?”

Even Camellia and Esmeralda turned to each other, sharing confused looks. The tallest of the couple spoke up. “Mistress? You’re not seriously considering letting her go, are you?!”

Alma held up her hand to silence the masked vampiress. “She’s not goin' anywhere,” the countess reassured without tearing her gaze from her defiant prisoner. She repeated tauntingly, “Go ahead, dear. Ye have my permission~.”

“I don’t need your permission!” Bellatrix seethed, claws slicing the leather around her throat. Blood boiling and nether’s sore, the succubus took a combative stance, her nails turned to claws. Instinctively, the other legionnaires took their own stances, but one stern look from the Baobhan Sith told them to stand down. This was their dispute. And anyone who interfered would meet the bite of her Sanguine blade.

Battered as the sex demon was, her accursed physiology made her physically and spiritually receptive to any sexual stimulus. Even the non-consensual sort, which played out in her favor. Bellatrix drew energy from what the hellhounds and Douglas had done to her repeatedly, reinvigorating herself with their lustful releases back to a healthy state. It was the one edge she had on the Vice Lord.

A blush appeared across the she-devil’s face when Alma allowed her emerald dress to slip off her voluptuous curves, baring her nude flesh for all to see. With a flick of her wrist, the doors opened, and more hellhounds rushed in, flanking their vampiric master’s sides.

“Figures…” muttered Bellatrix, but remained undetected by the unfairness of their duel. At least now she could put down these dirty dogs for good!

But then they started to yowl in pain while Baobhan Sith opened her palm. And with a clutch, all her loyal hellhounds exploded into chunky blood splotches, making everyone gasp. When the vampiress reopened her hand, she drew the crimson liquid from the meat puddles into a sphere, which she then siphoned through her lips.

The dark rose aura of the Vice Lord’s Onoma manifested around her vessel, her long curly, auburn hair flowing towards the ceiling. She leered at her sultry opponent, who did her best to hide how nervous she was becoming.

But Alma could see how briskly her heart was beating, which fueled her malicious hunger, calling to Bellatrix, “Ye won’t give me yer heart? Fine! A’ll claim it fur myself!!”

Alma let out a wicked scream once her flesh warped into her bestial-chimera form. Her pale skin was covered with darkened fur, her face contorting to a wolfish maw with a bat’s flared snout and ears, her black horns and wings extending in length. Her burnt orange locks now a mane that draped over her chest and back.

The legionnaires pressed themselves to the walls to give the combatants space. Not even the bats above stuck around, fluttering out of the window that burst open from the rampant storm outside.

A flash of lightning signaled the start of their duel as the fully transmuted Alma lept into action, fangs bared and claws extended. Deftly, Bellatrix evaded a swipe at her throat, part of the table smashed under the Vice Lord's assault. She spread her leathery wingspan for maneuverability since they were too battered for extensive flight. The red-skinned demoness hopped onto a chandelier, crouched naked while it swayed over the hall with a tinkle of crystals.

When the Baobhan Sith flew after her, Bellatrix hurtled to the other chandelier, and the one she'd crouched on smashed into the floor. While aware she couldn’t keep dodging her foe, she wouldn’t risk close combat. If the hemomancer got even a single drop of blood from her, it would spell the she-devil’s end.

She grunted, ducking another vicious swipe from Alma, and twisted onto the last chandelier on the ceiling. Using its momentum, Bellatrix swung it back into the pursuing vampiress while she tumbled down to the carpeted floor.

Alma released a howl of fury, broken shards of jewelry and glass sticking out of her body and face. The succubus rose up, the floor littered with broken chandelier parts, leaving little space for her to move around.

Pulling out as much of the shrapnel as she could, the chimeric beast used her vampiric healing to seal her wounds shut, leaving smears of dark crimson in places. She snarled at Bellatrix, whose golden eyes returned the contempt.

"I wanted to love you, Alma,” she confessed. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever encountered! But I won’t stand by a monster willing to harm my friends! I swore to protect Oona and Abadonna, and you sold them out!”

She conjured a ball of black fire and hurled it at the Vice Lord, who slapped it away. “Ye should be grateful Ah didn’t tear th' whelp right out ov her stomach an' feast on her heart!” retorted Alma, who brushed aside more thrown demonic fireballs. “An' ye don’t get tae say that after tryin' tae make me yer pet! Lockin' me away like Ah was some kind ov animal!”

“I did,” admitted Bellatrix, who briefly glanced away. “I thought I could change you like Beatrix had changed others. I see now how gravely I was mistaken. And for that, I am sorry…”

“It’s too late for apologies, Primadonna!” Alma belted, wetness seeping out her unblinking eyes. “Ye made yer choice!”

“We both did,” the succubus lamented before resuming launching her blackened flame orbs. The Baobhan Sith launched off the wall to slash at her with blinding speed. Bellatrix barely managed to avoid those razor-sharp talons, landing on the other half of the table that stretched across the banquet halls, crouched down on all fours like a panther while their eyes locked, her tail raised and wingspan extended.

Screeching loudly, Alma propelled forward while Bellatrix rolled to evade another vicious swipe that split one-half of the table into pieces. The she-devil managed to land a few quick scratches with her nails and tail before the Baobhan Sith knocked her away with a brutal backhand.

Bellatrix groaned when her back collided with the stone wall, struggling to keep on her feet. While the red-skinned succubus was a powerhouse herself, it became apparent she stood no match against the Vice Lord by her lonesome, especially in this state.

Yet what confused her greatly was why the eldritch castle didn’t aid its mistress. She could sense its observation; it could quickly turn the tide. But it was completely neutral.

Was it obeying Alma’s wishes to not interfere, or was their bond not as strong as she thought?

Either way, it didn’t matter to Bellatrix. She couldn’t rely on its help anymore…

Alma approached on all fours, behaving more like a predator cornering its prey. Thinking fast, the she-devil chucked a chair, only to be smashed with a growl. With a pained jerk, Bellatrix weaved away from the chimera's charge, and the beast's face crashed into a solid stone wall that cracked under the impact. Dust choked the area as Alma snorted and pounced at her prey.

After so many attempts, she finally nicked Bellatrix on the shoulder. “Agh-!” The she-devil hissed, clutching her injury, eyes wide at the sight of dark red blood staining her fingers.

A victorious smirk stretched Alma’s hound-like snout as she lapped her lover’s essence off her claws. Her scarlet eyes burned brightly as her blood magic took control of the demoness’s body, forcing every vein and muscle to obey her will.

Bellatrix failed to hold back her screams as her flesh betrayed her, a sickening stretching sound every time her limbs shakingly walked towards Alma. With her target immobilized, the Baobhan Sith slammed her into the cold floor, straddling atop to tear more of her succulent flesh apart.

“YAAAAUUAAAGH!!”

“The game is over,” mused Camellia as she, Esmeralda, and Douglas stepped forward to get a closer look at the she-devil’s agony.

“That’s it, mistress!” The petite bat mare huntress chanted. “Rip her apart, slice her into ribbons!”

“A cryin' shame,” grunted the kelpie, who folded his arms. “She could have made fur a good cock warmer… oh well.”

The creature disguised as the castle broke its silence with distressed groaning. Despite the poor treatment it felt Bellatrix had given it, it couldn’t stand to see its former host being ripped asunder. Tendrils slowly descended from the ceiling until Alma reeled her head back and yelled, “Cease yer wailin', traitor! Ye allowed Clan Jakobson tae infiltrate our premises an' steal away our hostages. Ye’re as much at fault as she is! Now obey yer master an' HEEL!!”

Low growls resonated around the walls, but the eldritch beast did as commanded, retracting its toothy tentacles.

Alma brought her attention back to Bellatrix, taking in her anguished visage and crimson-soaked gashes. Her pupilless eyes trailed down to the valley of her breasts, noticing the singed scar where her heart was. An eternal reminder of the damage caused by the Burning King.

The blood countess hesitated, recalling the grueling decades she spent as the Nuckelavee’s servant, which in turn led to repressed memories of her countless days as a faerie whore to the royals who first imprisoned her. Twisting her into the blood-craving monster she was now…

The Baobhan Sith shook away those ghastly thoughts, though hot tears continued to fall down her cheeks as she plunged her entire paw through the succubus’ torso.

Bellatrix cried out from the excruciating pain, her bruised back arching. She felt her consciousness slipping, sight blurring as Alma squeezed her grasp around her frantically beating heart…

But as the Vice Lord was about to pull out her prize, a pale light steadily grew brighter and brighter until pure illumination erupted from Beatrix’s chest cavity. Alma yowled, repelling from the searing light as she and her comrades covered their eyes.

The ethereal light lit up the entire interior of the castle, the eldritch beast rumbling from the strange warmth filling its insides.

When the illumination died down, Esmeralda squinted at the radiant shape hovering before them. “What the fuck is that?!”

Alma kept her arm over her head, trying to make out the aberration stinging her eyesight with bared teeth. And when the brilliant light finally faded, she gasped, “… It can’t be!”

Bellatrix weakly lifted her head to gaze at the levitating woman in astonishment. Large, owl-shaped plumage unfurled around her nearly nude body, dark straps, and feathery lingerie highlighting her eccentric curves, heavy breasts, and childbearing hips. Her face structure was identical to the she-devil's, making her an angelic twin.

But that's where the similarities ended when taking in the plethora of eyes that blinked open along her inner plumage. Her skin was pale gray with dark accents in bizarre shapes around her shoulders, forearms, and thighs. Coiled around her right leg was a black serpent, which slightly lifted its head upon waking up.

She had waist-long white hair that resembled tiny wings, much like the pair that acted as her ears. A crown of black horns hovered atop her head like a halo. But the dead giveaway of her identity was the crescent-venus symbols highlighting her cheeks.

“L-Lilith!?!”

Her prominent eyes opened at the sound of her name. They mirrored Bellatrix’s golden orbs but with a violet ring around her blue pupils. Her dark-painted lips curled.

“Ahh… It’s been ages since I’ve heard someone call me by my most ancient name,” the primordial demoness mused, stretching her tired limbs. “And it feels good to have my own body again!”

She ran her hands over her bountiful bosom and plump buttocks, giggling alluringly. “So very nice indeed~.”

“Holy shite,” Douglas said, flabbergasted. “A’ve been fuckin' two women at th' same time?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Lilith. “I wouldn’t give just any man the privilege of tasting divinity. And certainly not one so hideous and grotesque.”

“Wanna bet, ye fuckin’ cun-” His retort was cut off by a hard slap from Camellia. “Aagh!”

“For once in your pathetic life, shut your trout!!” Warned the aristocratic vampiress.

“Don’t you understand who that is?!” added Esmeralda.

Rubbing his cheek, the kelpie grumbled, “Another cunty succubus?”

“Not just any succubus, idiot,” hissed Alma. “Thee first succubus tae have roamed th' earth. Th' mother ov all demons, fallen wife ov Adam, matriarch ov th' morning star! She… is th' true devil queen! But Ah would have ne'er suspected she was related tae that angelic freak an' his whore sister!”

The ancient succubus smiled coyly. “There is much about my story many people were fooled into believing. But it pleases me to know I have not been forgotten by this young generation.” She then frowned as her bare feet touched the ground, standing in front of Bellatrix protectively.

“Since you’re well acquainted with my titles and status, you must know fighting me would be a terrible idea,” she stated firmly. “Allow us to leave peacefully, and no more harm will come to you and your legion.”

“An' suffer more humiliation by lettin' another wench slip from mah grasp? Ah don’t think so!” Alma sneered as she and her legionnaires approached the pair. “Yer reign as queen ov hell has long since ended, Lilith! Ah own th' night skies now!!”

The Baobhan Sith lunged first, aiming to slice through her tall neck and drink her blood… only for her target to casually step back and secure her wrist between her thumb and finger.

“I have lived longer than you’ve drawn immortal breath,” countered Lilith, her feathery white hair flowing as dark energy manifested from her body and wings. “You’re not the first to lust after my throne. Nor will you be the last. But no matter who wears the crown, one truth shall be universal…”

All of her eyes glowed with magical light as the room around them became enveloped by darkness and stars.

“… the night will forever be my domain!”

Everything present in the banquet hall was pulled into some sort of pocket dimension, the decorative architecture of the castle replaced by an endless star-filled sky. The ground they tread upon was not ground at all but an infinite ocean of water reflecting the night above.

Alma snarled when Lilith vanished from the front, shifting Bellatrix and herself further away, where the mother of all demons summoned a topaz apple and gave it to the she-devil.

“Eat,” she urged. “It will help you rejuvenate faster.”

“T-thanks…” Bellatrix managed to say, taking small delicate bites of the strange yet sweet-tasting fruit. And, much like Lilith said, the slash marks and hole in her chest steadily closed, and some of her lost strength started to return.

Finishing her mouthful, she took in the mystical sight and questioned, “What is this place?”

“This is the realm of my Onoma, Nyx,” explained the motherly succubus. “I have total control over everything within this night-filled space. It’s a power I alone possess… though I sense that one of my descendants has recently awakened an ability similar to it!”

And given who her former angelic side resembled, it didn’t take the dreary succubus long to figure out. “Ana! So she really is a Lilium!?”

Lilith affirmed with a nod, changing focus on the Legion of Black Roses, who charged towards them. “Now, stay put. This won’t take long.”

Her mighty wings unfurled to their full extent, her adder-shaped tail unwrapping itself to hiss at the incoming threats.

Alma flew down like a piece of the night was given fangs and claws. But before she could reach the primordial succubus, the monstrous bats blocked her vision, fluttering and stretching all around her.

“Graagh! What are ye doin'!? Ah am yer master!!”

Lilith tittered with amusement, folding her arms underneath her milky bust. “Good children won't ever dare attack their mother~.”

Her point was further demonstrated by the sound of barking. The remaining hellhounds off their leash snarl and pounce at the vampire duo, who struggle to kick away the pack of two-headed canines.

“Stupid dogs! Get off of me!!” yelled Esmeralda.

“How dare you disobey your mistress!!” Camellia complained.

Alma turned to Douglas and angrily yelled, “Do somethin', ye dolt!”

The kelpie unsheathed his cutlass and was submerged in the dark water below. Lilith raised a curious brow when the demonic pirate resurfaced behind her, aiming the tip of his blade under her chin while wrapping an arm around her chest.

“Ha! Stupid bitch,” the water demon cackled. “This is just an oversized swimmin' pool. A’m in me natural element!” His hand slipped under her garment to get a handful of the primordial succubus’ luscious milk tanks. “Now call off them night creatures an' get down on yer knees. Otherwise, it’ll be more than just yer clothes A’ll be carvin' intae—Yaaaaaugh!!”

In his arrogance, Douglas failed to factor in Lilith’s snake tail, which bit into his leg and pumped his briny body with its potent venom. The kelpie hollered with pain, breaking his hold to favor his leg, the scorching sting of the poison coursing through his body.

This left him in a prime position to take a hard-spinning back kick from the mother of all demons. The impact sent Douglas splashing across the watery floor.

Alma was absolutely livid at the cloud of bats, lashing out in every direction until they retreated. Her fellow vampires also managed to put down the treacherous hellhounds. All three let out a furious war cry and dashed for the ancient demoness, attacking her at all sides.

“Look out!” warned Bellatrix, who was still recovering.

But Lilith wasn’t deterred, gracefully pivoting every slash, strike, and bullet shot the trio of vampires threw at her. Then she retaliated with a few stiff jabs and kicks of her own, batting Alma, Camellia, and Esmeralda around with her wings.

The fight quickly proved entirely out of their favor when the legendary succubus started incorporating her dark spells, blasting them with night beams or radiant orbs of baleful flames. Her movements formed the liquid surface into the shapes of her hands and feet to deal extra damage.

“This battle was over the moment she brought us here,” surmised Bellatrix as she watched her angelic doppelgänger curb-stomp the Legion of Black Roses.

Camellia and Esmeralda collapsed, unable to overcome the holy magic infused by Lilith’s attacks. Steam hissed off their clothes and flesh. Alma could barely push herself back on her knees, reverting to her humanoid shape. Her scarlet eyes widened, shaken to her core at how easily she and her comrades were dispatched.

“You understand now, don’t you?” Lilith asked as she looked over her defeated foes. “The warmth of hellish light fused with heavenly darkness. As above, so below. This is the power of the first woman!”

"N-no! No, no, NO!!!” Alma cried in outrage, slamming her fists into the liquid surface of the realm of Nyx. All her power, all her control… taken away instantly, just like her freedom long ago. Even the eldritch abomination could not penetrate this pocket dimension and help her here.

The Baobhan Sith bowed her head and let out ugly sobs, overcome by a sense of helplessness and despair. “It’s not fair! Dae ye know th' amount ov blood A’ve spilled tae get this far? DAE YE KNOW HOW MUCH AH SACRIFICED?!”

A frown formed on the primordial demon’s mouth, and her eyelids lowered. “As a matter of fact, I do…” Her Onoma rapidly dispelled, the night-filled void vanishing as everyone returned to the messy banquet room, the castle beast offering concerned noises.

Bellatrix rose up and limped towards her counterpart and ex-lover once she sensed it was safe. Her hardened gaze softened, seeing her bitter enemy break into tears.

“Oh, my poor Alma,” lamented Lilith. “Such a noble, kind-hearted faerie you once were. You warded your friends and family from invading hunters, only to get captured yourself.”

“Shut up… sh-shut up!”

The regal demoness continued. “Once brought before those foul lords, you were stripped of your wings and chastity. They defiled you for many nights before invoking an ancient blood ritual that turned you into the Baobhan Sith. You slaughtered them mercilessly, rightfully so! But your newfound bloodlust didn’t end there. You took your anger out on everything, men and women alike. Not even your former friends were spared from your wrath—”

“Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!” Alma demanded bitterly, not wanting to relive the awful experiences.

Lilith pursed her lips in a thin line. “I don’t say this to patronize you, Alma. I speak out of experience. I too was mistreated and once sought vengeance on the world. But it only made things worse. I was too late back then… however, it’s not too late for you!”

She reached down to cup Alma’s cheeks, lifting her face up. The Vice Lord stared up at Lilith, then at Bellatrix, before her brows furrowed, and she attempted to bite the holy demoness’ hand.

Lilith sighed with disappointment. “You’re committed, then… Very well. We’ll take our leave.”

With the same hand, the motherly succubus stuck it between her cleavage to pull out a silver device shaped like some sort of whistle with small uncolored orbs embedded between a circular ring.

Bellatrix stared at the alien relic curiously before asking, “Are we not using the Womb of Conception to pass through dimensions?”

Lilith blinked, her face twisting with bewilderment. “Womb of Concep… That’s what you name your Glamorguis? How barbaric!”

“Glamo-what?”

“No, it’s too dangerous given how unstable the multiverse is currently,” she dejected. “Luckily for us, I have a better means of galactic travel~.”

She blew into the bizarre object, producing a peculiar sound as the tiny orbs lit up with red, blue, and orange light. The eldritch beast, now apparently known as a Glamorguis, reacted by shuddering violently, its interiors filled with low groans.

The constant shaking caused the aristocratic bat mares to rise from their beaten stupor. “Wh-what’s happening?” Camellia demanded, watching as furniture and cutlery fell off the trembling walls. “What did you do!?”

Lilith smiled and answered, “Just calling an old friend.”

Alma rose up when a strange rumbling sound grew louder and louder. Then she noticed something large obscuring the stormy skies, the rain having mysteriously stopped pouring outside.

The castle whimpered louder as the power blacked out, leaving the entire interior in perpetual darkness… until a bright flash of illumination poured through the windows, blinding anyone watching.

Everyone’s ears began ringing from the ominous drone resonating above their heads, followed by occasional clicking. Bellatrix covered her ears while Lilith appeared unaffected by whatever she had just summoned.

“Our ride’s here,” she quipped casually, guiding the weary succubus out of the frightened castle. And what she saw left her both dumbfounded and mesmerized.

Eclipsing the castle was an enormous ophanim-like creature that resembled the classical interpretation of an unidentified flying object. Its spiraling saucer-shaped wing was studded with numerous multicolored lights. Underneath was a smaller biomechanical underbelly that spun in the opposite direction, with similar illumination that scanned the ground like searchlights.

But upon observing how the glowing orbs shifted around while rotating, Bellatrix realized all those ‘lights’ were really the eldritch creature’s eyes. Which meant the enclosed spherical center was most likely its mouth. And it would have wholly dwarfed the eldritch abomination further had it retained its manor disguise.

“It’s gigantic!” the red-skinned woman marveled.

Lilith nodded. “The last Glamorguis of its size. And the gentlest.” She took Bellatrix’s hand to help her move forward, where the multitude of ocular lights fixated on the pair. The living spacecraft greeted them with a series of loud rhythmic horns and synthesized warbles, almost like it was singing to them.

Alma, Camellia, and Esmeralda raced after them, only to stop dead in their tracks upon spotting the massive spaceship.

"Wh-what? How...?!” the Vice Lord sputtered in disbelief.

“Am I seeing this right?” Esmeralda added, wide-eyed. “Is that a goddamn UFO?!”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Camellia exclaimed. “Why would the first woman be associated with extraterrestrials?!”

Lilith turned her attention to the baffled vampires and responded, “Aliens. Angels. They’re one and the same, really. Where do you think people got the concept of ‘heading towards a light that would lift you towards heaven’~?”

As if on cue, a beam of light shot down from the creature’s circular orifice, bits of ground and pebbles floating upward within the pillar. The mother of devils stepped forth, her body bathed in heavenly illumination.

She waited for Bellatrix to follow, but the red-skinned succubus paused to look back at the vampiress she once coveted. They stared silently at each other, a lone tear running down Alma’s cheek as she watched her beloved prisoner step into the light and ascend towards the hovering Glamorguis.

No one dared to intervene, aware that they couldn’t overpower the primordial succubus, nor the enormous spaceship obedient to her. It made another melodic sound before taking off into the stormy skies.

The chaotic weather continued to rain down on the castle, the eldritch beast unwinding with a stressful groan once the larger animal had finally flown away.

Alma collapsed to her knees. Face fallen, hair a tangled mess, and heart heavy with despair. No single word could describe how humiliated she was, hopeless to watch the last of her advantages drift away.

“Mistress, we mustn’t stay here,” urged Camellia gently. “This storm is growing worse by the second!”

“She’s right,” agreed Esmeralda, trying to comfort her with a shoulder rub. “We have to prepare for Tatyana’s invasion!”

But their words fell on deaf ears, Alma too crestfallen by everything that had happened to think up a plan to turn this dire situation around for herself and her legion.

Ultimately, it no longer mattered to the Baobhan Sith what happened next. She'd lost the only thing she could ever love.

Despite finally having her freedom, Bellatrix maintained a deep melancholy. The Glamorguis’ bizarre biology allowed the succubus to observe outer space through a translucent window. Her saddened gaze was fixated on the shrinking rocky planet where the castle resided, disappearing in a swirling storm of red and black clouds.

Inside the UFO wasn’t a biomechanical interior or innards like one would expect. It was a blank white void, presumingly able to form any living space based on the host’s preferences, much like the castle.

Behind Bellatrix, Lilith was laughing from the abstract tendrils that wriggled around her limbs and assets in a ticklish manner. They were connected underneath a small nimbus full of techno-colored gas spheres, giving it a jellyfish-like appearance.

“Mmmmn~! Yes, I’ve missed you too,” cooed the ancient woman, stroking the tentacle and caressing her cheek. “I can’t imagine how lonely it must have been for you. Don’t worry; you’ll have plenty of company soon enough.”

Her motherly smile faltered when she approached her counterpart, kneeling down to comfort the sulking succubus. “You need not concern yourself with her anymore.”

“And yet I do,” murmured Bellatrix, turning her head to face the angelic demoness. “What’s going to happen to her?”

Lilith shrugged. “Who knows? With any luck, she and her cronies will be swallowed by the storm as more dimensions collapse into each other. Take it from someone who's gone through three husbands. Your heart will heal and move on.”

“Will it, though?” The red-skinned woman turned away. “I’ve never felt so strongly for anyone before. The closest I felt that someone could be my partner was Zeloph, and he-”

“Mmm… that was likely my heart speaking through you,” Lilith admitted with a faint blush. “He reminds me much of my darling, Lucifer. Like you and I, he shares his face and elegant mannerisms. Forgive me if I-”

“No, that does clear things up,” noted Bellatrix. “Regardless, he belongs with Shadow Scythe. And I doubt I’ll find anyone like Alma.”

The mother of demons furrowed her eyebrows. “I would certainly hope not! She was abrasive and cruel. Beneath her ethereal beauty lies an untameable heart, Bellatrix!”

“I know!” The she-devil belted in frustration. She momentarily collected herself with a heavy sigh. “I thought I could fix her…”

“She doesn’t need to be fixed,” the primordial woman argued gently. “She needs guidance. And maybe someday, you can properly help her once you’ve figured yourself out.”

Bellatrix only nodded while leaning into the first woman’s caressing fingers. “Thank you, Lilith… for saving me.”

“Think nothing of it, dear,” she insisted. “Though I’d rather you’d call me something different. The name ‘Lilith’ has been disgraced with time.”

“Hmm…” the she-devil pondered a potential name for a few brief seconds. “How about… Layla?”

“Ooh~! That does have a lovely sound to it. Layla… I like it!”

Rising up, the motherly demon reminded, “But that’s after we find a way to save the multiverse from annihilation. We need to gather our friends. As much as I want to reunite with the other Demi-humans, we should probably get Beatrix first. Midnight’s world is likely the first to fall…”

"Yes,” Bellatrix agreed. “I… want to see my sister.”

She looked down at her breasts, red marks around her areola, and fished out the ancient coin tossed to her, hidden within the shapeshifter's flesh. A reminder of the abuse she'd endured. "I owe her and everyone else an apology for my foolish mistake. I’ll make it up to them anyway I can!"

"Well said," mused Lilith, smiling. She spoke to the alien nimbus with an ancient tongue, which prompted another string of dubs and warbles. As the Glamorguis set course, the plain void shifted to become a luxurious bathhouse.

“It’ll be a while until we reach them,” said Lilith, removing her feathery bra to free her massive bosom with a supple bounce. Hooking her panties with her thumbs, she bent down to slide them off her shapely, slender legs. Fully naked, the mother of all demons dipped her body into the steamy warm waters, sighing melodically.

“Come lavish yourself, Bellatrix,” she called. “Heaven knows how long you’ve needed a proper bath~.”

The red-skinned demoness found her tail swaying excitedly. A long soak did sound nice. Standing up, Bellatrix studied the coin one last time before tossing it out the translucent window, which popped the trinket out like it passed through water. There, it would float aimlessly in the vast vacuum of space.

Across the magic capital of Canterlot, the Sovereign Witch rallied her forces, preparing for the upcoming invasion ahead. From her palace, Tatyana overlooked her gathered citizens, a mix of fearful and angry eyes upon her. She held her snout high when she began her speech.

“Children of Canterlot,” the wicked monarch said, arms outstretched. “The future of our beloved kingdom and magic depends on us! This storm…” She gestured to the cosmic clouds blacking out the heavens. “… Is the aftermath of one Beatrix Belladonna and her anomalous affairs!”

Murmurs of speculation and suspicion arose from the crowd. Some unicorns didn’t want to believe it, while other ponies were looking for a source of blame.

Tatyana continued nonetheless. “By tampering with the fabrics of time and space, Beatrix has made herself a threat to all of existence. She, her friends, and anyone associated cannot be allowed to run unchecked anymore! With her defeat comes salvation! By her death, every reality will be saved!"

The statuesque mare was met with cheers and raised arms, some onlookers floating in mid-air, others atop stationary magic carpets. Only unicorns blessed by the arcane were allowed sanctuary. A haughty grin stretched Tatyana’s snout, reveling in their attention, fantasizing about when she'd finally put Beatrix in her place. With her rival on her knees, the enchantress would extract the violet mare’s prowess and add that unimaginable might to her own.

The fact that she would be known as a heroine of the multiverse was simply a sweet bonus!

“I want every available stallion and mare aboard the ships within an hour,” stated Tatyana, motioning her most powerful mages and paladins to take formations and match out the gates. “We reach the Isles of Parras before the eve of May! On Walpurgisnacht, we strike!”

“Onward!” A commanding officer bellowed. “Long live the queen!”

“Long live the queen!” The troops parroted.

With her speech concluded, Tatyana turned and left behind the rhythm of marching hooves and war drums. The towering mare strutted her way back into her bedchambers. Opening the door, her unfettered glare narrowed. “You should be lying down, Grimmwald.”

Her bovine husband observed his trained military departing Canterlot, waving the kingdom’s banner high against the strong winds. A patient’s robe adorned his rotund physique, bandages coiled over his severed horn.

After a moment of painful silence, Brutus heaved a sigh before facing his wife with a narrow gaze. “At moments like these, I would counsel you to reconsider the course of your actions… but I see that time has long since passed.”

Tatyana scoffed. “Don’t be indignant with me just because I took charge of your men, dear. It wasn’t like you would have personally led them yourself...”

“Because this is lunacy!” The minotaur declared with a clenched fist. “A fight with the Jakobson clan will only lead to heedless bloodshed! War should never be the answer, Tatyana!”

“War is necessary!” The sovereign witch rebutted. “To uphold our allegiance to the Black Rose. With the Vice Lords and their followers by our side, none shall stand in the way of our ambition!

“Your ambition,” Grimmwald corrected with a snort. “I didn't want this…”

“You did once,” the slender unicorn reminded scornfully. “You were the one who started this ‘garden of prosperity’ for Canterlot. The Grimm experiments! It was you who reached out to that nobody, Darkbloom! And look what he’s become!!”

“I WAS RECKLESS!!” Brutus bellowed guiltily, clutching his chest when pain spiked. Tatyana stared emotionlessly as her husband wheezed and settled back into his bed. Sweat and tears leaked down his face, swallowing the bitterness in his throat.

“Had I known then what I do now, I would have never allowed Aiden to pass through the gate! You wouldn’t have been… I’m so sorry, my love.”

The monarch unicorn shook her head, tsking. She then said with a mocking cadence, “Don’t worry, dear husband. You’ll have all the time to wallow in your regrets safely in your bed. Just leave everything to me… like always!”

Grimmwald watched solemnly as his wife stepped out of the room with a brisk tempo, the click of her heels echoing further down the hallway. A defeated groan escaped his throat. Even with the tactical advantage, the losses would be monumental even if they won. More innocents would perish.

The sound of rain littering against glass turned his weary gaze to the window, the stormy night only amplifying the minotaur’s melancholy.

There was a moment's respite before his ears perked at the door creaking opening. Out from the other side was Flurry Heart, who curtsied her frilly gown and smiled.

“Child?” Grimmwald questioned weakly. “You should be asleep.”

“Couldn’t with all the ruckus going on,” the alicorn teen mumbled as she wandered closer to his bedside. “Forgive me; I didn’t mean to intrude!”

The bullman gave a dry chuckle. “No, it’s quite alright. I don’t mind your company.”

Flurry Heart scooted closer. “Trouble with the missus?”

“Heh. Quite the understatement,” confirmed Brutus. “The queen has never had peace of mind. Once her heart is set on something, there’s no talking her out of it. A trait I once cherished…”

“Sounds like your marriage is barely holding together,” the pink princess said. “Why don’t you let her go and move on?”

A troubled breath passed his mouth, quivering to hold back his emotions. “Because some part of me still wishes to believe I can fix this mess. A part of me that hopes behind that vain, heartless exterior, the enigmatic mare I love still exists…”

“Oh, Lord Grimmwald…” Flurry Heart sighed, her tiny hand stroking his knuckles. “… How could you expect that out of a loathsome copy?”

Her question gave the blue minotaur pause, the word making him visibly pale. His eye dilated when staring at her quizzically.

“… what are you talking about?”

The young alicorn gave a childish titter. "Oh, don't play dumb! It's beneath you!" Flurry lowered her voice when she said, “We both know that’s not the original sovereign witch. This is the third Grimm of Tatyana you've created, isn't it?"

Brutus balked, his heart rate increasing. "How did you-?!"

"And yet, each clone grows to become more callous and cruel than the last. An endless recreation of confusion and rage. Tormented by the fact that they’re a byproduct of your reluctance to let your wife die.”

The room darkened as the squall grew more rampant and loud, precipitation hammering against the window.

“That’s why you started the Grimm project,” Flurry Heart continued. “Not to seek out and preserve the future of magic, but to escape the brutal reality that your dearly departed wife is gone. And through your twisted scheme, innocent ponies were sacrificed.” Her head tilted to the side. “How many souls have you fed to your ‘life-bearing’ tree? Thousands? Millions?!”

Grimmwald’s sweat turned cold, his psyche recollecting the mortified screams and expressions of the ponies and animals he assimilated into the botanic abomination that pillared out the castle spires. Repurposing their bodies into Grimms for him to command… until his wife eventually overpowered him through her Onoma.

Guilt and dread swelled beneath the bovine’s breast, his deplorable crimes haunting him like vengeful wraiths. But through his turmoil and paranoia, one thing became adamant.

This was not the kind and naive Flurry Heart he usually spoke with. Brutus furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "How is it that you know this? Who told you!?”

Flurry flashed a malicious smile, her blue eyes dissolving into pitch black when she answered, “Why, It came to me in a dream~!”

The door creaked shut at her ominous words, and her shadow stretched and submerged the chamber wall. The color drained from the minotaur as the darkness took shape. Not of Flurry Heart’s silhouette… but of an all too familiar cervine with an outstretched crown of antlers and ghastly red eyes peering out the black veil.

“You!”

“ꁝꏂ꒒꒒ꄲ, ꃳꋪ꒤꓄꒤ꇙ,” Omen greeted through Flurry Heart, his voice overshadowing hers. “ꇙꄲ ꋊ꒐ꉔꏂ ꓄ꄲ ꇙꏂꏂ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꋬꍌꋬ꒐ꋊ.”

“What have you done to her?!”

A deep chuckle rumbled like thunder outside the room as the alicorn felt her cheek. “ꁝꏂꋬ꒦ꌦ ꇙ꒒ꏂꏂꉣꏂꋪ, ꓄ꁝ꒐ꇙ ꄲꋊꏂ. ꉣꄲꄲꋪ ꒒꒐꓄꓄꒒ꏂ ꓄ꁝ꒐ꋊꍌ ꅐꋬꇙ ꉔꄲꋊꇙ꓄ꋬꋊ꓄꒒ꌦ ꓄ꄲꇙꇙ꒐ꋊꍌ ꋬꋊ꒯ ꓄꒤ꋪꋊ꒐ꋊꍌ. ꋪ꒐ꉣꏂ ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꇙ꓄ꏂꋊꉔꁝ ꄲꊰ ꊰꏂꋬꋪ! ꁝꋬ꒯ ꋬ ꃳꋬ꒯ ꒯ꋪꏂꋬꂵ ꄲꊰ ꅐꁝꏂꋊ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꋬꋊ꒯ ꓄ꋬ꓄ꌦꋬꋊꋬ ꅐꄲ꒤꒒꒯ ꒯ꋪꄲꉣ ꌦꄲ꒤ꋪ ꉔꁝꋬꋪꋬ꒯ꏂ ꋬꋊ꒯ ꁝꋬꋪꋊꏂꇙꇙ ꁝꏂꋪ ꋬ꒒꒐ꉔꄲꋪꋊ ꂵꋬꍌ꒐ꉔ.”

Blackened tears rained down the young princess’s cheeks, a smile far too wide for her face. “ꃳ꒤꓄ ꅐꄲꋪꋪꌦ ꋊꄲ꓄. ꁝꏂꋪ ꇙ꒤ꊰꊰꏂꋪ꒐ꋊꍌ ꇙꁝꋬ꒒꒒ ꃳꏂ ꇙ꒐꒒ꏂꋊꉔꏂ꒯ ꇙꄲꄲꋊ!”

“NO!!” Grimmwald pushed up with all his might, panic overriding the pain coursing through his body. He dropped to his knees and gripped the alicorn tightly. “Wake up, Flurry Heart! Wake up! It’s only a bad dream!! Stay away from the Nahtdyr!!!”

Suddenly, a glitching flash of red and the bed chamber collapsed. Walls crumbling, furniture dissolved into the air, the world around them an unraveled mess. Grimmwald gazed aghast at his surroundings. Stars disappeared into the growing nothing. Reality tearing itself apart to become nothing. A cacophony of screams echoed around him, fading into silence. The bull man was visibly dismayed at the sight of a ruined Canterlot, where only stone rubble and a burnt stump of a tree remained. It was complete and utter entropy!

A heavy claw seized his throat and slammed him into the ground. The crippled minotaur was aghast, staring widely into the blood-red orbs glaring from the sockets of the nightmare stag’s ivory skull face. But outside the thorny antlers, decorated with black beads and archaic ornaments, he hardly resembled a stag at all.

Omen now looked like the amalgamation of an elk, wolf, and bear. His skull’s snout was far more narrow, his body bulky and layered with thick black fur that wriggled like worms. His bottom jaws sported a secondary pair of eyes, with one large eye opening between his brows. And all over the creature’s body were multiple maws full of sharp teeth, the largest formed around his stomach. The implications of where he got such attributes caused the bull man to greatly shudder.

“ꅐꏂ ꋬꋪꏂ ꃳꏂꌦꄲꋊ꒯ ꒯ꋪꏂꋬꂵ꒐ꋊꍌ, ꂵꌦ ꊰꋪ꒐ꏂꋊ꒯,” Omen and Flurry Heart said in unison as the filly approached, black gunk leaking out her eyes and snout. “꓄ꁝ꒐ꇙ ꒐ꇙ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꋊ꒐ꍌꁝ꓄ꂵꋬꋪꏂ ꓄ꁝꋬ꓄ ꒒꒐꒦ꏂꇙ ꄲꋊ!”

“I care not for the nonsense you spout,” the bull man choked. “If you’re here to kill me, just kill me! But leave Flurry Heart out of this!!”

Omen gave a low growl that resembled a deep chuckle. “ꋬꋊ꒯ ꒒ꏂ꓄ ꌦꄲ꒤ ꄲꊰꊰ ꇙꄲ ꏂꋬꇙ꒐꒒ꌦ? ꒐ꊰ ꋬꋊꌦ꓄ꁝ꒐ꋊꍌ, ꒐ ꇙꁝꄲ꒤꒒꒯ ꓄ꁝꋬꋊꀘ ꌦꄲ꒤! ꒐ ꅐꄲ꒤꒒꒯ ꁝꋬ꒦ꏂ ꋊꏂ꒦ꏂꋪ ꃳꏂꏂꋊ ꋬꃳ꒒ꏂ ꓄ꄲ ꉔꁝꋬꋊꍌꏂ ꂵꌦ ꊰꋬ꓄ꏂ ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝꄲ꒤꓄ ꌦꄲ꒤ꋪ ꅐꏂꋬꀘꋊꏂꇙꇙ.”

“Wh-what!?”

“ꅐꁝꏂꋊ ꒐ ꉣꋬꇙꇙꏂ꒯ ꓄ꁝꋪꄲ꒤ꍌꁝ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꍌꋬ꓄ꏂ, ꒐ ꃳꄲꋪꏂ ꅐ꒐꓄ꋊꏂꇙꇙ ꓄ꄲ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꓄ꋪ꒤꓄ꁝ,” elaborated the seer of black dreams. “ꇙ꒐ꋊꉔꏂ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꊰ꒐ꋪꇙ꓄ ꇙꉔꋪꏂꋬꂵ ꄲꊰ ꉔꋪꏂꋬ꓄꒐ꄲꋊ, ꓄꒐ꂵꏂ ꁝꋬꇙ ꋬ꒒ꅐꋬꌦꇙ ꃳꏂꏂꋊ ꋬ ꅐꁝꏂꏂ꒒. ꋊꄲ ꃳꏂꍌ꒐ꋊꋊ꒐ꋊꍌ. ꋊꄲ ꏂꋊ꒯. ꄲꋊ꒒ꌦ ꉔꄲꋊ꓄꒐ꋊ꒤ꄲ꒤ꇙ, ꓄ꏂ꒯꒐ꄲ꒤ꇙ ꏂꉧ꒐ꇙ꓄ꏂꋊꉔꏂ. ꃳ꒤꓄ ꋊꄲꅐ…”

The monstrous cervine reached behind to pull out his staff from this air. An ancient artifact containing blackened sand fixed between the jaws of a stag skull embedded in a dreamcatcher’s web, an owl emblem etched in the wooden frame.

“… ꒐ ꁝꋬ꒦ꏂ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꉣꄲꅐꏂꋪ ꓄ꄲ ꃳꋪꏂꋬꀘ ꓄ꁝꋬ꓄ ꅐꁝꏂꏂ꒒. ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝ ꂵꋬꋊ꒯ꏂ꒒ꋬ'ꇙ ꁝꄲ꒤ꋪꍌ꒒ꋬꇙꇙ, ꓄꒐ꂵꏂ ꒐ꇙ ꂵꏂꋪꏂ꒒ꌦ ꋬꋊ ꒐꒒꒒꒤ꇙ꒐ꄲꋊ! ꋬꋊ꒯ ꋬ꒒꒒ ꒐꓄ ꓄ꄲꄲꀘ ꅐꋬꇙ ꇙꏂ꒯꒤ꉔ꒐ꋊꍌ ꋬ ꋊꋬ꒐꒦ꏂ ꅐ꒐꓄ꉔꁝ ꋬꋊ꒯ ꋬ ꇙꄲꊰ꓄ꁝꏂꋬꋪ꓄ꏂ꒯ ꒒ꋬꂵꃳ ꒐ꋊ꓄ꄲ ꃳꏂꋬꋪ꒐ꋊꍌ ꂵꌦ ꉔꁝ꒐꒒꒯~.”

Grimmwald bellowed in outrage as the nightmarish reality shattered into white noise, walls of static and scribbles overwhelming his senses until it abruptly stopped. He was back in his bedroom, body strained, soaked in sweat and tears. Flurry Heart stood near the darkened wall, following the metronomic sway of a pendulum in front of her, held by the gray cervine in blood-red robes. Half his smiling face was hidden in perpetual darkness save his gleaming maroon eyes.

Putting away his hypnosis device, Omen opened his palm and obliterated the wall behind him, revealing a glitching crimson portal. Inside was a dark cavern, where a group of similarly robed figures waited. The possessed alicorn hovered into the torn rift, and the nightmare stag was about to follow, only to pause when Grimmwald called out.

“Aiden..!”

He turned his head at the sound of his true name, his smile vanishing.

“Aiden Darkbloom is no more,” the cervine sorcerer retorted. “All that’s left is a terrible omen.”

“But why?” the waning minotaur demanded, unable to lift his heavy body. “Why are you doing this?!”

“If you don’t understand now, Brutus, you never will. Nothing will stop me…”

Time reversed as the wall reassembled itself to seal off the portal. Omen watched his old friend succumb to fatigue and fall unconscious with disdain before proceeding through the passage.

“…...ꋊꂦꋖꍩꂑꋊꁅ!”

Liminal Spaces

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Red eyes snapped open as Dion jolted from the bed, layered in sweat. He found Ebony Ivory no longer by his side, no doubt attending to crucial matters to help her transition as the new chieftain of the Noble Tribe. However, his half-succubi lovers were in her place; their nude bodies pressed to his own while they ravenously molested him. Noisily they kissed, licked, and suckled at his stiff cock and hefty furred testicles.

The caprine warrior failed to suppress a groan through his heavy breath. It wasn’t unusual to wake up to a double blowjob from Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse. It was practically part of his morning routine, followed by breakfast and a bath.

But their coral-pink eyes lit up in a hostile manner, drawing out his concern more than arousal. “Amaranth? Amethyst?! What’s gotten intae ye?”

“A better question to ask is, what hasn’t gotten into us~?” Foal-Bearer snickered teasingly before burying her snout into his breeding bag, mouthing one orb to suckle on.

“We’ve fucked our way through most of the tribe, Sir Dion,” whined Wet Nurse. “Several times! But none of them could keep up with us! And we’re tired of being left unsatisfied!”

“We need a real stud~,” her twin drawled out with a long lick up his moist erection. “Someone who knows how to put us in our place.”

“Who will break us!”

“Breed us~!”

“Brand us like proper slaves,” they said in unison, punctuated by a flash of lightning outside the hut.

Dion’s face hardened. Their demonic instincts had taken over, the kindness all but lost from their predatory eyes. And without Bellatrix to discipline them, the coral pink sisters would lose all sense of balance.

Both sets of crystal tits enveloped the ram’s meaty shaft with an audible, wet squish, causing him to shudder. Precum leaked over their cleavage; alongside their drool, they let drip from their lips over his member and their massive boob flesh. The twins dragged his turgid tool between them, suckling on his tip, and kissed around it, making all sorts of messy, sloppy noises that made their stud harder.

“Grrack! Fuck! Girls, wait! Ye have tae sto-aaahp!” He tried to reason against how incredibly turned on he was.

“Not until you’ve unloaded all over our slutty faces~!” proclaimed Wet Nurse.

“And our fat tits~” mewled Foal Bearer, smacking hers against her sisters to batter his throbbing cock.

The pale ram was too flustered and worked over to fight against the duo. Gradually, he couldn’t take anymore and bellowed, thrusting his hips as cum shot out his pulsating tip like a geyser.

Volley after fierce volley caked the twin mares’ delighted faces and squishy breasts. They tittered, mouths wide open to catch what they could, tongues painted white as they were blasted by splooge.

Dion huffed, half-blinded, while the sexy sisters swapped sticky loads between them. They proudly sloshed and chewed on his seed, stuck to their gums, between their teeth, tethered from the tongue to the roofs of their mouths, before finally swallowing it with audible gulps.

They almost proved too much even for him, rubbing the cum that stained their torso into matted fur and silky soft flesh. They smashed their titties together while they smacked lips, moaning into each other’s mouths wetly.

“Mmmah~! Still not enough!” One twin hissed.

“We need more!” The other agreed

Their sultry gaze fell on their lover’s genitals, pleased to find the ram’s cock at half-mast.

Together, they begged, “You’ll give us more, won’t you… master~?”

Dion grunted angrily before seizing both sisters and lifting them into his arms. The half-succubi cooed in appreciation, blushing madly at how firmly the sturdy ram manhandled their supple flesh.

“Oooh! I think he plans on ravishing us, sister!”

“Yes! Please! Punish us for being such filthy, depraved sluts~!”

The warrior did his best to ignore the twins’ sultry banter, aware they would not listen to reason. Remembering what Bellatrix had told him about the ropes, Dion carried some with him for the trip. With a begrudging snort, he began tying them up, their tits, thighs, and buttocks pinched and squished between the constraints he bound around them. The crystal mares struggled testingly to ensure they were suspended above the hut’s interior.

“That’s more like it,” Wet Nurse grinned while squishing her inner thighs, which leaked her cunt nectar onto the earthy floor. “We’re completely at your mercy, master! All our holes, prime for the taking~!”

“Please don’t make us wait,” begged Foal-Bearer, shaking her ass the best she could with her limbs restrained like her sister. “Give us that cock juice! Punish us for being bad bitches~!”

Dion hardened his snout. “No choice, huh… If this is th’ only way tae get through tae you girls, then so be it!”

He batted his thick shaft against Foal-Bearer’s dripping entrance first, using her lubrication to help hilt inside her. Rough hands smacked across her ass when he started pounding away without restraint, urged by their shared slutty moans. The warrior ram was fortunate Ebony left behind virility potions to ensure he had the stamina to burn.

Dion drove himself into thoroughly plowing the naughty maid demon, making ‘plap’ sounds each time his hips met hers. With a deep moan, he rooted himself to finish deep inside Foal-Bearer, drenching in her squirting cuntjuice as her thighs trembled. With a wet ‘pop,’ the ram withdrew his hot rod and quickly stuffed it into Wet Nurse balls deep this time. He was determined to make this half-succubi buckle well before he did!

“Aaahhuah! Yeeessss, fuck! Beat that pussy! Let her know who she belongs to~!!”

Not long after, she clamped down hard upon hitting orgasm, triggered by her burly lover firing thick shots into her slimy womb. A steady stream of cum leaked out her marehood as Dion switched back to Foal-Bearer, this time using the crystalline mare’s puckered tailhole.

“Fuuuauaaahck!! Ghaad! That’s it, baby! Breed my ass~!”

Time slipped away during the heat of their passionate fucking, Dion not bothering to keep count of how many times he’s cum. His body was caked in sweat, spunk drizzling out their overstuffed orifices. At the moment, the lust-dazed warrior had both twins polishing his dick with their lips and tongues. His hand tightened behind their heads and pulled their manes; their faces pushed onto his cock as he alternated between each sister’s mouth. They sputtered, panted, and heaved their heavy, cum-soaked tits. “A-ah, master~!”

Gargles and sputters rose every time he filled the back of their throats and furiously facefucked them into submission. Their intertwined cutie marks shimmered from the shared pleasure of his forceful, dominant fellation, causing them to squirt messily.

“Mmmah~! M-master, talk dirty to us,” one fuck happy slut murmured drunkenly while the other was busy gurgling the ram’s sturdy dick. Slobber ran down their chins, adding more stain to their sticky, wet tits.

Heavy pants passed between his clenched teeth when Dion yelled, “C’mon! Taste that dick, ye greedy whore! Ah ain’t stoppin’ ’til Ah claim every last inch ov ye!” His muscular hips blurred, lost in a perpetual humping motion. “Yer tits, yer ass, yer sullied cunts! All ov it is mine, ya hear! Y’all live tae serve me like th’ cum hungry bitches ye are!”

Dion felt his heart hurt. He would never speak to them in such a vulgar manner, let alone any woman. He didn’t show it but was sorely uncomfortable with Foal-Beaer & Wet Nurse addressing him as ‘master.’ Despite the ram’s reservations, he couldn’t deny a certain thrill at their utter devotion to pleasing him, which helped to keep him hard and randy. He was going to need more than a pint after this!

He bellowed as his cock throbbed, and Foal-Bearer’s cheeks ballooned with another fat load. The half-succubi struggled to swallow it down before excess burned and exploded out her nostrils.

“Awww, no fair!” whined Wet Nurse, coveting the feeling of having her snout immediately stuffed.

Her wish was soon granted when Dion buried his hands around her skull and slipped his dick past her lips to unload the last bit of cum his balls could muster. Wet Nurse slurped eagerly, her throat making thick gulping sounds before he pulled out to squirt the residue onto her face and mane.

The spent sisters relaxed in their bindings, limbs occasionally twitching from exhaustion. Eyes glazed over, tongue hanging loosely out their gaped mouths, breasts jiggling with each needy exhale.

Dion sat down to catch his breath, studying his lovers with a softened gaze. Heaving a deep sigh, the pale caprine rose and caressed both cheeks, whispering, “Ah hope this helps ye calm down. Wait here an’ rest, mah most precious jewels. A’ll be back.”

With a tender kiss to both their faces, the warrior exited the hut, not bothering to put on his kilt.

While the tribe’s orgies had died down, several zebra stallions and mares continued to make love in the open, lounging about undisturbed by the strangely cloudy skies. Dion made his way past them, searching for the zebra huntress. He detected commotion and walked over to the small group of gathering zebras.

He politely pushed through until reaching the chief, Noble Savage, a look of contempt on his withered face. The younger warrior followed his gaze to the settlement outside, where Natural Selection was left suspended on a crude cross...with Ebony Ivory coiled around her former mate.

“What in th’?!” Dion strides closer, despite concerned mutters from the villagers. The zebress’ ears twitched at his arrival, turning her head to look at home while riding Natural with wild abandon.

“A-aahh! Please understand, Sir Dion,” Ebony explained through soft huffs. “I must fulfill my duty to my people by giving all an opportunity to-ngh! Inseminate my womb. And although he has been shunned for his crimes, Asili, too, deserves a chance! I hope you won’t think of me differently for-”

“Nah, Ah get it,” the ram reassured gently. “Gotta do what’s right fur yer tribe’s future.”

He, along with Noble Savage, was aware Ebony would need to make many hard decisions like this to fulfill her role as chieftain. Ones that not every member of her tribe would approve of, judging by the puzzled and conflicted looks the onlookers gave. Yet they dared not interrupt a sacred ritual now that it had been initiated.

The cross shook and rattled but refused to fall, buried firmly in the soil. Dion looked up at the undead zebra stallion, who wore a smug grin while doing his best to match his former mare’s movements. Relishing what would likely be the last time he would lay with a mare.

The pale caprine furrowed his brows, having already taken his part in the fertility ritual… but perhaps there was another way to help her.

Ebony gasped when she felt hands spread her striped buttocks wide, and something thick and hot prod her backdoor. “D-Dion? Wait, hold-!!”

The zebra mare cut herself off with a sharp moan upon her caprine lover, sheathing his member fully inside her ass, causing her marehood to clutch up around Natural Selection’s black cock.

The other villagers gasped in alarm, unsure what to make of this. Noble was both bewildered and impressed. Despite appearances, this wasn’t against tradition as it didn’t interfere with the ritual.

“Aaughh! What are you doing?!” demanded Natural, glaring hotly at the ram. “This is my time!”

“Oh, don’t mind me,” replied Dion with a haughty smirk, swinging his hips into Ebony’s firm striped asscheeks. “Just thought A’d lend mah third leg in boostin’ yer chances~.”

His response invoked a collective gasp from the other zebras, unsure what to make of this act. Noble was the most bewildered… and impressed. While this went against tradition, it wouldn’t interfere with the ritual.

The female zebra mewled in delight while Natural Selection’s face drew in a competitive snarl, flexing his muscular hips to shove more of his length inside her pussy.

Ebony Ivory found herself battered between the two rivals, both determined to stake their claim on her fertility. Reaching up, she undid the binds around Natural to set him free, where he landed on his feet and hooked her legs over his shoulders for a better angle to fuck her.

“I don’t need your ‘help,’” Natural proclaimed with a grunt, his eyes drawn. “I refuse to be beaten by an outsider!”

“Sae why don’t ye shut it an’ give her e’erythin’ ye’ve got?!” Dion boldly challenged. “She deserves far more than th’ shite ye’ve put her through!”

The two warriors strained and sweated as they hammered aggressively into Ebony; the thin flesh that separated their cocks stretched around their would-be broodmare. They felt her up all over while they pounded away, determined to prove who valued her the most.

Then, the threesome hit its peak. Both zebras and the ram reached their climax, Natural a few seconds before Dion, soaked in Ebony’s messy love nectar while they shot their loads deep in her thoroughly stretched fuckholes. The young chieftain quivered and shook between them, set down when they finally withdrew in unison. “That… was wonderful,” admitted Ebony through staggered breaths.

“Aye,” groaned Dion, his flaccid cock well-spent after back-to-back sexcapades. Crimson eyes fell on Natural Selection, who was doing his best to keep his crumbling form together. “Oi. Ye plannin’ on stirrin’ up more trouble? Cause A’ll stick ye back on that cross arse first!”

The undead zebra glared at his opponent while rubbing his wrists. “That…. Huff… won’t be necessary. I survived Mshenzi’s trial. I’ve earned my right to walk. Though that doesn’t mean I’m no longer exiled…”

With the black blood that animated him drained, he was pallid and wouldn’t last more than a few more days, at best.

Using the caprine to support herself, Ebony said, “You could use a bath. After which, I’ll escort you out.” Then, turning to the ram, she asked, “Join us?”

He grinned and nodded, the three walking over to a small stream nearby, leaving behind a concerned crowd of villagers. The zebra stallions and mares glanced at the old chieftain, who grunted, “You may choose to accept whatever fate comes from this union or challenge Ebony. What’s done is done.”

At this point, the ceremony had reached its end. Many zebras redressed and returned to their homes. The landscape gradually darkened, signifying night was approaching. Tomorrow would dawn a new era for the tribe. One where machines would become more commonplace to keep pace with their rivals.

Suddenly, a scream resonated throughout the huts that alerted the tribe. Dion, Ebony, and Natural immediately rushed out of the waters and sprinted to the source of terror.

The Noble Tribe gathered at the village center to find a young zebra restrained by a metallic whip sword wielded by the youngest princess, Tisha, a sick smile stretching her snout. Her sisters, Zuri and Kali, stood atop hut roofs as hovercrafts lowered in a hiss, loaded with armed enforcers from the Pundamilia Empire.

Spotting the distraught Noble Savage pushing his way through the crowd, the royal triad released three aerial drones that formed a hologram, and the Emperor’s face materialized over the village.

The elderly zebra narrowed his gaze at the digital visage. After acquiring his advanced tech, the Emperor started going by Kifalme Moja. But Mshenzi knew him by his real name.

“Sahel!” He called out angrily. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“An ultimatum, my old friend,” the Emperor responded, raising his hand to signal gunfire. Two soldiers shot plasma bullets at a couple warriors whose smoldering corpses caused more panic and outrage among the villagers. “Merge with the Empire, or be wiped clean from the slate. The future of Zebrica lies in steel!”

Ebony bared her teeth at Sahel’s daughters, noting their new cybernetic enhancements. Their feminine striped forms were plated with synthetic steel, with vibrant cyan, orange, and violet tronlines in between. Black loincloth obscuring bare crotches, their weapons stained with fresh blood.

Natural Selection was equally disgusted. Any self-respecting zebra who gave entirely to technological advancement was weak. But to see so many assembled restored a raging fire in his belly.

Noble looked between the military and his people, aware they were vastly outmatched. His brows furrowed, and his thick fists balled, weighing his options. Yet no matter the decision, there would most certainly be bloodshed…

The answer was given to him when Dion fetched his trusty spear, the ram offering a single nod while the old chieftain allowed his spite to surface in his wrinkled face.

Sahel raised an eyebrow. “Well? Out with it, Mzee! What is your answer!?”

“This!!” Noble bellowed when he hurled a spear. His aim was true, his reflexes and strength enhanced by the potions he’d consumed. But even so, Kali moved in a blur to deflect with her spear. The Emperor shook his head, tsking.

“Still, you cling to such primitive methods? Admirable… yet so unwise!”

“You have forgotten your roots, Sahel,” proclaimed the elder zebra, who brandished a machete to point at the Emperor. “Our ancestors will never forgive you for what you’ve done!”

“Stubborn mule! The historians will mark this day and remember you as the chieftain who doomed his entire tribe!!”

Both sides prepared for battle; villagers who could not fight took shelter while the brave mares and stallions stood alongside Noble Savage. Ebony whirled around her spear before taking a battle stance, as did Natural Selection. Dion took to her flank and summoned his claymore in a burst of red energy, teeth clenched.

“Amateurs,” spat Kali, who, along with Zuri, zoomed to Tisha’s sides and showed off their augmented weapons while the zebra troops locked and loaded. Storm clouds began to rumble, winds brushing through the conflicting forces. And when anticipation spiked, both Zebrican leaders yelled,

“Shambulio!”

Battle cries echoed, and both zebra factions engaged in martial combat. Despite the upgrades and gear, the Pundamilian enforcers could not withstand blows from spears. Likewise, the villagers suffered fatal wounds from the enemies’ plasma rifles.

The cybernetic princess wiped the floor with whoever was misfortunate enough to oppose them, carving up every tribesman faster than they could blink.

“All too easy,” Zuri said with a digital voice filter, extending her spear’s length to stab one warrior mare through her chest.

Tisha tittered while lashing her urumi around, sprinkling the ground with blood. “C’mon! Gimme more toys to break~!”

Kali shook her head and went straight for Noble Savage, wanting to end this miserable resistance early. She flung her chakram while the old warrior was distracted but was shocked to see him slash the swirling blades away.

“Impressive,” she complimented, opening her hand to recall her weapon through magnetic force. “Your skills hold up even though your strength has waned!”

Noble Savage huffed profusely. Even with a lifetime of experience and the enhancements of potions, age had caught up to chieftain. Nonetheless, he would not kneel before the Emperor so long as he drew breath.

Rushing forward, he repeatedly clashed with Kali to cover his people the best he could. But the old zebra soon became overwhelmed once her chakram separated into mini segments. The arm he used to block received small cuts, a few blades cutting through his taut stomach, causing him to cough up blood.

“Noble!” cried Ebony, who raced over to help… only for Zuri to obstruct her path.

“You and I have a score to settle, huntress!”

With a begrudged growl, the zebress redirected her charge to the augmented princess, sparks flying as metal brushed metal.

Dion surged with his Onoma-infused targe to deflect the plasma blasts, knocking away enforcers left and right. Spotting the chieftain under attack, he was about to jump in and help before a lash from Tisha’s whip sword sent him back.

“Ooh! You look like fun,” the zebra princess purred, swaying on her heels, her breasts and hips jiggling excitedly. “Want some new scars?”

The ram scoffed. “Sorry, lass. Ye’ll find A’m a lot harder tae take down.”

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?”

Dion answered by whirling his heavy sword in one hand, hammering the blade against his shield, and making a resounding clang as his aura flared. “A’m built different!”

This only made Tisha more titillated. “Now we’re talking! Better not disappoint me like all the other men before you~!”

She gleefully lunged at the caprine warrior, who did his best to deflect each slash and retaliate. This left poor Noble Savage to fall to his knees, his injured arm holding in his wounds while crimson ran out his snarling snout.

“You held out better than most,” said Kali, pointing the serrated blades of her chakram to his throat. “Take pride in that your last moments were spent in-”

Her parasyte picked up on an incoming projectile and turned around to intercept. A bola was thrown by Natural Selection, who’d taken up what weapons he could scavenge from a couple dozen bodies of his mortally wounded or slain tribe scattered across the bloodied settlement.

His attention was not on his former friend but the hologram when he loudly declared, “Hear me, false Emperor! I will prove to you that your Empire is weak! Today, Pundamilla will fall for this blasphemy!”

Hatred roared from Natural Selection’s words once he lunged for Kali, who effortlessly moved beyond his reach.

“Relying on such cheap hardware to dodge,” the zebra ranted. “I’ll rip it right off of you!!”

“Get off me, zombie slave!”

“The irony of calling us heretics,” mused Zuri, busy evading Ebony’s assault with similar ease. “This is the finest your tribe can offer? You move in slow motion! Come, sisters! Let us give father a good show!”

The vision of Emperor Sahel reclined on his throne with a chuckle of bemusement, his chin rested atop a hand, content to watch the drama unfold. Varys’ enhancements turned his daughters into untouchable killing machines. While sacrificing their bodies may have significantly affected his conscience, the results justified the means. No price was too grand for the betterment of his Empire!

Despite their skill and sheer numbers, the technorganic princesses efficiently dealt with every opponent thrown their way, able to move faster than flesh. Ebony was slapped aside with a wet crunch, Dion thrown by his curved horns into a well, Natural Selection’s spear ripped from his arms and shoved into his torso, impaled to a withered tree.

Archers rained arrows down on the interlopers alongside bolas and blow darts. None of them could successfully penetrate the enhanced princesses, who quickly moved in a blur and dealt with the tribe. Bones snapped, and flesh popped in bloody sprays while each tribesman fell.

Dion spat out a chipped tooth and rose back to his hooves, a black eye swelling over his right eyelid. Tisha approached him with swaggering hips, her urumi dragging along the ground.

“You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that,” chirped the young zebress. “But surely, you know there’s no hope of you winning this fight. Surrender now, and I’ll allow you to live with me in the palace! I could use a new concubine~!”

The battered caprine seethed. “A man who bends th’ knee so willingly is no man at all. Ye want mah defeat? Come earn it!!”

“Humph! Fine by me! I’ll take every piece I carve out of your-huh!?”

Tisha ducked her head when two pairs of clawed feet almost struck her upside the head. The twins landed protectively in front of Dion, their eyes shimmering and predatory-like. They went naked, protected by a demonic aura that radiated from their exposed skin.

“Amaranth? Amethyst?! Wha-how did ye..?”

“Back off, robo-slut,” one crystalline twin warned with a snarl.

“We won’t let you harm Sir Dion!” The other declared.

“Demon skanks!” cried Tisha as the demonic maids flung themselves at the cybernetic princess. To her astonishment, they could keep up with her, evading her urumi strikes!

Dion was momentarily stunned. Baffled yet utterly grateful that underneath their newfound demonic instincts, their love for him proved more robust than their sexual urges.

The half-succubi twins sailed hand-in-hand, each carried by a single bat-shaped wing that helped them glide faster, able to land a hard double kick that bypassed the parasyte attached to Tisha’s spine, sending her into a tree.

“Gaaagh! N-no… not possible!”

“Serves you right for relying so much on machinery,” Foal-Bearer huffed while she and her sister levitated together.

Wet Nurse sharply added, “After all the unbridled lust we’ve collected, we’re much stronger than before!”

“Stronger… but still not enough!” Proclaimed Zuri as she and Kali came to their sister’s aid, forcing the twins to counterattack. They strove to dart out of their range between divebombs and glittering balls of hellfire. Their demonic power smoldered around the princesses, enabling tooth and nail to even penetrate the cyber armor.

“This is bad,” Kali grunted, flinging her chakrams around to try and hit one of them. “The parasytes aren’t responding properly!”

“You’re both starting to annoy me,” growled Zuri, head snapping around to keep track of the succubi maids. Despite their solitary wing, the pair could easily sail the skies. “Just a little closer...”

She took the next assault directly, ignored the armor carved from her face, and seized Foal-Bearer’s ankle. Yanked down, she was slammed against the ground with a thud; the wind knocked from her as her ribs snapped with a wet crunch.

“Filthy whores! I should punish you… but you’d probably love that. No, I have a better idea!” With a cruel smirk, Zuri raised up Foal-Bearer’s limp body.

“Sister...! Ack-!” Wet Nurse cried out in unison with her twin; Foal-Bearer’s spine snapped against the cyber zebress’ stiff knee. She went limp as Wet Nurse crumpled from the shared pain.

“So whatever happens to one bitch, the other feels as well? Sweet~!” Tisha hummed.

“Must be a troublesome ability, especially when you’re flesh and bone,” berated Kali, spitting into one twin’s face.

“But why stop there?” added Zuri sadistically. “Let’s twist these demon bimbos into pretzels~!”

Glancing at Emperor Sahel, the princesses received a cold nod from their father. Slowly, Zuri began twisting Foal-Bearer further, the sound of broken bones crunching audibly from the strain under her casual exertions; the twins left to shriek bloody murder.

Kali and Tisha cackled with amusement as they resumed to strike down any opposing zebra that dared defy them, well over a hundred dead or near death. They made sport of anyone that attempted to intervene, satisfied there was no one left to challenge them.

Zuri cradled the shattered Foal-Bearer like a lover she danced with, smoothed the maid’s coral pink mane, playfully met her lips in a drawn-out kiss, arms tensed to fold her in half.

All the while, Sahel leaned in and drank, his face warped by a smug smile. He turned to Noble Savage, still favoring his gruesome injuries while Ebony struggled to crawl towards him.

It appeared no one else was left to oppose them.

Black fire billowed from the spear tip that pierced Zuri’s breast. She choked up uncolored fluid and dropped Foal-Bearer’s limp form, then strained to tear the skewer from her wound. Her sisters turned to Natural Selection, who’d torn the spear from his undead chest and thrown it back.

“This zombie needs to learn to stay dead!” Tisha pressed a foot to Wet Nurse’s throat. “But not an inch closer, or-” He was on her faster than she thought possible, his reanimated bulk smashed into the cyber huntress. Muscles strained as he snarled with brute force and ripped her mask away.

With her vulnerable flesh exposed, he readied a death blow, his fist balled up, merely to be stabbed in the back by Kali.

“Mwanaharamu!” the chakram weirder muttered before tossing him aside, the hole in his back crumbling into ashes while he yowled angrily.

“I’m tired of this,” Zuri announced to her sisters while holding her injured tit. “Break these bitches in half so we can-hmm?”

She turned to find Dion lumbering towards them, giant blade in hand, blood and sweat soaking his white fur and black wool. Heavy pants passed his lips while he eyed the princess angrily.

“Take. Your hands. Off them!”

Zuri dryly tittered. “And who are you to make such a request? You can hardly stand! What nerve… Kali! Tisha! Let’s end this already and go home!”

The princesses nodded and joined their sister in approaching Dion.

“N-no..!” Wet Nurse weakly cried, reaching out.

“Sir Dion!!” Wept Foal-Bearer.

The caprine warrior looked around at what was once a peaceful, festive vacation. Enforcers torched down huts with built-in flamethrowers amid the anguished cries of many zebras, mares, and foals. Ebony was sobbing, trying to awaken Noble Savage. Natural Selection could feel his form withering away into dust.

Dion understood the consequences of conflict. Should the daughters of Emperor Sahel succeed in taking him down, there would be no one to defend this village and its people.

As a warrior, he could not allow that to happen, aware of what awaited him back in his homeland. A mantle to take from his father. A niece mothered by his sister. And, if fate was kind, a child of his own to unite Ebony and her people with his clan.

So, focusing on his long deep breaths, Dion steeled his determination, manifested it into his Onoma, Ares… and went all out!

A flash of red energy surged around the caprine, making the augmented princesses pause. The Emperor winced in annoyance at the sudden illumination that erupted from the battle-born ram.

When the light diminished, the trio of zebress gasped at the sight that stood before them, as did the twins, Ebony, and many onlookers.

Now adorning Dion was a full suit of archaic armor, covering every inch of his bulk with red iron. Ram-shaped pauldrons guarded his shoulders. Rerebraces and couters joined underneath his gauntlets. A war-torn cape attached over his sturdy breastplate and gorget, flapping dramatically against the wind.

A tassel skirts around his black fleece, legs braces inside cuisses, poleyns, and greaves. His hoofs wore sabatons. The helm over his head now concealed his angry visage with a slitted visor, his curved horns the only things unprotected.

Even his mighty claymore looked twice as big. And the armored ram effortlessly lifted the bulky blade by the extended hilt, poising it at the zebra princesses that dared to harm his lovers.

“Heed these words,” Dion spoke from behind his helmet. “Ah am Sir Dion th’ Dauntless. Son ov th’ Shaman King. Brother tae th’ Lady Ewe. Defender ov th’ weak. Enemy tae th’ strong. This bloodshed goes no further!!”

“Tsk! What a loudmouth!”

“You heard him, girls!”

“Get him!!”

The zebra princesses lunged at their target, a blur of technicolored lines whirling around Dion, who hardly reacted to the display of agility.

Tisha was first to strike with her whip sword… only for the blades to chip against the arcane steel. Kali flung her chakram yet didn’t make so much of a dent before recalling it. And when Zuri went for an overhead stab from behind, the spear’s tip was lodged in the crimson steel plate, leaving her stuck.

“Gnngh! W-what the!?”

“My turn!”

Dion swung his claymore in a crimson arc, the force knocking them into walls and trees, damaging the parasytes attached to their spines.

“No!” Emperor Sahel snarled through the holographic screen. He barked at his men, “Don’t just stand there! Open fire!!”

The enforcers aimed their rifles and shot multi-laser bullets at Dion, each round reflecting off his Onoma-spawned armor. The extra weight made his movements sluggishly slow, each step accompanied by a heavy clang of metal. Despite this drawback, the ram could tank everything the Pundamilia Empire threw at him. And in return, with one great bound and slash from his claymore, he tore through an entire hovercraft, exploding into wreckage mid-air.

The sisters recovered on the sidelines, watching their forces fall before the army of one.

“T-this is really bad!!” Kali grumbled.

“That armor is impenetrable!”

“Stay strong, sisters,” encouraged Zuri. “He’ll wear himself out eventually!”

“But that could take hours,” complained Kali, her eyes already turned back to the settlement.

The youngest had a eureka moment. “Oh! I know! He’s slow in this form. We’ll butcher every last man, woman, and child until he comes out of his shell and-!”

Her plan was cut off by a massive blade crashing down over where they stood, the zebra princesses darting from the pursuing ram knight.

With the princesses apprehended, Wet Nurse managed to crawl over to her sister and cradled her to her chest.

“Hang in there, sis! We’re going to make it out of this!”

Likewise, Natural was able to stumble toward Ebony and Noble Savage, who watched Dion take on the cybernetic huntresses. “Pathetic,” the proud hunter grumbled. “We’ve become so frail; an outsider has to finish our battle for us!”

“He is no outsider,” Ebony dejected, admiringly smiling at the caprine knight. “Dion is a true warrior. And should he succeed, his grit and determination will carry through our people for generations to come!”

Noble quietly agreed, watching the knight in crimson armor make a valiant stand against the trio of augmented huntresses. Even with his hindered speed, he made massive lunges to reach his target, the blunt of his blade smashing the parasyte on Kali’s back. She let out a loud scream before dropping unconscious!

“Bastard!!” Tisha shrieked, flailing her urumi around to try and cut open that impregnable armor. Dion guarded with his gauntlets before grabbing the blade and reeling the staggered princess into a brutal headbutt.

She yelled, feeling her metallic skull fracture before collapsing to the ground, discolored liquid oozing out her sparking cracks.

“That’s it, Sir Dion!” cheered Wet Nurse. “Go medieval on their asses~!!”

“Not so fast!”

Their attention drew to Zuri, who held a squirming Ebony by spear, the tip pressing into her belly. “Take one step closer, and I’ll spill this hussie’s guts!”

“N-no..!” Natural tried to pry her off his former mate but was kicked away.

Noble crawled across a pool of his own blood. “You devils...!”

“Disenchant the armor and lower your weapon,” the princess demanded. “Now!!”

Weighing his options, Dion considered dropping his Onoma, despite knowing it would be suicide. He could feel what remained of the Pundamillian Enforcers aimed their weapons at him. There was a slim chance he could stall them to let some of the villagers escape. On the other hand, he might be able to take them like this, was he able to catch them! He sneered in frustration, the fallen forms of his lovers and friends in his sight.

“It doesn’t have to end this way, Sir Dion,” said Emperor Sahel, who accepted a cup of wine from a servant. Rolling the liquid around, he proposed, “You and your lovers don’t have to die with these foolish barbarians. You could walk away, though I’d prefer it if you swore loyalty to my Empire. You’re an outstanding soldier; it would be such a waste!”

“Th’ only waste Ah see here is you,” Dion rebutted, taking umbrage with his remark. “While ye sit there in luxury, yer soldiers—yer own kin die fur yer fruitless endeavor! Ah bow tae no Emperor!”

Sahel sighed after taking a sip of his drink. “What a pity. Very well, then. Zuri, finish them off, and-”

Before he could finish his decree, the Emperor detected a strange smell that made his snout scrunch. “Eegh! What is that foul odor?”

“Sir!” One nearby guard walked in with urgency. “The ventilation system has been compromised!”

“What!?”

The hologram’s camera zoomed in on a nearby wall vent, highlighting the toxic steam slowly filling the Emperor’s chambers. Immediately, he and his men rushed to strap respiratory masks over their faces right as the lights blacked out.

Zuri loosened her grip momentarily, allowing Ebony to break free and scurry beside Dion. But all were distracted by the disruption in the video feed.

Holding a button on his chair, Sahel demanded, “Commander, status report! What the hell is going on?!”

Instead of a swift response, the Emperor received the blood-curdling screams of his people, drowned out by inhuman roaring before the reception cut into white noise.

Zuri voiced her growing concerns. “F-Father?”

Sahel shrank into his throne with a startled gasp, eyes widened. “G-guards!!”

The hologram shifted focus to the entrance doors. A hunched figure draped in a dark magenta cloak with a feathery collar emerged from the sickly miasma. Large unkempt plumage folded behind her back, bizarre boils with eyes inside pulsating along the patagium. As she strode closer, the camera zoomed in on her face, a horrible avian visage with an unpleasant smile. Chartreuse eyes gleamed through the basil-green smog.

“Who is that?!” said Ebony.

“Varys,” Dion presumed, a gauntlet squeezed into a fist. “That buzzard-faced bastard was bound to show up sooner or-“

“N-no,” interrupted Zuri, shaking her head. “My sisters and I have seen him! He’s the one who engineered our enhancements. Whoever—whatever that is… It is not the plague doctor!”

“So that’s where you got your fancy gizmos,” scoffed Natural Selection, recalling the hi-tech coffins Mortis would make him and other undead rest inside.

“Good evening, your highness!” the bionic devil mockingly greeted with a short bow. “I hope you don’t mind if I let myself in.”

“M-Master Varys?! What brings you to my chambers?” the Emperor questioned squeamishly. All his smug bravado instantly vanished the moment his benefactor came knocking.

Viscera’s grin widened, amused by the Emperor’s inability to differentiate herself from her predecessor. “Why, I’ve come to collect what I’m owed! Those are my weapons your guards are pointing at me. Tsk, tsk, tsk… naughty boy~!”

She took one step, and Sahel’s private enforcers scurried to barricade the intruder from their Emperor. “Come any closer, and we’ll fry every feather off your scabby wings, devil!”

Viscera mewled before straightening her posture with a sickening crack of her spine. Her wings and claws extended, and her tail wave bewaved excitedly. “Careful, boys… I’m contagious~!”

Plasma rifles went off, but the decrypted creature proved far more agile than imagined. She took to the air to deliver a kick down, whipping her tail to knock aside the lineup. She leapt backward to avoid more fire while coiling one stallion’s ankle to drag him over and use his body as a meat shield.

After absorbing enough bullets, the nephilim flung the wasted corpse away. That’s when everyone got a better look at the tip of Viscera’s tail. Instead of the mechanical claw Varys was known for, meaty petals peeled back to bloom what resembled a titan arum. Carrion flies buzzed out of the spathe, attracted by the aroma of rotten flesh.

Positioning her tail overhead, the stem-like appendage glowed a foul green and shot out an acidic projectile that stained one guard. He cried out in agony as it rapidly dissolved his armor and flesh, his organs shriveling into an unhealthy color while spilling out his wound.

Emperor Sahel shrank his body further into his seat, panicking as more of his personalized squadron fled into the room, only to be sprayed or sliced apart.

Viscera seized one lone soldier by the throat, tracing a talon over his glass visor while he struggled and choked. With a throaty chuckle, she murmured, “Poor dear! It must be hard to breathe with this bulky thing! You should take it off~!”

“N-no, no no-!!”

The vulture-esque demi-human bashed his helmet open, exposing his face to the poisonous vapors that quickly filled his lungs. Instantaneously, his striped flesh broke into boils and warts, muscles expanding grotesquely while he bellowed. Puss and bile bled out his pours and unhinged mouth.

Viscera stepped back to watch the putrified hulk lash out against the other guardsmen. Misshapen fists pulverized the armored zebras into bloody mulch, yellowing veins bulging his bloated musculature.

When every last soldier was demolished, the mutant zombie turned his blank gaze at the cowardly Emperor. Letting out a roar, he blindly charged at Sahel… before the sickness plaguing his body proved too much and caused him to implode.

Chunky piles of meat and discolored blood splattered on the floor, staining Sahel’s robes as he quivered in fear. The onlookers outside the hologram could only observe the heinous massacre, Zuri especially fearful for her father’s life.

“You were right,” Ebony dryly stated. “This isn’t Varys. Somehow, it’s even worse!”

“Ooh~! Messy,” Viscera commented through the hologram, examining the putrid remains with a satisfied smirk. “There should be a way to prolong the effects. Oh well! Problems for later...”

Carefully stepping over the pile of infected cadavers, the bionic devil loomed over her prey before straddling his lap, earning another pitiful scream from the royal zebra.

“Wh-why are you doing this, Varys!? I-I thought you and I shared an accord with-?!”

“I’m not Varys, you ignoramus,” the avian-faced demon answered with annoyance. “He’s gone, decaying in his own failures. Only Viscera remains now~.”

“Vi-Viscera?!”

“As for why I’m doing this? Simple. I want every trace of my former self eradicated. Starting with his handy work~!”

This made Sahel pale. “Wh-what? No, you can’t! M-my Empire depends on this technology to thrive!! Without it, my legacy will perish!!”

“And whose fault is that?” Viscera countered while quivering with elation. The Emperor grew more disturbed when he felt something hard poke against his stomach, earning a playful titter.

“Silly little man,” the demi-human mocked. “Your foundations were already in ruins when you relied on someone else’s achievements. Supplementing your kingdom with outside technology, thinking you could use it to conquer all of Zebrica. You even turned your own children into living weapons! And they call me vile!”

Zuri trembled with rage, faint memories of her experience inside Varys’ transmutation pod. The horrific suffering she and her sisters endured to appease their father’s ambitions.

Viscera continued. “You’ve allowed your culture to become entangled with cybernetic advancements. So much that when it’s taken away, your entire country crumbles into worthless rubble. A pathetic reign for a pathetic king. A fitting conclusion if you ask me~.”

What little dignity Emperor Sahel had left was diminished by the bubbling mess he soon became, bawling like a babe while his torturer gingerly stroked his cheek.

“P-please, don’t kill me!” The zebra begged, feeling his heart beat frantically the closer those venomous talons were to his jugular. “I-I can still be of use to you!”

“Unfortunately true,” Viscera drolled. “You’ve kept your scientists busy building a secret dimensional transporter. One that would further expand your conquests. Typical tyrant. Why don’t we show the rest of the class your little science project, hmm?”

Aware he had zero options, Sahel nodded his head. With a pattern of pressed buttons on his throne, it spun and opened to reveal machinery mixed with enchanted runes. Dion, Ebony, Noble, and especially Zuri were astonished. Despite what Viscera claimed, he hadn’t entirely forsaken the old ways, instead using them to enhance where he could.

Unfortunately, by nature, advanced technology and magic were opposites, which often caused their machines to break down. And so, experimentation had proven slow and tedious. Nonetheless, his scientist had finished a workable prototype. Mustering what strength he could, Sahel began the incantation to activate the portal, runes shimmering to life.

Viscera kept her corpse flower tail close, the spadix pressing into his neck. “I suggest you cleanse your mind of any lingering thoughts of escape,” she warned. “Unless you wish to die slower than a slug can crawl~.”

Sahel swallowed hard and nodded. The crude portal’s glow reflected over the duo and threatened to blink out the entire camera feed observing them. The energy reserves needed to power it were tremendous. While it booted up with a hum, the rest of the Pundamilia Empire blacked out as its energy was siphoned, leaving the screaming citizens in further peril.

“Th-the portal is open for you, Vile One,” proclaimed Sahel.

With a low, satisfied snicker, Viscera patted his shoulder and said, “Well done, Emperor of fools! I’ll take it from here.”

“T-That means I’m free to leave now, right?”

Viscera didn’t answer. Instead, her grip on him tightened, and her cruel smile deepened.

“Y-you’re letting me go, right?!?”

The bionic devil hummed thoughtfully before replying, “That’s funny. I don’t recall ever saying I’d let you live~!”

“Bu-but I! I-I—”

“Devil!!” Zuri shouted, drawing their attention back to the holographic screen. “He did what you wanted! Release my father!!”

Viscera rolled her eyes and responded, “Pitiful child. You’re an even bigger fool than your daddy! Besides, I still need him for one more thing…”

A vicious smirk stretches her beak as she runs her finger across his neck, threatening to break skin.

“You should feel honored, your majesty! You’ll be the first to experience my blighted touch.”

“N-no no no no, wait, wait wait!!” The zebra emperor groveled, eyes puffy with tears. “By the ancestors, please!!”

“Tell them I said hi~!”

A small poke of her talon sealed his fate as the sickness rapidly corroded his arteries. Pain spread throughout his body, shuddering from fluctuating temperatures. Sahel fell to his knees, crying frantically, scurrying like a rat at the vivid hallucinations and colors that warped his vision. Blood, mucus, and foam seeped out the zebra’s eyes and snout once the virus took hold of his mortality.

Zuri collapsed and released a wail that brought her sisters back to consciousness, taking them only a few seconds to realize what was happening.

“What? No! NO!!”

“DADDY!!”

Viscera’s feathery ears and back spines tingled from the sounds of anguish while typing in a set of coordinates to the desired location. Then she turned to address the hologram, leering at the people through the screen.

“I suggest you hurry before the maggots finish feasting on your people,” the nephilim coldly stated. “Maybe you can salvage what’s left of your kingdom. As for me, I’ve got a rendezvous with my fellow demi-humans~.”

Her statement caught Dion’s attention. “Sae that’s what this carnage is about!?”

Ebony demanded, “Why are you after Zell and his people?!”

“See, I’d love to stick around and explain my evil plan—”

Viscera paused her monologue to lash out at the controls, firing more toxic blasts from her tail that melted the mechanisms that smoked and rattled violently.

“But this place is about to go belly up. Worry not! I have a feeling we’ll be running into each other real soon~!”

And with that, the vile one pulled out Varys’ plague doctor mask to obscure her face. Viscera took flight and soared into the spiraling portal, which grew more unstable by the seconds until the projection was lost entirely in a massive burst of illumination.

The hologram dissipated, and a boom thundered in the distance. The stormy skies dissipated, washing away the fire smoldering the village huts. Zuri, Kali, and Tisha were visibly shaken by what they had witnessed. A thousand thoughts ran through their heads, uncertain of what to do.

Then, rising up with the aid of her spear, the eldest princess ordered with tranquil fury, “We’re falling back. Hurry!”

Not another word was spoken as they boarded a hover carrier with what remained of the Pundamilia forces and evacuated the premises.

“Cowardice!” called Natural, who tried to hobble after them. Some of the wounded tribesmen reclaimed their bows and blowguns, shafts and darts fired after the interlopers, to no avail while they vanished into the plains. Reluctantly, the warriors stood down.

A moment later, the zebra tribe erupted into cheers at their small victory. Well over a hundred were slain in the invasion, with dozens more crippled or otherwise wounded.

Dion powered down his Onoma before dropping onto weak legs, stained in sweat. “Ah, thank fuck,” he wheezed. “Any more time in that armor would have killed me. Ah can’t believe three people did all this!”

“And yet it took one person to bring an entire city to its knees,” Wet Nurse pointed out, helping her sister limp over to their lover to comfort him.

“I’m barely keeping my lunch down as it is,” Foal-Bearer muttered while leaning into the ram’s frame to keep pressure off her back. “That ‘Viscera’ is one nasty customer!”

“Bah! Just another name in th’ growin’ list ov people who need an ass-kickin’,” insisted Dion, petting both twins’ heads. Frowning, he added, “Zell an’ Shadow Scythe better be prepared fur the shitstorm headin’ their way…”

Ebony limped over to the chief. “We need immediate medical attention!”

Medicine mares and witch doctors snapped to obey, sending stretchers out to help move the wounded. This included Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse, to their embarrassment. All Dion could do was hope his lovers could heal with the satiation of lust, like all succubi.

Once certain they were in capable hands, he joined Ebony and Natural in helping Noble Savage to his bed, the healers patching up his shredded abdomen. Despite their efforts, tears leaked out of the huntress. She lamented, “I fear his wounds are fatal…”

“No!” Natural Selection clutched his own wound and shook his head. “Don’t you dare die, Mshenzi! T-there must be ways we can extend his life!”

“Unnatural ways,” murmured Noble, barely able to keep his half-lidded eyes open. “Forgive me, Nyeusi… My time came sooner than expected. There was much I still wanted to teach you. But I fear this path you must now walk alone. The tribe’s future now rests in you… and your future kin. Don’t lead them to ruin, love. Like I almost did…”

“Yes,” she whispered back, her head bowed. “I will not fail you!”

Noble then turned to Natural. “Asili… You came to the tribe’s aid, despite our differences. For this, I thank you. Though you, too, have reached your limit, you may pass knowing you’ve reclaimed a measure of your honor.”

A firm nod from Natural confirmed his words. “Had I not interfered, I could’ve stretched my life several more days. But what would be the point? This tribe gave birth to me. I couldn’t stand to let it sacrifice its pride. With this final act, I can return to the soil satisfied.”

The dying hunter cleared his throat before casting his gaze onto Dion. “You have won my respect, Knight of Clan Jakobson. I trust you will be there to take care of her.”

“Ov course,” the ram reassured, bowing his head.

“Good. And tell your sister I’m sorry I threatened her unborn child. It was… beneath me…”

With those parting words, Asili limped out of the village, bits of dust departing from the zebra’s now monochromatic, decaying vessel. The eyes of his former tribe were on him, rewarding him with silent gratitude. He allowed a smile to spread his snout before vanishing into the mist.

Dion asked, “Where’s he going?”

“Somewhere private to pass away,” surmised Ebony, her snout drawn. “Like a proud lion on his last hunt.” She knelt by the mortally wounded chief’s side. “Noble, I-”

“You both have my eternal gratitude...for what it’s worth.” Noble coughed and choked, barely able to focus. Once, he’d feared he’d die in bed. But now he felt relief to have those he trusted around him. The zebra chieftain lay comfortably on his back, staring out the hut’s roof to the sky, a smile brightening his face.

“Look… light is shining through the veil… at long last..!”

With the last of his strength gone, Mshenzi allowed blackness to take him to his awaiting ancestors, his eyelids closing one last time.

Everyone gathered hung their heads low, allowing sadness to open their throats and mourn the loss of their beloved leader.

Quiet sobs escaped Ebony, who quivered in Dion’s firm embrace. “Oh, mpenzi wangu!”

The ram squeezed her tightly, asking, “Dae ye need some time alone?”

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. “No. There’s too much I have to do...”

Grimly, Dion nodded. “Then we better keep movin’, Gràdh.”

Arm in arm, the ram and zebress exited the late chief’s hut when the tribesmen pointed to the sky.

“H-hey! It’s just as Noble said!!”

“There’s a light in the sky!”

“And it’s moving!”

Perplexed, they followed where the villages pointed to find a glowing object rapidly approaching from the darkened atmosphere. Everyone screamed when a saucer-shaped aerial craft flew down to hover above, eclipsing the entire settlement with its shadow.

“Aufurfuxakes, what now?!” Dion cursed.

The UFO’s underbelly lit up with hypnotic illumination, the circular orifice centered in its body opening to allow a lone female to descend a pillar of light. Once the figure touched down and the ram could see her correctly, he exclaimed, “Hold on… Bellatrix?!”

“Happy to see you, too, Dion,” replied the succubus with a small smile. She wore a black leather bondage bikini with heeled boots, her arms crossed over her scarlet breast. “I’d ask if you were enjoying your vacation, but from the look of things here…”

“Aye, ye just missed an entire civil war,” the caprine warrior confirmed. “Along wit more bad news…”

“When isn’t there? You can explain it on our way to Midnight’s world,” she noted while taking in the blood stains, broken weapons, ruined huts, and shattered well. “Where are the twins?”

“Not in th’ best shape...” he admitted.

“I see. Not to worry,” Bellatrix assured with a lazy flick of her spade-tipped tail. “I’m certain our new benefactor can help our poor, sweet twins. Now go get them and hurry aboard.”

Dion raised a skeptical brow, eying the massive eldritch beast suspiciously while Ebony called to a pair of hunters nearby. “Quickly! Bring Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse here!”

After they nodded and rushed off to collect the crystalline duo, Ebony turned to warrior ram. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done. We’ve suffered a lot of casualties today. But without you, I imagine it would’ve been far worse.”

“Think nothin’ ov it,” insisted Dion, smiling bravely. “Any victory, great or small, should be cherished.”

She lowered her head and exhaled. “I wish I could go with you. Unfortunately, I-”

“Have to look after yer people now. Ah know...” His bright red eyes reflected her sorrow. “Sorry Ah can’t stick around for Noble Savage’s funeral. But mah family needs me. It’s time Ah return home.”

He raised Ebony’s chin for their lips to meet, and the new chieftess leaned into his kiss, savoring the moment before she had to face the challenges alone. Already, her people prepared the deal with fallout from Pundamilia’s end.

When they finally withdrew, Ebony softly whispered, “Once I’ve put my tribe back together, our village is yours, should you ever wish to call on our aid.”

“As is mine,” agreed Dion, resting his head on hers. “When A’m chieftain, A’ll return fur you… an’ our child.”

The zebress failed to suppress a titter. “Bold to assume it’ll be yours~.”

The pale caprine laughed. “If not, A’ll just have tae keep tryin’ ~!”

They shared a laugh and one more hug before a stretcher arrived with the twins. Dion and Bellatrix took the twins in their arms and ascended to the UFO, wrapped in a beam of light that shot down. Ebony Ivory waved goodbye as the spacecraft took off at unearthly speeds.

As she returned to restore unity and foundation with her fellow tribesman, she patted her slim stomach, aware that it would eventually become gravid with the future of their clan.

It was unlikely the cold seed of her ‘dead’ ex-lover would take root, unlike the ram’s warm, virile one. New life stewed in her fertile garden.

The former huntress, now chieftain, could only pray that this signified the end of this calamity.

Back in the Lost World, on the Isles of Parras, a thin layer of mist rolled around Demi-Trixie’s booted feet when she explored the area with a hum. Everywhere the miniature mare looked, there was exotic beauty and mystical landscapes. Every race and member of Clan Jakobson gathered supplies and tools, many visibly distraught by the idea that Canterlonians were invading their lands.

So naturally, it was up to her to cheer things up!

“Everyone’s being way too serious,” she remarked, “Time for a little light display to lighten the mood~!”

Demi-Trix launched fireworks into the skies, causing a few Minotaurs, fauns, and satyrs to pause and watch them pop. Those taking the chance to get some rest were awoken nearby. Sparklers, too, were spread across the earth and illuminated her radius.

“C’mon, everybody!” She called between her hands. “Let’s party while we still can!”

Much to her relief, the tulpa’s antics were met with laughter and smiles, her opening to boost morale slightly successful. Yet she knew there would be much more work to be done!

She began to dance mid-air on her heeled boots, then vanished in a poof of sparkly, colorful smoke, simply to appear behind one of the onlookers and tap them. This was repeated many times before she returned to the air and continued to kick her heels and swish her cape.

By this point, the citizens of the isles clapped along and collected by the shore. Her plushie minions, Shining (K)night, Cherry Poptart, and Sickle Shade also joined the celebration, where they flew and zipped over the shoals amidst the glimmer of fireworks continuously popped in a kaleidoscope of color.

The waves rolled over the beach once darkness started to fall and stars peeked out.

Unfortunately, the celebration was interrupted when a fisherman ran across the sands and shouted, “Help! S-sea monster! Washed up on th’ shore!”

There were a few murmurs from the crowd before General Seamus entered the scene with his orcs. “Take us tae it, lad!” He snorted.

Drawn by curiosity, Demi-Trix fluttered on pixie wings to investigate alongside the armored boars. To her surprise, Lord Haden was already marching there with druid staff in hand. His grassy mantle flowed against the salty gale, his ears flickering at the ominous outcries of some distressed beast.

“Shite! What horrid squeals,” noted Seamus. “Dae ye think it's th' Kraken? Maybe even Nessie?”

“No,” said Haden, whose gaze narrowed under prominent gray eyebrows.

On closer inspection, it resembled a ship of sorts but with organic components, almost like it had been swallowed up by some parasitic entity. It lacked any visible flags or a headpiece to identify it. “It’s definitely not ov this world… but Ah don’t think it’s connected tae Alma.”

His soldiers poked at the tendrils that wiggled from its hull with swords and spears, archers trained on it.

“Oi! Keep yer distance, laddies,” the orc general warned. “Let’s not provoke th’ damn thing!”

Demi-Trix gasped upon realizing what this was and flew next to the mountainous faun. “Wait! H-hold it!” She said as she landed on his shoulder. “Call off your men! I know this airship!”

“Airship?” The elder ram perked an eyebrow.

Instead, the cartoony mare knelt and pointed to a glass window, barely visible under the inky, oil-slick black substance that enveloped the craft. She spotted a male unicorn and female crystalline pegasus from inside, who shouted and struck at the nearly unbreakable windows for attention. “Holy smokes, I was right! It’s Ashen Dunes and Rhenaes! They’re old pals of mine! You know what this means?”

“Ah do not,” Lord Haden said in a gruff tone. “Enlighten me, tiny one.”

“This airship is actually an eldritch beast, like the manor I came from! Someone probably captured this poor creature and built this airship around it!”

He balked. “Poor creature...?”

“Yeah, it’s a prisoner! Oh, but I don’t think Ashen’s responsible. He can be a bit shady, but he believes in freedom! He told me he had won this airship in a bet on the outskirts of civilization! It’s one-of-a-kind in his world!”

“Well, ye clearly know more about this than me.” Haden turned to Seamus and the orcs. “Stand down, men. Let th’ tulpa handle this.”

Despite protests, they lowered their weapons and allowed Demi-Trix to wander closer to the tentacled abomination. She shifted back to mare size and crooned, “Oh~, Mr. Monster~! I want to talk with you!” She offered a dainty hand, and after a moment, one octopus-like coil wrapped repeatedly around the extended limb. “Ooh, it’s cold and slimy! Don’t worry, it’s okay!”

“This is ridiculous,” grunted Seamus.

“Ah would rather we not endanger our men when war is comin’, general,” reminded Haden. “Besides… It is quite funny.”

Demi-Trix’s eyes closed under her wide-brimmed witch hat, and she nodded repeatedly. “Uh-huh... mhmm... Oooh! Yeah, that’s fine!”

Successfully appeased by her unspoken words, since the abomination mentally linked with the tulpa for a moment to telepathically communicate, the blackness around the hull started to recede. The couple came from the parted inky curtain, alongside the small number of crewmen left to the merchant prince captain.

“Huh. Well, what do you know!” Seamus shrugged, ordering his soldiers, “Get them some food and shelter! Who knows how long they’ve been trapped in that beast’s belly!”

The four-horned ram went down to greet the pair personally. “Ah am Lord Haden. Shaman King ov th’ Isles ov Parras an’ reignin’ chieftain ov Clan Jakobson. State your names.”

“O-oh! Most certainly, sir,” the unicorn said as he and his marefriend bowed before the towering caprine. “Prince Ashen Dunes, brother of Cerise Silhouette and White Shadow Penumbra. Son of King Sombra and Queen Inky Rose!”

Haden stroked his beard, puzzled. “Strange. Last Ah heard, Sombra went by th’ name Ambros an’ took Radiant Hope as his wife…”

“Oh, we’re not from around here,” he insisted. “Another dimension. Confusing indeed. Ah! A-and this is my future fiance, Rhenaes!” The jade ballerina dancer colored at his words.

While Demi-Trix continued to soothe the eldritch beast, Ashen explained their side of events, about how Mortis had taken control of a three-headed dragon and the impending collapse of the destabilized multiverse.

“Hmph. Hearin’ that Kralot Andrei is someone else’s problem would be good news,” grumbled the old ram. “Though Ah suppose no universe is lucky tae have that wretched dragon. An’ ye say a lich now controls him?”

