Charvax the Sungazer paced throughout the Order of Shadows' temple. He never liked it when his temple was travelling between dimensions. While it was certainly a good way of staying out of trouble and getting around, the time it took of the temple to travel could certainly use some work. While he only had himself to blame, Charvax couldn't help but be impatient. A familiar thump sounded throughout the temple, signifying that the temple had landed. If Charvax's calibrations were right, he had managed to land his temple in the dimension inhabited by Team Dragoon and others. Charvax hadn't come for Team Dragoon, however, but instead had come for the one known as "The Demon Scientist". Escour could help him bring and end to the sungazer that turned traitor on him. Just thinking about how Trip had abandoned his Order made Charvax's blood boil. He calmed himself down and stepped out of the temple's front steps. He looked around for a minute, before tapping the eye-shaped tattoo on his side so he could track the energy signature of Escour. The tattoo worked a treat, and Charvax followed the trail until he reached the entrance to Escour's lair. Scratch that, laboratory was a better word to describe the current residence of the scientist. Charvax knocked. He was greeted with a armed Escour.
Escour: This has happened thrice by now, and I am busy. Explain yourself.
Charvax bowed.
Charvax: My name is Charvax the Sungazer, I hail from the Alphaverse’s Northstar Island. I have come to seek your aid, Escour the Demon Scientist.
Escour: Hm. A lot more respect than my first visitor. I’ll hear you out.
Charvax: A certain… disciple of mine abandoned my Order three years ago. She is tenacious, so I would like your help in eliminating her. I return, I can gift you an artifact from my dimension. A shard of the Cataclysm Orb.
Escour: That’s the thing Armageddon used. I accept, now what exactly are you asking me to do?
Charvax: I have heard tales of what you can create. You have had access to Mare Energy in the past, and I assume you thought about different ways to weaponize it. I can collect the materials you need.
Escour: A Mare Energy powered minion would be the most direct way to handle a lost disciple, but if you're looking for way beyond overkill, there's a option for that too.
Charvax: A minion could have its power stolen by the Black Onyx. Overkill is needed when dealing with Trip the Sungazer.
Escour: Trip, hm? Now that's interesting, i have her armor and soul, we could use that for something much less vulnerable to a Black Onyx.
Charvax: Your Trip is dead? What a joyous dimension this must be. You do what you have to do, and I can supply you with whatever materials you need.
Charvax hands Escour a fragment of the Cataclysm Orb.
Charvax: Prepayment.
Escour: Noted. Oh and by the way.
Charvax stops for a moment to listen on his way out.
Escour: It's Trip's dimension that is dead, she's not unique in my collection.
Charvax continues on his way as Escour gets everything together.
Later, The Alphaverse.
Trip paced on the northernmost cliff of Northstar Island. She usually spent an hour or so up here a day, contemplating life and the such. In actuality, she spent time up here so she would have dedicated time to think about Revenant. She knew it was pathetic, as Revenant had been dead for three years now, but she still thought about him constantly. Her self-reflection was interrupted by the sound of a stick cracking behind her. She could tell by the way the stick snapped who it was.
Trip: What do you want, Charvax?
Charvax stopped short a few paces behind and smiled.
Charvax: I just wanted to let my favourite and so far only wayward disciple know how long she has to live.
Trip: That being?
Charvax: I’d give it about three days, depending on how fast Escour works.
The mention of Escour’s name sent alarm bells off in Trip’s head. Revenant had mentioned Escour when he told Trip his backstory, and the scientist certainly had a reputation for killing heroes.
Trip: You’ve teamed up with Escour?
Charvax: I work with anyone who can help me. Enjoy the next seventy-two hours.
Charvax walked away, leaving Trip with more questions than answers. She decided to go and ask the heroes who dealt with Escour on a more regular basis. She walked back to the Sungazer village, suited up, and used the residual energy in the Black Onyx to create a portal close to Team Dragoon. She stepped through and waited for the team to notice her. Srish is the first to do so.
Srish: Yo, it's Trip!
Alan: What's she doing here?
Team Dragoon go over to check on her.
Dria: Trip? Don't you stay on your island with your village?
Trip shuffled slightly, looking slightly uncomfortable but hiding it admirably.
Trip: I'm not your Trip, I'm the Trip from Revenant's universe.
Alan: Well that explains a bit. So, what's the problem to send you here, and also, kinda curious, how are you here?
Trip thought for a moment about which question to answer first. She chose to explain how she was here.
Trip: The Black Onyx can absorb energy. There's some residual dimensional energy leftover from when our dimensions merged. I just used that. I'm here because the villainous sungazer lizard, the head of the Amethyst Clan, Charvax told me that I had about four days to live.
Alan: Hm. Usually it’s three. We can help, but why aren’t you asking someone else?
Trip looked down.
Trip: He mentioned Escour.
Alan: That fool has been missing since we beat back Bagon. Would be good to put a end to him.
Trip looked embarrassed.
Trip: I’m also here because Team Alpha don’t know me… And I’m a little scared of Ecto.
Dria: That’s fair, he’s a little much. Like Shadow.
Silence: Well, let’s go then.
Trip: Go where? Forgive me, but I wasn’t part of any former adventures.
Alan: Well… wait, we usually have a thing to chase. Maybe get some Chaos Emeralds? Does this guy have a home base to raid?
Trip blanched a little at the thought of the Order’s base, and hoped that Team Dragoon didn’t ask how she knew.
Trip: Charvax has a temple, but it functions as a fortress.
Alan: Where can we find it?
Trip: I don’t know. Charvax controls which dimensions it travels through. Our best bet is drawing his attention.
Dria: Then let’s collect your native set of Chaos Emeralds. That will either bring him out or prepare us for when he arrives.
Trip: Sure.
Trip involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief, as Team Dragoon hadn’t asked her about her connection with the Order. Team Dragoon bring her to the Dragoon Glider and use it to head to the Alphaverse.
Dria: Alright, the onboard Chaos Emerald scanner should still work here, let’s scan now.
Dria runs the scanner. The scanner showed that one Chaos Emerald was on Northstar Island. Trip peered over and shook her head.
Trip: That's just the Black Onyx.
Dria: Odd, this one’s fine tuned. It shouldn’t pick up the Black Onyx.
Alan: Moreover, why can’t it sense your native Chaos Emeralds? Chaos Energy has the same signature across the dimensions.
Trip shrugged.
Trip: Maybe give it a second.
A moment later, seven pings showed up. Three were on a remote island, one was somewhere in the wilderness, another one was in the ocean, and the last two were in yet another wild area. Trip grimaced.
Trip: Those three are with Team Alpha, one is in Shattered Hill, one is with Team Zeta, and the last two are in the ruins of Armageddon's Castle.
Alan: Hm, Team Alpha shouldn’t be that bad, and an Armageddon Castle minus the Armageddon is just Castle. Not sure about this Shattered Hill though, and who are Team Zeta?
Trip looked a little confused.
Trip: Revenant told me that Ecto took you guys to Shattered Hill before the Dimensional Council used the Super Reverie on you, and Team Zeta were some of his lackeys.
Alan: Man, it’s been too long.
Srish: Ah, now I remember them. They were commanded by Eror in the final approach. In any case, it shouldn’t be hard to get the Shattered Hill Emerald. Dunno how Team Zeta have evolved, so approach with caution.
Trip rolled her shoulders.
Trip: It'll be five of us versus four of them, we'll be fine. Shall we go?
Alan: Alright, Shattered Hill first, then Armageddon’s old castle, then Team Zeta, then Team Alpha. If our foe arrives early, we deal with him, then move on.
Trip: Sounds good.
Trip grabbed the Black Onyx and opened a portal. She stepped through, waiting for Team Dragoon follow. Team Dragoon, having landed, do so. As they arrive, Alan activated Laser Armor.
Alan: Some high speeds should complete this easy.
Trip: Go ahead.
Alan uses the speed of Laser to check the Shattered Hill quickly. He comes away with a Chaos Emerald.
Alan: Alright, and up next.
Trip opens the portal to Armageddon's Castle. She walks through and gags on the ash in the air.
Trip: I'll go find one, good luck.
Trip runs off, kicking up an ash cloud. Alan runs off, while the rest of his team also join in, Silence flying through walls in Ghost form, Srish using Rhythm commands as echolocation of the Emeralds, and Dria just flying for anything high up. After a minute, Trip returned with an Emerald in tow.
Trip: I'll set up the next portal, this one's gonna require some calibration.