“Indeed! A-as you can plainly see, circumstances have become dire!”

“If it’s not too much to ask,” Rhenaes began timidly. “May we settle here for the time being? We lost our supplies during the dimensional shift!”

“Mmm… A’m afraid ye arrived at a most inopportune time,” confessed Haden. “Th’ Sovereign Witch ov Canterlot is plottin’ an invasion on our lands wit th’ Baobhan Sith an’ Kelpies at her side. They call themselves th’ Order ov Ròsan Dubha. Or Black Roses. An’ they threaten tae stain these meadows wit th’ blood ov mah people…”

“Oh dear,” Ashen said with pursed lips.

“How horrible…” agreed Rhenaes.

The sandy unicorn stroked his chin in thought. “Well, since we can’t return home, why don’t we help your cause? I’m no war veteran like my brother, but I can share information; the best weapon of all!”

The ram lord nodded. “We’ll take whate’er help ye can provide. In return, A’ll have a room prepared fur ye.”

“Thank you, Lord Haden,” the couple said graciously.

“Fidelma,” he called out, and a slender masked satyress pranced over. “See tae it that these two are given rooms tae stay in. Oh, an’ relay back tae mah daughter e’erythin’ Ashen Dunes has said.”

“At once,” she said, touching her heart before walking off.

“Your daughter? Oona’s here!?” Ashen gasped in alarm.

“Aye. When we got wind ov her abduction, rescuin’ her from th’ Black Roses’ grasp became mah priority. She’s near th’ mountainside, safe an’ sound.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Rheneas sighed in relief. “May we see her?”

“No.” Haden declined firmly, his face hardening. “She’s on th’ last leg ov her pregnancy an’ has since been unable to leave th’ house. For her protection, A’m only allowin’ a select few tae keep her company.”

“I suppose that’s understandable,” the jade pegasus said, a little disappointed. “She has been through a lot without Beatrix-”

“Speak not ov that reckless witch near mah presence!” Lord Haden growled, his voice betraying his stoic demeanor. “If she truly loved mah daughter, she would be here! By her side instead ov gallivantin’ across th’ multiverse.”

“But sir, she’s-“

“Ah have spoken!!” He finally barked, taking short breaths to recompose himself. With a less brash tone, the old chieftain said, “Forgive mah outrage. Ah only want what’s best fur Oona. But th' thought ov her givin' birth durin' Walpurgistnacht ails me…”

He turned to leave with his general and men, leaving no room for argument, much to their dismay.

That’s when Demi-Trix said, “Hey! Believe it or not, this eldritch creature’s scared! It feels lost and alone!”

Ashen stroked his chin. “How curious! Maybe I could-”

“Let me,” Rhenaes cuts in, who’d taken her lover’s hands. “I wish to be useful, too!”

“...okay. But be cautious,” emphasized Ashen as he squeezed her slender hands. Reluctantly, he watched his jade love descend back into the wrecked, overrun airship.

The crystal pegasus entered the airship’s core, shivering from the darkness and chill that enveloped her. To her, it was like a coffin...or a tomb. However, she traced the blackness to its source, the abomination emerging from the equivalent of the airship’s black box, its prison torn open amidst the battle with Andrei, followed by the cosmic, multiversal squall. Like so many of the battered crew, almost broken by a stroke of bad luck.

She crouched down and said, “You poor thing. How long have you been trapped here? Years? Decades?” She shivered when a tentacle wrapped around her thin arm, much like it had with Demi-Trix. “Oh! That tickles!” Thankfully, it warmed up from the body heat she radiated.

Its mind linked with hers, merely on a surface level, since the alien intelligence of an eldritch being could drive a mortal mad, especially after prolonged contact. She felt its emotions, and it, in turn, hers; the crystal mare visibly moved once she closed her eyes and whimpered for it.

One of the coils snaked up her ankle. “H-hey!” The creature hesitated, but when her tense posture relaxed, it continued its travel up her thigh, which started to coil around her midsection, gentler than she expected. “Ooh~...that feels kinda nice, actually,” Rhenaes admitted, her cheeks aflame.

More tentacles wrapped around the ballerina, massaging her tender flesh, while she failed to hold back subdued moans and leaned into its touch. Her lashes fluttered, eyes half-lidded when the creature slowly undressed her piece-by-piece.

“W-wait, I...I-I have a coltfriend...” The tentacles hesitated once more, already wrapped around her petite breasts, the idea of a solitary mate equally alien to this creature. In truth, it was half an excuse born out of fear. She knew Ashen had several romantic partners across the world.

But at Cerise’s demands, Ashen hadn’t so much as flirted with another stallion or mare since he started to court Rhenaes, the princess afraid he would play with her heart like he had others.

But the crystalline dancer knew Ashen wasn’t cruel despite being the kind who wanted to try every piece of fruit at least once!

“I...think he’d be okay with this. He wants me to discover who I am! And it’s my body you seek, not my heart. If this is what it’ll take to properly bond...” Despite her reservations, she relaxed entirely and submitted her flesh to the beast, which continued to feel her up to state its desire.

Yet the moment they made contact, she knew it was more than that. The creature was severely wounded by the crash on death’s door, and the satisfaction of its lust would help it heal.

At least it wouldn’t have to gobble down any innocents like the mansion once had!

Constricted all over by the creature, lifted in its slick tentacles, they rubbed her modest but perky breasts and slim buttocks, worked her up until she was nice and wet, its tendrils poised before her lips, puffy slit, and tailhole, respectively. Gradually, they teased her three holes before they started to worm their way inside. At the same time, suckers wrapped about her areola and nursed her nipples, while another encircled her swollen clit and made her squirm and cry out.

“Ah...wow. This is-!” Her words were muffled by the intruder, simultaneously stuffed from every direction, while her hands helped stroke off more tentacles. She had never felt this full in her life.

Lifted above the floor, no part of her left untouched or played with, Rhenaes’ wordless cry around the coil that stuffed her throat signified the first of many messy orgasms she would achieve today, the feminine nectar she squirted over the beast soaked into it, to help it heal.

The feathers of her outstretched plumage were tickled and rubbed, and her body started to move on its own, eyes rolled into her head, lost to bliss. She humped back into the tentacles pushed into her stretched obscenely wide cunt and ass, barely separated by a thin layer of flesh, and felt them rub her warm walls, which squeezed down. Her head bobbed to suck off one in her maw.

After an hour spent as this monster’s plaything, she slightly understood why Beatrix liked to indulge herself with bizarre monsters who fucked better than any stud. Able to touch and explore her in unimaginable places. She also wanted her friend Cerise to experience this unthinkable sea of sensation at least once, despite how dedicated the princess of darkness was to her husband.

The ballerina pegasus came anew, almost lost consciousness, blissed out, and thoroughly fucked raw. They came inside her, its ejaculations a potent aphrodisiac many of its lustier tentacled brethren would use to make unwilling females submit to hedonistic pleasures...but the creature used it to reward her and to transform any discomfort she felt into further bliss for what came next. More tentacles were driven into her winking cunt, pierced her cervix, into her womb.

Rhenaes squealed about a tentacle stuffed down her throat and came harder than ever, shaking as her toes curled. Her belly distended from the influx like she’d been impregnated, tentacles shooting load after load directly into her feminine core, where the thick sticky blasts impacted her drippy, slippery walls.

Rheneas blacked out for a time, holes left to ooze while she was continually fucked into submission.

The soft approach of sandals and the clicking of heeled boots pulled her attention back to consciousness. When Rhenaes tried to speak, the tentacle popped from her wet lips in a slick trail still tethered to the intruder, who blasted her face in a fresh batch of stickiness. “A-Ashen-? Mmph!” Its impossibly heavy load fired across her tongue as she coughed down more runny, salty spunk.

Ashen’s eyes widened, his unicorn horn alight. “Rheneas, are you hurt?”

Demi-Trix marched forward, hands on her rounded hips. “No, I think she’s fine! This is a consensual encounter, isn’t it~?”

Rheneas sluggishly nodded, barely able to think since her brain was fried from continuous climaxes as it drilled her sex holes. “W-wow, who knew this airship housed an entity like this?”

“I had no idea,” confessed Ashen, his posture relaxed. “This was a sea vessel before I spent a fortune and converted it into an airship. Many didn’t think it possible, but I sunk what riches I could into an inventor’s idea to make his dream a reality! The schematics led to what you see! The ship was once called the Nautilus...but I wouldn’t say its name since it was considered bad luck by its last captain. Actually, maybe that’s why he bet this ship?”

“Because it’s cursed?” Demi-Trix snickered.” That’s—ooh~!”

The short tulpa, somewhere between a unicorn that resembled Beatrix Belladonna and a demi-human after her rebirth, felt a tendril snake around her ankle. “Looks like it wants some fun with me, too! Oho, that tickles~! Some eldritch creatures feed on pain or fear...thankfully, this one’s benevolent! Albeit really horny!”

Ashen perked his brow at a tentacle aimed at him. “What, me too? Well, I, um... I’ve always been the adventurous sort!” He couldn’t deny his painful hard-on as he watched his love be penetrated from all directions, no part of her unmolested or unmarked by moist tentacles.

The extensions encircled Rhenaes’ nipples, distended her perky, firm tits when they pulled them to fullness and lashed her buttocks while they pulled on her messy mane and tail. She tightened and moaned louder around the tentacle lodged down her gullet, overwhelmed. More tentacles raised around her ballooned up with cum they freshly unloaded all over her nubile curves.

Her matted fur, pleasantly slick and sticky from the massive cumshots that continuously fired across her, glistened while her plume spread to its full width. The entity assured her she couldn’t be knocked up by its releases unless it wanted her to be, that it valued the lovely jade mare.

The blackness over the hull parted to allow the seawater in. A chill swept over the trio, layered with a salty smell, the waters left to rise while they filled the hull’s wrecked interior. Rhenaes and Ashen shuddered momentarily, fearing they would drown, while Demi-Trix stood poised with confidence when sucker-lined tendrils clambered up heeled boots onto her flesh.

What two of them feared would become a sarcophagus proved closer to an alien womb, the water-like amniotic fluid, the creature psychically linked with the comely threesome to share in their emotions and protect them from the elements while they made love.

Coils undressed Ashen and Demi-Trix, the former’s lean body pressed to Rhenaes, the merchant made aware why his love had mated with the eldritch beast, the three of them and the creature now linked, able to communicate without words, but by pure emotion.

He smiled at Rhenaes and nodded. The couple embraced; his stallionhood sank into his love beside the tentacles that had taken her while they started to make love. Simultaneously, Demi-Trix made love for the first time; her fairy-like body offered to help heal the wounded beast.

The tulpa had realized much about herself since her resurrection, the childish side of Beatrix she once represented had now given way to Belladonna’s insatiable libido. It did not help that Moxxi had helped recreate her through her thoughts; the imp’s incredible lust added to that. The nature of Zeloph, who helped bring her back into existence, had helped balance that lustful side of her out until now...but curiosity about sex and this creature overwhelmed her!

Demi-Trix, too, felt all her virgin holes stretched and filled, watched Ashen and Rhenaes consummate their love, their snouts locked in hungry kisses while tentacles penetrated their backsides, submerged underwater.

For hours, they all lost themselves to the unabated pleasures of the flesh. Amid this union, the creature made its wishes known. To bond with Rhenaes as its vessel and restore the Nautilus’ power in return for pleasure beyond compare.

Nighttime settled over the waves as Demi-Trix took a long stroll across the beach. A few folks have warned her to be weary of water demons, such as the alluring siren or tempting kelpie. And if they were anything like Douglas…

The tulpa shuddered, recalling her time trapped in a cage while that briny sadist tortured her friends. She could only hope Bellatrix and Omen made it out somehow.

“Gotta look on the brighter side of things,” she told herself, arms behind her head. While Demi-Trix had been occupied soothing the beast disguised as the ship, the miniature mare had also heard the shaman king’s grievances.

“Big me’s out there doing her best,” she said assuringly. “She’ll be here before those bad guys storm the islands and when little Abby is born! I know it! Right guys?”

While two of her plushies nodded, the one that resembled Shadow Scythe tilted its head down.

“Hey! No one asked for a party pooper! Beatrix is gonna set things right and-whaa!?”

She must have tripped on something because the tulpa suddenly lost balance and fell forward… except her face planted into the worn carpet surface instead of the soft sand to cushion her fall.

Demi-trip shook off the tweety birds chirping around her head to take in her surroundings, brows furrowed in confusion. “What the-?!”

No longer was she on the shores of Parras… but in an empty living room of an old-fashioned manor. Not what the eldritch beast used to take the form of since she would recognize the decor. This place looked less haunted and more cleaned with furniture and hanging portraits.

Most unnerving was the ambiance of a distorted gramophone playing classical-sounding music off a scratch record before looping over itself.

“Where the heck am I?” wondered Demi-Trix, her voice reverberating off the polished walls. “And where are my plushies?!”

She was about to call out their names before a chilling thought crept up her brain. What else was pulled here beside her? Perhaps it was better to not draw attention by shouting for her dolls…

With a gulp of unease, the cartoony mare decided to explore this abandoned place, starting with a nearby window sill. When Demi-Trix looked outside, her eyes dilated upon discovering a suburban street. Some houses were lit up to signify people were living there, but others were missing off the driveway, leaving only an imprint of where the establishments once stood.

Lone street lamps highlighted the vacant roads, leading towards… nothing.

No stars to indicate night. No sign of the sun to ensure dawn was coming. Just a massive void of blackness.

And then the darkness lit up with eldritch lightning, highlighting several homes in a red hue, each ripped away from different eras of time. Homes directly taken from Ponyville were merged with huts from Zebrica as if something smashed them together. Upside skyscrapers stretched out the clouds towards the ground. And other structures she couldn’t identify were floating around.

But what frightened the tulpa the most was the elongated, quadrupedal legs of a titanic abomination slowly walking through the horizon. Demi-Trix ducked under the window, fearing whatever those limbs were attached to might have seen her.

The tulpa could feel her heart thumping out of her chest. Nothing about this hellscape made sense except one thing; she had to get out of there!

‘I must have glitched through realities,’ she surmised internally. ‘Maybe I can find something to teleport me back?’

Her thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a door opened, and an eerie scarlet light emanated from below a staircase. Then, three robed figures appeared out of the corner, causing Demi-Trix to zip behind a pillow. Her hand covered her snout to suppress a gasp upon seeing the cloaks with widened eyes.

‘The Cult of the Nemesis!?’

While she never personally met the infamous group during their initial run, she recognized them through Beatrix’s oldest recollections. Horrible memories of how the cultists hunted the young witch and her mother down to fulfill the dark prophecy of the Necronomicon. She thought they had disbanded after Beatrix thwarted their plans. Yet there they were, red robes and all, a sigil of an eye trapped between jaws, entering a room within a realm of confusion.

‘They have to be responsible for this nonsense! Surely!!’

Swallowing down her fear to calm her beating heart, Demi-Trix quietly followed the triad of cult members through the twisted corridor. The tiny unicorn poked her head through the door when she felt safe.

On the other side was a forest, crooked black and white trees without leaves towering towards a blood-red sky. Occasionally, the landscape would visibly glitch with static and distortion, as if the entire realm was playing through a faulty television screen.

Nonetheless, the pixie-sized tulpa pushed away her distress and continued to tail behind the three cultists through the woods. Her ears perked at the warped disembodied voices of children laughing, one even sounding like a pitched-down cry.

Eventually, they reached a decorative dining room table in a clearing where other members had already started feasting. Monochrome bodies of ponies, fauns, changelings, and other sapient creatures were casually carved open with knives and forks. Eaten while the cultists talked amongst each other.

Demi-Trix clamped her hand around her throat while hiding behind a branch. Their victim’s eyes and mouths were etched out with black scribbles, limbs twitching to indicate they were still alive…

One cultist, wearing robes that reflected a higher status, carried a chalice towards the head of the table. And the mini mare’s eyes dilated upon who was sitting at the end.

‘What... No, it can’t be... T-That’s..!’

A dark gray buck, robed similarly as the cultists, accepted the cup, mouthing a polite ‘Thank You’ before stuffing his snout with a fork full of finely prepared entrails, resembling a delectable cuisine. His mouth forms a satisfied smile after swallowing his meal.

“Everything is falling into place,” the spokesman reported, sitting beside the cervine, who sipped the crimson liquid off the rim. “A quarter of the multiverse has been obliterated, allowing the in-between to seep through the cracks. Some dimensions have even collapsed into each other. Shaping new realms.”

“Exactly as I foresaw,” Omen commented, maroon eyes on his staff that held an ancient artifact between stag skulls. “But even those worlds will not prosper long. With every use of Mandela’s Hourglass, reality unravels at the seams. The wall that separates dimensions crumbles away, revealing every mind and dream to me!”

With a wave of his hand, the storm clouds parted, revealing three stars that glimmered faintly.

Omen reached out with a stretched grin, saying, “And like the stars in the cosmos, I shall snuff them all out! Every…”

He poked the northern star, which diminished instantly.

“… last…”

The same happened with the eastern star.

“…one.”

With the last star erased, nothingness remained.

“Then, everything will be as it should. Quiet. Dark. Peaceful. Thoughtless. The pathway to nowhere will open again.”

“And all that will be shall lead to nowhere,” the Cult of the Nemesis chanted before resuming to dine on mortal flesh. Demi-Trix could only stare at the nightmare stag, shell-shocked, while her mind comprehends the harsh truth.

“Seer of Black Dreams,” one cultist spoke with a feminine voice. “Must we continue this secrecy? Surely, Beatrix Belladonna already suspects our alliance with the changelings on Midnight Blitzer’s planet?”

After a mindful sip, Omen replied, “Do you ask out of concern or impatience?”

“Both.”

“Then you should know why we must uphold anonymity. Any victim who knows their attacker’s face will seek to right the wrongs done to them. Most of the time, by any means necessary. Vengeance is a never-ending spiral that consumes every aspect of the soul. Do you wish to end up like Mortis Soltaire?”

The cultist shook her head.

“All I ask is for you to remain patient,” insisted the dark stag, lip curled to the side. “The time of your reunion with Beatrix will come soon.”

Demi-Trix furrowed her eyebrows. ‘What?’

“Thank you, Hart of Darkness.”

Omen turned his attention to the spokesmen. “How is your vessel fairing, Vox? Do you require a new body?”

“Not yet,” he responded in a deep baritone. “This form serves me well. It should last long after the siege of Moon Hammer and his ville.”

“Excellent,” the cervine chuckled, wiping his snout with a handkerchief. “Speaking of which, shall we see how our friend is fairing?”

Yielding his staff, Omen opened a viewing portal through a torn rift, monochrome static screech above the dining table before taking a spherical shape. Within the orb was Beatrix, working herself up to a sweat with all her magical training.

‘Big me!’ Demi-Trix gently reached out before pulling back her arm, lest she is accidentally spotted. Looking down, the mini mare noticed the cult member who spoke up earlier, clutching her fist while observing the violet mare.

The nightmare stag grinned widely, admiring how her voluptuous body moved while casting several high-level spells, including those that incorporated her Onoma. But he could tell by Beatrix’s worn expression how much she was struggling.

“Alas, Belladonna,” he purred softly, tracing her outline with a clawed finger. “So caught up in all the conflict, she’s confused about who the bigger threat is!”

The picture glitched to show the Crystal Empire’s military, led by a mustard stallion with half his face burnt off, giving orders to his troops while moving out. “Is it the once lustrous kingdom run by a genocidal madman..?”

It distorted again to display Queen Chrysalis meditating in her emerald pool underneath the mycelium of an eldritch mushroom. “… the infected changeling resurgence we’ve arranged to wipe them out..?”

Finally, it shifted to Queen Tatyana, who stood at the bow of her ship while her armed paladins shuffled around resources. “… or the vain replicant and her legion of monsters, about to wage war on our beloved’s people?”

The Cult of the Nemesis shared a collected snicker, the answer to his rhetorical question humorously obvious. The table settled down when the screen glitched, and Oona Ewe appeared.

‘Oh no!’

She sat comfortably in a chair, knitting a new set of pajamas while talking with Minerva, who was on her way out to grab her some replenishments.

Omen sighed. “Poor sweet Oona. The distance between you two has grown unbearable, hasn’t it? Truly you did not deserve this!”

When the door closed, the azure sheep’s expression shifted from contentment to sorrow while she knitted.

“The longer Beatrix spends time away, the more you question her commitment to you and Abadonna. Of course, how could you expect her to let go of her thirst for adventures? And if that’s the case, does that mean her love for you is insufficient?”

‘No! That’s not true!’ Demi-Trix internally shouted, tears running down her face.

“Do not fret, my dear,” Omen said huskily, eyes glowing ominously. “I will be with you soon. To love and protect you until the very end of days~.”

‘NO!! YOU STAY AWAY FROM THEM, YOU FIEND!!’

With a wave of his hand, he closed the observation portal to open a new one behind his chair. A chaotic swirling vortex of black and red threatened to assimilate this liminal space.

“Now then,” Omen began as he and the cultists stood up. “Chrysalis has likely begun her siege. Bring to her that which she desires and aid the resurgence. Fiery Kickstart and the Crystal Empire will come and box them in. Strike only when the two forces are locked in combat.”

The cultists nodded, each member disappearing into the spiraling portal. Only Vox was left, and before he joined his fellow eldritch enthusiasts, he turned to the nightmare stag and asked, “What will you do?”

“I will be joining you shortly,” Omen answered, antlers briefly shimmering. “A recent vision informs me that one of Beatrix’s friends will discover me. I’ll need to travel there in order to figure out who. But first, I have a small matter that requires my attention...”

Demi-Trix watched the hooded figure dissolve with the closing rift, leaving her and the nightmare stag alone in the restabilizing forest. If the tulpa could quietly conjure her own portal, she could teleport back to the isles and warn—

“I know you’re back there, Demi-Trix,” Omen’s voice called, invading her brain like a parasitic worm. “There’s no use hiding. Come on out!”

A moment passed before the cartoony mare with pixie wings abandoned the tree, cautiously hovering over the gray cervine. Her frightened eyes fixed on his cool maroon gaze, a thin smile spreading his snout.

The tulpa let out all her mounting dread and fury when she was within range. “I-It was you! All this time, you’ve been the one driving every reality into chaos,” she declared fiercely, accusingly pointing her finger at his nose. “ You’re behind everything!!”

“Well, aren’t you the little genius~?” The nahtdyr chuckled sarcastically. “Honestly, I wasn’t even trying to hide my intentions. And with the other villains running amuck, it was much easier to work behind the scenes. In this case, literally.”

The tulpa demanded, “But why?! Why are you doing this! We trusted you!!”

“What difference would it make to tell you? I can see it in your eyes. You’ve already made your choice,” the gray buck countered, frowning.

With clenched teeth, Demi-Trix unleashed all her fireworks and rockets to explode right in his face. But the way she experienced her course of action was greatly altered. The tulpa couldn’t move a muscle while her future self continued without her.

Then, everything flowed backward; the afterimages of her actions collided with the mini mare, the force rattling Demi-Trix to her core.

“Huh!? W-what just happened!? Wasn’t that—!”

Omen’s shadow manifested behind him, catching the fairy-like tulpa in its dark claw, tightening its grasp to ensure she couldn’t wiggle free.

“Correct. I no longer need to rely solely on my Onoma to fight,” revealed the nightmare stag, holding up his staff. “What you just experienced is a small fraction of Mandela’s Hourglass. With it, I can rearrange time however I want.”

“Nnnghaah! No… let me go!!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” said the nahtdyr, eyes narrowed. “Not while you can still utter a word of my plan to another soul. Hmm...” He paused to stroke his chin. “That’s right. If I kill you, you’ll just regenerate with enough imagination. How Irksome...”

A sly grin graces his features. “Guess I’ll have to keep you silent the old fashion way...~.”

His monstrous elk-shaped shadow held up another artifact, a pendulum etched with the signature sigil of the Nemesis. It held it close to her face, the pendant swinging side to side when it glowed with a pale light. Even when she closed her eyes, its illumination burned behind her lids, compelling her to surrender. Soon, Demi-Trix felt her surroundings fade away and the heaviness of sleep gripping her tightly.

“When I countdown to one, you will forget everything here,” instructed Omen, his voice reverberating around her brain. “The next time you wake up, you will go about your business as you normally do. Three…”

“N-no!” Demi-Trix weakly protested, struggling to resist.

“… Two…”

“Don’t! O-Oona!”

“…ꄲꋊꏂ!”

The pendulum stopped swaying, and the tulpa was unconscious. Omen smiled, stroking her tiny head with a clawed finger. With his witness out of commission, the nightmare stag opened a smaller portal to release Demi-Trix, dropping her to a distant, unknown planet. His shadow dematerialized, allowing a sigh of relief to pass his lips.

“Another potential path averted.”

Suddenly, his eyes blacked out, and he grasped his head in pain, his antlers receiving a surge of black energy like a pair of antennae. Strange depictions and scenes overwhelmed his psyche, forcing the gray cervine to his knees until it was over.

Omen panted heavily, blackness oozing out his eye sockets like teardrops. He muttered what the vision could have meant until landing on an epiphany. One that made his snout stretch back into an angry smile.

“ꁝꏂꁝ… ꇙꄲ ꌦꄲ꒤'꒦ꏂ ꉔꄲꂵꏂ ꁝꏂꋪꏂ ꋬꇙ ꅐꏂ꒒꒒!”

Oona sat back down on her chair with a freshly brewed cup of tea, deciding to give knitting a break. Her honey-brown eyes glanced to the window, the midnight sky for once not obscured by darkened clouds.

Despite being back home, where it was peaceful, and away from the galactic entropy, the dream faun couldn’t shake off her dreadful melancholy. While meaning well, her father grounded her in her own home, barring visitors outside himself, Fidelma, and Minerva.

She huffed with unease, hoping her lover was doing alright and that Iclyn wasn’t giving the witch too much trouble. But perhaps the deighdyr’s natural aloofness was needed to balance things out?

“Ah miss her greatly,” she admitted with a sniffle, unable to hide her loneliness. “What are th' chances she’s been sleepin' 'round instead ov… No, Oona! Ye mustn’t think that! Beatrix will be here fur me when she can..!”

But that still didn’t sound convincing. The shamaness didn’t have a problem with how promiscuous her partner was. They’ve shared each other with interested parties before!

No. The problem was that Oona didn’t believe Beatrix wanted to fully settle down with her once Abby was born, not at the risk of giving up her wayward ways and having adventures across the multiverse. And she didn’t want to even stomach factoring the witch’s immortality…

Then there was the matter of her brother’s knowledge of this catastrophe, along with everyone still trapped in the castle with Countess Alma. So many of their enemies were on the move, as she learned from Fidelma that Mortis had brought Andrei in his quest for retribution against Shadow Scythe and Zeloph.

Oona twisted her snout in frustration, aware she could not do much in her current state. Her ability to dream walk could risk the baby’s health.

“Omen… Bellatrix… surely, ye’ve figured out a way tae free yerselves, right?”

All this excessive worrying was only making the pregnancy harder on herself. So Oona set aside her cup and resumed her sewing with furrowed brows. What was taking Minvera so long with groceries? What was taking Beatrix so long to get back to her..?

Tatyana was coming on Walpurgisnacht, where all magical properties would be at their most potent. A full-scale assault by powerful mages and the Vice Lords’ assistance could very well spell the end for her people. Did that not matter to her!?

In her vexation, Oona hissed when her needle slipped and pricked her hand. She suckled the blood-speckled wound before lifting her heavy body to fetch her disinfecting ointment and a bandage.

Not long after she finished wrapping her hand, a soft knock at the door alerted the dream faun. “Bah, finally! Took her long enough…”

Lady Ewe waddled over, using her dream catcher staff for support. Her customary robes and tunic proved too small with how massive her belly had gotten. The caprine’s already motherly mounds threatened to spill out of her maternity gown.

When she reached the door, Oona paused to catch her breath, rubbing her sore lower back. Then, once she steadied herself, the sheep shaman twisted the knob to open the door.

“Was there a hold up at th’ market, teacher? Why were ye out sae…?!?”

Oona’s eyes widened, and her mouth gaped with a loss for words.

Instead of the mystical driver woman, she found a small caprine girl standing in the doorway, a white wide-brimmed hat and cloak cape shielding her from the rain. She had long curly black wool tied behind by a single sizeable turquoise bead. Her bangs coiled around the tiny ram’s horns, and the unicorn horn protruded out of her head.

When the little faun lifted her head to meet her gaze, Oona lost her grip, and her staff fell to the floor with an audible ‘thunk.’

Her expression was longing, her eyes a mixing shade of yellow and violet with black sclera, which watered with tears. A sad smile formed, and she said a single word that sent a chill up the pregnant shamaness’ spine.

“Mom..!”

Love & Death

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Wiping sweat from her brow, Eclipsed Heart paused between placing another brick on the cement. Her hot pink eyes were drawn to the crimson storm that ominously threatened to break back open overhead.

‘Not to prompt any ill will against Abbess Julianne, but this seems redundant,’ she thought. ‘I mean, what’s the point if these poor people are about to have their lives upended again?’

But when the pop princess turned to the scattered citizens, her soft face hardened in determination, her thick neon pink ponytail tossed back when she resumed work. It reminded her of the many charities planned for troubled communities in her home world.

Eclipsed flushed thinking about her boyfriend, Bass, and how much she missed him.

What she wasn’t going to miss was that bastard Seb, the pin-striped demon currently aiding the mother superior in handing out more donations. It sickened the pop star how a stingy, murderous slimeball like him could look so content when he helped perpetuate ruin in her city!

Standing beside them was the other demi-human, Arron, who was also responsible for significant collateral damage. It didn’t matter if Zell managed to get through to him; that blowhard remained a menace!

“Hmm… Y’know what this shindig needs?” Arron said after looking over the current progress. “Mirrors! Lots and lots of mirrors!”

“Ooh! An interesting suggestion” chimed Julianne. “May I ask the reason?”

The golden demon gave a big grin. “So that when I walk into the room, I can be surrounded by winners~!”

Both Seb and Eclipsed couldn’t suppress the urge to facepalm.

“That’s not the point of a monastery, dumbass,” the gambler said. “You go in to cleanse yourself of pride, not drown yourself in it!”

“Ohoho! Look who decided to grow a moral conscience! Was that before or after you got pussy whipped~?” Arron taunted, making said gesture with his wrist.

Steam whistled out of Seb’s ears before he countered, “Damn, didn’t know Sunny D tasted so good! Got you spouting Sunspot’s better-to-be-human bullshit!”

The bulky Demi-human snarled and cracked his knuckles. “You wanna piece of me, scar face!?”

“As a matter of fact, I do!” The card demon sneered, summoning his revolver from his capture card. “Cause I know pawnshops who’ll make me big money selling every diamond crust off your bones!!”

When a skirmish was brewing between the two demons, the rosy-haired nun broke her smiling facade to end their bickering with a loud “QUIET!!”

The command startled everyone within earshot, Eclipsed Heart, Wispy, and Chisana recoiling from the soundwave. Arron and Seb stared at the angelic nun with astonishment.

Clearing her throat, Julianne recomposed herself and said, “Gentlemen, this is hardly the time or the place for childish banter. If you can’t work together, at least take care of your business separately. Now apologize to one another and move on!”

Not wanting to invoke more wrath from the mother superior, the male Demi-humans cautiously shook hands, muttered “Sorry…” and proceeded with work. Julianne gave a satisfied nod while accompanying Seb with more handouts.

Eclipsed felt her blood boil when Seb slipped his hand around the nun’s waist, face heating up with a red shade.

“Yeesh! Settle down there, Princess Butterbuns,” teased Wispy Willow, who wrapped her twin tigress tails around the thigh of her band leader. “I don’t like him either, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry!”

The diva mare exhaled and confessed, “Dislike doesn’t begin to cover it…”

“It’s not like you to take something this personally,” noted the nekomata. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t think evil like that existed until we encountered him! All he’s done is...unforgivable!”

She pursed her lips, knowing Shadow Scythe and Zeloph were responsible for similar crimes. But that hadn’t happened in her world. Nor had she seen their wicked deeds firsthand! The popstar-turned vigilante didn’t want to think of herself as a hypocrite, but...

Wispy shuffled to face her. “Hey, it’s not so bad out here! Minus the sky-gina splitting the skies overhead! And yeah, turds like Seb, Arron, Mortis, and his minions are stinking up the place. But we can’t undermine all the good people we’ve met. Shadow Scythe and Julianne are pretty cool. Moxxi’s sexy as hell… though a bit too extra, even for my taste. Chisana is a lot of fun, too!”

She smiled at the little tanuki girl, who sat cross-legged on a rock to practice on her bamboo flute. The former assassin wouldn’t admit it, but it felt nice being the big sister for once!

“Not to mention Zeloph,” she purred, whipping her tails back and forth. “Man, Atalanta sure bagged such a hottie! Wouldn’t mind spending seven minutes in heaven with him, if you catch my drift~!”

“Wispy, he’s taken!”

The twin-tailed tigress shrugged. “Hey, a girl can dream! I remember hearing her say ‘maybe’ to a possible threesome down the line. Plus, word from Moxxi is that little miss death bringer has a BDSM fetish! You can’t tell me you’re not the least curious about what he’s packing~!”

The pop star couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks but reaffirmed, “Bass is my boyfriend. And like Shadow Scythe, I’m committed to my relationship!”

Wispy rolled her eyes. “Look, Bass is a good guy… albeit a little bland. But don’t believe for a second that dating a fellow musician will work out in the long run. Take it from me; it’s why I never went steady with his brother, Alto. Gotta keep your options open, that’s all.”

The pop princess smiled and replied, “And that’s fine if that doesn’t work for you. Not your style; I totally get it! But monogamy works great for me! I love Bass, and nothing will ever change that. And I’m sure both Zell and Shadow Scythe share my sentiments!”

The cat woman shook her head, snickering. “Gods, you’re so lovey-dovey. If Kitsune were here, she’d back me up! Probably.” Her smile disappeared as her slitted eyes gazed up at the brewing storm. “I hope she’s alright…”

Eclipsed nodded, took her hands, and squeezed. “I miss your sister, too. Kitsune is the rock that keeps B.A.B.E. on point! I’m glad we could make new friends out here, but I can’t wait to return home when this mess is over!”

“Yep! All the more reason to deal with this fast! I’m sure Kitsune’s doing her part in that other world too!” Wispy hopped to her feet. “Sucks, this place is so primitive. I could use a ride on my motorbike to blow off some steam!”

The band members completed the brick wall and left the wet cement to settle before they wandered away from the monastery. That’s when Wispy’s keen eyes spotted the approach of a figure in the distance. Her ears perked, soft fur standing on end when she hissed.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Asked Eclipsed Heart.

The nekomata pointed to the silhouettes that emerged from the phantasmal miasma that started rolling in. Dozens of them shuffled and stumbled awkwardly, eerily silent.

Then, at the head strolled in Penny Dreadful, her small beak twisted in a cruel smirk, her crazed eyes wide.

“… oh shit!” Wispy growled, instantly taking a combatant stance. She recalled Beatrix mentioning that in the clockwork world she came from, the griffoness was her city’s equivalent of ‘Jack the Ripper,’ a vicious butcher of women. Yet she was no mere senseless killer…

Her creator, Professor Reginald Kilroy, had ordered her to hunt down specimens whose flesh would be replaced by a synthetic version. Their innards made clockwork like hers, their blood a blue elixir of life born from alchemy. Yet it had all gone awry due to the interference of Esmeralda and Camellia after a small team-up with Beatrix!

Penny tittered eagerly. Sadly, that damned witch currently eluded her vengeance. So she would have to slaughter all of her friends instead!

Triad had saved her. With her father dead, the kitasan swordsman was all she had left. She didn’t care about Mortis’ supposed lofty aims...only that she had another chance to punish her old foes! And unlike the cybernetics that Kitsune and, to a lesser extent, Wispy relied on, the ones that treacherous Varys installed in her and Triad were unaffected by the magical breakdown here...

Varys. Even the thought of the cyber demon made the aquamarine griffoness pale and shudder to the point she threatened to molt!

“So!” She said with a cheery hoot. “Which of you trollops wants to be sliced and diced first~?”

Penny sailed skyward, spreading her plume to its full width, and leveled her lacy parasol at the people below. Eclipsed and Wispy were already on the move, the former skating around the trees and the latter bounding like the cat she was, hoping to reach the others and warn them of the incoming threat.

Chisana stopped playing flute when she detected the undead silhouettes walking through the spectral mist. She hopped off her rock and rushed towards Seb and Julianne, tugging on the demon’s pant leg.

“Hey! Lay off the merchandise, pipsqueak,” Seb snapped with annoyance.

“Herupu,” she cried. “Zonbi! Zonbi!”

“Look, can’t you see we still have-eh?!”

His slime-green eyes dilated at the sight of the walking dead, and the demi-human conjured his weapon immediately. “Y’know, in hindsight, I should have made the assumption that ‘Zonbi’ probably meant Zombie in Japanese!”

“Sweet Mary and Joseph!” Julianne whispered before alerting her surviving convent. “Those of you not fighting by my side must evacuate the premises! Quickly, get to safety!”

“Yes, Mother Superior!” The five remaining nuns sounded off, forming a wall before the two demis while the rest gathered the other survivors to flee.

Arron dropped his load and began bouncing on his feet with excitement. “Finally! All this brick-tossing is about to pay off! Time to crack skulls!!”

Eclipsed and Wispy managed to reach their group in preparation for the undead horde when a distorted roar split the air across the horizon.

“… the fuck was that?!” Arron questioned.

“Wait…” Wispy went pale, her striped fur on end. “I recognize that sound. We were viewing a portal back in the manor and witnessed a triple-headed dragon rampaging across another dimension. Don’t tell me it’s..!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!! Time out!” Seb cut in, distressed. “Nobody said anything about a dragon! That is way above my pay grade!!”

“Oh, it’s true,” Penny Dreadful called from above. “It’s damn true! Andrei’s come to incinerate you~♪ And your filthy friends~♪”

“Oh no!” Eclipsed gasped, eyes widened in realization. “Zell and Shadow Scythe are up ahead! We have to-”

“Hang on, bud! I’m coming,” Arron suddenly shouted before bulldozing through the first lineup of zombies, pulverizing each skull with his meaty fists. “Outta the way, losers!”

Seb angrily yelled, “We need a front line, you idiot!!”

He shouted back, “Sorry, but there’s a dragon who needs to be taught the THINK principle!”

“The what?!”

“Thrash ‘em. Hit ‘em in the jaw. Incapacitate. Neutralize. Then Knock the motherfucker out! Haha!!”

“Oh, no, you don’t, goldilocks!!” The griffoness shrieked while launching miniature missiles from her wingspan, a series of explosions left to leave fiery trails that blossomed across the land.

But Arron hardened his skin with a shiny yellow layer of crystal, absorbing the brunt of the impact without losing his footing. He managed to duck into the forest, disappearing through the trees.

Wispy pulled on her hair buns. “That reckless moron!!”

“It’s fine,” Eclipsed tried to reassure her. “Shadow Scythe and Zeloph may need the extra muscle if they’re dealing with a dragon alongside Mortis.”

Based on where that roar came from, the dragon was already headed to the hut near the cliffside, where Shadow Scythe’s family once lived. And given how fast Arron was going, it shouldn’t take him long to reach them.

Seb grumbled before pulling out a couple more capture cards. “Fine. Guess we’re going with plan B!”

He drew out one card that became an arm full of heart-shaped grenades. Beckoning the raccoon dog over, the gambler told her, “Here. Keep these in your bag and start chucking them at all the zombies you can spot!”

Nodding, Chisana stuffed the explosives and leaped to a vantage point to better throw the grenades, eclipsing more middle fire from Penny Dreadful. Casting her gaze to the two band members, Julianne said, “We’ll have to use what remains of the monastery as a fortress. It saddens me that this sacred place is now a war ground…”

“If you come with us to the Cyberverse, I’m sure we’ll find you a new place to rebuild your community,” Eclipsed proposed with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s if we survive this whole ordeal first,” reminded Wispy, who tugged the pop princess over the front wall. “With that bleach-brained doofus MIA, we’re the front line now!”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” the pop diva beamed, twirling her crystalline staff.

“We’ll provide cover,” the holy songstress said while her devilish cohort pulled out his signature tommy gun.

Eclipsed glared at Seb, reclarifying, “Don’t think this changes anything between us!”

“Sorry, can’t hear you over the sound of wailing zombies coming our way,” the gunslinger quipped back.

The two members of B.A.B.E. lunged into the first wave of undead, with Julianne’s covenant of nuns aiding their side. Wispy conjured the little yokai energy she could, forming plasma balls that bounced and melted their targets. When Chisana shouted, “Soto o miru!” the diva mare saw one of Seb’s grenades whistling through the air. She quickly erected a crystalline wall to absorb the blast while corpse blood and guts blood splattered.

Bullets sprayed through the undead army, ripping through their necrotic flesh and shattering bones. Whenever Seb needed to reload his clip, his Onoma activated to modify his luck, which so far had been fortunate.

But as he was preparing to fire, he noticed Julianne picking up his pistol, clipping the safety off.

“H-hey, careful with that! A pretty lady like you shouldn’t be messing with—“

The pin-striped devil’s comment was swiftly silenced by gunfire, the abbess having landed four headshots with astounding accuracy. Seb could only stare in disbelief as Julianne emptied his pistol of all its bullets. Flashing that perpetual smile, she offered a hand and asked, “More ammunition, if you’d please~!”

It took the card demon a second to register her request before producing a full magazine to hand over. When he found his voice again, Seb stammered, “Wha-Where did you… How… What kind of convent did you come from?!”

His question would go unanswered as Penny swooped into a divebomb and swiped at him with the blade that spun like a buzzsaw from the tip of her parasol in a whir.

“Well, look what we have here,” the griffoness quipped. “Another common criminal in a cheap suit! Ahh! It never gets old when I put such pitiful pillocks in their place~!”

“Didn’t ask + don’t care + ratio + choke on these pellets, you bionic pigeon,” Seb fired back, shooting at the clockwork assassin while she zipped by.

“Looks like I hit a sore spot,” Penny chortled. “I’d wager I have a higher body count anyhow~.”

“Fuckin’ bet?”

“Don’t fall into her whims, Sebastian,” Julianne warned after her bullets failed to get through the shield Penny formed with her plumage. “You’re better than that!”

“No, he’s not, dearie,” Dreadful argued. “This poor deformed freak can’t wash away his sins, and he knows it. So why even try to pretend you won’t turn back at a true drop of a dime! Face it, Sebby. You’re nothing more than a twisted criminal, just like me~!”

“Maybe so,” he admitted, clutching his fist around the gun’s handle. “But there’s a clear difference between you and me.”

“And that’s~?”

His green and red aura flared to form numbers, rolling a high 100 against 39. His bat-shaped wings unfurled, studded with card suits. His tail rattled, and he held a serious glare under his hat.

“I ain’t the one with a screw loose!”

Aiming his tommy gun, Seb sprayed the deranged griffoness with empowered bullets lodged in the metallic sheen of her aquamarine feathers. She squealed and retook the skies, seething at the two demi-humans.

“How dare you compare yourself to a true artisan! I’ll have your entrails for that! Use them to paint my latest masterpiece in my lovely collection!!”

Wispy hissed as yokai fire was tossed by the tips of her twin tails, and her metal claws shredded into zombies. She was supported by Chisana, who threw her own balls of magic when she ran out of grenades.

“Gaagh! Where the hell is Moxxi?!” The nekomata cried. “Her dump truck ass better not be asleep on the clock again! Otherwise, she’s in for a lot of spankings!!”

Eclipse groaned, stabbing through a lineup of walking corpses. “You don’t think she’s still stalking her brother and his sweetheart, right?”

“Fuck, I thought she was over that!”

Regardless of the whereabouts of their mischievous ally, the bandmates would have to hold down the fort while Julianne and Seb dealt with the cackling madwoman. They were on their own.

The couple gazed at their immortal foe as the multi-headed terror landed on the cliff with a loud thunk. Mortis Solitaire levitated from the dragon’s back to touch down in front, his ghoulish green orbs fixated on the reaper mare, Shadow Scythe. Zeloph took a step in front protectively, sensing the presence of his other lackeys hidden behind trees.

The thundering storm was nearly drowned out by the droning buzz of winged scorpions, the mindless arthropods awaiting commands from their master through Kralot Andrei. Mortis conjured his rusted guillotine-styled scythe, raised like an executioner’s ax at his hated foe. A long shadow was cast over the couple, who gripped each other’s hands tightly.

“Today marks the end of your life, betrayer,” the lich declared emotionlessly. “Before dusk, I will have your soul as penance for your crimes against the order of reapers!”

His gaze shifted to the seraphic demi-human. “This is your final warning, Fallen One. Relinquish your love for this traitor or perish by her side!”

“I’m not going anywhere, and neither is she,” Zell announced bravely, his cerulean eyes flaring with light while firmly gripping his Vorpal Blade.

Shadow Scythe, while touched, still silently urged her beloved to step down and flee. She could feel the thousands of souls empowering the lich and his draconic pet. Even with all their recent training, they couldn’t have hoped to surpass Mortis or his minions in time!

The skeletal wraith chuckled mutely. “How noble. Then you have accepted your fate…”

With a clenched fist, Mortis ignited his scythe with deathly energy, his other hand pointing at the couple as he gave the command,

“… Fetch me her soul!”

Andrei’s three heads snapped back to roar, his belly bloated before the maws opened and infernal elements spilled forth.

Shadow Scythe and Zeloph were forced apart to avoid the spray of sickly flames. The dragon’s breath erupted into an explosion that pulverized most of what was left of the battered hut, pillars of hellish fire and smoke left in Andrei’s wake.

The unicorn mare gasped, ducking her head to avoid a cleave from Mortis’ scythe, retaliating with her own sickles born of her shadow to strike down the vengeful wraith.

The fiery angel moved to support his love… simply to be intercepted by Triad and Quicksilver, the former lunging to clash steel.

“Damn you!” he cursed, saber locked with the kitasan stallion’s katana. “Get out of my way!!”

“You will not interfere,” huffed Triad. “Quicksilver! Gun him down!”

“I don’t take orders from you,” the old stallion grunted. Nonetheless, he opened fire on the seraphic demi-human, who maneuvered into the air to avoid the shotgun shells.

Shadow Scythe whirled around the battlefield, overwhelmed by the odds against her. Everywhere she turned, the reaper mare had to fend off Mortis, Andrei, the mutant scorpions, or all three at once! “Damn it,” she muttered.

She was pushing her Onoma to its max limit, summoning an arsenal of weapons made up from her shadows and launching them with the keen eye of a huntress. Several scorpion abominations were skewered while the skeletal unicorn took to his steed’s back.

“Nowhere to run, traitor,” proclaimed Mortis.

“I’d never abandon Zeloph like that,” Shadow Scythe spat back, icy eyes narrowed fiercely. Instead, she sought to distance them, hoping to draw most of the violence away from her future husband.

This was her responsibility, after all. Her broken unicorn horn flared, her features contorted by intense concentration, and innumerable weapons made of darkness launched at rapid speeds.

Yet even the ones she speared didn’t perish so quickly, throwing themselves at her despite the colorless ooze that burst from their wounds. They swarmed the reaper mare, attempting to herd her toward their master, who hovered overhead.

Her icy eyes met Mortis’ hollow, glowing sockets, his instrument of death poised and ready to claim her head. The lich could have ended this at any time, yet it was clear he was toying with her. Drawing this out to make Atalanta suffer as he had. That despite all her power and knowledge, the treacherous wretch was ultimately helpless to escape her fate.

“I pity those you and your lover cherish,” the lich lamented. “For the only celebration your comrades will attend is your funeral!”

Mortis hurtled from Andrei’s back in a billow of a black mantle. His rust-colored scythe collided with her own in a clang of metal, showering sparks and an oscillation that split the air in ripples. Repeatedly they separated and clashed in mid-air; Shadow Scythe reminded of her magical duel with Beatrix near the manor… gosh, that felt like an entire lifetime ago.

And in a sense, it was. The empathy forced on the pale unicorn that day had practically made her a new person. Intelligence is now tempered by wisdom. Strength by compassion. How could she rest in peace, were she to die here before she made amends...?

An invisible barrier cast by Mortis caused scorpions to bounce off. He turned to address Andrei. “She will fall before my blade. Go deal with her lover. I wish to relish his screams of agony as his soul rips away from his-”

“Shut up!” Shadow Scythe shouted, returning a furious swipe that momentarily knocked him back. “I’ve had enough of your delusions. Your acts of ‘retribution’ outweigh the sins I bear!” Yet when she tried to swoop down and support Zeloph, Mortis raced to block her.

Back on the cliff, Zeloph continued his sword dance with Triad, forced to split his attention between him and Quicksilver, who continued to take potshots at him. To keep his lover’s father at bay, he launched fire and light spells to force him to reposition.

What was genuinely vexing the fallen angel was that no matter how fast he flashed around Triad, he could always counter him at any angle. Not helping was the slight smirk on the stallion’s face.

“I must confess,” he said when parrying another thrust. “It’s been a long time since I’ve fought another swordsman on par with my skills. Not even Kitsune could keep up with me!”

“And yet you’re still holding back,” mused Zell, eyes trained on his katana’s glowing essence, reflecting off their bodies. “That katana possesses powerful magic that you’re not using.”

“So are you,” Triad pointed out. “You’ve yet to tap into the true potential of your blade. So why don’t we both cut loose? It’ll be the last time we will get the chance!”

The two sword masters circled one another, the kitasan stallion removing his pin-striped coat, revealing his conflicting tiger and dragon back tattoo and newly augmented arms. Triad took his battle stance and called upon the beasts embedding his flesh, their likeness manifested in electronic shapes.

Zeloph did the same, tossing away his burgundy jacket and activating his Onoma’s solaromancy, blade, and feather tips immolating with sunfire.

Loading more shells into his weapon, Quicksilver aimed for the angel’s head, having a clear shot despite the radiant illumination coming off Zell’s body.

Yet it was clear the old stallion’s heart wasn’t in it. His tired eyes returned to his daughter while she battled his master overhead. By contrast, Triad appeared determined to end this quickly and ran in with precise, rapid-fire strokes while his animal familiars flanked their target’s sides.

The fallen angel’s superior speed enabled him to block or dodge their attacks. He launched a solar wave to knock back the tiger and dragon, just in time to evade more bullets and clash with Triad, who attempted to strike from below.

Sweat and heat bore down Zeloph, trying to control his breathing. On their own, he could handle either of these minions. But his eyes dilated when he felt the whoosh of air behind him when Andrei dove in, barely evading his central pair of jaws.

The dragon spat out feathers he plucked from the demi’s wing before all three heads began sucking in breath. Steadfast, Zeloph bloomed the petals of his sunflower tail, blinding Triad with a brief burst of illumination.

“Naagh!!” The swordsman growled before taking a hard wheel kick from the solar angel, who used the back flip’s momentum to angle and launch a fiery cross attack that exploded against Andrei’s ghastly breath.

Rubbing his eyes, Triad revived his vision and spotted his skyward target. “What a cowardly tactic,” he berated.

“Said the ‘honor-bound’ samurai who needed a mob to support him,” rebutted Zell.

“Wasn’t my choice,” the swordsman said defensively. “If things were my way, we would happily duel you individually. But my master’s desire for your death comes before my own!”

“At least I’ll die knowing I wasn’t somebody’s pawn!”

“We… are not… PAWNS!!!”

It was Andrei who spoke this, much to Zell’s and even Triad’s shock. With an angry bellow, the triple-headed dragon circled to attack the seraphic angel, his attention further divided between the three opponents. And that wasn’t factoring in the number of mutant scorpions now swarming his way!

Even with the freedom to use Apollo’s full might, there was no way Zeloph could handle the odds, let-alone help Shadow Scythe as she and Mortis battled further upward in the distance.

But Andrei’s words gave the fallen one an epiphany. If Mortis didn’t have complete control of the dragon…

His eyes searched for Quicksilver’s current position and found the elder stallion by the cliff. He was clutching his head, face pained while he studied his daughter.

‘If I can get through to him—!’ “Huuagh!!”

That brief moment of hesitation cost Zeloph his opportunity as Andrei seized the angel in his talons, ignoring the flesh melting from the radiant heat his plumage emitted.

“Noo!! Let me go!!”

“Excellent work, Andrei,” congratulated Triad. “Now hold him still…”

The swordsman channeled his familiars into his katana, steadying his stance and making a lunge for the demi-human’s heart with one final strike…

Only for the monstrous dragon to interrupt his charge with a tail whip. Bewildered by the dragon’s defiance, he yelled, “What are you doing!?”

“We do not obey the whims of lowly ponies,” the left head hissed.

“That lich dares control us?” the right head spat.

“His hubris will not go unpunished,” noted the central head. “But for now…”

“This creature’s life is ours!” All three of Andrei’s heads said in unison, steam fuming out their mistrials as they prepared to incinerate their struggling prey.

“Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-WOO WOOOO!!”

Before anyone could discern what that was, a massive blur of yellow zipped passed Triad and propelled himself into the air, body-checking the zombified dragon’s guts.

Andrei’s eyes bulged, and his maws spat out small fumes as the impact sent him flying backward, loosening his grip on Zeloph. The fallen one touched down next to his golden savior, who proudly announced,

“All ABOOOOOOOARD the pain train, baby~!”

“Man, am I glad to see you,” Zell managed to say through uneasy breaths. “Are the others okay?”

“Eh! They’re just dealing with some Mary Poppins-lookin’ bitch and a hoard of zombies,” Arron informed half-heartedly. “They’ll be fine! But that oversized iguana ain’t gonna last two minutes in the ring with me, bro~!”

“Sounds like a plan,” the seraphic angel said, though he wasn’t entirely convinced his friend could solely handle Andrei alone. Still, whatever kept that tri-headed monster off his back.

Arron flashed a grin and a thumbs up before strutting over to the cliff side, raising an eyebrow at the old geezer who ignored him in favor of watching the duel between reapers.

Shrugging his shoulders, the burly brawler gazed down at his scaly opponent, who recovered from the shock of being so easily manhandled.

“You are strong for mere worm,” Andrei hissed.

“But now, you face the apex of dragons!”

“Born from alchemy! Made to be the ultimate weapon!”

Arron chuckled while rolling his shoulder. “Oh yeah? Well, these hands were made for everybody! Especially you!!”

The golden demon yelled, “BANZAI!” and elbow dropped onto the undead drake. The two wrestled in the gallows, the multi-headed dragon taking blows from the brawler’s crystal-encased fists. Arron grunted when Andrei’s flogger-shaped tail ensnared one of his arms, giving the dragon an opening to spout more licks of putrid flames.

Hardening his entire right arm, the demi-human absorbed most of the intense damage while his Onoma flared to life. With a strained smile, he boasted, “Mmm, that felt good~!”

The dragon shrieked when he felt his foe pull him by his entangled tail and twirl him around like he was in a hammer-throwing contest. Arron then tossed him into the cliffside, fissures forming upon impact.

And before he could give his opponent a chance to recover, the burly demon roared and leaped at him, raining down a barrage of punches with intrepid force. The three-headed drake bellowed, feeling his armor-like scales starting to crack under the relentless assault.

“Serves him right for defying my master’s will,” Triad muttered coldly with a sharp glare. “Still, to see one lousy demon give Andrei this much trouble? It’s preposterous!”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” murmured Zeloph, thankful for his newfound friendship with Arron. Now he could focus on reaching Quicksilver.

Again, Triad attempted to bar his path from the gunslinger, his tiger, and dragon familiars launched to intercept. But Zell had a plan and tossed his Vorpal Blade between the chasing animals directly at Triad. When the kitasan swordsman shifted to deflect the incoming blade, Zeloph flash stepped behind and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the back of his head. Right where the parasyte was attached.

“Nani!? Gaagh!!”

His manifestations vanished instantly, merging with his tattoos. Triad felt his heightened awareness decrease, static crackling from the damaged parasyte. And before he could react, Zell called down light swords to pin the swordsman to the ground.

“Sit!” the fallen angel snarked before retrieving his saber and cautiously approaching the troubled hunter.

“Nnngh! Don’t just stand there, you dolt!” Triad called out. “Shoot him!!”

Quicksilver shook off his delirium and resumed focus on his target. “S-Stand back!”

With each shotgun blast, Zeloph deflected with a swing of his sword. His expression softened as he said, “I’m not going to hurt you…”

“Couldn’t even if you tried,” Quicksilver spat bitterly. “My daughter took everything from me! My reputation! My wife!!”

“Atalanta has done awful things,” admitted Zell. “But she’s come a long way from being the monster you refuse to let go. She’s changed, Quicksilver.”

“Liar!!”

The gunslinger loaded more shells, but the brawl below the cliff caused the ground to shake, making him stumble back and miss his shot. He yelled, his headache getting worse.

“Your daughter is fighting for her life right now,” the demi continued. “Fighting for your life! The life Mortis robbed from you!!”

“S-shut up! Stop it!!”

“You have to remember, Quicksilver Bullet! Deep down, you know this isn’t right!!”

“No… please!” He begged, tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

“Let me help you..!”

Kneeling down, Zeloph gripped the older stallion’s coat tightly, holding him up so his head was level with his. A faint blush appeared when he said, “This is going to be really weird, so… forgive me.”

As he did with Shadow Scythe long ago, the angelic demi kissed Quicksilver’s forehead chastely. The old unicorn froze a spiritual warmth washing over the ache and agony his undead body suffered, cleansing his wounded soul. With a gasp, his head arched back while light poured from his eyes and mouth.

This act also caused Mortis to cease his attack, sensing his mental hold on Quicksilver’s mind breaking.

“No..! That wretched-”

His moment of hesitation gave Shadow Scythe an opening to land an apparent hit, knocking the lich back with a flurry of sickle strikes. Realizing it was too late to regain control over his puppet, Mortis resumed battle with his treacherous foe.

As the light faded, sanity and memories returned to overwhelm Quicksilver, who heaved and nearly dropped his rifle. The spectral glow disappeared from his stone-gray eyes.

“I...I remember,” sputtered the old stallion. “Atalanta, she… she came home. She looked different. Remorseful. It was the first time I saw tears in my daughter’s eyes. But in my grief and fury, I sent her away. Blaming her for my wife’s passing. For ending her life after all the shame she brought us.”

Zeloph nodded, stroking his shoulder while Quicksilver continued to recollect himself.

“There was a sound in the attic. I took my machete and went up to deal with what I thought was a wild animal. That’s when Mortis struck me from behind…” His fist trembled. “He killed me. Made me his undead slave. Made me believe that Atalanta was responsible for all this evil! And I would have helped end her if you hadn’t…”

With a solemn look, Quicksilver rested his hand on Zeloph’s shoulder and mournfully said, “…Thank you.”

A sad smile graced the angel’s features as he helped him back up. “If I could revive you, maybe-”

The old gunslinger shook his head. “Nah, son. Dead is better than this miserable existence. And I may be another dead man walking, but I still have some fight left in me. I can’t rest until I know that son of a bitch is back underground.”

This made Zeloph chuckle. “Well said!”

“So you have betrayed him as well,” said Triad, who stumbled towards the duo after the angel’s light spell had diminished. Despite his hyper-awareness being dismantled, the swordsman still had power reserved. “Like father, like daughter, I suppose,” he scoffed, raising his inscribed blade. “Doesn’t matter. Your end is the same!”

But before Triad could run them down, Quicksilver took aim and pulled the trigger, firing a high-powered silver bullet faster than the swordsman could blink. It tore through the swordsman’s muscled chest and tattooed back in a splatter of black blood.

Triad stumbled back and threw up black bile. “I-Impossible!!” Another shot ripped into his stomach, and two more put him back down.

Quicksilver advanced over to the swordsman, his mustache pulled into a grin. “Never liked machines. Sure, they’re good and reliable at first, but it’s only a matter of time until they wear down and need replacement parts. Or, in your words, friend… obsolete.”

He held the barrel of his shotgun at Triad’s forehead, the swordsman glaring up defiantly before shutting them right, accepting his defeat…

But Zeloph pushed the gun away with his sword, earning a raised eyebrow. “Leave him,” he said. “We need to concentrate on helping Atalanta, starting with this swarm of flying scorpions.”

Quicksilver gave a ‘humph’ but nodded and focused on the surrounding arthropods. Zell was about to follow when a hand grabbed his ankle, turning his head down to Triad.

“B-but why?” He asked, a confused look on his face. “You know I won’t stop coming for you. So why are you—”

“I’m not the one meant to defeat you,” was his answer before shaking him off to catch up with Quicksilver, joining him as he opened fire on the mutant bugs.

Triad couldn’t suppress a light chuckle, well aware of who the angel was referring to. When he pushed himself back up on tired limbs, he shuddered as the voice of his master spoke within his psyche.

‘Withdraw at once and aid Penny Dreadful,’ Mortis commanded, his bony horn flaring with a deathly aura. A black mass of energy, shaped like a hoard of locusts, fled from his frayed mantle to infest the swordsman’s wounds, sealing them up and keeping him animated.

“But master, what about—”

The sudden green flash drew his attention toward where the monastery was, a strange, unfamiliar portal having spawned. “Huh?”

‘That was not my doing,’ the lich continued. ‘Go, now! I will handle the situation here.’

“At once, Master Mortis,” answered Triad, who couldn’t suppress a feeling of concern over what, or who, caused that vortex to open. With his injuries hardened and cauterized, he hurried to the town uphill.

With one minion gone and another wrestling a bull-headed brute, Mortis continued to war with Shadow Scythe, her lover and father occupied with the dozens of mutant scorpions.

Waves of zombies constantly flooded in. Julianne’s hymns echoed across the land, songs to support her allies while also in combat with the clockwork griffoness.

Likewise, Seb’s luck altering Onoma kept flaring while he provided cover fire. When one weapon was out of ammunition, he drew a card to summon another, currently a sniper rifle. And whenever his chances were low, he reloaded those twenty minutes of downtime.

“Fuck me,” he heaved, taking off his bandana to wipe the sweat off his face. A pile of used cards, discarded weapons, and traps were by his feet. “At this rate, we’re not gonna last much longer!”

He observed how his comrades were doing, Eclipsed Heart huffing whenever she skated around the walls and trees to slice through the endless waves of undead. Her bandmate and the tanuki girl decided to go after Penny Dreadful, leaving them to handle the hoard. And despite their valiant effort, the mares who chose to fight did not survive…

A lightbulb sparked above his head, and Seb fished for a pair of dice in his pocket. He clenched his palm, a demonic aura burning around it as his Onoma recalculated his karma.

69 against 56.

“Nice~!” He snickered before taking a pitcher’s stance. Shaking his fist, he warned, “Hey, Princess Butterbuns! Heads up!”

Eclipsed yelped, and ducked out of the way of empowered dice hurled her way. Upon impact, they bounced in opposite directions at blinding speeds, ricocheting through countless undead bodies before returning to Seb’s hand. Half the wave crumbled into dust.

“Boom! Snake eyes~!”

“Watch it, you jerk,” the pop diva snarled. “You almost hit me! And you do not get to call me—”

“You’re welcome,” the pin-striped devil barked back while chucking his cubicle bullets at another wave of the remaining hoard.

Eclipsed Heart was seething but nonetheless focused on materializing more crystal walls.

Julianne belted another chorus at the aerial assassin before fluttering down, panting and precipitating.

“Huff… I could really use a glass of water,” the nun coughed, massaging her throat.

“Maybe now would be a good time to go exalted or whatever you call it!” The nekomata called out, throwing plasma balls at Penny Dreadful, who blocked the projectile with her parasol.

“I can’t,” Julianne refused. “I lost control and nearly decimated the premises last time!”

“Well, it’s either that or we risk getting our asses chewed off!”

“Language!” Nonetheless, Julianne cleared her throat and began humming to draw out her latent power, sacred luminance shimmering around her body.

“I’m a bit bored of the song and dance routine! Why don’t you put a sock in it?!” Penny cackled and shot a sticky adhesive from the tip of her umbrella, covering the songstress’ mouth before hardening. Julianne muffled and panicked, trying to pry the muzzle suffocating her face.

Chisana paused to assist while Wispy growled, “You bitch!”

The griffoness smiled cruelly. “I’ve been called worse things, dear. Try harder~!”

“How abaht ya get your greasy axe wound cleaned wif a cement truck, ya brainless Berkshire ‘unt!”

“See? Like that! … wait, who the bloody hell said tha—”

Penny felt some unseeable force strike her hard in her gut before rattling with hard punches in the face, busting her beak. Her mad eyes shrank when the neon demoness revealed herself out of nowhere.

“Sorry, lov, but I prefer the lights off~,” she quipped before forming her neon void, trapping the squawking griffon alongside Wispy, Chisana, and Julianne. Penny Dreadful struggled to remain airborne with the abnormal pressure weighing down her wings.

“About time you showed up, fat ass,” Wispy snarked with a smile. “The hell took you so long?! And since when could you go invisible?!”

“Since now,” the succubus demi-human replied with a wink. “’ad ter ‘arness me power before the fight. And as it turns aahhht, I can strip off me visibili-y for a short nickle and dime! Plus, ya kna me. Always fashionably late~!”

“Neat!” the nekomata snickered. “And here I thought you were busy flicking your bean somewhere!”

“Oh, Hairy biscuits and cheese! That’s ‘ardly fan wifaht anovver degenerate ter get off with~!”

“Ima wa sonotokide wa arimasen,” barked Chisana, who managed to tear off the substance from Julianne’s nose, allowing her to breathe again.

“Clever trick,” mused Penny, rubbing her crooked beak. “Seems you have me at a distinct disadvantage. But I’m not trapped in here with you…” The clockwork huntress unfurled her wingspan to their full extent, tiny slits opening, and prepared to launch fresh volleys of miniature missiles.

“…You're trapped in here with me~!!”

“Bring it, butcher,” challenged Wispy, flexing her knuckles and striking a martial pose.

“Let’s pluck this pigeon,” agreed Ana, who conjured her neon flame balls and spread her bat-shaped wings.

Penny gave a cheerful twitter and launched all of her missiles simultaneously. A mad, desperate act of someone that didn’t care whether she, too, was swallowed up by the explosions. The femme fatales used one another to maneuver out of the explosive’s range, firing back with their one spheres and projectiles. And when Ana was in range, her tail lashed out to try and take away her parasol.

“Back off; that’s mine!!” She screeched, struggling to tug her instrument from those venus flytrap jaws. With a button press, blades erected out the tip, forcing the neon demi back.

“YAGH! My tail!!” Ana yelped. “I’ll tear ya a new cunt, ya fuckin’... shit!”

She realized in horror that the attack was merely a distraction as Penny Dreadful, her eyes narrowed, and her bladed parasol at the ready, swooped forward to impale Chisana on the buzzsaw tip.

The blade appeared to stab the tanuki with such force that she was lifted and went slack in a messy red spray.

“Gotcha~!” Penny smirked wickedly until she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Huh?”

She spun to face Chisana behind her before using a crane kick to jump off her shoulder. When the griffoness chased after her, she only hit more clones, the real raccoon dog using her bamboo flute as a blow dart to fire a shot at her hide.

“Yaaagh!!” She squawked, glaring at the tanuki girl who waved and batted her striped raccoon tail, another one of the child-like tricks.

“You remind me of that annoying pest, Mini-Trix! Or was it Demi-Trix now..? Agh! Who cares!?! I’ll gut you a thousand times when I get my talons on you!”

“You’ll have to get through us first!” Wispy’s twin tails summoned up more yokai fire in a spectral burst.

“Yeah! Nah touchin’ the child,” Ana laughed as she resumed her attack and defense of Chisana. Penny Dreadful was forced back from overwhelming odds, her vast metallic plume wrapped around her like a shield.

“Not so much fun on the receivin’ end, ‘uh, skank~?” The crescent-horned succubus taunted.

“Cretins! Ruffians! Brutes!” Penny spat back. “None of you understand how much I’ve lost! My father could have made our homeworld a paradise! But those tramps ruined it all! Those bloodsuckers and Beatrix…! I’ll kill them! JUST AS I’LL KILL YOU!!” She shrieked in hysteria, her feathered bosom puffed up. She opened her parasol to spin and use as a shield.

Like her, it was also a product of alchemy enhancement, far more complex than its delicate appearance implied. Nonetheless, it was clear the griffoness had no chance against these united numbers and would soon senselessly perish. But she refused to accept surrender!

One of Ana’s kicks sent her backward. Penny toppled over with a huff, the missile silos in her wings spent. Stuck in a corner, Penny trembled and pleaded, “W-wait! Please, we can settle this!!”

“The fuck are you on about now?” yelled Wispy.

“Yeah, a wee bit late ter be wavin’ a white flag,” scoffed Ana.

“O-oh, come now! We’re a bunch of stunning, sexy killers, aren’t we? Surely we can… work something out~?”

Gradually, she lifted the hymn of her skirt until her garments started to show, her eyes half-lidded and her beak titled in a lopsided grin.

“H-hey! What are you—there are children here, sicko!” The nekomata called and blocked Chisana behind her. “Avert your eyes, kiddo!”

“Watashi wa minasan yori toshiuedesu!” the tanuki girl whined petulantly.

Ignoring them, Penny’s skirt was hiked up to reveal her lacy panties...until the silk suddenly ripped violently. And dozens of moist, metallic tentacles exploded from the griffin’s smooth slit.

Ana gaped. “Wot the feathery fuck—?!”

The clockwork assassin chortled, her womb a nest that housed a biomechanical eldritch abomination. The nectar-slicked coils snapped out rapidly, ensuring the demoness and tigress were held, along with Chisana and Julianne.

“At last! A chance to make up for that dreadful experience Varys left me. Hope the fucker’s burning in hell,” Penny tittered as the tentacles wrapped tighter around the waists, breasts, and buttocks of her seized prey, threatening to crush them. It was the final ‘upgrade’ the cyber demon installed in her core, the serial killer combined with her clockwork ‘pet,’ and while it squirmed in her uterus, she fluttered her eyelashes, pupils rolled into her head from ecstasy, her slick lust left to run down her feathered inner thighs. “Oh, what fun I’ll have with the lot of you~!”

“A-Asshole....!” Wispy squirmed, her stripy tits compressed under the coils.

“A-ahh, please! I’ve taken tentacle beasts wif bigger dicks than this,” Ana tried to boast while she, too, writhed as the slimy coils pinched their boobs and butts. They moaned together and blushed, molested as Penny directed the creature with her will. The neon demon shuddered and felt her void crumble, the darkness diminishing to reveal the red hue of the outside world, where Seb and Eclipse Heart paused their zombie slaying to run after their friends.

“Wispy!!”

“Juli!!”

“Not another step, or I’ll pick them apart piece by piece,” Penny Dreadful warned, licking her small beak. “Lay down your arms if you want to spare their sorry crotches and sternums~!”

The two unlikely allies glared at the avian assassin before dropping their crystalline lance and capture cards.

“That’s it,” Penny tittered. “Now sit there and watch as I eviscerate your—”

Suddenly, a sickly portal opened behind her, causing the fragile dimension to shake violently. The storm above worsened, lightning flashing across the darkened skies.

“Ooh, goodie,” Penny said, unphased by the cosmic calamity. “The cavalry’s here!”

She clapped her hands and approached the newly formed portal to welcome the next wave of walking corpses.

But the visage that greeted her was no ally. Her expression faltered into horror when a familiar avian-masked creature exited from the swirling vortex. It wore tattered robes like her master, dark magenta in color. Spines protruding from its back, a set of dusty wings furled behind with glowing warts and pimples. A long appendage with a corpse flower tip dragged behind like a rat’s tail.

Penny shuddered; several gray feathers molted below her frilly black dress. The tentacles withdrew and rushed back into the serial killer’s nest-like womb with a wet squelch and clatter of machinery. Her captives landed on their feet but held an uneasy glare at the new arrival.

“Varys..!” Ana said with a squirm.

“Oh my,” the disguised nephilim mused, taking in the griffoness’ horrified expression. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost~!”

“N-no,” stammered Penny, taking steps back. “I-It’s not possible! We killed you..!!”

A playful titter sounded from beneath the plague doctor’s mask. “Death had his chance. Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?”

The allies turned to each other, confused by this interaction. Were they not allies like they all thought..?

“I see your new womb is functioning as intended,” noted the cyber demon. “How about we give it a test drive? Surely you missed all the fun we had~!”

Memories of their ‘procedure’ resurfaced as Penny Dreadful uttered a harrowing shriek and took to the air.

“Fly all you want, pigeon. You’re just making this more fun for me~.” The vulture-esque demon said before flapping ‘his’ wings and chasing after her.

With the enemy occupied, Eclipsed and Seb rushed in to aid their friends. The card demon removed the sticky goo off Julianne’s face, who coughed hoarsely.

“You okay?”

The rosy-haired nun smiled graciously and said, “I-I am now, thank you.”

Eclipsed observed the scene above, Penny firing missiles at her pursuer, who evaded their trajectory and retaliated with projectiles of ‘his’ own. “So this is Varys. He used President Spike to achieve his goals and caused a whole pandemic back in the Cyberverse!”

“He’s also indirectly responsible for turning me and Kitsune into weapons,” Wispy added with a hiss.

“Oh, great,” grumbled Seb. “As if Mortis and his legion of the damned weren’t bad enough!”

“I say we let these monsters kill each other,” the nekomata proposed. “That way, we can finish off whoever wins!”

“A comfortin’ thought,” considered Ana, who watched with arms crossed under her bosom, frowning. “But I’d rather Varys not be the bloody winner in that baht. ‘e’s loike bacteria; ‘e’ll find a way ter come back and bite us in the bleedin’ butte!”

Wispy glowered, “Are you seriously suggesting we help her? She was just about to rape us!!”

“Penny’s a cunt, but Varys is a blue waffle if ya catch me drift.”

The fork-tailed tigress did and nearly vomited at the image in her mind.

“We might have no choice,” Julianne lamented, a rare frown on her lips.

While the entourage weighed their options, Penny was gasping hysterically, throwing everything she had to ward off the vile vulture. But their game of chase ended abruptly when the griffoness failed to react in time to an acid blast hitting her shoulder. She let out a shrill scream when the chemicals ate through her arm, now a splatter of blue blood and innards.

The bionic devil moved in for the kill, a far superior predator compared to this more delicate, primitive derivative of alchemy. Gripping her talons into Penny’s metallic wings, ‘Varys’ forced her to crash into the monastery, breaking more of her limbs and clockwork parts.

The beak-masked fiend loomed over ‘his’ squirming prey, reaching out to feel her feathered breasts and pussy. Penny panicked and cried, “N-no, no, no, please! Not again!!”

“Ooh, I love it when their squirm,” the cyber demon crowed. “Makes vivisection all the more titillating. Just relax, dear… it’s about to get much worse~!”

The griffoness’ eyes went pinpoint at the turgid tool erecting from beneath ‘Varys’ robes, wailing at the impending torture she was about to suffer.

Kunai sailed from the side, blocked by a raised wing. For a moment, Wispy’s eyes lit up. “Sister?! …oh.”

The nekomata’s shoulders slumped, for it wasn’t Kitsune that had miraculously arrived, but instead Triad. The kitasan stallion stampeded onto the scene, and more kunai tossed to get the avian-faced monster to back off.

“Varys,” he glowered, his shimmery katana brandished. “How dare you still live!”

“Ahh. If it isn’t Mortis’ lap dog,” the plague doctor presumed. “Come to clean up my sloppy seconds~?”

With a heated yell, Triad rushed the bionic devil with a flurry of strikes. Yet the twisted-looking creature evaded his slashes with surprising agility. Nothing about this made sense! How did this bastard survive?!

“Tr...Triad,” murmured Penny sleepily, a mix of blue blood and black ooze dripping from the stub where her arm had dissolved, shoulder and all. She focused with her closed eyes and controlled her severed limb, which hurled at ‘Varys’ and seized ‘his’ ankle from behind, all the force she could muster exerted on the disembodied limb.

With his target momentarily immobilized, Triad swung from below, cutting the plague doctor’s mask in two. But his eyes widened at what was revealed beneath the surface.

“So that’s what’s going on,” he said, aghast. “You’re not Varys!”

The creature thought to be the Vice Lord gave a throatful chuckle. “Figures that one all on your own?” she replied with a slight feminine tone.

Ana, Wispy, and the others gathered to comprehend this perplexing turn of events. Seb winched at the sight of the horrid monster. “Yeesh! Now there’s a face not even a mother could love!”

The pop princess furrowed her brows and questioned, “If that’s not Varys, then who is this?”

“I’m the upgrade,” the imposter informed proudly. “The crowning achievement in his technology before his indefinite demise. Codename PROJECT: Nephilim… but you may call me Viscera~.”

“Project: Nephilim!?” Triad recalled the egg inside a vat of soul essence that he and Mortis destroyed after murdering the plague doctor.

Ana spoke up. “So you’re… wot? ‘Is donalded up Basin Of Gravy clone wif a sex change?”

“His successor,” corrected Viscera. “That frail bastard knew he didn’t have long before he bit the dust. So he sought to create the perfect biomechanical organism to fulfill his dream of a universe purely technological. Suffice to say, he didn’t succeed.”

“Clearly,” Wispy grimaced.

The nephilim continued, “Since my ‘birth,’ I’ve used everything at my disposal to wipe my cells clean of that cancer! My life is my own, and I won’t spend it on a dead fool’s ambitions… unlike these pathetic scum~” She motioned to Triad and Penny, who glared back.

Seb came in. “So if you’re not aligned with Mortis, what do you want?”

Viscera gave a smile that made their skin crawl and answered, “I seek only an alliance with Zeloph. For he plays a vital part in my plans to further our kind’s evolution~.”

“Over me buttery arse’re ya gettin’ anywhere near ’im!” Ana snapped, glaring hotly.

“We share the same blood,” the beldam insisted. “It’s only natural for us to stand in unity. Especially when dimensional worlds are collapsing into one another. Think about what I have to offer!”

“I know a bad bet when I see one,” the gambler sneered, pulling out his pistol and ushering Julianne behind him.

“For once, we agree,” Eclipsed Heart bitterly spat, her crystal spear raised. “The only thing you can offer is ruin and decay!”

Wispy added, “Yeah! Your predecessor, creator.. father? Whatever! He helped turn my sister and me into freaks! And since he’s gone, you’ll have to pay for his crimes!!”

Viscera leered at the group of heroes, their rally against her predictable. “You’re making a grievous mistake! I’m not your enemy!”

“Bloody wite ya’re,” Ana snarled, claws extended. “You’re thee enemy!!”

Their minds made up, the three heroines sprung into action, the rehatched Vice Lord a greater threat than Mortis’ undead minions. Of course, she foresaw this and straightened her crooked stance.

“I was hoping to avoid getting my hands dirty,” the nephilim tittered. “But if you insist~!!”

Viscera battered the band members away with her unfurled wings, swinging her tail to knock aside Ana. Seb joined in by firing rounds at the vile demoness, who lept out of range. The spadix of her titan arum tail glowed a sickening aura as putrid shots were fired at the two demis, forcing them to flee.

Unfortunately, one projectile grazed his hand, making him drop his gun and yell, skin and tissue deteriorating.

“Sebastian!” The nun cried, quickly applying a heal spell before the gunslinger was a hand short.

Chisana bounced off the wall, flinging yokai balls from behind the avian monstress and pulling out her blow dart. But Viscera flexed her shoulders to eject the spikes from her back, pinning the tanuki girl to the stone wall. One quill nearly impaled her groin.

Chisana gulped. “Kamisama arigatō, watashi wa on'nanoko ni umaremashita!”

When the trio of babes pressed their assault, they were flabbergasted to see Viscera move with a fluidity that even Wispy couldn’t match!

Ana couldn’t land a good hit either, cautiously avoiding the Vice Lord’s spiny quills and sharp talons, aware of the consequence if she got pricked!

Viscera chortled. “What’s the matter, girls? Out of breath~?!”

The vile one released clouds of toxic steam, her wingbeats fanning the vapors at the pair of femme fatales, who quickly covered their exposed faces with their hands.

“Guuagh! This shit’s gnarly,” Ana choked.

“Disgusting!” coughed Wispy.

They yelped when their throats were seized through the thick miasma. Then, Viscera ran them through the monastery walls, bricks crumbling under every impact before chucking them through the last standing wall.

Ana and Wispy whimpered, bodies thoroughly thrashed and bruised while their evil adversary hovered over them, tail poised over her shoulder like a scorpion.

“Such beauty is wasted,” the bionic devil scoffed. “Allow me to fix that~!”

“Oh, no, you don’t!”

Eclipsed roller skated in to raise a crystal barrier that protected her friends from a would-be fatal blow. Viscera turned to glare while the corrosive steadily dissolved the shiny structure into slime.

“I seem to recall someone with your face,” the sickly demoness said mockingly. “But far prettier, who gave the title of princess meaning.”

“Well, aren’t you a petty bitch,” the pop diva huffed before lunging forward. But each swing of her crystalline lance failed to connect with the agile Vice Lord.

“Slow, sloppy, and without style,” observed Viscera. “Just like your taste in music~.”

“Shut up!!” Eclipsed yelled, aggravated by the nephilim’s taunting.

Her aggressive thrusts made the vulture-faced demi-human cackle. “Now that’s more like it! I can actually feel the power behind your attacks.”

Yet it was apparent it wasn’t enough, as Eclipsed detected a grotesque cracking sound from the Vice Lord’s right arm. Then, as Viscera swiped, an elongated topaz-colored bone shot from her forearm with a wet schlick.

The pop princess gasped, the clash disarming her and her neck seized by the monstrous avian. She squirmed, fingers trying to pry open the hand, crushing her windpipe.

The nephilim ‘tsked’ at the struggling diva. “Never even stood a chance,” she tittered. “Care to know why?”

Eclipsed could only respond with hitched breath and soulful eyes full of hate.

“You’ll never be real like Cerise,” Viscera proclaimed cruelly. “You’ll always be an alternate. Just another passing fad destined to fade into obscurity!”

“Y-you… don’t know a damn thing about me,” Eclipsed managed to say, water pouring out her eyes.

The vile one leaned her head close to run a slimy tongue up the pop star’s tear-stained cheek, savoring the salty taste while she shuddered.

“I’ve seen enough to know you’re not meant to last—”

Viscera’s spines tingled at the presence of an incoming threat. She dropped Eclipsed and erected her bony blade to intercept Triad’s katana, the swordsman pushing back with clenched teeth.

“What’s this? The dog fights out of his own volition? Color me surprised!”

“Silence, wench!”

Sparks flew whenever their blades clashed and clanged against each other. Triad was disturbed to find Viscera’s orichalcum bones had a density that rivaled even the toughest steel!

He tried an overhead strike but yelled when the fiend’s rib cage protruded out of her torso to entrap his hands.

“If you wanted to fondle my chest, all you had to do was ask~!” The avian monstress cackled.

But her mad laughter was cut short by gunfire, a bullet penetrating her plumage. Her chartreuse eyes glared at Seb, a bandage over his wounded hand while Julianne wrapped herself around his arm.

The brief distraction was enough for Triad to break his hands free and bash his fists into Viscera’s face. And before Viscera could retaliate, Ana, Wispy, and Chisana were up again to land a couple of kicks and yokai blasts to keep the nephilim dazzled.

Eclipsed managed to pull herself up, leaning on her cybernetic spear to support her weight. She watched while allies and enemies alike encircled the vile demi-human.

Despite being outnumbered, Viscera’s beak-shaped face twisted into a grin. “Look at the lot of you. Working together to stop me. I’m almost touched~!”

“I would never go against my master’s will,” admitted Triad. “But for a freak like you? I’ll make an exception!”

The others nodded in accordance.

“Amusing,” Viscera conceded. “While this has been fun and all, I’m running late on a very important date!”

Without warning, the nephilim unleashed another veil of noxious gas, the rancid cloud enveloping the group. “Sleep tight, my little doves~!”

Ana, Wispy, Chisana, and Triad coughed roughly to prevent too much exhalation. However, Chisana slumped down, and Wispy swayed on her feet; her enhanced sense of smell hit before she’d realized what had happened.

The neon demon collapsed with a groan, and the kitasan stallion was brought to his knee, hand over his snout. Thanks to Mortis’ darkness and his augmentations, the effects were mostly filtered, saved for the heaviness.

When the avian monstress whizzed out the knockout gas, Eclipsed cried, “Stop!”

The pop princesses attempted to block Viscera with crystal pillars but couldn’t catch the maneuvering devil with scabby wings. Nor could the bullets that Seb rapidly unloaded hit the abomination.

“Fucking damnit!” He hissed, still favoring his burnt hand.

Eclipsed ran to her unconscious bandmate’s side, pushing on her shoulder to wake her up but to no avail.

“C’mon, Wispy! Wake up! We have to reach her before…”

She immediately knew where Viscera was heading, her soulful pink eyes drawn to the desperate battle at the cliffside. Where Shadow Scythe strained to hold her own against Mortis Saltaire...

Afterlight flashed as the Vorpal Blade danced across the air and split open the carapaces of the Eldritch-bred scorpions. The dimensional sword was so thin it penetrated the hardest armor. Yet no matter how many fell, Zeloph knew there were more, perhaps hundreds summoned from that desert world he’d once helped take to the brink of ruin.

“Ashen Dunes owes me for this spot of pest control,” he muttered, firing a prismatic beam at one bug’s face. “What about you, old timer? Still got ammunition left?”

“An almost limitless supply,” grunted Quicksilver as his rifle barked more silver amidst smoke and flames. “Got a feed that transforms mercury into bullets whenever I need ’em. Could give us a few more hours, but we’re about to be overrun!”

“You can say that again,” hissed Zeloph. His body started to burn up from overusing his Onoma, keeping those stingers from piercing his flesh with venom.

The more time they spent trying to clear away the mutant scorpions, the more time they spent unable to intervene in Atalanta’s duel. Even with Arron keeping Andrei at bay, their chances of survival, let alone victory, were growing slim.

“Haahn! At best, we’ve broken even!”

“And by the time we’ve settled this mess here...” Quicksilver cast a tired, melancholy look to the squall above, each roll of thunder shaking the entire realm. He also noticed some landscapes were spontaneously changed, such as half of the ocean becoming a sand dune unaffected by the waves!

“Hmm. I think I’ve got a few firebombs in my duster,” he said, fishing his hand inside to pull out said grenades. “Maybe a few explosives will exterminate these varmints?”

“Yeah... Alright, get ready,” told Zell as he flew up to draw the winged arthropod’s attention away from his partner, activating his ophanim shield to protect himself against the incoming blast. The monsters screeched, trying to penetrate the interchanging topaz rings with their pincers, mandibles, and tails.

With most of the swarm surrounding one spot, Quicksilver tossed his firebombs and took his shot, an exploding ball of flames consuming the screaming bugs.

Their charred remains fell into the sea like raining ashes, Zeloph’s sacred shield dispelling once it was clear.

He gave a heavy sigh and smiled at the elder unicorn. “Worked like a charm!”

“We ain’t done yet! Look out,” Quicksilver warned, one straggler soaring at them with blistering speed… only for a strange green projectile to melt its face-off, the mutant plummeting with its brethren.

“Huh? What the-?!”

Their attention was drawn to another creature swooping in, a delighted smile stretching her beak-shaped face.

“There you are~!”

Zeloph’s eyes lit up with a vermillion glow. “Varys!!”

“What?! No, it can’t be,” Quicksilver insisted. “I shot that bastard dead!!”

“You did? So then, who is..?”

In the middle of her skirmish, Shadow Scythe managed to wrap ethereal chains around Mortis, the vengeful wraith rattling to pull himself free. While she held him in place, the reaper mare spotted her lover and father conversing with the new arrival, her brow furrowed.

“You can call me Viscera,” the avian demi-human introduced herself, politely bowing. “And I’m afraid there’s no time to explain myself. We’re expecting company.”

She pointed towards another group of eldritch scorpions buzzing their way. Then, she proclaimed, “Just consider this an alliance~.”

The idea made Zeloph quiver as he sneered, “You look every bit as foul and insidious as Varys. No way would I ever ally with you!”

“We don’t have to be enemies,” insisted Viscera, smiling coyly. “Here. Let me change your mind!”

With a beat of her wings, the vile monstress soared overhead to intercept the incoming swarm, showering them in ghastly vapors like an avian-shaped crop duster.

The infected scorpions suddenly turned on each other, impaling whatever was close to ripping out their mushy innards, discolored blood spilling.

“Hurry,” Viscera called out. “Light them up while they’re discombobulated!”

“Guess we don’t have a choice,” Quicksilver muttered begrudgingly as he tossed another firebomb to shoot at, the explosion immolating many more mutant bugs.

Zeloph pursed his lip as he conjured a fire cross to ignite the lethal gasses and intensify the flames. A hellish inferno enveloped a dozen more scorpions. The monsters smoked, cooked, and writhed, reduced to char and ash within seconds that scattered in the wind.

The seraphic cringed at delighted cackling, Viscera flying uncomfortably close to him.

“You see? There is chemistry between us,” the beldam proclaimed.

“Spare me your putrid spiel,” he adamantly proclaimed while attempting to keep his distance. “You and I are nothing alike!”

“Oh, but we are,” Viscera rebutted. “More than you care to admit.” She made a throatful sound while gingerly brushing her hands up Zell’s torso, her grin deepening when he shuddered. “We share the same disease, after all~!”

Her spine quills trembled, and the avian demi-human pushed back as a shadowy bolt sailed between them. Her spiteful glare met Shadow Scythe’s, who threatened, “Get away from him, you bitch!”

“Hard to sound threatening when you’re on death’s doorstep, honey~!”

Viscera pointed an elongated claw at Mortis, who burst free from his confines with spectral energy. The skeletal unicorn resumed his attack on Shadow Scythe.

Down below, things weren’t going as well as Arron had hoped. The burly demi-human was currently shielding himself from a combined fire breath from Andrei, feet skidding backward against the sheer force.

Despite the wrestler’s excellent damage output, his opponent proved resilient against all his attacks. No matter how often he threw him around, the damned lizard always got up!

His arms were encased with his sacred crystalline layer, absorbing the damage and empowering his Onoma. This would have to be the decisive blow!

When Andrei exhaled all the fiery fumes in his belly, Arron planted his feet and conjured all damage he received in a clenched fist.

“Time to get your bell rung!” The champ declared, jumping with a mighty bound and throwing the hardest punch he could muster into the dragon’s chest. The massive kinetic energy rippled over Andrei’s body, multiple scales coming loose and black blood vomiting out his maws.

Then the bulky demon hoisted his massive foe on his shoulders, rising skyward. As he began to descend, Arron flung the scaly son of a bitch behind while gripping all three of his heads between his arms and shoulders, performing a modified version of the fireman carry cutter.

His finishing move, which he dubbed simply as,

“GAME OVER!!”

Arron executed the maneuver flawlessly, a cloud of dust and debris scattering upon impact. The force snapped Andrei’s necks, allowing him to make a clean rip.

As the dragon’s beheaded body lay lifelessly on the rocky surface, the victorious demi-human roared with triumph before tossing the severed heads into the water.

Unfortunately, his shades didn’t survive the battle. The tinted lenses were fractured and crooked. So he threw them away too.

Fatigue finally caught up to Arron, his sore legs struggling to stand straight. He took a moment to catch his breath before focusing on the battle above.

“I’m coming, twink… huff! Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll—”

The demon’s pointed ears twitched at the grotesque crackle of bones behind him. His violet eyes shrank as he slowly turned to see Andrei’s headless body stand back up, each neck rapidly repairing the missing bones, nerves, and tissue.

Arron groaned with disbelief, “Are you fucking my dick right now..?!”

All three of the dragon’s heads regenerated, leering down at the weakened demi with malicious grins on his snouts.

“… Oh, what a load of BULLSHI—”

The multi-headed monster vomited all the elements in his belly, incinerating the screaming devil. His hardened skin scorched, steam hissing off his second-degree burns.

The roasted wrestler stumbled to the ground, losing consciousness. Finally winning the fight, Andrei secured his fallen opponent in one of his three jaws before tossing him into the air, maws opening wide…

“Arron!” Zeloph yelled, soaring down to blast each mouth with holy fire, making the beast choke on smoke while he intercepted the brawler’s body.

Laying his friend near the cliff’s edge, he laid his hand on his chest and focused on revitalizing the Demi-human. Rippling waves of light washed over Arron, cleansing the burnt skin and bruises he suffered.

But Zell didn’t have time to fully heal as Andrei emerged from the cliff like the dreaded hydra he resembled.

“You’ll pay for that,” the angelic demi-human promised, squeezing the handle of his saber to ignite the steel with his Onoma before charging at the beast.

With the last of the mutant scorpions dealt with, Quicksilver had to sit down and reserve what strength he had left, feeling his unlively vessel beginning to crumble.

As the old stallion watched Zeloph duke out with the tri-headed tyrant, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic and chuckled. “Just like my wife and I when we hunted the Jabberwocky… Poor Atalanta was there, too.”

Shadow Scythe’s ears pricked at his words amidst the chaos, the sounds around her skirmish with Mortis dying out. It was her first kill, the unicorn no more than a foal when she’d taken control of the Vorpal Blade with her aura and telepathically maneuvered it into the Jabberwocky’s heart.

When the fabled monster perished, her parents were under the assumption that the Jabberwocky had fallen on the fairy tale weapon amidst its ferocious attack. In truth, it had awakened a taste for blood in Atalanta, the young unicorn indifferent to the world, save for a taste for knowledge, power....and the capacity to harm others.

Be it through physical pain, fear, or humiliation, the suffering of other creatures had made her come alive. Amidst archery practice with her mother, Quiver Bolt, Atalanta had taken aim at a stray snake, her snout momentarily twisted by euphoria with the blood she’d spilled. Its cries of pain while it writhed pinned and expired on her loosed arrow.

Her mother had barely stopped her, but that sadistic side remained, even now, no matter how hard she tried to tame the beast inside her. Instead, the pale mare had wanted to turn it into a positive purpose. To punish and neutralize the wicked. Creatures like she once was.

Another clash between scythes brought the reaper back to the present, her immortal foe staring gauntly through his skeletal visage.

“Is life flashing before your eyes, traitor?” Mortis asked. “Has your heart finally accepted defeat? You know it is true, Shadow Scythe. Your death is inevitable!”

A light beam blasted the lich in the back, earning an agonized yell. Both reapers turn to Zeloph, more wings unfurled from his back, body completely engulfed with solar energy.

Below, Andrei was shrieking, two of his heads severed again. Only this time, the neck wounds were cauterized, which nullified his regenerative ability.

“Time we end this, Mortis!” Zell declared angrily, his Onoma on the verge of going supernova. His Vorpal Blade shone brightly, revealing its true nature as Mikael’s Crucible.

Atalanta murmured softly, “Zeloph..?”

“Couldn’t agree more, all mighty fallen!”

A deathly aura enveloped Mortis Saltaire, unleashing all the power of the souls he assimilated. The tatter-robed wraith blasted disintegration rays from his bony palms, keeping his foes on edge when they battled two-on-one.

The lich sensed that Triad and Penny had been forced to retreat, badly wounded, many of the undead he’d summoned and swaths of his scorpions obliterated by his foes. But none of that mattered, so long as he could finally claim the betrayer’s life!

Eclipsed, Julianne and Seb rushed up the hillside, carrying the unconscious bodies of Moxxi, Wispy, and Chisana between them while the world violently unraveled.

Arron groaned as he came to, his flesh still stinging after suffering Andrei’s wrath.

“That dragon owes me a rematch,” he grumbled as he rose. Spotting the others, the burly demon approached them with a limp leg. “So... I take it we all got our asses kicked?”

“Wouldn’t even call this a fight,” the pop princess said, her soulful pink eyes glaring at Viscera, who was roosting on another cliff nearby.

“Yeeess! Get him, Zeloph,” the vile one praised. “Let your rage take form! Harness the destructive power you’ve been hiding, and do what you must~!”

“Fucking bird-faced freak! I’ll kill her—!!”

“Easy there, partner,” Quicksilver said, pushing her spear down. “She ain’t worth it.”

Eclipsed Heart gasped. “Wait! Y-you’re Shadow Scythe’s father!!”

“That I am,” the old gunslinger confirmed, looking back to the illuminated fight in the skies. “If not for your angel friend, I probably wouldn’t have lasted this long…”

“Man, that is bright,” Seb commented, lowering his hat to better shield his eyes. “Looks like Sunspot’s going all out with the crucible! Outstanding!!”

“You still owe him lessons,” the diva reminded scornfully.

“If you haven’t noticed, we’ve kinda had our hands full,” rebutted the card demon. “But I will say this. Since the legendary Vorpal Blade was initially written as a purely heroic weapon in fiction, it could be the only object in existence capable of destroying the Necronomicon.”

“Wait, really?”

Seb shrugged. “I mean, it’s never been tested. Michael forged his crucible to extinguish all forms of evil and unlocks its hidden potential in the vicinity of something tainted. Y’know, something like, say… a revenge-driven ghost in reaper rags?”

His free hand pointed at Mortis, unable to keep up with the combined forces of Zeloph and Shadow Scythe.

“So… if the Necronomicon is destroyed, then the multiverse would stabilize?!”

“Beatrix’s power was originally tied to the grimoire,” considered Wispy.

“We’ll figure out how it works later,” Quicksilver surmised. “Right now, they need our support!”

“That’s right!” Eclipsed cupped her mouth and called to Zeloph and Shadow Scythe. “You can do it! Beat down that monster!”

“Yeah! Give him the ol’ dick twist,” Arron cheered alongside her.

“He’s nothing but bones, you twit,” the gambler said, rolling his eyes before joining in. “I’ve got high stakes riding on you, Sunshine! Don’t mess this up!”

Julianne clasped her hands together, praying, “O please, thou that art in heaven. Guide our friends to sanctuary on the wings of victory!”

Mortis Saltaire wheezed, unable to withstand the blows of his adversary, who worked in perfect harmony to finish the battle. Dark sickles and light blades tore away at the lich, his ribcage exposed under his torn mantle, where a glow emanated from within. Left vulnerable under the continuous assault, Zeloph heard the cheers from his allies below and, with Mikael’s Crucible, moved in for the kill. He drove the saber into the bony cavity, impaling the glowing orbs within, assuming it to be the necromancer’s soul.

“It’s over, Mortis,” Zell said with tranquil fury. “ You’re done..!”