Silence: And I found the second! Now it’s just Team Zeta to deal with, then we’ll visit Team Alpha.
Trip concentrated for a moment before a rift opened. Through it, the sounds of a raucousness emanated from a side corridor.
Trip: Let's take this one slow.
Silence: You heard her, we’re using stealth this time.
The group travels through the portal, ending up in some mountainous region where Team Zeta were talking, the topic unidentifiable from Team Dragoon’s vantage point on a cliff right above. From what they could see, Volt of juggling the Emeralds. Trip sighed.
Trip: Great. I can't even use the Emerald powers here. They only work on Northstar Island.
Trip thought for a moment before perking up.
Trip: Imma jump them, cover me!
Without another word, Trip vaulted over the edge and crashed into Volt.
Silence: Even worse than you lot at stealth. I can’t believe it.
Silence stays atop the cliff while the others jump down. Alan lights the Godcutter Claws as Dria speaks.
Dria: So we need the Chaos Emeralds. Do you wanna fight and lose or just drop the emeralds?
Shatter chuckles and hands over the Emeralds.
Shatter: I remember you. We lost before. I am not one for rematches. Take them, we just held them to annoy Team Alpha.
Alan: Speaking of which, that leaves Team Alpha. Come on, Trip.
Dria grabs the dropped Emeralds. Shatter salutes. The group walks out of sight, and then Trip looks nervous.
Trip: Is it pathetic that I’m more nervous about meeting Team Alpha than Team Zeta? What if Ecto doesn’t like me because of my association with Revenant?
Alan: Revenant was made specifically for bringing him back. Besides, what the heck could have gone on round here for him to be treated as the villain?
Trip: Why do you think Revenant left? He and Ecto never got along. Is it normal to be scared of him?
Alan: I wouldn’t know. I’m still from out of dimension, even if we’ve had some adventures.
Trip scuffed her boots on the ground and opens the portal.
Trip: Go first.
Alan shrugged, and Team Dragoon took the portal, appearing behind a rock behind Team Alpha. Alan walked towards Team Alpha so as to appear in their peripheral vision instead of spooking them from approaching from behind.
Alan: Yo, what’s the time here?
Ecto cracked a wry smile.
Ecto: Years or hours, old friend?
Alan: In all seriousness, there’s a situation. Escour’s taken interest here.
Ecto: That creepy scientist? Want a hand, or should I hand over the Emeralds and trust you?
Alan: Probably best to trust us. The concerned citizen(snrk) ahem, that contacted us is uncomfortable around you.
Ecto peers over Alan's shoulder at Trip.
Ecto: Revenant's girlfriend I see.
Ecto laughs when he sees Trip's reaction to that comment.
Ecto: Fair enough. Take the Emeralds. Good luck.
Ecto snatches the Emeralds from a hungry looking Rocky and gives them to Team Dragoon.
Alan: Alright and with that, we have-
Silence: Eight.
Srish: Eh?
Silence: Two from the castle, three from Team Alpha, Two from Team Zeta, and one from Shattered Hill. Which one’s the odd one out?
Trip looks at the Emeralds.
Trip: I can check once we are on Northstar Island.
Trip uses the last of the energy to open a portal to Northstar Island.
Meanwhile, Escour’s Lab…
Escour was in the training room with his completed project when Charvax enters.
Charvax: How is the project going?
Escour: The project is complete and named. Meet Puppet Armor.
The Puppet Armor in question turns around, looking like a refitted version of Trip’s Armor. Charvax scrutinizes the Puppet for a second.
Charvax: Well done. This will keep Trip busy.
Charvax tosses another shard of the Cataclysm Orb.
Charvax: We should make a contingency, seeing as his lack of them is what led to Armageddon's downfall. A bomb, perhaps?
Escour: Not a tech specialist. The best I’ve got is way beyond overkill, not helpful if you’re in any way attached to that dimension.
Charvax: I see. I'd be willing to die in order to kill Trip. And it's not like my followers can challenge me. So that's an option.
Escour: Okay. Speaking of those followers you spoke about, how many of them have powers?
Charvax scowled.
Charvax: Only the ones that I permit. And the powers aren't natural, they're sigil based.
Escour: I get you aren’t a big fan of your minions having abilities to compete with yours, but I do have the means to improve upon your minions. Physically or mentally.
Charvax's brows perk up.
Charvax: Do tell.
Escour: Your problem is that your minions have their own individual reasons for joining. Their own opinions. I can remove their opinions, without removing coordination, though they will lose speech.
Charvax claps his hands.
Charvax: Goody! That sounds perfect! How about this, I go and break Team Dragoon's trust in Trip, and then we send Puppet Armor after her?
Escour: Sorry, when did Team Dragoon get in on this? It will complicate matters. Puppet Armor is built to withstand Hyper Lasers, but I can’t guarantee your minions will even post improvements.
Charvax: From what my spies have gleaned, Team Dragoon is in possession of my dimension's Chaos Emeralds. I'll isolate Trip and let Puppet Armor defeat her, and I'll help you fight Team Dragoon.
Escour: And if Team Dragoon doesn’t fall for it, we’ll strike all at once.
Charvax: Agreed.
Charvax then teleported to Trip and Team Dragoon's location. He turned to Trip.
Charvax: Hello, my dear.
Trip blanched and looked at Team Dragoon fearfully.
Alan: Ah, you're the one Trip was worried about. Well, let's see what you've got, and then go after Escour.
Charvax smiled, waved, and teleported to Trip. In one fluid motion, he forced her to the ground while pulling off the bandage on her left arm. Trip staggered away and tried to cover her arm, but Charvax stopped her. On her arm was a symbol, a purple “S” dripping black ooze. It was identical to the one on Charvax’s arm.
Silence: You share a symbol?
Srish: Yeah yeah, nice stamp, now get off her before i make you back away!
Charvax: The implications of this have gone over your heads. This symbol is the logo of the Order of Shadows.
Srish: Yeah, once again, nice stamp.
Trip noticed that for once, Alan was silent, just processing.
Charvax: Well, human, anything to add? Perhaps I should mention that only members of the Order have the tattoo.
Alan: What was the reason?
Charvax: Reason?
Alan: Not. You. What was the reason for joining them at the time, Trip?
Trip spoke, her voice hiccuping and stuttering as if she were holding back tears.
Trip: I… I didn’t know what else to do. Eggman had just invaded and I was really paranoid. No one had told me about the Order, so when Charvax showed up his offer sounded like an act of genuine kindness.
Alan: How was it phrased?
Trip: He offered me assistance and security in return for joining the Order.
Alan: And there we go. This situation reminds me of the AAA. Many of their members were evil, but there were those few who were just tricked into a violent life. Trip's not evil, and we were never going to fall for such a trick from a man who's only on our radar for his connection to Escour.
Srish: Duh!
Charvax growled angrily. He snapped his fingers and a giant temple appeared behind him.
Charvax: Kill them! Kill them all!
Droves of foot soldiers began to pour out of the temple. Escour then appears on the scene.
Escour: Wait! I haven't had the time to improve the lot of them!
Silence sees that everyone is seemingly on set, and fires a Hyper Laser to take them all out. The villains notice too late that they're being attacked, but it doesn't matter as something blocks the Hyper Laser, causing a massive flash that forces everyone to look away, aside from Alan. Charvax smiled.
Charvax: Meet Puppet Armor.
The flash clears to reveal a walking suit of armor, one Trip recognizes instantly.
Trip: Which version of me is that?
Charvax: Ask Escour. I don't really care.
Escour: Not really relevant, but anyways, this is Puppet Armor. It's main trick is deflecting energy attacks like a mirror, have fun.
The Puppet Armor revs up a Spindash. Trip revs up a spindash to counter. As the two collide, Trip is knocked back a lot, and Alan charges in with Lightning claws to follow up. As he tried to cut into the armor though, the mirror effect kept making the claws rebound, with the Puppet Armor using a dark power burst to knock him away. Trip growled and lunged towards Puppet Armor, putting her armor on in the process. The two went at it for a bit, with Team Dragoon helping out however they could, but the Puppet Armor used a dark power to do damage to Trip's armor, while it went unharmed. Trip skittered away, yelping.
Trip: Ow!
Alan then gets a idea and activates Quake Armor, before fighting the Puppet Armor. It managed to dodge his blows for a bit before he shattered one of the lenses, where he was greeted by a eye.
Elite Alan: There's something wearing the Puppet Armor!
Alan is then knocked away once more. Trip glares at Charvax through her damaged helmet.