But it wasn’t the screams of Mortis that rewarded the demi’s ears. It was a sound that filled his racing heart with dread and deafened the cheers of triumph by the cliffside.

The sound of Shadow Scythe gasping for dear life.

His pinpoint eyes turned to see the reaper mare doubled over, blood trickling out her gaped mouth, a crimson splotch gradually staining his love’s thin bosom.

“… w-what? No… No!!”

Zeloph instinctively tried to withdraw the blade, simply for Mortis to clasp cold, bony hands around his wrist. Triumphant laughter arose from his skeletal maw.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” The enraged angel demanded.

“Only now do I remember the day I died,” the revenant elaborated as he recollected. “When I was known as Danse Macabre, I invoked an ancient incantation with dying breath. One that tethered my soul to the treacherous mare who slayed me!”

Emotion poured back into the lich reaper’s hollow voice. “And now, she will die… by your hand!”

“You’re lying!!”

“Then cut me down, fallen one!” Encouraged the wraith mockingly. “Destroy me with your righteous flame… and know it was her undoing!!”

“No! NOOOOOO!!”

Zeloph disenchanted his Onoma and Mikael’s Crucible. But the damage was already done, the multidimensional sword having carved deep enough to split not only one’s flesh but inflict spiritual wounds on its victims.

“Z-Zell… ooph…” Shadow Scythe weakly called for him as her Onoma faded, her bloodied form falling from mid-air.

“ATALANTA!!”

The fallen one ignored the cackling reaper and dove to catch his lover in his arms, the waves crashing and skies breaking, after which the cosmic storm intensified, drawn perhaps by what Mortis had done and the dimensional Vorpal Blade.

Reality fell apart, random structures, buildings, and creatures spawning as the oceans dissolved. The landscapes distorting into abstract arrangements. But Zeloph paid no mind to the chaos, racing towards the cliff, where his friends and allies struggled to remain afoot.

When he landed, everyone gathered around the couple, bewildered at what was happening.

“Come on, stay with me,” Zeloph whispered desperately, trying to heal the gruesome wound in Shadow Scythe’s chest. “Stay with me, please..!”

Eclipsed held her hands over her mouth, trying not to cry. Julianne knelt to assist while Arron and Seb stood over their unconscious allies with looks of utter dismay.

But perhaps the person most devastated was Quicksilver, his eyes wide in appalment. “My daughter… m-my little girl..!”

His hand shakingly reached for his shotgun, aiming the barrel at his former master, finger coiled around the trigger… before falling to his knees to bawl.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaauuughaha!!”

“Best not to take your shot,” informed Viscera cruelly. “She’s barely hanging on as it is. You’d only prolong her suffering~.”

“You shut the fuck up!!” Eclipsed screamed, ready to stab the bionic devil a thousand times, when another violent quake made them stumble.

Mortis and Andrei, whose heads were slowly growing back, hovered over their fallen foes.

“Look what you’ve done,” Julianne cried, her face stricken with anger. “You’ve ruined this world!”

“It was ordained,” proclaimed Mortis. “We reapers are but instruments of fate. And since the betrayer slaughtered the rest of our order, its duties fall solely on my shoulders.”

At this point, Triad arrived back on the scene, Penny Dreadful’s unconscious form carried over one shoulder. He scanned the scene with a look of contempt. His master had won… but at what cost?

“Do not fret, Zeloph,” the lich stated. “You and your company will be joining her soon. Andrei…”

The dragon scowled, struggling to ignore his master’s mental hold but ultimately succame.

“… Finish them off.”

The dragon reeled his head back and breathed a fiery blast that would melt the heroes where they stood. But before the attack struck home, Zeloph rose and cried with anguish, drawing Mikael’s Crucible in a sweep of blinding illumination that swallowed him and his companions.

When the light faded, no trace of them was left, and the projectile scorched only earth.

Triad cradled the slackened Penny Dreadful. “They’ve escaped!?”

“No matter,” announced Mortis. “Wherever they run, reality is doomed to fall apart with them. We will collect her soul in due time. Come.”

Gathering around him, the lich was about to teleport them to safety before pausing.

For once since his resurrection, Mortis felt something other than a single-minded desire for vengeance. Eye sockets met bony fingers and noticed the tattered flesh that had started to adorn them since Shadow Scythe was dealt a fatal blow.

“Curious... Most curious, indeed.”

Likewise, he reached up to touch his skull...and felt the cool touch of pollaid flesh on his cheek. Was it the spell, he pondered? An unexpected side effect since their souls were intertwined?

A reminder of when he was known as Danse Macabre, a humble researcher in his order?

It didn’t matter. Danse Macabre was dead. Only Mortis Saltaire remained. He enveloped them in his dark shroud like a wide shadow, the condemned planet left to crack, crater, and crumble while he spirited his followers away.

The light faded around the entourage, and an empty city was revealed to them. Buildings and skyscrapers long since abandoned, covered in a bizarre botanic matter. Rays of sunlight phased through a cloudy horizon that shimmered chromatically. Avian lifeforms soared through the atmosphere, a strange mismatch of bird, reptile, and metal.

Groans rose from Wispy Willow as she, Chisana, and Moxxi finally stirred awake. “Uuugh...” murmured the nekomata as she rubbed her skull. “My head! What the hell happened..?”

A foul shriek drew their attention to Viscera, detained by Seb and Quicksilver, who held her at gunpoint while Eclipse Heart encased her hands, wings, and tail together in thick crystal.

Arron shoved the vile monstress to the ground, foot planted on her back, quietly grunting, “Stand down!”

Moxxi rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before all color drained from her face. “…No! Not here!! Zell?!”

“Over here,” Julianne called, kneeling beside the fallen one as he cradled the pale reaper.

Quickly, they rushed over to check on the couple. “What’s wrong wif Edgie?! Why is she..?!”

“A horribly cunning gambit,” the rosy-haired nun answered, her cheery demeanor no longer present. “I’ve done all I can, but no matter how many times I try, the wound refuses to heal. I’m afraid what Mortis claimed is true. The Vorpal Blade has split Atalanta’s soul wide open...”

Moxxi clapped her hands over her mouth, tears falling down her cheeks as her brother stroked her lover’s snow-white hair.

“Atalanta… please,” he wept softly. “Don’t die on me!”

Zeloph was utterly helpless to do more than watch while her soul continually bled out. His grief was a thousand times worse, knowing he inadvertently was the cause of this.

Shadow Scythe trembled in his arms, her thin body limp. “Z-Zeloph…” The broken unicorn could barely speak; her slightly open eyes met his own, his hand in hers. “Don’t...blame yourself. Th-this is my...my penance,” she tried to reassure him. “It’s better this way...”

“ Don’t say that!” Quicksilver stalked over. “I already lost my wife! I’m not about to outlive my daughter too!”

“I’ll...be with Quiver Bolt soon, dad,” started Shadow Scythe, then weakly shook her head. “O-or maybe... I’m not destined for heaven after what I’ve done...” She slackened in Zeloph’s arms, who tenderly squeezed her.

“Atalanta,” he murmured. “Please-”

“L-look after my father. Give him a good resting place…” She pleaded almost child-like to Quicksilver, wide-eyed and delirious. “I’m so sorry, I...I...never meant to hurt...!” Desperation filled her muted, hoarse voice, the white fur around her lower snout matted in dried blood.

“No, no, no! Don’t you dare let go,” he babbled, trying in vain to heal her grievous wound with his sacred touch. Yet the light wouldn’t travel past the unmendable gash. “I’m not giving up on you..!”

Her mouth managed to form a sad smile.

“You’re the only one who didn’t… T-That’s why I love you… Zell… Why I-I’ll always love you! Always...”

The pallid mare turned slightly to the babbling coming from the imp and laughed weakly as hot tears hit her cheeks. “Tears, for me, Mox? Heh... Didn’t know you cared...”

“Oh, don’t give me that!” Moxxi begged through her sobs. “Ya can come up wif better last words! Where’s wahn of those old villain speeches ya used to…” She started to shake her until Zeloph took her arm and solemnly shook his head.

Wispy sucked in a heavy breath. “Is...is she....?”

“Just unconscious,” reassured Julianne. “But she won’t survive the day at this rate. All we should do is make her last moments as comfortable as possible…”

Grimly, Quicksilver knelt and held his daughter’s cool, near-lifeless hand. Like her, the old stallion realized his own time was limited. Without one of those mechanized coffins, the black blood that animated him would eventually congeal, and his old, battered body would break down. But he would happily trade those final days to buy more hours for his daughter, determined to reconcile with her before they met their ends.

Eclipsed tried not to think about the poor people they’d been forced to abandon, not to mention Atalanta on death’s bed, which played out before their eyes. She desperately wanted to race back and save more lives but knew it could doom them all; her shoulders slumped in bitter defeat.

Instead of stewing in her perceived helplessness, her wide eyes marveled at the alien beauty surrounding them. It was unlike anything she’d seen, even in the wildest virtual reality simulations she’d partaken in. Most people used them to sate baser needs...but she had played out a scenario similar to what Beatrix and Oona had told her about her counterpart Cerise Silhouette’s homeworld, where Eclipsed temporarily played the part of a pampered, lonely princess for a sizable court.

“What is this place?”

Zeloph looked at the verdant, expansive landscape with utter contempt written across his features, cradling his love tighter in his arms and wings. Moxxi shared a similar expression when she gave the pop star her answer.

“Home.”

Planet of the Demi-Humans

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Scattered rays of light poured through the endless stream of prismatic clouds, which veiled the vast landscapes and oceans that made up Sacratera’s geography. It looked nigh identical to Earth, yet was equally different.

Any trace of humanity was left in its remnants, countless towns, cities, and civilizations forsaken by the bizarre forestation. An overgrowth of unnatural plant life and fungi layered most of the hollow structures and abandoned vehicles.

Even stranger was the wildlife that flew, swam, and migrated around the globe. All of the animals were prehistoric reimaginings of what their earth-based life forms were. Their biologies were composed of botanic, flesh, and inorganic material, layered with a peculiar set of eyes.

But perhaps the most telling thing about this world was the enormous lifeless giants, whose limbs conformed to the planet’s erratic ecosystem. Tanks, fighter jets, and other military operative vehicles were deserted alongside massive topaz rings, chimeric sentinels, and disembodied wings. It didn’t take much observation to figure out a war had happened. And whoever won ultimately didn’t prevent the overall outcome of the post-apocalyptic world.

None mattered to Zeloph, who was too occupied in cradling his love’s almost weightless form in his arms. The soul reaper’s regenerative abilities had healed any flesh wounds, but Shadow Scythe lost color as her soul bled out from her snout. Trapped in a comatose state, the breaths from her slim bosom were shallow.

His other companions were equally melancholy. Quicksilver Bullet and Julianne didn’t budge from the seraphic angel’s side. Arron and Seb remained on guard by the vile Viscera, who observed the sorrow with a delighted grin despite the pistol against her head.

Eclipsed Heart took in the hauntingly breathtaking beauty of this place while Wispy Willow and Chisana checked inside some of the worn cars, curious to see if any of them worked.

Finally, Moxxi sat atop a crumbled fountain statue, kicking her legs back and forth with her head in her hands. Her magenta gaze locked on her brother, a silent hope that Shadow Scythe would make it.

“I swore I’d never return ter this awful place,” she huffed.

“But why?” The pop diva questioned, concern in Eclipsed Heart’s voice and her soulful pink eyes. “What happened here?!”

The imp-sized demi-human gave a troubled sigh before sarcastically relenting, “Welcome to the aftermath of our mistakes.”

Everyone except Zell within earshot turned their attention to Moxxi as she began elaborating on the downfall of their homeland.

“The Divine Father… Metatron enacted ‘is plan ter destroy aw terran-life after Zelly, and I teamed up ter take ’im aahhht for good. We thought we absorbed aw of ‘is energy… but it turned aahhht the last of ‘is life force was assimilated into the planet’s core, where over the nickle and dime, it would completely transform the planet into wot ya see na. And wif those changes, every ‘uman began ter act on fear and instinct, turnin’ against each ovver if it meant their Jack Jones selfish survival”

The imp shuddered, recalling some of the horrible acts of depravity she had witnessed. Innocent life robbed just to benefit an ephemeral existence.

Her wry gaze turned to her brother as she continued. “Nah wahn was more outraged by this outcome than Zeloph, ‘oo did everythin’’ e could ter stop the bleedin’ madness. But it was crystal’ e couldn’t save them. Then ‘e decided they didn’t deserve ter be saved. And, well…”

Moxxi pointed to the lone giant head that stood out amongst the skyscrapers, tucking her knees into her chest.

“Zell ended up becomin’ the judicator Metatron wanted ’im ter be. Conjured wot remained of the angelic order ter finish the Corn on the Cob. Even after I imprisoned ’im wif the Necronomicon, the devastation was already done.”

Eclipsed Heart sat and listened intently; her ears flattened back. Hearing the explanation of Zeloph’s villainous deeds triggered brief flashes of her counterpart, Cerise’s memories. The sky was alight in a blaze as enormous multi-eyed entities trampled buildings, the outcry of helpless people vaporized by intense light.

A reminder of why Cerise was so distant from the fallen one. That he’d indirectly hurt her, her parents, and everyone who almost shared the same fate as this planet.

She frowned when glancing at the grieving demi-human, unable to help but look at him in a new light. And not exactly a favorable one.

Unbeknownst to her, Zeloph had also been listening to his sister’s retelling of his atrocities. The nightmares of reliving the trauma of his blind righteous rage continue to blister in his soul. He briefly squeezed his eyes shut, and a small tear ran down his cheek. Like his beloved Atalanta, he, too, sought redemption he felt was far beyond his reach. And sensing Eclipse’s judging gaze only solidified his inability to forgive himself.

“One cannot know life without sin,” Julianne reassured, gingerly stroking his back. “We have all done horrible things in one form or another. But no matter how small or great the wounds we make, they will heal if given enough time, acceptance, and forgiveness.”

“Easy for you to say,” scoffed Wispy bitterly. “You grew up to be a saint! Meanwhile, Kitsune and I were forced to be assassins for a power-hungry syndicate. Who are you to speak for us when you practically lived the good life!?”

“Oh, and since when did you start speaking for us, pussycat?” Seb spoke up defensively. “Because last I checked, you and her royal highness have labeled us evil or ignorant!”

“Yeah, not cool, bro,” Arron agreed. “I thought we were on the same side!”

“W-we are,” the nekomata hissed. “But that doesn’t excuse you for—”

“Did I ask you to forgive or even like us?” the card demon interrupted. “No! But this prejudice bullshit’s gotta stop if we wanna make it out of this!”

“Pha!” Viscera snickered. “It’s in their nature to destroy what they don’t understand~!”

She yelped when Seb adjusted his grip, threatening, “Can it, birdbrain!”

“Like hell, I’m going to overlook you guys’ crimes,” snarled Eclipsed Heart. “You both nearly destroyed my city and almost took the lives of my friends and family!”

The pinstriped devil rolled his eyes as he groaned. “Oh, here we fuckin’ go. Little Miss Privileged pulling out the ‘all murder is bad’ card yet again. As if you haven’t thought about killing me a bunch of times!”

Eclipsed clenched her teeth, unable to deny those claims.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Tell me, does your ass ever get jealous of your mouth, sweetheart? Cause it sure likes to spew a lot of shit!!”

“You miserable prick!!” Wispy snapped, about to pounce the bastard, until Moxxi fluttered in her way.

“Oi! Cool it, kitten! This aint the time ter be tusslin’ wif each ovver!”

“Yes, please,” encouraged Julianne. “We must stand united!!”

“Gospel speech really not ‘elpin’ our case, smiley!!”

But Eclipsed refused to let go, eyes filled with spiteful tears as she confessed, “I just wanna go home! Forget all of this ever happened. But now I can’t, because soon, I won’t have a home! All because of yo—”

The princess yelped as their bickering was cut off by the sound of gunfire. Everyone turned to Quicksilver, a stern scowl on his face as smoke fumed the barrel of his shotgun.

“Ya’ll make me sick,” he spat. “We’re on an unknown planet, licking our wounds after a grueling battle, with our morals gone to shit! My daughter is DYING!! And all you can think about is your egos, your careers, and who lived the harder life. If that’s all it means for you, then quite frankly, you don’t deserve it. None of us deserve it…”

His tired gaze fell to Zeloph, who continued to cradle Shadow Scythe. “I wasted the latter half of my years drowning myself in whiskey and regrets. Mortis didn’t kill me. He just collected what remained and turned it into a tool to quench his thirst for vengeance. But If not for you, kid, I wouldn’t have this bit of clarity.”
The elder stallion returned to glare at the entourage. “So, a little advice from a man already dead. Forgive, forget, it doesn’t matter. It’s what you do with yourself afterward and the company you decide to keep that matters. Question is, can you move forward carrying that hatred in your soul..?”

None of them had an answer, deeply shaken by the old gunslinger’s wisdom. Most they could do was self-reflect on if their present morals and values were warranted. Eclipsed Heart the most conflicted about her grievances with the demi-humans.

A rustle sounded from atop a tree pulled everyone out of their stupor, weapon wielders on high alert while others took up battle stances. Then, rolling down the branches came Demi-Trix, who tumbled to land on her feet with a flourish, her descent slowed by the butterfly wings that adorned the demi-human’s back. “Whoa, calm down! It’s only me!” She beamed at the onlookers.

“Pixie-cheeks!!” Moxxi exclaimed before pulling the tulpa into a warm embrace. “Things’ aven’t been fan wifaht ya!!”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Demi-Trix gasped with shallow breaths, squished between the imp’s breasts.

“Ooh~! Totemo chīsakute kawaī!” Proclaimed Chisana, squishing her round cheeks with her hands.

Zeloph managed to pull away from his dismay to raise his head. With a skeptical brow, he asked. “How did you get here?”

“Well, you see...um...” the miniature mare rubbed her head under her half-bent witch hat, her mind still foggy with static. “I… don’t know? The last thing I remember was being in Oona’s home world, where I ran into Ashen Dunes and Rhenaes! Then I was… er...”

Wispy flicked her twin tails. “Sounds to me like more of the multiverse is unraveling.”

“Maybe,” the false idol said doubtfully. “We’ll have to look into it later. We have other concerns at the moment.”

“B-but wait, there’s more!” Demi-Trix shook her head. “Oona’s people are about to wage war on Tatyana and Alma as Walpurgisnatch approaches! We have to find some way back, or the Isles of Parras could end up wiped out!”

“‘oney… we’re not exactly in the Mae West shape ourselves,” Moxxi told her while pointing to Shadow Scythe’s unconscious form.

Demi-Trix stared in horror, fluttering to get a better look at the softly breathing reaper mare. “Oh no…”

“Yeah. Mortis and his goons did a huge number on us,” Eclipsed Heart began to explain before pausing when a strange sensation came over her. She spotted tiny red drops in her palm, reaching up to realize blood was leaking from her nose.

“H-huh… why am I… aauuch!!”

The princess suddenly waved on her rollerblades and almost took a tumble.

“Eclipsed?” Zeloph gave Shadow Scythe to her father to check on the fallen pop star. “What’s wrong!?”

But the princess only croaked and cried, her vision delirious with psychedelic colors and rippling effects, as if she was on a bad LSD trip. She could even see light stripes pulsating out from her body over the landscape. Was it her visual heartbeat..?!

“Z-Zell..!! H-help me..!!”

Eclipsed’s cheeks puffed up until she vomited more blood, which began to wriggle up like worms in soil. She started wailing with immense pain.

Wispy and Chisana started screaming, their own snouts matted in blood. In fact, the crimson liquid was oozing out of every orifice. Eyes, nostrils, mouth, and private parts.

“Naagh!! I-it feels...like my insides are on fire! Like I’m about to rupture!” The twin-tailed tigress yowled, her fur standing on end.

“Sore wa… itai,” the tanuki cried.

Julianne knelt down, her face completely pale. “What’s happening to them?!”

She and Zeloph were about to attempt their healing magic when a throatful chortle drew their attention to the nephilim, who said, “That’s not going to work~!”

Moxxi growled. “Nasty bitch! Ya poisoned them, didn’t ya!?”

“Alright, fuck face! Cough up the antidote before I match your outsides with your insides,” Arron demanded while Seb pressed his gun deeper into Viscera’s head.

This didn’t falter the bionic devil, who replied, “Couldn’t even if I wanted to! My blight wouldn’t have taken this long to contaminate their organs.”

“What?!”

“Still don’t get it? Take a deep breath!” Viscera’s cruel smile widened as she took a lengthy inhale through the slits on her beak-shaped snout. “It’s the planet’s atmosphere. The air molecules have been altered so much that they became toxic to anything not native!”

A wave of dread washed over the entire group, realizing that if what Viscera claimed was true, they were essentially stranded in a planet-sized glass house.

Seb quickly made calculations. “But… It’s only been twenty minutes! That’s how long we have before we start suffocating?!”

Demi-Trix exclaimed, “No, that can’t be right! I’ve been here way longer than twenty minutes. And I haven’t..!”

“Oh, don’t worry! Tulpas won’t feel the effects since they’re imaginary beings,” Viscera tittered. “Nor will Quicksilver since the effect is so minimal against decaying flesh, I doubt he’s even noticed. But for everyone else? Well…~”

“I take it this means you’re also immune?” Zeloph seethed.

“Right you are, pet! I can breathe this stuff just fine, thanks to my biotechnology. It’s the one thing I’ll give Varys some credit for. But you will suffer all kinds of bodily reactions under the planet’s bizarre properties long before I begin to feel dizzy~!”

Viscera cackled when the rosy-haired nun began to shake and groan. “Ohoho! And did I mention it’s so much worse for regular demi-humans? Instead of imminent death, the alien half of your biology will rampantly mutate to overtake the human side! By the hour’s end, you won’t even recognize who you once were~!”

True to her words, the other demi-humans succumbed to the planet’s overwhelming pressure, their horns, wings, and abnormalities altering drastically. Julianne’s cheeks split apart to form two extra mouths, amplifying her screaming. Moxxi was forced back into her full form before falling on her back howling, her crescent-shaped horns growing out evenly while her tail’s venus flytrap maw developed human-shaped teeth.

Arron and Seb attempted to silence Viscera’s cackling but suffered under their own mutations. The former’s body was layered with crystalline precipitation that instantly hardened and grew, weighing down his bulky physique. The latter’s horns extended through his hat, and his chest conformed into a serpent’s head, which bursted out of his attire.

Zeloph withstood with all his strength as he desperately crawled towards Quicksilver and Shadow Scythe, whose regenerative ability seemed to protect her from the deathly oxygen. The same couldn’t be said for him; his breath strained as he felt scaly feathers sprout from his skin and his plumage dividing into extra limbs.

With her kind writhing on the ground, Viscera took the opportunity to free her tail and spray the crystal encased around her hands with dissolving acid. “It’s futile to resist,” she purred, flexing her talons. “Everything human about you will be gone, along with the rest of the garbage.”

The vile demoness relished watching the bandmates and yokai bandit slowly perish. It was clear Chisana’s mystical protections would soon be rendered useless, with Eclipsed not far behind, and Wispy would expire shortly after them.

Viscera’s mocking laughter ended with a screech when a shotgun blast knocked her to the ground, green blood oozing out of the bullet wound.

“Damn it,” spat Quicksilver as he lost grip of his firearm. “Outta the pan and into the fire!”

Panicking at the sight of her dying friends, Demi-Trix fluttered close to the fallen one, whose body radiated with light and heat. “Zell! The Vorpal Blade! Hurry!!”

Zeloph bristled as he managed to brandish the thin sword, glaring at it with feverish passion. “WHY DID YOU SEND US BACK HERE!? TO PUNISH ME FOR ALL MY SINS?! TO FINISH THEM OFF AFTER MORTIS AND HIS FLUNKIES FAILED TO?! IS THIS YOUR SENSE OF POETIC JUSTICE?! TELL ME WHY!?!”

The saber illuminated and made a melodic sound, moving within his grasp to direct to something obscured by the clouds. Something that was rushing towards them.

Utterly defenseless, Zeloph mustered what strength he had to stand protectively in front of Shadow Scythe. As did Quicksilver, who struggled to wield his rifle. Demi-Trix chewed on her nails anxiously as the seconds ticked away for the rest of them, Eclipsed, Wispy, and Chisana nearing death’s door…

“W-wait… that’s—?!”

Soaring above them was a supposed UFO, which quickly opened its circular mouth and unleashed its tendril-like tractor beams to secure the demi-humans and their companions. They ascended into the illuminating orifice, which closed with a slurp before the saucer-shaped ship resumed its flight toward the abandoned city. There, it would find a skyscraper to roost atop.

Within the Glamorguis, it breathed translucent mist that wrapped around Zeloph and his party, the cool, cloudy particles stabilizing the effects of Sacratera’s poisonous atmosphere.

Steadily, their alienesque mutations shrunk, alleviating the pain and allowing them to breathe. Zeloph took deep breaths, watching the shimmering feathers molt off his arms and torso.

“Naaaugh… that… fucking sucked ass,” Arron groaned, scrapping the crumbling crystals off his forearm.

“Preach,” agreed Ana, tensely rubbing the small side of her horns while her tail spat out the extra dental work.

Julianne massaged her face while Seb overlooked the damage to his luxurious attire, the jacket ruined by the snake head that emerged from his chest. “Aww, man…”

“You’re all lucky to be alive,” grunted Quicksilver, who adjusted his grip on his daughter and checked to ensure she was okay.

B.A.B.E. came to once their breathing regulated and the planet’s effects subsided. The nekomata wiped her bloodied lips. “Uugh… wha-where are we now..?”

“Kemono no haranouchi,” whimpered Chisana, rubbing her head while squirming to get out of her blood and bile-stained gi.

Zeloph hobbled over to Eclipsed, who recoiled slightly when he helped her to her feet. He said with pursed lips, “Are you alright?”

“I’m not dead,” she muttered, unsure what to make of the angelic alien after learning how this planet came to be in depth.

Viscera hissed as she fished for the round lodged in her chest, yanking it out while the vapors cleansed her wound. She sneered when the elderly stallion pressed his shotgun to her face.

“Got another one with your name on it if you try anything funny,” he warned coldly.

(Violence will not be necessary,) a feminine voice resonated around the lit exterior of the UFO, putting everyone on high alert.

Zeloph demanded, “What is this thing? Who are you!? Show yourself!!”

(Patience, Zeloph. You need immediate medical attention. Come. Your friends and I are waiting.)

“H-huh?”

A circular platform, highlighted by a bright ring, lowered from the ceiling and hovered near the ground. Cautiously, he and his comrades climbed over. And once everyone was aboard, it elevated them to the main bridge, where people, both familiar and not, sat around a small pool.

“What magnificence!” Julianne exclaimed, marveling at the colorful, shimmering lights.

Arron whistled. “Yeah, this place is pretty lit!”

“Whoever the interior designer was, they clearly needed a bigger paycheck,” commented Seb.

“Sister!”

A voice called that Wispy and Eclipsed immediately recognized. Her eyes widened with delight to find Kitsune of the Nine-Tails making her way toward them.

“K-Kitsune?!” The cat woman practically bawled as she flung herself into the vixen’s arms. “You’re here!”

Kitsune allowed a rare smile to grace her snout as she nuzzled the sobbing nekomata. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you again, sister… and you, Eclipsed Heart!”

“The band’s finally back together,” the pop icon sniffled before noticing the kunoichi missing one of her tails. “Oh no, what happened?!”

“I lost one in battle,” hastily explained to Kitsune.

Chisana rushed past them, crying out, “ANIKI!!”

“Chisana!” Yelped a flashily dressed vulpine man who scooped the tanuki girl into his arms, hugging her tightly into his chest.

“Nidoto aenai to omotta!” she whined.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he told her before sniffing her and recoiling with disgust. “Yugh! You reek! When’s the last time you’ve bathed?”

Chisana gave a sheepish grin and snicker.

The fox bandit sighed as he turned to address the group with a gracious grin. “Thank you for keeping my sister out of harm’s way,” he said, bowing his head. “I am in your debt.”

Eclipsed beamed. “Likewise! Thank you for keeping Kitsune company.”

When she cleared her throat, a muted blush appeared on the vixen’s face. “Wispy, Eclipsed, meet Kyube. He’s helping me reconnect with my yokai roots through this harrowing journey.”

“Is that so,” Wispy said with a suspicious glint in her eye, forked tail whipping about. “And exactly how have you been helping my sister..?”

Kyube’s face heated as he insisted, “N-Nothing like that! We’re still covering the basics. But I believe she’ll blossom into the fox goddess she’s modeled after.”

Kitsune lightly tittered while pulling up her facial covering. Noticing this, the twin-tailed tigress pointed two fingers from her face to his, proclaiming, “I’ve got my eyes on you, twigs…”

The bandit gave an awkward chuckle when Kitsune said, “Nevermind that. There are systems on board that should be able to remove the toxins from your bodies.”

“Ah! Yes! Right this way,” Kyube directed, leading the bandmates and his sister towards the left wing where the infirmary was located.

“I think it’s nice Kitsune finally has someone she can be herself with,” Eclipsed playfully teased, earning a hiss from the nekomata assassin. Looking back to Zeloph and the others, she mustered a warm enough smile and waved at him as the translucent sliding doors closed.

Zell reciprocated with a slow wave back, though doubtful this meant they were back on friendly terms.

“Don’t stress about it, bro,” Ana said reassuringly. “If she can’t look past our ‘istory, she can kiss me fat ass! Aw versions of Cerise’re biased as shite!”

“Yo! Sunspot!”

Their attention was drawn to the familiar voice of Beatrix Belladonna as she, Sir Dion, and Bellatrix ran up to greet them. The wayward witch was about to offer a hug until her face fell when spotting the frail form of Shadow Scythe carried in Quicksilver’s arms. “… N-no..!”

Dion voiced his concerns. “What happened?”

“We weren’t strong enough ter defeat Mortis or ‘is goons,” the neon demon soured. “We managed ter make it off before the world collapsed, but not wifaht Edgie takin’ a grievous wound….”

Even the red-skinned demoness couldn’t hide her dismay. “Don’t tell me she’s..!”

“No,” reaffirmed Zeloph firmly, his shoulders slumped. “N-Not yet. We’ll save her...somehow.”

“Of course, we will!” Beatrix insisted. “We’ve been through worse than this. R-Right..?”

Quicksilver only offered a passing snort as he headed to the infirmary and reluctantly placed his daughter in a bed. Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse were resting in the chairs, as was the withered form of Midnight Blitzer, who lifted their heads with grim expressions.

“Whose that?” Lightning asked while comforting both her twin and the scientist-disgusted changeling Deinos.

“S-Shadow Scythe,” the blue pegasus said before briefly explaining his experience with a ruthless reaper who would eventually become a vital ally against the Vice Lords and the Burning King. He bitterly added, “Man, this bites…”

Bellatrix gently touched the seraphic angel, telling him, “I can see it in your eyes. Blaming yourself isn’t going to make her feel better…”

“I know,” lamented Zeloph, his gaze unbroken from the healing wing. “I just wish there was more I could do..!”

“She’ll pull through, lad,” assured Dion, patting his shoulder. “Shadow Scythe ain’t th’ kind ov lass tae lay down easily.”

Beatrix nodded and added, “There was a time I used to hate you, but you’ve both proven to be some of the noblest heroes I’ve ever known!”

“We’re here for you,” Bellatrix surmised with a sad smile.

“A-And me!” Demi-Trix chimed in.

“So are we,” Ana joined in, turning to her fellow demi-humans sternly. “Right..?”

Julianne smiled and said, “Absolutely!”

Arron hammered his fist into his chest. “I’ve got your back, twink.”

Seb said nothing but gave a nod of sincerity.

More tears welled from Zeloph’s cerulean eyes, and he hung his head in gratitude. “Thank you…”

“Aww, how sentimental,” A nasal voice slithered in their ears. Their eyes narrowed at Viscera, who ran a talon along the corner of her eyelids. She said with a fake sniffle, “I’m choking up with how sickeningly sweet this is~!”

Beatrix shuddered, conjuring her magical aura around her hands and horn. “I-Is that..!?”

“Aye!” Dion glowered, brandishing his claymore. “That’s the one who brought the Pundamilla Empire to its knees. That’s Viscera!”

The nephilim scoffed. “Oh, please. That entire kingdom had it coming when it relied on my predecessor’s tech. And if you think that’s bad, just imagine all the fun ways I can eradicate you fools. In fact, why don’t I show you~!”

Everyone took a defensive stance when the villainous vulture unfurled her dusty wings, spines vibrating, ready to take them all on… only for a levitating dagger to be held at her throat.

“None of that,” said a scruffy-looking unicorn who approached the vile one from behind. “There’s going to be no fighting on this ship. Them’s the rules, and they’ll be enforced.”

Viscera scowled, noting this was the third time she’d been apprehended. “How irksome!”

“Good work, Arcanum,” praised Bellatrix, who, with the assistance of Dion and Arron, directed the avian monstress towards a section that sealed her in a tube-like container. The nephilim was moved next to a similar one that held Autumn Equinox, a thestral marauder who proved too much of a loose cannon to be allowed free.

While the muscular bat mare attempted to punch and kick her way out, Viscera knocked her knuckles on the glass and conceded, realizing it was virtually indestructible. Nonetheless, Equinox yelled and cursed at them the whole time.

“You worthless sacks of shit! You can’t do this to me! Without me, the swarm would’ve done much worse!”

“Without you, I’d be able to get a good night’s sleep,” mused Bellatrix with a flick of her spaded tail.

“She can’t be trusted,” informed Deinos, who relied on a crutch to approach the reflective cells. “She’s a cold-hearted thief who’ll sell you out the moment it’s convenient. You let her go, and she’ll weasel back to Midnight’s world and conspire with Fiery Kickstart.”

Zeloph’s brow furrowed. “Another foe, I presume?”

“A terrible stallion in charge of the whole Crystal Empire,” answered Moonlight River, Midnight’s childhood friend and fellow cadet. Although judging by the look of disdain she gave the withered stallion passing by; they weren’t exactly close now. “After eradicating the changelings, he and Equinox plan to wipe out everything non-Equestrian to establish a new military republic. One where colts are born to be soldiers and mares forced into breeding camps.”

“Not unlike the Fall of Equestria,” added Beatrix, arms crossed beneath her bust.

Moonlight continued. “To do so, he wanted to have Midnight and a protoquen changeling named Marathyssa fornicate, passing his genes to create an army of hyper soldiers.”

“Gross!” Demi-Trix quivered. “Is that why he looks a dozen years older than he should be?!”

“No. That’s because Midnight allowed his baser instincts to dictate his actions,” the purplish gray batmare sneered. “He abandoned Cerise and me to selfishly preserve himself by fucking a baby into any female he can get his hands on.”

“Yeesh! Sounds loike somebody’s got it daahhhn bad,” Ana quipped. “Off ter’ orny jail wif ya, Middy~!”

“Please don’t patronize me, Mox,” the male pegasus groaned. “I know I messed things up. It’s because of me that both Cerise and Penumbra are missing…”

“Yeah, ’cause you’re a stupid himbo beta male who can’t think for himself,” Equinox berated cruelly.

Lightning Spark’s mane frizzled with anger. “You leave him alone! You’re the one who pushed him to follow his hyper instincts!”

“Not to mention attacking Moonlight, Kyube, and myself,” added Deinos. “War Bands have a terrible reputation for a reason. They’re no better than raiders, torturers, rapists, and-”

“Shut the fuck up,” Equinox spat on the tube, the spittle running down the clear interior. “As if you’re an innocent yourself! A mad scientist that infiltrated the Crystal Empire and tried to knock up Sparky here?” The mare in question shrank and blushed under her harsh words. “For all we know, you’re a double agent that’s helped stir up the war between ponies and changelings to claim the hives! So don’t pretend you know jack shit!”

Lightning closed the distance to the tube. “I trust Deinos, or whatever he calls himself! Don’t you get it? Chrysalis and this Cult of the Nemesis are the real threats! We have to put aside our differences and deal with them first!”

“Just so naïve and gullible like your idiot brother,” replied Equinox, who relaxed her tensed muscles, a flash of regret visible in one eye. She turned her back on them and muttered, “Just do me a favor and piss off already. Can’t stand the sight of your twat face anymore.”

The pegasus mare sighed and turned away, realizing that her comradery or friendship with the raider had long since been extinguished.

“She’s not worth it,” Moonlight insisted while pulling her aside.

“Bloody hell,” murmured Arcanum, observing Viscera with a disgruntled look. “I’ve seen some butt-ugly aliens in me life. But this overcooked turkey takes the case!”

“You’re not exactly easy on the eyes either, Folklore,” the fiendish avian said with a knowing grin. “Bloody Merry must have had shallow standards~.”

The drop of her name caused the erenn stallion to bash his fist against the glass, his glare sharp enough to pierce through one’s soul. He uttered with cold fury, “How the fuck do you know that?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” muttered Zeloph, matching with a narrow stare. “For someone who was only born moments ago, you know quite a lot.”

Viscera tittered. “I have a knack for reading people’s hearts. A talent, really. Call it my witch’s intuition!”

“W-Witch?!” Beatrix was flabbergasted, marching up to the container. “How dare you insult my title! You are no witch!”

“Oh, but I am,” she rebutted. “Varys stole a sample from you as part of my creation. Through that, I inherit your latent prowess for magic.” To demonstrate, she conjured an orb made from her ghastly aura, much to the unicorn mare’s discomfort.

“Nothing impressive now,” the villainous vulture continued to gloat. “But with enough time, I’ll arguably surpass you in potential alone. And combined with demi-human biology and some augmentations I decided to keep, I’ll eventually become the strongest creature in the multiverse!”

She slyly fluttered her eyes at the fallen one and sultrily added, “It’s not too late to join me, Zeloph. Together, nothing would come to match our power! Plus… with poor Atalanta sadly on her way out, you’ll need someone to carry your—”

“Keep her name out of your fucking mouth!!” Zell barked, eyes alight with vermillion flame.

Arcanum squeezed himself between the glass prison and the demi-human. “Easy, hot wings. I may not know anything about her, but I can tell what game she plays. And you do not want to be a piece on her board.”

The Glamorguis made a string of warbles and melodic beeps, which Bellatrix managed to pick up on during her short time inside the UFO. “We’ve been summoned. Let’s go before she gets under our skin…”

Zell inhaled deeply to cool off before following the red-skinned succubus and the warlock to the center of the bridge. Beatrix hesitated to follow, her eyes locked on Viscera behind that container. The nephilim’s smile sent a shiver up the witch’s spine. It was bad enough that this creature was not only a reincarnation of Varys, but the idea of them sharing DNA made her want to puke!

With a shudder, Beatrix turned on her heel and headed to where nearly everyone else gathered onboard, save for the prisoners and those in the infirmary. Quicksilver Bullet had volunteered to stay behind and look after the patients with Deinos, Kyube, and Kitsune.

The passengers onboard ceased their murmuring as the inner lights dimmed down for the arrival of the mother of all demons, who descended a staircase.

The demi-humans, plus Demi-Trix, were especially mesmerized by the dazzling beauty of the first woman, looking as if the statue from the monument had come to life and color. The underside of her wings and ears displayed a starry night sky; feathers dipped in gold and violet to display her nobility. And adorning each tip we’re eyes that matched the one in her horned halo.

When she reached the center of the hub, Bellatrix positioned herself by her side as she began introductions.

“I… am Layla,” she greeted with a firm yet ethereal tone. “You probably know me better by the myths around Lilith. And I can assure you, part of those tales are based on truth. All will be made clear and brought to light. For you… and my people.”

She walked towards the five demi-humans, smiling brightly at each one as she tenderly stroked the fallen one’s cheek.

“Oh, Zeloph,” the motherly succubus purred, affection written on her face. “So much like my darling Lucifer. From their unraveled beauty to their vigorous passion. It pains me to see your light tarnished by sorrow and grief. Rest assured. I will do everything I can to help you and your lover.”

“I-I… thank you, Lady Layla,” he said, astonished.

“No pleasantries necessary, dear~,” the primordial demoness giggled before moving to the rosy-haired nun. “Why Julianne! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a smile.”

“These are troubling times, M’Lady,” confessed the angelic songstress. “But once we’ve averted this calamity, I’ll be sure to spread joy worldwide once more!”

“That’s the spirit!” Next, she approached Arron. “You’ve certainly kept in shape since starting out. And your strength has only grown. Mmm, such muscles…~”

She reached out to feel them before the bulky demon pulled away uncomfortably. “W-whoa there, Milfimus Prime! I appreciate the admiration, but I don’t swing that way…”

Layla struggled to hold in her laughter. “‘Milfimus Prime?’ That’s the first time anyone’s called me that! Regardless, seeing diversity in men’s interest is nice.”

Then she looked down at Seb, who began sweating bullets when the demon matriarch frowned. “You’ve done many wicked things in the name of money, Sebastian. Can’t say you’re anyone’s favorite.”

“W-what can I say! When you’ve got nothing to lose, you sort of just stop caring what people think of you. Even the ones you do like…”

“Regardless, I always fancy a gambling man. So I encourage you to shuffle the deck until you find that winning hand. And who knows. If you play your cards right, you might get lucky with me one night~.”

Layla gave him a wink, which made him extremely hot under the collar, before finally reaching the neon demon.

“Ahh, and at last, we meet. My dear Analise!”

“Ehh?” The neon succubus shook her head. “Wanna ran that by me again, night mama? ’cause me name isn’t–”

“Anarchia. That was a cruel name Metatron made up to ridicule your existence,” revealed Layla. “Your birth name is Analise, given to you by the lilium, Jezebel. Your mother.”

“M-my mum!?” She turned her startled gaze to Zeloph, who shared in her surprise.

“Hold on,” Seb interrupted. “Pardon the intrusion, but I’ve heard that name before. Isn’t Jezebel that dame who married a noble, tricked him into worshiping a false god, then had thousands of prophets and followers massacred just to tarnish his reputation?”

The primordial woman nodded. “The very same. She was a popular succubus who regularly had flings with wealthy terrans. Quite the nasty temper, though.”

“… huh,” Ana considered, rubbing her chin. “I guess that could explain me deposition for violence. So is she, y’know… still ’round?”

“Yes,” confirmed Layla. “She’s out there...somewhere. Perhaps we’ll be able to find her someday once all this nonsense is behind us?”

“Yeah… I’d fin’ I’d loike that,” admitted the neon demon.

“Speaking of which!” Arcanum clapped his hands together to draw attention. “Glad to hear you all caught up with each other. But could you kindly get to the point? We’re on a tight schedule here!”

Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. “A little rude, don’t you think?”

“No, he’s right,” said Iclyn, who had thus far been hanging in the background. “The rest of existence continues to unravel as the minutes go by. Please spare us the theatrics and just tell us what demi-humans are.”

The voluptuous woman pursed her lips. “I understand your impatience, but this isn’t just for my sake. Nor theirs. I believe this will tie into a solution that may halt whatever is disrupting the ebb and flow of space and time. Still, I will try to keep things brief.”

Once everyone was in accordance, Layla began pacing back and forth, pondering where to begin. When she thought of a good starting point, she directly asked,

“No doubt you’ve heard the biblical tales about Adam and Eve?”

When her audience gave a collective nod, she proceeded. “When his first wife is mentioned, I’ve often been portrayed as a betrayer that refused to submit to my husband and became the mother of all demons. And while that remains true, the course of actions I took was never such. Adam and I were the first humans abducted by higher life forms that would be commonly known as angels. Where they came from remains unknown. Only that they traveled through the far reaches of space until stumbling upon a lonely little planet that just so happened to harbor life.”

“Aliens! I fuckin’ knew it!” Arcanum whispered triumphantly.

“Everything was primitive back then. All there was to understand was survival and hunger. If not for them, humanity would likely never have developed language, gained intelligence, or advanced as a dominant species. And it was all thanks to the clever ploy of the one who would be known as Metatron.”

Just hearing that name sent a wave of unease through the five.

Layla sucked in and released a heavy breath. “Of course, he saw us as misguided monkeys desperate to be controlled. So began the long list of experiments and lessons in how life should be lived. The birth of religion, the stories of god, the promise of heaven, the consequence of hell, the Ten Commandments, and labeling what was natural instinct as deadly sins. All sanctimonious lies the Divine Father spun to keep his grasp on the terrans and angels who followed him. The greatest fear tactic that would pass throughout history for millennia. Now accessible in every book labeled the bible. And even that would be tarnished by scholars and preachers who wanted to push their agendas.”

“So where did you fit in all this?” wondered Bellatrix.

The motherly succubus deepened her frown. “As told, I was arranged to marry Adam and sired his children in hopes of spreading Metatron’s influence to the newer generation. In truth, he was the worst of my husbands. That self-entitled prick... I saw through the bullshit and did everything I could to break free. That wouldn’t happen until I met Lucifer Morningstar, the only angel who saw past Metatron’s deception. He offered me freedom, and I offered him my body in exchange. Through our elopement, I was the first human to be transformed by divinity into the form you see now. The first demi-human. The first succubus. The first queen of hell.”

“Metatron was furious upon discovering this and cast us down, along with anyone who believed Lucifer. He would create my replacement, Eve, through Adam’s rib to continue with his ambitions. But my darling husband would not allow the lies to continue. In our new dominion, we formed a rebellion from the angels that fell with us and our offspring. The war between heaven and hell had begun, with the earth as its battlefield.”

Her hands balled into fists, recalling the memory. “It was an utter bloodbath. There were more terrans, angels, and demons slain than there were victories. My heart was filled with wrath back then, forced to watch my children get butchered and hunted by Metatron’s forces.”

Midnight was next to ask, “What was the outcome?”

“The war was ultimately decided by the battle between Lucifer and his brother Michael,” said Layla. “Contrary to belief, Michael deeply loved his brother and was heartbroken to learn of his ‘betrayal.’ He was valiant yet fiercely loyal to the Divine Father’s cause. I still remember his stoic visage cracking when he held his blade to Lucifer’s throat. And finally realizing where his arrogance brought him, Michael allowed himself to be slain with his own sword.”

Her eyes fell on the weapon in Zell’s hand. “The very sword you wield now.”

His eyes widened before they, too, stared into the prismatic steel that glimmered briefly with refracted light.

Layla continued. “With dying breath, Michael begged Lucifer to avenge their brethren and save mankind from Metatron’s evil. The last of his power and spirit was sealed into the crucible; its use permitted only by those with the most righteous hearts to wield it and slay the wicked.”

“So that’s how it became the Vorpal Blade,” Seb surmised.

“I’ll come to that,” reaffirmed the motherly demoness. “Crestfallen, Lucifer stuck the saber within solid stone, where it would remain unclaimed for eons until the legendary Arthur Pendragon would take it and dub it Excalibur. Throughout tales and fables, the artifact would take on many shapes that best suited its wielder to defeat whatever evil it challenged. The sword was forged with ancient material known as Orichalcum, the topaz-gold substance we often adorn. It’s also what the ophanim are made from, hence their indestructibility.”

Zeloph spoke up. “Wait. So what happened to Lucifer?”

Layla’s eyes welled up with sadness. “Truthfully, I don’t know. Aware that Metatron and his followers would forever hunt him down, Lucifer faked his own death with the sword right before he displaced it. I was the only one with who he concurred the truth. Last I saw, Lucifer took on a female form and disappeared to live amongst the humans. Haven’t heard anything about him or her since.”

“From there, I took a new husband, Asmodeus, and continued the battle on Lucifer’s behalf. Until Metatron stuck us down personally. As a result, I sealed myself in a piece of fiction within the Necronomicon, where I would remain dormant to passively regain my strength. Until now…”

Bellatrix lit up at this. “So… that’s where I came from.”

Layla smiled slightly. “That’s right. And through you, I could observe what had become of my people and descendants during that time. I would not have been able to come back if not for you. For that, you have my eternal thanks, Bellatrix Primadonna.”

“Well, I’ll be,” said Arcanum. “Religion was a conspiracy developed by aliens to put mankind in its place. And yet, it makes more sense than the bible itself! But what about the Necronomicon? How does it tie into all this?”

“Clearly, you haven’t been listening~!”

The room turned to Viscera, who was smiling from ear to ear. “Mikael’s Crucible was forged to destroy all forms of evil. And there is no artifact eviler than the Necronomicon.”

Bellatrix’s brows rose once she put two and two together. “Then that would mean...!”

“N-no!” Beatrix spoke up. “It’s not possible. She’s just lying!”

“She’s out of line, but the bird’s right,” Seb cuts in as he approaches Zeloph. “I’ve read everything there was to know about that sword. And each text supports the same theory. The crucible is fully capable of destroying the Necronomicon. Permanently.”

Zeloph studied the Vorpal Blade. “That… would be extremely helpful if it’s true.”

“But it’s not!” The unicorn witch insisted. “Believe me; I’ve tried to destroy that wretched book many times!”

“Beatrix,” came Iclyn’s chilly tone, adding tension to Beatrix’s shoulders. “I need you to be honest. Are you saying this because you know it can’t be destroyed? Or because you’re scared of having your connection to it severed…?”

The violet mare ground her teeth together while rubbing feverishly at her forearm before relenting, “I mean, obviously! If the Necronomicon goes, so would all my power and artifacts! My Prima Materia...” She clasped the eye-like jewel that held her cape together, imagining that it would fracture and shatter. “… the Demiurge…” Would it perish inside her? “… My immortality? And what about my magical prowess? Will I lose some of that, too? You have to understand; I need that power! In order to take on the Cult of the Nemesis! My mom—”

“Is already lost,” reminded the cyan doe. “You have to accept that, or else we will all pay the price!”

“Not like we haven’t already,” grunted Arcanum. “World’s falling apart; lives have been altered. It’s probably because of the Necronomicon that another anomaly is mucking around!”

“We can’t afford any more selfishness,” Moonlight added, glancing at Midnight. “Is your power and these adventures worth more than your friends? Your family!?”

“Of course not! But—”
“And would losing your immortality really be that bad?” Zeloph questioned, eyes holding contempt for the witch. “Someone once close to me said life shouldn’t be lived under unnecessary complications. You could have a normal life with Oona and Abadonna. Something most of us dream of having..!”

“Zeloph, please..!”

The false idol shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, Beatrix. But we have a chance to fix this. To do what’s right! And I’m taking it the minute I know where the Necronomicon is.”

“Ooh? Is that a fact?” Eyes returned to Viscera, who gave a throatful chuckle before stuffing her hand into her long sleeve. “Well then. I suppose it’s purely coincidence that I happen to have this in my possession~.”

Everyone in the auditorium gasped when the nephilim pulled the forbidden relic from her robes, the leathery flesh cover bound in stitches, concealing the pages with text and spells written in blood.

Zeloph clasped the Vorpal Blade, which vibrated and glowed with brilliant illumination at the book of shadows’ presence.

Beatrix was horrified. “How did you-?!”

“Mortis left this in Varys’ care to ensure no one else would find it,” elaborated Viscera smugly. “He would memorize every page, spell, and incantation it had to offer, hoping its contents would aid him in his quest for a biomechanical utopia. I retain his memories, so it’s not like I have any more use for it.”

Arcanum glowered. “You diabolical...!”

The Vice Lord knocked on the glass container, and the Glamorguis allowed a small section to open up for her to toss the evil tome onto the floor before revealing itself. Flashing a twisted smile at Zeloph, she beckoned, “Go ahead, dear. Destroy it~!”

The fallen one locked all his eyes on his former imprisonment, the Vorpal Blade trembling in his grasp. Blistering heat shot through his veins as his Onoma manifested.

While no one dared to oppose him, Ana voiced her concerns by calling out, “Zelly, wait! I kna you’re mad, but can we talk abaht this for wahn sec—”

But her request fell on deaf ears as Zeloph already flash stepped to the Necronomicon, saber raised at the mummified flesh cover, ready to tear all its contents to shreds… only for a jeweled rapier, wrapped in a black aura to intercept his slash.

All eyes were on Beatrix, who blocked Zeloph’s path to prevent the destruction of the Necronomicon. She wore a guilty expression, feeling the looks of shock and appalment at what her allies saw as an act of supreme selfishness. But no one was more taken with umbrage than the fallen one.

“… What are you doing?!” He demanded with as calm a voice as he could muster. “Get out of my way!”

“Not until I’ve dealt with the Cult of the Nemesis!” The witch pleaded. “I can’t take any chances with what’s at stake!”

“So you’ll risk our lives instead?! All the pain we’ve suffered, the sacrifices we made. And this is how you repay us?!

“Stop it; this isn’t fair!!”

“FAIR?!”

The enraged demi-human unleashed a wave of solar fire that blasted Beatrix to the ground. The violet unicorn yelped, blinded by the sudden brilliance that exploded across her eyes and interrupted her spell. Watery violet eyes stared at fiery vermillion orbs, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“YOU’RE NOT THE ONE WHO HAS TO WATCH EVERYTHING YOU LOVE GET TAKEN AWAY,” Zell shouted in blind fury, light and flames immolating his wings. “THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO LOSE THEIR HOMES! ATALANTA DOESN’T DESERVE TO DIE!! ALL OF THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOU, BEATRIX! YOU’RE KILLING US!!”

The whimpering witch was utterly petrified by her ex-lover’s scathing spiel, not even shaking when the angelic being lifted his multi-dimensional blade. Layla immediately soared in between them, catching the sword barehanded.

“Cease this at once!” the primordial woman commanded, willing herself and Zeloph away into her pocket dimension. Beatrix continued to lay still, chest rising and falling rapidly, trying hard not to have a panic attack.

Bellatrix and Dion quickly came to her side while the rest of the gathered remained stunned by Zeloph’s violent outburst.

Demi-Trix managed to ask, “Where did they go?”

“Layla’s Onoma,” answered the red-skinned succubus. “She’ll likely keep him detained until things have calmed down.”

The warrior ram gingerly stroked the witch’s head. “Lass..?”

“I-I didn’t mean to…” The unicorn witch babbled. “I-I just wanted… oh, what have I done?!”

A throaty titter drew their attention back to Viscera. “Poor Belladonna… struggling to have everything she wants while her friends deal with the outcome.”

A terrible grin stretched her visage as she twisted the knife further. “I wonder what Oona would say If she knew you chose your immortality instead of her and your unborn child~!”

Bellatrix snarled at the chortling demoness and snappily ordered, “Take the prisoners below level and get them out of sight! NOW!”

Arron and Seb acted hastily, moving the glass cells of Equinox and Viscera, the latter continuing to taunt, “Deny me all you’d like. But now, everyone knows who the real monster is!” Her cackles resonated throughout the bridge even after she was sent to the lower parts of the UFO.

“N-No...Abadonna… Oona...I would never! N-Never…” Beatrix tried to shake away both Zeloph’s and Viscera’s words. But she only sank further to her knees and cried into her hands while Dion stroked her back.

Whatever choice the witch made, it always seemed to be the wrong one! But she’d already lost so much due to the Necronomicon! Her father! Most of her world! Close friends! And now, possibly her mother, too? Why not use its power to amend the balance? She didn’t want to think all she’d sacrificed would be rendered pointless with the tome’s loss!

The others were at a loss for what to say or do. Iclyn’s usual icy demeanor softened. Midnight felt more guilty for adding pressure on his half-sister’s shoulders. Moonlight, Lightning Spark, and Deinos could not comfort either side, while Bellatrix and the other demi-humans kept silent.

Arcanum knelt to scoop up the Necronomicon, proclaiming, “I’ll hold onto it until we’ve made an official decision. While Zeloph had no right to take immediate action, It’s hard to say he isn’t justified. This thing needs to be burned. So that no one else may be tempted to use it…”

But the warlock could tell it had already worked its temptations on Beatrix, convincing her she needed it. Just to preserve its ruinous existence.

Emotionally driven flames flashed within the realm of Nyx, where Zeloph unleashed his full anguish over Atalanta’s impending death. Layla observed from a safe distance, the Vorpal Blade levitating by her side so he couldn’t escape.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” He screamed. “SHE CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!!”

“Not until you’ve exhausted your anger,” the primordial succubus firmly said. “Yes, Beatrix should be held accountable for her actions. But this is not the path to justice! Your wrath alone could have incinerated the entire ship!”

The mother of all demons had taken notice of the erratic behavior of Zeloph’s Onoma. How intense and brightly it burned the more the fallen one’s sanity declined. It was a burden for any user of fire-based magic, but this seemed especially dangerous.

Layla suspected this was what Viscera sought. Not only to throw the wayward witch into more turmoil but to coax out the destructive potential all demi-humans possessed.

Zeloph was on the verge of exaltation. And she needed to nurture him through it as any good mother should.

Her expression softened when she said, “I understand you’re in a lot of pain. But you know better than to take it out on others. Or have you fallen back into your old ways…?”

Layla’s statement cut through to him, his pupils dilating as he slammed his fist into the rippling water, shouting ‘NO!’ repeatedly.

Eventually, his Onoma died down as the sense of dread crept up in him at his own perceived helplessness. In truth, Beatrix’s actions were merely a fraction of the fury he felt. The real source was the hatred clinging to his heart like a parasite. Hatred of what his kind represented. Hatred of himself.

“NAAAUGHAHAAAAAAaaaa…”

Zeloph cried into the night-filled void, his anger smoldered by sorrow and shame for having lost himself to his dark thoughts. In a fit of madness, he’d almost struck down Beatrix and nearly proved Eclipsed Heart right in fearing him. Perhaps Layla was right to assume some villainous part of him had refused to die.

“I wanted so desperately to believe I was worth redemption,” he lamented, voice hoarse from sobbing. “But I haven’t changed at all! I’ve failed Atalanta… Just like I failed Jonn…”

Layla took slow steps, reflecting liquid splashing under her bare feet as she came behind the defeated seraph and knelt down to touch his shoulder.

“No, Zeloph,” her silky voice said soothingly. “You’ve pushed yourself too hard. Despite your slip-up, you’re far from the judicator Metatron molded you to be. If he were here, Jonn would be proud to see how far you’ve come to defend those you cherish.”

“But I played right into Mortis’ hands! If I hadn’t… A-Atalanta wouldn’t have to—”

“Shhhhhhh… She would not want you to falter like this. You must be strong for her, Zeloph. She needs you.”

Sniveling, Zeloph allowed himself to surrender into the primordial’s embrace, his senses filled by the warmth of her soft flesh and exotic perfume.

Layla began to hum. Then her humming became a song more beautiful than even the one Julianne and Eclipsed had blessed his ears with. The motherly succubus sang about the bond between lovers and that they would always be one no matter what trials they faced. It made him wonder if it represented his relationship… or perhaps her own.

Regardless, the fallen angel felt his tensed muscles relax, his cheeks dotted by tears. By the time the one formally known as Lilith finished, whatever anger remained was but embers, his soul rekindled and calm.

Wiping his eyes clean of tears, Zeloph whispered, “What must I do? How can I save her..?”

A chaste smile spread her painted lips while she brushed his locks. “It starts with acceptance. Being a demi-human doesn’t have to be treated like a curse. To help Atalanta, you must awaken the full extent of your latent abilities properly. Not through vengeful rage, but jubilant compassion!”

“You mean… become exalted?”

Layla nodded. “And I will guide you. Although the process required is rather… intimate.”

His eyebrow furrowed. “What do you mean..?”

The primordial demoness traced a nail over her cleavage that threatened to spill out of the cloth, concealing her impressive breasts. Nibbling her bottom lip, she admitted, “The highest form of jubilation is often through pleasure. Pleasure only a man and woman can experience together.”

Zell swallowed hard, his face blushing heavily. “…I-I have to make love to you?”

“Only if you want. I won’t ever refuse you~,” the mother of demons tittered playfully, subtly swaying her large tits. “But what I meant was you must drink from me.”

“Directly..?”

“Mhmm,” she confirmed. “This mother’s milk loses its potency if not taken directly from the source!”

“I… N-No! I couldn’t do that! I’m loyal to Atalanta! She would never-”

“I know. Normally, I’d ask for her consent, but given her current state, I doubt she would awaken in time.”

“… You’re right. I don’t have much time left with her,” Zeloph said bitterly. Sitting up from her lap, he turned to the night mother. “… is there truly no other way?”

She pursed her lips. “Not unless you want to become a mindless rampaging beast of fire and destruction like the Burning King.”

The false idol heaved a difficult breath. Any man would have instantly flung themselves to the mother of all demons without a second thought. Yet his lack of sexual interest in anyone outside Shadow Scythe gave him better restraint and focus. So to be asked to commit such an act with another woman repulsed him.

Yet the alternative proved even less desirable if Moonlight’s recent statements about Midnight were anything to go by.

“… I’ll consider it,” was his answer. “Later. Right now, I want to be by her side.”

“Understandable,” accepted Layla, who spirited them out of the realm of Nyx, where the other demi-humans (plus Bellatrix) had been waiting by a bar. The jellyfish-like organism prepared Arron an energy drink, to which he replied, “Thanks, little jelly dude… Oh shit, he’s back!”

Spotting that her brother had returned, Ana put her drink away to run up and hug him tightly. “Are you okay..?”

“I think so,” he said while gently hugging her back. Casting a wry glance at the others, Zell admitted, “What I did was… uncalled for.”

“Eh. I’d say it was a pretty reasonable reaction,” Seb said with a shrug, stirring his drink. “At least you didn’t turn this beast into a giant mobile frying pan!”

“At most, you owe my sister an apology for your outburst,” Bellatrix proposed with a neutral expression. “The Necronomicon’s fate is not yours to decide alone. But I won’t fault you, given what you’re going through. As well as what she chose to do…”

“Yeah…”

Julianne traced the rim of her glass. “If anyone is to be blamed for that confrontation, it’s Viscera.”

“Yeah! That f’ugly ass cunt stirred the whole shitpot,” spat Analise, turning to the mother of demons. “What’s ter be done abaht ‘er!?”

“She’ll likely cause more conflict,” noted the red-skinned woman.

Arron proclaimed. “Just say the word, and I’ll make chicken stripes outta that bird!”

“That won’t be necessary,” Layla declined. “I have the Glamorguis keeping her and Equinox monitored. Any unusual activities, and it’ll take care of them swiftly.”

“Bitchin’.”

Noticing Zeloph still seemed on edge, the card demon offered, “Hey… why don’t you come have a seat? I’ll buy you a round, tell you more about the crucible.”

The angelic demi gave a small smile. “I appreciate the thought, but I must get to the infirmary.”

“I get cha. Just know the offer stands.” His slime-green eyes shifted to Julianne, who smiled and petted his bandaged hand.

With a nod, Zeloph departed from the main bridge while Ana and Bellatrix retook their seats to converse with their company. The scarlet succubus, in particular, found this group a lot easier to chat with, given that her origins tied close with theirs.

Layla resumed watch over everyone onboard the saucer-shaped beast, silently hoping the fallen angel wouldn’t take too long to accept her proposal.

A clammy hand now covered the bones of Mortis Saltaire, reaching back up to obsessively stroke his cheek; half of the lich’s complexion healed. While the traitor’s soul bled out, more of his flesh returned.

The undead unicorn was mere steps away from looking like the stallion he once was. Danse Macabre.

However, his attention was more focused on the spacious chasm, filled with distorted madness and entropy before him. Where Shadow Scythe’s world once stood.

His followers, Triad, Penny Dreadful, and Andrei, looked around as well, bewildered as to why their master would summon them in this chaotic mess of scattered realities and perpetual darkness.

“Well, isn’t this place quite quaint!” Hooted the griffoness.

“Odd indeed,” observed the kitasan swordsman, his hair done up in a topknot for solidarity after they lost yet another comrade. “Why are we here, master? Should we not track down the betrayer’s remaining life force?”

“I already have,” affirmed Mortis. “Along with a mass amount of soul energy within a distant planet. One that can further help our cause. With the losses of Natural Selection, Quicksilver Bullet, and my hybrid scorpion army, I must replenish my forces and even the odds. Especially since the spell that ties me to the traitor could render me...vulnerable.”

He floated across the caves, swirling pixelated portals vanishing and reappearing through endless tunnels. “But first, I want to know who’s causing this cosmic disturbance. I sense a similar corruption in their soul that matches Beatrix.”

The mention of her nemesis’ name got Penny excited. “Ohohoho~! Another bloke who thinks they can bend time and space!”

“Precisely. Though they appear much more competent than Belladonna, I cannot allow the existence of someone who has defied their deaths on multiple occasions! The last representative of the soul reaper order must uphold this honor!”

They continued to glide around the liminal space until he found the portal he was looking for. An empty smile formed on his half-face as he reached with a semi-skeletal hand to access the shimmering vortex… only to pull back when a wave of black magic nearly blasted him.

Mortis hovered by his minions, conjuring his guillotine-style scythe. Penny and Triad raised their weapons while Andrei snarled threateningly as two hooded figures came out of the portal, adorned by blood-red robes with almond-shaped eye sigils etched in their clothes.

“Why do you bar my path,” the wraith demanded. “Whose side are you on?”

“I suggest you leave the way you came, soul reaper,” a gruff voice answered while making his approach. “Unless you and your legion want to return to your graves.”

Mortis froze when the cultist spoke, his reformed eye dilating.

“I know that voice… you… you’re..!!”

The robed figure chuckled and pulled back his long hood, revealing himself as an elderly cerulean ram, a large crest of white hair atop his skull between two large curved horns. Crimson eyes took in the almost terrified look the lich and his followers gave, a proud smile on his snout.

“Ahh. It fills my heart with great joy that even the dead tremble at the sight of me! Brings back memories of when I first brought Equestria to its knees~!”

Triad stepped forward, bewildered to see Mortis so shaken to the bone. “Master? You know this old goat.”

“Of course he does,” the ancient caprine mused. “I’m the one who planted the seeds that would bring about his undoing. Go ahead, Danse. Say my name…”

Mortis kept his deathly gaze on the ram before complying with his request.

“… the First Ruler of Equestria. The Father of Monsters. He… is Grogar!”

His smile widened.

“… You’re goddamn right~!”

Rest In Peace

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Mortis stared down with all the loathsome disdain he could muster at the tyrannical ram; hand clenched up with trembling fury. “It’s not possible,” he muttered mutedly. “The traitor slaughtered you the moment she saw fit. How are you alive and standing?! Unless you're another—”

“Look closer, soul reaper,” taunted Grogar. “And all may be revealed to you.”

“Master, I don’t understand,” Triad sharply whispered.

“Yeah, what’s that old coot saying?” Penny Dreadful added, her head tilted.

The half-formed warlock narrowed his eyes, using his soul sense to analyze the old ram. His dark aura was burning brightly, a lot more potent than when he last saw Grogar before his swift demise by Shadow Scythe’s hand.

Something felt off about his twisted spiritual pressure. It felt familiar, yet also unknown. It was as if they had never met but still knew each other.

His reformed eyes widened with realization. “As I suspected. You're… not the Grogar from my timeline!”

“That version of me was weak,” Grogar dryly stated. “As was the withered fool who failed to overcome his grand-nephew and lineage. So I absorbed what remained of their essence and, in turn, made myself the strongest ‘Grogar’ in existence!”

“That explains this sense of anaemia,” declared Mortis. “You’ve become a living paradox!”

The elderly cervine smiled smugly. “That’s correct. Courtesy of the one you seek~.”

Deathly power flared in the wraith’s guillotine-edged scythe, accusingly pointing a bony digit at the ram. “The nature of your existence violates sacred law! And by the name of the old order of reapers, I now sentence you and your benefactor to death!”

Grogar chuckled while cracking his neck, his curved horns alight with black and yellow magic. “You are free to try. But don’t be surprised when you wake up back in the afterlife to meet the stares of your pathetic order!”

“No one disrespects my master!” warned Triad, whose magic blade emitted a metallic ring when drawn, emitting ethereal energies ghostly around the inscribed katana. His eyes narrowed, the tattoos of the tiger and dragon on his back roaring to life as he faced down the ancient ram.

His brown eyes looked to the other robed figure who moved to aid Grogar’s side. The red robes and a hood concealed their appearance, hand wielding a strange purple bident made from a four-horned ram’s skull.

“Step off, hussie,” chirped Penny Dreadful, her bladed parasol leveling. “Don’t much like you!”

“Th’ feelin’ is mutual,” the apprentice said with a whispery female voice, almost inaudible, while raising her staff. However, Grogar blocked their path with a shake of his head and a ferocious smile.

“Stand down. No need to waste your talents on these miserable thralls,” he assured while activating his Onoma, Typhon, and summoned his own set of familiars.

The first creature was a disembodied man's head that screamed and glided on leathery bay wings through the air, trailed by intestines that hung from its neck.

Triad balked. “That’s… a-a penanggalan!” His mind flashed back to the syndicate that raised and experimented on him...about how he'd been trapped naked beneath a tube, like Kitsune and Wispy, submerged in liquids, where mutants like these were synthesized…

“Ooooh, pluck my feathers and fuck me raw!” Penny murmured when facing the second beast, an oversized centipede with agonized faces underside each segment of its lengthy body. They openly wailed, which echoed around the cavernous walls.

Immediately, the undead minions swept into battle against the duo of monsters while their masters watched from the sidelines, the murkiness of Mortis Saltaire's eyes locked on the old ram.

Unfortunately, the last fight weakened the reaper's followers, and they struggled to keep pace. Triad’s katana and his familiars could barely reach the winged cryptid, who unleashed a piercing shriek that forced the kitasan stallion to his knees, hands covering his ears.

The noise discombobulated the griffoness, allowing the giant anthropoid to wrap around her, translucent liquid dripping down its mandibles and venom claws.

“Penny!” Triad cried, preparing to leap at the centipede when the penanggalan coiled its entrails around his neck and torso, tightly strangling the swordsman.

Andrei snarled and dove in to support them by blasting cones of hellish flames at Grogar… only for his apprentice to intercept by summoning a beast of their own. When the smoke settled, an eel-faced hydra rose from the mystical circle, organs, and bones visible beneath translucent scales. It ensnared the three-headed drake with its multitude of necks, biting down to inject Andrei with high voltage.

The monstrous dragon bellowed, spouting fireballs in every direction. Some landed on and scorched his own allies, while Mortis erected a magical barrier to protect himself from the resulting explosions that shook the cave and caused sediment to tumble.

Triad's dragon and tiger faded and returned to the tattoos on his back; the kitasan swordsman smashed into a wall as his blade slipped from his grasp. Likewise, Penny squawked and tumbled from the air in a burst of feathers. Andrei smoked and shivered, barely able to remain on his clawed feet after the attack.

Grogar glared at his fellow spell caster. “I thought I told you to stand down!”

“Ah did not come here tae waste time, old man,” the apprentice countered before suddenly casting vibrant blue ethereal chains from the ground that seized Mortis, who was about to decapitate the distracted ram.

The reaper writhed in his spiritual shackles, casting his glare on the hooded cultist… only to then recognize the enormous magical prowess her soul possessed, far exceeding the father of monsters!

Aware they were severely outmatched, Mortis attempted to flood his undead minions with darkness and restore their replenished strength.

“Ah think not, ye half-made cadaver,” scoffed the apprentice, who pulled an ancient-looking bell from around her neck. The artifact drew out all of the reaper’s black magic with a single ring until he was utterly sapped. Mortis wheezed in his spiritual bonds, the power that reanimated him and his minions siphoned away. And with it, the clammy pockets of flesh on his bone receded.

“No… I refuse to fade...!” He outstretched a bony hand at the crimson cultist before him.

The apprentice brandished their bident to finish him off until Grogar raised a hand to halt her actions. “Not yet,” he told her. “He only needs to be put back into his place. There’s still work to be done.”

“What…?”

The ancient caprine knelt to the lich’s level. “If not for the ‘anomaly,’ you would have never awoken to carry out your vengeance. None of what you’ve accomplished would have been made possible without them. You owe them your purpose!”

Mortis’ bones rattled, livid by such implausible claims. Yet he struggled to recollect the details of his first night free from his tomb. Was that not when Beatrix discovered him many moons ago..?

“… And what is… my ‘purpose’..?”

“You’ve already handled the ‘betrayer’ perfectly,” Grogar said with slight praise. “But the Fallen One and his accursed kind must be dealt with immediately. Head to Sacratera with your legion, deprive the planet’s energy, and eliminate the demi-humans! Those wretched abominations were never meant to be!”

Mortis stayed silent momentarily before casting his dwindling sight on the hooded acolyte, fixated with the Bewitching Bell collared on her neck. “… And my power… you’ll return it to me..?”

“Only if ye agree tae complete yer task,” the apprentice assured.

After seconds of uninterrupted silence, the lich complied. “… Very well.”

Grogar turned to his apprentice and nodded. She rang the bell again, the soundwave resonating through the skeletal unicorn and renewing him with his stolen dark power. The pieces of skin that had manifested across portions of his being replenished, and Mortis shivered, shaken by the chill air of the cave momentarily.

When he fully recovered, Mortis reopened the ghastly, sickly green portal with a casual wave. “Come,” he ordered his followers. Wryly, Triad and Penny rose, supporting one another. At the same time, Andrei shot their attackers a final defiant glance before he followed them through the rift, which Mortis closed behind them, and whisked away to recover before their final confrontation with Zeloph and his allies.

The tired caprine heaved a sigh while recalling his monsters to which they came. “Well, that could have gone better.”

His apprentice did the same before questioning, “Is it wise tae allow such a vengeful wraith tae freely haunt th’ mortal plane? He will come after us again.”

Grogar brushed her concerns aside, stating, “You worry too much. Omen foresaw this exchange. And if his premonition is to be believed, Mortis and his undead flunkies will unlikely survive their next encounter.”

“An’ should he succeed?”

“Heh. By the time Mortis even attempts to seek out the Cult of the Nemesis, it will already be too late. Now come along, dear. There is much left to prepare!”

The olden ram phased through the portal behind them while the lone cultist held the Bewitching Bell fondly.

“Aye… fur Walpurgisnacht approaches.”

She soon hopped after Grogar through the crimson vortex, the Isles of Parras on the other side, where the rest of their faction of robe-wearing cultists awaited further instruction on the hillside. Quietly watching the Jakobson Clan and their war efforts below...

Translucent doors slid apart for Beatrix Belladonna to enter, activating a locking system to confine herself into the room. The witch waved her hand to banish all her clothing while she threw herself onto a bed. Violet eyes, full of heavy sorrow, stared at the ceiling, thoughts muddled by all that recently happened.

Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush, dead. Beatrix had never known them too well, but they had helped her out on a few adventures. Her mother, Trixie, was also supposedly dead, yet she refused to believe it so quickly.

She called her by the affectionate name of ‘Little Hellspawn.’ It just had to be her!

But her woes didn’t end there, aware of the disappearances of Cerise Silhouette and White Shadow Penumbra, the former practically her niece. She'd seen her grow from a budding baby to a blossoming young woman and couldn't bear telling her parents she'd lost her. That she'd failed her after she'd sworn to look after her!

But it wasn’t just the daughter of darkness Beatrix had let down. Midnight was in dire condition, thanks to her recklessly wishing for a half-brother. This resulted in his hyper-stallionism and separation from his twin, Lightning Spark, and their lost mother, Snowy Blizzard.

Then there was her heated confrontation with the fallen one, Zeloph. She could still feel the immense flames the angelic alien emitted when he lashed out with the wrath of a thousand suns—blaming her for the inevitable death of his beloved, her once nemesis, Shadow Scythe.

And as much as the witchy mare wanted to refute Zeloph’s claims, Beatrix knew he was completely justified. Especially after the stunt she pulled in protecting the Necronomicon, the source of her taboo power…and her continual misery.

Tears continued to streak her face, all her comrades and family meeting her with a look of anger or disbelief. Viscera’s cruel laughter echoed in her mind, pointing out how she selfishly chose her livelihood over Oona and Abadonna’s safety.

Is that why Omen had stopped coming to her in sleep? Did he realize what a lost cause the wayward witch was and quietly took things into his own hands?

“Maybe it’s better this way,” she wept softly. “Oona… Abby… they deserve someone who can protect them…love them… someone more than me…”

Beatrix allowed deep despair to pull her into slumber, where not even her dreams would offer comfort.

“Omnia culpa tua…

Omnia culpa tua…

Omnia culpa tua…”

The crunching of grass underfoot caused her eyes to flutter open, finding herself dragged through a fog-layered forest by the familiar hooded crimson robes. Hollow trees towered around them, stretching into the vast emptiness above. She heard them repeat a mantra.

“Omnia culpa tua…

Omnia culpa tua…

Omnia culpa tua…”

Her vision faded briefly until she awoke to the Cult of the Nemesis encircling her. Not even the flickering candlelight unveiled the darkness holding their faces.

Groggily, Beatrix tried to get up, only to discover she was tied to a pentagram-shaped table, spread eagle, and completely naked, unable to budge her tethered wrists and ankles. She tried to conjure magic… but nothing happened. Her confusion quickly became fear once one cultist stepped forward, wielding something that made her heart skip a beat.

A violet unicorn horn, freshly severed and conformed into a wand.

“N-no… No, No, NOOOO!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!”

“The power of the Necronomicon was never yours to wield, witch,” the cultist declared. “And trust me; you won’t need magic for what we have in store for you.”

The dehorned mare flailed uselessly in her bounds while the cultists raised their voices to strengthen their seance in an ancient tongue.

“Omnia culpa tua!

Omnia culpa tua!

Omnia culpa tua!”

Hooded men and women parted to allow unspeakably grotesque and nightmarish monsters into their fold, forming a line up before the mare's thick, parted thighs.

Beatrix sucked in panic breaths and looked over her heaving tits and stiff nipples to see a glowing demonic tattoo highlighting where her womb was—a magical mark of enhanced fertility that ensured insemination.

Dread and goosebumps tickled bare flesh, down to her puffy pussy lips, as the first malformed monstrosity dug its claws into her meaty legs, her eyes dilating at the veiny twin behemoths erecting out its sheathes, its tips left to pulsate and drool.

“N-n-no, wait! I don’t want—naaahh~!!”

Its elongated tongue darted out, wriggling over the mare’s exposed asshole and slit with an audible slurp as it lubed her up, its monstrous cocks pulsating and dripping. Beatrix whined when it pressed the flared tips against her marehood and rectum before sharply crying out as muscled hips pushed forward. The beast added its bellowing roar to the choir of ecstasy and drove in and out of her defenseless love tunnel and bowels.

Slobber splashed over the violet mare’s bouncing breasts as it pummeled her snatch womb deep, imprints of its cock forming in her tummy. Its lengthy tongue repeatedly circled one titty it pinched while it lapped at the erect nub that topped the saliva-soaked breast.

Tears welled in Beatrix’s eyes from the overwhelming pain and pleasure, her cries and pleas unanswered while the cult performed their ritual. While she couldn't understand the chanting words, they encouraged the brute to breed her. She mewled when it doubled its thrusting speed until howling alongside her, burying its shafts to the hilt to unleash an obscene amount of sloppy semen deep inside her insides.

This triggered the witch’s own wet, messy, masochistic orgasm, feeling the monster’s vile spunk flood the walls of her womb, and inflate her belly with its virile load as the tattoo on her tummy shimmered, excess spurting out her ruined holes as they clenched down hard.

Spurred by the show, robes fell open to reveal naked bodies underneath. Men and women stroked, groped, and pleasured themselves to her humiliation.

The panting beast extracted himself out of her overstretched holes with a wet pop, pale sludge running from her cunt and ass while more violent cumshots and squirts were fired by cultists and the monster across her sweaty face, belly, and tits. Instantly, another cryptid in the lineup took place, lining its mucus-laced tentacle-like appendages to her gushing and gaping, cum-soaked marehood and anus. Beatrix wailed as the intruding wriggling tendrils claimed her orifices and took its turn to sate its mating instinct.

This is what she was made for. Destined to be a breeding sow for all monsters and abominations. Her supple flesh designed to pleasure them and nurture their young. The sickest part of her couldn’t help but get aroused by such a twisted fate; her violated fuckholes moistening to help the tentacle beast finish using them.

It filled her. Dropped her like a slab of meat it finally lost all interest in.

The next hell beast snapped the binds around the hornless witch mare’s ankles, seizing her legs to lift her wide rump higher and ram its bulbous, knotted, and barbed cocks into her stuffed asshole and vagina. Beatrix arched her back and belted a shrilly shriek of unwanted bliss, squirting over its hefty breeding sack as it ruthlessly raped her in a mating press.

Monster juice pooled under her jiggling ass, which clapped each time her cunt and asshole were skewered by brutish, violent thrusts. Her eyes crossed, face ablaze by the mind-numbing elations.

“St-stop! It hurts! I-I can’t take anymore..!!” begged Beatrix, fighting how her body responded to this harsh abuse. She clenched her teeth when the creature roared, packing more seed into fertile soil before yanking its dicks out. A waterfall of splooge torrenting from her winking, grasping private parts, supple body caked in salt, sweat, and drool. Not to mention semen and feminine lubricant.

The violet mare cast her watery gaze on the onlooking cultists and sobbed, “N-no more! Please, make it stop!!”

All at once, the chanting stopped. The cultist that took her horn stood at the head of the procession and spoke with a recognizable female voice.

“This will never stop, my little hellspawn. Not while you exist to torment us!”

Beatrix’s face fell when the robbed figure lifted her hood, revealing the face of Trixie Lulamoon. More lines of salty wetness stained her cheek. “M-mom..?!”

“What other solution can save all the worlds you've tainted?” The older unicorn proclaimed. “This is the least you deserve for all the destruction you caused. To live out the rest of your days as a monster slut. Their submissive broodmare. And even then, you’ll find your penance pleasurable, won’t you?”

“Mother, no! There has to be…” She then spotted her mother's sidekicks around her. “Lavender! Fuchsia! I’m so sorry you-!”

“Killed us? Too late for worthless apologies, you little skank!” Lavender spouted, an angry smile stretching the unicorn's snout. “Let's baptize the bitch!”

“I like that idea,” replied Fuchsia with a slow, sensuous lick of her lips. Left nude by their open robes like all the onlookers, they buried themselves knuckle-deep in their pussies and fiercely masturbated with a series of wet, messy schlicks.

Trixie and other mob members took a different approach, brandishing a ceremonial knife and jabbing it into her chest to cut herself open. Then, she jammed her hand into the fresh wound and fished out her beating heart, squeezing the pulsating organ to shower her daughter in blood.

“Mom, please—ughak!” Beatrix sputtered, trying not to choke on the crimson liquid that spattered her.

“I wish I'd never given birth to you,” declared Trixie scornfully. “If I had known the calamity you would wreak, I would have prevented your conception in the womb!”

The distraught witch couldn’t even reply as another abomination invaded her uterus and bowels. Its roar was met by something between a sob and whorish squeal as it tore up her well-used fuckholes. All while Trixie, Lavender, and Fuschia painted her face and body in blood splats and feminine lubrication.

Violet eyes rolled into Beatrix's skull as the creature dumped its load of baby batter into her overstuffed foal room and tailhole. When the afterglow of her forced orgasm faded, her vision refocused on the cultists as, one by one, they unhooded to show the visages of her friends and loved ones. Each spouted a similar refrain while squeezing their life essence over the brutalized mare.

“You were supposed to look after me,” accused Cerise, soulful eyes full of tears and hate. “But on every adventure, I get captured or possessed! It’s all your fault!”

“Because of you, I've lost myself to darkness,” added Penumbra by his sister's side. “It’s all your fault!”

Moon Hammer bellowed with rage that made the minotaur quake. “I lost everything! My wives, my children, my people! Gone, and it’s all your fault!”

“When will you ever consider the consequences of your actions?” spat Iclyn with a sneer. “Oona deserved better than you! This is all your fault!”

“Look what you did to me,” muttered Midnight with self-pity.

“To me,” said Moonlight, who rubbed her false wings.

“To us,” joined Lightning Spark with a hollow stare. “This is all your fault!”

“It's your fault Varys came to our world and experimented on us,” exclaimed Wispy Willow, hands on her hips.

“And turned us into killers,” stated Kitsune, her eyes narrowed.

“All you do is blunder about and make stuff worse,” said Arcanum Folklore with a dismissive shake of his head. “It’s no wonder this mess is your fault…”

“PLEASE, I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T—guuhfk!!” Beatrix yelled in an attempt to shut them out before a small gremlin-like creature shoved its fat cock down her throat. It came with three others that scratched and grabbed whatever asset they could use to relieve themselves. One squeezed her blood and cum caked titties together to hump her cleavage, suckling and chewing on her nipples. The one using her mouth facefucked her hard, pulling on her mane like reigns while its swollen balls slapped her chin. The last two tittering ghouls plunged her leaky holes with their tapered dicks; all lost in a feral frenzy.

All the witch could do was muffle and gurgle her cries while accepting her punishment. Without her, the Cult of the Nemesis wouldn't have risen back up from the ashes. Without her, the whole universe would not be reduced to a void!

As the goblins continued to defile and gangbang Beatrix into submission, her allies continued their derision.

"We were justified in our betrayal," mused Esmeralda with a cocky smirk.

"Since you always blunder about," stated Camellia, snout drawn behind her mask.

“We should have known better than to help a disappointment,” observed Foal Bearer.

“We should have known better than to serve a disgrace,” quipped Wet Nurse.

“I shouldn’t have left the castle,” said a regretful Bellatrix. “At least then I would have been with someone I love…”

“At least you have someone to love,” seethed Zeloph. “Mine has to die because of your selfishness…”

“I have to die because of your weakness…,” lamented Shadow Scythe.

“Yer the bloomin' lowest of the la, Beatrix,” Moxxi chimed in.

And collectively, they restated, “And it’s all your fault!”

Beatrix struggled to ignore them, aware she couldn’t be responsible for everything that happened. Yet the words pierced into her heart like well-honed sabers. The agony of failure greatly outweighed the pleasure she felt from being these monsters' fucktoys. Hot spunk was forced down her gullet and orifices, spraying her blood-drenched tits and insides when the spent creatures withdrew from a thoroughly ravaged lay.

The violet mare coughed and vomited residue, her voice hoarse from yelling and crying loudly.

“My tribe is in ruins!” snarled Ebony Ivory.

“An' soon, mine will be, too,” sneered Dion.

“Because you’re never there for us when we need you!” scolded Rheneas.

“Always on another fun adventure,” accused Ashen Dunes. “Oblivious to the corpses she leaves in her wake.”

“Ignorantly living her make-believe fantasy of being a noble heroine,” ridiculed Layla. “But we know the truth, don’t we?”

“You’re no hero,” proclaimed Demi-Trix, whose army of scorched plushies nodded with her. “Just a stupid child who refuses to grow up and take responsibility!”

“STOP IT. THAT'S ENOUGH!!” Beatrix shouted. “NONE OF THIS IS REAL!!”

One cultist who hadn’t removed their hood climbed onto the ritual table the witch mare was bound to, looming over her tainted body. And Beatrix's heart sunk more than ever when they lifted their hood, staring into the scornful visage of her beloved mentor. “O-Oona…!!”

“Where were ye?” The azure sheep said with utter contempt. “Mah clan is at war! Mah life… Abadonna’s life is at stake! Why didn’t ye drop e'erythin' an' come fur me? Ah thought ye loved me!!”

“I do!” the witch babbled profusely. “I do love you! A-and little Abby!”

“Then why aren’t ye here!?” Oona wailed, bitter tears staining her round cheeks. “Why am Ah tae suffer this burden alone?!”

“Oona, please! I can’t allow the Cult of the Nemesis—”

“SILENCE!” belted the shamaness. “A’ve had enough ov yer excuses! Mah father an' Iclyn were right about ye! Ye’ve wounded mah faith fur th' last time! Open up yer eyes, Ceane Oga! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!”

“All your fault..!

All your fault..!

All your fault..!”

Beatrix whimpered as everyone gathered began reciting the words like a mantra, their forms steadily lifting into the air. Their colors and faces gradually faded, eyes and mouths replaced by black distortion and scribbles. She couldn’t stop the accusations when Oona straddled her hips and coiled her hands around her neck like a tight noose.

“Aahk! Oona... P-Please,” the witch gasped through shallow breaths. “I-I can’t… br-breathe..!”

“Wallow an' die then. We’re better off wit'out ye, whore,” Oona muttered coldly through clenched teeth.

“All your fault!

All your fault!

All your fault!”

Beatrix’s vision began to blur, the world around her spiraling into delirium. So overwhelmed by the ongoing chants and the hands choking the life out of her, the unicorn mare barely registered that one last monster had penetrated her swollen and abused genitals. Oona obscured her view of the creature, only able to make out the silhouette of branches protruding behind her skull. When she spoke once more, a deeper voice layered beneath hers.

“ꁲ꒒꒒. ꐞꂦꐇꌅ. ꄞꁲꐇ꒒ꋖ.”

A continuous scream escaped Beatrix's lips, snapped back to awareness when she was slapped across the cheek. She rubbed the red mark on her face and gazed up at Iclyn, who was gripping her shoulder while lowering her open palm.

“Took you long enough,” the cyan deer grunted and released her grasp on the startled witch. By her side were Bellatrix and Dion, who wore concerned looks on their faces.

“Ye alright, lass?” The burly ram asked.

“Partially,” admitted Beatrix. “H-how did you-?”

“We heard your screaming, and I overrode the lock,” explained Bellatrix. “Well, less of a 'scream' at first, and more of a…”

The violet mare felt her face redden, using her magic to conceal her nakedness with a sheet.

“Good grief. Even in your worst dreams, you’re still salacious,” Iclyn said, albeit more teasing than malicious. “Does your depravity know no boundaries, hussy?”

“Oi, lay off her!” Dion butted in. “She’s already been through enough as is.”

“Hard to take your earnestness seriously when you’re looking to get your dick wet,” jabbed the succubus, noting his stiff erection poking through his black fleece.

The warrior caprine chose to ignore them and shift focus on the troubled witch, his crimson eyes softening. “Moanin' wasn’t th' only sound ye were makin', sweetin'. Ye were sobbin' up a storm, spouting on an' on ‘bout how it was ‘all yer fault.’”

Beatrix cringed at the sound of those three words, sliding up to tuck her knees into her chest. “Y-yeah, it was… horrible, to say the least.” That horrible chant still rang between her ears, the vision of Oona strangling her fresh in her mind.

“Ye don’t have tae talk about it,” reassured Dion. “We’re just glad that ye’re safe.”

“Looks like the stress is finally wearing you down,” surmised Iclyn.

“We were taking a tour around the ship,” informed Bellatrix. “Why don’t you come with us? It’ll help get your mind off that bad dream.”

“That does sound lovely… Thanks, but maybe another time,” Beatrix said with a sad smile. “There’s something I need to do.”

With a wave, she reclothed herself and gently pushed her sister and friends aside to leave the room. Dion, Bellatrix, and Iclyn gave bewildered glances but didn't push the witch on it and resumed browsing the UFO's vast, serpentine interiors.

Heeled boots clicked through the curved hallway as Beatrix passed the bathing room. Sliding doors opened while Eclipsed Heart poked her head out to see the unaware unicorn walk away.

The pop princess pursed her snout while drying off and putting on her sparkly attire. The scene of Beatrix and Zeloph played in her head on a loop while she traversed the maze of marked corridors.

Eclipsed was torn between their hardships and her own grievances. Both of them had good intentions, she knew that...but she'd also seen the side of Zeloph that was responsible for the thousands dead in Cerise's world. Then there was Beatrix, darkness to his light, whose carelessness indirectly caused many disasters across the multiverse.

It was because of the witch’s thoughtless, subconscious wishes, brought on by loneliness, that birthed Eclipsed Heart into existence within the Cyberverse. A youthful pop idol without an actual past or parents to call her own. An alternative to Cerise Silhouette. A shadow of the mare.

Her pink eyes watered. “They've both hurt me,” she murmured. “Not intentionally, but… does it really matter?”

Not wanting this feeling to fester, Eclipsed sought out her bandmates in B.A.B.E. for support and advice. She checked each virtual reality chamber down one sector before her attention drew to the music from one.

“Eureka!”

She skated into the room where Wispy, Kitsune, Kyube, and Chisana put on a small concert. Together, they performed an eastern-style song on stage in the middle of serene woodlands of pink trees that filled the pristine air with fluttery cherry blossoms.

Spotting the marveling princess, the nekomata waved her hand and greeted, “There you are, Princess Butterbuns! Glad you could join us~!”

Eclipsed eyes turned saucers as she twirled around to take in the elegant scenery. “It's so pretty!”

“Pft! You think any landscape puked in pink is pretty,” teased Wispy with a roll of her eyes.

“Well, excuse me!” She planted hands on her hips and wrinkled her nose, tickled by a stray cherry blossom that almost made her sneeze before she held it in. “Also, starting a practice session without me? Rude!”

“Hey, not our fault you were busy,” said Wispy, adjusting her scarlet cheongsam under the strap of her bass. “You were missing out! Foxy here's got talent on the woodwinds!”

She gestured to the male vulpine, who snickered before raising his shakuhachi flute to his snout. “I often use the time between heists to practice. Of course, making time on dangerous roads full of infected changelings and fanatics like Fiery was hard!”

Chisana paused the banging of her drums and shot him a cheeky grin. “Anata to Kitsune ga issho ni utsukushī ongaku o tsukuru no o kiku no ga machi kiremasen~!”

This sly remark caused Kyube to blow a sour note and Wispy to hiss in irritation. Kitsune offered a meek smile adorned by a silk kimono; her shamisen clutched her bosom.

“Thank you,” she offered a polite bow. “Join us, please. The fresh scents and breeze here have helped ease the pain.” She kept her tails tucked behind her, a constant reminder that she'd lost one in the last battle. “Though I detect something is vexing you. Care to share with us?”

Eclipsed removed her skates and sat on the grass between them. “Yeah… it’s about Beatrix and Zeloph. I know their hearts are in the right place, but...what if they've made everything worse? I can’t trust them to make sound decisions anymore!”

“True that,” said Wispy. “We almost died when hot wings brought us here.”

“Shikashi, kare wa kūki ga yūdokudearu koto o shiranakatta hazudesu!” Argued the tanuki girl.

“Okay, but now he’s got Seb and Arron for company. They're a couple of loose cannons, and that's coming from me!” She laughed to herself.

“Keep in mind Zell is in a severe state of grief,” noted Kitsune, frowning. “His lover is on death’s edge. One can’t possibly expect sound judgment with heavy sorrows clouding his mind.” She thought back to her last exchange with the demi-human, how calm and considerate he was before the Vorpal Blade transported him away. “It would be unfair to uphold his past against him when he’s trying his best to change.”

Eclipsed sulked. “Y-yeah, but—”

“You should define someone not by who or what they are, but who they want to be,” proposed Kyube. “I was born to inherit my clan’s ruthless legacy one day, where plenty of yokai would suffer tremendously. I did not want this and chose the life of a bandit. And while there will always be people who will see me only as a thief or a demon fox, I have people who know me as more than that.” He paused to rub Chisana on the head.

“I can sense that both Beatrix and Zell yearn for inner peace. To do that, they must accept who they are wholeheartedly, warts and all. And that won’t ever happen if they are around people blinded by their previous actions…”

“… I-I never thought of it that way,” admitted the pop princess with a sulk. “By holding onto their past crimes, I’m only making the problem worse.”

Kyube nodded. “Thus continues the cycle of violence. Where there is no happiness or peace.”

“Many have done something horrible out of anger, desperation, or survival,” surmised Kitsune. “Not everything can or should be forgiven. But by looking past yourself, you will find closure and understanding in everything and everyone around you. That is the way to enlightenment.”

“Since when did you start believing in Taoism?” asked Wispy skeptically.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘started.’ More like… It’s been a part of me all this time, and only now am I discovering what I’d been missing.” She glanced at her missing tail fondly.

“So then what do you suggest I do?” asked Eclipsed Heart. “I don’t want to hate Zell, Beatrix, or anyone…”

“Let’s offer them our cooperation,” the kunoichi suggested. “It’s as Seb said. We don’t have to like them to get along. This way, we can keep them honest and on track. And should he or Arron slip back to their old ways, we will neutralize them swiftly.”

“That… sounds good; I like that plan!” Eclipsed beamed, feeling as if boulders were lifted off her shoulders. “You always know the right thing to say, Kit! Thank you so much!”

“Hehe. She could put even the wisest of sages to shame,” teased Kyube, which made Kitsune blush and look away while Wispy shot him a suspicious glare. He caught a stray cherry blossom petal in his palm and showed it to her. “They say Sakura symbolizes a woman’s nobility and mystique, as well as life’s beginning, end, and renewal. I can’t think of a more fitting name for you. Should you abandon the alias of ‘Kitsune of the Nine Tails’?”

“That was merely a code name the syndicate used to label me. Sakura…” she shyly said, her rosy face half-hidden by her silky rust-colored mane. “It’s a common name, but… I may consider it.”

“Hey! Don’t be giving my sister weird names, bandit!” warned Wispy, who side-eyed Kyube.

Chisana giggled and bounced on her heels while she smacked her drum a few times. Despite the uncertainty written across her nekomata bandmate’s features, Eclipsed felt her heart swell knowing Kitsune finally found someone else she could adequately connect with!

“Finding one’s true name is quite fulfilling,” came the voice of Layla, who stepped into the virtual landscape. “I should know; I’ve had many to choose from~!”

“Lady Night,” acknowledged the pop star with deference to her, still a bit uneasy by the demi-human’s divine presence. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“There is something I’d like to show you,” beckoned the mother of demons. “If you’ll come with me.”

Reluctantly, their musical instruments were put away when the four fell into line and followed the motherly succubus out of a virtual recreation room.

Layla led the attendees into an area labeled as the ‘training deck,’ its spacious white walls covered in grids. Already there was Lightning Spark hard at work, her electromancy on full display as she challenged herself to better channel her Onoma. Noticeably, her physique had started to fill out now that she wasn’t malnourished appropriately, her sculpted bosom and butt slightly jiggling within the neon fabrics of her Wonderbolt-style costume.

‘Guess I was blessed with mom’s assets after all,’ Lightning said internally, pausing to rub the suppleness of her firm rump, soft fat over lean muscles. The other hand clapped the pendant around her neck, recalling brief memories of Snowy Blizzard before the changelings abducted them. Shaking that aside, she reminded herself, “I must stay focused! Gotta train hard to master this Onoma!”

Taking to the air once more, the pegasus mare concentrated on conducting electricity from her wings, wild sparks popping across her fur and feathers, which stood on end. Her audience observed as the room flashed with blue light as Lightning Spark built a current that tickled her entirely to control and redirect it at will.

She pictured a Mi-Go changeling, raised her hand, and shouted a war cry as she zapped the virtual projection with a crackling electrical blue beam. The air filled with a burning smell while her ears flicked at the whooshing sound.

“Woohoo! I did it! YES!” She pumped a fist. “I'll master this in no time! Then Equinox won't be able to treat me like a shrimp!” Bolstered by a newly found confidence, not to mention a need to prove herself, she increased the voltage. Currents flowed through her fully extended plumage, spiky mane, and tail raised amidst the vibrations she emitted. The electricity tickled her until she was wrapped entirely in currents of yellow and blue bolts that encircled her.

Lightning released it all at once...and shouted when she conjured too much power beyond her level of control. Stray lightning bolts crashed across the grids, rocked the interior, and left small blackened holes that sizzled and steamed.

That’s when she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room, spotting five people below her. “Oh, crap! WATCH OUT!!”

While B.A.B.E. and the bandits ducked and covered, Layla unfurled her wingspan and summoned a pale glowing shield around herself and those behind her. The scattered bolt bounced off and pierced a scorched hole through the ship, the Glamorguis pulsing in discomfort.

It looked like a violent storm had torn through the room by the time it was over. Lightning Spark floated down once she managed to disenchant her Onoma.

“Are you okay?! I-I'm so sorry! I didn’t mean to—”

“Glad to see you're enjoying the facilities,” Layla assured with a titter, dropping her magical barrier while the others eased up.

Lightning was thankful no one got hurt. And that her costume was insulated. Otherwise, no doubt she'd be showing off her goods to everyone in the room!

She surveyed the extensive damage done and bit into her bottom lip. “I don't have any money, so I can't pay for repairs, but I'll make it up to you somehow! Promise!”

Layla held a hand up to her face and laughed. “Not to worry, my dear. Pallium has recovered from worse injuries. Observe!” With one hand on a wide hip, her other hand clicked her fingers. The blackened, damaged portions of the ship instantaneously regenerated before their eyes, fleshy-like liquids bubbling to fill in the holes and then hardening into place.

“Whoa! That looked like biotech,” observed Wispy.

“That’s exactly right,” confirmed Layla. “The Glamorguis are perfect hybrids composed of technology and biomaterial, melded together by ancient magic. It can heal even the most severe wounds. If Varys were still alive, I'd imagine he would want one for himself.”

Kitsune scowled. “Technically, he’s already made one through his successor. The Nephilim, Viscera, correct?”

The midnight queen shared the vixen’s frown and said, “I suppose that is also true. Coupled with her intellect, she's dangerous if not handled carefully…”

“Not to mention her cellmate, Equinox,” Kyube added, arms tucked to his chest. “I worry that putting such an opportunistic brute with a conspiring corrupter will lead to something much worse. You saw how easily she turned Zeloph and Beatrix against each other!”

“Yeah,” muttered Eclipsed, averting her gaze. “Not even Seb was that malicious. And I can’t stand that asshat!”

“I understand your concerns,” acknowledged Layla. “But the Glamorguis has them on constant surveillance. The moment it detects suspicious activity, they will be sent directly into its digestive system.”

Lightning wiped her brow with a sigh. “Well, that's good to know.” She then shifted focus to the pop princess, smiling and waving. “You must be Eclipsed Heart! Nice to meet you! You’re nearly identical to my brother’s wife, Cerise!”

“So I’ve heard,” said Eclipsed, returning her smile. “A pleasure to meet you, too!”

Wipsy looked around the gridded room with swaying tails. “I’mma take a guess and say you brought us here to whip our butts in shape?”

Layla nodded. “In truth, we could return to Midnight’s world in no time at all. But let's take things slow, as not everyone has settled. After all, this could be the last time we can take it easy for a while, depending on how the crisis plays out. So please, indulge yourselves like this is your own home!” Her pale yellow and violet eyes found Kitsune’s orbs. “Do you remember what I said?”

“I do,” replied the fox woman, her fingers pressed to a wall. Her eyes closed when she focused; the bland, industrial surroundings warped around them until they appeared to be back in the Cyberverse. “It's exactly like-”

“-the virtual reality programs back in our world!” Wispy flashed her teeth with a grin. They were back on neon-lit streets, a puddle left to reflect the signs above that beamed advertisements to them. Not only that, her studded crimson catsuit now adorned her peach-shaped curves. “What do you think, Butterbuns?”

A wistful smile lit the diva’s face. “It's pretty convincing; I have to admit. But it only makes me miss everyone else even more. Especially Bass… If only there was a way-”

“-you could contact him?” There was a twinkle in Layla's eye. “Hmm… does anyone have a phone I may borrow?”

“Ō!” The little raccoon dog fished inside her large sack before finding the compact heart-shaped device Eclipsed gave her and handed it over.

“Excellent! One moment please.”

After a few adjustments, the piece of tech that had been reduced to little more than a hunk of plastic and metal whirred back to life when it started. The primordial woman gave the phone back to Eclipsed, who felt her heart almost skip a beat. “U-Unbelievable! It almost looks brand new! You even managed to get me a signal across dimensions! C-can I...?”

“Of course,” replied Layla with a subdued laugh. “Perhaps you'd like some privacy?”

Wispy butted her way into the pop idol's side. “No way! And miss all the juicy details? Good thing this phone was useless when you handed it to Chisana!” She covered the raccoon's ears and winked with a leer. “Wouldn't want her to see you and Bass' steamy sex video when he popped that sweet cherry~!”

“Watashi wa kodomode wa arimasen!” The tanuki girl complained.

“WISPY!” Eclipsed blushed from head to toe, overwhelmed by a sudden desire to run, hide, and crawl away to die. “WILL O' WISP!” She punched her bassist in the arm, her snout drawn in a fierce sneer.

“Heeey, I was only teasing you, girl! And you know I hate my stupid codename,” Wispy said with a hiss as she rubbed her arm. “Yeesh, princess. It’s not like you to hit below the belt like that!”

“Serves you right with the constant 'Princess Butterbuns' cracks! You make me sound fat!”

They stared down at each other, hands planted on their hips, a rare moment of drawn-out tension between the band members. Kitsune stride forward, always the voice of reason whenever her bandmates butt heads.

“Quit it, you two! Before I—”

Thankfully, the moment was interrupted by Mezzo Soprano’s face appearing on screen. The mother of Sixth Measure and President of the Capital had a hardened expression that quickly softened upon seeing her son’s girlfriend. “Eclipsed? Is that really you?!”

“Mom…uh, I mean Mezzo!! Yeah, it’s me!”

“Oh, thank the stars, you’re alright.” A relieved smile lit the siren’s face. “Boys! Come quick!!”

Almost immediately, three handsome faces popped into view, each gasping with delight.

“Holy shit, they’re alive!!” Alto exclaimed.

“Heeeey~!!” Called out Tenor.

The eldest brother beamed brightly. “Eclipsed!!”

“Bass!” Eclipsed cried, her heart doing somersaults. “You have no idea how much I miss you right now!!”

“Miss you too, babe,” chuckled the lead singer. “Y-You too, Wispy! Kitsune! Where the heck are you?”

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” quipped the cat woman.

“I’ll believe anything at this point,” Mezzo said. “There’s been a global crisis since you and the demi-humans disappeared.”

“Crazy ass storm has been going on non-stop,” added Alto.

“Buildings and landscapes keep disappearing and reappearing,” said Tenor. “It’s like the whole city’s being glitched!”

“Oh no! The storms have already reached the Cyberverse?!”

The mayor arched an eyebrow. “So it’s been happening elsewhere as well.”

“It’s a cataclysmic event that will wipe out everything,” answered Layla, taking a step forward.

Tenor backed away. “Whoa! Another demi-human!?”

“Bruh, she’s got huge fucking titties—aauugh!!”

Alto held his slapped cheek while his mother rolled her eyes. “I taught you better manners than that… anyway, you are?”

“Layla. Mother of all demons, Matriarch of the Lilim. You can say I’m a prominent figure for the demi-humans.”

“Charmed. And how many of your kind are there?”

“Not counting myself? Six. This includes the three that came to your world.”

“That would be Arron, Seb, and Zeloph, I presume.”

When Layla gave the nod, Mezzo continued. “I see… I hate to bring this up, but should any of them dare return to the Cyberverse, expect them to be apprehended by military force.”

The pop star’s smile dropped. “W-what?!”

“I can understand the hostilities against Arron and Seb,” cut in Kitsune. “But why Zeloph? Surely, he didn’t break any laws during his brief time there...?”

“No, he did not,” confirmed the siren mayor. “But it wasn’t until he showed up that this cosmic squall began. Since then, the general public has blamed Zeloph and others like him. And as mayor, I have a responsibility to ensure the safety of my city. Henceforth, any demi-human spotted here will be brought into custody by any means necessary.”

Eclipsed was appalled. “B-But that’s not fair! He didn’t do this; it was an—”

“I don’t like it any more than you,” said Bass. “He kept those two demon heads at bay and prevented major collateral damage. He’s a hero in my book!”

“But that cancel culture for you,” scoffed Alto. “There’s always assholes who want to run your name in the ground and will stoke the fires of mob mentality to do it.”

“It's human nature to fear the unknown,” Layla said uneasily. “It pains me to hear this, but I will respect your decision and ensure my kindred stay away from your area. At least, for the time being.”

“It’s nothing personal,” assured Mezzo. “But we’ve got other problems to deal with.”

Lightning Spark tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

Bass pursed his lips. “S.L.U.T. formed a search party with the Komodo gang despite our protests. I’d do the same if I didn’t know you’d cross dimensions! Unfortunately, Carrion, Ruth, and Obrya all vanished when the storm hit us. We're not sure where they've been teleported. Satellites couldn’t find a trace of them.”

Mezzo continued for him. “We’d hoped they were with you, but the lack of their presence on your end tells me otherwise.”

Eclipsed's frown deepened. “This isn’t good. We haven't seen them anywhere!”

“We’ll find them,” reassured Layla, a hand on the pop princess' shoulder. “Count on it. Until then, you’ll need to prepare for the upcoming battle ahead of us. Here, I have something to help you fight more evenly with your companions.”

The pop icon reluctantly nodded, not wanting to be torn from her boyfriend so soon. But she waved and kissed goodbye before handing the phone to her bandmates so they could get Mezzo and Sixth Measure up to speed.

“This is Kyube and Chisana,” the vixen said, introducing the yokai bandits. “They’ve been helping us rediscover our yokai roots since our cybernetics stopped working outside the cyberverse.”

“Greetings!” The male vulpine said with a wave.

“Kon'nichiwa~!” The tanuki girl beamed.

“Salutations!”

“Hello there!”

“Oh, sweet, another fox! Does that mean Kitsune and you are—”

“Gimme!” said Wispy, who snatched up the phone with a saucy grin. “Oh, Alto~!” She winked at the male siren that now took up most of the screen.

“H-hey,” the middle brother said with a flustered face. “Damn, it’s great to see you again!”

“Good boy~! And maybe I've missed you too. A little. Though it’s quite hot here. I've been training so hard~...” A lie since she hadn't even started yet. But the nekomata couldn’t help but tease by unzipping her catsuit, drawing it between her breasts that almost toppled out with a bounce, barely contained zipper over her exposed tummy to stop above her mound to tantalize one of her old boy toys.

Eclipsed rolled her eyes and waited for Layla to finish enchanting her roller skates. Once she could put them back on, she raced around on a virtualized block, a hot pink streak trailing her motions through the streets. “These are a lot faster! And handle much better!”

“That's not all,” assured Layla. “Kitsune offered a great suggestion. Try moving up one of the walls!”

The pop princess glided towards one of the buildings to discover her skates clung to its surface. She could stick to it at will like she'd seen the kunoichi do numerous times. She then launched herself off on instinct, able to propel herself across the air in small boosts in a trail of neon.

“W-Wow!” She tumbled like an acrobat, deftly landing on her skates with a balletic bow. “Thank you so much!”

Kyube and Chisana clapped from the sidelines.

“Not bad,” praised Lightning Spark. “This place has got some incredibly tall buildings! Perfect for aerial combat!”

“Then why don’t you train with us?” The fox bandit suggested as he sidled up behind Kitsune, stroked the vixen's mane, and felt her momentarily tense up before her lithe muscles relaxed under his touch.

Eclipsed nodded, the virtual 'Cyberverse' a perfect battlefield to hone their skills in this chaotic urban labyrinth. "Let's do this!"

Layla took a step back, and after farewells were made to Mezzo Soprano and Sixth Measure for the moment, she took the phone and stuffed it between her massive bust to keep it safe while everyone present started to spar playfully.

Soon it wasn't far removed from one of B.A.B.E.’s flashier concerts, heavy with theatrics and acrobatics to keep them sharp before the musicians-turned-vigilantes would roam the late-night streets until early in the morning and fight the crime wave that constantly tore across their city. That was until Mezzo Soprano ousted President Spike and took over as mayor to establish a better government.

Thankfully, Layla's Glamorguis provided almost anything its passengers could wish for since wherever their hostess traveled, she had picked up more advanced technology and magic across different dimensions. Due to her ancient lifespan, her travels put even Beatrix to shame, and the mother of demons carried herself with an aura of forbidden wisdom and knowledge.

Layla watched them play as they trained with a smile while a neon light show played across her features.

The see-through sliding doors parted as Zeloph entered the infirmary. His heart heaved at the sight of Shadow Scythe, bedridden with IV tubes attached to her arms. A monitor rhythmically bleeped, her heart rate slow but stable. Quicksilver lay in a chair beside the bed, a slight rise and fall of his chest signifying he was merely asleep.

But it was who sat on the other side that made the fallen angel’s brows furrow. Beatrix lifted her head, almost spooked by his presence, before relaxing.

“H-hey…”

“Hey.”

Zell huffed uneasily and leaned against the wall across from the witch, arms folded to his chest. “I’m surprised you’re here.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she responded. “She’s my friend too; believe it or not, I feel responsible for this. I know there’s been plenty of bad blood between us, but… I want to think we’re mostly past that. We wouldn't have beaten the 'Burning King' and his Vice Lords without you two. And… I’m sorry for behaving so rashly. I shouldn’t have done that...”

“… I shouldn’t have either,” he admitted, head hung low. “I’m sorry I took my anger out on you. You didn’t deserve it.”

There was a moment of silence between them, their eyes on the unicorn reaper that helped solidify their alliance. When an imprisoned Zeloph had refused to partner up with Beatrix and her friends, Atalanta had stepped up, determined to make amends for past sins.

Another deep inhale, and he asked, “Level with me. What's the reason you don’t want the Necronomicon destroyed?”

“It's complicated,” confessed the witch, snout scrunched. “I-I acted impulsively, on instinct! I did it because I was scared! Scared of all the responsibility! Because there are many people, I want to protect and don't want to let down! Because I… because I don't want to die!”

She hid her face under the brim of her hat, squeezing her palms tightly. “If the Necronomicon is destroyed, I'll lose more than just my immortality. The Demiurge, the Prima Materia, my powers… it’ll all be gone! And without them, I’m nothing…”

His cerulean gaze softened. “… You want my honest opinion?”

“Not really, but go for it.”

“If you’re nothing without that book, you shouldn’t have its magic.”

Beatrix soured. “I didn’t ask to be born by it!”

Zell shrugged. “And I didn’t ask to be a demi-human, yet where we are. Not once did I want to acknowledge the divine blood that flows through my veins. Now… it seems it’s the only way to save the people I care about. But even then, I never needed it to do what’s right.”

He lifted himself off the wall to approach the violet mare. “And I believe you don’t need the Necronomicon to be a powerful witch. Plus, immortality is overrated! Watching time flow around you while you stay the same? Gah! Thinking about it drives me nuts!”

“I-I see your point, but… I like how I look now! I don’t want that to change if I start aging again.”

“You’ll get over it,” assured Zeloph. “But what frightens you more? Growing old and gray with Oona or watching her wither away alone?”

“… Ohh.”

“Didn’t consider that, huh? Life and death aren’t opposites. Both depend on each other to maintain a natural balance. And neither is intentionally cruel…” He paused to stare at his resting sweetheart. “… even when it feels that way.”

“But what about the Cult of the Nemesis?” Beatrix asked. “I thought I'd finally finished them all off, but here they are, back in a new incarnation! Why? Probably because this other 'anomaly' resurrected them as a fear tactic! They've pushed me into a corner! Like those Eldritch invaders that destroyed Cerise's world, the cult will follow me across dimensions! I’ve already caused Oona so much grief!”

“You don't know that for sure—”

“The 'anomaly' can help them cross! And even if they couldn't follow, you want me to leave Midnight's world to its awful fate? Can't you see it's an impossible choice?! Damned if I do, damned if I don't!” Beatrix clenched her teeth.

“So what if they do?”

She glanced up at him with watery eyes. “Huh?"

“Consider the other possibility,” said Zeloph. “Leave for the Lost World. Say the cult follows you. That’s one less threat for our comrades to deal with in Midnight’s world. I have a sneaking suspicion this 'anomaly' wants to distract us and keep everyone on edge and off balance. It’s not just a fear tactic, Beatrix. They want to divide and conquer! It's what I would have done if I was still villainous.”

The witch rubbed her chin between her fingers, considering the notion as her former flame continued. “Point is, you can't afford to play the game by their rules. It’s how fiends like Varys or Viscera thrive.”

“But then I'll be putting Oona and Abadonna in more danger! Not to mention her friends and family!”

“They’re already in danger,” the angelic demi pointed out. “The Isle of Parras is getting ready to go to war with the Sovereign Witch and what’s left of the Vice Lords. But that doesn’t matter because nowhere will be safe when the multiverse ends!”

Zell firmly gripped her bare shoulders to drive his point home, staring intensely into her eyes. “Time is precious, Beatrix. If you don’t return now, you might never see them again. Is that something you’re willing to risk..?”

Beatrix’s lip quivered, trembling in her ex-lover's grasp before she flung her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. “No, you’re right! I have to go back. They need me. I need them!”

Zeloph returned the embrace, patting her shoulder. “I think that’s the right decision. And if it helps, after I’ve dealt with Mortis, I'll help you even the odds.”

The witch pulled away to wipe her cheeks and snout, sniffling, “T-Thank you…” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Quicksilver begin to stir awake. “I better go and give you guys some space. Don’t want to take up any more of your limited time. Take care of yourself, Zell.”

Beatrix parted with a kiss to his cheek and exited the infirmary as the elderly stallion stretched his tired limbs, pale blue eyes finding his would-be son-in-law’s. “You look like shit,” he chuckled dryly.

“Could say the same about you, old timer,” retorted Zell, noting how Quicksilver’s movements visibly slowed, dust and particles unraveling from his physical body. A reminder that the sands of time were running out for the famed huntsmen.

He chuckled and coughed. “Aaagh… Spent too much black blood trying to keep this corpse going in the last battle. Went all-out for Atalanta's sake. Reckon I’ve got a few more minutes, at most.”

“I wish there was some way I could—”

His mustache stretched with his smile once he shook his head. “Listen to me, son. I don’t regret it. Not if it helped you and my daughter.”

After placing a long kiss on the reaper mare’s forehead, Quicksilver hobbled over to where Beatrix sat, allowing Zell to sit closer to Shadow Scythe. “Heh. Nice and warm on the tush. All I’ve been feeling now is cold in this damned shell.”

He glanced at the couple, watching the kindly demi-human massage the unicorn’s knuckles with his thumbs, which brought a big old grin to his face. “Heh. Y’know, when I look at you and Atalanta, It brings me back to my golden days at the academy. Where I used to court her mother, Quiver Bolt. Or rather… she approached me first. Took my research into cryptids seriously when most people called me a kook behind my back.”

Zeloph listened intently while the old stallion reminisced about their history. When he and Quiver Bolt went into the wilds as hunters and discovered that the fictional Jabberwocky was real. He also told him about the various weapons he'd collected over the years, which would eventually include the 'Vorpal Blade.'

“That’s enough of this old dog’s tales,” coughed Quicksilver. “The truth is… I approve of you, Zeloph. Where I thought it was impossible, you managed to bring the best out of Atalanta. And I’m glad I could finally see my little girl shine.”

A solitary tear streaked across his weathered face. With a soft exhale, he asked, “Could you… Humor an old man's final request?”

Zeloph briefly looked away, smoothing Atalanta's white locks from her face. “Of course.”

“If she comes out this alive… promise me you’ll take care of my daughter. Look after her. And love her with all your heart.”

“I-I mean, that goes without question. Why such a…”

Zeloph’s question died in his throat when he looked back up to find Quicksilver no longer sitting there. He bolted from his seat, his face fell, and his breath hitched.

Dirt and dust piled on the chair, spilling down onto the floor.

A short distance away, at another part of the main lobby, gathered most of the demi-humans to blow off steam after their little training session. A small radio played noir jazz to lighten the mood. The pot was composed of playing chips, fuzzy handcuffs, a dagger with a crimson skull hilt, a gold-plated championship belt, and a feathered hat.

Julianne was tasked with being both the moderator and dealer, being the least likely out of her peers to cheat or hand out handicaps. After shuffling the deck, she tossed each player five new cards to start the next round.

Ana pouted upon looking over her hand and growled in frustration. “Y’all 're plainer than vanilla,” the demoness complained. “C’mon, let’s spice it up wif sum strip poker!”

“Keep it in your panties, thot,” grunted Arron. "Trying to concentrate!"

“'mph! Jokes on you! I never wear knickers!”

“Didn’t ask. Anyway, I’ve got a good hand this round! That pot’s gonna be mine~!”

“I hope you realize that saying ‘you’ve got a good hand’ isn’t as convincing as the first four fucking times you said it,” Seb said with slight annoyance.

“It’s all part of the mind games, Sebby boi,” the burly demon answered with a cheeky grin… which quickly diminished as he nervously reviewed his hand.

“That requires a brain first,” snarked Bellatrix, who left Iclyn and Dion to join these unlikely companions in their delightful game of gambling and banter.

“Hey, I ain’t dumb! I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!”

The neon demon cheekily retorted, “Oh, is that why your breaf smells loike arse~?”

Arron slammed the table. “Shut your cockhole!”

“You make it too easy for them, dear,” the rosy-haired nun admitted, failing to suppress a giggle.

“Grrrrrn!”

“Hey, hey! Cool it, muscles,” the card demon encouraged. “No one's saying you're the dumbest person alive… just be cautious when that poor bastard bites the dust, is all~.”

While the three demons continued to laugh at the wrestler’s expense, Demi-Trix fluttered in with a tray of freshly made margaritas and liquor. The miniature mare watched as Ana and Bellatrix folded while Seb and Arron went head to head. The crafty gambler had a pair of aces, which would have won him the pot if Arron hadn’t had…

“What! Two’s and three’s?! D’oh, son of a bitch!!”

“Ha! And the crowd goes wild,” boasted Arron, cupping his hands to make a falsetto cheer before scooping his spoils with one big arm. “Who's the dumbass now~?”

Taking a deep inhale to recompose himself, the pinstriped devil said, “Y’know, I could say something mean and nasty to you, but I’ll be the bigger man here…”

“Ohh. Well, hey! Props to you for being a—”

“Is something I would say if I were a bigger man. Choke on the deepest part of my shaft, you fuckwit!”

“—annnnd there it is.”

Seb cast his glare on the tittering tulpa. “Oh, you think it’s funny? A man’s pride is squashed by a brick wall on legs, and you’re laughing!”

“Maybe next time, you should invest in a bigger bandana to hide that fat mouth~!” Demi-Trix teased.

“… Heh! Alright, pipsqueak. I’ll give you that one.”

“Another round?” Asked Julianne.

Each contestant nodded and handed their cards to the angelic demi to be reshuffled.

Seb sighed with contentment while easing into his chair. “This brings me back to one of the best wagers I ever took. Had a job in the little western part of the Cyberverse. After collecting my bounty, the sheriff and I played an intense game of Texas Hold ‘Em until chips and coins were no longer cutting it.”

“So what did you win,” Bellatrix asked with mild interest and leaned on her chin as her spade-tip tail reached under the table and traded a card with Ana's flytrap. “His highest paying courtesan?”

“Too easy,” huffed Seb. “I won me the county’s most prized possession. A Union Pacific Big Boy!”

The table gazed at the gambling demon with perplexity, to which he clarified, “… It’s a big ass steam engine. See?”

He held up one of his capture cards that depicted the iron behemoth on twenty sets of wheels and steam spouting out the funnel, gaining a collective ‘ooh~.’

The she-devil’s skepticism deepened. “Why did you want that? What use would you possibly have for a coal-reliant machine that can’t run without rails?!”

“The same reason one gets an oversized manor with too many rooms and insufficient people?”

“… touché.” She'd planned to fill them out, of course…until Esmeralda and Camellia betrayed her. Just like the manor itself and Alma had, after the Vice Lord had promised Oona would be safe.

“Plus, trains are just cool by design. Don’t need a real reason other than that.”

“Boys will be boys,” mused Ana, as she and Bellatrix played 'footsie' with their tails, another card traded on the sly.

Seb chuckled behind his bandana. “Say, didn't you mention someone won a sea vessel of sorts?”

“Ashen Dunes,” elaborated Bellatrix as she studied her new hand of cards with narrow eyes. “Which had been converted into the world's lone airship. The young prince always seemed more frivolous than Cerise or Penumbra.” She sighed, not meaning to invoke the names of Ashen's now-captured sister and brother.

Thankfully, the next round picked up, and each player raised the ante by a few more chips. Everyone seemed to believe they had the winning hand and made their calls.

“Two pair, jacks and queens!” Arron announced smugly.

“Ooh, sorry, lov! Better luck next time~,” Ana purred, revealing a straight hand.

“Are you fucking my dick right now? What a bunch of bull!” the burly demon fussed. Even with shades on, he was lacking lacked when it came to the poker face department.

“Ha! Read 'em and weep!” Seb exclaimed, showing a full house that wiped the smile off the lilim’s face.

“Wot?! Nah way ya 'ad anovver ace of 'earts, ya cheatin' bowler tit for tat!”

Julianne shook her head. “No sleight of hand, tucked sleeves or anything.”

“Sounds like a skill issue,” the card demon taunted.

“Dine on me ass brownies, ya merchant banker!”

“Sucks to suck, suckubus~! I’ll be taking back what’s rightfully mine—”

“Not so fast, Sebastion,” Bellatrix tittered as she coyly revealed her hand. “I believe this one trumps them all?”

His bravado dropped instantly. “Whoa! Five of a kind?!”

Grumbles arose around the table as the red-skinned succubus pulled the pot close to her bosom, grinning while her spaded tail whipped behind her. “I could get used to this~!”

Seb slumped in his chair, arms folded. “That’s the third time I’ve been beaten at my own game. I’ve lost my mojo!”

“Seem you shouldn’t have spent all your luck in the last battle,” Julianne said, stroking his shoulder.

Arron groaned, “Man, this sucks! Can’t we arm wrestle instead?”

“Ooh! Or maybe sum mud wrestlin',” Anarchia proposed while wiggling her hips. Eying Bellatrix with hooded lids, she went on, “C’mon, Bella! I'll take ya on! Or 're ya too scared ter get daahhhn and dirty~?”

“I'd rather stay clean, thank you very much,” refused Bellatrix. “Already had enough muck and grime on me when I was a prisoner…”

So they settled on another game, though a notable melancholy hung over the table.

“… I wish Zelly was 'ere,” admitted Analise, pouting her lips.

“Yeah, me too,” added Arron.

“Me three,” whined Demi-Trix.

“It’s better he spends what time he can with Shadow Scythe,” insisted Bellatrix, though even she was struggling to hide her sadness.

“Before she…” Julianne couldn’t finish her sentence.

Seb sighed heavily, unable to distract himself from the game anymore from the hopelessness of the situation. Everyone fell silent for a lengthy period; heads hung slightly.

The spell was momentarily broken when Arcanum Folklore walked in. “Sorry to interrupt, but mind if I deal me self in? I could use a round.”

Seb shrugged. “Eh, don’t see why not. Anyone opposed?”

When the demi-humans and Bellatrix shook their heads, the erenn stallion pulled himself a chair.

“Brought a present I found on one of Fiery's dead troopers,” he said, chucking a worn deck of cards on the table’s center. “Not slain by me hand, mind you, but I thought, why waste an opportunity? Didn't find much value. Just rations, a canteen, a few basic supplies such as a map and compass, and...”

Julianne took the new cards out, and her face went red. “Aahk! So indecent!!”

Analise scooped them up and whistled. “Oi, check these babies aahhht~!”

“Classy,” came Bellatrix's sarcastic reply at the nude mares depicted on each card, each of them a picture of heroic mares lost in previous wars. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, the Elements of Harmony, and several other key historical figures adorned them, all draped in sensual poses.

“Yeesh. Not a lot of heroic dudes in that dimension, huh?” Arron said with a frown.

“Most of them are perverts and misogynists from what I gathered,” noted Seb, examining the card with delicate fingers. “But hey, sex sells! And these beauties could make a couple thousand.” He looked at the warlock and asked, “Think these decks are standard issue?”

“Me thoughts exactly,” answered Arcanum. “Fiery’s been encouraging his stallions to breed all the mares they can and knock them up so they'll produce the next generation of 'heroes'! Wish I had a shot at that creep myself!” He sat down and rubbed his ribs, hesitant to use the onboard facilities to help, hoping his natural regeneration would kick in instead.

Sadly, his hopes hadn't borne fruit so far, and the scruffy detective was curious if the different dimensional rules had neutralized many of his skills.

Nonetheless, the players accepted the new set of nude cards.

“They appear to be unmarked,” observed Demi-Trix. “You know what I mean?”

“No enchantments that I can discern,” promised Julianne as she shuffled her hand. “Just a basic deck otherwise!”

“Maybe the rest of you can finally catch up to my level,” Bellatrix challenged with a sly smirk.

“Oh, you mean the ground floor? Cause that’s where you're going after I take back my riches,” proclaimed Seb.

“Yeah, bring it on, succubitch!!” Arron pumped his meaty fist.

Ana snickered. “Not unless I beat the chuffin' parmers off ya soddy cunts and bumholes~!”

“Now, hold on,” interjected the nun. “We all added a unique item to the pool, and we can't use the cards for that, so...what about you, Arcanum? You must have something special of your own?”

“That I do,” admitted Arcanum, who reluctantly withdrew weapons from his coat. A Kurdish dagger, a hook-like mechanism that could be fired and retracted, and a heavy rifle with no ammo were placed on the table and made the coins clink.

Seb gazed at each weapon, intrigued. “Pretty slick arsenal, you got there!”

“Just a few token trinkets, really,” huffed the erenn unicorn. “Lost most of me best stuff during the dimensional hop.”

“You should invest in some capture cards,” the pin-striped devil suggested, wielding his signature deck, each depicting a different weapon, tool, vehicle, and artifact. “Makes traveling a hell of a lot easier. I can spare you a few blanks… for a reasonable price~.”

“Mmm. Tempting offer,” the warlock considered, stroking his fuzzy chin. “But I ain’t got much left. And I’ll be needing the firepower for whatever's ahead.”

“This isn’t a serious game,” Bellatrix assured him. “Just something to help pass the time. Plus, I'm certain Layla has a personal artillery room where you can find suitable replacements?”

“Huh… yeah, that sounds good to me. How about when I win, you all owe me a drink on top of the pot's prizes?”

And with that, another game of bluffs and callouts happened, ending with each party member going all in. But it was Seb who finally made up for his losses, washing away the competition with a royal flush and scooping the pot to his corner.

“Buggar,” grumbled Arcanum, who took an offered cup from Demi-Trix and gulped the contents down. “Should have brought me rabbit's foot.”

“Eh, don’t be so glum,” assured Seb. “You had a great hand. But I don’t think I could take another game of having my ass smoked by the paper cutout again.” He gestured to Bellatrix, who gave a heated glare from that remark.

“Still, that was fun. Now if you’ll excuse me…” The charitable nun returned the stallion’s weapons and fortunes before the warlock took off, leaving the group to their game of distraction.

The moment Shadow Scythe's heart was pierced, she'd slipped into a comatose state. Trapped and haunted by dreams she couldn't awaken from. The weight of her compounded sins was so heavy, impossible to overcome, let-alone bear.

In the latest one, she wandered the darkness garbed in nothing but the bandages that once served as underwear beneath her pale robes. Her magic was gone, unable to fly or so much as float. Forced to walk and stumble awkwardly across an empty void that loomed ahead.

Atalanta shivered, the coldness of solitude gradually overtaking her frail form while she traversed the shadows alone. A place that had once been her sanctuary now turned upon the reaper.

She stopped, sensing a presence hidden within the darkness. “Show yourself!”

Despite knowing it was futile, Shadow Scythe tried to summon up her signature sickles. Or cast a spell. Or call upon her Onoma. Yet all her tricks failed her; her sharp mind her only weapon left. She braced herself for an ambush.

Suddenly, both her sides materialized her fellow order of reapers, one by one, each dressed in a color unique to them since they represented different forms of death. One of the hooded reapers, dressed in scarlet. Another in emerald. Violet. Yellow. Gray lurked at the head, the founder and leader of their number—stewards of the afterlife, fated to direct all lost souls to their final destination.

Shadow Scythe had once worn white robes like a phantom. Danse Macabre, the closest person she'd had to a 'friend' before her treachery, was shrouded in black. Around her, all the flowing robes were torn apart. They were reenacting how she mercilessly cut them down with a sickle.

“You butchered them,” came the disembodied voice of Danse Macabre. He arrived as she remembered him, a reasonably plain stallion, the scroll with the spell she'd helped him research and complete tucked under his thun arm. His other hand pointed to her in accusation when he proclaimed, “Betrayer!”

“Yes. I murdered them,” she confessed, as blood pooled from the slumped robes of the colorful, fallen reapers. Her eyes were wet, but she didn’t deny her remorse. Didn’t turn and run from it. “Is that why you're here? Have you come to fulfill my punishment? To claim my soul and then send me to the ether?”

While the flesh melted from his skull and skeleton, Danse Macabre's black robes turned to tatters, and Mortis Saltaire coldly announced, “I have, Atalanta.”

He descended on her, her icy blue eyes drawn to a chasm that opened below, where heat and brimstone radiate. At Equestria's core, the path to Tartarus became more horrific and hellish the further one dared descend into it.

Where she'd encountered Lord Grogar, where she'd been seduced by power to his side and ultimately sealed her fate.

Closing her eyes, the pale mare felt Mortis seize her left arm and pull her down towards the infernal pits, only to feel another hand grasp the other. Her eyes opened wide to see Zeloph, who tried to raise her skywards, the brilliant light of heaven shining down behind the seraph. “Atalanta! Hang on!”

Caught in a tug-of-war between her beloved and nemesis, she clutched onto Zell's hand. Were she able, the reaper mare would have used her scythe to cut off her arm if necessary to pull away from Mortis, determined to be with her beloved, whatever the personal cost!

“You are unworthy of forgiveness, traitor! Only damnation and perpetual torment await you!” Mortis clawed with bony fingers at her, bandages torn from her thin pale blue frame, as the wraps unraveled and left her all but denuded, vulnerable before the decrepit lich.

“Don’t listen to him!” Zell cried, desperate to draw her towards his warmth and light when he pulled back. “You can be saved. Just don’t let go. Don’t surrender!”

Atalanta nodded with watery eyes full of determination, throwing her weight towards her love and aiding in his ascent whether she was considered redeemable. Aware that mired in her sins and suffering, she would never make amends! She could save lives! Learn to love!

To truly live, for the first time in her life, rather than pursue her ambitions for the sake of power! "Zell, I'm with you…!"

The last of her bandages fell away. Her nude body pressed to Zeloph as they met in a kiss and a twirl, surrounded by illumination. Below their ascent, Mortis bellowed in frustration below their ascent, after which his skeletal fingers slipped from her once the lich vanished into the fiery Tartarus.

They reached heavenward higher and higher until the ethereal illumination enveloped her vision… which slowly regained focus on her lover’s face. Sounds of systematic beeping greeted her ears when she rose from her bed.

Shadow Scythe's nails dug into Zell's arm with such force she drew blood; her lips pressed to his own. Her cheeks colored as her mouth withdrew. She murmured, “Zeloph... S-Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.”

The angelic demi-human shook his head with a gentle smile. “Don’t be. I'm just so glad you’re awake!”

She mustered a smile of her own. Never before had she been more comfortable with another. So intimate, vulnerable, even. Her soulmate. “You've been by my side this whole time...?”

“Such a silly question,” he chuckled, though it sounded like a half cry. “Of course I have.”

Atalanta relaxed and held his bloodied arm with tender hands.

His face dimmed. “I… I only wish I had better news to share. But your father, Quicksilver Bullet… His body couldn’t…” Sucking in a breath, he found the words and courage to speak what his beloved had already assumed. “… He passed on while you were unavailable. But he spent his last moments with you. Telling you how proud he was. And how much he loved you.”

The pale mare teared up. “Father....” Her eyes wandered to an urn nearby, which she realized contained the dust of her father's body after it had broken down. She forced back her pained smile, confident he would want her to be happy.

“… Did he at least give you his blessing?”

Zell dryly laughed and said, “Yeah, he did. I’ll have to find a ring perfect for your finger.”

She traced his cheek. “I wonder… What would our wedding look like? I’d imagine it would be quite different from Cerise's.”

“Anyone you’d invite?”

“Hard to say. Ex-villains like us don't exactly have the closest friends.”

“So… everyone except Belladonna.”

Shadow Scythe snorted. “Pft! She can come after she’s cleaned up her mess. And even then, she’ll likely skip the ceremony and go straight for the after-party.”

They shared a small titter before the reaper inhaled deeply and slumped in her bed. Zeloph glanced at her heart monitor, the beeping starting to slow. Her hands felt cold in his own while they held onto each other.

Her dim eyes met his own, and the color drained from her thin shape. “I-I came back one last time,” she murmured softly. “I would've clawed my way out of hell, were it necessary, simply to see you. To make certain you know how much you mean to me, now and always…”

His pupils shrank. “Atalanta—”

“Zell… A reaper always knows when someone’s time is up. I've been avoiding my fate for so long. If I went any further, I’d only end up like Mortis. I’ve done many things in life that will forever haunt me. But my greatest regret? I… I only wish I had met you sooner…”

“No!” the angel wept, his face contorted with anguish, sadness streaking down his cheeks like rain. “Please..!”

Atalanta mustered all her strength to keep her smile. “Zeloph… you are my salvation. My grace. My love. These last moments with you, fighting by your side… they’re the best I’ll ever have.”

Her smile faded in sync with the slowdown of the monitor's blip.

“A request… before I'm on my way?”

Zeloph held her hands between his and nodded, trembling like a leaf.

Stray tears leaked out of Atalanta’s gaze.

“… Kiss me one last time. Kiss me with everything you’ve got. Only then will I allow you to move on and find someone else…”

Zeloph broke down into sobs, shaking his head. “There is no one else for me, Atalanta,” his voice cracked. “It’s you I want! You, I desire! I could never love anyone more than I love you!”

Her weak smile reappeared. “Heh… Even as I lay dying, you say the most romantic things. Go ahead… kiss me, you fool..!”

With that declared, Zeloph pulled her into a long kiss with all the passion and love in his being. As the couple embraced in tears, Atalanta relished in thoughts of what could have been.

To marry and make love. To raise children together. To pass the years with him. All that is ashes to ashes, earth to earth, and dust to dust. A fate an immortal reaper was never meant to meet. For she knew the rest of her family line would end with her. Atalanta allowed her heavy eyelids to close, content to meet her fate in her lover’s arms.

Zeloph buried his face into her limp form to muffle his crying as the heart monitor bleeped slower and slower… until it made a harrowing, continuous buzz.

Euphoria

View Online

“Phew! I could use a shower!” Said Lightning Spark, her fur matted in sweat as she tossed a towel over her shoulder. She'd peel off her form-fitting costume on the spot, were she not surrounded by so many people, especially all the boys! “We really whooped some butt back there!”

“Holographic effigies, but yes,” retorted Kyube, tongue slightly sticking out with each pant. Chisana nearly collapsed on her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Real or not, they've sure got some nice buns,” teased Wispy with a grin, making the pegasus cheeks flush. “I'm pretty sure we could get that shower if you wanted! Didn't you bathe in one of these virtual reality chambers, Princess Butterbuns?” She threw an arm around Eclipsed Heart to draw her close.

“I did,” admitted the pop princess.

“You all handled yourselves admirably,” noted Kitsune. With her lost tail, she'd struggled to keep pace with everyone, but Layla's promises that her removed limb could be replaced soothed her.

The simulation ended abruptly, the virtual reality unraveling into the static white room. “Hey, what gives?” Wispy exclaimed, a hand planted on her wide hip. “I was about ready for wave five!”

Layla’s voice answered through the ship’s telecom. ‘I must ask that everyone gather in the main lobby. There is… grave news…’

Everyone immediately packed their belongings and rushed towards the main deck of the Glamorguis. Others alerted by the announcement murmured amongst themselves. The pop diva spotted Arron’s towering frame and led her party to where the demi-humans stood. While her bitter feelings about them lingered (specifically Seb), Eclipsed Heart persisted in having a somewhat peaceful relationship with them. Especially given the dire circumstances of their fractured worlds!

But the only sound Eclipsed could utter was a dreadful gasp when the hallway doors that lead to the infirmary parted, her soulful neon pink eyes widening at the heart-wrenching sight.

Walking out was the Fallen One, Zeloph, dark blue locks hiding his tear-stained face while cradling the lifeless body of the unicorn mare Atalanta, better known by her once villainous moniker Shadow Scythe, close to his lithe chest.

Beatrix Belladonna pushed through the crowd, disbelief and sadness filling her sorrowful violet eyes. “N-no… No! S-She can’t be!! She isn’t—”

“Beatrix,” Iclyn cuts in sharply, her voice melancholic. “Spare everyone's theatrics and face the truth. She’s gone.”

The witch recoiled with anguish, struggling not to fall onto her knees and sobbing. So she instead clung onto the deighdyr, who allowed the gesture and wrapped an arm around her hunching shoulders.

Everyone watched grimly as Zell gradually made his way to where Layla stood, her hands folded together in front. Julianne followed behind him, holding the urn that held the dust of Atalanta’s father, Quicksilver Bullet.

Dion tucked both Wet Nurse and Foal-Bearer into his arms. Bellatrix, Wispy, Eclipsed, Analise, Chisana, and Arron held their heads low while Kyube and Kitsune grasped each other’s hands. Seb removed his hat and held it to his chest, and Arcanum Folklore stared solemnly. Lightning and Web Spinner had to help Midnight up, each arm around their shoulders while at a loss for words.

But perhaps the most crestfallen was the mother of demons herself, who falsely promised the seraphic demi-human his lover could be saved.

“I am truly sorry, Zeloph,” Layla said gently.

“There was nothing you or anyone could do,” he acknowledged, voice hoarse and void of emotion. “But there is one thing I would like…”

She bent down to hear him whisper his request before giving a lone nod. Then, the motherly succubus swiftly lifted into the air, summoned the UFO’s control panel, and sent the ship coordinates for a specific location. Pallium gave a series of mournful beeps and warbles and lifted off the building it was roosting on, which crumbled under pressure.

Not a word was spoken while the saucer-shaped beast sailed over the desolate civilization before it finally hovered over the cliff side of a vast valley full of overgrown sunflowers, not unlike the one Zeloph’s tail was shaped after.

“We've arrived,” announced Layla to break the tension.

“Sooner than I expected,” Zell noted dryly before offering a ‘thank you’ to the UFO. The central lobby hissed open, a platform ringed in light, waiting for the angel to step over before it would descend to ferry him outside.

His cerulean gaze cast over the crowd of allies and friends, heaving a heavy sigh. “If anyone wishes to say something before I lay her and her father to rest, now is the time...”

Julianne strapped the urn to the belt around his waist. She then wrapped her arms around her fellow seraph and said, “Though we have not known each other long, I will cherish her greatly. She taught me what true joy looked like through her love for you. And had fate been different, I would have been honored to host your ceremony. But I will pray that she is at peace now.”

The rosy-haired nun walked off and placed her hand in Seb’s, who paid his respects. “Didn’t know her that well either. But she seemed like an elusive treasure. Something you can’t find nowadays that only a few were lucky to uncover. My condolences, Zeloph. She was ripped away from you too soon...”

The angelic demi nodded when the pin-striped devil bowed his head.

“I’ve never known Atalanta personally,” confessed Eclipsed Heart. “But I‘ve seen her through Cerise’s memories. Despite her villainy, parts of Cerise looked up and admired what she stood for. I think Cerise would be distraught to know she is no longer with us.” Her hot pink eyes found Zell, and she whispered, “I’m sorry for your loss…”

“Ya were the baddest bitch aahhht of aw of us,” sniffled Ana, her teary magenta gaze on Shadow Scythe. “Life dumped on ya wif tom shit ya didn’t even deserve. And yet, ya dug through it loike a champ. 'ad I knahn it would come ter this, I wouldn’t 'ave picked on ya so much. Cause I didn’t just miss aahhht on a sister-in-law, I missed aahhht on a good friend! I can’t even tell ya 'a sorry I am, edgie!”

The neon demoness stepped away to let Beatrix make peace. “If you never changed your evil ways and I found you dead as I do now, I would still be here, mourning for you. You saw through me like no one else would. And even if you’d never speak of it, I always saw us as close friends despite our animosity. I hope you’ll be with your mother and father now. And that they’re proud of how far you came… Goodbye, Atalanta.”

Once everyone had offered their parting words of kindness, Zeloph descended alone to Sacratera with his cold lover in his arms. Then, aware he only had a few minutes, he glided over the sea of sunflowers and landed in front of the remnants of his old home.

Greenery swathed the burial place of a deceased friend, Jonn, which he'd constructed with his own hands. He approached the entrance and placed his key in the lock, murmuring, “You would have liked this place. It’s not that different from the cottage…”

Zeloph entered the tomb of his past, familiar decorations, pictures, and furniture withered by age and ruin. Small critters affected by the planet’s harsh transformation scattered away when he walked into the living room.

He'd wanted something more elaborate but chose a place that suited the humble, simple life Jonn preferred. Flashes of golden memories of their time together spent playing music, doing chores, and doing hard labor for the neighboring city while offering what they could to the poor and homeless. The very same people he would later destroy out of blind hate.

Lithe hands placed the dead reaper mare atop a worn table lined in moss. The fallen angel’s luminescence lit the otherwise dreary room as a draft rolled across the earthy interior contrasted by sculpted stone. It only took him a few minutes to prepare her deathbed, the urn set aside.

The eyes on his plume widened when he heard a sound, summoning the Vorpal Blade into hand. “Who—…oh.” His posture relaxed at a fairy-like demi-human that made her way in. “… Did anyone else follow you?”

“No. Just me,” said Demi-Trix, her usual cheer sobered. “I want to help.”

His first instinct was to send the tulpa away. But he instead dismissed his multidimensional sword and said, “Yeah… I think she would have approved. Come.” He started to light the candles around the room, thankful they held thanks to their enchantments. Demi-Trix, too, lit them up one by one.

They worked silently while he observed the once self-proclaimed 'Goddess of Death.' His hand and weapon the unintended instrument of her demise. Mortis Saltaire had tricked him, driven him to carry out his vendetta, as Zeloph had been unaware of the spell Mortis cast...the one which had tied the souls of the two reapers and sealed her untimely fate.

He tried not to blame himself. Knew that she wouldn't want him to. Yet still...

A phantasmal radiance cast by the candles fell over Shadow Scythe's pale blue form and white mane.

“It's so pretty,” whispered Demi-Trix respectfully at his side. “Her, too. She looks so peaceful.” She watched the seraphic demi remove a couple of coins from his pocket and place them over his lover's eyes. Ancient Orichalcum, from a time lost to history, adorned her ritualistically. With that done, he bent to meet her forehead and planted a chaste kiss on her cool skin.

Zeloph shut his eyes, allowing the last of his sadness to ooze out his tired visage for a spell. When he reopened them, he said, “Let's head back. I’m starting to feel woozy, and I don’t want to—”

He noticed Demi-Trix had apparently already left, perhaps to let him grieve in peace. With a slight heave of his shoulders and a last look back, he exited.

A new sound graced his feathery ears, pulling his attention to the tree that sprouted before the dilapidated house. And perched on one branch was a lone avian creature, letting out low cronks and kaws.

It had a pale gray and black feather pattern, boasting characteristics of a corvid, yet was the size of a raptor. Its most distinguishing features are the hood-like crest, exposed rib and leg bones, and mirror-like eyes.

Zell stared in perplexion at this crude mimic of nature before it flew off over the house. Whether it was symbolic of something or just an odd occurrence, he didn’t bother to think about it, aware he didn’t have time before the air caused him to mutate.

Upon his return to the saucer, the false idol was met with a warm embrace from his succubus sister, which he returned tightly. Shortly, Julianne, Arron, and Seb joined in for the hug.

Once they pulled away, Zell approached Layla with a mute expression. “Prepare a virtual chamber for me. I don’t plan on coming out until I’ve unlocked all the Vorpal Blade has to offer me and my potential has been reached. I need to be ready for the next time I face Mortis. And I won't rest until I’ve scattered his ashes throughout the wind!”

His intent declared, his eyes were alit with vigorous vermillion light. To avenge Atalanta, Zeloph would have the execution of Mortis Saltaire and any of his allies so foolish as to stand in his way!

But unbeknownst to everyone, Demi-Trix had shrunken herself to hide and remain behind while Zeloph left the remnants of his old home. She popped back to her full size. “Sorry about that,” she murmured. “But a star should always know the best time to make her dramatic exit!”

The miniature mare stood next to Shadow Scythe's preserved body, her eyes lined in topaz Orichalcum coins. She started to dissipate once she let herself dissolve, the shared belief in the tulpa's existence unable to help tether her to the world anymore without Atalanta.

“It fits, really. You were my mom in my current incarnation. You willed me to life.”

Part of Demi-Trix wanted to turn back and say her farewells to everyone. But no, she didn't want any more tears after they'd lost so much so recently. “They'll hardly miss me, really! Probably won't even notice I'm not about!” She closed her eyes with a sad smile and a snicker.

With a theatrical bow and flourish at Shadow Scythe, she whispered, “And who knows? I've reincarnated from beyond before! So maybe I'll see you all again...someday...!”

That declared, she dissolved into the ether aside from her hat, which drifted before that, too, blinked out of existence.

Deep in the underbelly of the saucer-shaped eldritch beast, the two confined cretins remained dormant within their glass prison. Well, as dormant one would be if you were Autumn Equinox, who paced around restlessly.

“Lousy bimbos,” the bat mare scowled, her one eye looking over the massive bruises on her knuckles from all her feeble punching. “When I get out, I’m gonna strangle that bolted bitch first, right in front of her shitbrain brother! And then—”

“Pipe down,” came the slithery voice of her cellmate. The hag-looking harpy, Viscera, sat right under the funnel tube that would eject them into the Glamorguis’ stomach the moment she tried anything shifty. “I can’t concentrate when you make such a heedless racket.”

“Don’t remember asking you, bird breath,” huffed Equinox. “You’ve done nothing but sit on your ass! Meanwhile…” she took another few swings, confident she was starting to make a dent. “I’m doing all the hard work!!”

Viscera opened one eye and gave a throatful chuckle. “Can’t stand the thought of being trapped like a rat, can you? I take this isn't your first time being held captive~?”

Equinox glared at the demi-human and threatened, “If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your beak shut!!”

“Try anything, and I’ll puncture your pretty pectorals,” the vile sorceress warned. “That is if the beast doesn’t finish digesting us first.”

The muscular thestral knew that any more real commotion would set off the UFO and snorted, “Whatever. You ain’t got shit on me.”

Viscera deepened her grin. “You think I merely guessed about that warlock longing for his partner? Or Beatrix’s secret plight of wanting to keep her immortality and adventures, despite the consequences weighing her down?”

“The fuck are you babbling about?”

“When I said 'I had a witch’s intuition,' I wasn’t lying,” the bird-faced beldam went on with chartreuse eyes emanating a sickly glow. “From the Necronomicon, I’ve gained insight into everyone's innate desires and weaknesses. And with it, the history of those wishes. Such as a certain thestral’s wish to escape the male-favored system that broke her in~.”

That made Equinox tense up, her yellow pupil shrinking as she stared at the harpy devil irate. Unfettered, Viscera continued, “It wasn’t easy becoming a marauder, was it? Gave up parts of yourself until they left you for dead to that changeling swarm. That’s when you understood the cruelty of life.”

A lone tear streaked across Equinox’s scarred face, memories she tried to forget forcefully resurfacing before her mind.

“But you became better than them,” said the avian monstress. “You survived and hunted them like the filthy flea-ridden curs they were. What they stole from you, you took back tenfold! You made your name well known amongst the raiders, to the point that you got the attention of Fiery Kickstart, who saw you as a fitting piece in his plan to overthrow the crowned prince.”

The batmare clenched her teeth, fangs bare, her bruised knuckles white from how tightly she balled her fist.

“But you won’t settle for being a willing pawn, will you? You covet Fiery’s position. And you’ll do whatever—or whoever it takes.”

Viscera briefly flinched when Equinox slammed her fist next to her head, the two prisoners locked in a deep stare.

“Get to the point,” the thestral demanded through strained breath.

“I can give you what you want,” the nephilim surmised. “Along with the opportunity to see all you despise writhe and wriggle like worms on hooks~.”

Equinox narrowed her eye. “And how do you plan on busting us out of here? There’s only one pathway, and it’s through this thing’s intestines!”

Viscera pointed an elongated talon toward the ceiling tube above them. “Look carefully, and tell me what you see.”

The muscular thestral squinted a bit before noticing that the aperture-looking muscles weren’t fully closed, leaving a small gap in between. “So what? Unless you happen to be part octopus, we are not squeezing through that tiny ass hole!”

The Vile One rolled her eyes before elaborating. “While you were busy pounding the walls like a gorilla, I’ve been silently filling the Glamorguis’ internal passageways with anesthetic gas. Invisible to the naked eye.”

Equinox quickly jumped back, hand covering her muzzle. “Gah! Are you insane?! You could have knocked us out!!”

“Hence why I require concentration and silence,” retorted Viscera. “Due to the sheer size of this living frisbee, it’ll take some time until it begins contaminating the respiratory system. And I can only fume out small doses so that the toxic molecules remain undetectable. So do us both a favor. Zip your lips, and go sit down.”

The marauder sneered yet did as requested and sat by the corner of the glass cage furthest from Viscera. She glanced at the luminous eyes shining over them and muttered, “Won’t that demon whore notice her ship hasn’t responded and get suspicious?”

The vice lord gave an extra malicious smile. “Clearly, you haven’t been tuning in to the commotion up top. Put those big ears to good use for once and listen.”

Grumbling, Equinox closed her eye and relaxed her shell-shaped earlobes. Her brow furrowed when she heard a low sound echoing through the interior. “Someone's… crying..?”

“Ahh~! Such a sweet sound,” Viscera mused. “It seems poor Atalanta has finally passed on. I reckon everyone will be too grief-stricken to notice my breach in security.”

“I mean, I guess… damn, you are one cold turkey!”

The avian monstress tittered. “You flatter me~! Once the UFO temporarily shuts down, we’ll begin the next phase in my plan…”

Her twisted smile stretched as she obscured the glowing eye of the Glamorguis, noting it was already dimming slightly.

“… And then, I’ll be able to get him to do what I want~!”

The expansive, verdant jungle darkened and crumbled behind Mortis Saltaire and Andrei while they passed by. The undead unicorn and dragon traveled across the planet, leaving a rotting trail of dead plants and animals in their wake. Tailing behind them were Triad and Penny Dreadful; his minions thankfully spared this fate as their master drained the planet’s lifeforce, ghoulish green essence flowing into his clammy palms.

An alien bird spun and fell from the sky, its body left to decompose before Andrei stomped over its remains. Mortis paused after assimilating enough energy and stroked his flesh-lined skull. By this point, his past appearance as Danse Macabre had almost entirely returned.

“Alas, it is done. The betrayer is dead, and the spell is complete.”

And yet, he still felt hollow, hardly acknowledging the chilly sensation that washed over him, unable to utter a laugh.

Dusk fell over the land, and the wraith settled on making camp for the sake of Triad and Penny Dreadful, who needed to replenish themselves. He wouldn’t require their services for much longer once he claimed the demi-human’s soul, as well. His ghastly green eyes drifted to the UFO hovering in the distance, his tattered black robes billowing against a faint gale that passed through the surrounding trees that withered nearby.

He sensed more than a dozen souls collected within the saucer-shaped vessel and judged it unwise to assault it in his current state. No. The undead unicorn would pick his moment to strike until everyone who dared aid the traitor was at the mercy of his rusty scythe.

Andrei's three heads fed on wildlife but otherwise kept quiet that night. However, Triad excused himself for some privacy to meditate, unaware that the lady of clockwork followed him. The swordsman sat shirtless in the lotus position; his brown eyes closed until she approached.

“You should be reserving your strength.” The black kitasan stallion studied her blankly. “We don’t have long until—”

“Quite right.” The dark aquamarine avian tittered, her small beak twisted in a smile, a crazed shine within her coy eyes. She'd reached behind her frilly dress and undid the rows of laces, piece by piece. “I never got the chance to properly thank you,” she cooed. “After you saved me from that horrible excuse for a scientist!”

“Unnecessary,” he replied, yet found himself unable to look away when her dress pooled around her leonine feet, the half-bird, half-feline woman down to a bodice that barely covered her perky breasts and lacy panties. The moon's rays kissed curves and downy feathers.

“But I want to thank you,” She strode closer in a swivel of her hips and a leonine tail. Inches from him, she unhooked her bra and allowed her breasts to flop free, her nipples erect under the draft. Her tail's furred tip tickled the cameltoe visible on her puffy cunt below thin silk. “And should this be our final fight? Well, I’d rather my last romp with a man be you, Triad. Won't you honor a fair lady's dying request~?”

Despite any reservations, as he'd often been warned in his politician days to 'never stick his dick in crazy,' the swordsman’s shaft pressed painfully hard into his pin-striped pants. Mesmerized as she hooked into the band of her panties, then slid them down to bear herself totally to him, she tossed the article onto his snout, blinded as the scent of her pussy on the panty crotch filled his nostrils.

“You can keep those,” she mused, the bodice discarded, too. “And the bra, should you like, stud~.” Her eyes half-lidded while he removed her soaked panties from his face, and he felt before he saw her unzip his pants, fish out his sizable horsecock, and went down on him without fanfare as a slurp resounded.

Groaning, Triad cast his head back, thankful that despite the appearance of her small sharp beak, it felt comparable to any pair of lips wrapped around his dick. The griffoness serviced him slowly, dragging his shaft and its precum across her blush-adorned face. Pecks and licks were planted across the vein-lined surface of his tool; her tongue traced across it as she took him into her beak. Penny leaned forward on all fours, the plush cheeks of her heart-shaped derriere visible when she took him to the hilt, traced her soft muscle around his dick, then steadily picked up speed.

Soon, she started to bob her head like a parakeet while she sucked him off. “Aah! N-not so fast,” he pleaded with a wheeze. “I'll cum-” Yet that seemed to spur her on harder as she stared into his eyes and smoldered, her feathered hands on his muscled hips while she fucked her face on his horsecock and worshiped it with all the crazed lust she could muster.

Gentlemanly to the last, she realized it was entirely up to her to take control. To show the kitasan stallion how much his aid meant to her. Her wingspan stretched out, took his hands, and guided them to the back of her head as she directed them to brutalize her face, which he speared.

“Gluck~mmph—!” Penny choked herself on his size, felt it stretch her throat, its interior, and her mouth and belly lined in a trail of slimy precum that his flared tip spat each time it throbbed and pulsed inside her moist, hot, slick mouthpussy.

“I-I can't—!” Triad warned her, but rather than pull away, she slammed her open beak down to his hilt and smothered her face in his crotch. Her eyes turned to saucers when his flare, stuck in her throat as it expanded, exploded. The volcanic eruption of cumshots fired stream-after-stream into her tummy, where it settled like lava love until more of his semen erupted out of her nostrils.

Penny felt her eyes water, yet she wouldn't dare pull away even if she wanted to; her lower sex holes clenched as her pussylips dripped, and she unleashed a small squirt over the earth.

When she yanked him free of her maw, his shaft bobbed and fired a few more ropes across her mane, face, and tits. Then, glazed by her lover, she released something between a purr and moan as she rubbed his cum into her tits in lazy circles. “Poor boy. You were so pent up!”

“I...haven't been with anyone since my return to 'life,'” he confessed. Superstition had it that a woman could weaken a man before battle, and he'd conserved himself to confront the ex-assassin that once beheaded him. Kitsune of the Nine-Tails, who he'd sworn to face in a duel and slay.

“That absolutely will not do. You deserve better!” Penny whistled cheerily and licked at the cum that soaked her beak but otherwise left herself marked by his sticky facial to celebrate their union. “And I’m nowhere near satisfied yet~!”

Her leonine tail curled around his thick black horsecock and stroked it as she squatted above his lap and hovered above his shaft, slathered in feminine nectar that drooled from her pussylips. The griffoness shimmered her hips and ass and lowered them with another coy titter.

Once more, Triad pressed his erect flare to her moist, hot pocket. Her hands pressed to his toned chest when she threw herself down on him with all her weight, moaning with a screech as she took his full size all at once, split wide open as her plush asscheeks landed with a plop on his lap. Immediately she unfurled her plume and started to ride her kitasan stud like her life depended on it.

“You're...huff...not one to take it...slow,” he choked between strained pants.

“I could,” she admitted when her ample ass clapped on him and her breasts bounced in his face. “But why bother? You only live twice, or so they say, and who knows whether we'll have another opportunity like this? This could be the last battle we partake in,” she mused.

He moaned as she directed his hand to seize one of her tits. “Not until I face her!”

“It's nice to have a purpose,” she observed as she continually humped him and felt him drive her slick cunt wide open. “I once did, too, until my wonderful father met his untimely end by butchers!”

Professor Reginald Kilroy. Recluse. Inventor. Would-be savior of the clockwork world she and her creator hailed from. She was the hand to help carry out his will, his instrument in the mist and shadows until she'd lost him.

What to do once she settled her vendetta with her so-hated foes? Beatrix, Esmeralda, Camellia...she would carve them open, remove their hearts, and stuff their vivisected carcasses, taxidermy-style! Make a shrine from the corpses of their friends and family, too! Glorious! And then...then…"

Her wide crazed eyes met his own heated stare. “Stay with me,” she implored when she furiously rode him.

“...what?” His mind dulled, barely able to concentrate as the tattoos on his back shimmered and detached themselves from his back with animalistic roars. He wheezed once he lost control of the tiger and dragon stored in his tattoos, which stalked around the couple, the wild phantom beasts driven by pure instinct.

“Stay with me,” she repeated with a purr. “Forever.” So lost were they at the moment; they barely noticed the animal's approach. The tiger pounced on Penny's back and pushed them onto the ground with his weight. The griffoness still straddled atop Triad while she fucked him, after which the beast's barbed cock drove apart her spread buns and drove up her asshole while she howled with it.

His clawed hands bit into her shoulders while the tiger growled and savagely fucked her, the avian battered between her lovers as the intruder laid claim to her back hole. The dragon, in turn, skulked beside the threesome and wrapped its claw around her skull, her face directed to its split penises, one forced brutishly down her throat while the other rubbed across a still cum-soaked face. She came harder than before, tensed up as a waterfall of her slick lust painted his loins.

Triad's first instinct was to call back the spiritual tattoos, which he'd poured all his bestial nature into so he could contain them and keep his spirit pure…but when he'd spotted Penny Dreadful's fucked silly expression, covered in his seed and a deep blush, he let the phantoms carry on.

Over and over, the three of them pounded into her stretched fuckholes. Made her moan, squirm, and drench the three virile males, who yelled and roared when they unloaded into her as one. Her belly rounded as she moaned and squawked around the cock in her mouth, then she rode out her latest wet climax.

Cumshot-after-cumshot filled her with sweet stickiness. By the time the black stallion's tattoos were spent, they faded into colored mist and reappeared on his back while a pop sounded from her wide asshole as the stretched crater spurted out excess seed, a mouthful of virile cum swallowed down.

By the time they finished, she had cooed and cuddled up to his side, her soft breasts pressed into his side. He stroked her mane and feathered, furred contours filled with a rare sense of satisfaction.

His cybernetically-enhanced eyes stared ahead to where his master waited, Mortis Soltaire now wholly back to the stallion he'd once been, at least in appearance. Danse Macabre, the 'Black Death' of the Reaper order. The one his damned minions had sold their souls to.

Natural Selection had abandoned them at the first opportunity. Quicksilver Bullet, turned by the enemy. He didn't know where Andrei's and Penny's loyalties lay, but he'd pledged himself to help carry out his master's fateful quest to the end, even if that meant the end of the universe.

The demi-humans and B.A.B.E. observed Zeloph from a safe distance while he trained tirelessly on the virtual battlefield. The simulation replicated the city before the grand event that would reshape it into Sacratera. A direct copy from his memory of the day he stood against the divine father, Metatron.

The Vorpal Blade alit with his Onoma, the Fallen One sliced through many angelic abominations and corrupted servants. Solar fire, light magic, and graceful movements flashed around the buildings and structures, ensuring no single target could capture the holographic citizens beneath his righteous fury.

“Yeesh! So intense,” commented Wispy, fanning her face from how toasty the place was becoming. “He does know this is just a made-up environment, right?”

“Every battle should be taken seriously,” noted Kitsune. “What’s truly impressive is how considerate Zell is of his position at all times. Real or not, he wants to avoid accidentally harming bystanders or causing collateral damage.”

“And after suffering such a massive loss,” lamented Eclipsed Heart.

“Yeah, say what you will about the twink,” added Arron. “But you can’t deny he’s got that dog in him!”

“It’s a good thing the ship can heal up most wounds lickity split,” proclaimed Ana. “Zelly’s must have burst open a bunch of holes by now!”

“But it’s also a sign he’s losing patience,” Julianne pointed out. “Fire magic is often a reflection of one’s emotional state. And the moment the user loses control…”

Seb nodded and took a few steps forward before calling out, “Hey, Sunspot! Might wanna turn it down a bit and cool off!”

“No!” Zeloph shouted back, looking over the energy wafting off the searing hot blade. “I haven’t gotten any closer to unlocking the last of the crucible’s secrets! I’m not ready!”

“Bruh, you’ve been going at this for hours,” said Arron.

“And you’ll definitely dehydrate if you push yourself any further!” Eclipsed pouted. “Zell, please…”

While wholly dissatisfied with his output, the seraphic angel begrudgingly called off the simulation, and the virtual world of old disappeared into the white room. Steam and precipitation leaked all over his body.

His cerulean gaze remained fixated on his weapon, brows furrowed. “Why won’t you respond to me? You and I were in sync when we tried to slay Mortis and the Necronomicon…”

“It appears it’s still testing you,” the card demon proposed. “Your actions might be the same, but what about your motivations? Perhaps it knows you’re trying to force out its latent power for a selfish purpose.”

Zell glowered. “How is retribution for the death of my beloved unrighteous?! Mortis has to be stopped!!”

Julianne shook her head. “You’re confusing retribution with revenge. The same vengeance that consumed Mortis and fueled his mission to reap not only Shadow Scythe but anyone associated with her. Taking a stand against him to prevent the loss of more life? That’s righteous! But can you look into your heart and tell me you won’t take personal glee in seeing the wraith perish by your hand?”

The Fallen One hesitated to respond before meekly admitting, “…no. It would make me no better than him.”

“Exactly,” Seb encouraged with a slap to his shoulder. “And you’re going to be better than him! Wanna know why?”

“Because you’re not a killer,” Eclipsed came in, mustering a courageous smile. “I shouldn’t have allowed your history to cloud my judgment. I see now you don’t have the stomach for genocide. You’re a hero, Zell. And I know you’ll make things right!”

“… Yeah, that!” the gambler coughed awkwardly. “Totally what I was gonna say!”

“Dick,” muttered Ana and Arron simultaneously.

“Look, I ain’t good when it comes to motivational crap. Cut me some slack!”

“Oh, I’ll cut something alright,” Wispy hissed, extending her claws.

Kitsune frowned. “Imoto!”

“Whaaat? Fucking asshat would look nicer with a couple more scars!!”

A sad smile spread Zeloph’s features. “I… you don't know how much it means to me to hear that, princess. Thank you…” He stiffened when the pop idol pulled him into a warm hug, one he slowly returned.

A brief sniff caused Eclipsed to fluster as she whispered, “Erm… you might wanna hit the showers. You’re really sweaty~.”

The angelic demi’s face flourished. “O-oh!”

Giggling, the charcoal songstress let go and removed herself and her bandmates from the virtual chamber. The others were about to follow suit until Zell grabbed Seb by the arm.

“Say… Do you happen to have any alcohol on you?”

Arching a brow, the dapper demon unbuttoned his pin-striped coat and pulled a flask from his inner pocket. “Managed to swindle this from that Folklore fellow. I was gonna save it for later, but knock yourself out. Just return the bottle to me when you’re done.”

The false idol nodded and tucked it into his burgundy jacket. Then, Seb asked, “Ehh… mind telling me why you suddenly wanna take a swig?”

Zell pursed his lip, answering, “There’s… something I must do, and I would rather not be sober for it.”

Suspicion raised his brow, but he didn’t pry further. Instead, he simply shrugged it off and followed behind the musical nun. Zeloph was the last to leave the room as he made for the bathing area to prepare himself for an event he was not looking forward to.

Once his body was cleansed of soap and suds, the angelic demi dried off with a soft towel. After redressing, he glided through the hallway to the main lobby and climbed the levitating stairwell toward the top of the Glamorguis, where Layla’s private chambers waited.

Before the door, Zell quickly had a small debate on whether he should go through with this. It was far too soon, Atalanta lying lifelessly in his old living room, fresh on his mind. But to tap into his ancestral bloodline, this was the only way. And time was of the essence as more worlds were gradually pulled apart into chaotic nothingness.

‘At least I can make this more tolerable.’

Taking an uneasy breath, he uncapped the flask and drained the container of all the liquor inside, quivering from how quickly the buzz kicked in. “Ugh! Fuck me, that’s heavy!”

With a clear throat and a less-than-clear mind, Zeloph gently rapped at the doors, which slid apart with a hiss.

“Layla, I—huh?”

He balked in quiet surprise when it wasn’t the mother of demons who greeted him, but the statuesque red-skinned succubus, black leather straps, and laces hugging her curvy hips and plush breasts.

“Bellatrix?”

“Hello to you too,” she teased with ample sarcasm, arms crossed under her bust.

Zeloph softened. “Sorry, I didn't intend to sound so sharp.”

“Don’t be,” said Bellatrix, who returned a small, sad smile. “You've lost something irreplaceable. Shadow Scythe and I admittedly weren't close, but I will miss her.”

“It's...fine,” he said. “I take it she’s summoned you here for the same reason..?”

“Right, you are,” Layla’s silky voice came from behind, her goddess-like body outlaid on a luxurious round bed. “Come in~.”

The pair quickly closed the door behind them and advanced towards the motherly succubus, Zell briefly admiring the view of the outside world from the see-through glass dome. Without electricity powering the city, artificial light no longer pollutes the night sky, allowing all the stars to glimmer above.

At least until the cosmic calamity snuffed them out.

Layla cast her warm smile on the pair of them. “I’m pleased to see you’ve considered my offer. As it so happened, Bellatrix yearns for the same thing. So I thought we might kill two birds with one stone? You both desire more power, and I’m happy to provide you with the means to achieve it.”

Zeloph cast a curious gaze on Bellatrix, who quickly elaborated, “As it stands, I’m not strong enough to take on Alma and her followers alone. If I want to reclaim the manor and become queen of hell, I must expand my reserves.”

“Heh. So this is what it takes to get off your lazy butt,” the angel quipped, earning a sharp smack to his rear from her spaded tail, making him yowl.

“I’m still mad at you for nearly burning Beatrix to a crisp,” the she-devil informed. “You're lucky I’m in a merciful mood due to your loss. Otherwise, I would have—”

“Quit bickering like children,” Layla interrupted with a soured expression. “We are here to make love, not war! Save it for after you’ve drunk from me.”

Bellatrix and Zeloph watched as the first woman sat on her knees to slide off her top, bearing her perfect, massive breasts. A pair that dwarfed any natural ones both had ever seen. Each pendulous udder was topped by an incredibly wide, dark, saucer-like nipple beaded in milk.

“Now,” began the mother of demons. “My milk has special nutrients that will help unlock your true potential. However, Bellatrix, for you, it won’t be enough. A fully-fledged succubus must take her supplements to thrive...”

Zeloph became completely red. “So, in other words….”

Bellatrix was slightly thankful her red skin hid part of her blush. “Is-Isn't this too soon? Grief has obviously left him raw.”

Layla reminded them, “Understand that there’s no time for hesitation. This union is the quickest way you'll be ready to face whatever your enemies throw your way!”

Once more, the fallen angel mulled it over. It's true his love told him to move on, but he didn't want to tarnish her memory, especially after she was freshly buried. He had been with Bellatrix once before he eloped with Shadow Scythe, but did a wet dream with the succubus really count..?

“Can't she take samples from the various males on the ship? N-not to imply you're sleazy in any way!”

“Not at all taken,” Bellatrix assured before confessing, “But out of all the other men here, you’re easily closest to my type. Mmm, maybe Arcanum would do, were I in a particular mood, though I doubt he’s interested.” Her golden eyes stared deeply into his cerulean orbs, a hint of a sultry smirk curling her lip. “Besides, I’d prefer it if we fuck~.”

While Zell was certain it was just the alcohol buzzing in his brain, something about how she said that made his loins stir awake.

Bellatrix turned back to Layla. “But there is a problem. He once put a child in my sister’s barren womb. And I have no intention of ever mothering children!”

“Relax,” tittered Layla, her hand slyly stroking her belly. “Lucifer also possessed extraordinary virility. And while it’s true a single drop can impregnate even the most infertile woman, It is through him I’ve developed special precautions. Keep in mind I have been around a lot longer than the both of you combined!”

To prove her point, the deity-like demoness whispered a small incantation that conjured a yonic symbol displayed over her womb in a turquoise shimmer. The sigil depicted a surrounding circle of chains crossed over it to protect her ovaries.

“With this bestowed upon you, you’ll be safe from any unwanted pregnancies,” Layla sighed. “But if you ask me, you could have strong, beautiful children together~.”

“That’s not why we’re here,” reiterated Zeloph, slightly annoyed.

“Pft! Don’t act like you’re selling your soul, Zell,” the motherly succubus teased, letting her milky breasts sway like pendulums. “Most men would be envious in your position~.”

“I’m not most men,” he reminded, but nonetheless began to remove his jacket before a hand paused him.

“Allow me,” Bellatrix offered, feeling his musculature tense. When he eased up a bit, she pulled the burgundy jacket off his arms, slightly dragging her nails while she did so. The red-skinned demon’s breaths grew heavier when she began to unclamp his belt and slid both his pants and gitch down his legs, her golden gaze taking in the sight of his semi-erect member, which bobbed at her.

It was long and narrow, with most of the girth near the tip, the spear-shaped head emanating a small glow. She couldn’t deny having small fantasies about this cock every now and then, unknowingly running her tongue over her top lip.

Bellatrix backed off to let Zeloph step out of his attire before turning her back to him. The angelic demi took the hint and helped detach her leathery garments.

“Heh. What a gentlemen,” she softly cooed when her ample breasts bounced free from their black confinements. Next came the bondage wrappings that hooked her bikini-like bottom. Bellatrix managed to suppress a shudder when he peeled them off, her crimson cunt and supple ass now bared to the open air.

“I…I know I can never replace her,” the she-devil confessed. “I’m merely someone to fill the void with. Would it help if I could assume her form and—”

“No,” Zeloph declined gently, turning her around to face him. “Thank you, but… no. It would be disrespectful to her and you. If we must do this, I want you in your entirety. And I expect the same treatment. I can tell this is above just pleasure and power for you.” He cradled her chin.

Bellatrix’s blush brightened as she gave a mute nod before following him to the bed, crawling on all fours to meet Layla, who tossed aside her lavender cloth top with the rest of their clothing. Even when resting on her knees, the demon matron’s curvaceous frame easily dwarfed even her disciple’s statuesque physique.

The fallen angel and she-devil picked their respective teat and wrapped their lips around the perky nipples. Their fingers traced circles around the areola while their tongues worked in tandem to coax out more of her silky, white nectar. Layla released airy moans, her hands caressing their heads, holding them close to her milky bosom while they suckled.

Wet slurps and groans met against her mountainous tit-flesh while the duo attempted to drain her udders dry, warm, and amorous sensation filling their bellies and loins. The mother of demons slyly left out that her milk carried aphrodisiac properties, making whoever drank from her susceptible to carnal euphoria, no matter their sexual preference.

Soon, Zeloph and Bellatrix would be driven entirely by feral instinct, then surrender to it, like all who drank down the warm, honey-like lactate of her tits.

A wet pop sounded, and a titty bounced once they took their fill. The seraph and succubus detached from Layla’s milky bust, the residue left dripping down their chins while the primordial woman’s nipples were stained in white droplets and slobber hickies around her areolas.

“Haaah… Ooh~! It’s been ages!” breathed Layla, her chest feeling less heavy after a feast on her. “Now…*huff*… you should be refreshed, yes?”

The seraphic angel did feel reinvigorated, as if all the stress and fatigue from the countless hours he spent training had been washed away and replaced with an unfamiliar sense of lust.

He felt the same pulsing sensation when exposed to the planet’s atmosphere, except without the painful side effects. Ancient instinct overrode his grief, his shimmering eyes locked on the busty red succubus when his swan-like plumage unfurled fully.

Bellatrix felt a similar passion as her horns grew to a more prominent shape. The intense urge to mate and ravage her partner was overwhelming, talons extending and leathery bat wings stretched out. Her slit pupils darted from Zell’s face to the painfully stiff cock twitching between his legs, precum running out the tip much like the femcum gushing from her pussy, which badly burned for him to finally sate its depths.

The two continued to leer and gawk at each other, trembling with anticipation until they ultimately pounced on one another with frenzied lust. They were like two predatory animals fighting for territory, if the territory was each other's bodies, driven solely by their instincts.

Hot gasps escaped Bella when she pulled away from a bloodied kiss, the taste of blood, milk, and alcohol on her lips. She rolled her pelvis into her bedmate, the swollen heat of his engorged pillar worsening the burning ache in her loins. Her body demanded Zell split her open and quench her raw pussy of its carnal thirst for male batter.

Usually, she loathed this feeling of submissiveness, especially after the humiliation that scumbag Douglas put her through. But the way Zeloph mouthed, groped, and rubbed her supple tits and ass with tender care made it hard for the she-devil not to melt in his grasp.

Bellatrix growled when she managed to push the angelic demi off onto his feet, sliding off the bed to shuffle close to his legs. Zeloph’s eyes widened in surprise to find the red-skinned succubus kneeling before him, rubbing her face into his shaft’s underbelly. Her painted lips smacked his cock, and her tongue lashed his swollen orbs, savoring his musky tang.

“That’s… quite a rare look for you,” he softly chuckled.

“Don’t get used to it,” she murmured, stroking in her saliva while taking a long slimy strip from base to tip. “This is the one time I willingly submit to you and your stupid... mmph~! gorgeous cock.”

While semen was most potent when released directly into a succubus womb, Bellatrix's instincts meant she sometimes wanted to drink it down or have it unloaded all over her face and body. To rub it into every last inch of her sensuous skin. And she was pretty curious about what demi-human cum felt and tasted like.

With that in mind, she took the first few inches of his dick to suckle on, earning pleasant sounds and sighs. Then, after a few minutes of bobbing along his length, she spat him out with a wet ‘pop.’ A thread of saliva webbed between her lips and his dick.

Once again, she warned him, “Be gracious of my gift. Don’t think I won’t hesitate to tear your balls off~!”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Zell hissed huskily, gently gripping her head to guide more of his spear into her mouth until she swabbed her throat with it, smearing black lipstick and slobber all over his girth.

Meanwhile, Layla relished the show at the foot of her bed, which provoked her into masturbation. The milky succubus mewled quietly, squeezing more milk out of her tits while her adder tail flicked its forked-shaped tongue against her covered cunt.

“Aauhh… so ravenous and salacious! Reminds me of my younger years~!” she tittered between moans.

Her praises fell on deaf ears; Bellatrix entirely focused on getting her meal. She kept her hands busy, one kneading her crimson tit while the other dug digits deep in her fuckhole. The red-skinned succubus gurgled and sputtered every time Zell’s dick hit the back of her throat, which only increased when he held and rubbed her sensitive horns.

The sheer boldness of this man to touch her like this and still be within ball-crushing range. Bellatrix had half a mind to bite his dick off!

Yet, she would allow it, knowing Zell wouldn’t treat her like another tally on his bed like Douglas or, to an extent, Dion. In fact, the fallen one was hardly facefucking her, his motion slow and manageable. Even when drunk off whiskey and the increased primal need for sex, he still showed restraint and respect.

‘A shame your fortunes ran out so soon, Shadow Scythe. Having this juicy dick all to yourself!’

Luckily, the she-devil’s efforts wouldn’t go unrewarded when she felt his cock twitch, making Bellatrix slurp harder on his turgid tool. Finally, Zell lifted his head to fill the room with sharp groans and warned, “Aagh! I-I’m cumming!”

Taking her hands off her assets, Bellatrix grabbed his hips to shove every inch of delicious angel cock down her gullet, which pushed her partner over the edge.

Layla wasn’t far behind either, soiling her royal garments with feminine discharge while drenching her fingers in her breast milk.

Zeloph’s body and wings tingled, hearing her audibly gulp the warm torrents of viscous seed. Hissing as her nails dig into his taut ass cheeks.

Bellatrix pulled back until only the tip remained in her mouth, sipping his white hot stream before drawing back to let the last strands cake her face. She savored how flavourful his semen tasted, thick as syrup with a honey-like sweetness. Definitely in a different class compared to all the usual nasty male sludge the succubus resentfully swallowed.

Perhaps when this was all over, she could convince Zeloph to give her samples regularly and never rely on another man for her source of nutrition again!

But, as Layla stated, the warm cum in her belly wouldn’t suffice, especially since she had yet to orgasm. Bellatrix gave her angelic paramour a half-lidded glare. His hazy blue eyes reflected her unbridled lust, his fuckstick nowhere near soft.

‘Atalanta,’ Zeloph called internally. ‘If you’re watching, I hope you’ll find it in your soul to forgive me…’

‘…but I’m milking this fucker for all he’s worth!’ Bellatrix thought in tandem as she shifted gears.

With heightened reflexes, the voracious succubus got up to forcefully shove the demi-human back onto the bed and straddled his waist before he could react. Claws pinned his shoulder, her hips grounding his while grinding his hot rod between the petals of her pussy.

“Sorry, Zell, but I don't have the patience for a gentle lover,” Bellatrix hissed between heated pants. “You only have two options. Pummel my pussy until it hurts, or stay still like a good fuck toy. One way or another, I’m taking your cum~!”

When Zell failed to give an immediate response, she made his decision and reached down to align the head of his penis with her moist entrance. The red demoness reeled back and cried ecstatically upon impaling herself, bathing the demi-human’s groin with orgasmic nectar.

Layla shuffled over to cast her spell on Bellatrix, giving her chosen successor a matching tattoo while admiring the imprint of Zeloph’s cock, highlighting her lower belly.

“Goodness, he’s so deep,” the motherly succubus purred. “Is this how you dreamed you’d take him~?”

“Mm-mnah! N-no… this is way better,” she admitted through a sadistic grin, loving how Zeloph’s face contorted with pain and pleasure when she began riding him.

Even more titillating was being back in her rightful domain, letting out feral moans as her demonic need to conquer and fuck the angel took over. She gave the mewling seraph underneath her no quarter, squeezing his heavenly pillar with a vice grip as she violently slammed her hips up and down atop his. Her nails raked across his chest amidst snarls, leaving red lacerations.

The she-devil leaned forward so that her suspended tits bounced and swayed in his face, so close they slapped across his cheeks and practically smothered him a few times while she screwed him.

“Nnnaah~! And here I thought you’d put up more of a challenge,” Bellatrix hissed at him. “But it looks like you’ve accepted your place—aaahfuck~! Mmm-beneath me. Good boy~! Just surrender your seed! Fill me with your warmth and lust!!”

Her crimson cheeks slapped into his lap, breasts wobbling with every bound. When the she-devil closed her eyes, she pictured her perfect fantasy. An infernal throne to which she sat upon, her angelic boy toy in a chained leash. Draped to one side were those traitors Camellia and Esmeralda, and on the other were Layla and Analise, all of them naked. Mounting her waist was Alma, her auburn hair and arms wrapped around the devil queen while her thin lips worshiped her red skin.

Gods, the imagery alone was enough to lead Bellatrix toward a glorious release… until she detected her partner’s moans were muffled. Opening her eyelids, she spotted the mother of demons leaning over Zeloph’s face, smothering him with one of her leaky udders.

“H-hey! What are you—that’s cheating!” The demonic woman hissed, slowing down her gyrating hips.

“Don’t be selfish, Bella,” Layla said with playful dishonesty, letting out a small cry from how greedily he nursed from her tit. “Clearly, he didn’t drink enough milk~.”

“Playing favorites, are we? You slutty cow! Cross me, and you’ll—n-naaagh~!?”

Her threat was cut off when Zeloph unexpectedly bucked his hips, the tip of his spear kissing the back of her womb. Layla shuffled away to allow the fallen one to sit up, grabbing a handful of the succubus’ wide buttocks and lower back.

Bellatrix failed to suppress a shudder when leering into his fiery vermillion gaze, a new pair of eyes opening from his feathery ears. He leaned in close and softly said through a hot exhale, “Hang on.”

The red demoness squealed when the seraphic demi propelled them skyward with a single wingbeat. She clung to his lean frame for dear life, bosom squished into his chest while Zeloph bounced her bottom into his vigorous thrusts, lengthy cock skewering her love tunnel mid-air.

“H-oooooh, y-you sneaky fffuuuuuuuuck~!!” Bellatrix hollered, digging her claws deeper into her shoulder blades. She tried to retake control by flapping her leathery wings, causing the pair to spiral around the bed chamber, much to Layla’s enjoyment.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” the midnight queen vocalized her bless, shoving the entirety of her snake tail up her snatch and letting it rattle around while slurping her fem juices.

Their aerial wrestling came to an end when Zeloph smashed Bellatrix against the glass dome, one leg hooked into an arm while the other firmly grasped her neck, choking out more whorish moans.

“If you want it, then you’re gonna take it,” he told her through heavy pants before empathizing with his point with particular hard thrusts.

“Just.”

Plap!

“Like.”

Plahp!

“This!”

Plahp! Plahp! Plahp!

Bella quivered with a lust-aided face as each thrust reshaped her fuckhole to conform to the seraph’s shape. Combined with his sacred touch amplifying her pleasure with ripples of light, she subsided her pride in favor of submitting to the pleasure her fiery lover delivered.

“Yes! A-Aaah, that’s it, Zell! Take my pussy! Fuck it like you own it,” the elated succubus chanted her demands. “Don’t you dare fucking stop until you’ve baptized every inch of my womb~!!”

Zeloph snarled before silencing the demon’s filthy mouth with another hot wet kiss, pounding with fierce enthusiasm as they pushed each other closer to nirvana. Bellatrix came first with a long bestial howl, her velvety cunt clamping and squirting on his cock, trying to squeeze the potent seed churning in his balls.

She wouldn’t have to wait long as Zell fully sheathed himself and inundated her birthing chamber with a loud cry. Their tails entangled, bodies intertwined and pressed together, ensuring no drop was wasted. The protective symbol activated with a faint glimmer, ensuring the she-devil’s ovaries wouldn’t be fertilized by the gooey baby batter packed inside her stretched-out pussy.

Bellatrix twitched and whimpered as Zeloph gently lowered them back to the bed, her eyes nearly rolling into the back of her skull from how full and gravid he made her. But her focus returned when she felt him tremble, face buried between her bosom while she traced his midnight locks. She smiled coyly, leaning down to whisper her praises and sultry suggestions while her slippery womb drank his potent seed.

“Phew! You can be quite insatiable once you cut loose,” wheezed Layla, who was also winded after working two orgasms with just her hands and tail. “A true sex demon~!”

“I… normally reserve myself,” Bellatrix said with an exhausted laugh, face swathed with sweat and spunk. “But the two of you truly know how to bring the devil out of me! I hate to admit, Zell, I didn’t think you had it in you to fuck so hard! It's no wonder you won her over.”

But the succubus’ expression slightly grimaced upon not hearing her bedroom partner respond. Her concerns worsened when she felt wet droplets stain her chest and his shoulders rising and falling.

“Zell..?”

“I'm… I’m so sorry. I can’t!” He quietly whimpered, sobriety having caught up to him in the face afterglow. “I shouldn’t have been so rough..!”

“H-hey, it’s okay! You did wonderfully,” Layla assured, her face full of worry.

“Y-yeah, I didn’t mind it at all…”

He shook his head, deeply ashamed. “I thought I could do this. That if I lost myself to the pleasure of letting the drink dull my mind, it would distract me from….”

Bellatrix’s eyes and frown softened as Zeloph sniffled and tried to hide his sorrows. Never had she been in such an awkward position. The most elevating sex she’d ever had with a male, suddenly transitioning to him now sobbing his poor heart out, was a complete mood-jerker.

But the crimson she-devil and the matron demon did the only appropriate thing. They pulled him closer into their soft curvy frames, enclosed their wings, and let him continue grieving.

Midnight Blitzer allowed himself to be overtaken by sleep, unable to shake the fatigue his withered form wrought him. The pegasus knight dreamt he was back in a lush, verdant version of his own homeworld, untouched by the bloodshed and death of wars and their aftermath, which defined his entire short life.

He reclined on a riverbank, the trees rustling around him, his fur back to its usual hues, his hardy muscles covered by a plain white tunic and breeches. Sunlight reflected over him when he rose and stretched amidst the breeze with a smack of his chops with a hearty yawn.

“Why is life always better as a dream?” he said. Green eyes drifted to the clear lake ahead, mountains visible on the horizon, and a few fluffy white clouds drifting across the blue skies. “It’s pretty and all, but… Kinda wish I wasn't alone!”

On cue, the body of water started to stir. From it, before his widened eyes, a familiar shape broke through the surface with a subdued splash, a massive, decorated sword lifted in one hand by the woman that held it. The matronly sheep's wool and skin were a bluish-white shade, her eyes honey brown, her chubby, voluptuous curvature adorned by no more than a thin, translucent shift, its soaked fabric conformed to her womanly contours, which simply drew his gaze more to her wide nipples, generous mammaries, and hips that terminated in ample buttocks. A taut labia decorated her bared mound.

“O-Oona?!”

Lady Ewe smiled warmly at Midnight when she surfaced and stood on the water's surface, her wooly mane done up in a braid that fell down the sides of her face and was bound by a jewel under her chin, a gentle face framed by curled azure horns. “Welcome home, Sir Midnight Blitzer. Come forth,” she beckoned with her free hand. “Excalibur awaits a worthy wielder. You.”

“Worthy? Me? After all the mistakes I've made?” Nonetheless, the blue pegasus started to walk towards the lake, prepared to wade in...and instead, his bare feet didn't break the water's surface, which enabled the hyper-stallion to stroll about the cool, pristine liquid unimpeded.

“Absolutely,” crooned Oona, her honeyed half-lidded. “Yer father once came here, too. He passed th’ trials tae claim th’ title ov Paladin, befur his descent intae self-pity after th’ loss ov his wife and child caused his downfall.”

By now, the pegasus knight stood before the azure caprine, four inches taller than her. When he reached for Excalibur in her hand, the legendary blade simply dematerialized before his emerald eyes.

“Ah-ah! Not yet,” Oona teased, wagging a finger. “Ye need tae to pass a test yerself. One Ah believe ye shall certainly appreciate~.” Her fingers sank into her wet gown and began to pull it over her wooly thighs.

Midnight watched with a swallowed gasp as her flimsy covering drew up her legs and exposed her mound and slit first. Then it drew over her round belly, massive mammaries momentarily dragged upwards by her attire, before they were released with a jiggle as the sheep's bountiful breasts flopped with a wobble and smacked into each other as they continued to quiver before they finally settled. Garments discarded to one side once womanly perfection stood fully exposed before his innocent leer.

“Come an’ lie wit me, Sir Knight,” Oona beckoned with hooded eyes and a sultry grin. “Ye must plant yer seed deep wit'in mah fertile womb tae survive, yes? Breed me so that Ah may birth th' spirit that will take Excalibur's true form.”

Midnight swallowed hard. Was this part of the test? Temptation? But no way his father would've turned this down, right...?

Before the hyper soldier could adequately think it over, Lady Ewe had taken his hand and guided it to one of her supple tits. Instinctively, his hand tightened around the massive boob; flesh pinched under his firm grip as she cooed in an improper manner. Warm milk spurted between his fingers, which ran between his digits, more left to spurt from her large, engorged nipple as she lactated.

His hyper-cock throbbed angrily for release as it pushed against his breeches and demanded to burst free of their prison. His heated balls similarly ached. With a free hand, Midnight tore his tunic away, chiseled muscles exposed under a row of his fluffy feathers. His bottoms soon followed, his horsecock left to bob when it sprung free, its flared tip lined in precum that dripped from his urethra.

When his hands slid down her sides and rested on her voluminous hips for support, Oona opened her legs to invite him in. “Yes~! Take me, Sir Knight. Claim mah maidenhood fur yerself,” she cried while he flared, oversized tip rubbed up and down her inflamed pussy lips.

“W-wait! You’re a virgin?!” He paused, the head of his cock half-teased into her silky twat. “But didn't you and my father—”

Lady Ewe laughed in a soft, musical manner. “This flesh is reborn wit each generation. Spiritually, Ah am th' same woman he encountered. But this vessel has been untouched...until now. Come, Sir Knight. Come an' take what is yers~!” she murred in a husky manner. His tip sank in a little more, and her hips drove forward, his flare teased against her hymen. “A-aaah! That’s it! Break me. Ruin me~.”

Spurred on by her words, Midnight ripped past her virginal barrier, her moan mixed with raw pain and pleasure, after which he fully penetrated the motherly maiden.

Blood and feminine lubricant dribbled between her asscrack, over her asshole that puckered up when she tensed around the hyper-stallion that soon sunk balls deep into the azure sheep, said testicles left to heavily smack into her soft, pliable rump on each entry into her.

Grunts rose from Midnight's belly when he started to properly rut the motherly sheep, hearing the wet squish of her stretched-out and filled pussy each time he hammered away. Her asscheeks bounced with fleshy claps each time he speared his bitch-breaking rod to force open her cervix and conquer her slippery, slimy womb, which his tip impacted under savage bucks in desperation for release.

“Yes~! Keep goin’… u-use me like a fucksleeve...” Oona kissed and drew him closed, her nails raked into his back. His palms encircled her buttocks, lifted her hips, and wrapped his wings around her back to support her. Midnight buried his snout into one bouncy tit to nibble and suckle at the milky nubs. He switched between them, lost to the schlicks of her claimed cunt and her unladylike vocalizations whenever he fucked her.

His wingspan, wrapped around her lower back, kept her hefted alongside one hand that kneaded the pinched flesh of a plush buttock; his other palm slapped across her fat titties with such force a fresh splay of milk sprayed his palm. He withdrew with a wet pop and shared a milky, tongue-locked kiss when she tasted herself on his firm, soaked mouth.

When their mouths disconnected, tethered by saliva and milk, she blushed harder and confessed, “Ah always wondered how Ah tasted~.” He hefted her free tit upwards to her mouth, and her lips encircled her nipple when she suckled directed from her heavy milker.

His digits buried harder into her buttcheek, one of his fingers sinking into the warmth and tightness of her butthole. Oona’s backside gripped around him, much like her slippery love tunnel did, as his vein-rigged cock pulsed with the need to inseminate her each time he drove in.

A milk-stained breast that ran with honey down a slope flopped free of her lips when she lewdly moaned. “Oh, please! Finish in me, you chivalrous knight...knock this poor maiden up! Make me fat wit a thousand young~!”

“F-fuck!” He could barely hold back the urge to impregnate her at this juncture, his thrusts faster, harder by the moment.

So lost was he at the moment, drinking from a milky breast while he watched the other obscenely bounce from the corner of his eye; he barely noticed the waters start to darken around them, as did the skies after darkness settled in.

Nor did he realize Oona was changing shape. Her legs wrapped around his waist to ensure he went nowhere, white fleece turning black and bristling with thorns. Her horns lengthened and sprouted an additional pair. And her warm honey-brown eyes darkened into a moderate red leer, emanated by an eerie yellow glow. Midnight’s muscled hips blurred as he fucked his sow with hard, deep thrusts. At first, he thought night had merely settled in...only to notice the lake turn to menstrual blood around him, the skies now vacant of any clouds or celestial objects. “H-huh? What happened to the—waaahh!?”

The pegasus balked when looking down at Oona, who wore a condescending smile once tendrils suddenly grew out from her wool, ensnaring the startled knight. A third eye blinked open above her bosom, its inverted pupil dilating. “Oona? What are you—!?”

“Foolish colt,” the dark faun tittered cruelly. “Sae easily smitten by anythin’ wit an open pair ov legs. Not tae fret, ‘Middy .’A’ll bring ye tae a warm place, where ye can devolve an’ fuck til yer wee heart expires~!”

Unwrapping her limbs but leaving her tentacles in place, Oona submerged into the blood lake… only to resurface as Queen Chrysalis. Midnight shouted as the tall and voluptuous changeling matriarch relocked her legs behind his muscled butt, her own arms, and wings, likewise drawing him close into her cunt.

“Now, you will fulfill my dream! Let’s show the world what a changeling hyper-stallion hybrid looks like~!” Chrysalis cackled beneath him.

Midnight failed to withdraw himself, driven entirely by hyper-stallion instinct to breed her. No doubt drawn to the fact that a changeling queen was the most fertile female in existence, able to bear dozens!