Trip: Did you animate a corpse.
Charvax rotates on the spot and turns to Escour.
Charvax: Did you animate a corpse?
Escour: Both yes and no. I made a new body, and stuffed a Trip's soul in there. This body's much more flexible and resistant.
Charvax turns back to the heroes.
Charvax: Did you hear that? A Trip, you are expendable. Get them.
The full might of the Order of Shadows rushed towards Trip, showing that Charvax trusted Puppet Armor more than his own troops against Team Dragoon.
Escour:(Such a waste of bodies.)
Escour then flies up and blocks out the sun.
Elite Alan: What was the point of that?
Escour: Oh, Puppet Armor can tell you.
Puppet Armor then makes a tortured sounding scream, and suddenly, a pack of Nightmares spawned in.
Dria: Dark Gaia Monsters? How?
Escour: Mare Energy is made from infinite Dark Gaia Energy. There are two ways to invert the process, and using the less destructive one, i gave Puppet Armor Dark Gaia power and the ability to summon monsters, at least when daylight can't reach it.
Charvax cackled and stood back, watching Team Dragoon battle Puppet Armor and its minions, while also watching Trip disappear under a literal sea of bodies. Dria noticed this and gave Trip some breathing room by flying her out of the mob, as well as blasting said mob, allowing her to puppeteer some of them to distract the rest.
Dria: We need a plan to take out Puppet Armor!
Elite Alan: Energy is the only thing that doesn't work, Energy Armor gives workable properties we can use instead.
Alan jumped in once more, but Puppet Armor had learned fighting Alan leads nowhere, so it jumped back and made several different screams, summoning a Big Mother and several variants of the Mage subgroup of monsters, before jumping atop the Big Mother. Alan used Lightning Armor to just run through the lot, before using electromagnetism to slam the Puppet Armor against the floor, before swapping back to Quake Armor and hammer fisting the helmet, the attack knocking out Puppet Armor.
Escour: Blast!
Charvax saw this happen and tapped the side of his head, sending out a concussive blast directed at the heroes. Alan blocked most of it, but the force caused them all to stumble. Charvax moves a hand over to the dragon tattoo on his side.
Charvax: Ahh... do you remember, Team Dragoon, what Trip's super form looks like? It's a dragon, the superior species. Do you want to see what this tattoo does?
Elite Alan: Really? A dragon? We’ve fought a few.
Escour: What about two at once?
Elite Alan: What, some sort of Dark Gaia Dragon? You lot are not standing up to a Hyper Laser without Puppet Armor!
Charvax: You fought Armageddon... and lost to Armageddon. Do you want to see what a true dragon can do?
Elite Alan: We’ve fought Escour and won against him.
Escour: Not really.
Elite Alan: Well I’ve fought a Super Form and won.
Charvax: Really? Or did you also enter Super yourself? Hmm, and still, what about three Super forms?
Elite Alan: Never tried. Never had an opportunity to. I’m told that the Armor can stand against Hyper Forms, but that’s went untested.
Charvax: I tire of this. You should die.
Charvax tapped the tattoos on his sides and morphed into a dragon. Trip saw this, broke free from the horde, and whipped out the Black Onyx. She extracted a part of the Black Dragon's power and entered Dark Leviathan Stage 1, black energy covering her body and tapering out once it reached her head. All of Team Dragoon activated a Energy Armor type to keep pace, and Escour concentrated Dark Gaia power to form his own Dark Dragon.
Elite Alan: Let’s go then!
Charvax swoops down and hovers in front of the team.
Charvax: With pleasure.
Charvax exhales a fireball and whips around to headbutt Trip away. Team Dragoon jump away from the fireball and Silence follows up by blasting Charvax with a fully charged Hyper Laser, injuring the dragon. Charvax growled and swooped down to charge Team Dragoon. He threw up a cloud of dust and rapid fired fireballs from the haze. Alan simply dodged them with Laser speed, and the rest got above them. Trip jumped onto Charvax’s back and grabbed his horns, twisting his head away. With the opening, Alan dashes in and begins slashing into Charvax, with Dria and Srish also firing. Charvax twists in the air, throwing Trip into the sky. He opens his mouth wide, and shoots a fireball at Trip. Seeing no other option, Trip decides to pull out her trump card. Harnessing the full power of the Black Dragon, Trip enters Dark Leviathan Stage 2, becoming a dragon similar to Charvax. The two dragons wheel around, slashing and biting. Team Dragoon jump to Trip, except for Alan, who makes for the head of Charvax. Trip and Charvax crashed into each other and became embroiled into a bitter melee.
Dria: What makes you think you can gain anything here, Escour?
Escour: I already have!
Charvax slammed Trip into the ground, aided greatly by the fact that he was the bigger dragon. He inhaled sharply and drew the power of the Black Dragon out of Trip. Similarly to what happened last time Trip went Dark Leviathan Stage 2, she passed out. Charvax clicked his claws and the Order's army swarmed over Trip and carried her away. Charvax detransformed and began walking backwards towards his temple.
Charvax: It's been fun, but I intend to execute Trip without interruption.
Charvax snapped again and Escour (as well as Puppet Armor) appeared beside him, on the bottom step of the Temple, with Escour sending them off by sending a Dark Dragon after them.
Charvax: Good day, Team Dragoon, and may your universe suffer at the hands of whatever villains reside there.
As soon as the words left Charvax's mouth, the Temple dematerialized. During the voyage, Charvax turned to Escour.
Charvax: That was scarily close. We need something with more firepower. As you said, we can't threaten Team Dragoon with the bomb you've conceptualized, seeing as you are tied to their dimension. We can't crush their spirits, I'll give them credit for being that resilient, but we need a way to incapacitate them.
Escour: First off, i am not tied to their dimension. Did you perhaps make the mistake that since Team Dragoon are known for their dimension hopping above all else, they would live in the Dimensional Hub? No, they don't. But you first need to learn the basic step to activating it. And second, i didn't have the time to improve your army, so we can start with that.
Charvax: When did I mention the Hub? You work on my army, I work on Trip.
Escour: Alright.
Escour brings Charvax's army into his lab. Charvax walks into an adjoining room, and screams probably from Trip began to sound.
Escour:(Alright, let's do this.) So, let's do this one at a time. Who's first?
One member, seemingly from the Ruby Clan, raised his hand.
Escour: Ah, you'll work, just step into this side room please, we'll talk inside.
The Ruby Clan member follows Escour in, where he pulls up a chair and a pen-clipboard combo.
Escour: Among other things, i was hired to improve you lot, including by giving you powers. So what kind of powers would you like?
Soldier: Superstrength?
Escour notes this down and assigns a operating table.
Escour: That works. You'll be on table 6, it will have the number on the back.
The soldier nodded and walked over to the table. The minions filed in one by one. After a minute, Charvax came in. He was spattered in blood.
Charvax: Trip didn't last overly long. She fell unconscious within minutes.
Escour: Puppet Armor was unharmed after getting up. They should have grabbed a replacement lens for their helmet.
Charvax: Good to hear. Perhaps now we should discuss a strategy to fall back on if my army and your Puppet Armor fail.
Escour: Right. So far, they have a Super Form waiting when we fight them once more. They're not pulling it out for anything less than you combining Dragon and Super form. And i suppose we can discuss the emergency contingency too.
Charvax: Let's do that. Contingency is what helps people like us win.
Escour: Right.
Escour pulls out a object roughly twice the size of a tennis ball. On it's top was a winding key.
Escour: This is the Infinity Bomb. Just one can, and has, destroyed a universe. You activate it by winding it all the way round at least three times, which starts a ten second countdown. Each winding after adds ten seconds to the countdown.
Charvax's eyes gleamed with a sinister light.
Charvax: Beautiful. It can be used as a threat is properly explained, omitting the fact that it will kill us. With any luck, they will fall for our bluff and do our bidding. They might even make concessions for Trip's return.
Escour: Not a bad plan. I was planning to monolouge to them anyways. They would survive, but they would have a universe's blood on their hands. Actually that reminded me.
Escour quickly teleports and returns with a sample of a purple glowing chemical.
Escour: This is Dark Acid. It's the byproduct of a Infinity Bomb explosion. It's... well, a acid, and a strong one.
Charvax: Will a single droplet kill?
Escour: I haven't tested it on life, but it melts any material i can make.
Charvax: How about we test it on Trip?
Charvax's grin seemed sadistic.
Escour: I have no stake in her, beyond what special traits she may hold. Have at it.