While he frantically tried to escape, the male pegasus gasped as massive crosses rose from the bloodied water, each adorned by the mummified and crucified forms of those important to his life. Among them were also his parents, Snowy Blizzard and Shining Armor. Thunder Storm included, who he'd once believed was his actual father. Even Fiery Kickstart and Equinox...wherever he turned, a familiar face, his twin sister, half-sister, wife, childhood friend, his mentor… “N-no! This is a trick!!”

“Believe what you want,” purred Chrysalis, her face a sweaty, blushing mess once her loose locks clung to her skin. Her breasts slapped against his chest under each hump, and her erect nipples dragged across his skin and fur. “A changeling can sense the emotions of her prey, transforming herself to fulfill your every base fantasy! You want to fuck all of Beatrix's female friends, don't you? And your half-sister, too!” She took on Beatrix's shape in a flash, mimicking her moans and voice while he screwed her tight snatch, unable to restrain himself.

As he violently fucked the changeling raw, the kind, innocent, outright naïve young stallion Midnight became a passenger for a ride by his hyper-stallion side. Determined to drown her ovaries and eggs in his sperm, fertilize them and make her belly swell to fullness. Howling like a wild beast, he sank in fully one last time, flared his trapped horsecock, and fired off inside the slimy core of 'Beatrix.'

To his horror, while he pumped an impossible volume of his load into Chrysalis and watched her stomach bloat from excessive loads, 'Beatrix' altered again in a flash, reacting to his lusty subconscious between many beautiful women he'd encountered, Snowy Blizzard nor Lightning Spark spared his lust-crazed need to put a foal in their fertile wombs. To ensure his genetic material would be passed on before age and atrophy brought on by his hyper-side finished off his short life.

The lust-filled voices of these women moaned and called out his name as Chrysalis tightened up around him, trembled as her messy, squirting orgasms washed over his masculine equipment and dripped from her underside, her uterus filled to the absolute brim as it threatened to pop. Gasps of bliss mixed with his cries for this fantasy-turned-nightmare to finally end.

“You're just like that simp of a father,” she taunted, her cunt convulsing around him, milking his balls for all they were worth. “Ready to sheathe your sword in the first virginal maiden you cross while you play the chivalrous knight in shining armor! He's probably with Marathyssa right now! Who knows? Maybe she'll pop out a few half-brothers and sisters for him…!”

“No! I hate the changelings! I hate...” The words died in his hoarse throat as he continually came in her, his hazy emerald eyes drawn to poor Deinos and Marathyssa, also denuded cadavers.

“...hate...killed my family and friends...” His rage died away, unable to deny that, unlikely as it seemed, some changelings weren't entirely evil. Could he condemn them to death after their kindness, too?

With a rumble, the crosses that confined his loved ones slowly sank into the crimson lake. He, too, was sinking, the gangling limbs and black tendrils binding him to Chrysalis, whose mad cackling slowly muffled into the bloodied liquid.

Midnight feebly tried to yank his wings and limbs free, letting out panicked yells after the world around him crashed down. The lush fields of forestry that resembled the paradise world where he first encountered Beatrix became a desolate crater of rock and abyssal ruins, towering around the blue stallion once the warm blood ocean consumed him entirely.

And when darkness claimed him, he swore that the thing resembling Oona, standing by a vaguely familiar figure, was watching him drown…

Sharp groans announced Midnight's return to awareness. Green eyes blinked when the world swam back into focus. And for a moment, his features warmed over at the sight of his wife...only to realize the subtle differences when the mare that sat by his seat became clear.

Sure, the thick ponytail could easily be dismissed, used to the twin tails Cerise usually wore. But this charcoal mare lacked the thestral wings his wife usually chose to adorn, appearing a few years younger. Barely an adult, so innocent.

To his shame, his green eyes drifted to her breasts, which hadn't mildly reduced from years of intense dancing like Cerises. At least a D cup, his baser instincts informed him, unlike his wife's C.

But at one glance, the pegasus knight shook away such thoughts to his wrinkled, bony finger. A reminder of what his uncontrollable lust had cost him, barely able to support the golden ring that threatened to slip off. Thankfully, if this youthful mare caught his sneaky looks, she made no comment.

“Hello,” chirped the earth pony mare that sat at his bedside on a chair. “My name's Eclipsed Heart! Nice to meet you!”

“I-It’s nice to meet you too,” Midnight greeted with a faint voice and managed to sit up and wrap the sheets around his decrepit form, dressed in little more than a thin shift. “Sorry about my appearance. I must look horrible.”

Eclipsed shook her head. “From what I've heard, you've been through an awful lot!”

He hoped no one had shared some of his more shameful moments. “Thanks,” he all but croaked. “So, you're the...” He cut himself off before he called her the 'alternate one' since he didn't mean to be rude. “You're the 'Cerise' of the Cyberverse?”

The pop princess beamed. “That I am! And you're Midnight Blitzer! I've heard many romantic stories about how you've protected her! You must've been so valiant! Oh, but it's terrible what's happened to you! Even so, with all the hi-tech stuff around here, not to mention all the witches and warlocks, surely someone will find a way to reverse this!”

She shifted in her seat, dressed in a two-piece futuristic roller derby-style costume without the protective gear, patterned with neon symbols for flair.

“Yeah… I sure hope so,” Midnight lamented with his head low. “I'm useless like this…”

Eclipsed, pouted, and innocently asked as her wide eyes met his own, “Is there anything I could do to improve it?”

More intrusive, lustful thoughts assaulted the soldier's mind's eye. Of Eclipsed Heart in a striptease, ready to service him like his wife had. Gulping hard, Midnight weakly turned his head aside and mumbled, “N-No! I mean...not much. Oh, crap!” His ring finally slipped off his finger and landed on the floor with a clatter. He tried to rise and almost fell when she tenderly touched his thin arm to stop him.

“It’s fine! You sit back and rest.” Eclipsed giggled and ducked down to try and find the piece of metal; his eyes pulled to the short shorts that conformed to her charcoal buttcheeks while she searched under the bed. “Darn it, where is it...?”

Apparently oblivious to the subdued sway of her hips and buttocks while she reached around, his open palm trembled, inches away from a claim of a supple cheek wider than his wife's own. Thankfully, he pulled back when she announced, “Aha! Here it is!” She darted back to her feet, unaware of her little unintended show, and shot him a toothy smile, symbolizing his betrothed atop her open palm. "Ta-da! It's so pretty!"

“Th-thanks,” Midnight murmured with rosy cheeks and reclaimed it.

“No problem! Oh, you poor dear!” She tilted forward to help tuck his lean body in, as the color had started to drain from fluffy fur and a few feathers that had begun to fall out. His vision was once more drawn to his wife's lovely, more youthful double, this time to those more shapely breasts suspended in her top when she leaned forward and dared to almost fall out from confinement.

Like his wife, her double also appeared to favor scanty clothes, although from what he'd heard, this was common in the Cyberverse, where the usual morals seemed laxer. However, unlike Cerise, Eclipsed hadn’t grown out of that innocent naivety, oblivious to the quiver of her own pleasure pillows whenever she fluffed the pillows and hummed a pop tune to herself in a shimmy of her hips.

“Better? A-Ahh—Hey!” She turned her head aside and pushed on his chest when his snout almost met her lips. “Middy, you're married! And besides, I have a boyfriend! One I'm very happy with,” she tenderly but firmly scolded him.

“I'm so sorry! You reminded me too much of Cerise,” he lamely admitted as they awkwardly turned aside from each other and went deathly quiet. Yet again, Midnight almost surrendered to his hyper-stallion instincts, which screamed that with a new mare claimed, he would start on the road to healing his pitiful state.

“For fucks sake, really?!” His eyes drifted across the room, where Moonlight stood with her arms crossed and tsked. “We’re literally a mare down, and you can’t keep your filthy hands to yourself? It’s bad enough you cheated on your herd with Equinox, but you won’t even stop while who knows what malicious torment poor Cerise is enduring!?”

“Moonie, it wasn’t like that! I swear! I-I just…”

“Best to keep away from him,” warned Iclyn, who walked in with arms folded. “A hyper-stallion won’t know rest until his lust has been sated. No matter what overuse has done to him!”

“Now that’s a classic case of bitch dependency right there,” joked Arron as he and the other demi-humans made their entrance. “Look at this blue raisin lookin’ ass~!”

Ana sighed. “Can’t even count 'a many possessive rip the 'airs I’ve ran into, aw grovelin' for a taste of me coochie juice. I’d almost feel sorry if it wasn’t so damn pathetic!”

“Hey, lay off him!” Eclipsed said defensively. “Hasn’t he gone through enough already!?”

“Aye. He’s been through th' wringer,” said Dion as he stomped through the main lobby. “But Ah can’t pretend like A'm not disappointed in mah student. He needs tae understand discipline. As do Foal-Bearer an' Wet Nurse. They pushed themselves tae th' limit an' almost paid th' ultimate price…"

“I...I'll do better! I swear it,” vowed Midnight, who balled up a shaky fist.

“Please do,” pleaded the popstar mare. “I want to know Cerise is well taken care of! Besides, she needs your help!”

Midnight's shoulders slumped once more. “Believe me, I really want to. But what can I really do in this state? Not even Beatrix with the Prima Materia could simply wave this away!”

“I’d argue she’d make things even worse,” Arcanum said, looking utterly restless while cracking the joints that stiffened his neck. The white ram raised a brow, noting the erenn stallion came from the same hallway Wet Nurse and Foal-Bearer had disappeared into.

Noticing the suspicious gaze, Arcanum quickly looked away and added, “Regardless, we need a concrete strategy if we’re going to survive the onslaught ahead of us. And it starts with figuring out who's behind this bullshit!”

Not long after, the other inhabitants of the Glamorguis gathered, save for Beatrix, the twins, Bellatrix, Zeloph, and Layla.

“Well, for starters, we currently know it’s an anomalous figure like Beatrix,” said Julianne.

“They also brought about the second coming of the Cult of the Nemesis,” added Iclyn, recalling their brief encounter with the spokesman, Vox. “But for what reason?”

“Here’s my current theory,” the scruffy detective cut in. “The anomaly has it out for Beatrix. Why revive the fallen order from her original dimension if not to strike fear into her heart? Their resurgence wasn’t by mere coincidence. It was elaborate! Cleverly orchestrated to bring strife when it came to her choosing to save Midnight’s world or Oona’s.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Dion. “She always had a knack fur pissin' off a lot ov folk. But now we’re back tae ‘why’…”

“I don’t think it matters ‘why,’” voiced Kitsune grimly. “Half our comrades are either wounded, weakened, or dead. And the others are scattered across two dwindling universes.”

Wispy Willow followed up. “Meanwhile, we’re stuck on a hostile planet, keeping two monsters locked in our basement. If we don’t come up with a solid solution, our asses are getting fucked without lube! Anyone have a real plan before we-”

Footsteps sounded when the changeling scientist and warrior, Deinos, made his way, no longer adorning the disguise of Web Spinner. “The solution to our problem might be closer than you think,” the arachnid changeling announced. “At least, regarding Midnight’s dire condition.”

Lightning Spark beamed. “Webs! Did you find a way to cure him?”

Deinos nodded and held up a tiny pale pill between his claws. “Thanks to the wonderful technology of the UFO, I refurbished a prototype that should cleanse the hyper-stallion gene from his cellular system.”

“That’s great and all, but how can he recover from his condition?” Moonlight questioned.

“That I haven’t figured out,” admitted the multi-limbed changeling. “Not even the Glamorguis can reverse all the abuse and trauma throughout his body. But perhaps the answer lies in the Necronomicon. Or, more accurately, Beatrix.”

Arcanum Folklore pulled out the forbidden tome from his inner coat pocket. “You think destroying it will undo Midnight’s advance aging?”

“Theoretically speaking, Beatrix’s power altered his timeline and made him a hyper-stallion. Destroying the book might absolve the changes done to him and everything else the witch has left her mark on. I know there was drama between her and Zeloph, so we need everyone on board to agree on the Necronomicon’s fate.”

“Right. Because Beatrix might be rendered powerless if her connection to the Necronomicon gets severed,” recalled Eclipsed, frowning.

“We’ll come to that when they’re good and ready,” said Kyube, who pointed to Midnight. “But for now, we can at least get him fixed, right?”

“About that,” Deinos cast an uneasy gaze on the weakened pegasus knight. “For the medicine to work, you must tap into your hyper-stallionism one final time. That means having all that burdening lust sated first. I don’t suppose anyone would care to volunteer..?” He looks around him.

Midnight gulped, his ears flopped as he looked guiltily at the surrounding females in the lobby, most of whom showed disdain towards the idea.

Then, in a poof of neon smoke, Moxxi shrunk down to her imp form and stepped forward with a roll of her eyes. “Y'all 're a bunch of sodded cunts! Leef 'im ter me. I’ll whip 'is sorry Khyber pass in shape!”

The blue pegasus gave a sheepish smile. “T-Thanks, Mox. I really owe you—”

“Button it!” The normally promiscuous demoness shot him a heated glare. “This ain’t gonna be sum thrill ride wif me, Middy. This is punishment! I’m givin' ya the dullest shaggin' of your life. So mind-numbingly borin', not even a vacuum cleaner will be enjoyable afterward!”

Midnight visibly paled while the others mused over his misfortune.

“Hooohohohahaha~!” Both Arron and Chisana wheezed with laughter.

“Damn,” Arcanum said, unable to hold back a snicker. “Just… just damn!”

“That’s a worse fate than death for any man,” mused Seb.

“Might as well hand over yer balls while yer at it!” chuckled Dion.

“And I thought I was cold,” commented Iclyn, a slight smirk on her snout.

“Attagirl, Mox!” Wispy approved with a wide grin. “Show him no mercy. Get him, queen~!”

Moxxi puffed her cheeks. “Don’t be cheerin' me on, ya stripy-tailed alleywhore! I’d rather barf out whale splooge than fuck King Dickhead over 'ere!”

“Still. You’re making us proud for taking one for the team,” the nekomata cheekily retorted and stuck out her tongue. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…~” She suddenly grabbed Kyube by his tail and dragged him away from the room, much to both his and Kitsune’s perplexion.

“I-Imoto! Where are you taking him?”

“Just gonna take Foxy for a test drive. See whether he’s worthy of my sis!” She replied, ignoring his yelps and complaints while she pulled his fluffed-up tail.

Kitsune frowned and narrowed her eyes. “You had better not act unjustly towards him,” she warned.

“Nah, relax! It’ll be fun; I swear~!” Wispy winked and headed off with the fox bandit. Kitsune quietly fumed at her sister's impulsive, hedonistic nature but nonetheless leaned on a wall for support and strained to follow after her, despite losing a vita ninth tail for balance.

Moonlight sighed as she watched Moxxi swipe the pill from Deinos before summoning her neon void adorning herself and Midnight to proceed with his seed ‘extraction’ in private solitude.

Her eyes then scanned the lobby while other pairs and groups took off together, no doubt to kill some time before their upcoming departure from Sacratera. She missed Moon Hammer's company already.

The thestral caught Dion side-eying her, but she shook her head, not particularly fond of the idea of some throwaway fun. Not after she'd decided to try out a short, interrupted lifestyle with the minotaur and his half-cow, half-mare twin wives. Her heart was still too raw. “Guess I'll have to stick with masturbation,” she muttered beneath a drawn-out breath.

Everyone, not focused on their own pleasures, convened with Arcanum at the center table to discuss more strategies since the ongoing war with various factions and adversaries loomed ahead. As well as uncover the source of the cosmic storm that swallowed up the multiverse since it was clear the Necronomicon's destruction was unlikely to end this dimensional madness.

The erenn warlock placed the evil book and drummed his fingers across its dried, fleshy surface, tempted to crack it open and devour its contents by its supernatural pull. To his relief, Bloody Merry hadn't appeared since the grimoire's loss and subsequent discovery. No, it had obviously decided to focus its temptations back on Beatrix.

Heaving a large exhale, he fished into his breast pocket… only to discover his missing flask. “What th—Oi! Where did me drink go?!”

Seb nervously looked away, his bandana thankfully concealing his sly grin.

Within her Onoma, Analise resumed her full figure, standing tall, voluptuous, and dominant over the wasting form of Midnight. His green eyes took in the sight of her curvature once she peeled off her form-fitting night dress. Her plump breasts bounced free and teasingly wobbled together as she bent down to slide her attire down her wide hips and larger-than-life posterior.

Once naked, Ana lifted a leg and pressed her heeled foot into his chest to push him against the ground, magenta eyes gleaming in the darkness. “Gods, this is so lame,” she groaned. “You’re lucky I’m garn easy on ya. If only 'cause Cerise wouldn’t appreciate 'avin' me break ya before ya eventually rescue 'er.”

“Y-yeah… I know,” Midnight wheezed and blushed, staring up at her spread legs at her puffy pussy. He was still worked up after encountering Eclipsed, who'd only made him miss his wife even harder.

Was she hurt? Worse...?

He snapped back to reality when Ana rubbed her foot across his half-erect cock, which throbbed and spat precum across her toes. “Seriously? I’m not even wigglin' me toes, and you’re already dribblin'! 're ya actually gettin' off ter this, ya masochistic pig?!”

“H-Hey! Everyone probably does a little,” he replied somewhat defensively. His instincts told him to seize her ankle to take control of the situation. But when he tried, the neon demon’s tail clamped around his arm, albeit at an angle that avoided its elongated teeth.

“Yaaugh!!”

“he fuck do ya fin' you're doin'?” Ana laughed wickedly, stomping her foot back down on his torso. “I told ya. We’re gonna 'ave the chuffin' blandest form of Posh n Becks ever imagined. Don’t fin' I won't neuter ya if ya misbe-ave.”

Midnight whimpered as she squatted down and mounted him, rubbing the glands of his flared horse cock against her slit to make sure he was hard enough for insertion. Ana moaned slightly, feeling his girth stretch apart her warm canal slightly. “Could be worse, I suppose,” she muttered before rocking her wide hips with lazy gyrations, barely enough to pleasure the both of them.

Thankfully, her licentious touch would always keep Midnight aroused no matter his fatigue. Surely enough to milk the last of his stupid condition.

“Whoops! Almost forgot~.”

Much to Midnight's dismay, she paused to take out the small white pill. After studying it for a few seconds, the spunky demoness popped it into her mouth.

“Ehh!? Hey, why did you—Mmmgh!!”

Ana leaned down to shut him up with a kiss, her tongue slithering inside his mouth to deliver the saliva-stained pill. When she pulled back, she commanded, “Swallow it.” He did precisely that, gulping the confinement down.“Good. Na lie back and fin' of Cerise while I make this more pleasurable for me.”

Midnight meekly nodded and let her resume grinding her pelvis into his while the neon demon summoned windows into the ship outside, which showed what everyone else was up to.

“No… nope. Boring… sad… Ahah!” Analise expanded the portal that showed Moonlight’s room with the flustered batmare inside. “This outta be good~!”

“W-wait! Isn’t it wrong to be spying on them...?” Midnight grunted, his hands slowly wandering to feel up the succubus’ wide hips, only for her to slap them away.

“Wot they don’t kna won’t 'urt them,” she assured amid small bounces atop him. “But it will hurt ya if ya dare tattletale on me.”

Her venus flytrap-style tail snuck between his legs and teasingly lowered its jaws around his hefty ballsack, an evil glint in her eye as she grinned.

“A-Aaaahh!! N-N-N-N-no! I wont! I wont!!” He squealed a little yet felt his dick pulsate harder inside her, determined to fill her womb.

“Smashin'. Na let’s see wot your China Plate is up to~!”

All eyes were honed in on Moonlight, a momentary frown on Midnight’s snout at the reminder he'd betrayed her. That she'd then dumped him for another man.

Moonlight paced her sparse room and flopped her butt down on the bed. “Damn it! After all, I've been through, and my estrus quenched, I thought I’d be over all this! But I didn't have a proper chance to spend much time with Moon Hammer before we were pulled away from my world. Didn't even have time for oral!”

She rubbed her thighs together with a snort. Making sure the electronic door was secure, the purple-gray thestral pulled up her top and tossed it aside, her breasts left to topple free with a jiggle. She raised her ass and wiggled out of the bottom half of her garments until she sat completely naked. With a satisfied sigh, she reclined on the bed sheets, opened up her thighs once she rested her head on a pillow, then let her hands wander.

One hand wandered to a bare tit, squeezed it, and pinched a nipple to erectness, while another hand trailed over her belly, down to her pussy, which she patted a few times and felt its lips swell and moisten under the delicate brush of her fingers. Moonlight traced up and down over her tight slit, teased her clitoris from its hood, and caressed the heart-shaped love button relentlessly.

“Ah...oh...” She moaned as her fantasies went wild, and her fingers sank into her squishy cunt. “Moon Hammer....Cerise...Midnight!” She seized up and felt the splash of her first miniature orgasm that dribbled between her asscrack and over her asshole.

Midnight's heart swelled as his childhood friend lusted over him, gripping the seat beneath him after he fired his first load off into the neon demon's uterus.

Ana quivered a bit at the warm sludge soaking her womb while leering down at him. “Yeesh! Got ya on a Barnet Fair trigger, 'uh?”

He wheezed amidst his release and cried out, “She...she still cares about me!”

“That’s 'onestly surprisin',” scoffed the neon demi-human. “Though ya did gra up together. Prolly wahn reason ya didn't race ter clap those sweet cheeks sooner since ya must've seen 'er more loike a sister back then!”

Anarchia then smirked as she watched the screen before her, not letting up on her agonizingly slow ride despite Midnight’s sensitivity after his release. “'mm… it looks loike the poor mare can't find satisfaction in 'er lonesome! Wonder wot she'll do~?”

True to the neon demon's words, wet schlicks filled Moonlight's room while she furiously masturbated, her womanly mound, fingers, and puckered tailhole soaked in tiny sprays of feminine nectar. Groans escaped her whenever she whimpered and heaved her toyed-with tits. “F-fuck! After all this time with Middy and Cerise, a few flicks of my bean don't cut it anymore! Damn it all!”

Driven by lustful desperation, she snapped to her feet and threw on a bathrobe left in her room, then slipped out into the hall and quickly glanced around to make sure she wasn't watched. The coast clear, she headed to the room labeled with Dion's name, aware he was probably in the mood.

Midnight felt his blood begin to boil a little. “Moonie, wait..!”

“Ahh! So the lil' bat 'as a taste for lamb chops! Yum yum~!”

She knitted to knock, only for the door to automatically slide open. And the sight that greeted her nearly threw her into shock. “What in the fu—?!”

Midnight exclaimed, “Lightning?!”

“Whoa,” moaned Ana. “A spread eagle~!”

The burly ram stood, holding Midnight’s twin sister upside down, faces buried deep into the crotches. The pegasus mare bobbed and weaved her head up and down his shaft, hands kneading his fat orbs. Meanwhile, Dion was lapping away at her bare marehood, holding her securely to his body.

Lightning’s eyes widened when she noticed Moonlight standing there and spat the ram’s thick red cock out. “O-oh, shit! Heeeey, Moonie~.”

Dion also froze and gently put her back on her feet, both their cheeks rosy red. The mare quickly yanked the batmare inside while the automatic door hissed closed behind her.

A silly smile crossed Lightning’s lips, and they said, “I-I can explain!”

“I’m… sure you could,” mumbled Moonlight, shaking off her astonishment.

“See, I was originally heading back to my room to blow off steam since Deinos was busy in the meeting. Then I bumped into Dion and… well, one thing led to another~?”

She squeaked playfully when the burly warrior hooked his arms under hers to get a handful of her tits, squeezing and bouncing them around in his big hands. The pegasus mare bent slightly to wiggle and rub her tant tush against his stiff cock, sandwiching between her firm buns.

Moonlight turned her fierce glare to Dion. “Why are males always so obsessed with dominance and conquest?!”

“Oi! She came onto me,” the caprine said defensively while humping Lightning’s backside. “She an' Ah were both willin'. Ye could e'en say there was a ‘Spark’ between us~!”

The batmare recoiled with cringe while the electric pegasus giggled. “Boo~!”

“Besides which, Ah allowed Middy th' privilege ov beddin' mah sister. It’s only fair that Ah am given th' same courtesy!”

"Oof! 'e's got ya there~" Ana mused at Midnight's expense.

“Even if he disapproved, I don’t need his permission,” Lightning reminded. “I’m the oldest. Therefore, I can do whoever I want, whenever I want!”

“Heh! Well said, lass~,” Dion chuckled before slapping his meaty dick between her thighs to get her to spread open a little. Lightning giggled and bent further, hands above her knees to brace herself when his hot rod pushed apart her marehood to slide inside her depths.

Moonlight flourished, unable to look away from the alluring display as Dion grabbed hold of Lightning’s large wings for leverage, making her moan louder each time he rammed his cock into her sex hole.

The pegasus mare turned to the batmare with a fuck happy smile and half-lidded eyes, offering, “Mmmnah~! Y-you should join us! You're dealing with estrus, too, right?”

The former cadet sourly admitted, “Yes, but… I dunno. Isn't this one step away from incest since your Middy's half-sister?” Yet she couldn't deny the fire in her inflamed loins, which intensified while watching Lightning’s tits sway and shake with every staggering thrust Dion gave behind her.

“A-aww, c’mon! This is our last chance to finally—gaaahooh, fuck~! C-Cut loose!”

“We can’t afford any more delay or distractions,” grunted Dion, far more focused on stuffing his partner deep with his cock. "Best deal wit 'em now."

Moonlight couldn’t find the words to further argue and allowed her housecoat to loosen and fall off, exposing her perky body for them to gawk at. The bat mare sat back and spread her leg, rubbing her finger over her dripping labia, her other hand tending to her own tit while she got off to their fornication.

Soon, she was adding her voice to the symphony of sexual desire, which grew louder and louder until both Lightning and Dion hit their climax. Sparks of static flashed from her mane and feathers as she discharged all over the ram’s breeding sack, which swelled to push all the warm cum stored inside through her carnal passageway.

A disappointed whimper escaped an estrus-crazed Lightning when the caprine warrior withdrew from her overstuffed cunt, but she recovered to sit beside the thestral, parting her legs and pointing at her gooey mound. “Here! Go ahead and take a lick! Taste it~!”

Moonlight debated it for a moment before saying, “Okay.”

She leaned in, her bat wings spread wide open, and her stuck-out tongue took the first tentative lick, which started at Lightning’s clit, over her slit, down to her asshole, all of them awash in a mixture of feminine lubricant and the ram's precum. She savored the mixed flavors and started to lick faster, more intently.

Dion's palm made a grab for the bent-over bat mare’s rump and spread her athletic buns wide open, batting his wet schlong against her fully exposed fuckholes. Gruffly, he asked, “May Ah?”

She rolled her eyes before answering between laps, “… ugh, fuck it. Be my guest. I'm too horny to care right now.” With that said, she flagged her tail and wiggled her pert ass invitingly at the ram.

Dion took a moment to admire and tease the mare's twat with his shaft, smearing it in her honey before he pushed inside her. She moaned into Lightning’s snatch and sank her tongue into its welcoming walls that gripped her. He landed a more firm but playful smack across her asscheeks once he started to properly rut her with deep thrusts so powerful she was rocked forward into the pegasus’s hot box.

“Hot damn! First a changeling, now a ram! Yer sister sure gets 'round, doesn’t she?” Ana teased while enjoying the show, the scene stimulating enough to get her pussy gushing with fem lubricant, making it easier for Midnight to slip inside. "Remind me ter 'ave a go at 'er daahhhn the road~!"

“Aaahh… c-can we please try a different position?” pleaded Midnight, having shamefully cum a couple more times while watching his mentor screw both his sister and best friend absolutely silly.

“Y’kna wot? Sure! Was gettin' Cream Crackered of lookin' at your stinky dum puppy dog face, anyway,” tittered the neon succubus, lifting herself up just to turn around and sit back down. “There. Ya can look at me bum for a bit. But touch it, and ya die!"

Despite how demeaning she was treating him, Midnight had to admit; the view of Ana’s dump truck ass twerking up and down with half-invested bounds kept the blood flowing through his loins.

“Now, where did our favorite feline strut off ter?” Analise cooed as she peered through a new window, revealing where Wispy Willow had snuck away with Kyube.

The nekomata wore a tight scarlet cheongsam, its sides slitted to reveal her shapely, striped thighs. She planted a hand on a wide hip and asked, “So~...what makes you worthy of my sister, foxy?” She poked his chest. “You must know she's quite a sensitive soul!”

“I’m well aware,” Kyube responded with a smile. “Not to worry. I wouldn't do anything that would make her uncomfortable.”

Wispy's bare cleavage wobbled as she shoved him back, her split tigress tails left to swish about as her ears flicked, a fang visible from her pursed lips. “What, you expect me to take the word of a bandit? How dumb do you think I am?”

The vulpine chuckled. “Funny, coming from an ex-assassin. Kitsune shared a few tidbits with me. Like how she always has to save you whenever you put your butt on the line!”

“Ooh~? So you've been eying my butt, have you?” Wispy turned to show the way her dress conformed to her shapely buttocks, bent forward a tad, and slapped one of her buttcheeks, which shook under the impact, half-exposed as part of her bare ass slipped into view, which made clear she hadn't bothered with any underwear. “I bet you just wanna squeeze it, don’t you, big boy? Go ahead. It’s the softest ass you’ll ever get~.”

Kyube stared and even admired her waving rump but shook his head. “Look, Wispy. I’m not going to pretend I don't find you cute. But Kitsune and I have an understanding. I have no intention of cheating on her. With you or anyone.” He arched his brow. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You were testing my loyalty to her.”

Wispy slit pupils widened, and a smile spread her lips as she stood upright. “I’m impressed! Alright, you got me. With the amount of treachery and infidelity lately, I just wanted to be sure I could trust you!”

“I don’t blame you. We foxes are known for our crafty reputation,” he admitted with a sly smirk. “Your acting could use a bit more work, though. You wear your emotions on your sleeves too much!”

Wispy pouted a little at the criticism, hands planted on her pear-like hips. “Yeah… guess that's true. Did my sis tell you about our band?”

Kyube nodded.

“B.A.B.E. puts on all kinds of crazy concerts, sometimes where we attend sans clothes, save for neon strobe lights that flash across our super sexy bodies,” she teased with a low purr. “I always have to play the 'Bad Girl' role!” She leaned on a wall and exhaled. “It can tire me out sometimes, you know? Putting the 'Grrl' in 'Bad Girl,' the attention focused on me while Kitsune tried to fade into the background. She's so terribly shy; people think she's cold since she usually lets her actions talk for her! But you wouldn't believe how much emotion bubbles underneath her surface!”

“Hmm. Even with me, it’s only a brief glimpse behind the mask.”

“Exactly! So take it slow with her! With our cybernetics repressed, Kitsune's experienced a lot of sensations she's not used to! I don't wanna see her hurt or filled with regrets! You could be her first, and I don't want her to end up just another notch on some bad boy's scorecard! Bad enough that lots of guys always try to get into Eclipsed Heart's sweet panties! Don't cheapen it, okay?”

Kyube bowed his head and promised, “You have my word. We’ll take things slow. Nothing sexual, at least for now.”

Wispy grinned. “Good boy~! I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a few kisses.” The twin-tailed tigress eyed the fox bandit briefly and ran a tongue over her lips. “But who knows! Behave yourself, and with sis’s permission, you might get to play with this pussy for real~.”

His cheeks flourished. “Hehe. We shall see.”

With a wink, she turned and brushed her split tail under his snout on the way out. She hummed the same pop tune Eclipsed had, albeit with more spice and sass compared to Heart's sweetness.

Ana blinked as the scene ended. “… that’s it?! They were just pussyfootin' 'round!” She growled in frustration while continuing to bounce her thick ass on Midnight’s cock unenthusiastically. “Ugh! Damn Rumpleteazer...”

“I-I think it's kinda wholesome they didn't cheat,” replied Midnight underneath her before yowling when her tail nipped his left nut.

“I’d keep your gobbler shut if I were ya,” the demonic demi-human hissed before looking for another section of the UFO to eavesdrop. “Where’s Bea at? Surely, she’s up ter summit naughty!”

Eventually, Ana stumbled on the wayward witch visiting an experimental room barred off due to its instability. Virtual reality rooms were used for various purposes, where everyone was free to train...and for diverse recreational entertainment.

“Let me guess,” spoke Iclyn, who startled the violet mare as she walked behind her. “You planning on using that for more ‘personal training?’”

Beatrix sucked on her lower lip. “W-well, er, I wouldn't say no! I'm kinda curious...” Iclyn rolled her eyes but nonetheless approached it with her. The see-through doors slid open, simply for them to realize it was already in use.

“O-oh!” Squeaked Beatrix.

“Of course,” dully observed Iclyn.

“Na we’re talking~!” Ana mewled.

The half-succubi, half-crystal mare version of the twins, Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse had listened to Bellatrix recount her time under captivity in the mansion. Countess Alma subjected the she-devil to imprisonment to punish Bellatrix and, worse, threw her to packs of hellhounds, who hadn't hesitated to constantly have their way with the fresh, supple meat their mistress supplied them.

“I hate to admit it,” Wet Nurse had said. “But Bellatrix's tale kind of-”

“-turned you on? Me too!” confessed Foal-Bearer, who shared her sister's lust as their cutie marks lit up, intertwined with a pair of female symbols. These versions of the coral pink mares were known as the 'Manor Twins,' as opposed to the 'Paradise Twins' that had married Moon Hammer; these sisters were dutiful and loyal to Bellatrix, who'd granted them a second chance at life after Shadow Scythe beheaded the pair and switched their heads through carelessness when she revived them through necromancy.

Doomed to become something between ghosts and zombies, once freed from Shadow Scythe's enslavement, they were unable to leave the immediate radius of the haunted eldritch mansion...until Bellatrix infused them with a mixture of her power and the manor's, the sisters transmuted into half-succubi. Yet to maintain their existence separate from the mansion, their lust needed to be constantly sated, lest they fade into the ether. Thus, they decided to partake in a virtual recreation chamber Layla provided.

“I feel so sorry for Bellatrix,” murmured Wet Nurse while her spaded tail stroked her bare, slick coral pink slit. “B-but-”

“All those rowdy, horny hellhounds...there to hammer her holes....” Foal-Bearer, too, rubbed her snatch with her tail spade.

What started as a grid-like, otherwise blank but spacious chamber transformed to meet their will. A dank, dimly-lit dungeon soon surrounded them. Glowing yellow eyes peered out from the shadows, growls echoing throughout the stonework. Rust-colored fur adorned the two-headed hounds that stalked their way in, jaws drooling when they circled and sniffed the wet lower holes of the twins.

Wet Nurse's face lit up with a lusty leer. “Looks like heads aren't the only thing they have two of...oh!” One of the massive hounds pounced on her back and used his weight to push her down onto all fours, to pin his naked bitch to breed her silly, his knots prodded at her.

Another hound lapped at Foal-Bearer's twat and ass before he, too, slammed onto her back to force her down. “Easy boy~,” she teased with a wink and felt twin bulbous knots poke at her fuckholes, and likewise felt her sister's orifices be driven at when the sisters were mounted.

Hot slobber dripped across the sisters' backs when the hell beasts panted, arced their muscled hips, and violently drove themselves into the presented lower holes of their submissive bitches. The sisters moaned in unison at the shared sensation of quadruple penetration. The pleasure was shared and doubled as their cutie marks shimmered further, trapped in a euphoric feedback loop as the packs of beasts waited for the alphas to finish.

Again and again, Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse shook and cooed under savage thrusts, precum running down their inner thighs, titties shaking back and forth as the animals barked, growled, and howled whenever they fucked their slutty breeder bitches silly into joyous surrender. It didn't take long before they squirted over the balls of the dogs that knotted them, orifices filled with volcanic loads of spunk.

Beatrix stood petrified with a hot blush amidst the dozenth hell beast taking her horny friends for a hellish ride. “W-wow!”

“Absolutely depraved,” observed Iclyn, as by this point, another hellhound strode up between the twins, face-to-face so the sisters could kiss and link fingers, their tongues wrestling while they were brutally rutted…but when the dog presented its veiny, knotted cocks, they pulled their lips apart with a wet smack, still connected by a saliva trail once they took its shafts into their mouths and started to enthusiastically service the beast, their mouths and throats filled by salty, runny precum. The hell beasts pounded away.

“Y-yeah! A real shame they're now addicts to lust,” the witch said awkwardly. “Although Bellatrix mentioned it also sustains them and helps them heal.”

“Then we should give them some privacy,” decided Iclyn, who started to walk out of the room.

“B-but-!” Beatrix squirmed, unable to tear her eyes away when she rubbed her burning thighs together.

The deighdyr scoffed. “I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“C-C’mon! I really need this! I've been constantly worried about Oona, Penumbra, and Cerise to the point it’s affecting my sleep!” Beatrix paused to kick a heel absentmindedly about the latter.

The charcoal princess wouldn't have been born if the Eldritch, a race of interdimensional worshippers of the Necronomicon, hadn't followed her to that world and driven it towards devastation.

Beatrix had witnessed Cerise's birth mother, Pacific Glow, carry her in her belly! Until Chrysalis cut her down, Inky Rose was forced to open Pacific Glow's stomach to save her! Cerise was born premature, and without Sombra's magic, she probably would've died, so small and delicate on arrival.

‘At this point, I've seen her grow from a baby into an adult,’ Beatrix thought. ‘She’s pretty much my niece. And I promised her parents to always look after her on our adventures!’

Beatrix sighed and followed Iclyn away from the chamber, knowing she should properly focus her efforts on becoming stronger. So she could right the wrongs she’s brought upon everyone associated with her, whatever her intentions.

By the time the train of hellhound packs released hundreds of loads in and all over Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse, the virtual dungeon dematerialized, and the siblings collapsed onto their backs, heaving breasts that like every inch of them were soaked and matted by runny rivulets of splooge. Fortunately, their gambit had worked; their wounds healed at the price their fun holes were all sore.

Satisfied for the moment, the half-succubi rose, stretched, and decided to explore the adjoining virtual chamber where they had bathed before. However, they found it already occupied, the environment a copy of a pyramid's royal interior, a throne room where a princess sat attended by her bare-chested stallion guards and topless mare handmaidens clad in thin, colorful transparent silks.

Eclipsed Heart wore silver, the family color of Sombra's lineage, as the pop star princess attempted to explore a recreation of her counterpart Cerise's life. “Ah! H-hello,” she said to the twins when they entered her fantasy world. She blushed at the fully naked, spunk-covered half-succubi; however, her entourage did not notice them. “I wanted to see how Cerise lived on a typical day, s-so-”

“Nice outfits~,” mused Foal-Bearer, who lifted the loincloths of a stoic stallion guard. “Huh, no underwear, as expected!”

“The maidens wear even less~,” added Wet Nurse while she traced the bare breasts of a supple earth mare, who moaned when her hands trailed down over hips and buttocks barely contained by thin, see-through silk that emphasized her otherwise nude contours.

Eclipsed Heart was lifted from her throne by the nearest handmaidens, who started to undo her silk gown. “W-wait-!” Her attire pooled around the charcoal mare's ankles, denuded except for the ribbon that held up her thick, hot pink ponytail. She and the twins were led out of the throne room into a room with a spacious pool where a heated bath was drawn.

Rather than continue to resist, Eclipsed relaxed her muscles while submerged in the steaming liquids and hoped this didn't count as cheating on Bass! It was only a bath, after all! Sure, the guards and handmaidens were nice eye candy, not to mention the twins, but her heart was set on her boyfriend alone!

Her eyes closed, and a low coo escaped her as gentle hands lathered their supple curves up and then rubbed them down, the atmosphere filled with the sweet and spicy scents of perfumes. She could get used to this lifestyle! Bit by bit, she hoped to understand her double a little more; eclipsed, and the sisters washed down.

“N’naaaw, na ain’t that adorable,” Ana mused while she worked another batch of baby batter out of Midnight, the hyper stallion’s genitals thoroughly sour and sensitive, yet painfully erect. The demoness’ frown deepened.

“Bloody hell! This is wot, the bloomin' elevenf time you’ve blahn your load, and your flagpole is still in salute!”

Midnight was breathing hoarsely. Not a single drop of effort or change, yet he felt he could pass out from how powerful his orgasms were. “I-I know, but hey! I haven’t gone berserker once! That means the cure is working, isn’t it?”

“Oh, taser me twat, I 'ope so. 'cause I don’t kna 'a much longer I can tolerate fuckin' loike tortoises!”

The blue knight pouted, “You’ve been ignoring me the whole time!”

“And 'e’s still garn! Fuck me, Cerise! I don’t kna whether ter feel pity for ya or respect!”

Nonetheless, they kept at their sluggish romp with the promise of Midnight’s hyper-stallionism being successfully nullified.

Midnight looked around the void, his eyes narrowing when he noticed something off. “H-Hey… is it me, or has it gotten darker in here?”

The interior lights within the giant Glamorguis shimmered down to mere flickers, indicating the eldritch beast had finally succumbed to the anesthetic gasses Viscera had been pumping into its ventilation system. As the lower deck went offline, the vile monstress rose from her crouching position and flexed her stiff limbs and joints, making sickening bone crunches.

Equinox lifted her head in alert, her night vision allowing her to see the spiny demi-human. “Well?! The lights are off. That means the thing’s asleep, right?”

“Yes,” affirmed Viscera, having taken the time to listen in on her enemies meeting above them. And fortunately for her, they appeared none the wiser to the sudden decrease of luminosity. Turning to her prison mate, she mused, “Now comes the next step. But before I go over it, perhaps it would interest you to know that Deinos has crafted a potential cure for hyper-stallionism~.”

The thestral shot to her clawed feet. “What!? But that'll ruin Fiery's plans!” She smashed her balled fist into the enclosure. “What are you waiting for? Get me outta this shithole!”

“But it will already be too late. By then, Midnight will be cleansed of his supreme genetics… unless I synthesize an elixir that simulates the hyper-stallion state. One which can be delivered to Fiery once you’re free.”

Her good eye dilated. “You can do that?”

The harpy-looking hag gave a throatful titter. “I can! But I require a key component first! Do you happen to have a sample of the hyper-stallion's DNA?”

Equinox cocked her eyebrow as she reasoned what she meant. “What, you mean did he cum in me? A while ago, yeah, but…” She rubbed her belly and felt some of his excessive, virile hyper-cum slosh about the slick, slimy walls of her stretched womb.

“Yesss! That'll do just nicely~!” Viscera was suddenly upon the marauder, pinning her to the cold ground.

“H-hey! The fuck?! Get off of me!!”

“I’ll need to extract the substance from you if I’m to craft an elixir,” reasoned Viscera. “But we don’t have to make this procedure boorish. Everyone else is feeling randy. Why don’t we make this a bit more fun ourselves~?”

Fearless as the raider usually was, Equinox couldn't help but swallow a scream when Viscera started to disrobe. “L-Listen, bitch! No offense, but you're not exactly much to look at!”

Viscera's tail trailed up Equinox's thigh as she purred. “I may not be a pretty bird, but I assure you. I’ll fuck you up harder than any man could~!”

That statement sent an unwanted chill up the batmare’s spine.

“If anything, you should be begging me for an elixir. Think about it. If you head home, where else can you turn to? No one would want an ex-subcommander who abandoned her services. But I'm certain Fiery will overlook this transgression if you give him the key to his victory. You'll be a heroine that helped save a doomed world from Queen Chrysalis and her terrible swarm!”

Equinox squirmed whenever the tail brushed over her taut tummy. “Please! Fiery would be nothing without me! He’ll take me back whether I—”

“Take back a criminal that worked for his hated nemesis?” Viscera snickered. “I don’t think so. You’ll need a boon to win him over! Otherwise, he'll probably toss you in prison. And who knows? Maybe he'll let all his men use your flesh to relieve themselves! In the public square, where he plans to fully turn the Crystal Empire into a military dictatorship, while all you mares become nothing more than foal factories. Maybe he'll let all the cadets run a train on you!”

Equinox shuddered at her words. “It’s true. Fiery doesn't approve of mares on the frontlines-”

“Precisely! You’ll be stripped of your rank and reduced to a gutter whore. Do you want to end up some stallion's submissive bitch? Knocked up with his unwanted foal? Because that's probably the best fate you can hope for if you can't offer Fiery a profitable trade, especially since he plans to outlaw the War Bands!”

Equinox glared spitefully at the throbbing ebony member between the nephilim’s legs, spaded tip lined with small bristles and male sludge oozing the urethra. But what other choice did she have? It wouldn’t be long before the UFO reactivated and analyzed whatever caused it to slumber…

“…F-fine.”

As soon as those words left Equinox's lips, she felt the tail strip away her bikini-like armor, pulled close by Viscera once the spade shot up and speared her cunt. Equinox threw back her head and released a moan between extreme pleasure and pain, then squirted a little on the spot after the intruder drove open her cervix and invaded her slick womb.

Immediately, the corpse flower tail started to suck and siphon the hyper-seed while Viscera's alien phallus squeezed inside her outstretched snatch to join it, her back pushed into the tube wall while she was taken raw.

The nephilim mated with violent force, made her prey squirm and squeal, another messy climax left to wash from Equinox's impaled pussy. Taloned hands encircled her toned buttocks, her beak left to nibble, bite, pull, and suckle on the bat mare's erect nipples. "S-Stop! Auugh, fuck! It hurts!”

“Good~,” whispered Viscera in her ear when she spun her new, fleshy toy around and pinned her against the tube, her titties left to slap on it each time she pounded into her skewered fuckholes. “Take it, you one-eyed whore! I want to hear you scream my name~!!”

Trapped somewhere between lust, fury, and humiliation, Equinox submitted to the avian monstress, determined to receive the elixir and win favor with Fiery. Shining Armor had failed her. Failed his people and his world. So what if she had to be this freak's playtoy for a while? They'd use each other until they escaped this prison and went their separate ways.

And after Viscera helped her find a way back to Equinox's world, she would seek out Fiery. Who knows? Maybe she could seduce him, too! The idea that she'd have the currently most potent stallion wrapped around her made her cunt clench even harder around her invader!

Viscera screeched alongside her, siphoning the last hyper-stallion sperm before refilling the marauder’s womb with her own acidic splooge. The batmare screamed as her inner walls were blasted in molten hot slime. The villainous demi-human gripped her tightly, ensuring the batmare took every drop of her vile essence.

After ravaging Equinox sideways, Viscera finally dislodged from the thestral's stretched hole and dropped her, a mass of spermy sludge left to drool from her orifices. She pumped her hand around her male genitals to squirt the last of her gunk onto the fallen marauder, who twitched and gasped for air. Her floral tail briefly enclosed, ghastly magic wisping out the meaty petals with vapors before blooming, the stem squeezing out a thin veil containing a purplish-pink substance.

Viscera examined the elixir before tossing it carelessly onto the cum soaked raider. “As promised. Don't use it in one sitting. I'm sure Fiery has scientists that can replicate the formula.”

Her titan arum tail lit up with a sickly green aura before firing three corrosive shots to melt the glass containing them. Once the gap proved wide enough, the vile one stepped out, leaving her freshly fucked ‘comrade’ in her afterglow.

Viscera hummed a merry little melody to celebrate her decampment while dragging her elongated finger across the walls, the wound gradually rotting off as her horrific green blight began festering throughout the Glamorguis.

Neither the eldritch monstrosity nor its passengers would even realize it was infected. Until it was too late.

Vindication

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Everything sat still, save for the falling rain, as Oona gazed astonishedly into the mixed-colored eyes of the little lamb girl at her doorstep. She couldn’t even respond when said child threw her arms around her waist for a tight hug.

Confused, honey brown watched the caprine witch nuzzle her face into her gravid tummy, holding back sniffles. “You… you have no idea how happy I am to see you,” she told her mother.

The azure sheep broke out of her stupor and gently returned the embrace, finding her voice. “…A-Abby?!”

The Child of Lightendark beamed bashfully at the sound of her name before awkwardly confirming, “Y-Yeah. It’s me.”

“Ah… Ah don’t understand. How did this happen?! How did ye… How are ye—”

The lamb scratched the back of her black wooly head, troubled with finding the words to adequately explain. “Well, to make a long, convoluted story short, I’m from the future! Or at least… what’s left of it, anyway.”

Oona quickly ushered Abadonna into her cottage, not wanting her mentor or father to accidentally stumble into this growing predicament. Only when she figured this out herself.

She heaved an uneasy sigh. “Alright then. Dry off, an' let’s settle on th' sofa. Help yerself tae anythin' ye’d like.”

Nodding, Abby’s curled horns glimmered with a monochromic magical aura to lift her hat onto the rack. Then, she wandered into the kitchen to grab a plate of homemade cookies and a glass of milk. But before joining her mother, the little caprine girl took a moment to admire the interior decorations, eyes wide and full of wonder.

‘Is this how Trixie feels whenever encountering Beatrix?’ Oona pondered internally before vocally asking, “Does mah home no longer exist where ye’re from?”

“Ohh, no, no, no! Outside of my trips with Mama, I was raised in Parras. I don’t recognize a few things, but still the same humble abode.”

“Ahh… good tae know,” noted Oona, both relieved and somewhat put off that Abadonna inherited Beatrix’s curiosity and sense of adventure. Estimating her current height, she looked no more than over twelve years old.

‘To be following in her footsteps at such a young age…’

Abadonna sat beside her, munching on her treat with a thoughtful expression. Her eyes watered a bit with each delectable bite.

“Mmhm! Haven’t had these in forever,” she said with a mouthful. “Still the reigning champ when it comes to baking cookies~!”

Oona couldn’t help but titter. “Am Ah? Compared tae yer father’s refined taste fur th' culinary arts, Ah figured mah skills would be—”

She paused her train of thought when she noticed a somber expression creep onto her daughter’s face, swallowing the last of her sugary sweet.

Dread and worry contorted the older ewe’s face. “Forgive me fur assumin'. I-Is Omen not yer father?”

“No, he is,” replied Abadonna.

“Then somethin' terrible befell him!”

The caprine witch turned away when she answered, “You could say that…”

Oona knitted her brow. “A'd rather ye drop th' vagueness an' tell it tae me straight, mah child.”

“… I can’t,” Abadonna admitted. “That’s not how this works!”

The motherly ewe scrunched her snout. “An' why not?”

The caprine girl heaved and elaborated. “If you knew what would happen before it takes place, it’ll affect the outcome of this already messed up timeline.” To demonstrate, she pulled out a forked stick from thin air, tracing along the bottom towards the left branch.

“Currently, you’re meant to go this way, unaware of what will happen. Now, say I told you something about the future that would entice you to go down the other path.” Abby redid her finger movement, this time along the rightmost part of the stick. “What do you think happens?”

Oona studied the small twig before her eyes widened in realization. “A new multiverse is formed!”

The Child of Lightendark smiled sadly. “Normally, you’d be correct. With every choice, a new alternative timeline branches out. Whether or not it continues to grow depends on the action's consequence. But you’re never supposed to know the alternative. Because if you do…”

She used magic to shake the stick until the left branch snapped off.

“… The path you didn’t choose, along with whoever it would have affected, gets erased. Permanently.”

Oona stared at the broken stick, better understanding the severity of the situation. Did this mean the cosmic squall directly resulted from so many paths being altered? And did that mean her world would soon be annihilated too..?

“I really wish I could tell you why this was happening, Mom,” Abby grimaced. “But to prevent further disaster, you must find out naturally. About Mommy Bea. Dad. Everything.”

The dream faun gave a stiff nod. Despite how perplexed and frustrated she was about being further in the dark, there was too much at stake already. She glanced at a window showing the lantern-lit village of her people gathering resources and weapons for the impending war with the Sovereign Witch.

Oona decided to move on with another question. “Am Ah at least allowed tae know how ye’ve gained such knowledge?”

Abadonna smiled. “Enock taught me!”

“Ahh. Sounds aboot right…” The older ewe then did a double take. “...Wait! Enoch! Where have they been in all ov this?!”

The smaller lamb shrugged. “I wish I knew. The one from my world disappeared when the calamity began. But they left me with this.”

She lifted her wooly mane to show off the strange artifact wrapped around her neck. It resembled a jagged clock.

“It’s what’ll keep me stable here,” presumed Abby, who then frowned grimly. “Although… I’m not sure how much time I have.”

Oona didn’t like the sound of that. “What do ye mean..?”

“For time travel to work, I need to be at a point where I can still remember my past. And because everything goes bad during Walpurgisnacht, I had to get here before that. Luckily for me, I gained awareness around this time.”

Abadonna gently rubbed a hand over her mother’s pregnant belly, a fond smile on her snout. “It’s rare, but some babies can recall being in the womb. Did you know that?”

“No, Ah did not.” A pleasant warmth filled the azure sheep’s heavy body as she placed her hand atop her daughter's. This closeness helped her reform her smile.

“Well… Whatever time ye have here, I hope ye’ll make th' most ov it wit me.”

A lone teardrop leaked down the dark azure witch as she once more hugged the dream shamaness tenderly. “Of course, mom. I love you. Always.”

Oona suppressed a whimper as she clutched her future child into her arms, nearly squeezing her into her large breasts. “As Ah love you. Always.”

A loud crackle of thunder and light flashing outside startled the two caprines. A foreboding sign, the brewing storm would become more chaotic.

“Ohh, shoot! Minerva will be here momentarily,” recalled Oona, who waddled over to the window to see if she could spot the old drider. “Ah take it others shouldn't know who ye are?”

“Yeah. Some people are okay, but the fewer who know I’m here, the better,” said Abadonna. “So, if anyone asks—”

“—Ye’re a little girl A’ve never met who needed shelter from th' rain,” the dream faun responded with a knowing grin.

The little caprine witch giggled. “You’re taking this strangely well!”

“A’ve been around yer mother long enough tae form a routine,” tittered Oona, whose smile dimmed at the mention of the wayward witch. “… Will she come?”

Abby mustered a wistful smile. “I can’t say exactly. But I believe she will. Reckless as she may be, Mommy Bea would never abandon her family!”

“A’ll… take yer word on it,” huffed the fatigued caprine, holding her swollen belly while making her way up the staircase, which creaked under her weight.

Abadonna’s smile vanished. Invisible to Lady Ewe, a black aura of negativity wafted from her slumped shoulders like the dark clouds that blackened the skies.

‘Not good. Omen’s influence has already reached this far. I might already be too late. Not only that…’

Her violet-gold eyes narrowed as they scanned the bleak horizon, unable to locate anyone that might be moving around in the heavy rainfall.

‘…Minerva should have definitely been here by now. Whatever you’re plotting, Dad, I’ll stop before it sees fruition! Mark my words!’

“Abadonna?” Oona’s voice echoed upstairs. “A’m afraid Ah can’t do this by meself!”

“Coming!” The lamb witch responded, hurrying up the wooden stairs to aid in her mother’s cleaning, her tiny fist balled with determination.

In the main lobby of the spacecraft, the informal council continued over the Necronomicon's fate. Arcanum Folklore's fingers drummed across the dried-flesh cover while more attendants and allies gathered after settling their personal affairs or fulfilling sensual distractions.

Yet they could only come to a consensus. The tome's continued existence would spread havoc, yeah... but none of them knew for sure what the consequences of its destruction could mean. His attention turned to the dark void of Analise’s Onoma, which dissipated and revealed the thoroughly exhausted demoness and pegasus.

“Ahh, good. Perhaps some new perspectives will help cement our decision?”

Midnight and Ana hobbled in; the latter was visibly distraught, her shoulders slumped and her face drawn in a frown. She stretched her limbs and said through a yawn, “Final-fucking-ly! Pretty sure I passed aahhht carpet times durin' that bore-fest!”

Deinos approached them, Lightning Spark and Moonlight River flanking his sides. The twin pegasus gently said, “I understand the experiment wasn’t favorable for you, but I do want you to know how much I appreciate you helping my brother!”

“Yeah yeah, spare me the gushy shite,” grumbled the demi-human, arms folded underneath her perky chest. “Everyone else gotta make nasties while I got stuck wif Sir Drabsalot.”

“A noble sacrifice for the greater good~,” snickered Wispy Willow.

This irked the demoness, pointing a neon pink claw at the cheeky tigress. “I’ll get ya, Pussywilla. And it'll look loike a bloody accident!”

The nekomata stuck her tongue out in response, earning a flick to her nose from her vixen sister, Kitsune, who was still annoyed at her for (albeit unsuccessfully) seducing Kyube. The vulpine bandit sat beside her with his tanuki sister in his lap.

The arachnid changeling cleared his throat. “Unpleasantries aside, what are the results?”

Ana shrugged. “Well, 'e’s been fillin' me bowler tit for tat wif splooge for abaht pearly gate 'ours, and not once did 'e 'ulk aahhht. So take that as ya will.”

“That’s a good sign, right?” Eclipsed Heart asked from her seat.

“Indeed!” Confirmed Deinos, his large compound eyes analyzing Midnight’s condition while he patted down his clothes. Remarkably, the vibrant shade of blue had started to return to the stallion's fur and now fluffed-up feathers. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” he replied with some of his usual chipper demeanor returned and a pep in his step. He cast his sister and former herd mate a sheepish smile. “I think it worked out for me!”

Lightning gave two thumbs up while the moody batmare averted her gaze. While glad her childhood friend was recovering, bitterness remained from his neglect and selfish behavior.

Moonlight knew she could eventually forgive him, but what they would be afterward wasn’t as certain.

“Good on you,” announced Arcanum. “Now that you’ve got that out of your system, care to join the rest of us at the grown-up's table? We’ve still got problems that need solving.”

Nodding, the four took to the empty seats, one occupied by Dion. Midnight failed to suppress his irritation at the burly ram for bagging Moonie and Sparky while preoccupied. The warrior caprine noticed his pupil’s glare and arched an eyebrow. “Got somethin’ tae say, laddie?”

“… nothing,” the pegasus knight conceded. It wasn’t worth arguing over anyway.

“Right then, back to business,” Arcanum directed their attention until the electronic doors above the spiraling stairwell hissed open. Layla and Bellatrix gently descended and landed gracefully by the front of the table.

“Was the entrance necessary?” Iclyn said snarkily.

“Of course,” the motherly primordial teased back when she sat amongst her fellow Demi-humans. Seb and Julianne had been attentive, while Arron was more interested in the handheld mirror he brought, admiring his reflection. She looked around and noticed the interior wasn’t as luminous as before. “That’s odd…”

Once seated between Beatrix and Analise, Bella asked, “Did we miss much?”

“Eh. Not really,” the gambler answered. “We’ve gone back and forth about what to do about this wretched book. I mean, look at this thing! It’s so old and gnarly looking; I doubt even die-hard Wiccan wannabes would pay a petty penny for it!”

“That’s… completely against the point, but yeah. We’re still in a deadlock,” the erenn warlock admitted.

Eclipsed Heart furrowed her brow when noticing someone remained missing. “Where’s Zeloph?”

“Up top,” replied Layla. “I’d rather he not be bothered with this. Not while he’s still in mourning…”

Bellatrix cleared her throat and sheepishly added. “It’s better that he rests up after our intense bout of ‘training’…” She purposefully left out the aftercare she did to help lift the fallen one’s spirits a little before he requested time to himself.

Beatrix stood up in surprise. “Wait, what?! You were training?”

“And got some scrumptious angel cake on the side?!” Wispy joined in. “Lucky bitch!”

“Wispy!” The pop idol said, exasperated. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Yeah, sounds completely unnecessary,” agreed the deighdyr, fed up with these convoluted reasons just to lay pipe. Arcanum was about to say his piece but stopped himself. It wasn’t his place, especially after conducting his own ‘business’ with the half-succubi twins.

“It was, believe it or not,” insisted Layla. “Both needed this ‘union’ to revitalize and awaken the ancient power tied to our bloodline.”

“Sounds an awful lot like hyper-stallionism,” noted Deinos, stroking his mandibles. “And yet, not as frantic or with any dire side effects?”

The first woman nodded. “Think of it more as a ritual to strengthen their prowess. Not their physique.”

“Now that you mention it,” the violet unicorn looked over her succubus sister and beamed. “You do look a lot more energetic than usual! Kinda like when you were in your old angel form!”

“Yes, well… It helps that I fulfilled an item on my bucket list,” Bellatrix slightly boasted with a sly smirk and half-lidded eyes when her black leather thong-clad bottom lazily settled its crimson cheeks into a chair. Beneath the table, the succubus started curling her tail towards Ana's, eager to toy with her more. But when she was met with a harsh look from the dour demoness, she withdrew her spaded tail.

“But never mind all that,” she dismissed with a wave before resting her chin atop her hand. “Are we going to destroy the Necronomicon or not…?”

“That is the question,” said Arcanum. “Most of us are here and accounted for, so let's see where everyone stands. Me? I say destroy the damned book.”

“I second that,” Iclyn added.

“Aye,” grunted Dion. “Be done wit it!”

Eclipsed Heart shook her head. “We don’t know what’ll happen if we do! Most of our lives are tied to its effects. What if once the book is destroyed, and Middy, myself, and everyone else changed by its influence end up erased from existence?!”

“Mmmn… a fair point,” muttered the detective. Then he turned his eyes to the violet unicorn. “You’re more affiliated with the book than any of us, Beatrix. Ultimately, it’s your decision that’ll factor in the most.”

“It’s the bane of my existence,” the witch admitted aloud, scowling at the flesh-covered tome. “And the source of my power. Every inch of my life has been tethered to its morbid pages and forbidden arts. So much so, I feel it’s starting to affect my dreams.”

The cyan doe raised her snout. “Hmm. You have been suffering a lot of vivid nightmares lately. Care to elaborate on them?”

The witchy mare visibly paled when the freshest of her dark dreams manifested in her mind. She shook her head, not wanting to hear that dreadful chant. “Only that they’re pretty bad.. worse than before even…”

“I’ve also been having weird dreams,” added Midnight, who got a scornful look from most of the women in the room. Gulping, he continued, “Well… granted, they didn’t start bad, but this latest one was incredibly mind-boggling. It’s…er… Oona was in it—”

He yelped when a meaty fist slammed onto the table; Dion’s crimson eyes fixated with an intense glare. “Choose yer next words carefully..!”

“Hey, back off!” It was Moonlight who spoke up, showing previously concealed concern for her friend. “We’re well aware of his fantasies. Middy wouldn’t be talking about one if it wasn’t important.”

“Besides,” Lightning butted in, snout pursed. “You don’t get to act that way after we… erm, well~.”

“Damn!” Arron snickered. “You guys are putting rabbits to shame with how much ya’ll fuck~!”

The pop princess narrowed her gaze at the wrestler. “Oh. And you wouldn’t do the same if a cute guy was on board?”

“Nah! Ain’t nobody here worth the champ’s time. Besides, life’s got more purpose than just pleasure. And more pleasure will only lead you to more pain. I wouldn’t want to end up like that wrinkly ass dork over there~!”

The other demi’s openly stared at the bullheaded brawler in absurdity. Arron glanced at each of them with furrowed brows. “What?”

“That… was actually kind of philosophical,” admitted Analise, dumbfounded. “Well, minus the shade on Middy at the chuffin' end.”

“Still, I’m impressed,” complimented Seb. “Maybe we’ve been too harsh on you, amigo. I was wrong to assume a competent brain didn’t exist inside that fortress of muscles.”

“Oh, fuck the both of you! I’m not that big of a dumbass, you sacks of—”

“Focus!” Layla interrupted loudly, which got her brethren to shut up. Looking towards Midnight, she said, “You may continue.”

“Th-thanks, M’Lady,” the olden stallion graciously said. “As I said, the Oona in my dream didn’t act like the one we know and love.”

Iclyn’s cold gaze deepened. “How so?”

“She was completely unladylike. Used her elegant charms to tempt me into… y-know. But that’s when the scenery changed, and my nightmare took hold.” Fear was written across his features when he recollected. “Cadavers of my friends were crucified over a blood lake. Oona swapped forms with Chrysalis once she forced me to breed her until I drowned with them.”

“Sounds more like a wet dream with some mildly disturbing elements,” Arcanum scoffed, scratching his chin before lifting his mug of Irish coffee to his lips.

Midnight soured. “I dunno. Just something about how this Oona stared at me gave me the creeps. And the things she said while we made love, were so absurd! ‘Birthing spirits,’ ‘Flesh reborn with each generation,’ ‘Fill me with a thousand young’—”

The erenn unicorn instantly choked on his drink at the sound of that phrase, coughing hoarsely.

Ana quirked her eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s wot gets ya? I’ve 'eard more depraved smack abaht baby-makin' from the bloomin' twins!”

After clearing his throat, Arcanum stared wide-eyed at Midnight. “That last part. Did she say that word for word?!”

The pegasus knight shifted uncomfortably. “About wanting ‘a thousand young?’ Yeah. What about it? It was just sexy talk… wasn’t it?”

The warlock blanched. “… No… oh, no no no no…”

His horn lit up to summon his belongings, spilling the bag onto the table while looking through his books.

“H-Hey!” Wispy exclaimed. “What’s with him?”

“I don’t know,” replied Iclyn, equally stumped. “I never seen him act this way before.”

Beatrix pursed her lips, not liking where this was going. “Arcanum, what’s wrong.”

The erenn stallion briefly ignored their concern as he scanned his books, rapidly flipping through the pages until he found the one he was looking for. “… I’ve only heard that set of words once before,” he elaborated through shaky breaths. “If what Middy said is true, then we’ve got more than an anomaly to worry about!”

Everyone shuffled close to observe the page Arcanum held his finger on, a wave of terror washing over the table at what was depicted on it. An ancient illustration of a forest, eclipsed by a dark, ghastly, vaguely caprine-shaped entity within a harrowing cloud. Its massive frame was extruded by long tentacles, salivating maws, curved horns, and hooved legs. And lurking out the trees were smaller eldritch creatures, overseeing the subjects who threw up their hands in worship.

“‘The Ebony Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young,’” Arcanum read the epitaph aloud. “Shub’Niggurath!”

Beatrix balked. “Shub-whatwrath?!”

“Whoa there!” Arron exclaimed. “I don’t think you’re allowed to say that!”

Seb added, “Yeah, since when did you get the N-word pass?”

“Quiet, you two!” Bellatrix cuts off. “This is a serious matter!”

“It was an insensitive century when this ungodly monster was named,” acknowledged Folklore with a roll of his eyes. “But that’s beside the point. What you’re looking at is one of the oldest cosmic entities that predate the mere concept of time. A perverse fertility goddess who cares only about preserving its vast power through its monstrous progeny.”

Kitsune frowned heavily. “That thing is a ‘she?!’”

“Inapplicable, but yes. Many cults were formed to offer it devotion. There have also been records of it impersonating other well-known fertility figures to steal would-be worshipers.”

“It’s true,” Layla concurred with a bitter face. “During my slumber, I’ve witnessed my old faith foolishly believe I had returned to guide them… when it was Shub’Niggurath in disguise. If I had the chance to face off with that greedy sow—”

Arcanum grimaced. “I’d advise against that. I’ve fought against plenty of minions and even a few of its ‘dark young.’ But to even dare try to tackle Shub'Niggurath directly is suicide! You’d be driven mad long before she even acknowledges your existence!”

“Pft. You forget how often legends and mythos are overexaggerated by their scholars,” reminded Iclyn.

“Even so, I can’t overlook Midnight’s dream as a mere coincidence. Cause things start to line up if you really think about it.” Arcanum ran his finger over the text on the opposite page. “Right here! ‘The most devoted to the Lord of the Woods include kindred relations, followers blessed by Shub’Niggurath herself, and—”

“The Mi-Go!” Beatrix gasped as she followed his finger. “Those are the cordyceps infecting Chrysalis and her changeling swarm!”

“Wait… you might be onto something,” the deighdyr considered. “One of the cult members we faced, Vox, mentioned answering to a ‘higher calling.’ We assumed he meant the anomaly… but what if he referred to Shub’Niggurath instead?”

Midnight perked up. “Hey, yeah! That might also explain the ‘flesh reborn’ line from my dream. The Cult was reformed by worshiping the Ebony Goat of the Woods!”

“So then, what about the anomaly?” questioned Eclisped. “How do they fit in this?”

“Well, previously, the Cult of the Nemesis revered me as their ‘dark messiah’ due to my connection to the Necronomicon,” explained Beatrix. “If Shub’Niggurath is this all-powerful eldritch deity, who's to say they didn’t make a connection through her?”

Suddenly, Seb snapped his fingers. “A bargain!”

Bellatrix’s eyebrows lowered. “… Really? A classic ‘deal with a devil’ setup? It can’t be that simple!”

Arron held out his hand. “Nah, hold up! Let him cook.”

Nodding, the pinstriped demon continued. “So the current thought is that this ‘anomaly’ has beef with Beatrix, right? And, as the saying goes, when you get wronged, you wanna get even. And what better way than to gain similar reality-warping capabilities on par with Belladonna’s? So they go into hiding and try to find a way to revive their cause. Maybe even reach out to old forgotten deities. Perhaps, if you will, an omnipotent horny abomination on goat legs who's looking for a gullible sucker to spread its influence with? Then, Bada-bing, bada-boom! A deal is made. One gets dimensional-breaking powers. The other gains willing devotees after resurrecting the fallen order. And from there, they bide their time until the pieces are in place to reshape the whole multiverse and enact revenge on the one responsible for their downfall.”

“Ooh! That would make a lot of sense,” complimented Julianne.

“It does make for a convincing motive,” added Kyube.

“Here’s where I’m really sold about this theory,” the card demon went on. “Look carefully at this depiction of Shubby here. Remove the tendrils, mouths, and other goat bits. What does this resemble?”

Midnight tilted his head while squinting. “Huh… just kinda looks like a dark clouuuuuooooOOOHHH!!”

Moonlight’s eyes widened. “You mean like the one devastating our universes!?!”

Seb made a finger gun gesture. “Bingo~!"

Eclipsed Heart clenched her fists tightly and pouted. “Ugh! I have to give you credit. That’s a pretty good observation. Well played.”

She shuddered in disgust, feeling the shit-eating grin behind the demi’s bandana. “Why, princess! If I didn’t know any better, that sounded like a genuine compliment. Not a single ounce of sarcasm was detected! Am I on a roll today or what~?”

“Wow. Is it even possible for you not to gloat like a jackass?” Wispy hissed.

“Now, Sebastion,” the rosy-haired nun Julianne firmly said. “Nobody likes a sore winner. You did a good job. That’s all.”

Seb slumped back in his seat, arms crossed. “Not my fault you’ll get on my level!”

“Regardless,” Arcanum cut off. “Everything we’ve discussed about the Cult of the Nemesis and the anomaly points to Shub’Niggurath’s involvement almost perfectly.”

“Not to mention Chrysalis,” Deinos said. “Rather fitting, she embodies Shub’Niggurath’s philosophy of being the ‘all-mother.’ Being bestowed with the Mi-Go to further supplant her ideal hive of loyal changelings only solidifies the suspected partnership between her and the Cult of the Nemesis.”

Lightning Spark chimed in. “Then it's settled, right? We understand what we’re up against!”

Dion shook his head. “Nah. Just because we’ve got a clearer picture doesn’t mean we have a plan. Ah fought a lot ov things in mah life. But ne'er a borderline god…”

“He’s right,” surmised Iclyn. “We’re grossly ill-equipped and on thin ice.”

“Welp! We might well bend over and touch our tow's wif 'a much we’re gettin' fucked,” scoffed Ana.

Beatrix exhaled a long breath before rising from her seat. “If we’re going to beat this, we’ve gotta be willing to make sacrifices. And if that means putting aside my magic, immortality, and vanity to undo all my mistakes, then that’s the price I’ll pay!”

Iclyn furrowed her brow. “Are you sure..?”

Beatrix nodded, staring at herself through the table’s smooth surface. “Some people might be wiped from existence or lose their memories of me. But then again, maybe not. Sister, you were 'born' from the book but have been fine so far! But then there's everyone affected by my interference and influenced their reality! Midnight, Lightning, Eclipsed, Zeloph… What if they get erased?”

“We don't know that,” reassured Bellatrix. “I've survived the Necronomicon's 'destruction' before without consequence; I should be fine.”

“Plus, I highly doubt Mikael’s Crucible would allow the erasure of its current wielder,” stated Seb.

Eclipsed added, “And if we sever your link, potentially, the same can be done to the anomaly!”

“It’s the needs of the many versus the needs of the few,” surmised Arcanium. “But it’s the only shot we got to avoid total annihilation. We’ve got to take the risk.”

When no one offered objections to the notion, Layla rose up. “Then it is decided. The Necronomicon shall be destroyed. I’ll inform Zeloph and—”

Her words were drowned by the sudden blare of emergency alarms; everyone doused in a blinking red sheen. Around them, the Glamorguis bellowed out its pain and subtly quaked around them. “What’s going on?!” Exclaimed Beatrix.

“I’ve got a bad feeling,” lamented Layla. “Something is troubling the Glamorguis.”

Swiftly, she raced to the surveillance system and panned across the rooms, with special attention on her prisoners. And what flickered into view made her gasp in horror. “Oh no!”

A denuded Autumn Equinox left to twitch on the floor, stained in fluids, with Viscera nowhere to be seen. All that remained was rapidly festering substance, puss, gunk, and eyeballs growing from the meaty mold that contaminated the interiors. Worse, the UFO's power supply steadily declined by the second.

She yelled into the sound system, “Everyone! Remain alert! Viscera has escaped confinement and is sabotaging the ship! We’re losing power!”

Everyone balked. “What?!”

Ana recoiled in disgust. “Aaawh, fuck that!”

Lightning panicked. “What will we do? If the ship can’t take off, we’ll be stuck on this death ball!!”

Moonlight cursed. “I knew I should have stood guard!”

“The fault is mine,” confessed the primordial woman. “I shouldn’t have underestimated her, thinking not even she could possibly meddle with the advanced tech onboard.”

“You forgot who her predecessor was,” proclaimed Bellatrix.

“Well, we can’t just stand here,” insisted Eclipsed. “She’s probably filling the ventilation system with noxious gas!”

“But we can’t leave the ship either,” Wispy reminded. “Not without our organs melting!”

“Nidoto son'na koto o keiken sa senaide kudasai!” Chisana whined.

Layla steadied herself with a deep inhale and turned to everyone. “Then we have no choice. We return to Midnight Blitzer’s world immediately!”

Jellyfish-like tendrils descended from the ceiling to merge into the back and spine of the mother of all demons, who moaned and quivered from the sensation of symbiosis with her saucer-shaped pet. “I’ll use my energy to combat the sickness plaguing the ship,” declared Layla. “I should be able to repair enough of the damages to ensure we achieve lift-off.”

“But doesn’t this leave you at risk of getting infected?” questioned Kitsune worryingly.

“For the safety of my passengers and people, I’ll gladly put my life on the line,” the matronly succubus assured her.

Dion nodded and shouted over the alarm, “Ye heard th' lady! We ain’t just gonna muck around like sittin' ducks! Let’s split intae three groups. Group A, ye’re in charge ov huntin' down Viscera. Group B will be responsible fur retrievin' Equinox. Group C, look out fur those who can’t fight!”

Everyone quickly gathered into their preferred group and was ready to depart when a new alarm went off. The burly ram glowered, “Awfurfuxakes! What is it now?!”

Layla pulled up a holographic screen that displayed a radius outside the UFO, detecting an unidentified signature fast approaching.

“We’ve got company!”

The invisible windows manifested to reveal the dawning sun over the lush alien landscapes, highlighting the all too familiar silhouette of a three-headed dragon beating his mighty wings.

Mortis Saltaire and his followers rode Andrei’s scaled back, steadily closing the distance between them and the struggling spacecraft. “We will intercept their ship in a moment,” he announced. “Let none survive our onslaught. Only then may we finally rest in peace.”

“At once, master,” confirmed Triad, hand ready over the hilt of his magically infused katana.

“Oohoho,” hooted Penny Dreadful. “I shall make my most magnificent masterpiece out of their innards~! Faster, beastie! Faster~!!”

The undead drake growled once he soared through the deathly atmosphere. None the wiser to the kite-sized corvid creature that observed them, sailing overhead undetected.

“Y'know, I’ve been dealt some pretty shit hands before. But this?!” Seb pointed to the incoming undead legion. “Fucking abysmal ass luck!”

“I will buy us a little more time!” Layla said when she activated the Glamorguis’ defenses, raising a large, bubble-shaped force field to prevent their attempt to board. The tri-headed monster breathed ghoulish green flames, which smoldered and dissolved against the impassable barrier.

The lich, however, was unfettered and unleashed soul-infused black bolts from the palm of one hand, which wrapped around the invisible barricade. With the other, Mortis drew upon the familiar shadowy wisps of Shadow Scythe’s power to conjure a squall of sickle-based weaponry… and rapidly loosed them on the shield, the interior shaken under repeated blows.

Layla yowled, sharing in the ship’s distress and pain. “N-No! It can’t be!!”

Ana glowered, eyes glowing irate. “That fucker nicked Atalanta’s Onoma!!”

“This is bad,” whimpered Beatrix. “That means he can slip inside the ship through its shadow!”

“Not unless we bring the fight to him,” suggested Bellatrix, lengthening her claws. Turning to the other passengers, she directed, “Secure the prisoner, hunt down Viscera, and help get this bird in the air! The demis and I will deal with the undead!”

Seb waved his arms and exclaimed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! ‘We?’ I don’t remember volunteering for—”

His complaint was stifled when the scarlet succubus seized him by the throat, golden eyes glaring hotly. “If you’ve got a better plan, I would love to hear it right about now!”

“Aaghk! Alright, alright,” the male demon choked. “I’ll play ball!”

“Love the new enthusiasm, Bella. 'eaven and 'ell! Tryin' ter keep me fuckbox from springin' a leak,” Analise praised while fanning her face. “But last nickle and dime we were outside the bloody 'appeny dip, we nearly mutated”

Arron grumbled. “Yeah, as much as I want round two with that three-headed gecko, I'd rather not go through that bullshit again!”

“Which is why I’ve taken precautions should such an occasion occur,” Layla proclaimed, struggling to maintain telepathic communion with the Glamorguis while in such shearing agony. Circular symbols blinked behind them before capsules rose with a whir from the floor. “These symbiotic suits should protect you from the lethal atmosphere. But be warned; they have yet to be tested.”

“They’ll make do. Now let’s move!”

Bellatrix, Ana, Arron, and Seb quickly stepped inside the capsules, transparent doors sealed around them. First, the air sucked the clothes from their forms, and the trio was left naked. Liquids started to fill the interiors. Within seconds of submerging, any protests were lost amidst gurgles as their mouths and lungs filled. Thankfully, the substance proved harmless to them; their bodies encased in a thin layer of suits that conformed to their bodies. The excess liquids drained, and the capsules opened with a low hiss. They all stepped out and took a moment to admire their new duds.

“My mask! My hat!!” Seb complained. “How about a little warning next time, huh?!”

“At least these 'spacesuits' are spiffy,” observed Bellatrix, who glanced over her shoulder to admire how shapely her butt looked, giving it a slight wiggle.

“Ooh! Wouldn’t mind 'avin' wahn of these in me wardrobe~” Ana purred while stretching the elastic skin material off her chest, watching it recoil and give her squished titties some jiggle.

Arron did some brief Adonis-style poses, loving how the suit conformed to his bulky musculature. “Ooh yeah, just what I need! Threads that won’t tear whenever I bring out the gun show~!” He kissed his biceps while pulling out some spare shades to adorn his face. “Alright, bros and hoes. We rollin’!”

The card demon looked at Julianne, still wearing her nun attire. “Wait, why aren’t you joining us?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be caught dead in that,” the rosy-haired angel said, smiling shyly. “Too immodest!”

“Aww, C’mon! You’ll be a knockaht,” encouraged Ana. “Plus, we’re garn ter need your merry melodies if we wanna—”

“She is needed here,” reaffirmed the mother of demons. “Her musical healing will aid those who can’t fight.”

“Y-yeah, but—”

“Time is of the essence,” urged Julianne. “Now go!!”

Begrudgingly, they nodded, and the quadrant lept through an open portion of the ship Layla conjured, each of them spreading their wings (save for Arron) to engage Mortis right as his magic penetrated through the Glamorguis' dwindling defenseless.

“Here they come~!” Penny gleefully said, preparing her parasol and wings.

“Predictable as ever,” scoffed Triad, his combat stance neutral. “Get ready.”

The neon demon bellowed after she and Bellatrix flung orbs of hellfire at Andrei’s back.

But the two suddenly vanished inside Mortis’ shadow, at which point the reaper deflected the fireballs with tendrils of darkness, each tipped with a curved blade.

Analise sneered. “Fuck off wif ya!”

Bellatrix demanded. “Where did they go?!”

“Already inside the ship,” informed Mortis, a slight grin on his restored, deathly pallid face. “They will bring swift death to your allies, except for the fallen one. His soul is mine for the taking.”

“The only thing you’re taking is this L, bozo,” Seb proclaimed, wasting no time to draw out his tommy gun and spraying the reaper with salt-infused bullets. Mortis effortlessly blocked the rounds with a magical barrier.

“Have you learned nothing? Such toys are useless against me.”

“Then how about ruthless aggression, bonehead!?” Arron announced from above, dropping down elbow first. The wraith teleported to a safer distance, letting his pet take the brunt of the impact. Andrei roared with outrage while the two plummeted into the abandoned streets below. Arron brushed the dust off his shoulders while locking his violet gaze in a stare down with all three of the dragon’s heads. “Hey, ugly~! Remember me?”

“We recognize you, puny worm,” the left head hissed.

The rightmost head snickered. “Back for another soul-crushing defeat?”

The central head taunted. “We went easy on you last time. But now you irk us!”

All three said, “Now you taste the full wrath of the Kralot!”

Arron held up his hand and curled his index and middle finger twice. “Bring it!”

As the two fought on ground level, Bellatrix, Ana, and Seb combined their efforts and magic to fend off Mortis, who infused his enhanced dark arts with the archaic power of Thanatos. Hellfire met spectral flames while extended claws clashed against steel and shadowy scythes.

Meanwhile, Layla sensed the two underlings had infiltrated the UFO. Between the combined assault and spreading sickness within the UFO, the chances of becoming stranded on Sacratera grew more likely. Nonetheless, she would continue to undo the damage done and coordinate everyone. “Penny Dreadful and Triad have made it onboard,” she announced. “We’ll need someone to intercept them!”

“I’ll find them,” said Kitsune, her brows furrowed and fangs bared when hearing the swordsman's name, reminiscing how easily he'd bested her in martial combat. “I have a score to settle..!”

Wispy joined in. “Not without me, you won’t!”

“Nor me,” Eclipsed Heart rallied, briefly looking at the vixen’s missing tail. “This isn’t a battle you can win alone, at least not until you've healed up!”

“She’s right,” added Kyube. “We’ll have better odds facing them together.” Chisana beamed and nodded in agreement, holding a thumb up.

A small smile stretched Kitsune’s snout a bit before she relented. “Very well. We’ll take care of the intruders.”

“And we’ll go retrieve Equinox,” decided Deinos, Lightning Spark and Moonlight by his sides with an affirming nod. Both teams separated into different corridors, hoping to reach their objections quickly.

“Then we’ll guard this area,” proclaimed Iclyn, her hands, and antlers lighting up with frost and snow. Dion readied his claymore and shield while Foal-Bearer and Wet-Nurse helped Midnight to his seat next to Julianne and Layla, the blue pegasus still sour and frail now that the hyper-stallion gene had been cleansed from his body. The pegasus knight was in no condition to fight, despite how desperately he wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of his distant companions.

“Guess that leaves me to go nephilim huntin’,” said Arcanium, loading up on weapons in his arsenal.

Iclyn raised an eyebrow. “You sure it’s wise to face her alone?”

The erenn warlock snorted. “Probably not. But I work better alone anyway. Especially after…huh?!” His eyes dilated when he found the Necronomicon missing from the table, hands frantically searching his inner coat pockets. “What the—where did it fuckin' go?!? I swore it was right…”

Iclyn’s expression soured when she noticed the sudden absence of a particular violet unicorn mare.

“Oh, for fuck sake—Beatrix!!”

“That wily witch must have snagged it when shit hit th' fan sideways,” assumed Dion.

Arcanum growled, slamming his fist into the table. “Bagh! Remind me to strangle her if we somehow make it out alive!!”

The trio raced up the stairway to chase after Beatrix, a brief flash of her cape vanishing once she entered Layla’s private chambers.

At the topmost layer of the UFO, Zeloph sat motionlessly on the bed’s footside, oblivious to the blaring lights and sound around him. Too crestfallen and focused on his lover's death. It felt like he'd soiled her name by sleeping with another woman, despite receiving permission to move on the moment she passed her short life.

Dull cerulean eyes hovered on the Vorpal Blade in his hand, the weapon as lifeless as its wielder. Perhaps it no longer deemed him worthy after hours spent trying to force its latent ability out. With its mystic power muted, it was reduced to little more than a flimsy needle, likely to snap in half should it cross another blade.

His feathery ears barely twitched when the electronic doors opened, and Beatrix rushed inside. “Zell! What are you doing? We're in big trouble!” The angelic demi didn’t answer. Barely seemed to register that another person was in the room. Scrunching her snout, she marched up to him and dropped the Necronomicon beside him with a *thunk!*

“C’mon, snap out of it! Death is literally knocking at our door as we speak! Your friends and everyone are out there fighting to survive an apocalyptic battle! We need you!”

The somber angel glanced at the evil book, the same tome he had once been imprisoned in.

“Zeloph, please!” Beatrix pleaded. “I know you’re hurting right now. But you’ve gotta destroy it before more harm can be done!”

“I'm...not even sure that's possible now,” he finally spoke, gently holding up the Vorpal Blade. “It’s been dormant ever since I took her life. Perhaps that’s why it no longer responds to me…”

Whether that was the case or it was an excuse, it did not matter in the slightest. The witch could tell by his weary features he already accepted that answer. That he'd murdered his beloved.

Beatrix grasped his shoulders. “No! You know that’s not true. Mortis tricked you into stabbing him with the Vorpal Blade. You couldn’t have possibly known their souls were intertwined through a spell! Hell, the sword was practically blazing when met with the Necronomicon.”

“And now, not even an ember flickers,” he murmured melancholically. “It's time I wake up and face reality, Beatrix. I’m not meant to wield it! All that I touch—-everything I love… falls to ruin or dies. This planet. These people. Quicksilver. Jonn. Atalanta… I let them down. I’m no hero. I’m just… nothing.”

“No, you’re not!” Beatrix rebutted, roughly trying to shake sense back into him. “You’re the only one who can stop this crazed spirit of vengeance! Don’t you understand that? Mortis won’t rest until everyone is dead! Are you going to stand by and allow others to perish? Do you want Atalanta’s death to be in vain?!!”

“N-No..! But what can I—”

“Don’t even get me started, mister!” The witchy mare mounted atop the stubborn angel, stroking his stiff frame. “You told me I didn't deserve the Necronomicon's power if I was nothing without it. And you were strong way before you started using the Vorpal Blade. So what if that rustic needle doesn’t deem you worthy? You already were in Atalanta’s eyes!”

Before Zeloph could absorb her words and decide his next course of action, the echoes of twisted laughter resonated throughout the room. Beatrix rose up instantly, head waving around to locate the source, pausing on the single vent that slowly hissed with green steam.

She yelped when a taloned hand punched suddenly through the steel grate to grab the floor. Viscera crawled out, squeezing her monstrous frame and dusty wings through the confined space. More of the foul-looking mold spread from the torn vent.

Stretching her limbs and neck with grotesque bone cracks, the avian monstress leered at the unicorn and demi with a delightful grin. “Ohoho yes, my poor, lovesick seraphim. She’s absolutely right. You are more capable of defeating Mortis than you think! But don’t let her shallow sense of ‘morality’ blind you to what true power can bring!”

Zeloph gripped the Vorpal Blade tightly while Beatrix instantly drew out her Onoma and rapier sword, the darkness of the Demiurge cascading around her denuded form like a curtain as she mentally banished her clothes to let the cool darkness submerge her. When the nephilim took a few steps toward them, she warned, “Stay back!”

Viscera ignored her and proceeded to get closer. “Don’t you want to avenge your beloved Atalanta? Her executioner is right outside this ship. This is your chance, Zeloph. Now is the time to make him suffer! Make him wish he had never reanimated. And then… grant it!”

“Don’t listen to her,” urged Beatrix. “She’s trying to use you! You are not what she is! You’re not—”

“Evil? Ha! And who are you to label me as such?” The vile one chortled with amusement. “You, the foolhardy tramp who selfishly condemned half her friends and their worlds to their demise! You’re not even here to comfort him!” Her chartreuse eyes briefly glanced at the Necronomicon. “You’re just pushing your grievances onto him so he’ll fix your mistakes. All because you’re too inadequate to handle them yourself. Now who's really using who here~?”

The violet mare’s face hardened with fury once Viscera turned her gaze back to Zeloph. “But since when did lions care for the opinion of sheep? We are demi-human! We were made better, smarter, and stronger than the common mortal. We were meant to ruin mankind. This planet is living proof of that!”

The angelic demi shuddered as a nostalgic dread crept up his spine. Memories of thousands of voices crying out for help while he stood above the destroyed buildings and righteous flames.

Viscera offered her hand. “You can not escape who you are, Zeloph. Who you were meant to be. Together, you and I can finish what he started. We can reclaim Scaratera. Repopulate it with our superior offspring. And restore his fallen legacy~!”

Beatrix knitted her brow. “‘His?’ What are you on about? I thought you despised Varys. But if anything, your plan sounds no different from his!”

“Unless you mean…” A terrible epiphany slithered through Zeloph’s psyche like a venomous viper. A possibility that rekindled the burning wrath within. Not for Mortis, but for someone else who he held more contempt for. Someone he had long convinced himself no longer existed.

Vermillion eyes fixated on the harpy witch and, with tranquil fury, demanded, “…Whose legacy are you trying to restore?”

Viscera stretched her grin until her beak-shaped face was uncannily wide. She then gave her answer. “You already know who. You’ve just been lying to yourself this whole time. Did you really think he could be so easily done in~?”

The Vorpal Blade gleamed with brilliant light as Zeloph flashed forward to decimate the wicked bringer of beldam. Predicting this action, Viscera blocked the attack with orichalcum bones protruding from her wrists. With her prey right where she wanted, she propelled him into the glass barrier with a hard kick. Then her corpse flower tail shot a sticky adhesive and glued the seraphic demi-human to the dome.

Beatrix cried, “Zeloph!”

“Ohh, don’t worry about him. He’s not going anywhere,” the nephilim cooed, licking her teeth while extending her poisonous talons. “And neither is anyone else~!”

The witch snarled and launched a triple storm of elements at Viscera in an attempt to end her on the spot. The avian monstress flew out of the blast radius and fired back acidic projectiles and spinal quills. Beatrix, in turn, deflected them with an invisible barrier she mystically erected.

A rush of footsteps sounded outside the door. “Lassie! What th' hell is goin' on!?” bellowed Dion.

“She‘s in here! Hurry, before—”

“Oh, no, you don't!” The Nephilim shrieked as she soared and jabbed her claw into the panel beside the door. Instantaneously, the meaty mold rapidly expanded until the electronic gates were consumed by a wall of toxic flesh.

Eyeballs, warts, and pus-filled boils blocked out Dion, who cursed when he halted his charge. One swing proved ineffective, the disease absorbing the ram’s great sword and dissolving it into rot within seconds. “Gnaagh! Fuckin' nasty!”

“It smells worse than it looks,” said a revolted Iclyn, hand clipping her nose.

“You can bitch about it after we open this damn door!!” Ordered Arcanum, who blasted the foul green growth with spells. The deighdyr summoned a flurry to try and freeze the sickness, to no avail due to how feverishly hot the festering growth was. "Dammit! Our spells are useless too?!"

Trapped inside, Beatrix strained to hold back Viscera while Zeloph struggled to free himself. His hand desperately reached for the Vorpal Blade, which gleamed underneath the hardened discolored substance a few inches from his fingertips.

The witch flung her most potent spells and cosmic radiance, utilizing the teleporting orb trick she developed while training to keep Viscera on her toes. And fortunately, she maneuvered the ball to hit its mark when the vile one misstepped, dark matter bursting in front of her. “Aaaugh!”

Viscera squawked from the collision, tumbling onto the floor like a rag doll. When she lifted herself up, she found a thin blade poised between her brows, her glare meeting Beatrix’s.

“I’m only saying this one final fucking time! Stand down,” she commanded through heavy breaths. “Don’t think for a second I’ll hesitate to kill you!”

The nephilim gave a throatful chuckle in response. “You think your friends will be safe after you’ve murdered me? Idiot! They’ll never know peace so long as you're around to toy with their pathetic lives! After all, my dear Beatrix… It’s all your fault~!”

At the sound of those words, memories of that horrid nightmare Beatrix tried so desperately to repress instantly manifested. The violet unicorn felt her will falter as she dropped her weapon; the voices and images of everyone blaming her for the continued unraveling of the multiverse were overwhelming.

“N-No! Stop! I didn’t mean for this to happen! I’m sorry,” she cried hysterically, collapsing to her knees and clutching her head. “I’m sorry, Oona! Please forgive me!!”

Zeloph ceased his wriggling to observe the situation, eyes widened. Never before had he seen his ex-lover in such a state of duress.

“Beatrix...?” The others outside could also hear her bawling, which only drove them to try and break inside the room harder.

Even Viscera was briefly taken aback by the sight of her foe regressing to that of a frightened child… before immediately seizing the opportunity to tackle her to the ground. The shriveling witch thrashed wildly beneath the vile beldam, who pinned her hands with her wings.

“I must admit. I’m quite curious about what’s causing you such beautiful trauma,” Viscera purred, exploring and grasping the busty unicorn’s ample curves with one hand. At the same time, the other dragged her talon along her slim stomach. “If only so that I may replicate it tenfold~!”

Zell’s ears flickered at rhythmic tapping coming from behind him. He turned his head enough to see the corvid-shaped creature from before fluttering about while pecking the glass with its nooked beak.

‘You again?’

The pale raven tilted its head side to side before flying upward to somersault into the dome. But instead of smashing into the glass, like he was expecting, it phased through and planted its clawed feet into the sticky substance, trying to pry out the Vorpal Blade.

“What in the world..?”

But Zeloph didn’t waste time questioning the abnormality, somewhat thankful Viscera hadn’t detected the bird’s presence, far too occupied with molesting Beatrix during her hysteria.

After continuous tugging, the semi-skeletal crow finally ripped the interdimensional sword free in its talons. Astonished, the seraphic angel managed to unbind his arm and reached for his weapon.

The weapon finally responded and emitted a powerful light that dissolved the adhesive completely, allowing Zeloph to reclaim his saber and unfurl his wings. His sight set on the accursed book wafting with foul magic.

Viscera’s eyes winched at the sudden glaring light illuminating the room before her attention was drawn to her freed captive. “What?! How did you—NO!”

The vile one blindly fired eldritch bolts from her fingers. Zell and the raven ducked out from the projectiles, the avian thing knocking down the cast-aside Necronomicon, its malevolent aura shuddering from the ample light.

The delusions plaguing Beatrix vastly weakened, awareness returning to the shaken witch. When she realized what was happening, she called upon the Demiurge to entangle its inky tendrils around Viscera’s limbs.

Before any more doubts could change her mind, Beatrix raised her voice over the harpy’s screeching, shouting, “Now, Zeloph! DO IT!!”

With a mighty battle cry, the angel dove down to plunge the sacred saber through the flesh-bound grimoire, which imitated an agonized shriek. Oily black blood leaked from the stab wound, which caught fire as the purifying light expunged the evil within its moldy pages. Lightning, smoke, and noise funneled out from the Necronomicon, a cyclone of screaming visages and eldritch abominations evaporating into the aether.

Reality shook violently, and everyone aboard the Glamorguis lost their footing and fell to the floor. Outside, the UFO was no different; the battle between Mortis, Bellatrix, Andrei, and Demis came to a halt from the sudden tornado of damned souls whirling out of the glass dome, a pulsating light glowing larger beneath.

The lich’s spectral pupils shrank to pinpoints. “It can’t be..!”

At the catalyst of the Necronomicon’s destruction, time stood still, and sound deafened. The faces of many gazed at it with shock, awe, and subsequent dread. Zeloph, Beatrix, and Viscera couldn’t tear their gaze away from the beams of light pouring out the cracks chipping away at the cursed book until it ultimately exploded.

A giant shockwave of energy rippled out the ship, knocking everyone down with indomitable force and extending out Sacratera into the far reaches of deep space.

Every universe, planet, and sentient being felt the phantasmagorical wave run through them. The king and queen from Cerise’s world didn’t see anything change but felt something was amiss. The citizens of the Cyberverse experienced a period of power loss, which made them panic until the mayor regained control of the situation. Almost everyone in Midnight’s world believed it was a sign that the distorted terrain would worsen, prompting their war leaders to work faster into assembling their armada.

In the Lost World, neither the Jakobson clan nor Queen Tatyana’s fleet of ships seemed to notice nor care about the shockwave, figuring it was a rare phenomenon.

Oona and Abadonna briefly paused their activities when the invisible force caused the cottage to shake.

“What was that?” The sheep woman wondered aloud.

“I don’t know,” replied the caprine girl, brows furrowed. “But it felt like… mom!”

Within the mystical forest of the isles, the Cult of the Nemesis collectively froze when the wave hit. Members whispered and murmured over what it could mean while Grogar and his hooded apprentice hurried towards the clearing, where Omen stood at the edge of a cliff, observing the brewing storm.

“You felt that, right?” The elder ram asked.

The gray cervine nodded in acknowledgment while carefully listening to the unknowable whispers of the future; antlers alit with dark static.

When the unheard message was sung, Omen opened his eyes, and a smile formed on his snout.

“So… she actually went through with it after all,” he mused. “Not the path I was anticipating, but one that still works in our favor.”

The apprentice asked, “Then does that mean Belladonna..!?”

“Indeed. The Necronomicon is no more,” said the nightmare stag, who turned to face them properly. His smile twisted into something more malicious. “And with it, my need to continue this friendly facade is near its end.”

“Hmm?”

Arms folded comfortably behind his back, the nahtdyr marched onward as his disciples flanked him. “Contact Vox and the others. Inform them that there’s been a change in plans. Begin Chrysalis’ crusade of Midnight's Equestria ahead of schedule.”

Grogar nodded. “Consider it done.”

“Walpurgisnacht is only twelve hours away,” the apprentice reminded Omen. “An' if th' Necronomicon is destroyed, Beatrix no longer has th' means tae travel through realms! How are ye sae certain she’ll come?”