Escour passes Charvax the entire sample. Charvax takes it with glee and beckons.
Charvax: Let us do science.
The two walk into the room the Trip is held in. She was strapped to a vertical table and barely conscious.
Charvax: Hello dear.
Trip warily raised her head and her eyes widened at the vial.
Charvax: Wanna see what this does?
Charvax walks over and lets a drop of the acid land on her arm. The acid slowly spreads farther and deeper through her scales and onto her skin, until her pain and panic cause it to suddenly transform into a Scaled Fright.
Charvax: Now what on Mobius is that?
The Scaled Fright notices both of them, and circles the two Sungazers in the jumping-despite-floating style typical of the species. Escour then warps in and picks it up.
Escour: Am i to assume the Dark Acid did this?
Charvax: Indeed.
Escour thinks about it for a bit, then gets an idea on what happened.
Escour: I get it! Dark Acid is what happens when Dark Gaia Energy fuses with physical matter at high speeds, so of course it would transform into a Dark Gaia Monster when exposed to emotion!
Charvax: So that means that I can torture people and create minions at the same time?
Escour: Maybe, but it's presumably going to create bigger minions as more Dark Acid is used, and keep in mind enough will still kill.
Charvax: That’s still good enough for me. Imma scald Trip into next Tuesday.
Escour: I'll leave you to it. I'm gonna go see if Puppet Armor can become knockout resistant.
Charvax: Good luck.
The two separate to do their own things. Charvax turns to Trip and grins evilly.
Charvax: Panic, why don’t you?
Charvax carefully applies the Acid, reapplying every time a Scaled Fright forms. Trip’s screams echo throughout the temple, but they eventually cut off when she passes out. Escour eventually comes in to collect the Scaled Frights.
Charvax: There you go, have fun.
Charvax growled and smacked Trip.
Charvax: Wake up!
Trip jolted awake and looked fearful.
Trip: Wh-what do y-you w-w-want?
Charvax turned to Escour.
Charvax: Ever tried your hand at brainwashing?
Escour: The kind that leaves people with the ability to speak? It's at best inefficient, especially when faced with "all loving" heroes who go for the save at all times of day. It can be done, and i have a idea, but i guarantee it won't last forever.
Charvax: Ah well, I'll just call my bud.
Charvax tapped the orb tattoo on his foot and opened a window through space. A being with three black eyes and a mouth resembling that of a lamprey looked through.
Charvax: G'rathols old chum! Wanna come over?
G'rathols: Ỳ̴̭ō̵͜u̶̜͝ ̵̨̾ḱ̴̨n̵͙̾o̴͔͌w̵͍̌ ̶̻́Ỉ̸̱ ̸͍̕c̶̬̚ă̴̹n̸̖̔'̸̣͘ṱ̴̚ ̴͎̂l̴̻̏ë̴̗ả̶̤v̶͙̍ȩ̶̛ ̵̬̌m̷̭̃y̸̻͘ ̷͓̌p̵̫͛o̷͂ͅò̸̖l̶͍͝,̶͍̄ ̷̛̫C̴̳͂ẖ̷̓a̷͖̎r̸̰̍v̶̝̓ä̷̖́x̷̠̆.̴̘̂
Charvax: But I want you to meet my new friend! Escour! Come here and say hello!
Escour: (Ugh, that voice gives me a headache.) Yes, hello.
G'rathols: Ã̵̢͖͑́́̎̚ ̴̲̽̂̚š̸͙c̶̞͙̰̹̳͙͆ḯ̵̢̫̍̄̽ę̵̛̲̿͐̓͘ṇ̵̡̺̅̓͗͜ţ̶̜͐̌̆̿͝î̸̯̰̻̹̈͐̊s̷̲̮̗͇̠̥̉͋̎́͝t̸̗̣̣̝̜̀ͅ,̷̛̩̬͍͚̪̹͠ ̸͓̝̯͍̅̀h̶̳̭̑̌͌o̸̮͈̱͌͐͜͜͠ͅw̸̨̩͖̹̱̙̿̓̀̚ ̶̞͓͇̩̆͂q̷̨̝͈̅̆̂̈́͝ͅų̴̭̻̱̳̝́̀a̴̩̭͛̊͜͠i̵̘̬͔̽͂ṋ̶̹̣̞̙͂͂͐͠t̸̪̲̝͚̤͇̊̅͆̎̅̚.̶̹̇̔̈́ Ĩ̶̼̻͔͆ ̷̟͠ȃ̸̻͂͘s̴͓̰̘͌̀s̴͎̔͝u̷̲̜̲̝͛m̸̺̊e̴̿̿͊͜͜ ̷̪̖̀̚y̵̡̛̝̙̖o̸̡̱̝̖͐̀͊ū̶̢͇͉͈̄ ̷̡̼̑w̶͎͋͌̆͆á̵̩̰̲͆͝n̵̰̐͗͒t̸̖̀̚ ̶̖̝́̑͋͠ͅḿ̵̢̱̮e̶̮̠̲͔͋̈̏ ̸̡͈̭̅̇͠t̶̘͊́̑̇ó̵͉̯͖̔͗ ̶̼͍͋̽̿̚d̸̨̟̫͈̒̉ẻ̷͚͍̈á̴̢͔́̇l̴̲͚̄̈͆͜ ̶̗̹̣́̍w̶̙̒̏̈́̓ͅí̷͉̣̮̃̕͠t̶̮̜̮̒̒̊̈́h̴͓̝͌̎ ̴̮̹̓̅͆t̴̛̳͉͍̪h̶̩̲͌̿̚e̴͔̤͋ ̴̢̬̮̊̒W̷̧̞͎͚͆y̵͙̖͚̋͊̒͘r̵̜̲͇͂̈́͛̑m̶͔͔͛̋́͜s̸͇͎̊͊͂p̶̹̼̑͜ͅe̷̛̲͚̺͊̑̔a̸͓̥͋k̵̗̳̩͑̓ḛ̶̹̋͂r̶̘̩̎̏͐̂ ̸͖̀̐͠t̵̖̺̉͘͝ȟ̶͚̐̎͆a̵̩͎̓̉̎̿t̴̪͈̖̻̋͘ ̷͓͙͕̤̏̀̽͝p̴̦̫͙̳̎́̓ļ̴̫̥͋ã̵̦̥̍g̵̡̼͙̖͐͆͐u̷̬͂ȩ̷̞͙͇̄ș̵̰̊͝ ̸͙̀̇͗y̷̳̮̔̽͝o̸͍͉͂̔u̸͇̗̪̓͌̓͝.̴̢̨͍̅͘͝
Charvax: Yes, I wish death to the Wyrmspeakers.
Escour: Wyrmspeakers?
Charvax: It's just his way of describing the Tourmaline Clan, also known as Trip's clan.
Escour: Ah.
The temple and lab then rattle for a unknown reason.
Escour: Hang on, i'll check if it's that time of the day, or if someone else is being a problem.
Escour warps to the first place he thinks the rattling originated, the entrance. When he arrives, he immediately notices Team Dragoon. Immediately, he warps back.
Alan: Well well well-Hey!
Escour: Welp, it's that time of the day, Team Dragoon's here.
Charvax: Blast! How'd they get here?
Charvax tapped into the magic of the temple and talked to Team Dragoon over the intercom.
Charvax (Intercom): Welcome, Team Dragoon! Charvax the Sungazer congratulates you on entering his temple and asks you how.
Alan: We asked the smartest person we know to help, now we can detect your temple.
Charvax (Intercom): That person being?
Dria: Isn't it rude to tell a villain where you got something from without consent?
Charvax (Intercom): Ah well, screw you lot. Die.
The walls begin to move towards each other. Alan runs towards the walls and uses Quake to destroy the mechanisms, before smashing through the wall next to the open door and moving onwards. Charvax cackles and the walls keep moving.
Charvax (Intercom): Magic! This temple responds to my will and mine alone!
Arms grow from the temple walls and bar the way. Silence, done with this, sends one Ghost Wisp at each member of Team Dragoon, allowing them to slip on through with the Ghost color power. Escour sighs at this. Charvax growls and begins slamming walls together, hoping to crush Team Dragoon once their wisp powers run out. Unfortunately for them, Escour had personally experienced how long these supercharged forms could hold power, and knew this was a doomed endeavor.
Escour: Trying to stop them with just the defenses won't work. Ghost is immune to all physical things. Luckily, i don't have to deal in physical to attack.
Charvax began to sweat.