“Don’t underestimate how resourceful Beatrix can be,” noted Omen. “Even depowered, she’s a vital threat to our mission. She’ll find a way here. I know it.” His maroon eyes drew toward the hooded acolyte. “If you can temper your eagerness to meet her, I have something you can do in the meantime.”

“An' what might that be?”

The trade paused as the deer man leaned close to whisper into his follower’s ear. And whatever was said brought a delighted smile to their semi-visible snout.

“Ahh… Ah was wonderin' how ye might handle th' Vice Lords. It’ll be nice tae finally cut loose wit'out concealin' mah identity~.”

“As promised, the time for charades is over,” chuckled Omen, who brought their knuckles to his lips. “They will look upon you with horror and adoration.”

“As it should be,” huffed the cultist, who waited for the seer of black dreams to tear open a portal for her to travel through.

Grogar raised an eyebrow. “What purpose does keeping them apart serve? Would it not be more practical to have them meet already?”

“Not while Abadonna is present,” rebutted Omen, his frown showing a hint of teeth. “Admittedly, I didn’t account for the possibility that her future self would show up here. She’ll no doubt try to keep her mother away from me.”

“So what do you propose?” The former emperor of Equestria asked as they resumed their walk.

“For now, we bleed the clock until both wars commence,” the cult leader responded. “We cannot force a feast, Grogar. A feast must first present itself. But if everything goes as planned, three things are guaranteed. You will have your new era of darkness. Shub’Niggurath will have the life she desires. And I will have everything I deserve.”

“And the Child of Lightendark?”

Omen’s eye glimmered an ominous red. “That’s a problem I will handle. Personally.”

Waters rocked against the boats, one housing the Sovereign Witch, Tatyana, who ran her hands across a crystal ball and spoke into the sphere. “Countess Alma, can you hear me? Have you finalized proper preparations for our rendezvous into the Isles of Parras? We’ll be there momentarily…” When there wasn’t a response, the tall unicorn mare demanded more impatiently. “Answer me now or so help me, I will—”

The face of the kelpie Vice Lord swam onto the orb's surface. “Hold ontae yer sweet ass; Ah hear ya!” snapped Douglas, a disgruntled look on his somewhat handsome face.

Tatyana narrowed her gaze. “I didn’t request you, lecher. Where is the Baobhan Sith?”

“Look, our ‘wonderful’ leader is indisposed currently. But don't worry. Our forces will meet three hours befur Walpurgisnacht begins.”

The Sovereign Witch sneered in annoyance. “I'd prefer to hear it from her own lips, not some uncivilized scoundrel. You’re almost as worthless as my husband…”

“Oi! Yer not th’ only one who's been busy, sugartits. We’ll get there when we get there. Sae don’t get yer panties in a twist.” He lazed before her eyes on a chair, and a few stray leeches crawled across his bare chest. “Pretty soon, we'll have another bunch ov territories tae carve up an’ call our own! Now, was there anything’ else ye…”

The vision before his eyes, summoned by the crystal ball, faded. “Skyscrapin’ cow,” he muttered to himself. In truth, a pall had fallen over the manor-turned-castle ever since Oona, Demi-Trix, Omen, and Bellatrix escaped. And ever since Layla had soundly defeated and humiliated her, Alma was left in the throes of depression.

No lavish foods, refinements, or pure blood could pull the vampiric faerie from her melancholy. As a consequence, her territory resembled her mental state. Deteriorating and in a state of decay since the vampire bats perched above dared not stir.

Nor was the Baobhan Sith the only one in a compromised state. Esmeralda was still stricken by night terrors ever since her encounter with Omen. She and Camellia sat near their mistress at the table yet didn’t speak to her knowing she wouldn’t respond. A more pale than usual Esmeralda whispered, “Doesn't he remind you of-?”

“Bluebeard,” said Camellia with all the spite she could muster behind her porcelain mask. “The dread pirate warlock that collected wives across the treacherous seas and then murdered them.”

Douglas flicked his ears and snickered at them. “Pha! That ol’ scallywag got nothin’ on me. 'Course, ye’d probably know that if ye had a taste.” He rubbed his crotch, hidden beneath his dark pants. “Anytime ye saucy wenches want a real sea shanty, A’m only a call away~.”

“Dream on, you lowly barbarian,” hissed Camellia between her clenched teeth.

“We'd sooner walk the plank,” dismissed Esmeralda with flicks of her manicured hand. “On that note, I believe our spies said something about the Nautilus also concealing an eldritch beast fused inside it..?”

“Yes. Quite similar to the fabled Kraken,” surmised Camellia, who cradled her lady love. “The kind of beast we'd love to hunt and keep as a trophy.” A small smile met her ruby-red lips. “Ah, I do sometimes miss the old times...”

“Aye. Sounds like th’ kind ov treasure A’d love tae get me hands on,” cut in Douglas, his eyes wandering over the masked mare's ample cleavage while he drank wine from a goblet. “Nautilus… now that’s a ship made fur me! Who owns it currently? Ashen Dirt, right?”

“Dune,” corrected Esmeralda, rolling her eyes. “Ashen Dune.”

The kelpie waved it off. “Bah! Whatever his name is, A’ll nail his drowned corpse tae th’ headpiece after Ah break in his tight little whore, Rhenaes. Always wanted tae wear her on me cock, even befur Doppia took hold ov her~!”

“Typical male,” sneered back Camellia. “Pathetic!”

“Now, they're not all like him,” reassured Esmeralda, thankful as her lover rubbed her shoulders to ease her tensions. “Bad as he is, I’d prefer his company over that dreadful Omen!”

“Yes… that cannibal deer strikes terror into even my heart,” admitted Camellia with a subdued shudder. “In all my years as a huntress, never have I encountered a monster so perfectly disguised as a well-mannered man. A polite smile that hides pointed teeth. Eyes that bore through one's soul and see everything there is to know….”

The petite thestral vampiress quivered. “Don’t even get me started! The body of prey with the appetite of a predator. The power to manifest your greatest weakness and exploit it..!”

Douglas groaned. “Yeesh! From th’ way ye ladies describe him, ye sound awfully smitten wit him!”

Esmeralda flustered. “O-Of course not!”

Camellia swished the contents of her goblet. “We just recognize him as a dangerous game, is all.”

The kelpie cut in, “Worse than th’ Kraken? Don’t tell me ye’re afraid ov tentacles~?” He continued to drink the bat mares in, despite the cold snarl of Camellia and the cocky smirk of Esmeralda. “A’m sure it would love tae capture all that supple flesh an’ stretch out yer holes. But A’ll protect ye if-”

“We don't need your protection,” hissed Camellia, who nearly threw a drink in his face.

“And even then, the price would be unthinkable,” added Esmeralda, confident he'd want them to whore themselves out to him. “But alas, should you ever want me to shoot your tiny cock off—”

Alma's downcast facelifted when her ears flicked at a subtle sound. “Quiet!” The group ceased their banter when the auburn-haired vampiress rose from her seat. Her scarlet eyes darted to a low hum, the air distorted when a black and red vortex opened mid-air and expanded in the banquet hall. Everyone shot to their feet and drew weapons, prepared for another invasion when a lone hooded figure stepped out.

The apprentice of Grogar kept her features hidden behind a crimson cloak, a ram-skull bident in hand. “Salutations,” the cultist greeted. “Hope Ah wasn’t interruptin’ anythin’~!”

“You trespass the house of the Legion of Black Roses,” proclaimed Camellia, and her thick black mane lifted up in a mass, ready to strike. Even her equally dark gown slid across her pale curves at her will, another extension of her turned lethal.

“State your name and business,” demanded Esmeralda, a silver pistol trained on her heart. “And maybe you won’t leave here in pieces!”

“Not much ov a fortress if it's sae easily impregnated,” the stranger tittered, unfettered by their threats. “If anything, it looks like yer order is in shambles.”

Alma visibly bristled, fangs bared. “A’ve had enough ov these interlopers just waltzin’ intae mah abode!”

“Hold it, Alma,” called Douglas, his brows furrowed. “There’s somethin’ fishy aboot this one. Ah can feel it.”

The vampiric faerie stiffened and noticed the entire castle was trembling, much like it did when the mother of the demon Glamorguis arrived.

“Now that he mentions it, her voice does bare a familiar cadence,” noted Esmeralda, who lowered her six-shooter but kept it ready.

“Have we met before?” Questioned Camellia, who likewise let her dense black mane waterfall down.

“We have not,” answered the cultist playfully. “But A’m sure ye might have heard ov me somewhere. In a dream, perhaps? Or maybe, from yer worst nightmar—”

But before she could get another word in, Alma flashed across the table and seized the intruder by the throat, slamming her into the castle wall.

“If ye are here tae mock me, ye couldn’t have picked a more inconvenient time,” Alma hissed through a vicious sneer. “Because Ah am down tae mah last fucking nerve, and Ah need somethin’ that’ll quench mah thirst fur bloodshed!”

The mysterious acolyte tittered. “Forgive me. ‘Twas not mah intention tae insult ye, Alma. Far from it, actually!”

“Then tell me who th’ fuck you are an’ why th’ fuck ye’re here!”

“Are ye sure that’s what ye want? Th’ truth hidden beneath this veil might disturb ye~.”

Fed up with the vague riddles, Alma gripped the hood of her cloak with an angry growl. “All I want tae know is whose heart Ah will feast on when Ah—huh?!”

But when she ripped away the cloth with a clean rip, the words in her throat died, replaced with a startled gasp. Her legionnaires were equally perplexed, mouths aghast and eyes widened by the face they saw.

Shock and confusion wore Alma’s features as she gazed upon the smiling visage of the cultist within her clutch, only able to utter a single sound.

“Y-You?!”

Oona felt like someone spoke about her for reasons she couldn't understand. A mere superstition? Today was full of weird phenomena, like the bizarre shockwave that pulsated through the isles to a future version of her daughter, who was taking a small nap after tidying the place.

At least now she wasn't alone, despite the bittersweet reasons. For her final act, before Demi-Trix faded into the ether, she ensured her trio of plushies would be taken care of, left in the dream shaman's tender care. She cast them a troubled smile when the plush toys cuddled around the snoring caprine girl. They particularly liked to rest on the wide rim of Abaddona's hat.

While they couldn't speak, Shade Sickle wrote her a note she read. “Oh no, no, no...” She lamented the losses of Demi-Trix and Shadow Scythe, distanced though she was from recent events. At least everything else here appeared relatively okay, despite the looming war on the horizon.

Outside, Ashen Dunes and Rhenaes pitched in and helped repair the shipwrecked Nautilus, unaware the Cult of the Nemesis observed them.

A rare moment of serenity before the pieces set in motion by Omen finally tumbled into place.

Apotheosis

View Online

The entire castle went deathly still when Alma unveiled the unknown assailant. The Baobhan Sith, along with every member of the Black Rose, stood petrified and perplexed by the smug, grinning face of Oona Ewe. Except, there were notable differences between the dream shamaness and this eerie alternative creature.

For one, she was more of a satyress than a faun, having a longer snout and ears. Four pairs of horns were crowning her head, the first drawn back while the second curved into a loop. Her mystical white hair was more rugged than wool. Oona’s azure complexion had darkened to near ebony. Gone were the warm honey-brown eyes, instead housing moderate red pupils that gave her a distinct resemblance to the father of monsters. A third closed eyelid rested between her collarbone and bosom.

Lastly, underneath the caprine cultist’s robes was a form-fitting black gown and gloves, the skirt and sleeves embedded with thorny fur that twinkled like stars. Even without the pregnant tummy, she seemed slightly less pudgy while boasting her ample curves and bountiful breasts.

Refusing to believe what her eyes told her, Alma broke the silence by demanding, “W-What kind ov sorcery is this? Who are ye?! Why do ye look like Oona Ewe?!?”

“Oona?” The black goat woman tilted her head curiously. “Ahh! Ah believe ye are referrin' tae mah other self.”

“‘Other self’? Sae ye claim tae be from a different reality ov sorts?”

“Not entirely unheard of,” said Esmeralda. “I believe Beatrix mentioned wanting two versions of Cerise to meet!”

“Regardless, it’s certainly clear this isn’t the Oona we held prisoner,” noted Camellia, her crimson eyes narrowed behind her porcelain mask.

“Aye. Be careful, Alma,” advised Douglas, hand clutching his cutlass tightly. “Ah feel a strange presence as if we’re all deep beneath th' sea!”

Indeed, Alma, too, sensed an immense pressure weighing down her shoulders from just being close to the doppelgänger, as if gravity was on the verge of collapsing. Her nostrils flared when inhaling ‘Oona’s scent, detecting the reek of eldritch magic. Worse, the stone walls and furniture trembled and shook violently, signifying the beast disguised as the castle was once again afraid.

But the auburn-haired vampiress wouldn’t be deterred, strengthening her clutch on the caprine’s neck. “Tae think cowards now make up mah legion’s ranks! Are ye tae tell me that ye’re honestly afraid ov this measly old goat?! Pha! A'm not sae easily intimidated!”

A playful titter slid out of Oona’s throat. “Ye will be,” she crooned with a layered voice, sounding both soothing and husky simultaneously. “Ye don’t grasp how out ov depth ye are here. Let me… enlighten ye~!”

Her eyes widened, with the third in her chest snapping open, revealing a hellish horizontal pupil. The yellowish white of her eyes turned to the darkness that poured down her sockets like tears. The entire plane glitched with digital bolts of distortion, causing everyone within the room to stumble. The whole castle was quaffed with a pitch-black hue as a storm manifested overhead.

An invisible force propelled Alma backward, throwing her into Esmeralda and Camellia. Sounds of loud braying, monstrous growls, and cackling bleats suddenly flooded their eardrums, which they covered in a vain attempt to drown out the horrid noises. Douglas managed to peer outside a nearby window, only to see an enormous hooded leg stamp the ground, followed by five equally heavy thumps.

Alma’s vision remained fixated on the caprine entity, who arched her back when thorny tendrils sprouted from her bare shoulders. A licentious groan rolled out the back of her throat when said tentacles wriggled around her arms and supple shapeliness.

All at once, the violent squall swirling around the terrified Glamorguis gradually slowed down to a crawl as the enigmatic sorceress gently floated down to her feet. The inky blackness lifted from her eyes, her smile stretching her snout. Ancient sigils and symbols blinked around her as she approached the legion with swaying hips.

“Wettin' yerself yet~?”

Alma rose with bared teeth, conjuring her sanguine blade. “Don’t make me laugh! Ye’ve got nothin' but smoke an' noise. It doesn’t matter how powerful ye are; A'll still have yer heart! Ah won’t ever falter befur an'ther egocentric upstart. Especially one who wears Oona’s face! Night creatures, answer mah call!”

Howls and screeches filled the chamber as hellhounds, gargoyles, and bats scurried to their mistress’ aid, though they wore anxious expressions. Her followers were equally reluctant to fight but flanked the Baobhan Sith’s sides and took up stances.

‘Oona’ gave a mocking pout. “Oh mah! Sae many monsters against wee old me? That hardly seems fair~.”

“Fair is for the weak and foolhardy,” proclaimed Camellia, her lengthy hair waving around her busty figure. “We won’t be humiliated again!”

“Yeah, enough bark! Show us your bite!” Esmeralda snapped, loading a bolt into her crossbow.

“Well, if ye insist!”

With a twirl of her skull-infused bident, the black satyress unleashed ethereal vines that lashed out, ensnaring every stone sentinel and instantly crushing them into rocky debris.

When the bat monsters soared down, she summoned black bubbles from the ground that enveloped the colony. She then uttered, “Sleep.”

The bubble popped, and the unconscious flock plummeted with splats.

The Vice Lord growled and directed her pack, “Rip her intae shreds!!”

But the caprine woman batted away the pouncing hellhounds with her tentacles, twisting their necks and snapping their spines in half as each canine dropped with dying whimpers. One hellhound even met a far more gruesome end when one tendril formed a toothy slime-filled maw and consumed the dog whole.

The vampire couple recoiled and clutched their necks, watching the animal struggle feebly before the tentacle constricted to push it down through the tube. ‘Oona’ patted her belly and ran a tongue over her lips.

“Mmm! Doggy chowder~!”

Infuriated, Alma rushed at the doppelgänger with blinding speed, blade clashing against the ram-headed staff. Camellia, Esmeralda, and Douglas followed suit, trying to handicap the eldritch sorceress by attacking her on all fronts.

‘Oona’ repelled the legion of black roses with unseen force, providing enough time to channel a spell before they lunged for her again. She stamped her bident, and darkness fissured through the floor to unleash a wave of snarling vines and tendrils, knocking her foes into the castle walls and furniture.

“Seems ye didn’t learn yer lesson wit th' Mother ov Demons,” taunted the satyress.

But as she pulled herself back up, Alma had a victorious grin on her lips. “An' clearly, ye haven’t learned not tae underestimate yer opponents! Look at yer hand, fool!”

The cultist arched an eyebrow before realizing she was bleeding out; a thin line sliced across her palm.

The Baobhan Sith cackled while holding up her sanguine blade, stained with her foe’s blood. Crimson wisps wafted from the steel as its power began to take effect. “Yer defeat was decided the moment Ah could draw a single drop ov blood from ye!”

“Y-yes! Well done, Mistress!” Esmeralda praised with a cocky smirk.

“Quickly! Drink her essence an' finish her off,” urged Douglas.

“Make her regret opposing us!” Added Camellia sharply.

But their confidence was challenged by elated laughter as ‘Oona’ warned, “Ah wouldn’t do that if Ah were. Not unless ye want mah Darkyung growin' inside ye~.”

“Dark-what?!”

Before Alma could comprehend what she meant, the caprine’s blood unfurled with stringy coils before rapidly expanding from the sanguine blade. The amorphous substance then weaved together to form the shape of a massive tree-shaped caprine monster on three stumpy hooves. Ropey tentacles protruded from its back, acting like swaying branches. Many mouths opened and closed around its bark-like body, one of which was enormous and bared tusks.

The countess gasped and tried to pry her sword out of the bulky abomination. The Darkyung bellowed in response and ensnared Alma into its arms, groping and tugging her body in different directions.

“Naaaugh!! Let go ov me,” she strained, her limbs overstretched as they threatened to rend. “Ack! S-Somebody stop her!!”

But the vampires were too terrified to approach the gargantuan goat creature, cradling one another, overcome by a primordial terror. “What the devil is that?!” Esmeralda whimpered.

“The ugliest fuckin' thing A’ve ever seen,” Douglas answered with distress.

“Not as ‘fugly’ as ye’re about tae be,” said the ebony doe, who flung more blood splotches from her wounded palm, which rapidly grew to become three eyeless caprine creatures, sporting ample assets and similar tentacles whipping about from their backs.

The newly made monsters dispatched the rest of the legion, apprehending Camellia, Esmeralda, and Douglas before they could use their abilities to defend themselves.

The Darkyung brought forth their struggling captives before the eldritch caprine, the oversized monstrosity tossing Alma to the floor, landing a few centimeters from her feet. When the shaken vampiric faerie lifted her head, her wry gaze met Oona’s lookalike, who leered down at her.

“An' that was but a mere fraction ov what A’m capable ov,” the dark satyress boasted, a smirk lifting one side of her cheek. “Unless ye’re still unconvinced?”

“N-no… no more,” wept Alma, her fragile pride again shattered before her fellow vampires and Vice Lord. Her head hung low as she admitted, “Ye’re power dwarfs all ov us combined. Ah yield…”

‘Oona’ shook her head and tsked. “Stubborn lil' babe. Ye could have prevented an'ther pathetic loss had ye not acted sae rashly. An' ye still wonder why Bellatrix ne'er caved tae yer whims.”

The Vice Lord tensed at the mention of the succubus’ name. “H-How do yae know about…” Raising her head once more, she demanded, “Who—What are ye?!”

The ebony goat woman placed a delicate finger beneath Alma’s chin, guiding her to stand up while her thorny tendrils enclosed around them, squishing their plush curves and ample breasts together. Her face was flustered when she traced her cheek.

“Ah am th' physical incarnation ov th' All-Mother,” the creature answered, the bass of her layered voice reverberating throughout the room. “Th' Goddess ov Progeny. Th' Ebony Goat ov th' Woods wit a Thousand Young. Ah… am Shub’Niggurath~!”

“Sh-Shub’Niggurath?!” Alma yelped as her head forcibly turned so the goat woman could run her elongated tongue up and down her pale cheek. Her body shuddered when the caprine stuck her slick appendage into her ear.

“The fertility goddess from beyond space and time?” asked Camellia.

“No way,” said Esmeralda. “I thought the great old ones were just fables to scare bigots and heretics!”

“An' yet, here Ah stand, flesh an' blood,” the self-proclaimed deity rebutted, ceasing her lecherous licking.

“But why does an ancient goddess possess a mortal body?” Questioned the kelpie.

“That’s none ov yer concern,” dismissed Shub’Niggurath. “An' Ah would rather ye refrain from usin' that name. It carries racial undertones that Ah do not appreciate.”

Alma curled an eyebrow amidst her squirming. “An' what might we call ye..?”

“From this point onward, ye will address me as Lady She’ba,” announced the eldritch sorceress, a broad smile on her features. “A much more sensible title that commands elegance an' respect.”

The vampiric faerie managed to wriggle out of her molester’s hold and gain some distance. “Very well then. Why have ye come here, ‘Lady She’ba’? What do ye want wit us?”

“Only tae share mah power wit ye,” she responded while casually checking her nails.

“Huh? Wha-Why?!”

“Think ov it as a trifle,” She’ba began strutting closer with a hand on her hip. “A token ov goodwill between th' Legion ov Black Roses an' th' Cult ov th' Nemesis.”

“You mean that fallen order ov zealots that once sought Beatrix Belladonna as their dark messiah?”

“Th' very same. Except now, they have someone worthy ov their devotion~,” she confirmed with a giggle. “An' in exchange fur yer compliance, Ah shall bless ye wit unfathomable power. Ov course, this means dissolvin' yer alliance wit th' Sovereign Witch.”

“But she is our strongest ally,” debated the Baobhan Sith. “An army ov paladins an' mages are sailin' across th' oceans as we speak! We made a pack tae conquer an' divide Equestria!”

“Ugh! This is why yer order falls short, Alma,” scoffed the ebony satyress, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ye’re not considerin' th' bigger picture here! Yes, workin' wit Tatyana can give ye a chance tae fulfill yer conquest. A sliver, Ah might add. But workin' wit me grants ye a guarantee that ye’ll triumph over yer foes. As well as take revenge on those who’ve wronged ye. An' sae much more~.”

Esmeralda snorted. “And all we have to do is pledge our loyalties and faith in you? Ha! Get real!”

“You are undeniably powerful, Lady She’ba,” admitted Camellia. “But we have already sworn ourselves to our mistress.”

“An' look where that’s gotten ye,” the eldritch doe pointed out, waving a hand to highlight the dilapidated interior and drained carcasses littering the floors. “Yer night creatures are dead; yer fortress is so easily breached, all yer prisoners are gone—Ah doubt th' mighty Glamorguis will even obey ye after all ye’ve put it through.”

She’ba directed her narrow gaze on Alma, who couldn’t even muster a compelling argument against these facts. “Face it, Alma. Ye were ne'er in control. How could you be? Ye’re no better than a leech. A feeble parasite that has tae feed off others tae sustain its miserable existence!”

She then gently touched the vampiress’ shoulder, feeling her jump. Leaning her face close, She’ba whispered in a silky tone that sent tiny shivers up her spine. “But it doesn't have tae be like this. Ah can bring yer heart what it longs for. Give into me, love unto me, an' you will live deliciously~.”

“Oi! Don’t listen tae that hogwash, Alma,” butted in Douglas. “For all we know, th' second we’ve accepted her offer, we’ll fall under her spell! An' after th' time A’ve spent servin' th' Burning King, Ah ain’t goin' back tae bein' some monster cunt’s mule!”

The Darkyung confining him brayed ferociously but paused when the dark satyress held up her hand and approached the water demon with a thoughtful smile.

“That’s rich, considerin' yer history wit women, lecher,” proclaimed Lady She’ba. “Matter ov fact, ye’ve allowed women tae rule yer entire life! It’s why ye became a pirate, no? Tae escape yer controllin' mother an' sister when daddy left town~?”

The kelpie scowled. “Shut yer cock hole! Ye know nothin'!”

“Don’t Ah? Given yer animosity towards any female who crosses yer way, it’s not that hard tae imagine. Ye could steal an' plunder all the treasures an' wonders, yet no woman tae hold or look past th' horrid monster tae see th' lonely man ye truly are. An' then, when ye heard th' sea’s calling, ye took th' eternal plunge tae th' depths, where yer heinousness an' anguish forever changed ye intae the dreaded kelpie ye are today.”

Douglas allowed only a salty tear to leak down his cheek; teeth clenched tightly as his awful history brought forth.

“That… makes a lot of sense,” admitted Camellia. “No wonder you’re so depraved!”

“A murky mirror of our grievance towards men,” surmised Esmeralda with a twirl of her white skirt.

“… In th' end, only th' sea herself e'er welcomed me,” he lamented bitterly.

“Ye honestly thought working wit Alma or Tatyana could change that?” She’ba chortled. “Pitiful man. Luckily, Ah see some potential wit you, layin' dormant inside yer black heart~.” She ran a hand across his barreled chest, even petting some slimy leeches with a finger.

“R-really?”

“Mhm. Let me sweeten th' deal fur ye.” Her Darkyung released the male Vice Lord next to the auburn-haired seductress, whom the Lord of the Woods addressed. “Revoke yer allegiance tae Canterlot, become part ov mah progeny, an' not only will ye receive mah most… mmm, bountiful blessing~” She empathized with a growling moan while fondling her massive tits before releasing them with a bounce. “… Ah will free ye from th' terrible curse placed by those awful high lords. That’s what ye want. Tae no longer be th' Baobhan Sith? Tae be a faerie again?”

“Tae be free,” whispered Alma, eyes lit up when she dared to hope.

“Don’t do it, mistress!” Camellia warned with a snarl behind her porcelain, bloody-tear-stained white mask. “You mustn’t trust her! I’ve heard horrific tales about the Black Goat of the Woods!”

“As have I!” Esmeralda yelled, whose face paled further while wrestling with the Darkyung pinning her arms behind her. “Shub’Niggurath isn’t your average monster, just seeking to supplant itself through tribes and attachments! She is so abstract and incomprehensible to the mortal mind. All who become tethered to her are driven mad and have their minds warped!”

“Warped? Or made better~?” Lady She’ba tittered. “Still, th' choice is ultimately yers tae make. If ye wish tae remain weak an' powerless, that’s fine! No hard feelin''s; A’ll be on mah way… Oh! Ah almost forgot one other thing.”

She bent forward towards Alma, her breasts swinging between her arms. “Mah sources tell me Bellatrix Primadonna will participate in th' War ov Walpurgisnacht~.”

The vampiric faerie’s eyes widened a hint of color in her cheeks. “B-Bella?! She’ll be there?”

“No!” Esmeralda and Camilla cried out. “Don’t listen to her!!”

The ebony satyress ignored their protests and continued. “An' she’ll be far stronger, thanks tae th' guidance ov that trashy imitator, Lilith. She’s on her way tae becomin' Queen ov Hell. With how ye are now, Ah severely doubt ye’ll e'er get th' chance tae reclaim her as yer slave.”

Alma’s brows furrowed as she spent a moment mulling it over. Like the other Vice Lords that survived, she’d barely escaped servitude under the Burning King. Not to mention her stint as a prisoner under Bellatrix, when the succubus had foolishly decided she could convert her to her side as a lover.

She’d been flattered. Until the she-devil had betrayed her to aid in Oona’s escape. Nonetheless, when she surveyed her followers, she saw their faces still warred at her decision dubiously. Even the castle groaned as if to voice its concerns about trusting this sinister version of Oona.

Alma strengthened her fist as she made up her mind. “Ye’ve all sworn allegiance tae me. Promised tae obey mah commands. That includes ye, Douglas. Or will ye turn tail from me now?”

The kelpie grimly shook his head, a part of him equally intrigued by the promises the eldritch fertility goddess offered.

Turning to the interloper, she declared, “Very well. Ye claim ye can rid me ov this unbearable curse an' make me more powerful? Prove it!”

“Mistress, no!!”

The goat woman’s smile stretched uncannily wide. “Sae we have a bargain, then~?”

Alma bit her lip before replying, “We do.”

“Excellent!”

Clasping her hands together, Lady She’ba closed her prominent eyes while her third reopened. She sang an incantation through a tongue so unheard of that it sounded like complete gibberish to a layman’s ear. The ground quaked under immense pressure as a ghost circle formed around the entire room, black light gleaming out the archaic markings and symbols.

Alma squinted, arm shielding her face until her eyes could adjust. “What is this for?”

“Tae secure our bond, Ah invoked an old ritual,” answered the Ebony Goat of the Woods. “One, Ah think, ye an' yer legion will find most enjoyable~.”

Her tendrils delicately tugged the top of her gown off the slopes of her massive mammaries, each tit wobbling free. Then she bent forward to slide her dress down her wise child-bearing hips, giving her plump ass an enticing wiggling until the fabric cascaded down her legs.

Everyone couldn’t help gawking over the naked form of Lady She’ba, who proudly displayed her curvature with smoldering eyes. Seeing the ordinarily modest Oona Ewe reveal herself provocatively was bewildering, just as it was arousing.

“Davy Jones below, A’ve always wanted tae plow that phat ass ov hers,” Douglas confessed, not even bothering to hide the bulge formed in his trousers.

“Ooh~? Well, now’s yer chance. Fur this pagan ritual requires two things,” the ebony satyress cooed while running her hands up her pudgy belly until they brushed her heavy udders, pinching her inverted nipples until a milky white substance dribbled out.

“First is mother’s milk, which ye will drink tae empower yerselves,” she explained. “Then comes fornication, either wit myself or mah brood. They, too, have needs an' will help me draw strength from th' throes ov pleasure ye shall undoubtedly achieve!”

Camellia’s sneer depended on when the Darkyung gave goatish cackles. “You would have us lay with these wretched, grotesque abominations?!”

“They’re all female if that helps~,” the fiendish goat snickered.

Esmeralda shuddered with disgust and mumbled, “Now I know how Bellatrix felt...”

“Never fancied me a goat-fucker,” chortled Douglas, whose leer hardened on the mountainous breasts, lapping his jaw. “Ye, however… A’ll make an exception if it means Ah get a taste ov that saucy minx Oona!”

“Do not confuse th' dream faun wit this salacious satyr,” advised Alma, disdain written on her face. “They are polar opposites..!”

The water demon shrugged. “She has her face, arse n’ tits. That’s all that matters. Now, where are we doin' this? Here? Th' dining hall, perhaps? There aren’t any woods 'round here.”

“Ah can take care ov that,” muttered the blood countess, who mentally communed with her castle, and the eldritch beast shuddered when one of the unused sections transmuted into a thick, pitch-black wilderness.

Was she really about to do this? Her eyes flickered to the grinning goat woman, who gingerly petted the massive tree-like monstrosity she had conjured earlier.

Swallowing her remaining doubt, Alma pulled off the straps of her dress, the green silky cloth slipping down her voluptuous form. She strode out once it draped past her ankles and freed her chimeric flesh to the cool caress of the castle’s draft.

Her curtain-length auburn hair flowed behind her when she walked fully nude into the forest, followed by her closest lieutenants, who more reluctantly bared themselves in the presence of the caprine-shaped monsters. By contrast, Douglas quickly rid himself of his confines, eager to get his hands on the eldritch fertility goddess, who immediately felt at home in the dreary woodlands.

“Ahh~! It’s almost like bein' back home,” Lady She’ba mused, caressing and rubbing her shoulders. She then settled her wooly butt onto the dirt within the ceremonial circle, parted her thighs, and beckoned to Douglas. “Ye’re certainly eager. Why don’t ye drink from me first~?”

“Thought ye’d never ask,” chortled the kelpie, a smug grin spreading his snout as he settled before the ebony satyress, erecting stallionhood in hand. “How’s 'bout a lil’ spit n' shine tae start us off~?”

“Ugh! Way to prove her point, genius,” the petite monster hunter chastised. Her disgust doubled as she watched She’ba willingly comply and layer his cock with wet, sloppy kisses, bathing the flared tip with her tongue while her hands kneaded his heavy sperm banks.

However, her attention returned to Camellia when the goat-shaped monster got rowdy, harshly groping one of her pendulous pale tits while its other hand grabbed her pussy.

“A-At least slow down,” the masked vampiress hissed, trying to stifle her unwanted pleasure. It didn’t help that the eldritch spawn’s tendrils restrained her arms behind her back. “H-Hey, stop! This is priceless fabric, you filthy cur!”

The Darkyung bleated before bending Camellia over, pressing its own breasts and pelvis against her, grinding its drooling muff into her posterior.

“Agh! What are you—noooo no no!” Panic rose in her voice when one tentacle pulled off her porcelain mask, revealing the vampire’s scarred visage. The Darkyung brought its snout closer, opening its toothy maw to allow a long dexterous tongue to lap around her cheeks. “M-my face! Give me back my face!!”

“Hey! Get your paws off her, you horny-waaah!!” Esmeralda cut herself off with a squeak as another of the ebony goat’s brood lifted her effortlessly, holding her upside down to access her privates. She vainly tried to keep her thighs from parting, only for the beast’s coils to flick and pinch with her tiny nipples.

“Nn-naaaahh~!” The petite batmare involuntarily quivered and mewled, her legs spreading for the Darkyung as it kissed her entrance and whipped its slimy appendage around her insides. Esmeralda couldn’t deny her arousal to the demeaning ordeal, pussy juice leaked down her mound, drenching her stomach.

“M-Mistress, please,” Camellia called out to Alma between heated moans, her body betraying her from the vague female goat creature’s forceful caresses. “Y-you have to stop this!!”

But Alma looked lost in her little world again. Paralyzed by the raunchy display while the third of the lesser All-Mother children shyly caressed and massaged the Baobhan Sith, who released an airy sigh, not at all disturbed by the wiggling tentacles that curled around her ample breasts and hips.

“Naagh~! Just lie back an' think ov Transylmania or wherever th' fuck ye wenches come from,” Douglas halfheartedly suggested, far too fixated on the pleasure he got from Lady She’ba’s mouth. Gripping her horns like handlebars, he vigorously slammed his hips into her face, swabbing her throat with his salty length.

She gargled and sputtered, a new layer of spit coating his dick each time her snout met his crotch. Some dribbled down to stain her leaking fat E cups, undulating each time she was jerked around.

“Aaauh! Haven’t had a good suckin' in a long time,” breathed Douglas, loving the sight of his cock as it disappeared past her luscious lips. “Ye’re a real ‘throat goat,’ aren’t ya~?”

She’ba batted her eyes at him and managed to nod her head. Her sultry look only encouraged his abhorrent behavior, speeding up his brutal face pounding before hilting her maw. He relished the way her esophagus spasmed around his shaft.

“Yeah, That’s it! Keep them pretty eyes on me while ye choke on mah cock~!” Yet to his astonishment, she managed to stick out her tongue and wriggle it around his swollen orbs, making him gasp and shudder.

“H-Holy!! Whoa there!!” Douglas immediately pulled out, wet schlong prying She’ba lips with a wet ‘pop.’ “Fuck me, that almost made me blow!”

“Pha! Figured you’d be a quick shot—mmph~!?!” Esmeralda, who turned to taunt him, found her mouth engulfed by a slimy tendril as the Darkyung molesting her seized all her sex orifices in a unified thrust.

Ignoring her comment, the kelpie praised, “Yeesh, Shubby. Ye’re a whole new breed ov freaky slut~!”

Lady She’ba giggled after coughing out a bit more saliva. “There are none like me. Now…” Once more, she took a supine position, presenting her large milky udders at him, and parted her thighs, her pussy wet and winking. “… Come have a taste ov what eternity is like~.”

Needing no further motivation, the lecherous water demon settled between the satyress’ legs, rubbing his flared tip against the parting petals before fully sheathing all of his shaft into her love tunnel, an enticed sigh shared between the two.

Douglas resumed pummeling the ebony goat woman and lifting one of She’ba’s hefty dairy mounds to his snout, resigned to fuck her hard while sucking her dry. His other hand kneaded her left breast, soaking his calloused fingers in the warm pale-purplish substance.

“Aaahhh~! Yes, yes! Sow yer seed intae me, stud,” she chanted between husky moans. “Give mommy a clutter of yer young~!”

While the breeding talk wasn’t exactly his kink, Douglas couldn’t deny it was doing it for him. The way that velvety voice urged him on drove the Vice Lord into a lustful frenzy, tugging on her fat tits for more of that delicious milk as his tip breached the ebony satyress’s cervix. It was the tightest pussy he’d ever plundered, her slippery birth canal squeezing his cock so much, it was hard to pull in and out!

His eyes went blank, images of all the women he ever captured and violated overwhelming his mind. Fantasies of the lays he wanted to claim, including the pair of vampiric minxes that vexed him, came to life.

“Always knew ye were a cold fish, Camellia,” he growled between thrusts, milk, and drool dripping down his smiling lips. “But at least yer cunt’s nice an' hot~!”

“Vile vermin!” the real masked batmare seethed, crimson eyes glaring at the vulgar scene. As if being molested by this putrid monster wasn’t bad enough, she had to watch this loathsome sailer pretend he was fucking her in his mania. It reminded her too much of her Count Dhullex, the cruel master who sired both her and Esmeralda, forced them to become his brides, and permanently marked her once beautiful face with cross-shaped scars with his nails when she refused to obey him.

“W-Wait a minute,” Esmeralda said after spitting out the intrusive coil. “Something’s happening.”

The thestral couple noticed a strange enigmatic glow shimmer around the drunken water demon, his muscles expanding as eldritch power began to course through him. Douglas arched back, moaning loudly to the ceiling as he climaxed, pumping She’ba’s slavering pussy with his horse splooge.

“Yes! It’s workin'!! A-A’m feelin' it! Ah feel th' power!” He declared with delighted laughter, no longer paying attention to the ebony goat woman, who wore an unsatisfactory frown while scooping out some cum from her freshly fucked hole. “Th' oceans are but an'ther womb tae conquer! Virgin lands, waitin' tae get fucked by me, Lord Douglas! All th' riches an' wenches Ah could want!”

Alma paused her forttage with the Darkyung, gazing at her fellow Vice Lord with astonishment. Her doubts about the bargain were momentarily washed away, seeing the kelpie conjure his Onoma to pry her followers away from the Darkyung’s grasp.

“See this, ye uppercrust bitches? Maybe now ye’ll start showin' me th' respect Ah deserve an' finally give me a taste ov yer pussy sweets!”

“I’d allow maggots to feast on my flesh before I ever show you an ounce of interest, you miserable swine!” spat Camellia.

“We don’t want your small, smelly dick anywhere near us,” added Esmeralda, squirming at the sight of his cum-stained cock, still throbbing stiff. “You’re nothing but a pussy whipped Bluebeard knockoff!”

“Ah am a Vice Lord!” The water demon corrected angrily, “Ye two are merely ex whores ov a wannabe Dracula! Ye may have hunted many monsters an' made a small name fur yerselves, but ye’re a footnote compared tae me! An' when A’m finished wit ye, ye’ll grovel fur mah cock like th' lowly bottom feeders ye… ye-yeeeeaaaaaarrghk!”

Douglas suddenly dropped his aquatic hold on the vampiric duo, staring at his shaking limbs as blackened veins bulged out from his corpse-like complexion. The kelpie bellowed as his body contorted and changed, his musculature expanding rapidly. The leeches stuck to his barrel chest became infused with his skin, the bloated creatures growing in size.

He fell to his knees, vomiting clear liquid as his watery eyes fell back to the eldritch sorceress, who rose to her hooves feet with a sly smirk on her lips.

“Aaaghk… Ye bitch! What have ye done tae me..?!”

“Precisely as Ah promised,” She’ba said condescendingly. “Givin' ye th' power yer salty soul craves. But he who makes a beast ov himself is free from th' pain ov being a man~.”

Douglas roared in outrage, wielding his hydromancy and lunging for the ebony satyress’ throat. But while the Vice Lord did so, the Mistress of the Woods held up the ornamental bell collaring her neck and gave it a ring. The sound wave knocked the kelpie down, his agonized cries increasing as he felt his magic assimilate into the bell.

“NAAAAAAUGH!!”

Robbed of his Onoma, nothing could prevent the Vice Lord’s anguish as the last of his sanity spent staring fearfully at his comrades, reaching out to them.

But like so many women before them, they recoiled with disdain, Esmeralda and Camellia quietly taking solace in watching the foul sea demon succumb to his monstrous mutation.

However, whatever joy they might have felt quickly gave way to horror. Algae and seaweed overtook the bulky equine creature, some of which grew into slimy bioluminescent tentacles adorned by suction cups. Also protruding from its back were four elongated leeches, puckered mouths pulled back to show off endless rows of tiny teeth.

Douglas’ teal pupils split into a manifold of glowing eyes, his snout opening until tissue stretched apart as a harrowing neigh croaked out the kelpie’s maw.

“Burgh! He reeks worse than before!”

“And I thought he couldn’t get more disgusting,” muttered Esmeralda, punching her snout.

“An upgrade, honestly,” snickered She’ba, who stroked the stallion monster’s flared snout.

Alma’s crimson stare fixated on the ancient bell that siphoned her cohort’s power. “Isn’t that th'—”

“Bewitching Bell,” acknowledged the black goat of the woods. “An heirloom from mah great grand uncle, Grogar~.”

Camellia balked. “The Father of Monsters?”

“You’re related?!” exclaimed Esmeralda.

“There’s a piece ov me inside e'ery doe, ram, buck, and ewe,” she elaborated. “What better way tae connect tae mah descendants than through a mortal vessel? Yet none could handle th' vast strain mah very presence wrought. Their feeble minds were too easily broken…”

The Baobhan Sith grimaced. “All except her..?”

“Th' one ye call Oona, yes,” confirmed She’ba. “A’ll spare ye th' details, but let’s just say ye don’t know what she’s been through tae come this far~.”

Motioning to the auburn hair vampiress, she said, “An' now, Alma. It’s yer turn~.”

The Vice Lord hesitated, a cold chill running up her spine. She didn’t want to turn like Douglas, the kelpie reduced to a mindless abomination that mirrored Midnight in his hyper-stallion state. But despite his new grotesque appearance, he appeared more formidable than before…

Biting her lip and tightening her fist, she approached the eldritch sorceress and enveloped her lips around one swollen teat. Unlike the greedier Douglas, she carefully sipped from the ebony goat’s bosom before pulling away, savoring her milk’s strange yet scrumptious tang.

A sudden surge of ungodly pressure contracting beneath her breasts, a cry of pain escaping her vocal cords while gripping her head, withstanding overwhelming nausea. Esmeralda and Camilla tried to act but were quickly apprehended by the Darkyung while their All-Mother lifted the Bewitching Bell with her hand.

“Shhh, that’s it, dear. Let go,” she urged with a silky whisper. “Expunge th' vampirism taintin' yer soul, an' bath in th' essence ov renewed fae life!”

With a shake, the bell’s chime drew out Alma’s curse, scarlet aura pouring out her eyes and screaming mouth.

Once her demonic prowess was extracted, Alma cast her head back to howl, her pale figure drained of all color and becoming stark white. All her deer antlers and hooves, wolf’s tail, and raven feathers disintegrated and melted off.

Antenna-like appendages grew out of her head. Four massive leathery membranes, shaped like butterfly wings, completely with large eye-shaped organs underneath. Her hands and feet darkened, crimson markings spreading all her arms, legs, and belly.

The thestral couple were stunned by the radiance their Mistress exuded after her radical metamorphosis was complete. And when the throbbing pain in her head ceased, Alma opened her new unblinking red eyes.

“Th' Baobhan Sith is no more,” announced She’ba, who offered a mirror for the eldritch faerie to admire herself in. “Now ye are Alma, Blood Faerie ov th' Black Rose~!”

Alma could make out her reflection for the first time in millennia, sharp nails tracing her pale cheek. A wave of emotions washed over her. Fear for what she had become, yet jubilation that the curse had been upheaved.

Clear tears ran down her face, having forgotten what it had looked like before the high lords ruined her.

What started as sobs soon turned to wicked cackles, Alma’s laughter making the Glamorguis whimper.

Camellia voiced her concern. “Mistress? A-Are you alright..?”

Heaving a contented sigh, she turned to her pair of followers with a wide smile. “Better than okay. A'm invigorated!” Her wing flaps folded around her voluptuous form, forming a robe to cover herself. “Mah wings. Mah body! It’s back! Yet somehow, mah mind an' bloodthirst remain?”

“Ye were smart tae curb yer ingestion, sae th' after-effects aren’t as damagin',” the ebony satyress shrugged. “Ye’ll need tae drink from me consistently if ye wish tae maintain yer sanity, but that’s an'ther day.” Her eyes narrowed as her face became serious. “A’ve fulfilled mah end ov our arrangement. Ah trust ye’ll honor yers. Less ye invoke a goddess’ wrath…”

“But ov course,” the pale fae queen nodded before taking a knee. “Ah, along wit all members ov mah court, pledge allegiance tae th' Cult ov th' Nemesis an' swear gratitude an' devotion tae th' Ebony Goat ov th' Woods!”

Esmeralda and Camellia, however, couldn’t hide their contempt for the idea of aiding this abominable goddess in whatever she was plotting. The sinister smile that crept across her snout was too telling.

“Ye’ve made a powerful ally today, Alma,” surmised Lady She’ba, dispelling the ghost circle and despawning her Darkyung. “Ah look forward tae yer contributions. We shall await yer arrival befur th' Eve ov May.” Her thorny vines helped the curvy doe redress her gown and cultist wear. Then, opening a distorting portal, she left without another word, taking the thundering storm with her.

Alma didn’t linger on the consequences of her decision for too long. With her previous life restored and strength renewed, she telepathically commanded the eldritch beast to intertwine with her so it may feed on her latent essence. The blood faerie moaned as its tendrils coiled and caressed her breasts and ass, allowing the appendages to penetrate her pussy and anus. The Glamorguis grumbled along with her, its limbs alight with glowing red energy to sate its hunger.

Whenever Alma physically and spiritually unionized with the eldritch beast, visions of its former Mistress, Bellatrix Primadonna, swam into her mind’s eye. This also brought forth their last exchange together before Layla saved and liberated her.

The former Baobhan Sith wasn’t sure whether she missed or despised her more than ever!

Regardless, she would supplant her castle with enough energy to help transport it to the Isle of Parras and prepare for their next confrontation!

Meanwhile, her followers gathered their disregarded clothing, drenched in sweat and fatigue from the ordeal.

“I can’t believe she made us sully ourselves,” Camellia whispered to her partner, adjusting her bosom. “I’m… not certain we’ve made the prudent choice.”

“It’s too late for regrets,” murmured Esmeralda. “We’ve pledged ourselves to our Mistress. Alas, our word is our bond. That being said, I find her choice of company dubious...”

Her pink eyes settled on Douglas, the once mouthy and depraved kelpie pirate now a mere reflection of his monstrous design. The only noises he could make were snorts and whinnies, which she detected a hint of sorrow in.

For a moment, she almost pitied him. Then she cruelly smiled and mumbled, “Hoist by your own petard! Or would that be a Jolly Roger? Ah, but I suppose I will miss your base banter.”

Camellia, who’d recovered her mask and strapped it back into place, merely offered him a look of disdain before she turned away. “I hope we won’t come to regret this,” she whispered to her lover and exchanged a deep kiss, their arms momentarily entwined about each other.

Within moments, Lady She’ba stepped out of the dimensional rift before a banquet table set up in the woodlands of Parras. Acolytes hurried to greet her now that her identity was no long concealed.

“Welcome, All-Mother!”

“You bless us with your presence!”

“Hail the Black Goat of the Woods!”

The ebony satyress tittered with amusement, almost overwhelmed by the adorations the Cult of the Nemesis dotted her in. As she made her way to the head of the table, she noted the variety of mouth-watering food on display. No doubt crafted to perfection by the ever-dedicated Seer of Black Dreams. With the ‘aid’ of any naysayers within their fold.

Grogar noticed his great grand niece and greeted her with open arms. “Aha! My prodigal apprentice. You’ve returned successful, no doubt.”

“Great uncle,” she mused cutely when hugging him. “Are th' other arrangements complete? Is e'erythin' goin' accordin' tae plan?”

The older ram chuckled. “Not to worry. By the time Walpurgisnacht strikes, you’ll be well acquainted with this ‘Dream Faun’ and her child.”

“Oona,” she corrected. “Her name is Oona. Ohh, Ah can hardly wait tae meet her!”

“Patience,” said Omen, who stepped out of his cooking tent with a fresh bowl of stew and a bloodied apron. “We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise I’ve spent years setting up, now would we?”

“Baa! Ye an' yer ‘surprises,’” She’ba snorted. “Don’t forget who gave ye th' means tae make all this possible!”

The deerman playfully pouted. “I know better than to bite the hand that feeds. Speaking of which, did you successfully recruit Alma and her legion?”

“As if ye need tae ask,” the ebony satyress rolled her eyes while tapping the Bewitching Bell. “Outside ov extractin' Alma’s vampirism, Ah only had tae take th' kelpie’s Onoma. Figured ye’d make better use ov it.”

“Yes. Oceanus’ ability to manipulate water was wasted on that ruffian,” agreed Omen, still holding a bit of resentment for Douglas during his captivity. “Have efforts been made to locate the resting place of—”

“Already underway,” said Grogar, who stroked his beard as he pondered. “Hmm. And I may know the perfect candidate who should receive Oceanus.”

The nahtdyr nodded before sitting down and placing a napkin over his lap. “That can wait a little longer. Come, eat. I think you’ll find this dish to be exceptionally tasty~.”

The two caprines curiously took a spoonful of the soup and slurped, their facial features relaxing as the warmth and flavor washed over their senses.

“Mmm! Well seasoned!”

“Th' rich aroma also adds tae th' eloquent taste an' appealin' color,” complemented She’ba. “Which heretic was this?”

“Oh, not a heretic,” amended Omen. “Just someone who skittered a little too close to the base.”

“Pha! Poor thing should have steered clear the moment they found out what they were in for,” the elderly ram joked.

A knowing grin spreads the dark cervine’s snout. “Yes… she should have.”

As the cultists dined in, he playfully stirred the soup while humming the nursery rhyme of ‘itsy bitsy spider’ before sipping another spoonful.

Moments after the destruction of the Necronomicon, those gathered by Layla’s chambers awoke from unconsciousness. Dion rubbed his head while Iclyn and Arcanum Folklore brushed themselves off.

“Ugh… what happened?” The burly ram asked. “Ah remember this swirlin' vortex ov horror, followed by a big flash an' then… blank!”

“I believe we witness the end of that wretched book,” the cyan doe grunted before examining the stairway ahead. “And that gunk barricading the entrance is gone!”

Without losing a moment, the erenn stallion lit his horn with magic to pry the see-through doors and hurried inside. The trio surveyed the damage and breathed a sigh of relief to find Zeloph, Beatrix, and Viscera unconscious.

Arcanum overlooked Zeloph, and the first visible ripples of the Necronomicon’s undoing manifested as darkness evaporated out of his body. The orange strife on the angel’s midnight locks gradually overtook the entirety of his hair, seemingly restoring it to its original color before his imprisonment within the tome. The beckoning Vorpal Blade dematerialized into cubic shapes, vanishing into the angelic alien’s forehead.

When Dion and Iclyn approached Beatrix, she stirred and murmured before she came too. The knightly caprine dropped to lift her into his arm, calling out, “Lass?”

The violet mare’s eyes fluttered open, a dreary smile on her face while she brushed a finger through his black beard. “Mmmm… If I pretend to still be asleep, do I get a kiss~?”

Dion sheepishly chuckled while Iclyn rolled her eyes. “Wonderful. Glad to know her childish nature remains intact.”

“Intact… what do you—wait..!”

Beatrix’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as she rose, startled, watching the essence of her power steadily leave her. “O-Oh gods, I… I can feel it! My magic… My immortality..!!” Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she poked her bust, which proved a tad less bouncy than usual. The pouty unicorn witch whined, “Even my alchemy enhancements are gone!”

The onlookers wore blank expressions as Iclyn dryly pointed out, “… Your tits look exactly the same.”

“Nu-uh! They’re far less perky and way smaller,” insisted Beatrix, fondling her set of double D cups. With a defeated sigh, she muttered, “At least the Demiurge is still connected to me for the moment…”

“You’ll have to let that go eventually,” reminded Arcanum.

“Aye, trust us. It’s fur th' best,” Dion reassured, stroking her platinum blonde locks. “Ye did th' right thing."

Beatrix managed to nod her head while letting her friends help her hobble back to heeled boots. “I hope… Oh! Zeloph! Is he—?”

“Out like a light. And a redhead, apparently! But otherwise, he’s okay.”

Beatrix heaved a sigh of relief before her expression twisted at the sight of Viscera, still sickly and foul looking.

As the group cautiously approached her, Dion drew out his great sword, ready to slay the nephilim while they had a chance. Unfortunately, Arcanum noticed her spines quivering and blurted out, “Hold it! She’s not—!”

The monstress demi-human snapped her eyes open and rose with a violent shriek. Her dusty wingspan batted away the warrior caprine. Iclyn tried to channel a flurry in her hands, only to be blasted with a chemical cloud that burnt into her eyes. “Aaaughh!”

“Iclyn!” shouted Beatrix, her horn flaring with a magical aura.

But when she unleashed her triple storm spell, all that conjured were three balls of the elements that hardly damaged Viscera, who tauntingly said, “Was that supposed to tickle me~?”

“Nah. But this will!” boasted Arcanum, who summoned his signature firearm and took shots at Viscera, who erected bony protrusions to block the bullets, though one magically infused round managed to hit and rip through her skin.

Hissing, she retaliated with corrosive shots from her titan arum tail, one of which reduced his weapon to sludge. “Motherfuck—!”

The warlock’s curses were interrupted by more orichalcum bones she released, unable to evade them all as one pierced his stomach.

And to make sure Dion couldn’t recover, Viscera ejaculated her adhesive slime all over him, the substance rapidly hardening to glue him to the floor. With all her obstacles out of her way, the harpy beldam leered at her unconscious prize and strutted towards him, running a tongue over her beak-shaped mouth.

In a panic, Beatrix stood between the two demi-humans with a protective stance, glaring defiantly at the villainous avian. “Get back!”

Viscera hollered with wicked laughter. “And who’s going to make me? You? Without the Necronomicon and Demiurge boosting your prowess, you only have cheap parlor tricks and second-rate magic!” She ran her tongue along her topaz bony wrist blade. “So stand aside, honey. You don’t have a chance~!”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” retorted Beatrix, with as strong a voice she could muster. She glanced back at Zeloph and proclaimed, “The Necronomicon doesn’t define who I am. And I won’t rely on it anymore! Especially when it comes to taking down the likes of you!”

In a black flash, Erebus manifested around the curvy witch mare, cosmic darkness waving around her form and her rapier in hand. This wiped the callous smile off the nephilim’s face as the two squared off in a duel, steel clashing against the bone with flying sparks.

Beatrix ducked and weaved out of any acidic projectiles and shrapnel Viscera flung at her, countered by orbs of black magic. Despite being at a major power disadvantage, the wayward witch didn’t skip a beat while manipulating her Onoma to suit her needs in combat, much to Viscera’s growing agitation.

“Grrrrrgh! Stubborn equestrian whore! You don’t know when to quit!!”

Beatrix valiantly yelled, “I’ll quit when you monsters stop messing with me and my friends!”

With the vile one distracted, Arcanum muffled his yell while yanking the bone out of his injured stomach, stumbling over to assist the others. He warned up his palm to cauterize the wound with a strained hiss. Iclyn had her hands cupped over her face, fighting off the sting in her eyes while Dion struggled to wrestle his way out.

“Hang on, big guy. I’ll get you out,” the scruffy detective said, channeling his magic through his dagger to slick through the hardened gunk, which proved a lot less resilient than the contamination mold.

Beatrix and Viscera reached an impasse, arms shaking for leverage one could gain over the other. Sweat poured down the unicorn’s brow, her foe slowly pushing her down… until the strange corvid creature assisted by fluttering at her face, trying to peck her eyes out.

“What—Ghaak! Stupid bird, where did you come from—Aaagh!!”

Seizing the opportunity, Beatrix regained momentum, unleashing Erebus’ full might to pin the Vice Lord against the wall. Spotting the cawing raven, she breathily said, “T-Thanks!”

Arcanum pulled with all his might until a sizable fissure cracked the carapace concealing Dion, who burst an arm out and pried the rest off. The two clapped hands as the alabaster ram pulled himself back on. Iclyn also recovered by rubbing some salt in her eyes, her vision blurry.

Realization of her imminent defeat quickly became the rage. Viscera let out a furious screech and conjured her own Onoma, using Erebus to spread her infectious blight toward Beatrix. Once the witch was forced to separate from her magic, the nephilim unfurled her large plumage to free herself and swooped past, knocking aside both the unicorn and alien crow.

She landed near Zeloph, seizing him in her talons, and flapped her wing to propel herself skywards before Arcanum and Dion could intercept, creating a strong gust that pushed them back.

Beatrix cried. “Oh no! Zeloph!!”

“Don’t let her escape!” Yelled Dion.

Both mages launched spells at the avian demoness, who twirled and bested her wings until smashing through the glass dome and sailing away. The collateral damage awoke the Glamorguis, as well as Layla, with a pained gasp. Once she put together what had happened, the motherly succubus resumed making immediate repairs with her energy before the spacecraft was too impaired to take off.

“Damn it all!” cursed Arcanum, who clutched at his wounded belly. “We’ll never catch her now.”

“It’s no use,” said Iclyn, equally irritated. “Had I not been blinded, I could have frozen that butt-ugly turkey solid!”

Reluctantly, Dion resheathed his claymore. “Great! We’re down an'ther member ov our team! Can this day ov shite get any worse?!”

“We can’t leave without Zeloph,” exclaimed Beatrix. “He doesn’t have a suit! If he’s exposed to the planet’s radiation long enough, he’ll—”

“We can’t afford to remain on Sacratera,” Layla’s voice echoed through the Glamorguis. “I don’t like it any more than you do, Beatrix. But we must trust Bellatrix and the others will secure Zeloph while we make port for Midnight’s world.”

Begrudgingly, the group cooperated and left the premises to refocus their efforts elsewhere while the Mother of Demons poured her all into recalibrating the hole in her roof. When Julianne came too, holding her head, she swiftly commanded, “Go help purge the ship of any disease you find. And heal whoever’s hurt on your way!”

“At once, your ladyship,” the rosy-haired nun complied, spreading her wings to fly off into one of the many corridors.

Layla pursed her lips together as she worked, aware that they were sitting ducks until the sickness was cleaned from the Glamorguis systems. She’d underestimated her prisoner, overly confident in the UFO’s extraordinary tech.

The primordial woman vowed never to make that mistake again. Should there be a next time…

Bellatrix Primadonna was the first to regain consciousness outside the UFO, rising with a groan. Her golden eyes opened to find her allies and opponents on the ground. She recalled brilliant light spearing the skies before unleashing a massive shockwave that paused their battle.

Eventually, Analise, Seb, and Arron rose with grumbles and aching heads. Then, Mortis Solitaire and his draconic minion, Andrei, stood back up like reanimated corpses.

“Strange… I no longer sense the Necronomicon,” the skeletal lich announced, eyes narrowed. “Was it really destroyed..?”

Bellatrix, too, no longer felt the tempting magic that occasionally compelled her to act on her worst instincts. She briefly glanced all over herself, finding nothing different from her succulent curves clad in the skintight spacesuit.

“They did it! And I’m still in one piece,” she surmised, slightly relieved.

Their attention turned to the sound of glass shattering, lifting their heads to spot the vile one carrying an unconscious Zeloph skyward.

Bellatrix snarled. “Viscera!”

“She’s got Zelly!” Ana cried out.

“No,” muttered Mortis. “I cannot allow her to taint the Fallen One’s soul! Andrei, to me!”

The reaper stallion in tattered black robes levitated after her, Andrei beating his leathery wings to follow his master… only to be pulled back to the ground. Each of his three heads glowered at Arron, who grappled his tail while keeping his feet planted.

“Nnnagh! Hey! Where do you think you’re going?!” The bull-headed brawler said through clenched teeth. “I didn’t hear no bell!!”

Mortis didn’t get too far either, getting sprayed by bullet rounds. And while no blood was drawn, purified salt leaked out, causing the undead warlock searing pain.

“Stings, doesn’t it?” Seb taunted while clipping in a new magazine. “Y’know, I thought I wasn’t gonna make a cent doing ‘hero’ shit, but you’ve made me realize something! I can make a killing selling witch doctors ornamentations from your corpse!”

Bellatrix and Ana glared daggers at the card demon. “Seb!!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know! Less plotting, more ghost busting!” He rolled his eyes before firing more salt-laced ammo at Mortis, who deflected the bullets with his guillotine-bladed scythe.

The battle resumed between the undead and the demi-humans, plus Bellatrix. Arron was faring much better with his rematch against Andrei, absorbing the dragon’s ghastly breath with his crystalline skin before punching back with some slugger-style boxing.

The same couldn’t be said with Mortis. Despite the handicap of avoiding the succubus’ claws and weapons, along with Seb taking potshots with every gun-based artillery in his deck, the vengeful wraith held his own thanks to all the life he siphoned from the planet.

He swung his scythe through the air to send crescent-shaped projectiles at his opponents, who barely avoided the cleaves.

“Witness how a true death sworn wields the power of Thanatos!” The black shrouded reaper boasted, calling forth the wispy energy of Shadow Scythe’s stolen Onoma. With the betrayer dead, Mortis was the last member of his order, leaving him to become the embodiment of death itself. And he demonstrated his mastery by launching the shadows he cast to entangle with the demoness’ silhouettes, rendering them immobile.

“Aaagh! Can’t… m-move!!” Growled Bellatrix.

Ana seethed. “Cum guzzlin' twat! Let go!!”

Mortis conjured a shadowy replica of his sickle-armed to strike through the connecting darkness, projecting a sharp blade that traveled along the outstretched shadow like a shark’s dorsal fin. The attack landed, slicing open both succubi as the impact propelled them to the ground with painful howls.

“Shit!” Seb cursed, watching his bloodied comrades plummet next to him with a thud. Worse, his dual pistols ran out of ammo, leaving him with only a few long-range weapons he could use. And any stray attacks that missed them further punctured the Glamorguis. “The ship can’t take much more of this crap! Why didn’t we fold when we had the chance?!”

“Because I ain’t no bitch,” Arron yelled while withstanding another fiery blast from Andrei. “If I’m going to die, I’m at least going out swinging. But we’re not out of the race yet!”

“He’s right,” groaned Analise, struggling to pull herself up while her venus flytrap tail lapped at her wounds. Her spacesuit was significantly damaged, leaving some parts of her body exposed. “Nah way 're we turnin' tail. Not when that 'arpy bizzich 'as me brother!”

Her magenta eyes fixated on Viscera, who was circling the scene like the scavenging vulture she was. She tried to call her Onoma but ceased when it proved too taxing on her physique. “Shitbisquits! I’m nearly tapped aahhht. Aw that nickle and dime wasted on that lunkhead Midnight, and I can’t conjure dick!”

“My hand is almost empty,” added Seb, holding only a few more cards before pointing at Arron. “And he won’t last two more minutes in the ring. I hate to say it, amigos. But it looks like we went all in for nothing..!”

“N-no!” Bellatrix raised to her feet, blood oozing out her chest, arm, and lip. “I’m not dying here,” she proclaimed with cold determination. “Not while I have amends to make!”

Part of all this was her fault. Had she not let her vanity and greed get the better of her, Alma wouldn’t have taken control of the manor and imprisoned Oona, Omen, and Demi-Trix. Only now did she understand what it was like to be haunted by your mistakes, much like her sister, Shadow Scythe, and Zeloph felt.

The red-skinned devil balled her fist, unwilling to die before she could redeem herself in everyone’s eyes! Before she had a second chance to help the woman she coveted!

And so, Bella rubbed a hand over her belly, where the protective symbol Layla left over her womb rested like a rune tattooed onto her crimson flesh.

On instinct, she reached beneath the cool confines of the black spacesuit, where her claw-like nails peeled away the surface skin. Grunts hissed beneath her clenched teeth, hot blood splashing over her finger while she carved a line through the archaic mark, its effect and glow fettering.

Realizing what she was doing, Ana expressed concern. “Bella, wait! Ya do that, and you’ll—”

“I know,” she assured, eyes low to her abdomen. “But it’s a small price to pay if It means saving my friends.”

Once the seal was broken, the she-devil felt Zeloph’s potent seed slosh inside her womb, taking root and bathing her ovaries. She sighed hotly, her breasts and belly swelling slightly, nipples erected underneath the fabric.

Understanding the dire situation, Ana turned to her fellow demis and ordered, “Find a way ter score us extra time!”

“Fucking excuse me? You can’t be serious!”

But Ana used the last of her energy to shroud Bellatrix and herself in the neon void, leaving the gambler and brawler to fend for themselves.

“Oh, what the actual shit!”

“Quit your whining and help me!” Arron roared, veins bulging through his muscles while trying to keep one of Andrei’s mouths from closing around him. Growling, Seb loaded up his patronage tommy gun and sprayed Mortis before he could attempt to reach Viscera and Zeloph.

Ana changed back into her imp shape inside the neon void, for once wholly spent. “Not sure 'a long this’ll last, but it's the bleedin' best I can do,” the lesser demoness said through pants.

“I appreciate it,” Bellatrix said with a somber smile. “I… I never meant to hurt you, Moxxi. You never restrain yourself with how you feel about things. I should’ve realized it was different regarding your brother...”

Moxxi’s face twitched with emotion, but she shook it off. “'eaven and 'ell, love. I'm over it. I realized it wasn’t meant ter be after seein' 'a much 'e loved Edgie and vice versa. In a way, I discovered 'e 'ad a type.”

The red-skinned succubus curled a brow. “And that’s…?”

The imp gave her a sly smirk. “Women that could kill him~.”

The devilish women shared a light laugh before pressure bubbled within Bella’s body, making her shudder from the strange sensation. Moxxi gave her a hand to hold and reiterated, “Ya can’t take this back.”

“None of us can,” acknowledged Bellatrix. “I’m not even sure how we’ll handle this. But I want you to know that you’re important to me. You, Zell, the others… I think I’ve finally found people I can… a-aah~!” She hissed louder, her face strained, and her body shuddered, lost in the throes of mock birth. “I-I think this is my-”

“-your Onoma!” Moxxi agreed rather excitedly. “Blimey, Layla’s milkshakes must 'ave 'elped unlock it!”

“Guess so,” wheezed Bellatrix, thankful that the neon cord concealed this embarrassing process as a new sigil glowed around her stomach. She settled onto her back, ready to call forth whatever demon was being summoned and worry about the consequences later.

Sniffles rose from Bellatrix, small tears in the corner of her eyes when she squeezed Moxxi’s claw. “So this is Gehenna...my Onoma…haha. Some Queen of Hell I am! Fuck, Alma probably knows far more about the underworld than I do! Before a chance encounter, I was little more than an animal, left to wander mindlessly in the Necronomicon and prey upon lesser devils to ensure my pointless survival!”

She then screamed out her pain, trapped somewhere between agony and ecstasy from orgasmic birth throes once the ancient hellish magic unleashed, transforming her feminine core into a pathway into some mythic form of the underworld.

“I-I think I get it,” Bellatrix said breathlessly, instinctual awareness of her new power washing over her. “Like the Key of Solomon... I’ve become the gateway for every demon written in the Ars Goetia. But I’ll need a powerful seed to unlock each entry… Within minutes, I’ll temporarily bring a powerful devil into the world!”

“Shit! Outside of the pseudo preggers bit, that sounds amazin'!” Moxxi praised. “But can Seb and Arron 'old them until then?!”

“They’ll have to! Almost...there..!”

More scorching hot energy spiraled from Bellatrix, whose birth canal quivered to push out the conjuring demon in a deluge of messy juices. Her only solace was that it would get easier with time and diligence!

Another scream ripped from the she-devil’s throat when the archdevil was brought forth, his claws stretching and widening Bella’s walls to pull himself free as he twisted and squirmed headfirst, awash in her juices which continued to spatter. It felt like he would tear her in half, thankful the multiple climaxes that ripped through her made the pain and shame bearable. Finally, he popped free from her gaped wide cunt, Bella’s sweaty breasts left to wheeze and heave as she dripped.

The two demonesses’ recognized him as Asmodeus, one of the seven princes of hell and patron demon of lust. He had a crowned humanoid shape while a bull and ram’s visage adorned his shoulders. His entire lower body was serpentine, fin-shaped wings unfurled from his back. He stood on rooster legs.

He stretched his limbs before turning to address Bellatrix, floating with his arms and legs crossed. “So, you’re Lily's next Queen of Hell, hmm?” he said with a flamboyant tone, hands on his hips. “A little generic for my taste.”

Bellatrix narrowed her glowing gaze, mustering what dignity she could, what with her swollen belly, milk-dotted swollen nipples, and female lubricant continually leaking down her asshole. “I did not go through false labor just to be sassed by an underling!”

All three of his faces snickered. “Yeesh, relax! I’m happy to serve whoever gets me out of the hotbox. It’s been eons since I was last summoned!”

“Listen, Azzie,” Moxxi cuts in. “We’re currently under siege by a livin' 'alloween decoration and 'is bitchass pet gecko! Is there anything ya can do that’ll 'elp us aahhht?!”

Asmodeus briefly poked his head out to assess the situation before replying, “Mmm… Yea, no. I’m not getting my hands dirty with this.”

“Oh, ya tit suckin' lousy piece of dogturd!! Nah wonder Layla divorced your ass!!”

“Hey, hey, easy now!” The archdevil held out his hands. “I’m more of a lover than a fighter. But I can grant you a wish!”

Bellatrix deadpanned, “… a wish? That’s it?!”

“I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but outside of a few restrictions, it can be anything you want!”

Moxxi smacked her face. “You’re tellin' me the primordial demon of lust, wahn of the seven princes of hell, is just a glorified genie..?!”

“In a sense,” Asmodeus admitted shyly. “But these are universal free wishes. Anything you desire—solongasitsinmypower—will be granted.”

Bellatrix soured. “So you wouldn't be able to resurrect Atalanta..?”

Asmodeus drummed his fingers awkwardly. “Technically, I can! It just wouldn’t be in any form you’d want. Sorry!”

Bellatrix tried not to think about what a decayed, decrepit, half-braindead monstrosity Shadow Scythe would likely be if she attempted that.

“No, I’m sure neither she nor Zeloph would appreciate that.” She rose to her knees to face him, covered in perspiration and heaving. “We need to find a way to defeat our enemies!”

Moxxi tapped her chin and foot in thought before snapping her fingers. “Ooh! I kna! We could reverse Mortis’ spell and buckshee Edgie’s soul!”

Asmodeus tensed his shoulders. “See, that particular spell is hard to undo, especially with how tightly Atalanta’s soul is bound to Mortis.”

The imp clutched her head and growled with frustration. “Sev'nty-two demons of the Ars Goetia, and we get stuck wif the wahn 'oo does fuck aw!”

A light bulb then turned on above Bellatrix’s head. “… or maybe that’s not the right spell!”

Both demons tilted their heads. “Huh?”

Staring hard at Asmodeus, the she-devil asked, “The alchemy that merged three dragons into Andrei. Can that be undone?”

The prince of hell considered it for a moment before responding, “That should be within my capabilities—EEEK!”

Bellatrix yanked him by the jaw, glaring intensely into his immoral soul, and threatened, “Just do it before I disembowel you, then remove your genitals and shove them up your—”

“Gagh! Okay, okay! Consider it done,” Asmodeus conceded.

With a plan formulated and Bellatrix’s spacesuit stretched back into place, the darkened sphere of the neon void dissipated, revealing that both Seb and Arron were on the ropes, the former evading Mortis’ wrath. At the same time, the latter was weary from all the punishment he took, keeping Andrei at bay.

Asmodeus rushed to aid the golden demi, drawing all of Andrei’s heads towards him.

“Pha! Another ant dares to challenge us!” One head scoffed.

“This one looks weaker than the last!” Another head hissed

“Begone demon, or share your fate with your putrid kind!” The third head warned.

As the dragon reeled his head back, ready to vomit green flames, Asmodeus waved a hand, engulfing the tri-headed terror with a blue magical aura. Before he could comprehend what was happening, a sharp pain coursed through his body, causing him to fail his head wildly.

“Graagh! What’s…happening… to me?!”

“Me? N-Not us?!”

“Naagh! We’re… I-I-I’m pulling away!!”

Torn flesh echoed, the alchemy that binds the dragon together unraveled, and the three drakes ripped apart.

Mortis paused his reaping of Seb’s head when he felt his mental control over Andrei shatter. His eyes dilated, appalled to find his most vital asset now a mere three skeletal dragons. “What? How did they—Aaagh!!”

This opening was what Seb needed to draw out his matted metal bat and hit a home run with the reaper’s head, sending him flying. His Onoma revealed he had stacked his chances of a critical hit with 72 against 64.

“And they said only angels get to play on the outfield,” the pinstriped devil joked before quickly joining his companions. His slime eyes glanced at the summoned archdemon and asked, “… Who the fuck is this?”

“Oh, that’s just Bella’s demon baby 'oo became wahn of the chuffin' sev'nty-two demon lords she can spawn through 'er succubi instincts wif in the cum in 'er cooch,” Moxxi explained casually. “We used 'im ter spitroast Andrei 'arder than a bathroom bimbo.”

“… Yeah, that makes sense,” the gambler huffed, too tired to even try to understand the logic behind it.

When the three separated lesser dragons rose back up and realized that their fusion had been undone, rather than stay and try to get revenge against their enslaver, the trio fled the premise into the abandoned city.

“Hey!” Arron shook his fist at them. “Come back and fight me, you cowards! I’m not finished with you!”

“Dude, just take the W,” urged Seb, hands keeping himself from falling over shaking knees. “They’ll probably die from the planet’s hostile environment anyway.”

“Hmph! I had them right where I wanted them,” the brawler pouted, arms crossed.

The pinstriped devil patted him on the shoulder. “Sure you did, champ.”

“Y’know,” Moxxi began while staring at Asmodeus. “As much of a pain in the crack ya 're, ya did come through when we needed ya.”

“Maybe this new power of mine won’t be too much of a hassle after all,” Bellatrix considered, tracing a finger over her scarred belly. She gave the demon prince a small smile and said, “Thank you, Asmodeus.”

“Happy to be of service, my liege,” he tittered as his corporeal form faded, returning to where he came. “Until next time~!”

The imp nudged the red-skinned succubus with her elbow. “And just fin'! That’s wahn aahhht of over sev'nty! 'oo knows wot sorta abilities ya can conjure up~!”

“Yes, that’s true.” Bellatrix rested her chin into her palm, already imagining the scenarios and uses Gehenna would have in her uprising as the queen of hell. Her face then turned sour. “Ugh, Dammit! Had I known all it took to gain such power was to fuck Zeloph, I would have chained him to my bedroom long ago!”

Their banter was interrupted by a rumbling behind them as the Glamorguis finally took off into the air. A pain tightened around them, knowing they would likely not live to see it return to take them home. Bella and Moxxi squeezed hands, taking comfort in each other’s company.

“Do not assume your friends have escaped my grasp,” the voice of Mortis called above, his tattered robes flapping in the gale, his shadowy aura flowing from his weapon and frail physique. There was a dent in his head from where Seb had struck him, nothing but darkness inside his fractured cranium. “They will not be spared. They will never be safe.”

The gambling demon groaned. “Look, Skeletor. We’re all very tired and wanna go home. What’s it gonna take for you to plop back into the hole you crawled out of?”

“The end of all life tied to the betrayer, Shadow Scythe,” the lich responded monotonously.

“Oh, give your 'ate boner a rest, ya crusty merchant banker!” Moxxi sneered. “Your lackies and dragon is gone, and ya already got your bloody revenge. Let it go!”

“I am no tyrant,” Mortis calmly declared, “The souls of Triad and Penny Dreadful are free to act on their own after the mission. And I always keep my word.” He opened his tattered black robes to expose his ribcage, where a pair of interlocked souls swirled alongside a multitude of others. “But the Ghosts of the Eldritch that ravaged Cerise’s world sacrificed themselves to empower me when I sought them in the Necronomicon!”

Arron pointed out, “Bruh, that book was thrashed!”

“They still seek the Demiurge! Once I’ve ripped it from Beatrix’s cold carcass, along with Zeloph’s soul, I’ll become unstoppable!”

“For someone who hates Shadow Scythe, you sound exactly like how she used to be,” proclaimed Bellatrix. “Maybe the presence of her soul has had more of an effect than you want to admit, Danse Macabre!”

“Don’t compare me to that filthy traitor!”

More emotion than he’d felt since he died spilled from the thin pale blue lips of Mortis, for he felt the repressed passion of Atalanta surface to of his clammy flesh, stretched thin across his skeletal presence. “I am the divide between breath and grave. The last of my order. It falls on my shoulders to maintain the natural balance. Such a journey is long and harrowing, but I will complete it. No matter how many souls must be sacrificed!”

Mortis pressed his assault, swinging his scythe and unleashing the full extent of his deathly magic to vanquish his foes once and for all. And despite being outnumbered, Bellatrix and the demi-humans were utterly drained of energy. They wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

Viscera understood this and patiently bided her time in the air for both parties to expend their resources to kill each other. It didn’t matter who stood victorious. In the end, she would reap the benefits!

Her chartreuse leer followed the ascending UFO until it had left the atmosphere altogether. “Hmph. I was hoping that the overgrown frisbee would be too crippled to fly. Oh well! I’ll come for them after I collect the scraps below.”

Her twisted smile stretched as Zeloph’s slumbering form was already undergoing its mutations, the higher altitudes speeding up the process.

“Such a pity you’re not awake to see all of your friends die~!”

Viscera cackled triumphantly as she flew higher, failing to notice how her prey twitched and stirred yet failed to awaken, for something had locked him in his dreams.

Deep within his subconscious, Zeloph was forced to relive the memories of his homeworld’s destruction. Everywhere he looked, fire rained from above to immolate the soil. The original nephilim titans, layered with a thousand eyes, trampled over the buildings and civilians, whose only crime was being human.

Once again, he fell to his knees, begging this madness to stop.

But something different happened. The background faded to pitch black, and the terror and screams were silent. Lifting his head, he saw Atalanta standing there, a pale gown waving around her lissome form.

Her words were inaudible, in spectral form, difficult to make out. But she was reaching for him, calling out to him.

Zeloph lifted and tried to run towards her, only for the distance to lengthen no matter how hard he ran. And just when their fingertips could touch, she was spilled away into the inferno and darkness.

“NO! ATALANTA!!” He cried out as everything whites out. Sound returned, and he could hear his breathing and heart racing out of his chest. But it wasn’t the only sound he heard.

All his hair and feathers stood on end upon detecting the familiar, horrible sound of an ambient pipe organ, its fortissimo resonating around the empty, heavenly void. His eyes dilated when he lifted his head, staring at a photonegative night sky full of prismatic constellations and black stars.

Accompanying that damnably loud instrument were other melodies and sounds. Woodwinds, strings, brass, chimes, processions, harps, and pianos. Along with a choir divided between singing and screaming.

His synthetic orchestra. A symphony conjured to appease Zeloph’s fondness for the art of music, yet lacking the heart and soul of a diligent musician.

As the seraphic angel rose to his feet, he noticed that his burgundy jacket and pants had been replaced by the royal white robes with topaz accents he formerly adorned. He was surprised to find the Vorpal Blade in his sash.

But all this grandiose and built-up lead to what Zell had already deduced was happening. Pearly gates opened with a booming sound as faceless souls and angelic abominations flocked in to take their positions in the operatic cathedral.

Zell held his glare at the blinding light and wallowing smoke, waiting for his inevitable arrival.

“Come on..!” He whispered harshly. “Come on, you bastard. Show yourself..!”

His unease spiked when a hand gripped his shoulder, and an all too familiar cadence spoke down to him.

“Such language is not permitted in my sanctum, boy.”

Zeloph turned around and gazed into the pallid visage forever scarred in his soul. Towering above everything else, grabbed in pristine white decorative regalia that fancied the likeness of a pope, a plethora of wings fanned out behind him, was the celestial being responsible for his descent into madness.

The scourge of mankind. The lifeblood of all demi-humans. The one Zeloph had once called his patriarch.

The Divine Father.

“Welcome home, Zeloph,” the otherworldly deity greeted with a hint of mockery. “It's been a long time since our last conversation.”

The fallen one scowled. “I have nothing to discuss with you, Metatron!”

An amused chuckle emanated behind the mask. “Is that what they’re calling me now? Another feeble attempt to shear off my influence on the unwashed masses.”

His brows furrowed, confused by what he meant, but a more pressing question demanded to be answered.

“How are you still alive? Ana and I… we killed you!”

“You merely banished me from the physical plane. Aside from this setback, my ideas and ambition have lived on. Thus, so have I,” the Divine Father explained, folding his arms behind his back. “I’m willing to admit I sorely underestimated you and your sister. You both have proven to be far more formidable than I initially perceived. But make no mistake. It won’thappen again.”

The seraphic demi-human stood his ground, hand over the Vorpal Blade’s hilt in a tight grip. “After all that time, you chose now to contact me? Why?”

“Hm. I never intended to reveal myself to you again,” scoffed Metatron. “After you ‘murdered’ me, I was satisfied in letting you sully yourself with those puny pedestrians you cherished so much. With the knowledge that you would carry out my will in spite, or perhaps because of your hatred for me.”

Zeloph’s vermillion gaze still harbored that same resentment while the primordial continued.

“But over eons, thanks to the efforts done prior to your conception, my real name goes unspoken by the common tongue. All the power I wielded greatly diminished, and my beloved sanctuary became a gilded cage. The only way mortals can still know and worship me is through a piece of myself I left behind. And even then, I can not fully guide them into orchestrating my triumphant return without shattering their fragile brains!”

It took the Fallen One a moment to put together what the Divine Father was getting at and gave a hollow laugh when it hit him. “Well, isn’t that ironic? The malevolent god, who failed to annihilate the people he deemed too stupid to live on their own, now relies on their belief to remain important.”

Metatron didn’t say anything, but he could tell his creator was bubbling with fury beneath his emotionless facade.

“Actually, no,” Zell continued spitefully, venom dripping off each word. “It’s worse than that. Losing a physical form wasn’t a problem. But being forgotten? Ohh, that’s a real bitch, isn’t it? You need humanity to believe your lies. Because without them, you’re nothing! You’re no god, Metatron. You’re little more than a tulpa with an inflated ego! A false messiah!”

“SILENCE!” The Divine Father commanded with a booming voice, the entire realm trembling under his power. Unknown forces crushed around Zeloph, who yelled from the untenable volume of the fake orchestra overwhelming his ears.

“I am an incomparable muse! And you..! You and the rest of your wretched kind have squandered my gifts. Which is why I come to you now, demanding you relinquish what belongs to me!”

“Aghk! So you are after the—!”

“Mikael’s Crucible holds the remnants of the original angelic order I created. That weapon is MINE by right! The notion that he would choose you as a worthy wielder baffles me.”

Metatron curled his finger to pull the struggling angel closer, his anguish reflected in the deities’ pallid mask.

“Every ‘fabrication’ of history I’ve woven pales in comparison to the blood staining your hands, Zeloph,” he reminded coldly. “Despite your proclamations to follow my footsteps, you still did so of your own free will.”

“I-I was wrong,” argued Zell. “In my arrogance, I took my anger out on the world for my friend’s death! That would have never happened had you not killed Jonn!”

The Divine Father shook his head. “If your friendship with Jonn really meant that much to you, why wasn’t it enough to absolve humanity of your wrath?”

“Wh-what? N-no, of course, it matters to me!”

“Ahh. So just less important to keep your promise to protect all Terrans!”

“That’s not true!”

“You turned your back on them. He betrayed his trust! Slaughtered BILLIONS!”

Tears stained Zeloph’s face as he wept, “I-I did..!”

“Then you ADMIT that Jonn meant NOTHING to you!”

“NO!”

Metatron clutched the angelic demi by his neck. “Do you realize how utterly mad you sound, boy? Look at the state that has befallen Sacratera! The place you called ‘home’! It was all set in motion the moment you renounced your servitude to me. And do you want to know why..?”

The angelic warrior tried to combat his words, shaking his head futilely as his cosmic maker leaned closer to whisper the insidious truth.

“...Because you were BORN to put an end to human life. That has always been your directive. You’re not a light meant to guide mortals out of darkness. You’re the very pyre that scorched the earth! Everything you touch turns to cinder and ash!”

“No… lies..!”

Metatron’s cruel laughter echoed throughout the heavenly realm. “You know it is true. You nearly erased everyone dear to Princess Cerise during your crusade on her homeworld. You failed to arrest Varys and his abominable successor. All your attempts at ‘heroism’ will always lead someone to their death. Innocent bystanders. Jonn. Quicksilver Bullet. Not even the woman you loved could be saved!”

Zeloph’s visage twisted with anguish, the image of her dying in his arms burning behind his tightly shut eyes.

“Your precious Atalanta. Slain. By the blade she gave you. Now that is deliciously ironic~!”

When the Divine Father released his grasp, Zeloph dropped to his knees and wallowed in despair. “… You’re right,” he choked quietly, sadness and guilt spilling onto the ground. “I can’t save a single soul. No matter what I do...”

“Yes,” encouraged Metatron, the bottom of his robes coiling around the demi-human like snakes.

“I-I’m not a hero. I’m not anything…”

“Yeess!”

“I’m just… unworthy.”

“Yeeesss, 𝓖𝓞𝓞𝓓, Zeloph! You finally see yourself for the insipid weakling you’ve become. I’d almost say I’m proud of you. Now…” The Divine Father extended his open palm. “Give. Me. The Crucible!”

Zell, shaking, pulled out the shimmering blade, feeling it tremble in his grip. Felt it glow hotter the closer it got to Metatron. Then, just when it was within reach, he stopped.

“… But…”

The seraph’s slumped shoulders went firm, and his eyes narrowed.

“… they still loved me..!”

Before Metatron could snatch the blade, Zeloph reeled back his arm, standing to his feet.

“They still believed in me. My family. My friends… they’re counting on me!”

An angry snarl ignited behind the godly entity’s pale mask. “Fool! You’ll only bring them to their demise. Leave them to burn inside a collapsed house while you walk away unscathed!”

“Unscathed?!”

Embers and sparks of light flickered around the fiery angel, strength returning to his voice. “I am the Fallen One! I will always be beyond redemption in the eyes of the many I’ve wronged. I am paying for my mistakes! But the worst sin I could ever commit is if I punch my ticket and give up now! I caused this suffering! And I will make it right!”

Heat and illumination forced the Divine Father to shield his face, robes flapping with the gale blowing against him. Zeloph’s swan-shaped plumage unfurled, each vermillion eye glaring defiantly at him.

Zeloph aimed the glimmering Vorpal Blade at Metatron and continued. “You think you’re some poetic genius, Metatron. But I see through the angelic camouflage for the hack you are! You are forsaken—starved by the very ‘weaklings’ you sought to ruin! Because you couldn’t stand how unbreakable the human spirit is!”

“That’s enough out of you, boy! Hand over the sword, or this sniveling bark shall be your last!”

“NO! I will NOT!” He shouted back, slashing off the accusing hand of the Divine Father, who bellowed with outrage. “You no longer have power over me! So long as I draw breath, I will live on to defy you! In the name of everyone who has fallen before me! So go ahead! Throw everything you’ve got at me, you faceless, spineless FUCK!”

His glare narrowed on the bloodied sleeve as a differently shaped hand formed from the Divine Father’s wound. Darkened skin with elongated golden nails, not unlike Layla’s.

“You 𝓓𝓐𝓡𝓔 strike back at me?!” Metatron roared. “I, who taught you. Raised you! TRAINED you! I shared with you all my power and knowledge! But the only thing you cared about was your worthless little FRIENDS! I AM YOUR 𝓒𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓣𝓞𝓡! 𝓘 𝓜𝓐𝓓𝓔 𝓨𝓞𝓤!! 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓘 𝓒𝓐𝓝 𝓙𝓤𝓢𝓣 𝓐𝓢 𝓔𝓐𝓢𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓤𝓝𝓜𝓐𝓚𝓔 𝓨𝓞𝓤!!!”

The realm and angelic creatures around them quake under the cosmic might the Divine Father called forth, ready to smite his rebellious offspring once and for all. But before they could react, the Vorpal Blade rose from Zeloph’s hand, filling the pale void with blinding light.

When the brightness dimmed, the seraphic demi-human gasped, startled by the bizarre alien creature that stood in place of his sword. It looked like a wolf with bristled blondish-white fur and six magnificent wings flared open from its mane and shoulders. It bared its fangs as it growled at Metatron, each multicolored eye with ringed irises fixated in an intense glare. It stood defensively in front of Zeloph.

“Wh-what?”

“Michael?!” The Divine Father exclaimed with bewilderment. “But you’re—”

The heavenly beast snarled as it pounced on the Divine Father, mauling the priestly figure. Metatron struggled to pry the angelic lupine off, its claws and teeth fixed onto his front. Only when the wolf tore off his face did it leap back?

“NOOOOOO𝓞𝓞𝓐𝓐𝓤𝓤𝓤𝓗𝓗𝓗!!!”

Zell observed the sanctum gradually grow dark, all the instruments and heavenly abominations dissolving into metallic goop. He flinched when the wolf dropped the blood-stained mask from its soaked jaws.

The two watched as the Divine Father knelt, seething while he covered his unveiled visage while liquid seeped between his hands. Then, all at once, his form began to change.

The godly entity’s white and gold regalia gradually dissolved to reveal yellow robes. His many wings wilted like flowers, save for a pair of black plumage with a leathery membrane between the secondary feathers. The bottom of his attire extended to form violet cephalopodic tentacles with eye-shaped rings, fully fused to the mass. The miter fell off, replaced by a long hood. And above his head shined an eclipsed halo shaped like a crown.

Zeloph was completely perplexed. “What in god’s name..?!”

A disembodied voice, assumingly Michael’s, spoke. “Your chicanery ends here, great pretender. You’ve conducted your shallow scheme to its finale. Now take your bow, and leave.”

The strange imposter slowly rose, appearing taller than before. His shoulders shook as he began to laugh. “𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓲𝓽’𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻? 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓷!?”

When he removed his hands, Zeloph gasped when he saw… nothing. No face or features are visible underneath the hood—just perpetual darkness.

“𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓵𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮,” proclaimed the entity. “𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮, 𝓘 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓽𝓱. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓜𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓮𝓵! 𝓜𝔂 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓮𝔀!”

The wolfish archangel snorted. “I know. But I much prefer this over your imminent victory.”

“𝓢𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓲𝓽.” The mysterious figure then gestured to the distraught demi-human. “𝓐𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓩𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓱. 𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮, 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓪𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓽𝓸𝓶!”

Inky darkness fumed from beneath the perpetrator’s robes, enveloping his towering form in miasma as he delivered some parting words,

“𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓺𝓾'𝓪 𝓬𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓸𝔂𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼!”

With a final mocking cackle, the being formally known as Metatron vanished, leaving a mortified Zeloph alone in the empty void with his lupine savor.

“Well… this is going to be an interesting tale to my therapist,” the demi dryly surmised to alleviate the intense scene.

The tension didn’t die when Michael turned to confront him, growls still stirring from his snout. Zell winched, waiting for the beast to lunge for his throat… only for a long tongue to lick his hand. While weird, the gesture helped unwind the seraphic angel, who petted the wolf’s head.

“So… are you really..?”

“Yes,” the voice answered. “I am the archangel, Michael. First in the Order of Heaven. And your ancestor. I have been watching you since you first came into contact with my Crucible. Testing to see if you were truly worthy to join the pantheon of champions before you.”

Zeloph’s winged ears flattened a bit, biting his lip in shame. “I think I can guess what the final verdict is…”

Michael chuckled, then confessed, “I will not lie. I was convinced ‘the Divine Father’ had successfully tricked you into giving up the sword. But then, you got back up and stood your ground. In spite of all the tragedies you faced, the backlash you absorbed, and the grievous loss you suffered, you remain steadfast, valiant, and compassionate. That is what makes you a worthy champion.”

The fallen one was stunned by what he heard, tears forming underneath his eyes. “S-so then… I’m—?”

The heavenly beast nodded. “You have passed all my trials, Zeloph. There is but one thing left to do.” Michael walked past with padded feet, pausing to jerk his head. “Follow me.”

With bated breath, he followed the archangel, the darkness giving way to trees, vines, and other botanic wonders that made up Sacratera’s vast wilderness.

If Zell was quiet enough, he could detect the faint sound of a melody resonating around them. It was as if the very earth he walked on sang to him. And before he knew it, they approached the foot of a mountain, its peak hidden up in the clouds.

A sharp pain throbbed in his chest, making him yowl and stumble. The rhythmic pulsating sensation returned as he felt his body contort under the effects of the atmosphere.

“Naauuaagh!!” He cradled his arm, watching it mutate with feathers and scales.

“Keep going,” Michael’s voice encouraged within Zell’s skull, the wolf now standing over a smooth rock. “Do not resist.”

“Wh-what? But I’ll—!”

“You must allow your ‘demihood’ to help your body conform to this environment. Embrace every aspect of who you are… and rise!”

Tentatively, Zeloph pushed himself back up, doing his best to bear the pain while moving onward. With every tentative step up the mountain, he felt new extensions of his limbs and wings spread out. His clothes were cast aside once his stark plumage settled in, copying his arms and legs. The pulsing sensation even began to slow down until its tempo was one with his heartbeat.

And before he knew it, Zeloph had been thoroughly transformed by the planet, resembling the fabled phoenix. Six wings tipped with sunfire unfurled to lift the radiant avian into the air, able to efficiently sail to the summit.

He and Michael raced each other towards the mountain top, soaring through a sea of clouds until peaking into the hemisphere. The skies were painted in various colors, thousands of stars twinkling far in the distance while the sun’s soft glow glimmered across the horizon.

Zeloph marveled at the view before descending to where the mountain pinnacle peaked through the clouds. The moment he landed, in a flash, his body regained its more humanoid shape, panting as if he was coming up for air after a long swim.

Circled him stood the monolithic statues of all the previous wielders, each holding up their version of the Crucible. Some figures he recognized, such as Arthur Pendragon with Excalibur. Others he couldn’t believe were there, like Red Riding Hood, leaning on the woodman’s axe. And then, of course, there was Alice Wonderland herself, poised with the Vorpal Blade.

A short while later, Michael’s wolf form caught up and sat by the sculpture that captured his likeness. A wavy-haired man, adorned in sapphire armor and red cowl, with six wings, unfurled from his back, saber planted blade before him.

“Welcome to the Animarium,” his voice rang between Zeloph’s ears. “The heart of the Crucible, where all champions begin and end.”

“It’s so beautiful,” he admitted aloud, absolutely spellbound. “Wait… what do you mean by that?”

“I’ll explain momentarily. But before I do, there’s something you must know about ‘the Divine Father.’”

Zeloph furrowed his eyebrows and nodded. “You’re telling me! I don’t understand. Why is Metatron back? And what was that form?!”

“Up until now, you’ve never seen what he looks like,” answered Michael. “Metatron is yet another false alias we used to protect humankind from becoming associated with the cosmic horror who created us. We dare not speak his real name, for it alone grants him subliminal power and authority. There’s only one title we can safely address him by…”

The fallen one’s face gave way to horror once he proved together who the archangel was talking about. “… the King in Yellow!”

The heavenly lupine lowered his snout.

“That’s insane! The origins of heaven and hell. The mere concept of religion itself. Every angel, devil, and demi-human! It all ties back to the Unspeakable himself?!”

“I wish it were not true,” lamented Michael. “But the King in Yellow has been intertwined throughout our history. Quietly masquerading as ‘god’ to beguile mankind with the promise of heaven after death, should they devote themselves to his terrible magnificence. In reality, there is no such place. Only his eldritch kingdom of Carcosa.”

Zeloph clasped his head, unable to fully wrap his head around this inconceivable development. So much was going on; everything was spinning. The urge to vomit was rising in his belly.

“Do not fret,” the archangel reassured. “He-who-shall-not-be-named is detained and can’t act outside his dimension. Very few believe that the King in Yellow exists, as he can use a sole version of his eponymous play to infest their minds. The longer it stays that way, the more time we have to prepare. So please don’t concern yourself with him yet. There are more pressing matters at hand.”

Zeloph heaved a large sigh before nodding his head. “Right. What must I do?”

“To utilize the Crucible to its full potential, you must partake in a sacred pact called the Luster Pledge,” answered Michael. “Your soul will be eternally bound to the weapon. Upon drawing your last breath, your spirit and essence will belong here so that the chain of champions may continue, and the Crucible’s power can pass on to another.”

The demi’s eyes widened. “So the Crucible is also to be my tomb?”

“It is your choice to make,” the heavenly beast concluded, bowing its head. “But should you take the pledge, your deeds, and accomplishments will be immortalized for future predecessors to aspire to. Will you make the sacrifice needed to save lives?”

Zeloph stood silent, thousands of thoughts and anxieties racing around his mind. Of course, such incredible power would come with a caveat. So much had happened within the short span of several days. Fighting alongside Shadow Scythe, Ana, and their friends. Encountering and befriending more of his kind. The ongoing battles with Mortis, one of which cost his lover her life. Learning the truth about his origins, which tied back to two mythical figures of history. One is a benefactor of good, the other unspeakably evil. All while chaos and darkness threatened to tear the multiverse apart.

One thought he came back to was the conversation he had with Beatrix. About encouraging her to make the right decision, no matter the cost. Would she not expect him to do the same..?

The seraphic demi-human took a couple more moments to consider before exhaling. Looking up at Michael with conflicted cerulean eyes, he nonetheless gave his answer. “… I’ll do it.”

The archangel reclarified, “Are you sure? Once the Luster Pledge commences, there is no turning back. All paths you chose will end the same.”

“I am,” Zeloph said in aplomb, a sad smile gracing his lips. “Jonn always told me to be a simple man. Live life to its fullest, and help whoever I can along the way. He probably didn’t have this in mind, but… I feel this is what’s best suited for me.”