Charvax: Damn it.
Charvax tapped the three-pronged spike tattoo on his forehead, sending an arrow of energy towards Team Dragoon. The team swerve around it, following it's path through the walls to get at Charvax.
Escour: Welp, get ready for a fight. Puppet Armor, to us!
Charvax activates all of his offensive tattoos and settles into a battle stance. Soon enough, Team Dragoon arrived and took up their own stances.
Charvax: I suppose you're here for the girl?
Charvax tapped the Order of Shadows sigil on his left arm, causing Trip to scream in pain.
Charvax: Here's the deal. I am not about to give you Trip alive, so how about I give you a corpse?
Alan: Even if you tried that, out here it wouldn't work long. But in any case...
Alan jumped Charvax, Dria jumped Escour, Silence jumped Puppet Armor, giving Srish enough time to break Trip free. As Trip steadied herself, Team Dragoon was knocked back, and the group linked with their Wisps to activate Energy Armor, with Alan choosing Quake.
Elite Srish: Now what can you do?
Charvax rammed his crest into a wall and tore the section away, revealing the swirling multiverse beyond.
Charvax: If you step outside, you die.
Charvax opened up the floor beneath Team Dragoon. Team Dragoon each use the powers of a Wisp to fly up and land safely.
Elite Dria: That's not the Dimensional Hub. Isn't the Dimensional Hub Team Alpha took us through a sea? Where is this place?
Escour looks through the hole with intrigue about what kind of pocket dimension he was looking at.
Charvax: The Ocean of Pain isn't a hub, it's a dimension between dimensions. This?
Charvax gestures at the swirling mass of multiversal energy below them.
Charvax: We are moving between dimensions faster than the eye can perceive. This is the multiverse.
Escour: Skipping the middleman and taking a direct route... and thus the force required for the travel would devastate someone who fell into it... Simple and effective.
Elite Silence: Yeah, and what happens when we launch you out?
Charvax grins evilly.
Charvax: You can try.
Alan uses Laser to speedily attack Charvax, knocking him out the opening he made. Unfortunately, Escour saves him.
Escour: What? Trying to tune me out?
Elite Srish: Couldn’t have saved that one for me?
Srish bounces off Escour to hit Puppet Armor, both of them being rattled by Srish using Rhythm power to shake them. Alan uses this chance to jump at Puppet Armor. Charvax scowls and fades into the walls. A giant stone likeness of Charvax emerges from the wall and backhands Alan away.
Charvax: This is trespassing.
Elite Alan: Wow, just figured that one out?
Charvax: My homeland is Northstar Island, and when the temple is in another dimension we don't enter private property. I have more etiquette than you.
Elite Alan: Maybe, but i have better morals, it evens out.
Charvax: Quoting what other villains have said, morals make you weak. You don’t go for the kill shot when you should. That’s the difference between you and me.
Elite Alan: Other villains? Oh yeah, all the ones that died/were sealed.
Charvax: Go ahead then, kill me.
Charvax spread his arms and waited. Alan looks to Trip, awaiting her opinion, while charging a Hyper Laser. Escour, meanwhile, is having a hard time noticing while he fights Srish. Trip's gaze goes cold and she picks up one of Charvax's torture instruments. She stalks towards Charvax, knife in hand. Alan, seeing this, assumed Trip wanted him dead and obliged Charvax's challenge, firing a charged Hyper Laser. Once the light cleared, the group could no longer see Charvax.
Elite Srish: Did he just let himself die to prove a point?
Escour: If he did, he's impossibly foolish. That doesn't sound like him.
The walls, ceiling, and floor shook violently. Everyone staggered, and Trip dropped the knife. A hand emerged from the floor and took the knife. Charvax then rose up behind Trip and held the knife to her throat. He turned so that Team Dragoon couldn't get a clean shot.
Escour: Ah, there we are.
Elite Alan: Dude, you're not killing Trip and getting away with it. It's by virtue of us not yet wanting to bother our friends that you don't have the entire Dimensional Heroes ruining your life. Do you want them here?
Charvax smiled.
Charvax: My goal in life is to kill Trip. I don't care if the Dimensional Heroes rain hell down on me.
Elite Dria: Yeah? And what happens when we revive Trip right in front of you, before killing you?
Charvax: How will you do that?
Elite Alan: Dunno. Doesn't mean we can't though. That was, like the first thing Ecto ever did to impress us, reviving someone.
Charvax scowled.
Charvax: I'll just kill Trip and oscillate out of here. Why do you even care about her?
Elite Alan: Of course you wouldn't understand the desire to keep people alive.
In the background though, Srish and Puppet Armor had been fighting, and finally, Srish managed to kick Puppet Armor at Charvax, knocking Trip down and Charvax away. Alan made a break for Trip as Escour was attacked by Dria and Silence. Charvax summoned a wall in front of Alan and shot Trip through the ceiling. He rose up on a pillar and sealed the hole behind him. Alan broke through both the wall and the ceiling to find the two in an empty space, Trip and Charvax facing each other down. The two sungazer lizards crashed into each other, fighting tooth and claw. They both landed heavy blows on each other, but eventually Charvax snuck his knife through and stabbed Trip in the stomach. Alan then jumped in and knocked Charvax away to help Trip. Trip grimaced pressed a hand to the wound in her midsection. Her white glove was swiftly stained red.
Trip: Got any bandages?
Elite Alan: No. Dria always did though.
Alan blasts a hole back to ground floor and swapped with Dria, who patches Trip up.
Elite Dria: Thistle could heal this immediately, but we’d have to leave and wait for them to jump us once more.
Trip: This will work, thank you.
Trip woozily leaned against a wall.
Trip: I think that’s it for me.
Elite Dria: I’ll protect you!
Trip: Thanks.
Trip slides down the wall and sits.
Trip: I never liked being stabbed.
Elite Dria: Would anyone?
As the two stay to the side, everyone else is fighting.
Elite Alan: One of this, one of that, and two of these!
Alan punches at Charvax, blowing open large holes in the walls every time Charvax dodges around his strikes.
Charvax: I'm going to sue you for property damage. And I am going to win the case. My lawyers are better.
Elite Alan: No villain can sue a hero! Besides, we’ll have Trip in our court anyways. Her testimony would ruin your plans!
Alan knocks Charvax off his feet.
Charvax: She can testify against me if she's dead.
Charvax picks himself up and flicks the floor upwards.
Elite Alan: You’ve got that misspeak right, Trip can testify even if she dies.
Alan breaks straight through the floor that was flicked upwards and lands on Charvax’s head. Charvax buts his head like a bull and sends Alan flying.
Charvax: I'm getting angry now. Leave, or I'll make you.
Charvax roars and sends Alan back to Team Dragoon while bringing Escour to him. He then lowers his voice.
Charvax: We should leave, I'll land the temple and we can lure them out.
Escour: We need open space. Let’s do it.
The temple shook as it settled in a dimension.
Charvax: Ah hell, it’s Cyne’s universe.
Escour: Not a good idea to draw in the Heroes. Can we go somewhere else?
Charvax: Not in a hurry. We’ll just have to be quick about it.
Elite Alan: You panicking or something?
Charvax: You are not part of this conversation!
Charvax opened a hole in the wall beside Escour and himself.
Charvax: Time to make a break for it.
Elite Alan: If you want to go outside, we can use the door.
Alan uses the Laser transformation to knock all the villains outside. Charvax begins filling in all the rooms in the temple with stone.
Charvax: That'll flush 'em out.
Sure enough, the heroes met the villains outside.
Elite Alan: Well then, back to a land battle?
Charvax: Why not?
Charvax clicks his fingers, summoning his augmented army.
Elite Srish: Well then.
As Srish jumps for Escour, the demon dodges, leaving Srish with Puppet Armor. Alan and Charvax begin fighting again, leaving Dria and Silence with Escour and the army. Charvax signals to Escour and the army rushes forward. Charvax then jumps backwards and bolts for the Temple, getting his army to distract Team Dragoon. Alan is having none of it and uses Laser to catch Charvax before he escapes, though as he goes in for the strike, a member of the army manages to block Alan with their power, causing him to rebound.
Charvax: I have the numbers to counteract your powers.
Elite Alan: Dunno about that. These guys seem stronger, but in the same way a Egg Pawn is to a Motobug.
Charvax scowls and backs up, slowly and subtly maneuvering back to the Temple.
Elite Alan: What? You finally giving up?
Charvax: No, just making sure that I am between you and my abode.
Elite Alan: Well with Puppet Armor distracted-
Alan points his thumb at Puppet Armor, who's being rattled by Srish's kicks.
Elite Alan: Nothing protects you from a Hyper Laser.
Charvax: You sad little man.
Charvax taps his tattoos in a strange sequence, and suddenly Charvax is surrounded by magical shields. Multiple spectral spears fire themselves at Alan. Alan just runs through the spears, and gives a punch to the shield to see what he's up against, bouncing off it like a spring and crashing into some minions.
Charvax: Have you ever heard the definition of magic? It’s any technology that is far enough ahead of what you can create that you can’t tell it apart from divine intervention. What I’m getting at is that I’m better at magic than you are at countering it.
Elite Alan: Maybe. What have you actually done though?
Alan sidesteps more magic spears and fires some Lightning shots, while jumping on the minions surrounding him to flatten them with Quake power.
Elite Alan: You’ve injured Trip, sure, but is that all this is?
Alan gets clear of the minions and uses Lightning to zap Charvax from above.
Elite Alan: Do you actually have anything to accomplish? Would you really work with Escour for a petty vengeance, cause I don’t doubt he would.
Charvax: Well, you see now, with Trip gone I can take over Northstar Island with literally no competition. It's my ancestral home, the other clans and I deserve to live there. We were cast out for our worldview.
Elite Alan: And i can't blame them, you would work with a Neo-Council member for a petty vengeance, you're not right in the head.
Charvax: Petty?
Charvax begins to swell in anger.
Charvax: PETTY!? I WAS CAST OUT OF MY HOME SIMPLY BECAUSE I THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY! DIE!
Charvax activated all of his tattoos and fired off attacks in a blind rage. Alan ran around them, intending to run out whatever timer he runs on, and failing that, gain an opening since his friends were stuck with their opponents. Charvax’s attacks kept coming faster and stronger, until he unleashed a concussive blast that enveloped the battlefield. Everyone was caught up in it, even his and Escour's minions, and when the blast cleared, everyone was sprawled on the floor. Charvax uses the power of his active tattoos to keep the heroes down, while helping Escour up. He then walked over to the steps of his Temple.
Charvax: While I would like to continue and maybe even win this fight, I am not willing to risk my life. I'll be back for you, Trip, and all you love will burn.
With that, the Temple began to fade away.
Elite Silence: And there he goes, freaking coward.
Elite Dria: Wait, where is Trip anyways?
Trip staggers into view, trying valiantly to stay standing despite the massive blood loss. She looks pale.
Elite Dria: Ok, no more, we're taking you to Thistle now!
Trip waves them off.
Trip: Faced… worse…. with… *cough*… Rev.
Dria grabs Trip, and with Srish's help, drags her through a dimensional trip to get healing. Even though Trip doesn’t want to help, she is powerless to say no and lets them. Conveniently, when they arrived, they managed to find Thistle within seconds.
Thistle: Oh hey.
Alan: Listen, we have a new friend who needs healing.
Thistle: Right, ok. Who?
Dria drags out Trip.
Thistle: Well, that's certainly something you don't see every day.
Thistle suddenly summons light green fire on Trip, who is terrified until she realizes there's no pain. Quickly, the wound is healed.
Dria: Did you really have to freak her out with the healing fire?
Thistle: This is the only way i heal now. I make the rules.
Thistle then leaves. Trip sags.
Trip: Thanks.
Alan: Well, with that done, what exactly do we do now? Oddly enough we seem to have reached a stalemate.
Trip: Charvax will retreat to some obscure dimension and grumble for a while before attacking again. For now at least, we’re safe.
Dria: And how do we prepare for his return?
Trip sat down and sighed.
Trip: You won't. He won't be back for a while. I can handle it. The warriors of the Tourmaline Clan can match the Order of Shadows. It's fine.
Dria: I dunno. Those soldiers have superpowers now.
Alan: And we still have Escour to deal with.
Trip: Knowing Charvax, he's gonna spend a long time planning his next move. Let's focus on Escour.
Alan: I don’t think he’s gonna act on his own right now. He’s patient, or so it always seems.
Trip: Well then, let's be proactive and get him first.
Alan: Right! But are we prepared?
Trip shrugs.
Trip: I don’t know the guy well enough to judge.
Alan: Well we need a way to prevent Trip from getting stabbed again. Other than that, we need to get in, go Super, and defeat the lot of them.
Trip looked a little sheepish.
Trip: I got a little overconfident, sorry about that. It would be a waste of time to try to hunt down Charvax, so let's focus on Escour. At least his base doesn't oscillate between dimensions.
Alan: True, it's finding it that's the issue. Plus, it's possible he's with Charvax right now.
Trip: Also true. In that case, let’s head to Charvax’s favourite haunt.
Trip tries to open a portal with the Black Onyx, but puts it away, looking embarrassed.
Trip: Right, not enough dimensional energy left. Could you open a portal to my island?
Team Dragoon and Trip take the Dragoon Glider to the Alphaverse again.
Alan: So what's this "favorite haunt?"
Trip: Charvax has a flair for the dramatic. When he is in the Alphaverse, he likes to stay on a small island south of Northstar Island. It’s called Sinner’s Rock.
Dria: Right, let's see what you're talking about.
The Dragoon Glider heads off to Northstar Island, hoping Trip would show them the way to the Sinner's Rock. Trip directs them to the island, where they can see the temple has already manifested. The group landed as far away as the island could allow, before approaching the temple on foot. Charvax spots them and his face contorts.
Charvax: Go away!
Escour: Well, this was half expected.
Alan: Good to see you two again. Now Trip just wants you to surrender Escour for a full dose of Hyper Lasers, and then we'll be on our way until you inevitably try again.
Charvax: Now why should I comply? I proved that I could hold my own against you for long enough to escape.
Alan: Oh, nothing, other than the risk that the whole temple collapses if we Hyper Laser it in half.
Charvax: Opening a permanent dimensional wormhole that attracts all matter in the multiverse. You sure you want to do that?
Alan: Hm. Is that a fact? Then i guess we'll have to be careful.
Silence: Up until i find the engine you're using to go between dimensions.
Charvax: Engine? No no no, there is no engine. The temple is powered by me.
Alan: Explains why you control it, but how would smashing it do anything in that case?
Escour: Charvax, we need to delay them without using your minions. I have a plan, but it needs a few minutes to set up and your minions to execute.
Charvax: A few minutes? That can be arranged.
Charvax powers up and walks out to face Team Dragoon.
Alan: Well then, the leader wants to fight?
Team Dragoon activate their Wispon Armor.
Charvax: The leader wants to fight? No no no, the leader is going to win.
Charvax smiled and sent a wave of spikes through the ground towards Team Dragoon, only for them to dodge easily in their own way.
Elite Alan: Sonic's dealt with crazier than you.
Alan gets in close and punches Charvax with Lightning power. Charvax hurtles away, but rights himself and fires continuous energy blasts. He then summons a spear and twirls it around.
Charvax: I'm not one to meddle in other dimensions' affairs; but if we meet again, I'm going to enjoy killing you... very much.
Elite Alan: First off, get in line. Second, you’re not escaping.
Off in the back, Escour takes note of Charvax’s choice in weapon.
Charvax: I’m not escaping? Do you know how easy it would be for me to warp to a random dimension and go off grid for a while?
Elite Alan: Not with your temple I hope?
Charvax: Nah, just me.
Mid sentence, Charvax whirles and slams his spear into the ground, freeing a sizeable chunk of rock which he then throws at Trip. Trip sees it coming and breaks it in half.
Elite Alan: Maybe it’s time you fought someone else.
Alan moves back and Srish jumps in, kicking Charvax across the face several times. Trip joins in, tackling Charvax to the ground and begins in rain blows down upon him. With every hit, Trip seems to get angrier. Years and years of pent up anger and hatred began to spill out into Trip’s fists. Charvax just continues to get beaten into the ground. Eventually, Trip roars in anger, picks up Charvax, and slams him headfirst into the dirt. He’s still for a minute, before he stands up and wipes a trickle of blood from the side of his head.
Charvax: All that, and I’m barely even hurt.
Elite Silence: Yes, yes, your scales are very tough. You sure won't survive a planet busting laser though.
As Charvax is held up for Silence to blast, Escour notices and quickly separates the group.
Escour: That could've ended badly. Have a spear that can actually damage their armor.
Escour passes over a Mare Energy spear to Charvax. Charvax looks at the spear fondly and strikes Alan around the head. The spear leaves a gash in his helmet.