With his decision made, all the statue’s eyes opened with spiritual light, archaic energy flowing through an interconnecting series of runes that led to where the demi stood. The heavenly beast disappeared as Michael’s statue followed suit. The Crucible’s previous forms spun around him, providing brief glimpses of every man, woman, child, and creature before him.

Michael’s voice resonated throughout the entire realm of the Animarium, invoking the sacred pact.

“Reforge thy weapon of everlasting might…

Fly swiftly on sovereign wing…

Cleanse the wicked in your ardent light…

And be crowned anew, as Aether King.”

“Aether… King? M-me?”

“Shed your reputation as the Fallen One, and embrace who you were meant to be.”

“I… I-I will!” Zeloph cried out as the ethereal weapons swirled faster and faster, the world around him fading into the overwhelming light that enveloped the newly dubbed Aether King.

“One more thing before you awaken,” Michael’s voice beseeched as it grew distant. “If you ever encounter my sibling, tell Lucifer… I love them. And I forgive them.”

With a nod of his head, Zeloph closed his eyes and allowed the Crucible’s light to envelop him while wholly, his newfound purpose bringing the seraph to exaltation as he reentered reality.

Viscera released a startled screech at the sudden harsh light and heat radiating from the angel’s body. “Aghk! Wh-What’s happening?!”

Her captive became brighter and hotter, forcing her to let go of him when it seared her talons, drawing attention from all over. Bellatrix, Analise, Seb, Arron, and Mortis calmed their fighting, mesmerized by the spectacle.

Two large wings with closed eyes emerged from the brilliant illumination, followed by four pairs of narrower plumage. Zeloph was revealed in all his exalted glory as the light died down, fiery mane flickering upward. His gray complexion is now completely alabaster, the markings glowing with vibrant cosmic energy. His sunflower-tipped tail had lengthened, as did his feathery ears. The angelic demi opened all his eyes, taking in his apotheosis with absolute awe.

“Whoa! I’m… I-I feel… This… feels good!”

Tears of joy ram down Ana’s face. “Zelly! He made it!!”

“And my man’s exalted!” Arron added excitedly, fist-pumping the air. “Let’s fucking go!!”

“That son of a bitch,” Seb whispered in astonishment. “He actually pulled it off!”

Bellatrix was momentarily stunned before a smile crossed her lips. “If Shadow Scythe could see you now..!”

“Inconceivable!” The black-shrouded reaper glowered, his shadows deepened by the amount of light illuminating the area. “Where did all that power come from?!”

“No… It’s not possible!” Viscera hissed in disbelief, arm shielding her eyes from his annoying brightness. “You should be a feral beast! How did you—?!”

Zeloph turned to address the avian monstress in a caustic fashion. “Are things not going the way you planned, Viscera? I’m surprised by your lack of foresight. Even Varys wasn’t this disorganized!”

The villainous nephilim smiled disparagingly at that little jab. “You think you can get under my skin? Don’t make me laugh! Where was this dazzling display when your sweetheart was bleeding from the inside out~? So much for true love—Darragh!?”

Her insult didn’t get too far when the exalted angel flashed forward to land a punch powered by the fury of a thousand suns. Viscera shot through a building, which collapsed on top of her. It took the discombobulated harpy a moment to emerge from the rubble, sorely dazed with sharp gasps wheezing from her bloodied mouth.

Zeloph hovered downward with an intense glare, cracking his knuckles. Viscera returned his gaze and lifted herself, orichalcum bones extending from her wrists. She violently shrieked, “I’ll tear your soul apart for that!”

“No,” he retorted as he called upon the Crucible in its splendor, retiring the flimsy needle-shape of the Vorpal Blade for a proper turquoise saber with angelic wing decorations, anointed with sun fire. He then held it with both hands to split it in two, dual-wielding the heavenly sword. “You will bathe in the fires of absolution!”

Thus commenced the aerial bout between the Vile One and the Aether King, who danced around with brisk speeds beyond light’s reach. Yet no matter his chosen angle, Viscera could deflect with the dexterous bones ejecting out her body. It became apparent the two were roughly on par as they duked it out in the skies.

“Is this the reason they demanded your execution?” Mortis murmured to himself while observing the fiery seraph in the distance. “No matter. Only I may claim such fervent power!”

But before the death-sworn wraith could join the gray above, he hissed when hellfire scorched his tattered cloak and flesh, skin sizzling over his bones. His spectral green eyes narrowed on the she-devil and demi-humans, warning them, “Stand aside! I’ll deal with you later!”

“You’ll deal with us now!” Bellatrix declared with balled-up fists soaked in fire and brimstone. She, Moxxi, and Arron sailed skyward to confront him head while Seb summoned the last of his arsenal to fire from below. If only to buy Zeloph a little more time.

Meanwhile, the ongoing battle between the seraphic demi and the bilious nephilim caused more destruction across the ruined cityscape. Dust, steel, fire, and smog kicked up in their wake.

Eventually, Zeloph’s advanced speed became too much for Viscera to keep track of, yowling from the Crucible’s immolating bite. She struggled to land a hit in either, the corrosives shot from her tail countered by beams of lights fired from every eye adorning his plumage.

Her foe proved nigh untouchable as well! Every attempt the avian monstress made to get close and piece the angel’s flesh with her poisonous talons was swiftly evaded or, at one point, blocked. Zeloph caught her hand and firmly sundered it with a tight squeeze.

“NNNEEERRAAGH!!” Viscera screeched, reeling back while grasping her fractured hand. With malice, she soared around and breathed out toxic gasses to envelope her prey to impair his senses. Then she cast her Onoma to trap him in a cocoon of meaty carrion moss.

For a moment, nothing happened, and the beldam began cackling in victory… only for streaks of light to penetrate through the rancid sack. Her makeshift prison instantly exploded, layers of seared blight splattering the dilapidated buildings while Zeloph flew out with only a few purple blemishes.

The nephilim balked. “What?! No!!”

“Your festering rot will fall before my cauterizing blades!” The Aether King boasted.

Channeling more of Apollo’s fire through the Crucible, the fiery seraph crossed his sabers and soared through Viscera, who bellowed as each slash sang her flesh. No quarter was given to allow Viscera a chance to put up her bony defenses. With his adversary discombobulated, the Aether King flash stepped beneath and ascended with a spinning strike, slicing through the Vile One like a fiery tornado. Finishing his combo was a cross of flames that blasted the beaten harpy through the tallest tower in the area; the structure collapsed with a thunderous boom.

Panting hotly, Zeloph disenchanted his Onoma, remerged the Crucible into one, and descended upon the heap. Viscera lay bloodied and broken when the dust settled, wings bent at crooked angles. Steam hissed out of her fresh wounds, clothes burnt, and skin charred. When she felt the scorn of her enemy’s stare, for once since hatching out of her biomechanical egg, the wicked beldam felt fear clench her frantically beating heart. “N-N-No, please! Spare me, Zeloph! Please!!” She pleaded with a shaky voice.

His glare hardened. “Spare you? Like how you spared the many you tormented and ridiculed? How about those you left infected and defiled in your wake? Did you spare them!?”

“I-If you let me live, I’ll reform! Y-Yes! I-I’ll even go back and cure them! P-Promise!” She lied blatantly, desperate to survive her predicament. When he stepped forward, she clumsily stumbled back, groaning from the pain coursing through her limbs.

Realizing she wasn’t going anywhere, Viscera broke into pathetic sobs, a feeble ploy to pull on his heartstrings. “Ah-haaah… please! Please don’t kill me! Have mercy..!”

Her wept became whimpers as Zell pressed the tip of his blade at the base of her neck. Cold cerulean eyes gleamed as he told the sniveling nephilim, “My heart is full of mercy… but none of it for you!”

Ghoulish flashes snapped his attention back to where the UFO took off, where Mortis released the full brunt of his black arts on his allies. A multi-soul draining spell the Eldritch bestowed upon him to help the lich’s quest in reaping all life. His four opponents screamed, knocked to their knees, color, and age rapidly siphoned from their skin. Wisps of their essence rushed from the defeated demons in threads that zapped into the reaper’s ribcage.

“Your resilience is a fool’s errand,” said the reaper stallion. “All life must be allowed to die!”

Zeloph’s dormancy reignited as he took wing, aware that by leaving Viscera behind, she was guaranteed to recover and cause further harm. But he wouldn’t allow the lich who took his beloved’s life to do the same to his friends!

At a brisk pace, the Aether King appeared before the undead stallion and swept him away with the Crucible. With their foe momentarily knocked out, the spell immediately broke, much to their gasps of relief.

“Nice save,” Seb wheezed, holding himself up by his trembling arms before Zell helped him and Arron. Ripples of light ran through them from his fingers to cleanse their ailments and rejuvenate their stolen energy.

He did the same for Bellatrix and Moxxi, the latter nuzzling into his chest affectionately. “Always knew you’d come ter me rescue~! reminds me of a wet dream I 'ad where ya washed me up in a bathtub before—!”

A soft chuckle passed his nonvisible lips. “You’ll have plenty of time to fantasize about that afterwards.”

Once the imp felt healed enough to flutter on her own, Zeloph used the Crucible to open a cross-shaped rift, a glimpse of the Glamorguis’ biotechnological interior from the other side. “Go! Hurry while you still can!”

Arron questioned. “But what about Mr.Bones? He’s still—”

“I’ll handle him,” insisted the seraphic demi. “He won’t rest until everyone we know is dead. But you're need back on the ship. Help Layla and Julianne while it can still fly!”

The two male demi’s stared at each other uneasily but understood that they would be in the way. Seb approached him and held up the last card in his deck. “Take this,” he urged. “I think you’ll know when to play it.”

Zeloph accepted it and nodded. “Thank you.”

With a tip of his hat, the gambler leaped through the portal while the burly bull-headed demon held up his fist to Zell. “Give him hell, twink!”

The gesture was returned, and he, too, fled into the rift as well. He then cast his gaze on his sister and the she-devil. “What are you doing? You need to go now!”

“Not a chance in hell am I lettin' ya face Jack Skellington’s demented cousin by yourself!” berated Moxxi.

“She’s right, Zell,” concurred Bellatrix. “This isn’t a fight you alone can win. Nor can we afford to lose. There’s more at stake now.”

The exalted demi then noticed her exposed stomach, his eyes widening to find the protective rune no longer active. “Bella, what did you do..?!”

“What I had to,” she said firmly while pinkish red tinted her cheeks. “What I said still stands. I will become queen of hell and win Alma’s heart. However… I won’t deny I’ve grown rather fond of the demi-humans. I feel completely in my element when around them. And you. So… perhaps we could arrange something together? T-That is, if you’re not opposed to the idea…”

Again, she primarily directed this at Moxxi, aware of her complicated feelings for her brother. But the imp gave a cheeky laugh.

“Bloody hell! Ya didn’t 'ave ter go that far if ya wanted ter to upgrade our relationship wif more kinks~! I’m 'appy ter be a part of your life!”

She fluttered up to give the red-skinned demoness a hot smooch that brightened her blush. Turning back to Zell, the neon demoness asked, “'a abaht it, Zelly? Wanna 'elp Bella raise a lil' 'ell~?"

Before he could properly answer, all three drew their attention back to Mortis, who rose with light grumbles. He cracked the joints of his neck while focusing his ghastly gaze on the trio as the portal closed behind them. “Ahh… So the damned now welcome their fate!”

As Bellatrix took a stance and Analise retook her full figure, Zeloph stepped forward with the Crucible ready, glaring intently at Atalanta’s executioner, sensing her soul within the lich. “The only thing I welcome is Atalanta’s release from your undying grasp!”

A dry chuckle rattled out his jaws. “Her death was no release. It was penance! You were my instrument in ending the betrayer’s life. And soon, you will join her in death. A poetic conclusion for a pair of irredeemable mass murderers.”

“You’ve taken and doomed far more lives than any of us combined,” reminded Bellatrix bluntly.

Mortis shook his head. “I go wherever souls are adrift. From the ground, they came, and to it, they returned. That world was always destined to die. So too will the planet we stand on.”

“Cut the bullshit,” snapped Ana. “Ya took 'er soul and Onoma! Ya 'ren’t playin' the bleedin' neutral card on us! Not when deep daahhhn in those gritty bones, ya relished every Cock Linnet of watchin' 'er writhe loike the sadistic fuck ya 're!”

The undead unicorn scowled, spectral orbs glimmering brightly. “Yes! I will confess; I wanted to prolong Atalanta’s torment until she ended herself. But your interference was a stroke of fortune! Love is the gravest sin of all. And through it, she died with the bitter awareness that her beloved angel had let her down—”

Zeloph was upon Mortis in a flash, his guillotine-shaped scythe raised to block his heavenly saber. A screech of metal sounded, sparks flying as the sunfire burned brightly, reflecting its user’s rage.

“You killed Quicksilver Bullet!” He growled with conviction; angry tears lifted from his fiery eyes. “Made him lesser. Turned him against his only daughter! You selfishly took the lives and essence of everything around you! You’re not the personification of death, and you never will be! So don't you dare suggest I betrayed the only woman I LOVE when we both know for a FUCKING fact that YOU STOLE HER FROM ME! YOU LOATHSOME, PATHETIC PILE OF DEATH-WORSHIPPING GARBAGE!!”

The moment Mortis felt the edge of his scythe being pushed back against him, he spirited to a safer distance as a v of flames erupted from the blade’s path. A slight smile came to his thinned blue lips as he retook his stance, a rare feeling of excitement flowing through his empty veins.

Bellatrix and Ana glanced at each other with worrisome expressions, both aware that if Zell were pushed too far, he would be consumed in the endless cycle of vengeance. Still, they stood by his side, ready to aid the Aether King in his final dance with Mortis Solitaire.

To avenge Shadow Scythe.

Inflorescence

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A crash of thunder shook the cottage Lady Oona Ewe and her daughter, Abadonna, took shelter in; the enclosure was rattled by rain and gales that increased in intensity by the hour. Brushing aside a curtain, the pregnant shamaness peeked out the window. “Sweet lucid dreams! How does anyone work in these conditions..?!”

Oona squinted to see the village in the distance under a constant deluge that drizzled from thick clouds. Barely a few lights were visible.

“It'll die down before midnight,” assured Abby, more focused on her drawing. Crayons and paper littered the floor, depicting her in the likeness of a superhero, fighting bad guys with her master spells. Also surrounding the dark blue caprine girl were the three plushies that Demi-Trix left behind, hard at work in re-enacting said events.

Oona squatted down and leaned in to peer over Abby's shoulder. “Oh my! Aren’t ye th' little artist~?” The dream faun praised with motherly pride the child's skill above her current age. “Such colorful illustrations! Where did ye learn tae draw sae well?”

“Self-taught,” Abby beamed and held up the pictures to proudly show them off. It depicted a similarly colored pegasus with a held-back mane, holding up a scimitar. Next to him, grasping his hand, was a deep crimson pegasus mare with twin braids.

One curled her brow curiously. “Do they have names?”

Abadonna nodded her head with eagerness. “Uh-huh! They’re Sinbad Monsoon and Scheherazade Simoon, or ‘Schera’ for short! Brother and sister from a royal lineage, venturing throughout the desert in a faraway land—u-uuh! I mean!” Her cheeks colored, and she tucked the piece aside with a fidget. “Oops…”

It took the elder ewe a moment for it to click that these weren’t just drawings of characters her twelve-year-old daughter thought of. They were depictions of future children, the desert duo sharing some resemblance to Midnight and Cerise!

Her honey brown widened, quickly scanning the pile of colored paper before spotting one that looked like her brother, a grayish black ram with white stripes, a head of hair styled in a mohawk, and what looked like a shillelagh in hand. “I-Is that—?”

“Barbatus,” admitted Abby shyly. “My cousin and your nephew…”

“Wha… A-A’m baffled that mah brother would e'en settle down wit one mare, let alone have—Oh wait! A’m not supposed tae know this, aren’t Ah?” Her expression turned to horror. “Oh no! What have A—A’ve doomed yer future!”

“H-Hey hey! Mom, it’s okay!” The little sheep child assured, giving her mother a jerk. “You haven’t done anything. So long as their parents don’t know, they should be fine.”

The azure caprine heaved a large breath, taking some solace in knowing she didn’t unravel more of the timeline ahead. Still, she was quite curious as to who the mother of her nephew was. Lady Ewe could clearly see Dion in the image, yet not so much the crystal twins…

The Child of Lightendark then held up another drawing. This time of, a tangerine-skinned devil girl with short dark blue hair, a pair of angelic and demonic wings, and a toothy smile across her face. Next to her was a white-haired angel with a black bar scribbled over his eyes, a sickle-shaped sword in his grasp. Both their tails were tipped with flowers, giving away their heritage.

Oona pursed her lips when asking, “Children ov Zeloph..?”

Abby nodded. “Zoë and Zane. One thinks she can get away with murder, being the ‘Princess of Hell’, or whatever. And the other thinks he’s the only one who has ‘real’ responsibilities.” The young witch rolled her eyes. “Honestly can’t stand those two at times!”

Despite her daughter’s annoyance with the demi siblings, Oona felt a tinge of sorrow weighing down her heart. With the knowledge that Shadow Scythe had been cruelly murdered for her past transgressions, this meant her widowed lover would sire offspring with someone else. Which was a shame since Zeloph’s son shared many characteristics with the reaper mare…

Regardless, seeing a glimpse of what Abadonna’s future was like only strengthened Oona’s will to ensure the calamity would not come to pass.

She regained hope that Beatrix, along with Midnight, Cerise, Dion, and Zeloph, would prevail in their endeavors and live to become the proud parents of these children!

The darkness that wisped from her mother's back began to evaporate, much to Abby’s relief. Perhaps she was too late after all, and her father didn’t—

A knock resonated throughout the cottage, drawing their attention downstairs. Oona spoke up, “Ahh! H-Hold on! A-A'm not decent!”

With that white lie, Abby helped her mother down the stairwell while motioning for the plushies to clean up her mess. They scattered to collect every stray paper and crayon before neatly placing them near the window ledge.

As they approached the door, Abadonna tensed up behind Oona’s skirt, ready to face the worst thing that awaited them outside. Fortunately, it was Fidelma who pushed her way inside with a creak of the door, her earthly rags and silky scarf completely drenched.

“Forgive th' intrusion,” the soothsayer said as she dropped her supplies onto the kitchen table. “Ah couldn't hear ye over th' storm, an' Ah prefer not to stay soaked. But Ah…huh?” The cloaked satyress’s eyes burrowed at the witchy caprine girl hiding behind her. “… Who is that?”

“A-Ahh! Abby...gail! Her name’s Abigail,” lied Oona, who ushered her forward if only to lower suspicions. Abby nodded her head.

Fidelma remained unconvinced, studying the young lamb with a hand to her slender hips. “A’ve ne'er heard ov a single child on this island named Abigail.”

“I… don’t get out much,” the witchy caprine proclaimed sheepishly.

“… Hmph.” Deciding not to press the issue further, the soothsayer turned to her surrogate daughter. “Regardless, Oona, yer father was strict aboot no one bein' allowed here wit'out his authority!”

The azure shamaness rolled her eyes. “It’s rainin' cats an' dogs, Fidelma. Th' poor thin' was goin' tae catch her death!”

Fidelma pinched the bridge of her snout. “Uuugh… Oona, ye’re too nice fur yer own good…” She then relaxed after a short sigh. “Well, take that up wit yer father then. He’ll be here wit some guards befur he leads th' clan intae battle.”

Oona could only hang her head in sorrow. The thought of another war breaking out on her once peaceful homeland made her sick, recalling the invading forces of the caribou, who tried to pillage and enslave the women of her tribe…

“Now, A’ve gone out ov mah way tae brin' ye some extra food an' goodies,” offered Fidelma, pulling out groceries that had been protected by her heavy cloak.

The gravid faun narrowed her eyes. “But I thought Minerva was comin' here wit groceries..?”

“We thought th' same,” acknowledged the aged satyr. “But no one’s seen th' old drider since th' squall. Last Ah heard, she was headin' back intae th' forestry tae fetch some additional charms an' protective ornaments.”

Abadonna clasped her snout to stifle her gasp. ‘No..!’

“Mmm. She’s likely takin' shelter in her web until th' storm clears up,” concluded Oona.

“It would seem so. Oh, deary me! Ah almost forgot some important news!”

Both caprines arched an eyebrow. “News?”

Fidelma smiled. “Old friends ov yers have arrived recently tae support th' cause. Ah believe their names were ‘Ashen Dunes’ an' ‘Rhenaes’?”

Oona lit up. “Ooh, yes! Ashen is th' younger brother ov Princess Cerise an' Prince Penumbra. An' Rheneas was there tae help us thwart Doppia an' th' Burnin' King! Admittedly, Ah don’t know them very well, but they are close allies.”

“Yes, but that’s not all,” continued Fidelma. “A fleet ov ships wavin' th' banners ov th' Crystal Empire have been sighted approachin' th' shores. King Ambros is on his way tae provide aid as well!”

“King Ambros!” The azure sheep clapped her hands together, her heart swelling with relief.

Abadonna, however, had the opposite reaction. ‘What..!?’

“Not surprising, considerin' th' Sovereign Witch has aligned wit th' remainin' Vice Lords an' their ‘Legion ov Black Roses’. Their combined forces threaten e'eryone in th' Lost World! Now is th' time that we stand united!”

“Yes! Exactly! Oh, this is a dream come true!”

‘… or the beginning of a nightmare! This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen!!’

Abadonna suddenly rushed towards the stairs, ignoring the concerned calls of her mother. The plushies jumped when she slammed the door open and pulled out more blank paper. Perplexed, they hopped up and perched on the brim of her witch hat, watching her sketch out more characters and locations.

So determined to direct the fate of the future while the storm refused to abate, she failed to notice one of the candles dissolving into pixelated darkness before disappearing altogether…

Wispy Willow entered a virtual room, which had taken the shape of the ‘Cyberverse’ cityscape on a rainy night. Usually, she wouldn’t even bother stepping in with the risk of getting wet, but they were in a rough spot with the Glamorguis struggling to fly.

Upon a rooftop sat Kitsune of the Nine-Tails, her eyes closed while she sat in the lotus position, the top of her gi torn removed, breasts concealed behind wraps. A constant drizzle sluiced over her amid deep meditation. The moon shone down on her from the black sky. One of her ears twitched at the sound of puddly footsteps approaching her.

“Sis! What are you doing?” The twin-tailed tigress called over. “There’s a war outside, and we’ve got infiltrators stalking the ship! Don’t tell me you’re afraid to throw down with that lost tail?”

Kitsune opened an eye. “No, Imoto. I’m in preparation to face our old adversary. I’m certain he’s on his way here.”

“Wha—You mean Triad?” Wispy snorted. “He’s a joke! Old news! You already cut off his head once; you can do it again!” Her studded crimson catsuit glistened under the moonlight and rain, a hand rested on her hip.

“Our last encounter did not end in my favor,” reminded Kitsune, the image of his cold stare while she collapsed to the ground, bleeding out, fresh on her mind. “I hold no shame in admitting he’s a lot stronger now while I have gotten weaker.”

“Even if that were true, you’ve got us in your corner!” She nodded over her shoulder at Eclipsed Heart, Kyube, and Chisana, recovering from the shockwave that washed through them moments ago. “Come on, we’ll take him on together! Him, Penny Dreadful, Mortis, Andrei, and whoever else that—!”

“No, Imoto.” She gave her sister a sharp glare if only to assert her authority. Her gaze softened on Eclipsed Heart, glad that the Necronomicon’s undoing had no visible effects on her. And when her eyes met Kyube’s, she shook her head. “This is something I must do alone.”

Wispy bristled. “B-but sis—!”

“It is a matter of personal pride for her,” replied Kyube from below. “Do you want to deny your friend that?”

“N-no...but we’re really worried about you! In your condition, you might-!” Eclipsed began, then chewed on her lower lip to silence herself. At her side, Chisana looked on sympathetically, anxiety written on her face.

Before Kitsune could properly reassure her allies, her ears flicked when she picked up new sounds from the rooftops. Stoic determination took over her face. “He’s here!”

Kitasan Triad had infiltrated the virtual space with his magic sword, which he’d used to carve his way through the ship. But rather than stage a surprise attack, he too removed his pin-striped suit, leaving his chest and inked back bare and meditated on the spot. The pair of swordmasters held an unspoken truce while they honed themselves for their final duel. Raindrops sprinkled across the black stallion’s ebony muscles, which tensed in anticipation.

“We must cleanse ourselves for this moment,” explained Kitsune. “We want to face each other as fairly as possible.”

An uneasy silence settled between the sisters while the others remained on guard in case Triad’s loony accomplice, Penny Dreadful, showed up guns blazing to spoil this fateful moment.

Then, the tattoos on Triad’s back separated themselves from him, his vermillion tiger and cyan dragon familiars boxing the group in while he stood back up.

“It’s time,” Kitsune proclaimed before rising, swathed in the wind and rain. “No matter what happens, promise me you will not interfere.”

Wispy growled begrudgingly before consenting. Before stepping down to assist her bandmate, she yelled over the mild storm, “You better win, sis! Or I'll kick your ass myself!”

“Of course she will,” Eclipsed proclaimed confidently. “Kitsune’s not the type of person to lose easily.”

“Yeah, but if shit blows sideways, what do we—”

A squeak from Chisana pulled their attention, the bladed point of the parasol at her throat when Penny Dreadful snickered and pulled the tiny raccoon dog back from behind.

“Aaagh! A-Aniki!!”

“Let her go!” warned Kyube, teeth bared.

“Ah-ah-ah~!” The clockwork griffoness said while wagging her finger. “You get anywhere close to the roofs, and I’ll empty her throat and bowels across these streets!” She backed up her threat by pressing the tip close to her hostage’s neck. “Nuugh! Cease your impudent squirming, you putrid little—!”

“Penny, no!” Triad called down to her, brows furrowed. “I want this fight to be as fair as possible! Release the girl!”

“Now, now, sweetie~,” cooed Penny with a quiver of her beak. “I’m simply keeping insurance so that none of these lousy vermin get in the way of your absolute victory!”

“You let her go now, bitch!” Wispy snarled as her summoned plasma orbs sizzled against the raindrops.

Penny Dreadful's beak wore a vicious smile. “If you want her back that badly, try and take her~!”

Opening her wings, she took off from the ground. Glancing back at Triad, she said, “Don’t take too long, love! I want to finish these wretches quickly so that we can seek out Beatrix, Esmeralda, and Camellia! After they’re butchered, we can get married and spend our honeymoon somewhere wonderful! We’re almost free!”

“I know,” answered Triad, who leaped across the rooftops and landed close to where she fluttered. “Master swore to release us after we completed our last mission. But I will not stain my hands with the blood of a child. Now, please… set her free.”

“B-but darling—~!” Her protests were cut off when his lips met her beak in a deep kiss. Then, Penny hissed when Chisana bit her hand and slipped free. She stabbed at the tanuki girl simply to embed the parasol's bladed tip in a chunk of wood left amidst a cloud of smoke. “Gaagh! You putrid little shite!”

Triad rolled his eyes before casting his steely gaze on Wispy, Eclipsed, and the Yokai bandits below. “It appears you’re all eager to fight. Here. Play with them for a while.” The kitasan swordsman snapped his fingers, and his tattoo beasts immediately attacked B.A.B.E. while he raised his katana and unleashed its arcane power.

“Sweetie, wait—!?” Penny was pushed back by the force of the blade's magic wave, which tossed her back toward the dampened ground. The avian assassin drifted to catch herself while Kyube and Chisana sailed on the winds to land kicks that sent them into the alleyway. An arcane barricade formed to seal off the area, preventing anyone from ascending 50 feet above the ground.

“There. Now none of them can interrupt us,” huffed Triad once he and Kitsune circled each other. He’d poured all his fury and vices into the tattoo beasts to purify himself and face her with a clear head. Noticing her missing tail, he inquired, “What happened?”

“The price of constant war,” answered Kitsune. “Everywhere we go, there’s only more death and destruction. I doubt even our homeworld is safe.”

He nodded. “Most certainly.”

“It need not end like this, Triad,” she pleaded. “We’re all victims of the syndicate. Experimented on. Used like toys until we’ve served our purpose. Why not lay down your blade today… and help us save the multiverse?”

“In any other scenario, I would have accepted,” replied Triad, a hint of melancholy in his voice. “But you know why I can’t stray from my path now.”

Her eyes heavied with pity as she reluctantly drew out her katana. “I do. But I had to try—”

The kunoichi vixen shifted her vision when her teammates evaded a collapsing building. Wispy and Eclipsed threw plasma orbs and crystalline shards to combat the tattoo monstrosities, whose size and power increased due to the sword’s influence.

Taking a martial arts stance, Wispy beckoned with a hand and cried, "Bring it! Hiyah!" However, the yokai plasma fires she summoned faded the moment they struck the tiger. "What the dick-?"

"Mine too! This is bad," yelped Eclipsed as her crystals turned to sparkly dust on contact with the thin dragon. She raced around its rapid strikes on her skates and said, "Somehow, they're immune! Maybe it's because they're psychic constructs…?"

Distracted by their plight, Kitsune's ears detected the sound of sliced wind and deflected an incoming shuriken the black kitasan stallion tossed her way.

“Stop losing focus and face me!” demanded Triad.

The vixen's cool eyes narrowed, and her lips formed a line. “As you wish. I shall finish this swiftly!”

Their blades repeatedly crossed in a shower of sparks, their denuded muscles tensed and taut. Any martial arts used were just a means to maneuver around the other for a better angle to attack. Puddles splashed under their deft, dance-like movements.

Unfortunately, Kitsune’s equilibrium remained off-balance, even after her incisive training and healing through the ship’s aid. Her graceful movements proved less fluid and clumsier than usual, barely able to keep pace with her augmented adversary that now outclassed her skills in every way.

“You’re even slower than before,” he observed between locked swords.

“Speed… isn’t always the deciding factor!” she grunted as metal-struck-metal.

“Still, this isn’t how I wanted to end this.” From his side eye, he spotted the bestial tattoos overwhelm Wispy, who battled what now turned into a sabretooth tiger and Eclipsed, also beaten down by the lengthy dragon. “Hmph. It appears this sword harbors more tricks than I imagined.”

“This is between us,” reasoned Kitsune as the combatants circled. “Kill me if you want, but allow them to live!”

“Once my familiars have separated from me, they’re their own entities. I can’t even recall them back.” The beasts tore the clothes from Wispy and Eclipsed, their wet naked bodies exposed before their furious appetites, born from his basest instincts. The tiger and dragon roared, ready to loosen Triad’s suppressed lust and fury on them. “Penny’s vileness and cruelty must have rubbed off on me…”

This steeled Kitsune to deal with him faster than ever, fighting harder with precise movements. She tried to blot out the humiliating cries of her teammates when Wispy found herself mounted by the sabretooth and pinned by its weight, her wail somewhere between pain and pleasure as its thick, barbed cock tore into her slick wet cunt.

“Nyahh~! S-Stupid cat, get off of me!” The nekomata mewled, the heavy tiger hunched on her back, splattered with its heated drool. Its muscular bulk pounded into her pussy while keeping her pinned with its claws, forcing a climax from her lips. “A-auuugh, fuck~!!” Wispy whined and hissed, the corner of her eyes teary as the vermillion beast’s hips clapped her wide, striped buttocks.

It claimed its mate without mercy, relentlessly pounded away, determined to spill a spectral seed that thankfully couldn't take root. Wispy panted, and her perky breasts swayed each time it hammered away, her face afire in humiliation, forced to take a barbed cock that drove another messy climax from her as she yelped and clenched.

“N-No, no, no, hold on! I’m taken-!” Eclipsed squirmed in the dragon’s tail, which repeatedly coiled around the pop star. Her charcoal flesh and fur were pinched, tits and cheeks bunched between its wrapped body. Her neck, cheek, and hot pink nipples were lapped by its elongated forked tongue.

“Bass... I-I’m so sorry! Forgive me!!” She sobbed and tensed up when its twin cocks pushed into her lower holes and spread them wide open, thankful she’d let her boyfriend claim them first!

The pop idol closed her eyes and tried to think only of her boyfriend when her captor took its pleasure from her spread wide open cavities, her twat left to leak its feminine nectar over the animal that invaded her entrance and backdoor with fierce, repetitive thrusts, which made her buttcheeks and titties bounce under every impact. "Oh~! Don't…!"

She, too, tensed up like Wispy as one of many climaxes was forced on them, their messy squirts lost in the drizzle. Yet even after the beasts spilled their seeds into their mates, they continued to violently make use of their bodies.

Kitsune snarled and burned with a white-hot fury unlike any she’d ever felt. Her yokai aura formed around her body, and balls of foxfire ringed around her, much to Triad’s surprise when he said, “The true power of the Nine-Tails?!”

She saw a moment of hesitation cross Triad’s face and took advantage of that by flinging her blue and red wispy yokai fireballs at him, balanced by her blade. The kitasan swordsman was pushed back by the flurry of swipes, blows, and magic she released, driven to the building’s slippery edge. With a two-handed swipe born of desperation, he sent her back, where she flipped, landed on her feet, and skidded back.

“Let’s settle this,” she declared when thunder cracked, and the sky flashed to better illuminate them. “Here and now!”

“This final strike decides it,” he concurred, the pair of them crouched and tensed to pounce. The two sailed skywards, silhouetted by the moon, and met in mid-air, where they crossed swords in a metallic clash of blades.

The two of them landed where the other one once perched and knelt. They stood motionless… until Triad tumbled forward with a pained groan. A giant line of blackened blood seeped across his chiseled chest and shoulder, all the way to the center of his back.

Both the tiger and dragon bellowed once they dispersed into the ether, freeing Wispy and Eclipsed as they tumbled onto the watery floor. Both raised their heads to the rooftops with speculation, the lead singer asking aloud, “Does that mean..?!”

Kitsune hissed, suffering the blow from his blade that sliced through her bandage bra, releasing her breasts into the cold, damp air while a crimson line formed between her bosom and belly. She glanced at her broken katana, fragments of the blade shattered over the roof’s edge. Tossing it aside, the fox woman bit back the pain and approached her opponent, who managed to push himself onto his knees.

“You… you bested me. Just like before… yet without the need for cybernetics… Remarkable...!” The black stallion murmured, coughing out more black bile from his lips.

“The world of advanced technology is a dangerous place,” spoke the vixen through ragged breath. “Utter reliance on it dulls the mind and body. Through this truth, I could shed off the machinery that shackled me and return to my roots.”

Triad stared at his adversary with a vacant gaze, a bitter chuckle leaving his throat. “You have achieved nirvana… Something I could never do. Not in this… pitiful state of being…” He hissed, using his damaged arms to reach and present his magically infused katana. “Take it… as a memento of our final clash. Use it well…”

She studied it briefly before cautiously taking the infused katana into her hands, her glare less intense. “I will,” she assured, lifting it high behind her head.

The kitasan swordsman smiled gently before bowing his head forward, both a sign of respect and acceptance of his fate. Without pause, Kitsune departed Triad’s head from his corpse, which slumped along with his body and scattered into dust. She watched the severed face of her foe disintegrate, his voice whispering in the winds, “Thank… you…”

With the decisive battle now over and no trace of Triad remaining, Kitsune keeled forward and held her stomach to keep her entrails in, vomiting up blood.

“Kitsune!!” Wispy and Eclipsed Heart shouted, hurrying to the vixen’s side despite their sore unmentionables.

“Mmnngh… It’s okay, girls,” insisted the bleeding fox woman. “I-I… will live.”

“Don’t worry, sis!” The two-tailed tigress said with watery eyes. “Layla will patch you up! Just… stop talking! Rest!”

While she guided Kitsune to lie down on her back, Eclipsed was perked up by the flashes and sounds from the alleyways below. “Wispy, stay here! I’ll help out Kyube and Chisana!”

The cat woman tensed. “In your condition...?”

“I-I’m just a little sore, is all…” confessed Eclipsed, her face red when she redressed herself the best she could with the tatters of her torn clothes. “But that doesn’t matter now! Penny’s still at large!” At least her enhanced roller skates were intact, which allowed her to sail in the air into the alleyway.

“Tsk. Silly bitch,” Wispy muttered with a small smirk before the reality of her sister’s condition intruded. More hot blood washed over the nekomata’s striped fur after she held her close. She sobbed out, “You hold on now, okay?!”

“Y-yes,” murmured Kitsune, who almost blinked her eyes closed. Delirious, she whispered to herself. “Sakura... It’s a nice name. I hope Kyube doesn’t see me like this… s-so indecent!”

Wispy failed to suppress a giggle before turning her frown to where Triad once stood. “Poor bastard… Couldn’t save him from himself. Wrecked my favorite costume and punched my ticket, too!”

Meanwhile, Penny Dreadful carried on her dance of death down the narrow alleyway with Kyube and Chisana, who were forced to scatter from the barrage of tiny missiles she released from the silos in her wide opened wingspan. Graffiti-laden walls shattered into rocks and dust under the explosions that blossomed from each unloaded rocket.

She hooted, “Nowhere to run now, my pretties! You’ll make lavishing fur coats~." Yet every time she believed her rockets struck home, a Kyube clone faded away, or more smoke rose from Chisana, a dummy left in the place where she once stood. “So annoying! Ugh, what did Triad say this was? Yokai magic..? No matter. You’ll run out of reserves and tire yourselves out long before my silos are emptied! And then, this bird of prey will move in for the kill~!”

The griffoness kept her parasol’s blade ready and evaded the kunai knives tossed her way. “Ooh~! So close! But no dice—ack!” A swift kick to her head from a roller skate knocked her aside.

Eclipsed Heart twirled in the air after her surprise attack, a crystal javelin in hand, the scanty remains of her tattered roller derby costume hastily stitched back on her almost naked flesh. “Give it up, you nutty harpy! Your boyfriend’s dead, and your zombie minions are being cleaned up. You’ve lost!”

“What?! Triad is..? No… NO! YOU LIE!!” Penny screeched, eyes manically wide. Despite her declaration, she knew deep down it was true. She no longer saw his familiars nor sensed his undead presence. “I’LL TEAR OUT YOUR HEART AND FEED IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, YOU SKANK!!”

She swiped at the pop star wildly, driven mad with vengeance, no longer concerned whether her assault ended in mutual destruction. Eclipsed pirouetted away from each reckless swing, blocking her parasol with her crystalline spear when cornered to a steel wall under her nonstop assault.

Penny primed the rest of her missiles and launched them all simultaneously, despite the warnings that flashed across her interior systems. The pop diva cried, “W-Wait, don’t—!”

Nonetheless, a flurry of rockets were fired point-blank, and the charcoal mare’s scream ended up lost in the explosion. The clockwork killer squeaked, her nuked doll body torn into chunks amidst the eruption. Her head, torso, and one arm remained attached, partially scorched, and her attire burned off down to her blackened feathers.

A black crater smoked where the pop princess once stood, a scorched hole torn from the spaceship. “YES! DIE YOU SLATTERNLY...WHAT!?!”

Her eyes turned to pinpoints at Eclipsed beside Kyube and Chisana, who had barely snatched her up in time, her charcoal fur singed but otherwise unharmed. Penny's outrage was reduced to childish bawling. “N-No… this isn’t fair! Triad… Daddy, I…I-Ah~!”

Unable to close the wound in its hull in time, a powerful burst of air sucked at Penny, her removed abdomen, legs, and arm tossed out into the Sacratera. Clinging on for dear life, unable to fly under the force with her plume wrecked, she yelped, “H-help...!”

Chisana narrowed her eyes. “Go jōdandeshou!”

“Unbelievable,” Kyube scoffed.

Tentatively, Eclipsed started to offer her crystal javelin, despite knowing the likelihood that it was a trick… which immediately proved correct when the griffoness screeched, “DIE, YOU FILTHY WHOOOOOOORE!!”

Her beak opened wide and fired one last hidden rocket. But the male kitsune flung a yokai ball fast enough to intercept the missile before it could launch out of her shrilling mouth.

The rocket went off on impact, the explosion tossing Kyube, Chisana, and Eclipsed back, the latter summoning a crystal shield to take the brunt of the fiery debris that burst before them.

Eclipsed huffed. “Everyone okay?”

The yokai bandits nodded while everyone gazed at the smoldering ruins of the clockwork killer, remains splattered all over the screen before dissolving into darkened specks. Eclipsed drained of color. “I-Is she..?”

Kyube nodded. “Departed this world the way she lived in it. Violently.”

Quest to her core, Eclipsed mumbled to herself, “Good riddance…” Chisana nodded and kicked a stray, charred talon aside before it too became dust.

The simulation of the Cyberverse ended in distortion, the fire, rain, buildings, and night skies disappearing into the pale room, which steadily repaired the torn hole. The trio rushed to help Wispy hold up Kitsune, who used the last of her clothes to cover up her sister’s injuries. The nekomata ordered, “Let’s get her to the infirmary room, stat!”

“I’ll carry her,” offered Kyube, who gingerly held the vixen in his arms bridal style. Despite her gruesome appearance, she looked peaceful in her rest, unconsciously burying her face into his chest.

“Let’s go before more trouble finds us!” Eclipsed Heart urged, guiding her bandmates and friends out of the A.R. chamber and through the lengthy corridor.

Light and darkness similarly clashed on Sacratera, each strike from Zeloph's and Mortis’ respective weapons igniting blinding flashes. The two pushed their Onomas and their prowess to the limit, neither able to overpower the other. Whenever the undead sorcerer used Thanatos to latch his shadow onto the exalted demi-human, his light burned brighter to shine away the creeping darkness. "What a fitting conclusion it would be," called Mortis. "As the betrayer died by your hand, her Onoma will now be instrumental in your destruction..!"

"Never!" glowered Zell.

Yet whenever the Aether King unleashed light beams from the pupils of his eyes or sacred fire to knock the vengeful revenant down, he'd rise back up fierce as ever in a flutter of a tattered black cloak, his rust-colored guillotine scythe clasped in his skeletal hands.

But the seraph wasn’t his only problem. The two lilim who stayed, Bellatrix and Analise, worked in tandem to support Zeloph the best they could with the full brunt of their unleashed powers.

“I'll hold him down,” hissed Bellatrix in a whisper to her fellow sex demon. “Then, you strike!”

“On it!” Ana murmured, using her Onoma to briefly vanish from sight.

The red-skinned woman unfurled her leathery wings and sailed towards Mortis, who launched a cleaving wave to propel his angelic foe away. Zeloph was unharmed but momentarily pushed back. Even though Bella couldn’t summon another demon, her Onoma, Gehenna, wasn’t limited to one power. Channeling flames from her palm, she opened a small multitude of portals from her personal dimension of hell.

From the fiery-black rifts shot dozens of infernal chains, tipped with hooks, from all directions. The seared steel ensnared Mortis, restraining him for Ana to uncloak herself and move in for the kill. “Yer abaht ter get your yarbles got! If ya 'ave any yarbles to got, that is!”

With that declaration, the neon demon put all her might into a vicious rend, dashing forward to jab her claws into the coiled-up lich’s ribcage before crossing them apart with a devastating blue and pink cleave.

The impact shook Mortis, a few of his bones cracked apart under the tearing attack. But in mere seconds, blackness oozed out from beneath to repair the fractures. “Oh, come the fuck on!!”

Bellatrix clenched her sharp teeth, straining to maintain her hold on the reaper. “Keep going! He’ll have to run out eventually!”

This made Mortis laugh. “Fools! Within me is an all but endless chasm of souls for me to draw life force from. You will perish long before I reach the finite of my reserves!” To demonstrate, the black-cloaked reaper conjured the anguished life he'd consumed and unleashed a dark wave that knocked over Bella and Ana, snapping the summoned hellbound chains instantly.

The gray clouds rumbled with thunder overhead when Mortis descended towards the staggered succubi, ready to reap the pair, until Zeloph raced forward to protect his friends with a deflecting sweep. With the lich temporarily disarmed, the Aether King fired a solar wave to send him backward into a dilapidated building, the force causing it to crumble atop Mortis with a crash.

“Are you alright?” asked the seraphic demi, though his eyes remained fixated on where his opponent fell, knowing he wouldn’t lay down for long.

“Yeah,” coughed Bella through the kicked-up asphalt dust. “Just peachy.”

“Fuckin’ hell!” Ana growled, slamming her fist into the ground. “We’re givin' this asshole the bloomin' poundin' of a lifetime, and 'e keeps comin' back for more! We might as well be necrophiliacs at this rate!”

“This is why I told you to head back to the ship,” urged Zeloph. “I’m the only one who can stand up to him now..!”

But the red-skinned she-devil refused, teeth tightly clenched. “You’re not dying alone out here, and I’m not going to be treated like a burden. Not when I swore to make up for my past mistakes.”

“Damn wite abaht that,” added Ana. “It’s crystal that wif aw those souls, 'is power far exceeds our own. Eventually, you’ll burn yourself aahhht too, Zelly…”

His glare hardened when Mortis gradually emerged from the ruins again, not wanting to admit defeat. But the luster-sworn angel knew his comrades were right. He could already feel his exaltation expiring, evident by his flickering glow. “Damn it all! If there was only a way we could free the souls trapped inside him! But without another reaper like Atalanta, is that even possible...?”

A low chuckle drew threatening attention to the hovering reaper stallion, parts of his old identity as Danse Macabre manifesting in his withered flesh.

“Ahh… How long have I wished to relish in the feeling of triumph,” Mortis taunted. “A shame that my victory over the traitor and her family could not extend to my past life.”

Zell deepened his glare and demanded, “What are you on about..?!”

A haughty smirk stretched his half-formed face. “Atalanta’s mother… Quiver Bolt, wasn't it? She attempted to arrange a marriage between her and Danse Macabre.” He spoke of his former self like he was a different entity, in spite of how his emotions and history stirred to the surface of a withered face.

Nonetheless, he continued to goad Zeloph, whose anger intensified with every word. “Who knows what might have been? Our reaper cutie marks bind us to our order while suppressing our emotions. Perhaps I could have made a spell that would nullify the latter. Then I might have been able to cull Shadow Scythe’s lust for power and offer her a life where she would truly be happy!”

His scythe clashed with the seraph’s saber as he declared with umbrage, “She’d never marry the likes of you!”

Driven by ballistic rage, Zeloph continued to push Apollo’s solaromancy beyond its maximum, his relentless attacks alit with sun fire. Mortis easily countered every strike and thrust aimed at him with the help of the souls he'd collected, the stolen Onoma called Thanatos, and the Eldritch phantoms attached to his blackened soul.

Not even the cover fire provided by Bellatrix and Analise phased him; their hellish projectiles and surprise attacks from every angle they could launch evaded with ease. “It’s futile,” he announced whenever he brushed aside brimstone, hellfire, and hooked chains with a wave of his bony hand. “Any amount of hell you raise pales in comparison to the pain I’ve endured.”

A spectral green aura ignited from his palms once he launched a disintegration ray, forcing Zeloph to stand in front and activate his Ophanim shield to absorb the deathly blast. Once the holy rings of topaz disappeared, he collapsed to one knee with a sharp cry.

Bella and Ana cried out, “Zell!”

“You fought formidably, but your skills and gifts can no longer reach me,” Mortis declared from above, skeletal draconic wings unfurled from his back. “For I have done what the betrayer only dared to dream. I have shed away the mortal coils that bound me to the earth and have become… infinite!” Deathly shadows, armed with sickles and curved blades, emerged from the tattered cloak reaper. “So, struggle all you want. In the end, you’ll still perish!”

Before Zeloph could rush back in on fiery wings, Analise swooped in front to blockade him. “Out of my way!”

“Nah! Ya can’t let 'im Kathy Burke ya up loike this! Ya need ter chill out!”

“Sister, please! Now is not—”

“Bella, look after 'im for a moment,” the neon succubus directed before soaring up to summon the power of Nyx, surrounding herself and the black reaper within the sealed neon void.

While they were occupied, Bellatrix crouched by the fiery angel’s side, doing her best to comfort him. “She's right, Zeloph. Mortis is biding his time until you’ve run out of energy to contend with him. If you die, then there will be nothing left to stop him. And Atalanta's death will be for nothing.”

The red-skinned demoness stroked his cheek, astonished to find that light wasn’t burning her. It almost felt soft and soothing once Zeloph leaned his head into her palm, his outrage having died down a little in her presence.

Reason and awareness settled in, and he nodded mutedly. “All this power, and I'm feel too weak. I can't think of a single way to free Atalanta's soul from his now that they're so entwined!”

“There has to be something we can do,” Bella proclaimed. “That trick card that Seb slipped you. Couldn’t we use that?”

He pulled up the item in question, which had an hourglass design in between the mirroring number of six. “Yeah, but I’m not even sure what this even does,” confessed Zell. “It would be nice to discover it could somehow freeze time.”

“Pft. Since when do we have that kind of luck?” Bella snarked softly. “Still, what else do we have to lose? After all, should he win, we're doomed anyhow.”

“Fair enough. But what will happen should we strike Mortis Saltaire down? Will Atalanta's soul be lost forever...?”

Before he could rack his brain for an answer, the neon void shattered, and Mortis loomed out with the imp form of Moxxi, bloodied and bruised, in his clutches. “S-sorry, lovs… tried… t-to stall the best I could….” she managed to say with weak breath as the undead revenant tossed her by their feet.

“Moxxi, no!!” cried Bellatrix, who reached over to cradle the half-conscious imp to her bosom.

“I’ve grown bored of this feeble skirmish,” the unicorn lich scoffed. “Maybe it’s best I leave you for last, Zeloph. So that you can watch me slay all your foolhardy friends, then reap their souls, one by one. Until in your prolonged suffering, you offer yourself before me; begging to join them!” He infused his guillotine-style scythe with soul power, a spectral aura flaring around the held-aloft weapon. “Let’s start with those pitiful hellspawns! Time to meet your maker, vile demons!”

But before Mortis could unleash his soul-charged attack, Zeloph intercepted and activated the captured card Seb lent him. A vibrant blue sigil of a clock appeared over the reaper, its hands rapidly spiraling before grinding to a halt, locking him in suspended animation.

‘What?!’ Mortis internally bellowed in disbelief. ‘Why… can’t I… move?!’

Zeloph was flabbergasted, staring between the frozen reaper and the card, which then dispersed into nothingness. “… holy shit, it actually stopped time!?”

Bellatrix proved equally perplexed. “What the—how in fuck’s name did that lousy criminal lay his dirty hands on a temporal spell of that caliber?! Surely, he must have stolen it..!”

But they didn’t bother to continue arguing the logistics, noticing the magic keeping Mortis in stasis started beckoning. It was slow at first but gradually sped up after every sixth blink, signaling that the spell wouldn’t last for long.

Seizing this golden opportunity, Zeloph unfurled his multitude of wings and took to the air. From above, he called down, “Take Moxxi, cover your eyes, and get as far away from here as possible!” His eyes lit up with brilliant light, focused on his detained enemy as he declared quietly, “… I’m about to light this fucker up!”

Realizing the implications, Bella tucked Moxxi closer to her chest and quickly flew to safety, hiding behind a standing pillar and enclosing her wings around them.

Calling forth the last of his Onoma, Zeloph drew every particle of light available in the area to his being, the entire landscape dimming to near blackness with how brightly the exalted angel gleamed. Energy rippled from his limbs towards his chest, channeling into a sphere that grew with intensity, light, and heat. The Crucible dissolved into its wielder, lending him the strength of the previous heroes to vanquish his foe.

Mortis could only gaze petrified at the glaring light, utterly helpless to do anything but await the impending attack. The vibrant hum of Apollyon rose in pitch, ringing louder and higher until culminated in Zeloph’s final gambit. The Aether King emitted a valiant battle cry as he poured all of his might into unleashing a single ray of godly light that blasted Mortis with the force of a thousand suns. An explosion of light and debris whirled from the impact, the extensive force nearly knocking Bella from her hiding spot. More structures crumbled and toppled over, starting away any alien creatures that were near the desolate urban area.

When the light faded, only a large crater remained, ground and gravel scorched with baleful white flames. Zeloph floated down towards the earth while his exalted form diminished, leaving him bare and covered in burn marks and bruises. Steam wafted from his shoulders, caked in sweat and blood. Petals from his floral tail had wilted off.

The burnt-out angel clenched his fist, struggling to hold onto what little strength remained that kept him from reverting to his cherub state. Zell gasped greatly for air, his chest searing with agony. That was his last attempt at defeating Mortis Solitaire. And despite the severe drawback of trending himself toward powerlessness, he had to pull it off. Aware that were he to fall, everyone aboard the UFO, which was hopefully light years away from Sacratera by now, would pay the price. Left unchecked, entire worlds, perhaps even universes, could fall before the unimaginable power of the black reaper's need to consume life...!

Rain began to fall once Bellatrix flew down beside him, wrapping an arm around Zell to help him back up while the weakened demi-human leaned against the succubus, who scanned the fiery, smokey, decimated landscape.

“You almost leveled the entire city with that blast,” noted the she-devil. “That had to have been it, right? Not even the Burning King and his cronies could endure that! Mortis couldn't have survived... r-right!?”

But their hope was quickly tarnished after a charred, bony hand shot from the ground, and Mortis once more pulled himself out of the ground. Tattered pieces of his clock were burned off, and likewise, any trace of his flesh, save for the thin skin still attached to his skull. While the dark magic infused inside of him worked harder to heal his fractured bones, the embodiment of death stood with indomitable will. A dry cackle croaked out his blackened jaws. “Tired, ancient, and half-dead. But still, I come for you!”

“N-No..!!!” Groaned Zeloph, struggling to call upon his heavenly sword and continue the fight, yet he could barely stand without Bellatrix's support.

Mortis took sluggish steps towards his weakened adversaries, scythe scraping along the ground, kicking up sparks and dirt, his ghostly silhouette highlighted by the occasional flashes of lightning. “I will prevail…. For I…have…eternity!”

As their untimely fate loomed closer, Zeloph squinted his gaze when a strange streak of light hit his eye. That’s when he noticed a crack shimmering beneath the skeletal reaper’s ribcage. “Wait a second… Bella, do you see—?”

“Y-Yeah,” she whispered roughly. “I think you opened up a weak point where Moxxi struck him! And from the looks of it, his healing isn’t as strong anymore, like it's partly burned out..!”

“Then we still have a chance,” he grunted, finally managing to manifest his shimmering teal blade. “Bellatrix! You have to finish Mortis off now!”

Torn for a moment since she didn't want to leave Moxxi unprotected, the crimson demoness nonetheless conjured more hook-tipped chains from hellish portals surrounding the undead sorcerer, trying to reach his partially exposed core. Sensing this, Mortis moved faster than she could fling her power, spinning his scythe in an arc to reflect the multitude of hooked chains before they struck home.

“A noble effort…” He commented before sliding into his shadow. And from Bellatrix's own shade, he arose and cut her down from behind with his rust-colored guillotine. “… But wasted by someone undeserving of life! You're no more than a mere piece of fiction!”

The succubus screamed, soaked in hot blood, the gash so deep it could have split her into halves had she not attempted to evade the mortal blow.

"I conferred with the Eldritch," continued Mortis. "You were never meant to exist beyond the Necronomicon, wretched spawn!”

Bellatrix used his closeness to her advantage, pushing through the pain as her claws sank into his cracked rib cage; her lithe muscles pushed to her limits as she threw all her strength into prying the wound further open. “Even a devil like me can change! Moxxi, Zeloph, Shadow Scythe...hell, Beatrix and all of her friends have made so many mistakes! Committed terrible sins!” Her face twisted in primal fury while hot blood continually leaked from the deep slit down her back. “But I'll sacrifice whatever it takes to end you, foul reaper! Even should that mean I have to forfeit my own worthless life...!”

“Then allow me to perform your last rites!” Mortis shoved her back with black force, her bloodied body rolling onto her front. Bella tiredly tried to lift herself up while her executioner raised his rustic weapon to behead the demon.

Zeloph cried out, rushing in to try and intercept, only for Mortis to bat him away with his skeletal wings. “No..!!”

“Rejoice, demon,” the blackened reaper stallion said. “For you will join the traitor in perpetual agony!"

Bellatrix squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting for the blade to lop off her head… when an unkindness of ravens descended upon the reaper in a cacophony of caws. The flock obscured his vision, and Bellatrix pulled away from his awkward swipe, her face tensed with a pained cry as the scythe made a surface cut across her chest.

Zeloph stumbled to her aid while Moxxi regained consciousness, watching in perplexity whenever the undead unicorn fought to swipe away the pesky avian creatures. “Wot the Three Card Trick...?!”

“Naaagh! Stop! What are you doing?!” Bellowed Mortis, his strikes and projectiles failing to impact any of the corvids with how closely they flew around him. In his confusion, he noticed that each of them harbored a different eye color. Gold, violet, aquamarine, scarlet… The largest of the bunch, which looked more reptilian than bird, sported unblinking gray eyes while they swooped and cried out without relent.

Then came the last of the group. The pale white crow that had been stalking Zeloph and his friends the entire time.

“You again…” the fatigued demi-human murmured, mesmerized by the raven…who swooped down in a deathly dive, then phased through the fractured ribcage of Mortis when it struck the wound Moxxi and Zeloph created, then Bella's attack had finally ripped apart.

The shimmering fissure opened more than ever once the bird had flown inside. The rest of the ravens backed off from the wildly swinging reaper, little more than nuisances to him. Mortis yelled from the immense pain coursing out his chest, forced down to his knees.

Moxxi and Bellatrix then nodded at each other and, with what little energy they could recover, rushed in to confine Mortis’ arms. “Got 'em,” cried the imp, holding on for dear life while the black reaper yanked back with a harsh snarl.

“His mortal side's vulnerable,” added Bellatrix, who'd locked down Mortis' other arm with the help of her wound-up hooked chains. “Now, Zeloph! DO IT!!”

With the realization of what he needed to do, Zeloph flew as fast as his wings could carry him and plunged the Crucible into the glimmering wound. A pained cry sounded from Mortis as a brilliant illumination enveloped them…

Zeloph’s multitude of eyes blinked back open, only to discover he was no longer in the abandoned metropolis. Before him now awaited a library composed of endless shelves stacked with books where he turned. “What is this place?” It felt similar to when his mind was in the Crucible, yet somehow familiar. Like someone described this to him before…

Then it hit him. “Wait! Is this… where the order of reapers was formed?”

He briefly recalled a conversation with Atalanta about a hidden lair she and the other death-sworn once chose to conduct their practices. An old library underground in Tartarus, lost to time, while modern Equestria prospered.

“So why do I feel like I’ve been here before? It doesn’t make any sense!” Zell brushed over a book cover, the dust staining his nimble fingertip.

“It’s likely these are not our memories,” answered Bellatrix, back in her usual black leather and lace attire when she skulked up, arms crossed underneath her crimson breasts. “I imagine we’re inside Mortis’ soul, which remains intertwined with Atalanta’s, thus…”

Moxxi popped up from underneath a pile of books, coughing out dust bunnies. “Yugh! Dingy Drum. Definitely the sort of shindig Edgie would 'ang 'round,” she snickered, planting her dump truck rear atop a bookshelf. “Thought kinda intimate in a way! Always wanted ter be inside Atalanta ~."

Her humor fell flat amongst her people, and grief momentarily crossed the imp’s crestfallen face. “Sorry, I shouldn’t 'ave…”

“It’s okay,” assured her brother. “We at least know where we are and how we got here. But now, what do we do?”

“If I were my sister, she’d opt to explore,” mused Bellatrix. “Maybe the secret to freeing Atalanta's soul lies deeper within?”

“Yeah, I can feel her here. Somewhere… like how we were trapped in the Necronomicon.”

Her face lowered in thought. “Were it not for Beatrix, I would have died little more than a predatory animal. I want to free my succubi sisters from such a fate. That's why I strove to become the Queen of Hell. But they’re likely dead now that the Necronomicon is annihilated. I couldn't even save Alma, despite my efforts. I failed everyone...”

“Don’t put yourself daahhhn, Belli,” Moxxi encouraged while fluttering to her side. “It’s thanks ter all our combined efforts we rendered ol’ Danse Macabre is vulnerable! at least, I hope 'e's not muckin' 'round in the 'real world' while we're 'ere..!”

Bella nodded. “Time should be standing still outside...”

“Good. Then we have to find her soul and get out of here,” said Zeloph, his face once more lit up by determination. “We have to hurry and make sure she isn't lost to...t-to...”

“We won't let Atalanta fade away to the aether,” assured Bella, stroking his lithe shoulder. “And should she somehow end up lost in hell, I'll look after her.”

“Yeah, best ter relax while ya can, bro,” added Moxxi. “Your anxieties especially could set off Atalanta's soul.”

“… Of course,” he replied and took a deep inhale to calm himself. Zell found the Crucible was still in his sheathe. And, upon releasing it, the blade illuminated to light the way.

“Guess it wants us to follow,” he assumed. “Thank you.” With his comrades by his side, Zeloph guided them through the labyrinth of bookshelves into the headquarters of the reaper order. They crossed into a room that in no way connected to the one they escaped from. He boiled it down to dream logic, far more concerned with the fate of his beloved.

Zell realized they were back in Atalanta's childhood before her parents had torn it down and moved it far from society. They found all three in the dining room, where a fourth was also eating with them. His eyes narrowed, and his teeth clenched, his blade in hand.

“Danse..!”

“Wait, hold on,” said Bella, who stepped in his way. “This is a memory, so they don’t see or hear us, remember?”

Begrudgingly, the angelic demi stood back to oversee the scene. Danse Macabre wore black robes; his hood cast back. He appeared to be a pretty plain-looking stallion. Not ugly by any means, but nothing remarkable either. Across from him sat Atalanta, her expression cold to match her pale blue fur, deathly white mane, and icy blue eyes. Scrolls with equations littered the tabletop beside emptied dinner plates.

Quicksilver Bullet sat in a chair by the fireplace, reading a newspaper with a pipe in his mouth. “You should've told us we were having company, dear. Your mother could have prepared us a better meal to suit the occasion!”

“Hush,” teased back Quiver Bolt, an apron thrown over the motherly mare's dress. “I'm just happy to see our little mare's finally found a date! And he's cute in a bookish sort of way, too!”

“It's not a date,” Atalanta informed coolly. “Danse Macabre is here to help with my research, and no more.”

“Heh. 'Research'. Sure~!” Quiver winked and elbowed her daughter's shoulder, plates of refreshments carried on a tray. She leaned into the stallion unicorn’s ear and whispered, “Just make sure you two, um, use proper protection. I don't think our little ice princess is ready to tie the knot yet!”

Danse paled sheepishly. “We're not like that. Not even friends, really,” he admitted almost inaudibly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Actually, the reaper order forbids intimate relationships between its members since it would distract from our work.

“Exactly,” spoke up Atalanta. “We're acquaintances. Nothing more, nothing less. I have no use for silly romances.”

“Well, either way, I hope you'll treat her well,” grunted Quicksilver, who set aside his paper and pipe, then seated himself at the head of the table. “That goes for you too, Atalanta. Be nice to him, and don't embarrass us, okay?”

“Yes, Dad,” she answered flatly with a sour look. Atalanta poked at her food with a fork while Quiver Bolt also sat down. “We're researching a new, experimental spell for the reaper order,” the pale unicorn mare said before they could ask, aware her parents would want to pry into her business, like usual.

Quicksilver raised a bushy eyebrow. “What kind of spell...?”

“Uh, a way to empower one's cutie marks,” hastily explained Danse in an attempt to cover their work on the soul-intertwinement spell. “You see, our reaper marks are so rare that only a few have them at a time. They suppress emotion to help sharpen our focus.”

“As if my daughter needs to conceal more of her feelings,” the bearded elder stallion muttered to himself.

Danse continued, “But what if we can discover a way to better balance that?” Quicksilver shot him a skeptical look but didn't press him further.

Quiver said, “Ooh! That sounds wonderful! All I've ever wanted is to see my little mare be happy! Maybe after you're done, you two can be married and move in? We'll have a happy home!” She whistled cheerfully, and even Quicksilver chuckled and smiled, despite doubts written across his face.

“Unlikely,” muttered Atalanta, who barely touched her food and instead drank her tea. She finished her drink and rolled up her scrolls. “Come on, Danse!” She retreated up the stairs.

Quiver cheerfully called, “Protection~!”

Danse pulled back up his hood to cover his sheepish face, met by a defensive look from Quicksilver. The black reaper bowed and thanked the parents for the meal before he followed Atalanta to her room to resume their research into the soul-intertwinement spell in privacy.

Moxxi whistled, her melancholy mixed with cheer. “Yeesh! Talk abaht awkward first impressions. Nah footsies or aahhht!”

“This only proves how much of a coward he was in life,” surmised Zeloph while following the pair up the stairs.

'We never so much as kissed in a chaste manner,' came a muted, disembodied voice. 'If only she gave in to me then. I could have saved her…'

Bellatrix’s eyes darted around. “Mortis! Show yourself, you rotten bastard!”

The hut faded around them, and Moxxi, Zell, and Bella were transferred to the cliffside that overlooked the sea, dotted by a solitary etched gravestone to mark where Quiver Bolt had been put to rest after her suicide. Next to it stood Quicksilver Bullet’s tombstone, his beaten hat resting atop. And hovering over was a solitary ball of baleful light, the sounds of sobs resonating from it.

Moxxi gasped. “I-I fin' that’s..!”

Zeloph walked slowly towards the soul, each step closer revealing the familiar shape of his beloved. “Atalanta…”

The spectral mare was hunched down, dead hands and roots clinging to her limbs, trying to pull her under. All the way repeating a mantra of how sorry she was for murdering her parents.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… please forgive me…”

Swooping down was the pale raven creature, its pale gaze fixated on Zeloph as if waiting for him…

'Go to her, Zeloph,' a warm voice encouraged, which the angelic demi realized came from the Crucible. “Let her hear you...”

Wordlessly, Zell put down his sword and knelt behind the wailing soul of Shadow Scythe. Moxxi attempted to follow but was pulled back by Bellatrix, who shook her head.

Mustering as strong a voice as he could, the seraphic demi wrapped his hands and wings around the apparition and gently told her, “I’m here, Atalanta… please, come back to me..!”

Tears fell from his tired visage, carrying small embers that ignited the decaying soil not with fire but with life. Grass and flowers sprouted forth in full bloom, releasing inconceivable energy that assimilated into Shadow Scythe’s soul. The corpse's hands shriveled into dust, carried by wind and sound as Sacatera’s song strengthened within the void.

The soul emitted a gasp, her tear-streaked eyes opening with alarm as she saw her one and only clutching her tightly.

“… Zeloph…?!”

The world around them shattered like glass shards and dissolved into the blinding illumination.

The fallen earth’s song carried them back to reality, whereupon a flood of souls burst free from Mortis’ wound, knocking Zeloph, Moxxi, and Bellatrix backward. One by one, the baleful orbs returned to the ether. The reaper was aghast, grasping to try and keep the fleeing souls inside him.

“No, wait! Come back!” He ordered until the final soul wriggled free, taking the form of the white raven before their eyes. Then, as the avian sailed around the group, it gradually took on a humanoid shape and touched down on its feet.

The pale light faded, revealing a newly formed demi-human with dark gray skin, deprecated by white markings that resembled bones. Snowy shoulder-length hair cascaded down from her head, messy bangs hooding her forehead with a few stains stylized like a scythe. Her long narrow tail lifted from above her pert bottom, tipped with a ghost lily.

Raven-shaped winged ears unfurled from either side of her head. And when the demi-human took her first pained breath, her eyes opened to reveal icy gray orbs. Her lithe bosom expanded and contracted as she strained a little to settle in with her return to the living world.

Tearfully, Zeloph called out, “A-At...Atalanta?! Y-you're-”

Danse Macabre stumbled behind them, shouting in denial, “No...! NO! It can't be! You can't be...!”

A familiar cool gaze hardened on the reaper demi’s face, and a recognizable smile spread her lips.

“...reborn!”

Atalanta lifted into the air, floating past Moxxi and Bella, who held bewildered looks as her lips met Zeloph's. She wrapped her slender arms around him, pressed her nakedness into her love as her tongue danced with his own, starved of his tender love and warmth. Finally, with a reluctant ache, she withdrew in a strand of saliva connecting their warm lips, a feverish blush written across her delicate face.

Zell was momentarily stunned before stammering, “Wh-what… how… why… I-I have so many questions!”

Atalanta tittered, stroking his cheek. “Those can come later. Because the only thing keeping me from ravaging you into the ground for a month nonstop is still standing sixty feet from us~.”

With her rebirth came the heated, passionate emotions once repressed from her previous life as a mare. Her built-up desires flourished as Atalanta guided his hands to brush over her perky breasts and supple ass, a tease to tantalize how she planned to celebrate their imminent victory.

Leaving her future husband flustered, the death angel approached her vengeful executioner, using a spell to summon her clothes with a deft wave. Adorning her was a sleeveless sand-colored top with jagged cuts that highlighted her slim underboob. Torn shorts with a skull ornamental belt clothed her shapely waist. And returning to her was her pale white cloak and hood; cape tipped with darkness.

“Hello, Danse,” she greeted with a sassy tone. “Happy to see me again~?”

“Not another word, traitor,” barked Mortis as he attempted to cast aside his flesh once more and retake his skeletal form; the lingering remnants of his former life faded between. “How dare you live again!”

“I’m not so easily done in by a simple soul-entwinement spell,” the reaper demi remarked. “All those years studying, crafting it to perfection. Wasted. If you only knew how gravely disappointed the old order is in what you’ve become, Danse.”

“Danse is DEAD!” The charred reaper proclaimed. “I am Mortis Saltaire! Death personified! This is my domain now, Shadow Scythe! As is your Onoma, Thanatos!”

Atalanta shook her head and calmly rebutted, “You’ve only taken the worst parts of me, Danse. I’ve left behind that empty, bitter life of megalomania…”

A black and blue aura rose from her reaper’s cloth, manifesting into her hand a duel-ended scythe, which she twirled skillfully before striking her battle pose.

“…Let me show you how far I’ve come!”

Atalanta launched forward, the ends of her cape spread apart like wings. Mortis retaliated by throwing deathly projectiles and dark magic. But the reaper demi took on an intangible state, passing through the spells cast her way like a phantom, becoming corporal once she arrived within range.

She assailed the battered lich head-on, his rust-colored guillotine scythe easily knocked aside by her duel-bladed weapon that swirled under her deft, precise moments.

Zeloph, Moxxi, and Bellatrix watched from the sidelines in amazement. The difference in power proved obvious by how gracefully Atalanta danced around her hateful adversary in a whirl of curved blades.

Mortis was weakening with every second; more drained souls returned to the afterlife, and the lich rattled under blow after blow despite his best efforts to counter her series of attacks.

That’s when Zeloph spotted the unkindness of ravens from before circling above, observing the fight between the death sworn. He wondered aloud, “Are those… the reaper order?”

“It must be,” considered Moxxi. “Maybe they made this possible? But why? She Son 'n Daughter'd them in cold blood...!”

“It has to be more than that,” whispered a skeptical Bella, yet she couldn't explain the logistics, either.

Knocked onto his back, Mortis' skeleton oozed blackened blood when Atalanta stood over him, a heel pressed to his throat and her double-ended scythe raised to behead him. He choked when she pressed down on his neck.

“Your quest for vengeance ends here,” she said softly before offering an ultimatum. “Accept my mercy and be put to rest, or return to the afterlife screaming!”

His face livid, Mortis slipped through the shadows and emerged shouting, “Mercy? From you?! Never!!”

Atalanta gazed at him mournfully and tsked. “You really are more like me than you care to admit,” she whispered. “Sharp...ambitious...and completely lost...!”

She summoned a white raven, which struck through Mortis' temple. He was momentarily rattled by the strike, marked for death by an eerie corvid symbol etched into his rib cage. From her own shadow arose canine-based creatures of darkness, the size of wolves, the shape of doberman pinschers, and the anxiety-inducing cackles of hyenas. Pointing her finger at the defiant reaper, she gave her pack of shadow hounds her command.

“Sic ‘em!”

All at once, the snarling dogs moved as a fluid unit to surround the undead sorcerer, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

“No! You will not have me… not while the traitor...!”

Mortis desperately tried to fend off the wispy hounds, but the shadowy weapons he summoned with Thanatos proved useless against creatures molded of the same substance. And whenever he swiped with his guillotine, more chunks of pallid flesh were torn from him. He shrilly screamed, overwhelmed, and knocked to his back while the shadowy beasts feasted on his remains and essence. The onlookers winched at the evisceration, Moxxi going so far as to cover her eyes.

With their target torn and bloodied, the pack returned to their mistress, who steadily approached in a billowing white cloak. His hazy eyes stared up at the reaper order, disguised as corvids, circling above.

There was nowhere left for Mortis to turn. His closest minions were slain. His army of dead was little more than fodder to be cleaned up. The lich’s own power was either useless or depleted.

“Memento mori, Danse Macabre,” said Atalanta, her voice solemn. “I’m sorry…”

He winced and choked up black blood once her scythe descended on him. Mortis started to blacken and crumble to dust, and his dim eyes widened as the unkindness of reapers descended around him and landed to form a circle that loomed mournfully. Only now did a measure of the stallion he'd been truly manifest, the Eldritch he'd made a deal with cast out with alien screams and into the void by Atalanta's dual scythe.

Memories of his life flashed by him. His admission into the order by a fellow acolyte. A fond farewell said to his parents, who'd already passed on years before his own demise. Grief subdued by his reaper cutie mark, thrown into his studies and failed attempts to complete the soul-intertwinement spell, in truth because he hoped no one would need to suffer the pain of loss anymore.

A child's dream, he now realized. But it had been all he had, always alone. Only now did Mortis realize that true death was to have never lived life at all.

“Tell me… How do you feel?” Atalanta asked with an almost soothing tone.

While his life faded away, Sacratera manifested around them once they were returned to the mortal plane. The soft rain fell over the ruins as the reaper order used the last of its power to protect them from the planet's hazardous atmosphere. In his fading lucidity, Danse Macabre uttered with final breath,

“...I...I feel...old...”

The skeletal unicorn crumbled into dust, and the order of reapers fluttered away, with the biggest raven carrying a piece of tattered black cloth in its beak.

Moxxi helped Bellatrix back to her feet, asking wistfully, “I… Is he gone? Does that mean—?!”

“Yes,” assured the she-devil, pushing back any lingering doubts to embrace the outcome. “It’s finally over…!”

Both sex demons watched as Zeloph steadily approached Atalanta. And for a moment, both looked at each other in disbelief that the other was truly there… before they crashed into each other's arms in a warm embrace. The seraphic demi tightly squeezed his lover's shoulder, one last gesture to prove this was real. That she was real.

Pulling away teary-eyed, Zell managed to ask through sniffles, “How..? How is this possible...?!”

“I don't know,” confessed Atalanta. “But I have a few suspicions. I remember it being cold, dark. Silent. Then a light fissured from above, lifting me back up, and through its radiance, transformed me. For some unknown reason, the specters of the reaper order helped me. Demi-Trix, too.” She murmured mournfully at the tulpa’s sacrifice. “I believe she allowed herself to fade out of existence so that she could leave behind what power she had for me…”

Zeloph solemnly lowered his head. “That’s why she followed me. I… wish I could thank her.”

“Me too.” With a shy turn of her head, the death angel asked, “So… How do I look? A-As a demi-human..?” She cautiously looked behind to observe her new tail, which gently wagged side to side. "Am I weird now, or-"

Gently, Zell pulled her face back to his, a sad smile on his lips, and gingerly whispered, “…As beautiful as the day I lost you...”

Atlanta returned the smile and, overwhelmed by happiness, kissed her beloved harder than ever amidst the tender, continuous rainfall.

“O-Ooh… Fuck! I’m such a slut for happy endings,” bawled Moxxi, unable to stop all the tears from ruining her mascara.

Bellatrix smiled warmly as well while holding the imp closely to her chest. Her heart swelled, the red-skinned woman hoping that one day after she’d answered for her own crimes, she too could share in such fervent emotions with the one lost soul she loved.

A match was set ablaze to light up a candle, providing the only means of visibility within an otherwise pitch-black tent. But in the presence of the Ebony Goat of the Woods, the flickering white flame turned black.

Both Lady She’ba and Omen sat across from one another, studying an eccentric chess-like board on a wooden table dotted with starved totems of various creatures. The board consisted of four spaces that formed a triangle. And in the center sat a large black goat totem, surrounded by smaller red pieces.

The nightmare stag, in particular, wore an irksome expression, finger tapping the piece near his left palm; a black skeletal horse. With a low growl, he flicked it over.

“Unbelievable,” the nahtdyr muttered darkly, rubbing his temple. “To think our stand-in for Death would fall so easily!”

One of the satyress’ thorny vines coiled around the piece representing Mortis and crushed it into dust. And in its place, she moved a white raven totem beside the phoenix opposing it.

“What a fickle thin' love is,” She’ba cooed. “Most view it as a weakness that cages th' heart an' mind. While others see it as th' strongest force in th' universe!”

“Love and hatred are one and the same,” said Omen. “You’d think a restless revenant, hellbent on revenge, would have made the perfect candidate.

The vessel for the all-mother tittered, which reverbated into monstrous echoes. “Death must be stoic, unwaverin' by such trivial nonsense. Death knows that e'ery story must come tae an end. An' Mortis clearly didn’t want his tae conclude anytime soon~.”

The cannibal deerman heaved a sigh and smiled. “It doesn’t matter. A bit of misplaced judgment on my behalf can’t undo what’s already set in motion. Five hours from now, Walpurgisnacht will happen... and with it comes the real start of our little game.”

She’ba snout wore a fiendish grin when she produced a new piece onto the board. A vulture totem made from rotten wood. “Th' Vile One has been secured, as has th' coffin. All that’s left is fur one more pawn tae succumb tae his fate.” She shuffled the piece slightly off the board, next to a horse figurine made from burnt wood and a stone bat-headed totem. “Should thin's go accordin' tae yer premonition, th' rest ov th' Horsemen shall be assembled. An' who knows? Maybe Death will reveal itself~.”

“Mmm… potentially,” considered Omen, shifting his hand towards the space where it was occupied by a handful of totems. A black unicorn and fly-headed figurine, both adorned by crowns, standing before a glowing mushroom. Attached to the horse’s snout was a white cap with an insectoid face. To the side was a smaller bat-headed totem, also wearing a crown. An ominous aura seeped out the crevices, its eyes glowing a haunted red.

On the other side of the space, the gray cervine lined up a group of totems in a triangular formation. At the head was a blue pegasus piece with a lightning bolt carved into its chest. Behind it was a duplicate royal bat-headed figurine, a normal bat-head, and another pegasus with a lightning mark but with a hole through its left eye. Then behind them were five tokens; a spider, a bat-head missing its right eye, a stony bull, a conjoining horse and deer piece, and a wooden bull missing half its face. They all guarded a moth figurine.

“Who would have guessed such an insignificant lil' world would harbor sae much conflict,” mused the eldritch sorceress, chin resting atop her hands, cleavage spilling onto the table. “If they were smart, they’d abandon their plight an' join th' main event!”

“Yes, well, I had to keep Beatrix and her entourage distracted long enough for everything to fall into place,” said the Seer of Black Dreams, his maroon gaze falling back to the top space of the board. Within it stood a ram totem made of stone, opposing a large wooden unicorn, while a duplicate of the black king unicorn was placed in between. Behind the ram sat a conjoined pair of lambs; one big, the other small.

“But, surely, we have more than enough forces tae start th' End ov Days,” said She’ba with a hint of impatience as she pushed forward three more totems into the top space. A pale butterfly, two conjoined bats, and a horse made up of wet rot. “Why do ye insist on waitin'?”

“Dinner is best prepared when the ingredients are fresh off the market,” proclaimed Omen, tapping Mandela’s Hourglass. He then introduced another set of pieces and maneuvered them towards the top space. A violet-painted unicorn, followed by a white doe, a white ram, a demon, and the raven and phoenix pieces from before.

“Only when she arrives does the End of Days commence,” the anomalous stag glowered, glaring at the totems with quiet malice. “Simple plebeians… I didn’t make up this whole ‘prophecy’ only for my work to be labeled onto the Burning King and his Vice Lords. It's the sole reason I interfered with their planned apocalypse. Otherwise, they would have ruined everything I’d laid out!”

“Perhaps ye were destined tae meddle wit their affairs,” the Black Goat of the Woods suggested slyly. “After all, if not fur you, th' Child ov Lightendark wouldn’t have been passed along tae one ov mah descendants. Nor would it be possible tae siphon th' power from th' Curator ov Time.”

Omen held up a large totem of an owl-lion, studying it with a narrow gaze. “The best prey are often those too vulnerable to notice when a threat is near. Enoch was never a real obstacle for me. No… That would be my insufferable offspring, whom they sent to spite me.” He chuckled with amusement. “But Abadonna will fail just the same.”

“Ye’re a despicable man, Aiden Darkbloom,” berated Lady She’ba. “Ye would destroy countless lives, erase multiple futures, and have th' cosmos unravel intae primordial chaos! All tae torment Beatrix Belladonna fur a purpose ye adamantly refuse tae elaborate on! It’s all just so…” She then shifted tone, moaning sultry as she shimmied her shoulders, causing her mountainous breasts to jiggle. “…Depraved~!”

His grin lengthened. “It's why you chose me to lead the Cult of the Nemesis. So that I may create a realm where all swear fealty to you and your lineage.”

The dark satyress scoffed, finger playing with the mother and daughter piece. “Yes… so long as I get what I want. I will not have my own ambitions trampled on simply because you wish to amuse yourself. I made you a multiversal monster… and I can take it away should I grow unsatisfied.”

Omen stiffened a bit by this threat but kept composure as he rose from his seat. “By the end of this battle, Shub'Niggurath, I can assure you; both our bellies will be full~."

With his scepter in hand, the Nightmare Stag made his exit out of the tent, leaving She’ba to herself momentarily. She wore a thoughtful smile, tracing her finger over the sheep and lamb totem, admiring it softly. Then, she, too, left her seat, placing the piece back down before adding a final totem to the board. A black eyeless stag-skull looming over the conjoined figurine.

And with a pinch of her fingers, the Lord of the Woods snuffed out the candlelight.

Life

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“Nnngh! Rathead fin’ is stuck tighter than a virgin’s twat! C’mon, budge, ya cheeky fuckstick!”

Moxxi’s body tightened as the little imp struggled to push the lever to a control panel upward. Outside, Bellatrix Primadonna leaned her shapely frame against the entrance, taking in the forsaken beauty of the amusement park. Overgrowth and foliage coated the towering rides and structures. Decrepit billboards and cutouts of mascots and attractions decorated the empty stands and stages.

While unusually appealing, the red-skinned succubus kept a skeptical look. She called out, “Remind me again why we’re wasting our time here? Shouldn’t we be making our way back to the ship?”

“Normally, I would agree,” replied Atalanta, who was fixing her snowy white hair into a long braid with the help of a dusty mirror. Embedded with a topaz skull clip, she flipped it once before letting it cascade down her shoulder. She then properly faced Bellatrix, a slight smile on her lips. “But this may be our only chance to live without worry! When was the last time we had any kind of fun?”

The devil woman raised an eyebrow. “Never thought I’d hear such foolhardiness come from your mouth. Resurrection certainly awakened a lot more dormant emotions.”

“I think it’s a welcome change,” commented Zell, who stepped out from a gift shop adorned by a vibrant blue dress shirt with golden accents on the collar and sleeve. He smiled at his love while presenting himself with raised arms. “What do you think~?”

Atalanta hummed, eyes hooded as she took in her partner’s attire, slightly missing the burgundy jacket that exposed his bare chest. Nonetheless, she complimented, “It suits you, helps bring out your hair.”

She quickly yanked the demi-human closer with her scythe, causing him to yelp. “But don’t let my impassion deceive you. I’m still the undisputed Goddess of Death that I always was. And I’ll flatline you if you dare cross me~.”

Despite this ‘threat,’ Zeloph quivered under the reaper’s forcefulness, his wings ruffling up feathers, and his face flourished. He sheepishly said, “A-as I said; a much welcome change!”

Bellatrix rolled her eyes and shook her head in spite of the curl in her lip. She would never admit it, but seeing the two lovers playfully interact with one another had opened a longing in her black, demonic heart. A hole left by the Baobhan Sith she hoped to one day seal. Her hand trailed down to her belly, which she gingerly rubbed.

“Wait… whatever happened to Viscera? I’m only now realizing you left her—”

“Under a building,” replied Zeloph, eyes narrowing to the ground. “We swooped by some time ago and couldn’t find a trace of her. She’s gone for now. I should have finished her off when I had the chance..!”

“If you did, Mortis would have finished us off,” reminded Bella.

“Don’t beat yourself over it,” agreed Atalanta, wickedly smiling. “Besides which, I have a personal bone to pick with that fetid harpy!”

Her head turned when Moxxi heaved, panting from how hard she tried to push the lever up. “Ugh! At this point, I’m better off just shovin’ this stick up me arse and fuck myself wif it! Maybe that’ll get it ter move!”

The imp turned around and was about to attempt this ‘method’ before losing her footing. The weight of her ample backside managed to finally shift the lever, and despite the years of neglect, the entire amusement park came to life. Worn lights and distorted music burst around the foursome, coasters, rides, and attractions in motion.

“… Well, I’ll be damned!”

“Way to put your back into it, Mox,” Bella tittered teasingly, scooping up her little friend and tickling her belly, making her giggle.

Atalanta and Zeloph looked at each other and joined in the laughter before they set out to try out all the amusement park had to offer. To mark the occasion, the newly formed demi-human graced their ears with a song, something that would have been unthinkable when the reaper was calling herself ‘Shadow Scythe.’

The alias she couldn’t drop so readily, as her previous life reminded her of who and what she was.

It wasn’t like that person was present now, given how passionately she sang while participating in the carnival games, coasters, and funhouses. While the couple stayed close by, locked in a private dance, Bellatrix loafed about on a bench while Moxxi hummed along to the music. Secretly, the she-devil had surrendered to the jubilation of this momentous occasion. Not only had several demi-humans united and stopped Mortis Soltaire, but another one had been born into existence.

At the end of her song, Atalanta took Zell’s hand to lead him out.

“Abaht nickle and dime the chuffin’ lovebirds got good and freaky~,” snickered Moxxi, her tail wagging excitedly.

Bella shook her head. “It’s more likely they have much to discuss.”

Indeed, the couple found themselves seated at the top of a Ferris wheel. A romantic view of the surroundings, framed by a sunset while they sat side-by-side. Atalanta’s fingers linked with his, her head resting atop his shoulder. “As much as I’ve enjoyed hanging out with your sister, it’s nice to have time alone. She’s still quite the handful!”

He chuckled, “Nothing about her has changed save her respect for you.” His smile then straightened as the subject came up. “Though a lot of other things have changed while you were gone.”

She eyed him curiously. “Such as?”

He chewed the bottom of his lip while glancing at the multidimensional saber, sheathed and lying next to them. “I discovered a horrible truth by unlocking the Crucible’s full might. About my origins. About the Divine Father who started all this.” He paused, staring intensely into her icy gray eyes. “What I’m about to tell you must not be shared with another unless within reason. Understand?”

The reaper’s frown deepened, but nonetheless nodded her head.

With an uneasy sigh, Zeloph began with a question. “… What do you know about the King in Yellow?”

The way her pupils gradually shrunk with the cold realization was all the answer he needed. “… you… this is a joke, right?”

Zell hung his head. “I wish it was… But according to the archangel Michael, he was behind the entire concept of ‘Heaven’ in this universe. Angels. Demons. Nephilims. Demis. Mankind’s ruination. Everything! He’s been alive all this time, waiting to retake the stage… and when he does, I have to face him.”

“Zell, that’s suicidal! Do you realize how insanely powerful a primordial being like Ha—”

Atalanta caught herself, remembering that her words held more power regarding the unspeakable horror her lover dared to talk about. She corrected, “Like… he-whose-name-must-never-be-said is?”

“I know better than anyone,” he assured. “But I took the Luster Pledge to serve by the Crucible and those who carried it in the past. I’m oathbound to slay evil and corruption until it’s time to pass the blade onto another.”

The reaper demi pouted slightly. “A lifetime’s devotion comes with a heavy toll, my love. While I sympathized with your decision, as it brought out your Exaltation, I only wish I could have been a part of it…”

Zell cupped her chin and insisted, “You were the first thing that ran through my mind when presented with the choice.”

Atalanta gave a small smile, which grew into a sly grin. “Ohh, really? Was I still on your mind when you immediately set your sights on Bellatrix~?” The death angel teased with a poke to his chest.

His cheeks colored as he stammered, “E-Ehh! Of course! I mean—”

She pressured her future husband further, straddling his hips and winding her tail around his. “I had only been dead for a few hours. And after riling yourself up, you sought that she-devil out like a dog, finding the right spot to bury his bone.”

“I-It was a mutual agreement,” he tried to explain, sweating bullets. “We both needed power to overcome our enemies. And… well, the only way to achieve that was by—”

“Fucking her brains out and drowning her uterus in cum. I’m aware that a succubus needs her supplements, especially with an awakened Onoma. But that doesn’t excuse you from putting a baby in her womb, darling…”

“Th-that was… I-I wasn’t—she was the one who removed the—”

Atalanta silenced his feeble excuses with a hot kiss, pressing her lissome body closer to his. She pulled away and tittered through heated pants. “I jest, love. You had my consent, remember? If anything, I’m relieved it was Bellatrix. Because, unlike her bimbo-brained sister, she takes matters far more seriously.”

She slid her palm up his blue shirt, feeling how quickly his heart heated beneath his breast. His eyes were lost in hers, frightened and aroused by what she planned to do with him.

Atalanta cooed, her voice low and husky. “That being said, I’m alive again. And my body…” She let her other hand run over her bare stomach before it found her tiny, supple tits underneath her jagged top, squeezing one lightly. “… has been renewed with many unfiltered needs. So you’re going to take responsibility and give me everything she got… and triple it~.”

Zeloph shuddered underneath his beloved, his pants uncomfortably tight from how stiff his troublemaking shaft was. “B-But-but Atalanta! We hardly have time for—”

She roughly grounded her hips with enough force to rattle the Ferris wheel carriage they sat in. “The others are going to have to wait,” the reaper demi told him with a playful snarl, mimicking the ferocity of her shadow hounds. “Because I cannot. I’ve been without your warmth love for too long, and it’s driving me nuts! So get out of these clothes and fuck a child into me, or be my good little toy and stand still. Either way, I’m taking what belongs to me~!”

And how was he to deny his deathly beauty her most feverous request?

Zeloph captured her lips again, giving in to her near-animalistic need to fulfill this unquenched desire. His hands roamed her back while hers clawed and dragged into his skin, gyrating their pelvises in perfect harmony.

But before either could tear away the attire, prolonging their intimate frenzy, the foreboding caws of ravens shattered the moment, drawing Atalanta’s attention as she glared at the black flock of bird-shaped creatures.

“Damn it, not now!” she muttered as the skeletal corvids fluttered around the Ferris wheel. Zeloph observed with equal frustration as the world desaturated and time grinds to a halt.

A flurry of feathers continued to whirl while each of the deathly crows reshaped themselves into the departed members of the fallen reaper order, shrouded in different colors to denote their unique roles as symbols of death. At their head arrived the largest and most intimidating of the group, robed in a gray cloak and floating towards the couple.

Atalanta quickly removed herself with begrudgement, and Zeloph followed to meet with the mysterious specter, his brows furrowed when he demanded, “What the hell do you want?”

“You need not look at me with such disdain, Aether King,” came the reaper’s booming voice. “For I am not your enemy.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” the fiery angel scoffed. “Who are you?”

“Greyscale Carnifex. Founder of the Reaper Order,” he introduced himself, a scaly clawed hand cast back to remove the hood concealing his hardened draconic visage. Much like Atalanta, he too had been transformed by Sacratera’s bizarre properties, sharing hybrid traits of both demi-human and dragon, whose feathered wings matched his namesake.

His slit pupils turned to the female reaper. “It was I who preserved your soul within raven form.”

Atalanta nodded. “So you’re partly to thank for my resurrection. That, and the rest of the departed order.” She looked on with a fallen face at the other death-dealers she’d dispatched. While a fellow member of her order had indoctrinated her into the fold once her cutie mark materialized, she had never met Greyscale Carnifex. Nor had she heard his name, his identity unknown to all until now.

The dragon-faced reaper nodded. “We are. Your time in the living world is not yet over, Shadow Scythe. You are needed to”

“Her name is Atalanta,” Zell corrected with a sharp tongue, cerulean eyes glowing a fierce vermillion. “And if you’re the founder, that makes you responsible for the reaper cutie marks, doesn’t it?”

Greyscale narrowed his gaze back at the demi-human but humbly admitted, “That is correct.”

“Ah, so you’re the one who thought suppressing the emotions of his order was a good idea. Indoctrinate them into your fold, then turn them into killers?” He dryly spat. “Well, way to go, genius. You lead Atalanta and Danse Macabre down the paths that would turn them into Shadow Scythe and Mortis Solitaire! It’s your fault all this terrible drama started!”

Atalanta gently placed a hand on his shoulder before he could reach for his blade. “Zeloph. It’s okay,” She softly urged, kissing his cheek to cool him down. “Whatever the circumstances, I made my choice. As did Mortis, even though I was the one who set him down his path.”

Zell shook his head, pointing his finger. “No, it’s not okay! He—”

Greyscale bowed his head. “I accept partial blame for both of your fates. As well as the current state of the multiverse. But I would never weigh the outcome of a heavy burden to carry without an equal purpose.”

“I am thankful regardless for the chance to be with the one I love,” she acknowledged, bowing her head as well. “But I am curious. Reapers aren’t supposed to interfere with the natural order. So why did you and the others intervene with Mortis’ plans? Especially at the aid of the one who murdered you..?”

“Because the outcome of this course of action was anything but natural,” answered Greyscale. “To defy the balance of life and death brings consequences that have proven...catastrophic, in the past. But the anomalous interference has altered that vow. Sacred laws were broken, so we lent our aid from behind the scenes where possible. Unfortunately, I don’t know the price to reinforce equilibrium. I, too, may soon face judgment day…”

“Couldn’t come at a better time, if you ask me,” muttered Zell.

Greyscale returned a clipped smile. “You have every right to be infuriated with me, ex-fallen one. I established the order in ancient times, lost to history. Carefully chose members to represent us so our order could spread across the universe. Made certain souls weren’t abandoned to wander aimlessly, as we lead the dead to the afterlife. Even we aren’t entirely sure why Danse Macabre reawakened as Mortis Saltaire. Only that he was lost in the Necronomicon for a time and struck a deal with the Eldritch race that once ravaged the world of Alsahra’almakia.”

“Cerise’s world,” noted Atalanta.

“However, I suspect more answers may lead you back to the remnants of our old world, where Mortis’ disturbed tomb still resides.”

“Then that’s our next destination,” decided Zell.

The draconic demi-human nodded. “Unfortunately, others have sought to exploit the reaper order for their own ends. An old enemy of your friend Beatrix Belladonna, the vampire noble known as Dhullex Faustus, was a mere alchemist before he attempted to rob us of our secrets to immortality. He achieved the enhanced life and power he sought...but at the price of an eternal thirst for blood, lest he rot into a mummified state. He sired a race of false vampires, including his captive brides Esmeralda Van Helsing and Camellia Karnstein, his curse twisting the former concerned aristocrats into amoral, narcissistic monsters.”

“Former?” Zell huffed. “From what little I saw of them, I’m not sure they were ever particularly nice people.”

“Perhaps not,” added Atalanta. “But I’m sure Bellatrix will want to spare them as well...or just end them herself.”

“Penance may come sooner than anticipated, thanks to the anomaly and the mistress they serve,” Greyscale continued.

Both turned with confusion. “Mistress?”

“You’ll find that out soon enough.”

Zell rolled his eyes. “Oh great. More secrets.”

He ignored him and focused on Atalanta. “What you must know is why I’ve been forced to make my presence known to save you. Remember when I said we have members in every universe? That extends to this one as well. And one of the first members I ever recruited is closer than you think.”

Before she could ask for further clarification, the other reapers began to whirl around once more, dissolving into their corvid forms. Greyscale soon joined his flock and disappeared in the storm of feathers, but not before his disembodied voice left one final crude message.

“As for the reaper’s cutie marks’? Ancient runes I altered to replace what symbol would usually have been there. I chose my followers carefully, Atalanta. When the time comes, I trust you will do the same…”

As time resumed its flow and the world returned to color, Atalanta was left to wonder where she would have been without his interference. What cutie mark would’ve adorned her? Would her parents still be alive now...?

She took her lover’s hand and sailed from the Ferris wheel to land by Bella and Moxxi.

The imp puckered her lips. “Aww? Is it time ter leave already? Didn’t get the bloody chance ter go skinnydippin’ in the water park~!!”

Bellatrix noticed the conflicted expressions on their faces and asked, “Did something happen? It seemed like you were only up there a few minutes...”

“Of course,” said Atalanta, the imp and succubus unaware time had stopped during their intervention with the reaper order. “I’ll explain briefly. But right now, we need to visit Danse Macabre’s tomb.”

On the way out, Bellatrix shut down the rides and lights until stillness once again beset the area. Then, she hurried to follow the rest of the quartet on their way off Sacratera through the crossed-shaped tear in reality. Zell looked mournfully at his home planet before exiting the realm, the rift closing behind him.

Unbeknownst to them, one light was still flickering on a billboard advertising a devil-themed attraction. And a lone figure stood underneath. Long, messy red hair cascaded out the tarnished brown cowl adorning the woman’s person. She watched from a distance as her son left through the carved portal, a warm smile gracing her lips.

“No… the time of our reunion isn’t right just yet. But soon, Zeloph.”

She turned away and left the premises as the struggling light finally gave out.

Upon coming out of the other side, Atalanta was crestfallen by the state of her former home. While Mortiferum Equestria may have been annihilated by the calamity, pieces of the land masses still drifted aimlessly in the starless void. Fortunately, the angel’s saber formed a barrier around the foursome, which allowed them to survive the cold vacuum of space temporarily.

Bellatrix shuddered and said, “I’m surprised anything survived Mortis’ assault. To think a reaper could reach the point where he could consume the souls of an entire world.”