Elite Alan: Alright, no.
Alan and Srish act together, trying to break the spear. Charvax wrenches the spear away from them and pokes Silence with it. The poke didn't really hit anywhere useful, but it sucessfully got Silence to back up. Dria, in turn, takes to the skies and fires down at Charvax. Charvax spins the spear. deflecting the shots at the rest of Team Dragoon, who go around them. Alan then locks the spear down by using Lightning whips to force it still, allowing Dria to fire without fear of getting deflected. Charvax takes a shot to the chin before he dodges to the side and cracks his foot across Srish's face. Srish stumbles back, but with the spear still locked down, it didn't do too much. Charvax then notices Silence getting into a oddly specific angle. Charvax skitters away behind a rock and begins burrowing into the ground.
Elite Silence: The heck?
Elite Alan: Blast! My tether!
The ground begins to churn as Charvax burrows deeper. Trip curls up and follows. Team Dragoon can hear the two sungazers battling underground, before Trip flies out of the hole with Charvax holding her foot. She hangs upside down limply in Charvax’s grasp. Alan acts quickly, using Laser to dash around Charvax as he attempts to use her as a shield, managing to free her with a well-aimed strike. Alan and Charvax then duel at high speeds. Charvax, being unable to keep up, takes a heavy blow and goes flying.
Charvax: Any time now Escour!
Escour: We can set up the final details together, you’re clear to flee.
Charvax scrambles to get back to his temple. Alan intercepts him multiple times before getting flipped into his team.
Elite Alan: Blasted-!
Charvax reenters his temple and meets up with Escour.
Charvax: Plan?
Escour: Needed you for the finishing touch. It’s rather simple.
Escour summons a little visual aid.
Escour: Team Dragoon’s stronger together. But as I’ve seen, separating them’s not an end all be all solution. You have to do it right. So I figured out who fights who for the best outcome.
Escour shows Charvax with Silence.
Escour: Silence has no melee skills. Faced with you in an enclosed environment, he’ll try to escape you, most likely. You’re best against him.
Charvax: I see.
Escour: Next up is Dria with Puppet Armor. Dria is the most naturally mobile, and Puppet Armor is not, but Puppet Armor is too tough to take down.
Escour shows Dria trying and failing at a few avenues of attacking Puppet Armor.
Escour: Dria’s a few things. Sharpshooter isn’t one of them. Her shots are too big for the helmet eyeholes anyways, as are her feet.
Charvax: Stay out of her shots’ way and you should be good.
Escour: The homing on those things makes that difficult. Next up, Srish and me.
Escour pulls up a demonstration window.
Escour: Srish would likely do better against me than the previously mentioned ones, but he's against me cause he has the most limited flight option. He can only jump off the air.
The demonstration window shows Alan using Laser, Dria flying on her own and Silence using Ghost.
Escour: Alan's up against your army, mostly cause i didn't have anyone else. As well, Alan can't disrupt armies as well as the others.
The demonstration window shows Dria manipulating members of the army against one another, Srish stunning the army, and Silence going through the ground and blasting the army from a safe distance.
Charvax: Now for Trip. She’s not as powerful as Ecto, the late Revenant *ahem* her crush *ahem*, or any member of Team Dragoon. However, she has managed to harness the power of the Black Dragon. That could be an issue. We’ll need a countermeasure.
Escour: Best i've got is a group of your minions, whatever Dark Gaia stuff i can put together, and some Dark Acid.
Charvax: Okay then, let’s go to war.
Escour: That’s where you come in, we have to seperate them the right way, so you’ll need to control the temple so they split up.
Charvax: Alright. I'll warp into them and warp away with anyone caught.
Team Dragoon, meanwhile, was following a path through the temple.
Elite Alan: Silence, you’re the one who can check for souls, what are our villains doing?
Elite Silence: Plotting.
Trip: I would expect nothing less.
Trip then puts her ear bump to the wall.
Trip: Full company of soldiers beyond this wall, tread with caution.
Elite Dria: Why don’t we blast through them? We have the force.
Trip: You want to alert the big bads to our presence?
Elite Alan: The guy’s constantly boasting about his control of the temple, I think stealth is shot.
Trip: I spent a year of my life here. He can control the temple, not sense stuff through the walls. He doesn't want a constant headache from his troops marching through it. As of now, he doesn't know we're here.
Elite Alan: Right, well then.
Trip guides Team Dragoon to Charvax's inner sanctum.
Trip: He should be in here.
Elite Alan: Silence?
Elite Silence: Right… here!
Silence points out a location, and Team Dragoon fire. The wall explodes and Trip runs into the dust. Team Dragoon follow her to protect her. Trip cracks her elbow into the side of Charvax's head and the two sungazers go sprawling.
Elite Alan: Hah! Let’s fight!
Charvax growls but can't stand, being pinned by Trip. She hisses at him.
Trip: You aren't making it out of here alive.
Escour pushes Trip off.
Escour: Now that all our guests have arrived, please proceed to your designated room.
Trip growls and puts her armor on.
Trip: Make me.
Escour: Charvax, if you would?
Charvax smiles grimly and punches Trip across the jaw. He blow sends Trip staggering into another room, which Charvax then seals off.
Charvax: Ow, forgot how tough that armor is.
Escour: Now we can get to the rest.
Escour throws Alan into another room, then Dria, but Srish and Silence keep out of the way. Charvax taunts them.
Charvax: Come on, this won’t hurt! I mean… the room won’t hurt, but I certainly will.
Elite Srish: Heh, coward. A better fighter would challenge our best instead of strategically splitting us up.
Elite Silence: Wait, it's not random?
Charvax: I am professional enough to realize my limitations. I can’t beat Team Dragoon when they are together.
Elite Silence: Wait a minute, Escour planned this! He ran off cause he needed to set up specific scenarios for each of us!
Elite Srish: Then obviously we need to stick together.
Escour: Let's just see you do that!
Escour dropped down and began fighting Srish. Silence attempted to aid, but was being chased around by Charvax. Charvax pulled a wall in front of Silence and kicked him into it.
Elite Silence: Well, great... Oh wait.
With Alan
Elite Alan: An army, well this could be fun-
Alan is nearly blasted right out the temple by a combined attack. He could feel the power, and it made him uncomfortable.
Elite Alan: Well... this could be a issue.
With Dria
Elite Dria: Just Puppet Armor? This won't be hard.
Dria immediately fired at Puppet Armor, but found she couldn't actually damage the thing. Remembering the armor was immune to Wispons, she tried to kick in the lenses, but it wouldn't work.
Elite Dria: Well, now what?
With Srish
Srish was trying to shoot Escour down, but he was too high to hit effectively.
Escour: What's wrong? Come up and hit me!
Elite Srish: Alright then.
Srish attempted to jump his way up to Escour, but was intercepted easily.
Escour: That's a bit slow, isn't it?
Elite Srish: Oh boy, Escour actually thought ahead this time...
With Silence
Silence kept trying to get in a position to blast Charvax, but Charvax always seemed to have a idea where he'd pop up.
Elite Silence: Blast you and your temple!
Charvax smiled and sent spikes of temple towards Silence.
With Trip
Trip found herself face to face with projections of the Ecto clones that she and Revenant had defeated.
Trip: What?
The Wight projection walked forward and the stone under his feet began to crumble.
Trip: Oh no… they have all their powers.
The Bodak projection opened his mouth wide and lunged. As Trip dodged around that, she had to account for some Deep Nightmares trying to trip her. The Willo&Wisp projection electrified the ground as the Allip projection blocked off all paths of escape with ice. Trip was soon surrounded on all sides. The Allip projection froze Trip's feet to the ground and the Willo&Wisp projection shocked her to "soften her up". The Bodak projection then advanced. Trip ducked under the Bodak projection's mouth and wrenched one foot free. A searing pain shot through her ankle and tried to pull her other foot out without hurting it. She didn't know whether her ankle was fractured, broken, or sprained, but it hurt like hell and her other foot was still stuck. She slammed her armored right hand into the ice and pulled her other foot from the debris.
Trip: Ow...
Trip slammed her shoulder into the Wraith projection. It staggered, proving that it was solid. She then sent a punch straight into its stomach. The projection wavered, then faded away. It then reformed on the other side of the room.
With Alan
Alan was surrounded by the army Charvax had.
Elite Alan: Bold move.
Alan used the Laser color power to blast through the entire army, knocking them to the floor.
Elite Alan: Heh.