“It explains why Greyscale and the rest of the order had a hand to play in this,” lamented Atalanta. “A shame they couldn’t save more. Pretty much everyone I ever met here...all dead.”

“Unless you count travelers to this world like Beatrix,” replied Zeloph, who balled up a fist. “The anomaly will answer for this. We cannot allow more devastation to follow.”

“Gotta learn more abaht what’s behind this first,” reminded Moxxi. She was the first to descend into the upturned earth, towards the maze of tunnels that led to Tartarus. From their brief venture into Shadow Scythe’s soul, they were made aware the reaper order headquarters were hidden nearby.

“I’ll take the lead from here,” offered Atalanta. “This place is a labyrinth designed to make sure no one accidentally stumbled on our sanctuary. We also kept demons at bay from here.”

“I imagine a few strays must have wandered from the depths on occasion,” noted Bellatrix. “Since you were practically on their doorstep. Perhaps Greyscale intentionally chose its placement for that reason?”

The Aether King scowled. “Of course, that bastard would want to salvage his work.”

“There’s an almost infinite network of knowledge contained in the libraries here,” observed Atalanta, who floated ahead. “Whatever his reasons, I really can’t blame him. Anyhow, reapers aren’t supposed to perish under natural circumstances, but tombs are prepared for us here to preserve our secrets.”

“Ya’ll 're sum morbid fuckers, I’ll give ya that,” muttered Moxxi.

“If anything, they behave eerily like a cult,” Zell noted. “The warning signs were all there. Taken from your families, hidden from society, sworn to secrecy as your emotions are suppressed… Greyscale is no different than whoever’s leading the Cult of the Nemesis!”

“It seems he’s convinced himself the reapers were a necessary evil,” surmised Atalanta, tucking her face further into her hood. “Who knows? Without those cutie mark ‘runes,’ countless souls might have been left to wander the ethereal plain forever! I think it’s a small price to pay. I only wish it hadn’t amounted to so much carnage in the end...”

Down the winding tunnels, they eventually arrived at a structure buried in the rocks.

“Ahh. Home sweet home… such as it is,” the reaper demi sighed, cherishing the fleeting nostalgia before casting the double doors open. Abandoned after she butchered the reaper order, the hollow establishment appeared intact at first look, down to the extensive library. Of course, she’d already read every book here during her obsessive quest for knowledge and power.

Layers of shelves were lined with dusty books, almost exactly like they remembered it from their journey into Atalanta’s soul. However, the dust had gotten thicker, and cobwebs now adorned the corners. She took a moment to linger and reminisce, then moved on.

“Here. Most of this building was forbidden to us, aside from special occasions,” the cloaked demi-human elaborated. “In jealousy, our order guards its secrets. Likely out of fear for what we were capable of becoming, as demonstrated by both Mortis and I. Hmm… and speaking of my fellow, departed reaper...”

With a sweep of her arm, Atalanta welcomed them to a stony staircase that spiraled further down the dark and dank depths into the once-sealed tombs.

Zeloph tensed up, his hair and feathers on end. “… you sense it, too, right?”

“Yes. Someone’s been here before us!” Atalanta narrowed her eyes; her double-ended scythe summoned into hand. “Stay sharp. Could be down to Greyscale and the order, but...”

“We’ll always have your back,” her lover reminded, who touched her shoulder.

“Yeah!” Moxxi bounded up next to her. “Any creepies crawlin’ abaht daahhhn ‘ere gonna get the ol’ one-two!”

“Plus, it would be a nice opportunity to test my Onoma more,” mused Bellatrix.

Atalanta offered them all a clipped smile. “Let’s hope it won’t come to that?”

Elaborate tombs were placed for each member of the reaper order, styled to suit them, and radiated their unique color. Just like the private domains of each reaper, their rooms were adorned by their vibrant signature coloration.

“They’re beautiful,” observed Bella, who ran a palm across a smooth stone surface. “Immaculately hand-crafted, apparently. I wonder, did Greyscale do this with his own hands?”

“More self-fulfilling vanity,” muttered Zell, unable to restrain his contempt for Grey.

In truth, Atalanta harbored conflicting emotions towards her old order. The senior members had taken her in and helped her learn but were more like acquaintances than friends or family. The closest to an exception was Danse Macabre, who’d mostly approached her to aid in his secretive research.

But even then, she’d sensed he was lonely. While he hadn’t intended to court her, the offer of a romantic union between them when Quiver Bolt invited him to dinner quietly excited him. Sowing seeds of hope that a hole in his heart would finally be filled after the loss of his own parents.

“He wasn’t a bad stallion, once. I owe him this much,” she whispered to herself.

Moxxi scoffed. “Ya seriously ‘oldin’ a funeral for the bloody bastard that axed ya off?”

“I prefer to think of Danse Macabre and Mortis Saltaire as two different people. Just like Shadow Scythe represented my old life. You’ve all helped me become what I am now. Especially you.” Atalanta turned to Zell with a warm smile before looking back to the obsidian tomb.

The moment her hand caressed the cold stone, a wave of anhedonia assaulted her mind. Her eyes widened, and she cried out, flooded with memories.

Everyone raced to her side, Zell crouching down and yelling, “Atalanta! What’s wrong!?”

“Wahn last Two-Thirty trick from Mortis?” the neon demoness speculated.

“N-no,” murmured Atalanta, who heaved and leaned on the structure for support. “These are… Demi-Trix’s memories..!”

She gasped as her mind’s eye replayed events from the tulpa’s point of view. First, she had been wandering the shores of Parras, talking with what looked to be Ashen Dune and Rhenaes before skipping on her merry way. Suddenly, she tripped, glitching through the beach and finding herself in some amalgamated dimension stitched together by chaos and darkness.

But it was the last of her memories that sent a cold chill up the reaper’s spine. She stumbled onto a cannibalistic dinner party, surrounded by hooded members of the Nemesis, hosted by a slender figure with antlers branching out its head…who quickly discovered her position and squeezed her throat with crushing force, his voice and laughter heavily distorted.

That’s when the vision distorted, and a different memory played. The same cervine shadow loomed over Danse’s grave, whispering something incoherent to the Necronomicon before placing the tome atop the headstone. And when he vanished, the magenta vapors of the Eldritch seeped underneath the resting place until the stone covering shifted, and Mortis’ bony paw shot out, grasping for her. The last thing Atalanta recalled was the lich’s anguished cry as he drew first undead breath…

His scream turned into her own as the death angel regained awareness of where she was. Panting heavily, she flung onto Zell tightly, feeling his warm and gentle touch soothe her. Once able to recompose herself, she stared aghast at her allies and said, “I… I know who did this. Through Demi-Trix’s premonition, I saw the trespasser who erased her mind. W-Who disturbed Danse’s slumber!”

“Well, daan’t keep us in suspense!” Moxxi exclaimed. “Who’s the bugger that needs a good peggin’?”

“Yes! Who!?” Demanded Bellatrix.

Zeloph more gingerly asked, “Who is it..?”

“…the Nightmare Stag,” revealed Atalanta, her voice weary and bitter. “Omen. He’s the one orchestrating all these wars, helping these villains crawl out of the woodwork. Through his actions, he’s put the entire multiverse in peril. He’s the one that brought back the Cult of the Nemesis and helped the Eldritch resurrect Mortis!”

While Zeloph and Moxxi were both rightfully alarmed by the discovery, Bellatrix’s expression faltered the most. Last she saw the gray cervine; he had been taken by Alma’s underlings back when they were her slaves. While she never found out how he escaped, his calm demeanor and assertive smile during the circumstance gave the she-devil the slightest sense that he was never in danger…

“I... I always figured he harbored some questionable secrets,” replied Bella, head lowered. “Yet not once did I consider this. I believed he was simply like me before I reformed. An amoral entity, following his dark nature...”

“Oh, he’s followed it, alright,” said Moxxi. “If this is true and ‘e’s the chuffin’ anomaly, then Oona and Beatrix’re in deeper shite than we thought!”

Zell nodded grimly. “Assuming they haven’t already deduced Omen is the mastermind pulling strings behind the curtain…”

The red-skinned succubus added, “My sister wanted to believe in him because she saw herself as a creature of darkness due to her ties to the Necronomicon. She wants so desperately to believe darkness doesn’t always equal evil.”

The seraph nodded. “I thought of myself as the righteous patron of light and purity. And… Well, I’m certain Cerise won’t be inviting me to her world for the foreseeable future. She’s never been able to forgive me, and I don’t blame her. I was no better than Metatron.”

“The lines have certainly been blurred,” agreed Bella. “Perhaps in ancient times, mankind perceived the battle of Good and Evil in more black-and-white terms. But make no mistake, monsters do exist. Beatrix has a knack for turning many of our enemies on a different path, you two especially! But Omen? He’s unadulterated evil..!”

“All the more reason we need to stop him,” Atalanta concurred. “He pulled the wool over everyone. Caused Demi-Trix to sacrifice herself. I considered a funeral for her, too, but no...once we do that, we’ll really consider her dead. She’s a tulpa, so we have to keep her memory alive until she can return!”

She doubted it would be anytime soon, but she hoped that one day, even if it took decades...

“We’d better head back to Midnight’s world to warn Beatrix and company,” noted Zell.

“Not before I’ve said my farewells,” answered Atalanta, her face adorned with mournful melancholy. A funeral air filled the tomb when she started to light torches in a phantasmagorical blaze, ghost lights of ignis fatuus left to drift like an illuminated miasma around them. She passed each lit torch to her companions and started to chant an ancient prayer for all her reaper companions.

Her heart skipped when a couple of mourners stepped from the ethereal mist.

Zell almost dropped his torch as a familiar old stallion in a duster and hat approached. “Quicksilver..?”

Atalanta choked out a muted sob that wracked her thin breast and cried, “M-mom!”

“But how? Is it an illusion, or-”

“Nah, son,” said Quicksilver with a wry smirk. “Your eyes ain’t playing tricks. We’re here…. Though we can’t stick around.”

“A boon from Greyscale for your services,” called Quiver Bolt, who ran forward and threw her arms around her daughter; her embrace soon returned as the pair of them openly wept, Atalanta unable to hold back anymore. “He bent the rules for us! We may have an hour at best, so… best we use it!”

“Well said. Now get in here, son,” the old stallion finished as he pulled Zell into the fold, helping him embrace his family, reunited for an all-too-brief time. “Oh, shoot! Almost forgot. There’s someone else that wants to see you…”

Zell furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you...”

His skeptical expression melted when the light plucking of strings graced his feathery ears. He turned his head towards the source… only for his cerulean eyes to widen when they met a pair of brown orbs he hadn’t seen in ages.

A stout, sun-kissed human man, basked in a golden glow, stepped forward. A worn acoustic guitar strapped around his shoulder, his fingers tapping and strumming the instrument. He wore a broad smile and waved his hand, “Hello, Zell.”

“… Jonn..?!”

Released from the circle the family formed, Zeloph was reduced to a blubbering mess, able to see the man he thought of as his real father once again.

The guitarist chuckled, placing his guitar to the side, and wrapped his friend into his large arms, patting his back when he felt the demi clutch his hand into his shirt. “You’ve grown a lot from the gloomy kid that felt everything didn’t matter. You’re a real fireflower now!”

“I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry,” Zell repeatedly said through sobs, face buried into his chest. “I wasn’t able to save you, Jonn!”

“But you did,” he insisted. “You’ve kept my words and spirit safe in your heart, no matter how misguided you might have been. And they prospered through you like a blooming bud after enough sunshine and rain. If not for that, I don’t think I’d all be here, waiting for you…”

Zell couldn’t help but chuckle sorrowfully. “You and your posy language..! Gods, I’ve missed it!”

“And I’ve missed you,” assured Jonn, squeezing him tighter. “Your eulogy was beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

Jonn briefly pulled back, sighing, “C’mon. Let go of the doubt messing with your head, man! Look around you. Look at everybody you saved today! You’re a hero, Zell. Our hero.”

Zell glanced at the faces of his friends, family, and loved ones. Atalanta smiled graciously, her arms wrapped around her parents. Bellatrix and Moxxi hugged each other, the tenderness of the moment washing through the former while the latter kept quiet, aware of how important this was to her brother.

Looking back at his friend, his eyes watery with tears. “You don’t know how badly I want to! But if not for me, you wouldn’t have been lost..!”

Jonn’s smile deepened when he whispered, “But I’m not lost, kiddo. You found me.”

Those four words pushed Zell over the edge as he once more buried his tears and sorrows into the fiery specter, who held him tighter than ever. After a moment of embracing and expunging years of bottled-up sadness, they pulled back as the musician said, “Hey. I think we’ve got time for a little send-off. What do you say we jam like it was the good old days, yeah?”

Zeloph smiled sadly and sniffled, “To lift your spirits?”

“To lift yours.”

Torches were placed in sconces while everyone else settled into a circle around the musicians, seats taken either on the cool stone floor or on the slabs. Jonn took the lead, playing an acoustic rendition of a classic hit from a begotten era. When the first chorus hit, Zell lent his voice and began playing and singing in unison. Quicksilver, Quiver, Atalanta, Bella, and Moxxi swayed along to the melody as the other wayward souls gathered, glimmering around the premise like fireflies.

A mechanism in the tomb activated, which creaked and rotated until the entire structure started to rise and the ceiling creaked open. Eventually, it lifted out into the open until they were out in the open amidst the black and starless void.

Gradually, the spirits lifted as the music swelled. Glowing spheres of light were drawn by the dozens; then hundreds, thousands, millions, the scattered wayward souls upheaved at a chance to be sent off to the afterlife and finally rest in peace.

They formed a brilliant ocean of stars in the void until the emptiness resembled a vast starry sky.

And when Jonn plucked the last chord, his golden hue enveloped him as he followed the ascending baleful orbs. Zell watched tearfully as his beloved friend departed from the physical plain. And, with a sad smile tracing his lips, whispered, “Goodbye, Jonn...”

“Quite a spectacle you put on,” Quicksilver said, giving his future son-in-law a hefty pat. “But it’s best we get going too. I know you’ll take care of our daughter.”

“You’re like the son we never had,” Quiver said with a warm grin. “We only regret not being around to see your love blossom.”

Atalanta joined her lover’s side, hand intertwined with his as she nodded. The wispy spirits stepped forth and hugged the demi couple for the final time.

“You’ve made us so proud, Atalanta,” Quicksilver whispered softly. “Always keep that in your heart. We’ll be watching over ya!”

“We’ll always be with you,” concurred Quiver, holding down sniffles. “And never forget. We love you, sweet girl!”

Atalanta swallowed down her own sobs like heavy whiskey and nodded. “I love you too! Goodbye father… mother…!”

She helped send her parents off, ascending their souls until they became intangible from her touch and vanished in the sea of souls, each one vanishing from the physical plane until nothing was left.

When her now emptied hands fell at her slender sides, she drew warmth from Zeloph’s hand, which clasped her own. As the last active reaper of her duty, it was her sworn duty to upheave every soul lost in the afterlife. But whoever this mysterious other reaper was in the midst, she’d have to seek them out once the threat of Omen and the multiverse’s destruction was put to rest.

“Farewell, everyone. Mother...father...my order...Danse Macabre. May you reach the great beyond on swift wings.” She wiped her eyes and turned back to her companions, speaking after taking a breath. “Okay… We make haste for Midnight’s planet.”

Zell nodded and unsheathed the Crucible. “What about the tomb? Are we leaving it here?”

No,” replied Atalanta. “I can’t risk any more secrets contained here falling into more malicious hands.”

Moxxi hopped in place. “So we’re nukin’ the Drum?”

“Pretty much,” said Atalanta with an ambivalent smirk. “Would you care to do the honors?”

The imp’s lips curled with glee. “Loike ya ‘ave ter ask. I’m a bonafide ‘omewrecker~!”

Despite her worn-out state after the battle with Mortis and Andrei, Moxxi managed to conjure enough demonic essence to start trashing the place. Zeloph summoned what little solar fire he was able to, smirking slightly as he took personal pleasure in burning down everything Grayscale had built up. Finally, Bella brought hellfire and brimstone to add to the imminent devastation, while Atalanta launched the first volley of magically-induced destruction, layered by the rest of her comrades until they’d summoned up a mystic nuke which hummed and floated, ready to explode.

“Huh… Y’kna, this could ‘ave easily taken aahhht Mortis and ‘is zombies,” Moxxi pointed out.

“It would have also leveled the Glamorguis,” reminded Bella. “Plus, I’m not sure we could form and maintain it on Scaratera. There’s an excess of mystic energies infused in these ancient walls...” Golden eyes reflected the flicker and hum of the sphere. “It’s ready to melt down any second!”

“Better scoot our bums outta ‘ere then,” hollered Moxxi. “Before we turn ourselves into peas in a pot apple pie rockets!”

“Hurry!” called Zell, who carved open a portal and pushed his sister in first. Next came Bella, who entered the rift. Finally, he and Atalanta held hands, the former looking back. While she wanted to stay behind and witness the end of her old world, she knew there wasn’t time and allowed her beloved to pull her in, departing from the ruins of the reaper order right as the explosion went off.

On the other side, the foursome leaped out into the outskirts of a jungle area, the trees and humidity far too foreign to belong in this part of Equestria. One look around showed similar locations and landscapes blending through reality to continue existing, some of which beckoned with distortion and static.

“Zeesh! Talk abaht ‘avin’ Pearly Queen better days,” muttered Moxxi.

“Not unlike what happened when Mortis obliterated my world,” noted Atalanta, frowning deeply at the gruesome image of the scene while her soul and body bled out.

“Look, over there!” Zell directed, pointing at the minotaur ville dubbed Hammerfall surrounded by war tents and torch fire. Not too far from it was saucer-shaped Glamorguis, using the forestry as cover while it recovered from the damage suffered on Sacratera.

Bella sighed with relief. “Perfect. We can regroup with the others and inform them of what we learned.”

“We should also check in with the villagers and chief Moon Hammer,” suggested the Aether King, eyes lowering onto the many soldiers surrounding the land. “Something tells me this variant of the Crystal Empire isn’t friendly..”

“You go on ahead,” said the succubus with shallow breath, sweat running down her brows while tugging at the skintight space suit. “I need to take this stupid thing off and take a long bath. Plus, I’m sure Layla will want to know of our success.”

Atalanta nodded. “We’ll catch up later.”

Bellatrix gave the trio a genuine smile before spreading her leather wings and soaring silently toward the distant forest, cloaking the UFO.

The imp huffed. “Finally, I can slip into summit more comfortable!” Extending her claws, she tore off the rest of her suit until she was completely naked, stretching her limb and shaking her assets free. “Aaaaaaaah~! Much better!”

The reaper demi rolled her eyes.

“Whaaat! Ain’t nuffin’ more comfy than yer birthday suit~!” Moxxi snickered, tiny bay wings fluttering above her curvaceous waist. “Race you there!”

Zell and Atalanta watched the neon demoness vanish into the night, giving them a brief moment of alone time. The fiery demi-human stared at his colder counterpart. “It’s strange…”

She returned his gaze with a curious glint. “What is?”

“One moment, I held your body to my chest, wholly convinced I would never get to marry you. The next… we’re standing side by side again as if nothing changed. Well, besides the obvious, I mean.”

Atalanta snorted, arms folded into her chest. “If this is the way you’re proposing to me, you’re off to a very shaky start, my love.”

His cheeks colored. “No, I’m not—well, sorta. I know this isn’t exactly glamorous, I… don’t have a ring with me—“

While Zeloph rambled cutely, the snow-haired beauty tittered in amusement before drawing her lover close and shutting him up with a kiss. Her hands caressed his cheek, detaching from his mouth to say in a silky tone, “You’ll have your chance back on the ship~.”

A warm smile stretched his lips as the duo took flight and soared towards the homely minotaur ville of Hammerfall.

Omen’s patient scheming and treachery left a bleak outcome on the crumbling multiverse. Yet the two former villains had been reborn into heroes and conquered death itself. Thus, the fires of hope burned brightly in their hearts, determined to end the calamity.

With the threads of sanity unraveling, hatred, and fear grew rampantly everywhere. But as proven by Zeloph and Atalanta, life would find a way.

And eternal love shall prevail.

Bonus Chapter: the Start of Something New

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By the time midnight started to roll around and the pub prepared to close down, Moonlight River had earned herself a sizable amount of tips on top of her small fortune. To celebrate, she bought a few drinks from Fiery's men that they'd smuggled in, all too happy to help get her drunk in hopes she'd put out. Soon, she drank herself sick, then excused herself and tumbled out the back of the pub to take a short break.

“Uugh… Don't feel too swell,” she muttered and held her stomach, still butt-naked, as she almost emptied the contents of her stomach out by the trash. In truth, she missed the comforts of Midnight and Cerise badly, not to mention Moon Hammer. But she knew he was incredibly busy and wanted some time to look after his calves. “Damn it,” she slurred. “Why am I always tossed aside like used trash..?”

The drunken thestral leaned on the alley wall to keep her balance, aware she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. Not when whatever happened to her didn't compare to Cerise's and Penumbra's current predicament.

The cool air whistled across her bare purplish-gray skin, her nipples painfully stiff. At least her estrus had died down, but the offer to strip for Fiery's men reminded her of what she'd done on her escape from the Crystal Empire, what had been done to her, and the lives she'd taken to cover her tracks.

“Maybe I'm no better than them… a-am I just another killer? I don't know anymore...”

The door opened, and the boys she'd entertained earlier followed her out. “Hey there, Moonslut. Need some company? We'd be happy to help~.” His eyes drank the denuded thestral in.

“Get lost, prick!” Her prosthetic wingtips curled, aware that with all the hidden compartments in the machinery, she could fill them all with dozens of darts that could paralyze...or kill.

He planted a hand on the wall beside her head and leaned in. “Ohoh? Plan to make us, you slutty Moonmaid? You're drunk off that cute little toned ass. You can hardly fight like this! So why don't you let us take you home and—”

“She said no!” Midnight shouted, sailing down to intercept the soldier in the lead, forcing him to back off when he landed. He leveled his lance at him. The waitresses had told him Moonie went off by herself, so he'd raced to recover his weapons and armor from the bouncers and then flew back, carried by his Onoma's winds.

Quickly, he lifted the unsteady mare into his firm arms and flew away from the alley into the open space of Hammerfall, hopeful they wouldn't be so foolish as to throw down in the open.

She clung to his barrel chest armor, a deep blush on her face. They sped onward in a blur, her soft flesh squished against the pegasus knight's breastplate when he cradled her close.

But a hard fist connected to his jaw, throwing both him and Moonlight back onto the ground, where they tumbled and skidded to a stop. They both glared up to find Fiery Kickstart blocking their path, flanked by a small squadron of his elite soldiers. The ex-cadets found themselves near the holstaur fountain and surrounded from every direction.

“So, this is where you’ve been, hyper-stallion,” the half-burned Supreme Commander said in a harsh tone. “And here I thought we had a mutual understanding. Disappointing.”

“You don’t know the first thing about me,” grunted Midnight, who kept Moonlight clasped to his white breastplate and his lance in hand.

“Oh, I think I do,” retorted Fiery, beyond livid thanks to his recent shortcomings. “You and your whore are traitors to Equestria. Deserting your posts, backstabbing your comrades, risking the future of Equestria. And for what? Some half-baked fantasy about being better than your pathetic father?”

“H-Hypocrite,” Moonie spat out drearily.

The mustard stallion stiffened slightly before resuming his approach.

“H-Hey! The truce is still on!” reminded Midnight.

“I’m aware. And I’d hate to disrupt such peace over something so trivial as your insubordination. So be a good soldier—be a man, and accept your punishment outside Hammerfall.”

“And what punishment is that, exactly? Crystal Empire stud?!”

His statement caused Fiery to pause, and his eyes narrowed at the resilient pegasus.

Midnight rose up fully when he continued. “Yeah, don’t think I haven’t figured out why I’m so valuable to you. You want my genes to mass-populate your ranks with hyper soldiers. That’s why you had your wives and Equinox tease and seduce me! Hoping I’d give into my enhanced urges and knock up every mare and female in Equestria. So that I would unknowingly solidify your fascist regime!”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep this quiet,” the yellow pegasus commanded coldly.

“Well, I’ve got a newsflash for you, Fiery,” rebutted Midnight, his voice drawing out residents and onlookers. “Thanks to your old buddy, Web Spinner, I no longer carry hyper-stallion genes! I’m no different from Shining Armor now! Maybe a little bigger and stronger than most stallions, but otherwise? Not so special!”

Fiery's pupils shrank to pinpoints; his broadsword blazed to life. “…what?!”

Midnight wore a slight smirk on his snout. “You heard me, asshole. I’m useless to your plans for a ‘perfect’ Equestria!”

“No,” he muttered through clenched teeth, fist tightening around his sword’s hilt, trembling with rage. “You lie!”

“I-It’s true,” Moonlight sneered, cradled close to her childhood friend's breastplate. “Deinos worked on a cleanser that wiped his genes clean from the cell! So go fuck yourself and your empire, Fiery Kickstart! You failed!”

Already inflamed by Bloody Merry’s underhanded tactics, the Supreme Commander howled in fury yet refused to admit how far his plans had been set back. “I’ve failed nothing!! It is you who are the failures! And as Supreme Commander, it’s my honor-sworn duty to rid Equestrian of all filthy, changeling sympathizing scum!!”

Fiery brandished his flame-lit sword in an arc that made the air twist from the heat aimed at the couple. Fortunately, Midnight was prepared for any sudden hostility, muscles already tensed to spring back and evade the inferno. His wide plume whooshed forward to unleash his newly awakened Onoma, unleashing a gale of wind carefully controlled to limit the damage to their surroundings. A mini hurricane rushed out, and soldiers lifted and tossed onto the roads or into the fountain of milk, which splashed and overran across the soil.

Fiery lifted skyward and held his ground, his bent wing now partially healed and the flames that wrapped around them able to support his armored weight. His elemental Onoma matched up with the repressed hyper-stallion's, embers left to crackle around the Supreme Commander.

“Get behind me, Moonie,” called Midnight when he let her down. “I'll protect you!” He hadn't intended to throwdown in Hammerfall like this, but they hadn't left them with much choice!

Moonlight drunkenly stumbled a tad. “I-I can fight too!” Carefully, she launched a flurry of darts at the troops that started to rise, careful to only use paralyzing rounds as several were knocked out.

However, there were far too many for them to handle. Fiery ordered, “Leave Blitzer to me! I'll execute him with my own hands! Do what you want with the ex-cadet! Get that used-up whore ready for the breeder camp! Hell, rape the treasonous bitch to death for all I care!”

“Fuck you!” She hollered back. This time, she loaded up venous cartridges in her clockwork/cybernetic fusion plumage, ready to unload every last one into Fiery and make certain that bastard paid the price. However, more soldiers rushed at her with thirsty eyes.

“Moonie! Ack!” Midnight momentarily turned to his companion, and more wind launched from his plume, barely able to raise his lance in time when Fiery slashed at him. Flames crackled near his face, reminded that any strike could torch his skin and fur like the horrific nest of deep burn scars that decorated Fiery.

“Worry about your own ass,” yelled Fiery, who battered at him. “Weakness like that gets you killed in the heat of battle! Just like how poor, 'noble' old Thunder Storm was finally done in..!”

“Get off me, bastards!” yowled Moonlight, who hit a few more soldiers with darts before they seized her. Her metal plume cut one across the face, which made him howl and crumple. More tried to restrain and fondle her, the mare soon helpless to do little more than squirm in their arms as one lifted her up by the ankles to violate her.

The batmare struck out wildly and managed to slash a few more across the face and chest in splashes of hot scarlet, all while they continued to harshly clasp and squeeze at her wobbly, toned, soft flesh. However, one of the men cuffed part of her metal plume. “Gotcha, you dumb bitch!” he shouted in triumph.

“Certainly paid you a royal ransom whore,” said the stallion, his hard-on still in his pants, pressed to her puffy pink twat as she writhed, her arms held by the troops at her side. He rubbed the tip of his contained flare on her pussylips, which spread them a little and made her moisten. “Get her ready, boys, I-ack!”

Blood erupted from his throat and splashed red hot across Moonlight's heaving tits. Gunshots erupted across the air, ripped into the soldiers holding her sides. She tumbled onto her bare butt with a yelp as they dropped, the one that held her ankles left to clutch his neck, where a crossbow bolt was buried from the back of his throat and exited out the front.

“Ahh! Nothing like a strong drink and a bunch of villains who need their teeth kicked in,” called Arcanum Folklore. “Don’t it just bring back memories?”

“Some of the best, old chum,” replied Bloody Merry, who professionally reloaded her auto-crossbow in hand.

The two pegasi shoved each other back into the ground, Fiery’s heated glare locking on the red brick mare who did him dirty. “You! After I’ve dealt with these morons, I'll make sure my entire army claims a piece of your ass before I execute you!”

Merry flashed him a cheeky smile. “Not too bright of you to start a fire in the middle of town! Drew us all here!” She and her partner opened fire on Fiery's men, torn into by arrows and bullets.

“Aye. So much for not wanting to ‘disrupt the peace,’” murmured Arcanum, the warlock's hands and horn glimmering with ethereal magic.

Beatrix rushed out of the pub, haphazardly fixing her costume and long pigtails still trailing behind her before stammering, “Y-Yeah! Throw down your weapons and surrender!”

Fiery snarled and rushed to knock the blue pegasus to the ground; pointing his flame sword at his foe's throat. “You really want to start a war here? Over this pathetic sack of horseshit?”

Beatrix held up her hands, as did Arcanum and Merry, who ceased their actions while remaining poised to attack. More stallion soldiers and minotaurs raced onto the bloody scene.

“Not very wise, Supreme Commander,” called Brutus Grimmwald, who arrived with Moon Hammer, flanked by his grimms. “You stand against not only the people here but those who came with the U.F.O. parked in the distance.”

“One bad move, and your entire regime goes belly up,” said Iclyn coolly, her cryomancy flurrying around her antlers and hands in a subdued cold snap.

Wispy Willow took a martial arts stance back in her embroidered scarlet cheongsam when she bared her claws and teeth. “You think you can take all of us? You're outnumbered, dumbass!”

“Best make yer sorry arse scarce!” hollered Dion, who didn’t bother to retrieve his clothes but carried his heavy claymore and shield in hand.

“This ends badly for you, I’m afraid,” Moon Hammer spoke as calmly as he could, always aware it could come to this. He hefted a war hammer. “Leave in peace or in pieces. Your choice.”

For a moment, no one spoke nor moved. However, doubts played across Midnight's face, aware he could unleash a hurricane and take out Fiery and his men...but it would tear apart a town that had already faced devastation. He was not yet trained to handle this level of power! Likewise, people on both sides tensed, ready to spill more blood after all the tensions.

The silence was broken when everyone gasped. Fiery decided to take his head anyway, consequences be damned!

But as he swung his flame-laced sword downward, a flash of light blinked between the two pegasus knights… and another saber doused in a righteous inferno clashed. “What in—grragh!”

The wielder forced Fiery backward, stumbling to his behind, guarding his face from the brilliant light. When it dimmed down, the onlookers gasped at the angelic creature that stood protectively in front of Midnight and Moonlight, adorned by radiant armor.

“Hey! I-Is that—?!”

“It is!”

Beatrix covered her snout, eyes watery with happy tears. “Zeloph!”

Merry rubbed her eyes clear, bewildered by what she was seeing. “I-I must be properly shitfaced 'cause that looks like an angel! And last I checked, those bastards were just make-believe!”

“It’s… complicated,” admitted Arcanum.

The fiery-haired demi-human kept a collected gaze, his illuminated plumage spread open with each eye fixated on the mustard stallion. His teal blade aimed at his half-burn-scarred head. “I’d think a little more carefully about what you say or do next, warmonger.”

Fiery scoffed. “Or what? You’ll strike me down where I stand? I’d like to see you try, halo boy!”

Zell couldn’t hide the smile on his face. “Oh, I won’t be doing anything… she will.”

A snarling canine beast emerged from the darkness of his own shadow, pinning the Supreme Commander and baring its sharp teeth. And to add further insult to injury, he felt the cold steel of a sickle-blade pressed against his neck, wielded by a similar creature cloaked in a hooded white cowl. “Go ahead. Make this more difficult for yourself,” she warned, her voice dripping sarcasm. “I dare you.”

The violet witch’s eyes widened hearing the familiar cadence of that voice. “… Shadow Scythe..?!”

Fiery’s nostrils flared, glaring at the strange alien creatures that subdued him effortlessly… before snuffing the fire from his broadsword. “...very well. Release me, and we will go.”

The couple looked at each other before nodding, and the reaper demi called off her shadow hound, which faded back into her silhouette. Once she stepped aside, the pegasus pulled himself back up and returned to his soldiers with what little dignity he could muster… but not before turning back at his enemies and declaring his ambitions publicly.

“You will rue this day, Moon Hammer. Once the Crystal Empire has extinguished the changeling swarm, your precious Hammerfall will be next. I will raze your land and slaughter you and your people to the last like the cattle you are! All that you’ve built and cherished will be turned to ASH!!”

The chieftain said nothing, well aware of this inevitable outcome. Regardless, he, his people, and the allies that stood with him would be ready. At his nod, the minotaurs reluctantly parted to let them pass and formed a wall of muscle.

With nothing left to be said, the Supreme Commander turned to his soldiers and ordered, “Move out!”

Hesitantly, the stallions of the Crystal Empire left with their leader, offering only contemptuous looks at the locals while packing their tents from outside.

The female reaper turned to the former blacksmith and muttered, “Y’know, I could have just killed him then and there. Save you and your people the headache…there's still time…”

Moon Hammer sighed heavily and shook his head. “...no. I'm afraid I'm honor-bound to let them leave. I always figured it would come to this, but we needed their help to weather the aftermath of that last attack. They have helped keep our other enemies at bay. Still, you all came back and were ready to help defend us. So thank you.”

The minotaur chief kept an eye on Fiery's men, the last of which carried their wounded or dead away. Fortunately, there hadn't been any casualties on their side, but they were isolated once more and forced to rely on Beatrix and her friends for aid.

Within a few minutes, the area was cleared. He noted two of his spies, Creamy and Milky, were also on the scene, still nude but nonetheless ready to back him up once it all went south.

Zell helped Midnight back to his feet, noting, “You’re looking better than when I last saw you.”

The blue smiled, taking in the seraphic demi’s new outfit and hair color. “Yeah! You too! I like the new look!”

Beatrix ran up to squeeze her former flame tightly to her marshmallows. “You made it back! You have no idea how glad I am to see you again, hotspot!”

“Ahem!”

The unicorn balked and meekly glanced at the other demi-human, who tapped her folded arm impatiently, waiting for Bea to remove herself from her beloved. The witch sheepishly smiled and carefully pulled away before exclaiming, “A-a-and Shadow Scythe! You’re back as well! But how? I-I thought you died!!”

Atalanta removed her hood, showing off her braided snowy hair and raven-winged ears, simply stating, “I got better.”

“We don't fully know ourselves,” confessed Zeloph, rubbing the back of his head. “Through a lot of bizarro nonsense and spiritual interventions by the reaper order and its founder Greyscale Carnifex, Atalanta has been reborn as a demihuman…though it came at a cost.”

The reaper nodded. “We managed to defeat Mortis and his followers… but Demi-Trix sacrificed herself once more to make this miracle possible.”

“Demi-Trix? No...” Beatrix bowed her head solemnly, then perked up with a pained smile. “B-but she's a tulpa! She can always come back, yeah?”

“She will… eventually. As long as we keep her memory alive,” he answered with a pained smile.

Dion strode forward and said, “Good tae have ye back. Th' both ov ye!”

Wispy spoke up. “Wait, if you’re back, then where’s Mox—rrraaowl!!”

The nekomata jumped when something gave her backside a harsh slap that made her flesh wobble. Her first instinct was to claw at Dion, who held up his hands and insisted, “Oi! Wasn’t me!!”

A familiar mischievous titter alerted the party as the imp demihuman Moxxi unveiled herself in a puff of neon smoke. “I've been 'ere the whole time~!”

“Nǐ zhège jiǎohuá de xiǎo dōngxī!”

“Sugar and spice ter see ya too, Rumpleteazer!” Moxxi mockingly blew her a kiss while avoiding her playful swipes.

Beatrix took the opportunity to check her former adversary out, marveling over her new form. From the skeletal markings along her limbs and lissome shape to the new floral-tipped tail. “Damn, that’s one hell of a transformation.” Her eyes then gawked at her lithe chest, the bottom of her breasts exposed under her ragged shirt. “I think you might have gone up a cup size, too~! Congratulations, Shadow Scy-”

This earned a hard smack that sent the smitten witch falling back. “Mare or demi-human, I’m still the same ‘Goddess of Death‘ that nearly killed you many times before, Belladonna,” Atalanta said, shaking off the recoil from her hand. “I no longer go by my alias anymore… despite my attachment to it." Her forced, cold expression softened with sly mirth. "Oh, and... nice mane style~.”

“Old habits die hard,” teased Zeloph, who held hands with his lover.

The pale reaper continued. “Demi-Trix is only a part of what made this possible. The fallen reaper order intervened on my behalf and helped this new form stabilize. We’ve also uncovered a darker truth about the 'anomaly' behind this madness. It's—”

“Aiden Darkbloom,” acknowledged the half-masked Brutus. “Or Omen, as he prefers to be called. I've already told them what I know.”

“Was about to ask why you were roaming about here,” said Zell.

“A shame we couldn't learn that sooner,” muttered Iclyn. "So much pointless tragedy could have been avoided. But there's no point wallowing in regrets."

“Yeah.” Beatrix quietly looked at the half-expanded skeleton of Hammerfall. “We lost poor Cerise and Penumbra...”

“But we will save them,” promised Midnight, who stood beside Moonlight as she wrapped a cloak around her provided by Moon Hammer. “We’re all finally back together as a group. Plus, we’ve now got a small army behind us!”

Dion shook his head. “It's not that simple, laddie. We don’t want tae directly put Moon Hammer nor his people at risk on what coold prove a suicide run.”

“Not to mention the destruction that awaits the Lost World,” Iclyn reminded them. “The ship is too damaged for interstellar travel. But now that you’re here…” The icy doe gestured to the fiery angel. “We can finally travel there before Walpurgisnacht starts!”

Zeloph grimaced. “That’s… not gonna happen for a while, unfortunately. After our bout with Mortis, we’re all still tired, and I’ve burnt nearly everything I have to get us here.”

Atalanta cast him a wicked smile and playfully pouted, “N’aww. Feeling exhausted, are we? That’s too bad~.”

She suddenly tripped him, seized his tail, and started dragging him back towards the ship. “Oww! What the-h-hey!”

“You and I have some unfinished business to attend to, love.”

Beatrix cautiously followed and asked, “Are you sure now is the time to—”

Atalanta snapped her head back and coldly declared, “Anyone who follows me or interferes with our personal time will be met with sharp blades and teeth. So swears the Goddess of Death!”

The witchy mare backed away slowly. “Duly noted!” With a wicked titter, the reaper tugged her prize along towards the ship. Everyone else watched with bewilderment while they left the town.

“…huh. Since when did she become sae feisty?” Dion wondered aloud.

“It appears Demihood has enhanced her hormonal levels,” observed Brutus.

“Shit! Maybe a threesome is possible now,” considered Wispy, her split tigress tail wagging excitedly at the idea. "Put a word in for me, Mox?"

The imp snorted. "Yeah, good luck wif that."

“Oh, for fuck sakes! Is there anyone in this accursed world that isn’t libido driven?!” Iclyn growled with frustration before stomping off. A chill swept over the areas she passed that made onlookers shudder, Creamy's and Milky's wide nipples painfully hardened.

"Think my milk froze a little," murmured the sleepy-eyed bovine Milky.

"We'll warm up at the pub," replied Creamy. "Hell, I could use a drink too."

“That was… scarousing,” murmured Beatrix, who looked upward at the flying saucer and spotted her succubus sister, Bellatrix Primadonna, within the UFO’s dome. She noticed the unicorn and waved back at her before the red-skinned devil vanished further in.

Moxxi did a small stretch. “Welp! I fin' this calls for anovver Moriarty! Back ter the tiddy bar, everyone!”

Wispy reminded her, “Isn't it closed?”

“Nuffin' I can’t persuade the bartender into~!” The imp made a jerking motion with her hand and winked. “Those poor waitresses will be so cream crackered and sore after I suck them titties dry!”

The imp zipped off in a puff of colored smoke, certain the whole of Hammerfall was awake after another war had threatened to break out. Everyone else decided not to concentrate on the eventual backlash that awaited them for now to resume recreational activities.

“Aaaaagghnnh!! Ooooh, that bitch!!” Seb hissed, bashing his fist into the table as Julianne applied a warm, wet rag onto his blackened eye.

“Can’t say you didn’t deserve that,” the abbess softly scolded.

“For real,” agreed Arron, who stood over them with his arms folded, grinning wildly. “Succubitch decked you real good for making fun of her weight~!”

“I wasn’t calling her fat!” The card demon insisted. “I was just… pointing out that her stomach looked weird. Doesn't give her the right to jab my eye with her tail!”

“Sebastian. For someone with great foresight, you should have known better.”

His need to argue settled once Julianne hummed into his ear, her magical music helping him ease his tension and relax into the chair. “Ugh! What shitty luck!”

“I’d say we’re pretty lucky, considering that all of us made it off Sacratera alive~,” the rosy-haired nun tittered.

“Yeah, didn’t you hear? Zell and Ana took Mortis back to the boneyard and utterly thrashed him! And his girl comes back to life as a demi-human?! I’m seeing nothing, but W’s here!”

Seb scoffed. “Well, not to brag or anything, but I highly doubt Sunspot could have gotten far without my time stop card tipping the scales in our favo—owww!!”

“Haven’t you been humbled enough?” the songstress mused. “Not to undermine your assistance, dear. But Zeloph’s exaltation and Atalanta’s resurrection were what secured our victory.”

“Oh, sure! And all it took was for her to die and him to visit Layla’s dairy factory for a free sample! Along with knocking up the fakeubus. What a fucking world we live in!”

Arron snorted. “Like you're not tempted to drink from the demon cow’s teats and gain Exaltation for yourself?”

“… I mean, have you seen how stacked she is?”

An angry vein pulsated despite Julianne’s smiling visage. “Sebastian!”

Seb held up his hands defensively. “Whoa, hold on! I’m just saying. If we all unlocked that level of power, literally nothing could stand against us! We’d be unstoppable! And… if it takes one small night in the realm of Nyx—”

The saintly demi facepalmed. “And I thought we were making such great progress…”

The bull-headed brawler shook his head. “Bruh, Layla‘s titty milk could make me stronger than Hercules, and I still wouldn’t touch her with a seven-foot pole. Not saying she isn’t ungodly gorgeous; it’s just… I-I can’t! It’s too uncomfortable!”

“No, I get it! You don’t swing that way; that’s cool,” assured the gambler. “… but would you do it if she was a man?”

“Oh, no questions asked! Absolutely! I’d be in prime dick-sucking position to get some of that—”

“Boys!”

The two demi's quit their ‘debate’ to look attentively at Julianne, who wore a patient smile. “If you really do want to unlock that side of your demihood, there’s an alternative solution. Need I remind you that I, too, can reach Exaltation? And I certainly didn’t attain it through any lewd acts!”

“Alright then, tell us,” questioned Seb. “How does one obtain the power of Exaltation without the Mother of All Demons?”

Before Julianne could answer, she detected something approaching the UFO and silently urged her fellow demi’s to be on guard. The brawler held up his fists, layering his knuckles with hardened topaz while the cardslinger prepped his new deck, each card containing various weapons and devices from the ship.

But their stances faltered the moment Zeloph and Atalanta came into view, their eyes drawn to the latter. “Ho-lee shit,” murmured Seb in astonishment. “She really is one of us now!”

“Woo! Zeloph, my guy!” Arron bounced on his feet. “Walking back here like a champ~!”

“I’m so thrilled and happy to see you both again,” Julianne said with a bright smile. “Welcome home~”

Zeloph offered a clipped smile. “Thank you.” He turned to Atalanta, who shyly drew her hood over her face, a tad nervous to be around the other demi-humans.

Her hand lightly squeezed his and she asked, “Where is Layla? I doubt Mortis and his flunkies could do her in.”

“She's been infected by Viscera’s virus,” the abbess informed with a small bow. “She’s recovering in her private chambers. Otherwise, she’s fine! Bellatrix came in not too long ago to check on her.”

“Ahh, good. Good…” Her icy gray eyes stayed on Julianne’s for an uncomfortable amount of time, causing her to cough awkwardly.

“Erm… is there something wrong?” She asked. “Is my makeup out of place?”

“Huh? Ohh! Oh, no, it’s, uh… not important,” Atalanta replied, shaking it off with a fake laugh.

The others looked at each other with arched eyebrows but didn’t make much of the exchange and continued to converse. But the reaper demi kept quietly staring, as secretly, her new powers allowed her to see the soul energy that radiated from everyone. Even one twisted by darkness like Mortis Saltaire hadn’t proven immune.

The only exception came with the seraphic nun, whose entire presence didn’t house a single ember of soul fire. Behind that chipper smile and musical voice lay a vast emptiness…

‘But… how can that be?’ the pale reaper questioned inwardly, face drawn with confusion.

Clearing her throat, Atalanta decided to overlook this bewilderment in favor of tugging Zeloph towards the ship. “H-huh! Hey, we’re in the middle of a—”

“Sorry to cut this short, but it’s been a long day, and we could use the privacy,” the snowy-haired demi hastily said. “It was nice to meet all of you again. I hope to talk with you more later.”

“Oh, c’mon! Can’t you at least tell us how it is you came back from the dead—yaaaugh! Geezus!!”

A pair of shadowy hounds suddenly popped out of his shadow, barking and snapping their jaws at him, forcing him to leap into Arron’s arms comically. “Whoa! What the hell!”

“The fuck are those?!”

“My therapy dogs,” snarked the reaper demi while urging her beloved up through the orifice-shaped entrance underneath the Glamorguis. “Behave, and they won’t bite you. Capche?”

“Understandable! Have a nice day,” said Julianne, her smile stretching slightly. Atalanta gave her another odd look before she sailed up to tail her husband into the ship. The wispy canines soon disappeared after.

“Well, that was rude,” mumbled Arron, dropping Seb to the ground, who landed on his backside with a yowl. “Just wanted to say hi!”

“They simply need some alone time,” assured Julianne. “We can't really blame them!”

“Yeah, especially after we nearly had our shit kicked in,” grunted Seb, who dusted off his pinstriped suit. “Don't really get how she came back from the dead, but I’ll leave it to her to explain when she's ready.”

While their fellow demihumans made heads-and-tails of these revelations, Atalanta hurried Zeloph into a private room, conjuring more hounds to keep watch and make certain they were undisturbed. With the door sealed, she motioned the seraph to the spacious bed.

Zell offered his lover a concerned look. “Hey, are you alright? You’re a little pushy toda-ahhmnn!”

The female reaper placed a long kiss on his lips, hands stroking and feeling his chest. She pulled back, a playful yet wicked smile on her black lips. “Better than alright…” She then shoved him onto the bed, which he landed with a soft bounce. “… I’m alive. More than I’ve ever felt during my time as Shadow Scythe. You did this to me, Zell… now you have to deal with it~.”

The male angel gazed longingly, heat rising in his face and groin when she slowly removed the pale hood and cowl off her slender shape. When he attempted to remove his own blue shirt, she sharply said, “No.”

He froze, breaths becoming heavy.

“Don’t move,” commanded Atalanta, her voice husky and hushed. “Just watch.”

She gracefully dragged the tattered shirt over her semi-exposed torso, leaving her topless and exposing her thin, curvy body. She cupped her tiny breasts, a moan rolling out her mouth from how hard and sensitive her gumdrop nipples were. It seemed Beatrix was right in her observation. Her chest had gotten slightly bigger, and she removed her hands to see them jiggle more.

She continued to sway and show off to her lover, who adored the view while keeping still. His cerulean eyes admired her lissome shapeliness, especially when she turned around and bent down to remove her short pants. Her rear had also gotten bigger to accommodate the reaper’s wider hips. Her tail wagged above while her hands pulled her pert cheeks apart, showing how wet and excited her dripping pussy was. “Enjoying the view, love?”

“I adore it,” he confessed with a breathy chuckle, unperturbed when she summoned chains out of the shadows to bind his wrists and ankles to the bedpost.

Once fully nude, Atalanta crawled on top of her prize, eyes glowing fiercely like a predator cornering her prey. “Let me know if you’re uncomfortable,” she softly whispered, showing some hints of sheepishness as she never took charge like this before.

“Never,” he assured her. “The woman I love could never hurt me.”

“Ooh, I don’t know about that. I’m tempted to leave you with a few marks and scars,” she purred, dragging her sharpened claws along his chest. “Just to let every nosey bitch who thinks they can have you to stay out of my territory~!”

Zeloph shuddered after she tore off his blue shirt with little care if she nicked him, a few lines showing until he was completely topless. His back arched when her lips caressed his lithe yet muscled torso, marking down his abs to the belt buckle of his pants. Her hands groped and felt the growing bulge, mouth close to the zipper… until she pulled back completely, tittering cruelly.

“No, I don’t think you deserve that yet,” Atalanta teased, delighting in the sight of the Aether King whimpering and mewling from how tight his pants had gotten. “You haven’t shown your mistress how much you crave her~!”

“T-There’s not a part of you I don't love,” he said between pants, wrestling to somehow free himself from the shackles, but to no avail.

“Really now?” The lithe reaper murmured before swinging herself around, her winking sexhole mere centimeters away from his face. His face twitched from the leaking drops of fem cum staining his heated face.

“So if I decided to drown or smother you with my cunt?” Atalanta asked, wagging her hips and butt a bit.

“Heh! I'm already in heaven, so you might as well send me there,” he teased back. His yelp was lost when she planted her plush rear right on his head, smooshing his face with her ass and pussy, Zell enveloped by her warmth.

“Oh, trust me, my delicate little angel,” huffed the reaper demi. “I’ll have you begging for release. Now, put that silver tongue of yours to good use~!”

Like a puppy eager to play, Zell wasted little time and oxygen to taste his beloved’s honeypot, brushing over her clit into her labia with every slurp and lick. Atalanta moaned sharply, grinding the Aether King’s face with her wet cunt, helping him reach a little deeper.

“Naaaahah-! Yes! Ooh, that’s it! Get in there, dog,” she commanded, squirming atop, relishing how dexterous his tongue was at wriggling around inside her needy, winking pussy.

Eying Zeloph’s jerking hips, Atalanta decided to give him some leeway and free his shimmering spear from its prison, watching it bob and throb in all its lengthy glory. She bit her lip and leaned closer, marveling at its size while making mental notes of how deeply it would fill her once she mounted it.

The answer: very deep.

The death angel gave a couple of testing licks around the tip, which caused her future husband to shudder and bury his melodic sounds into her ass. Gods, how she missed the honey-sweet flavoring of his pre, half tempted to milk out the rest of his syrupy semen out of his testicles.

But for now, Atalanta settled with spitting into her hand and stroking her saliva to make his cock extra shiny, mouth suckling the tip while her head bobbed and weaved in a rhythm.

The two lovers were locked in worship with each other’s genitals, moans, and praises blocked by their ample assets. The pale reaper was finding it difficult to keep up with her task, eventually pulling off Zeloph’s cock to openly cry at how good he was eating her moist snatch.

Originally, Atalanta sought to take her time and work him up to his breaking point, wanting the seraphic angel to plead for her to finish him off...but her own body demanded she drop the tedious foreplay, get that dick inside her and fuck herself like the feral animal she was. A trait no doubt leftover from her time as a mare.

“Herrgn! I don’t care anymore,” she whined. “Fuck it! And by it, I mean me!”

Whether it was a protest or agreement, Zell’s words were muffled beneath her until she lifted herself off his face, now smeared in her love honey. She scooted her butt forward, rubbing her pussylips down his chest and tummy, leaving a slimy trail of her lust down his chiseled flesh. She raised her twat, poising it above the shiny tip before gently guiding it through her velvety entrance.

A hiss ripped from Zeloph when his love sank down to impale herself with a needy moan. She marveled over how full his fuck pillar made her. Hand delicately patting the imprint he made below her belly.

“Aahh, fuck!” the fiery angel groaned. “You’re way tighter than when we last…mmmnh~!”

“It's probably a side effect,” mewled Atalanta, who paced herself with slow bounces until she adjusted to the meaty cock stretching out her slick pussy. “B-but I think I—oooh~! Now that I’ve had my cutie mark removed, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so pent up in my life. Mmmah~! N-Not even the full brunt of my estrus compares!”

Without her emotions being suppressed, the reaper could cut loose and ride her lover without restraint, slamming up and down until wet smacks echoed around the room. Zell quivered and moaned, forced to watch his mistress rotate her hips around, her slim, jiggling butt taunting him. Almost as if Atalanta dared him to break free of his shackles and take what was his!

Yet he behaved, content to enjoy the ride until the shadow bindings snapped off, releasing his limbs.

“Go on. Touch me! Fuck me!!”

“What? B-But I thought you wanted—”

“Hon, I love you. But I am literally ten seconds away from either cumming or strangling you,” she warned through bestial growls, leering back at him. “Now quit treating me like I’m a fucking flower and rail this pussy into submission before—hnnaaah~!”

Her demands were met when he secured her waist with both hands and surged his hips up to match her aggressive tempo. An impaled Atalanta released loud howls, hands using his chest for leverage behind her to help better take his rough pounding.

“Yeeeesss! Ooh, don’t stop,” she chanted, perky breasts jiggling with each thrust. “Keep fucking me just like that! Don’t you dare fucking stop~!”

On his end, Zell added his voice to her chorus of moans, struggling to pull back his shaft with how tightly the reaper’s love tunnel clenched him. Still, he kept a brisk pace, skewering her wanton pussy with vigorous upward motions. The reaper sharply gasped upon feeling his cock scrape a particular pleasure spot that made her see stars.

“Haaahhh! Ooh FUCK, I’m cumming!!” She announced, crying out as her quivering cunt squirted all over her lover's hot rod. Zell hissed once her slippery twat squeezed down, causing him to grip her slim sides tightly.

Atalanta took a few seconds to collect her breath, staring down in amazement at how hard she had come. Her thighs and arms trembled, struggling to keep her balanced. So she begrudgingly lifted off her beloved’s shiny pillar, a wet pop sounding once the thick tip dislodged from her pliable labia, and laid her back into the bed.

Zell rolled over on top of her, caressing her cheek and kissing her lips. “You look spent, darling,” he teased softly. “We can take a small break and continue—”

“No!”

Her limbs suddenly snapped around him like a spider snatching its prey, pulling him close, and shoving his cock back where it belonged, earning a surprised gasp and shudder.

Despite how sensitive her pussy was after her climax, Atalanta resumed to roll her hips up into his, growling faintly in his feathered ear, “We’re done when I say we’re done! Quit being a pansy and fuck me harder!!”

Whether obedience or instinct moved him, Zeloph compiled with her excessive demands, jackhammering his bride-to-be into the bed. The female reaper arched her back from the spine-tingling pleasure she received, rewarding her lover with throatful moans and cries for more.

She shoved his face into her chest, one hand threading through his fiery locks while the other clawed and cut into his shoulder. Taking the subtle hint, Zell cupped her tiny tit, suckling and tugging on her nipple, which earned more cute noises whenever she squirmed.

“Nyyaahh~!” the reaper whined, her body spasming each time she felt his cockhead kiss the back of her slick, slippery womb. “Gods, yes! Break me in, Zell! Take my body and make it yours! Make me your woman~!!”

Her baser pleas pushed Zell further into a pit of frenzied lust until he really started to let her have it, driving his hips faster and harder to impale his lover, breeding bag tapping her plush yet taut ass. Their tails intertwined, her legs raising higher to hook around his waist, ensuring he couldn’t pull out of her greedy pussy.

“Mmnh~! I can feel you throbbing deep inside me,” she tittered airly between husky moans and ragged pants. “You’re close, aren’t you? So close, you’re on the verge of exploding! Don’t hold back, my love... let me have it~!!"

His hazy blue eyes found hers, sweating profusely while continuing to impale her. Every fiber in his being was screaming at him to sow her fertile soil with his potent seed.

“Y-you realize what you’re asking, right?” He groaned with both arousal and concern. “Should I do that..!”

“I do.” A dark blush crept across her face. “I know you want it so badly, and… I want it to! I won’t have any more regrets now that I’ve put most of my past behind me. A-and now that our bodies are more compatible, there’s no excuse not to! So please, Zell… love me! Feel me! Breed me~!”

Those last two words would be her mantra as her angelic lover redoubled his efforts to plow her body into the squeaking bed, chanting for it over and over while her eyes flipped into the back of her skull. Her nails dug crimson lines into his flesh, thighs squeezing around his hips once he milked another messy orgasm out of the reaper.

And with a feral cry of his own, Zeloph burst inside her, unable to hold back the white hot ropes of virile cum that poured into and packed full the reaper demi’s baby maker. The pair briefly floated into the air amidst a shared, drawn-out climax that wracked them to their cores. Atalanta cried with absolute bliss, tears cascading down her cheeks from how warm and full her mildly swollen belly felt.

Without her reaper regenerative abilities, there was no risk to their child. A child she knew her mother and father would have loved to have met were they still alive.

After they started to wind down, the duo gently floated back onto the bed, Zell still remaining buried womb deep inside her. One loving look at each other, and they capped off their wonderful night of lovemaking with drawn-out kisses.

At least, that’s what Zeloph thought, anyway.

“Wow… Th-that was—”

Atalanta snickered, nuzzling his neck and cheek. “We're far from done, my love~.”

“E-Eh? Huh?”

The Aether King watched in confusion while her floral-tipped tail snaked out and flicked at the seal on the doors, which slid open to reveal her shadow hounds. Their watchful eyes were on the red-skinned she-devil, who had been listening in from the distance. “You can come in, Bella,” Atalanta beckoned. “We have much to talk about.”

As her canine minions parted and took a seat with wagging tails, the succubus strode in cautiously, a look of embarrassment gracing her face with her arms folded underneath her heavy bust. “So… How long did you know I was—”

“I sensed you were there the entire time,” the reaper said with a thoughtful grin. “Though truthfully, I suspected you would seek us out sooner or later.”

Bellatrix’s frown deepened. “I didn't mean to intrude. But it didn't seem prudent not to let it be until I explained myself, either.” The doors closed behind her on the way in, the demi couple parting to make room for the leather-bound succubus. “Atalanta, listen… I know how… bad this looks like. But I didn’t intend to stir up any drama after he and I slept together and—”

“I’m aware you’re with child,” Atalanta acknowledged gently. “But I also know you didn't have much choice. You both were in a dire state. That being said, I am a little envious Zell knocked you up first~!”

Bella and Zell blushed a little and shuffled awkwardly.

“From what I’ve gathered, your Onoma, Gehenna, relies on male supplements to summon various demons from the Ars Goetia. Fortunately, it seems Zell managed to score you with quite a powerful one?”

Bella nodded. “Asmodeus. Without his aid, we wouldn't have been able to take out Andrei.”

“And saved everyone. My lover and myself included,” surmised Atalanta. “I'd told Zell he was free to move on the moment I died. That's why I'm willing to share him with you. Apparently, he has a weakness for bad women.” She snickered and slapped his bare butt.

“Specifically, women that can kill him,” Bellatrix joined in with a teasing titter, making the seraphic demi more flustered.

“In all seriousness, I’m relieved he sought you first. From what I've reasoned, you're easily one of the most level-headed of our allies and accepted us the moment we chose to try and reform.”

“Probably because I was once a villain myself,” explained Bella. “A minion of the Sombra from Equestria Primera. Beatrix saved me from myself. I wanted to rescue my succubi sisters from a similar dark fate. But with the Necronomicon's destruction, they've probably all been cast into the void.”

“You're kinder than you let on,” reasoned Zeloph.

“...perhaps. Or maybe I merely felt responsible somehow. I survived where they did not.” Bella's lips twisted in lamentation for her race. “So easily, our fates could have been traded. I was picked at random by my 'master,' plucked from that damned black tome and driven to harm Beatrix.”

“In the end, it worked out for Belladonna. And it worked out for us a heck of a lot more,” reminded Atalanta. “Do you trust me, Bella?”

“I do. I consider everyone under my roof a companion. I may have lost the manor, but the same rules still apply. The exceptions are those that betrayed us, like Esmeralda and Camellia.” Her mouth curled into a small sneer at the dark memory, which she then shook aside. “Why do you ask?”

“Because what I’m about to do requires trust. And consent. Will you offer me your body for the next little bit?”

“Certainly. Whatever you need. I have much to make amends for, so why not start here?”

The demoness’ golden eyes widened when Atalanta took a spectral shape and lifted off from the bed. She swallowed at the reaper's approach but didn't resist when her ghastly spirit phased into the she-devil, whose body twitched and jerked up before settling into a still pose.

Zeloph rose up, slightly concerned. “Atalanta..? Bellatrix..?”

When the she-devil lifted her head, she spoke with a voice overshadowed by the reapers. “I’m here! Or rather, we’re here~!”

‘Ugh.. I feel so strange… huh?’ Bella’s consciousness spoke internally. ‘Wha-whoa! How did you… what is this?’

"Phantasmagorical possession,” Atalanta elaborated. “I can overshadow people and take control of their bodies. Their thoughts, feelings, and abilities will be untouched, but they won't be able to move or speak unless I allow it.”

To demonstrate, Atalanta used the demon's hands to lift and caress her larger breasts, barely concealed in a black bikini top. Her spaded tail wagged when she cooed, “Ooh, these feel really nice! So soft and pliable. No wonder men prefer their women big~.”

Zell looked at her skeptically. “Is Bellatrix really okay with this?”

The demoness grinned before the reaper allowed Bellatrix the ability to speak once more. “I’m alright, Zell. Unusual as this is, I trust Atalanta won’t do anything reckless. Plus, I… do need male emissions for me and the baby to survive. And while I prefer to be the one in control, I’m willing to give… whatever this is a chance.”

With that said, she fully surrendered herself to the reaper demi, who spoke through Bella’s voice once more. “Good. Because I’ve been dying to try this~!”

The hijacked succubus quickly pushed her lover to sit in the bed, her clawed hands unbuckling her bondage bikini until her voluptuous yet well-toned curves fully revealed themselves. Kneeling between his legs, she wrapped both her pillowy soft tits around his sensitive erection, using her chest to stroke it back to full length.

“Whuuaah! Ooh, fuck,” Zeloph wheezed, his precum oozing out and coating her boobflesh, which was soon slick and slippery as it glistened brightly.

‘Bellatrix’ sampled her lover’s scrumptious seed, feeling the fiery sensation immolate in the succubus’ loins. “Mmm~! Hot as hell body. Soft, luscious breasts with an amazing ass to match. I can see why you were so smitten with her, love. Why you simply had to put a baby in her~.”

“Ahh?! N-no, it wasn’t like—w-we just discussed this—aahh!!” Zeloph stammered, yelping when she smacked her lips around his tip and sucked out more of his rich residue.

“Relax,” she said in a sultry manner. “If I were in your shoes, I might not have resisted either! But that’s beside the point. I can feel Bella squirming from within, growling impatiently. She’s starving for your virile cum, honey. Now be a good boy and feed her~!”

‘H-hey! Don’t make me sound like some desperate slut—nnaahh~!!’

Bellatrix failed to suppress a whimper when the reaper rubbed the angelic demi-human faster with her heavy, squished titties, sharp nails tweaking her hardened buds. She then flicked her elongated tongue out, wrapping it repeatedly around his dick, getting it nice and slobbery with her hot drool.

Zell twitched and started bucking into the bottom of her breasts, smacking them with his hips. Tucking her head in, the red-skinned demon engulfed whatever inches weren’t wrapped between her tits, sloppily slurping on the thrusting shaft, determined to get her drink.

He cast back his head and cried out, “Holy shit! I-I'm gonna—!!”

Atalanta squeezed down when he erupted, swallowing the first couple of shots before pulling off with her mouth wide, her borrowed long tongue hanging out. The rest of his spunk landed in her mouth, more caking her titties and face, drenched in a mask of his seminal love, which dribbled down her and left a salty, savory flavor.

By the time his stream finished, her upper body was coated in a thick mask of angel batter. ‘Bellatrix’ dutifully cleaned and polished his cock, slowly lapping up the thick leftovers and making sure Zeloph remained hard.

‘Gods, his semen is as succulent as ever,’ Bellatrix admitted, her consciousness overwhelmed by the euphoria and smoldering heat of lust. ‘I fear I might become an addict!’

‘Fear or hope~?’ Atalanta cheekily retorted.

‘I prefer women over men, as you probably know. It’s why I’m frustrated with my own biology and reliance on male seed for sustainment. But if I could live off just Zeloph’s sperm alone, it would make me a happy succubus~.’

‘Mmm… I think we could arrange something between us. But right now, let’s continue with your punishment.’

Bellatrix balked. ‘P-Punishment..?’

Her soul trembled when Atalanta tittered evilly. ‘You did get pregnant before me. And I’m not about to let that slide~.’

Atalanta offered Zell no chance to recover, dragging him back on his feet. He huffed, “H-Honey, I don’t know how much more I can—”

“You’re not stopping until I’ve drained your balls dry,” she told him flatly before sashaying her way to a nearby wall, which she bent over to present her wagging backside at him. Her tail hiked up, and one hand pulled open one cheek to show off her drenched fuckholes. “Mount me. Fuck me silly and breed me raw,” the reaper teased through Bella’s deep yet feminine tone. “Bella's too afraid to admit it, but she secretly wants to play your pocket whore. You’re the only man allowed to dominate this hot ass and pussy~!”

It was true. Even while the reaper stretched her finger to pull apart her damp plump pussy lips, Bellatrix felt her dread mix with arousal, a potent aphrodisiac brought on by this unusual ordeal. All the while, Atalanta played with the curious and enticing feelings of loving another woman.

Zeloph heaved, mustering what energy he had to lean over her bent frame, aligned his stiff member to Bella’s slit, and pushed inside with a wet squelch.

Her spaded tail wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer, deeper into her scorching hot, wet depths. The pair groaned once the phantom hijacking her body rolled her hips around to get the train rolling. With a firm hand on her waist, the fatigued yet eager seraph slammed into the she-devil’s bouncy backside with firm, dominant thrusts.

It was then that Zell’s lust-aidden mind realized how extremely lucky he was. To have the chance to make love to two beautiful women at once. A dream any other straight man would chase after. Yet he was more drawn to the bizarre intimacy shared between them.

One hand kneaded the succubus’ wide crimson asscheek while the other reached to massage one of her swinging titties, making husky moans that filled the interior echo about them.

‘Aaawww, fuck! This feels better than I thought it would,’ the phantom reaper mewled blissfully. ‘Sharing one cock, while we share one pussy!’

‘I-It’s too much,’ replied Bella. ‘My body and mind are melting! I’m going numb!’

‘Nothing we can’t handle. Here..!’

Atalanta forfeited control back to the she-devil, who wailed whorishly whenever her leathery wings snapped open and fanned out to their full mast.

“I-I am the Queen of Hell,” she declared through clenched teeth, leaning her back into her angelic lover, reaching back to bring Zell’s face to hers. “I will be feared and respected by all! The only reason I keep you alive is because of that thick cock! Now give it to me! Harder! I need your fucking cum~!!”

She roughly kissed Zeloph, biting his lower lip as their hips gyrated and smacked into each other. Their moans muffled, sensing another orgasmic wave rising between them.

But Atalanta swiftly took over and shoved Zeloph out of her puffy cunny, much to their combined ire.

“Aww, c’mon..!” The angel whined with a strained voice.

‘I was so close!’ The she-devil tittered.

The reaper huffed and snickered. “Sorry, honeybee. You already pollinated this flower. So you’ll have to make do with her tight ass instead~!”

Quickly before momentum was lost, she used her tail to guide his swollen cock into her puckered anus, taking in the first few inches before slamming the rest in with a trust of her borrowed ass.

The three of them moaned and worked in tandem to bring each other to another glorious climax. Zell gradually picked up speed, bludgeoning the demoness’ tight asshole faster and faster. Likewise, Atalanta maneuvered her tail to fill and burrow out Bella’s empty pussy, earning more hoarse cries of ecstasy from the supple she-devil.

With a final thrust, the aether king buried himself fully and flooded the Queen of Hell’s ample ass. Sensations were shared between Atalanta and Bellatrix from the meld between them, whereupon they moaned out in a unified voice, howling to the heavens.

Overwhelmed by sheer nirvana, the reaper demi untethered her incorporeal form and retook her physical petite shape on the bed. Zell pulled out of Bella, whose packed asshole oozed with white splooge, where they joined Atalanta. Perspiration and mixed bodily fluids stained the once pristine sheets.

Atalanta curled closer to snuggle into her future husband while Bellatrix managed to sit up straight. Looking over the spent angel’s visage, she breathlessly asked, “… did he really swoon?”

The reaper snorted, tracing his chest as he snored softly. “Out like a light~.”

“Damn,” the succubus chortled, eying the flaccid penis coated in their combined essence. She then softly confessed, “That was… an interesting experience. One I wouldn’t mind having again… after we stop Omen from destroying the multiverse, of course.”

Atalanta smiled softly. “I’m glad. Y’know, I wasn’t joking when I did we could arrange something.”

“I'm all ears.”

The female demi then wore a serious expression. “I understand you’re still holding out for Alma. That this new power of yours, as well as your love, might redeem her like wanted to. How do you think she’ll react to you having a child growing inside you?”

Bellatrix pursed her lips tightly. “At worst… tear it out and eat it right in front of me.”

“And at best..?”

“… I know it’s foolish to imagine, but part of me believes she wouldn’t attack me knowing I harbor a new life. If her feelings for me were true, she’d realize an opportunity to have something both she and I never considered. A family. Surrounded by people who support and love me unconditionally.”

“You're right. It’s a foolish thing to believe in,” concurred Atalanta, who then smiled. “But it might be the thing to help her realize she doesn’t need the Vice Lords or Black Rose or whatever. Just know that no matter the outcome between you and Alma, me, Zeloph, Moxxi, and I imagine the other demi-humans will have your back.”

A genuine smile spread Bella’s lips. “Thank you, Atalanta. I really appreciate it.” Her golden eyes then wandered to her own belly, which she rubbed in thought. “To think me, of all people, would become a parent. I’m following in Layla’s footsteps more than I thought…”

“I never once humored the thought of children myself before Zeloph,” acknowledged Atalanta, brushing her hand. “It’ll be a learning experience for both of us.”

“Indeed. What an odd yet beautiful quadrant we’ve formed. Heaven. Hell. Death. Life. Almost sounds poetic.”

Bellatrix rose and lazily stretched out her limbs, scooping out and eating the last dollops of cum from herself and licking her fingers clean before fetching her black leather bikini and redressing her shapeliness. “I'm going to check on Layla before I head into Hammerfall. See what the others are up to.”

“Let me rest up a bit, and I’ll join you,” offered Atalanta, who lovingly stroked Zeloph’s sleeping face. “The ‘Aether King’ is long overdue for a nap~.”

With a nod, the scarlet-skinned devil fixed her long black hair before stepping out of the room, leaving the couple to enjoy the afterglow together. Had she known long ago that this was her path, she’d reckon her older, more prideful self would have fought tooth and nail to prevent this outcome.

But despite the backlash and hellish trials she faced, Bellatrix had gained wisdom, knowledge, and, more importantly, a group of people and friends she could depend on. More than ever now, she would fight to amend her many mistakes and face the Baobhan Sith when the time finally came.

For the first time in her immortal life, Bellatrix Belladonna no longer felt alone.

Bonus Chapter: The End of All We Know

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The waves continued to crash into each other as the hurricane roared relentlessly from above, making even the most straightforward task of strolling around the beach more daunting. Ashen Dunes observed the Nautilus while it continued to rebuild itself.

“Someday, I’ll make you skyworthy once more,” he assured himself with a whistle and rubbed the interior’s smooth surface. A low rumble emanated from within. “Rhenaes, my sweet? Are you in there?” He called, heading deeper into the half-sunken ship.

“A-ahh, yes! I’m here!” The crystal mare’s voice echoed. When the unicorn scholar found his crystalline lover at the ship’s core, where the black box once sat, the rooms were now covered in a swath of interconnected, wispy black tentacles made from a murky black liquid that emitted an overly sweet smell. “Don’t look!”

Ashen snorted. “Nothing I haven’t seen before, my dear. No need for…Ooh!”

He paused to see the jade pegasus naked and squatted down, her belly heavily swollen as if she’d been impregnated well after the eldritch beast dumped its dozenth load into her stretched-to-capacity uterus.

“You’re really smitten with this creature, aren’t you? N-Not that I can blame you!”

“… It does feel nice,” admitted Rheneas with a deepening blush. “But I mostly did it to help the Nautilus! It heals every time it, um, ‘uses’ me. A-and I want to help you out too, so...”

More of the poised ebony tentacles suspended around the jade pegasus crystal mare oscillated, throbbed, and pumped more seminal liquids that splashed all over every angle of their chosen broodmare, which glistened under the hot, sticky substance that oozed down her slender curves.

“Thank heavens this stuff can’t knock me up,” she whispered as more cumshots rained over her small but perky breasts, her red hot face, bloated tummy, then her pert ass. Not an inch of the crystal pegasus dancer was left untouched by the viscous ropes of seed that continually drizzled down her matted fur and shiny skin.

Ashen approached and stroked her cheek. “You don’t have to try so hard, Rhennie. I appreciate it. And I’m sure the Nautilus does, too. On that note, I’ve also been hard at work and have made new friends I hope will sail with us in the sky! Old friends of Beatrix displaced by the dimensional breach!” He settled into the obscurity beside her and met her snout in a drawn-out kiss.

“Oh! I-I can’t wait to meet them! Oh, but I’m a little sore?” Rhenaes rubbed her gravid tummy as the liquids slowly drained from her puffy, squelching twat. “Hope I’ll be decent in time to see Oona!”

“Well, we’d better clean up then.” Ashen Dune offered his hands and helped her rise with him. Fortunately, the Nautilus sensed their wishes and slowly flooded the chambers with seawater. Ashen was thankful that he’d decided not to carry any valuables on him once the calm, salty waters washed over the couple.

Briefly, the lovers swam in the waters, hands linked when they kissed, and they cradled breast-to-breast. Ashen wondered how his brother Penumbra and sister Cerise were fairing, not to mention the rest of his family and friends. The storm continued unabated and routinely rocked the Nautilus interior.

He’d shared what advice he could with Clan Jakobson in preparation for the war, uncertain how much it would really help. He was a merchant and politician, not a warrior! In a scrap, he was useless, but he’d shown them how to make simple explosives from what was on hand.

Once the waters drained and rinsed them, Rheneas redressed into her black glittery ballerina garb and asked, “You don’t happen to know where Demi-Trix is, do you? Haven’t seen her in a while!”

“I have not, either. I pray she’s doing well.” He kissed and nuzzled her once more before they exited the ship. Immediately, the winds and rain beat down on the pair, who could not fly in this weather and opted to make a mad dash for shelter, which forced him to follow up with the ship deck while she made her way to the palace.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” promised Rheneas over the howl of the winds.

He waved and mumbled, “I should work on my cardio more. Why, I’m positively frail next to my family!”

While Rhenaes had been busy mending the Nautilus with her body, Ashen spent his time making connections with whoever he could across the Isles of Parras, at least where he was allowed to travel. He had convinced a couple of familiar faces to join his small crew. The bohemian unicorn with sandy locks called on his experience as a merchant and politician; his silver tongue worked to promise them riches, glory, and entertainment, which he always kept his word on. Especially since he may need to call on their services if they leave!

His multiple scarves and robes whirled in the breeze when he inhaled the fresh air around the shipwrecked Nautilus, stirred up by the storm that raged in the distance and only momentarily abated its furious stir.

“Hmm?” He peered past his spectacles as the ship’s sails buffeted the worst of the winds. “Is that a sea breeze I smell?”

A splash resounded from the watery depths of the ship’s interior when the mare in question emerged denuded from an unpatched hole. Rivulets of water ran down her lean, athletic body. Seabreeze, an old friend of Beatrix’s, met on a nudist paradise planet called Eden and was also an attendee of Cerise’s wedding to Midnight. “Hey there!” She lazily waved to him. “So, boss, what’s on the agenda today?”

“Nothing in particular. And no need to be formal. I prefer to run a relaxed ship,” he insisted with a wink.

“Ah. Good. I like to take it easy when I can.” Seabreeze leaned her head on her arms, still mainly in the waters, while she peeked up from the hole. “Not sure how useful a surfer will be, but-”

“I like your company! Plus, it’ll be odd jobs, mostly. So, feel free to swim the night away. My dream has always been to expand my country’s territories and make the world a paradise! These islands are all I’ve ever dreamt of. Why, it almost makes my poor eyes water!” He opened his sleeved arms wide to take it all in. The endless sea, the mountainsides, the forestry cloaked in mist. If not for the chaotic weather and bloody war on the horizon, he could almost picture the serenity of Oona Ewe’s homeland.

“Yeah. And it looks like that pocket dimension I fell into changed me, too.” Seabreeze crawled out of the waters and onto the deck, a puddle left below her while her supple, nude body dripped. When she leaned forward, he could better see her small breasts and the wide flare of her hips.

At first look, she resembled a typical, cute mare. But the differences became apparent upon closer inspection. Scales shimmered under the lamplight on her skin. Gills on each side of her tummy expanded and contracted. “Kinda freaked me out at first. Guess I should be happy I didn’t become full mermare, huh?”

“I think it only makes you more exotic,” he mused with open appreciation.

“That it does,” she admitted with a thin blush. “Thanks, man.” With a wiggle of her pert bottom, she turned and dove back into the waters to resume her swim, used to how flirty the friendly merchant was.

Taking a moment to stroke his chin and admire her beauty, Ashen strolled to the bow, where another familiar companion he’d recruited worked with a combination of materials provided and her own magical and psychic abilities to develop potential figureheads he’d commissioned. He softly cleared his throat to announce his presence. “Shimmer Shade? How goes it?”

“See for yourself,” said the mare artist in her prench accent. With a flourish, she showed off many half-completed works that could potentially adorn the ship. Krakens, sirens, mermaids, a leviathan...a menagerie of exotic, aquatic creatures, from the grotesque to the beautiful.

However, he honed in on one molded after the likeness of his lover, the crystal pegasus nude with her plume outstretched, her slender arms presented like she strove to hold something close to her petite bosom. “Curious,” he mused while he circled the piece. “It appears a piece is amiss. What is she intended to embrace?”

“The second half,” explained Shimmer Shade, who lazily waved a hand to direct his attention at the statue’s counterpart. One in the likeness of the prince, also nude and ready to hold her.

“Ahah! Splendid! It’s a shame that Rheneas turned down the chance to have this adorn the Nautilus. I fear this will have to be reserved for my private collection.” Ashen formed a window with his fingers, picturing how the statues would look once connected in a sensual, romantic embrace.

“Perhaps she’ll come around with a little...persuasion~?” She offered with a bat of her lashes and a swish of her leonine tail, the tall unicorn mare like a runway model when she rose.

“No, no, no. Poor Rheneas already suffered the temporary loss of her body to that Vice Lord, Doppia. Be on your best behavior! A-And no mind control. Period!”

He’d learned that somehow, not only could the enigmatic artist warp reality to a small extent with her brush, but she could mentally persuade others, too! Perhaps she, too, had learned to access her Onoma...?

He speculated that Shimmer Shade came from an advanced world like the Cyberverse, where psionic abilities were commonplace. He couldn’t entirely dismiss the idea she’d worked her technique on him when he hired her, not that he would have turned away such a valuable asset regardless!

“Oui! Certainly.” Her blind, unblinking eyes turned toward his voice and movements. “I had a crystal mare friend who fell under Sombra’s mental domination. I’d never seek to take advantage. I once had my mind’s eye awakened… but I never thought my so-called third eye would become literal!” Her third eye opened on her forehead, able to see the auras of those around her.

“A side-effect when you passed through a pocket dimension to wind up here. Maybe it was fate?” He chuckled. “After all, my friend, Beatrix, is an anomaly that’s drawn many odd characters to her! Why, speculation has it that one must have’ died’ first to arrive at that paradise planet, Eden. The ‘Paradise Twins’ that looked after the nudist land acted as angelic benefactors to new arrivals, yes?”

“Mon Dieu, they did! Hmm, whatever happened to the twins?”

“That version of Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse married Moon Hammer after they met at Cerise’s wedding and changed their names to Strawberry Moon and Blue Moon! Why, rumor has it, they’ve even bore his calves! Their counterparts, the equally lovely ‘Manor Twins,’ may come here with Sir Dion to visit Lady Oona Ewe?”

Shimmer nodded once. “What, with the war on the horizon, we could use their aid.”

Satisfied with her work, Ashen made the rounds with the rest of his surviving crew, only to learn that Rheneas had already tried to attend the war council underway. He endeavored to follow her after he felt it safe to travel after his fleet-footed lover, wondering whether he and Rheneas would be allowed beyond the village as he made his way through.

His brow furrowed in puzzlement when the rams on duty escorted him in and took him directly to the meeting place. He didn’t know most of the war council by name other than Lord Hedan, who stood to welcome him and King Ambros. Tirek, who remained quiet with his arms folded, flanked the unicorn king of the Crystal Empire. Rheneas ushered the young prince to sit beside her as the two leaders went straight to business—no time for pleasantries.

“The storm delayed our arrival, unfortunately,” began Ambros, his face grim. “We may have less than an hour before Walrpurgisnacht begins. All magic on this island will be at its most potent.”

Hedan nodded and grunted, “Durin' a lunar eclipse, no less. It’s a bad omen – A sign that th' moon won’t be th' only thin' stained wit blood…”

The dark unicorn concurred. “From what I’ve gathered, The Legion of Black Roses boasts many creatures of the night at the command of the remaining Vice Lords, Alma and Douglas. Not to mention the Sovereign Witch’s forces are entirely comprised of Equestria’s most gifted spellcasters.”

“An' mah army favors hardy warriors.” The four-horned chieftain sighed. “Needless tae say, we’re at a severe disadvantage. They’ll likely pick us off from a distance befur sendin' their demons tae swoop in an' collect th' scraps. Long befur we coold e'er reach them. Our mages are no slouches but offer far fewer numbers. At this rate, it’ll be a complete massacre!”

The umbral king drew a gauntlet-clad hand across the map and pointed at the island entrances. “Not unless my fleet can cut off Tatyana’s forces and prevent them from landing,” proposed Ambros. “Granted, that won’t account for enemies that can fly or swim underneath through their power or strange devices. I recall seeing magic carpets woven during my last visit to Canterlot. Still, they may be able to rain destruction even from their ships.”

“Mah archers can fire arrows faster than they can cast incantations,” proclaimed Hedan, stroking his braided beard. “Hmm, yes… it might work. A wall ov archers coold hail arrows, dispatch mages an' devils alike.”

“The Nautilus can swim and fly,” Rhenaes cut in, earning a glance from the two leaders that caused her to stiffen. Nonetheless, her voice mustered courage as she continued to speak. “It’s a Glamorguis – the same type of creature as the one imitating the manor Beatrix used to live in.”

“You mean the one that now serves Alma as her fortress,” questioned Ambros.

Ashen added in. “She’s managed to feed it enough to recover from its injuries. And our crew is working hard to prepare it for battle. It may seem like a long shot, but it’s our only real answer against the Vice Lords and their underlings!”

“A ship ov that caliber woold be an outstandin' asset,” concurred Hedan. “If ye believe th' Nautilus can handle such an assault, A’ll leave ye tae deal wit th' lesser creatures.” His cherry-red eyes narrowed at the map. “That bein' said, we still don’t have enough information as tae what th' Baobhan Sith an' her followers are capable of. This isn’t an enemy we can broker peace wit…”

“Indeed,” concurred Ambros. “She butchered the former rulers of the Crystal Empire with little trouble.”

Rhenaes rose, hands balled into fists. “... When I was a prisoner in my own body, I witnessed the malicious and bloodthirsty monster Alma through Doppia’s eyes. But I’ve also seen how vulnerable she actually is.”

Hedan’s brows furrowed. “Go on.”

“The Vice Lord of Deceit was often ridiculed for being the weakest of the Burning King’s minions. But she had ways to spy on her enemies – right under their noses. She used any reflection or mirror to infiltrate their private quarters and eavesdrop on conversations.” Rhenaes scoffed. “She’d make for an impressive asset… had her vanity and jealousy not consumed, as well as confiding with Varys.”

“There’s nothing admirable about Doppia,” reminded Ashen. “You’re better than her in every way!”

“I-I’m flattered, but that’s beside the point,” she responded. “I remember one conversation Alma was having with herself. How she despised seeing nothing in her reflection and the unwanted lust and hunger vampirism brought. That alone speaks volumes about the kind of person hiding behind the Vice Lord of Desire. Alma doesn’t want to spill blood for her to feast and bathe in; that’s mostly her anguish talking. She wants to be free of her affliction!”

The umbral king folded his arms. “So what do you propose? We offer her a cure in exchange for surrender?”

“Preposterous,” said Hedan. “Once a vampire is turned, th' only salvation they are granted is a stake throogh their undead heart or direct sunlight. E'en if such a cure existed, I doubt Alma woold be in th' bargainin' mood!”

“All I’m offering is a perspective,” Rhenaes reiterated. “You want to maintain peace on Parras, right?”

“Only if possible,” the elderly ram said sternly. “Ah admire yer tenacity an' optimism, young maiden. Ah truly wish things coold be resolved as ye suggest. But a single sliver ov peace can not change th' outcome ov an entire war. Ah fear that has already been set in stone.”

Suddenly, a caprine messenger arrived and bowed, “Lord Hedan! I–!!”

“This is an important meetin',” demanded Hedan impatiently. “We are mere minutes away from midnight! Speak now, or fore'er hold yer tongue!”

“A-A strange cult has been spotted by the scouts, sir,” he answered meekly. “Taking refuge in the woodlands atop the hills!”

“Bahh! More bad news. Nothing Ah haven’t–”

“Among them is the Father of Monsters, s-sir…”

The towering ram slammed his fists into the table, shaking it under his weight as he rose in alert. “WHAT!?”

“I-I wish it were not so, my lord! But I saw it with my own eyes. Grogar has returned to the Isles of Parras!”

“Impossible! Th' Mystic Guardians ensured mah great uncle woold remain imprisoned! How did he…” He was at a loss for words, riled-up emotions bubbling beneath his stoic features. It no longer mattered how exactly the ancient evil escaped his detention again. Only what his arrival implied. “...oh no! Oona!!”

Hedan threw a passionate glare at his surrounding soldiers. “Alert Seamus an' his orcs. They are tae meet me at th' town’s end towards th' hillsides. A’ll lead th' investigation intae this matter meself.”

“B-But sir, we’re–!”

“Ah will not have that bastard anywhere near mah daughter again!” He bellowed.

The squadron stayed silent and nodded their heads. Hedan took in a massive breath and continued his command. “Until Ah return, King Ambros shall lead th' attack against Tatyana an' her fleet. Obey his orders like they’re my own. Ah have spoken!” With that, he rushed past the messenger with a light shove, loud thumps splattering the mud as the caprine leader sprinted out of the meeting room.

Ambros watched with a solemn look before hardening his features. “I want every archer and mage boarded on my ship at once. Grab whatever weapons and potions you can. We depart for the sea in twenty minutes!”

“Aye, sir!” The soldiers sounded off, and the rest of the rams, minotaurs, and fauns scattered into the rain-soaked streets, gathering all their essentials for the impending battle. The umbral king and his centaur commander marched towards the dock, where the mothership stood sentinel to the crashing waves.

A troubled look was exchanged between Ashen and Rhenaes before they left to get the Nautilus ready ahead of schedule. As they ran, eyes were drawn to the storm that crackled above. Dark clouds rumbled overhead, precipitating thick droplets. Crimson bolts branched through the skies, flashing brief light in the perpetual black. Howling winds continued to build rapid momentum, rocking waves that threatened to capsize Ambros’s entire fleet...

Abadonna dropped her crayon, hand trembling, coated with her drawing dust. Her yellow-purple pupils dilated at what her prophetic sketching had conjured. The entire collection of drawings of her future, along with the characters and people she knew, is now doused in black scribbles.

Scattered on the floor were more nonsensical drawings of scribbles and dark spirals. The only one with any semblance of vision being her latest creation. The shadow of her father, Omen, over a red circle, unleashing darkness, upon further observation, bled onto the entire collage she drew.

“No…. No, nonononono,” the young witch muttered, looking over every sketch, praying she found one detail that could prevent this horrific premonition.

Nothing.

Abadonna gasped as the sound of digital distortion rang in the room. Eyes widened as parts of the bedroom began to deteriorate into dark static and wisps. The shelves, bedposts, and decor vanished into oblivion. Outside the window, a shadow gradually crept over the full moon, showing hints of the sanguine coloring it would take once the transit was completed.

“Mama!!”

Quickly as she could, the little lamb ran down the stairwell to warn her mother… merely for reality to glitch her forward in time, causing her to stumble on the last step.

But instead of a hard thud, Abby landed on the floor with a warm splash. Pushing herself up, her eyes took in the sight of a puddle of blood staining the carpet. Staring momentarily at her blood-soaked hands, she let out a harrowing scream upon discovering the source.

Fidelma, whose visage of shock and disbelief reflected perfectly to the large gash that opened her chest, the last of her life essence oozing out until her carcass was drained.

“A-Ah didn’t mean tae..!” A shaky, breathless voice lamented.

Abby turned her frightened gaze at a bloodied Oona, wielding a kitchen knife, steel dripping with the soothsayer’s blood. Scarlet also stained her maternity gown.

“…mom..?!”

Tears continuously poured down her round face, the pregnant faun panting hysterically through soft sobbing. “Ah didn’t mean tae!” She babbled. “She was talkin' madly aboot ye, Abby. Claimin' ye were an abomination spawned by evil that woold hareld th' apocalypse upon birth! She… she tried tae get rid ov ye, Abby! Ah had tae stop her!!”

The caprine unicorn noticed an inky blackness seeping out of her mother’s honey-brown eyes. A tall tale sign that her father’s Onoma had taken ample root in her mind. “This isn’t you, mom! This isn’t real! It’s—!”

Her voice dropped off when the sound of jingling bells resonated in the darkness, followed by the scrapping of something sharp, making a horrible hiss. Then, a giddy chuckle.

“What were you going to say, Abs? That’s it all make-believe..?”

The lamb child balked. “That voice..! No… You can’t be here!!”

A small plushie doll emerged out of the darkness next to Oona’s feet. Not any of the ones Demi-Trix made. This one was taller, in the shape of a white rabbit dress, and painted clownish clothes. Its long ears are patched with blue and yellow stripes to mimic a jester’s hat, with bells embedding the tip. A pair of mismatching gold and red button eyes gleamed with life, and a sizeable toothy-filled smile stretched well past the seams.

“Sure I can! So long as you remember me, I'll always be around,” The killer plushie mused, tilting its head to the side. “After all, you never forget your first friend~!”

Abby narrowed her eyes at the deranged bunny clown. “I’ve outgrown you, Mr. Jangles! The only place you’re wanted is in my forgotten toybox!”

“Ohohohohoh! Haven’t you heard, Abs?” He lifted one of his long ears right as thunder clapped. “Times are changing. A whole new playground is being built just for us! And we have a lot of catching up to do. ‘Best Buds ‘Til The End,’ right~?”

The jester-garbed plushie cackles. That’s when Abadonna noticed that in one of his stubby arms was a miniature knife, bloodied cotton stuck to its blade. Her eyes peered past to recognize lumps of torn and severed parts. The trio of plushies had also been disemboweled, a gruesome explanation as to why they had failed to warn the Child of Lightendark of the disturbing scene.

Her brows furrowed with anger, glaring behind her weeping mother and snickering stuffed toy to the unseen threat playing at her fears. “Omen! Quit hiding behind your shadows. I know you’re here!”

In response to her declaration, the surroundings glitched and distorted. Candle lights flickering like lightbulbs. Discordant classical music resonated through a scratched record that skipped on occasion. Mr. Jangles took a long cartoonish sidestep to allow the Nightmare Stag room to materialize. His prominent antlers emerged first, then his smiling visage, and finally, the rest of his slender shape.

“That’s no way to address your father, is it?” He said with an eyebrow raised.

“I will never call you that again,” refused Abadonna. “Not after everything you’ve done!”

Omen snorted with bemusement. “We shall see.”

“Release your hold on my mother! Now!”

The gray cervine glanced at the shuddering azure sheep woman, whom he comforted with soft strokes. “This? Oh, I didn’t cause this. This was all because of Beatrix’s negligence.”

A monochromatic cosmic aura flared from her horns and eyes. “LIAR!”

“Believe what you want, child. But the fact remains that your ‘other’ mother is nowhere in sight. I could show you what she’s been up to, but…” He gave a stiff chuckle and a knowing grin. “…you’re not old enough for that yet~.”

“She will come! I don’t know what else you’ve changed here, but that part of the timeline cannot be altered!”

“Quite right,” acknowledged Omen. “I admit, she made some choices I couldn’t have predicted. Allowing the Necronomicon’s destruction was the last decision I would have expected her to make! But I’ll figure out what lies beyond that consequence eventually. And even when she does come here, It’s far too late for her to stop me.”

“No!”

“Face reality, little Abby. ꒐’꒦ꏂ ꋬ꒒ꋪꏂꋬ꒯ꌦ ꅐꄲꋊ!”

Before Abadonna could launch her most powerful spell to shut the bastard’s mouth, the dream shamaness gasped and made a painful sound that paused her impending attack. “M-Mom?”

A new stain splattered the front of her dress, a puddle pooling out the skirts as Oona convulsed in the fiend’s grasp with a shudder. She dropped the stained knife, finally passing out in Omen’s claws as realization drew on Abby’s face.

Her mother’s water broke!

Omen petted Oona’s drenched cheek and gave a subdued chuckle. “It looks like you’re out of time as well. Thanks to Enock’s influence, you may not fade away. But your future has been changed too much for your spells to fluctuate properly.”

Abby balked as, true to his word; her magic faltered into small bursts. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t call forth her Onoma or any of her latent spells. “No! No gods, NO! NOT NOW!!”

“It’s over, Abby,” declared the nightmare stag. “Your power dwindles…”

Darkness consumed his body like hungering maws as he took his cryptid deer shape. “… ꅐꁝ꒐꒒ꏂ ꂵ꒐ꋊꏂ ꍌꋪꄲꅐꇙ ꅐ꒐꓄ꁝ ꏂ꒦ꏂꋪꌦ ꊰꏂꇙ꓄ꏂꋪ꒐ꋊꍌ ꅐꄲ꒤ꋊ꒯꒐꒐ꋊꊰ꒒꒐ꉔ꓄ ꄲꋊ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꂵ꒤꒒꓄꒐꒦ꏂꋪꇙꏂ!”

His eyeless skull parted, his long, slimy tongue caressing Oona’s cheek, savoring the dried salty tears that drenched her face.

“Get away from her!!” Abadonna shouted, opting to rush down the seer of black dreams, who opened his palm to hold her in place with his magic.

The caprine unicorn child struggled and gasped when the cottage slowly diminished into blackened pixels. His antlers glowered with a malevolent aura, twisting the wall to manifest a television that flickered to life with red-white noise.

Then, the device displayed a picture, revealing one of the countless interconnected universes. A farmland where stocks of corn almost towered over a small wooden house and barn in the distance

And posted stationary in front was another one of her father’s minions. One that caused the Child of Lightendark to wriggle for her life. A decrypted scarecrow, adorned with worn cloth, scarf, and a farmer’s fedora atop its burlap sack head. Stitched together was a deformed face, which pulled apart the sockets and mouth to greet Abby with glowing eyes and needle-like teeth.

“You remember Harvy, don’t ya, Abs?” Mr. Jangles teased cruelly. “He’s gonna watch over us while mom and dad are busy. Come on, it’ll be fun! Just like old times~!”

The little rabbit jester hopped through the static portal while Abadonna continued to kick and scream with all her might.

“MOMMY! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!” She pleaded, eyes welling with tears as Oona remained unconscious. “PLEASE! MOMMY!!”

“꒐꓄’ꇙ ꉣꋬꇙ꓄ ꌦꄲ꒤ꋪ ꃳꏂ꒯꓄꒐ꂵꏂ, ꋬꃳꃳꌦ,” Omen coldly retorted, giving a nod to the botanic grimm on screen. The scarecrow screeched, squirming on its post before vines and gangly limbs snapped out of its body to seize the resilient child.

“꒐’꒯ ꓄ꏂ꒒꒒ ꌦꄲ꒤ ‘ꇙꅐꏂꏂ꓄ ꒯ꋪꏂꋬꂵꇙ’… ꃳ꒤꓄ ꒐’ꂵ ꋬꊰꋪꋬ꒐꒯ ꓄ꁝꏂꋪꏂ ꋬꋪꏂꋊ’꓄ ꋬꋊꌦ ꒒ꏂꊰ꓄.”

Her wails were cut off as the television switched channels, the last image of poor Abadonna reaching for her mother while the scarecrow monster reeled her into its thorny embrace.

With his nuisance of a daughter detained and his victory on the horizon, Omen retook his standard shape. Cradling the unconscious Oona Ewe bridal-style to his chest, the nahtdyr walked into the stormy night as her entire cottage disintegrated from reality as if it was never there.

Rain showered down over the pair as he carried his prize back to the woods, where the rest of his camp awaited to help him deliver the baby.

Omen then paused his march to turn his head to the reader currently taking in this section of the story. You can't see it, but he gave you a welcoming smile.

“Won't you join us for dinner~?”

Undeath and Rebirth

by NotaPonyPerson

Endeavors

The Dance with Death

Endless Misery

Redemption & Revolution

New Joys, Old Sorrows

Atonement

Legion of Black Roses

Lessons in Defeat

Ordain Confessions

Victorious

Expectations

Slaves to Their Passions

Heartsong (A Juke Box Musical!)

Advent Visitor

Liminal Spaces

Love & Death

Planet of the Demi-Humans

Rest In Peace

Euphoria

Vindication

Apotheosis

Inflorescence

Life

Bonus Chapter: the Start of Something New

Bonus Chapter: The End of All We Know