The army stood up again and charged Alan from all directions. Alan tries to knock them down with Lightning shots, but there's too many and they're too strong.
Elite Alan: Why, won't, any, of, you, stay, down?!
The horde continued to pile on top of Alan. Even as he used Laser, Lightning and Quake transformations in sequence, no more than one or two would go down and stay down, and with such a diverse power pool among the army, Alan found himself struggling with staying on balance.
With Dria
Dria wasn't having a hard time keeping away from anything Puppet Armor could do to her, the problem was actually damaging it.
Elite Dria: Your armor is so hard to get through, don't you ever take it off?
Puppet Armor responds with a shriek that summons a pack of Dark Gaia Monsters. Dria calmly deals with them, but it gives Puppet Armor the opportunity to hit Dria with a tube of Dark Acid. Dria shakes it off, but looking down causes her to notice the chemical's actually doing something to her armor.
Elite Dria: No no no, that can't be good! How do i get it off?
Dria's panic thankfully turns it into a Wispon Nightmare... well sort of thankfully as it resists Dria's blasts.
Elite Dria: And now there's something else that can stand up to this, great.
With Srish
Elite Srish: Get down here.
Escour: Come up here.
The two keep throwing these kinds of taunts at each other as they fire and dodge easily.
With Silence
Silence actually hits Charvax, flinging him across the room. The sungazer smiles and rights himself.
Charvax: Well done, but I’m getting bored. Walls, do your thing.
The walls start to close in.
Elite Silence: Nice try, now how do you leave?
Charvax melts into the wall. Silence rolls his eyes and uses Ghost to go through the walls.
Elite Silence:(Better check how the others are doing.)
Silence goes through the walls and finds Trip first, surrounded. He reacts by blasting the area with rockets, destroying most of the copies and all Dark Gaia Monsters in the room. The projections reform and turn on Silence.
Trip: These are the hedgehogs that Revenant and I fought.
Trip points at the blue and black one.
Trip: That guys is Wraith, he can phase through walls and teleport.
Trip points at the entirely grey one.
Trip: That guy is Wight. He has something like the Midas Touch, but instead of making things gold he drains the life from them.
Trip points at the yellow, light blue, and lime green one.
Trip: They are Willo&Wisp. They were two prototypes that fused. They have lightning powers.
Trip points at the black and light blue one with a crest on his forehead.
Trip: That's Allip, he has cryokinesis (he controls ice).
Trip points at the grey and black one with a huge mouth.
Trip: That's Bodak, and he eats souls.
Trip points at the cyan and orange one with multiple cybernetics.
Trip: And that's Deathlock, the mastermind with powers similar to Revenant's.
Trip stumbles away and sits down, hissing as she clutches her ankle.
Trip: I also may have sprained/fractured/broken my ankle getting out of Allip's ice.
Elite Silence: Well that's trouble. Time to go.
Silence had one of his Wisps give Trip the Ghost color power, before dragging her through the wall and into Alan's room. The horde turned from Alan to Silence, and started charging him instead. Silence used this to juke them around and blast them, hurting them far more due to their weakened souls from Escour's machinations. Alan, meanwhile, managed to pull himself up and aid Silence.
Elite Silence: Never seen "the hero" get overwhelmed by a bunch of mooks before.
Elite Alan: Each one is ASD level, they never stay down!
Trip: Charvax's training process is rigorous and intensive.
Elite Alan: And add on Escour's tricks-
Elite Silence: They may never die.
Elite Alan: Right, well let's blast them and go.
Trip: Let's get the others and try to lure out Escour.
Elite Silence: In a moment.
Silence and Alan work together to take out the army quickly, before heading off to the next roon, where Dria was struggling.
Elite Dria: Guys! We have a problem!
Alan and Silence take a look around at the Dark Gaia Monsters, and Silence immediately blasts them all, killing them, even the Wispon ones.
Elite Dria: Those things were tough, how-
Elite Silence: No soul, no problem.
At the same time, Alan had ran up to Puppet Armor and attempted to punch it, only to get his hands locked. Dria took notice and kicked Puppet Armor's helmet, causing it to fumble. Alan then took the opportunity to end this quickly, and punched out a helmet lens before firing a Lightning claw inside, paralyzing it for Alan to sharpen the claws and fire it, this time frying Puppet Armor's body.
Elite Alan: If only we could have done this sooner.
Silence brought along the armor, and the group used Ghost to get to Srish's room, where he had his leg pushing against Charvax's spear, before being hit by one of Escour's Mare Energy blasts, allowing Charvax to knock him against a wall. As Charvax went for the killing blow, Silence threw the Puppet Armor boots at Charvax. The first hit, knocking him away, and Charvax blocked the second. Silence then threw the helmet at Escour, who grabbed it, then used it to block part of the follow up Hyper Laser from Silence, the force and pain knocking him to the ground. When Escour got up and saw what happened, he threw the helmet in a rage, which Silence threw the chestplate at to block.
Escour: Charvax! You said you were helping me cause you dealt with Silence! He's right here, why?!
Charvax: How was I to know he still had a Ghost wisp? He would have left my room earlier!
Elite Silence: I was jumping through the walls to get around you, idiot! I was worried if I left, exactly this would happen and I’d be too late!
Escour: He did exactly as I predicted, down to trying to dodge through the floor. And they always have their Wisps. I can’t believe this…
Charvax growled and rounded on the injured Trip.
Charvax: Well then…
Charvax lunged, but Trip swung her injured foot into his face. The sheer force of the blow knocked Charvax away, but Trip collapsed afterwards.
Trip: I really need a brace for my ankle, or I’m not gonna live much longer.
Trip gestured to Team Dragoon to buy her some time as she sprinted out. Silence, worried about her being crushed in the temple, rushed her out.
Elite Alan: Well then, up for the final round?
Alan bounced off the walls with the Laser color power to distract Escour for him to be surrounded by Dria and Srish, before using Quake armor to punch Charvax’s spear. Charvax howled like a child at the sight of his spear getting touched and bounded away. He summoned an intercom and yelled into it.
Charvax: DIVISION A, INTERCEPT TRIP! DIVISION B, TO THE CENTRAL ANTECHAMBER!
Elite Alan: I hope you don’t mean the army that we killed.
Charvax went still, before turning to Alan.
Charvax: Well then…
Charvax pulled off his scarf and tapped the tattoo on his collarbones. A dark mass enveloped his body.
Voidspawn Charvax: Perish.
Elite Alan: How many of these do you have?
Escour: Thinking about it, I’d like to know as well, then we could strategize.
Alan jumps away from Charvax’s attack, before throwing Lightning claws. The attack gets absorbed into Charvax.
Voidspawn Charvax: What a shame. You can’t hit a void.
At that moment, Trip returns with a metal brace somewhat similar to the one Sonic wore on Scrapnik Island on her foot. She looks at Voidspawn Charvax and pales.
Trip: Crap.
Charvax turns to Trip and dives for her.
Elite Silence: Does a void have a soul?
Silence blasts Charvax with his wispon. The attack once again gets absorbed.
Elite Srish: Hang on, I have a plan.
Srish began doing something with his Wispon. At the same time, Team Dragoon placed their fight with Escour between Charvax and Srish. Charvax turns to Escour.
Voidspawn Charvax: Need a hand?
Escour: If you could, i took a solid hit earlier.
Charvax send out spikes of pure nothingness towards Team Dragoon. The group jumps away from the spikes as they all fly past Srish.
Elite Srish: Let's try this!
Srish blasts Charvax with a Rhythm shot. The soundwaves are eliminated as soon as they are absorbed into him.
Elite Srish: Nope, not that one.
Srish gets back to doing something with his Wispon. Charvax opens his mouth wide and purple tentacles burst out, lashing and attempting to grab Team Dragoon. The group use the fact they tend to avoid Escour to their advantage, surrounding him once more.
Escour: Do you have a black hole function in there?!
Voidspawn Charvax: I’m possessed by the being known as Efu mụrụ. I’m channeling its power.
Escour is slammed into a wall, cracking his Body Barrier.
Escour: Not what i asked! Can you create a black hole or something?!
Voidspawn Charvax: No. I can, however, do this.
Charvax opens his hand and slashes a hole in the air. Through the slash, a void of pure nothingness is seen.
Elite Alan: Err... does that do anything?
The tear begins to open and pull in objects. Escour laughs in his immunity to pulls while Team Dragoon try to get a grip. The forgotten armor once housing Puppet Armor is pulled in. Charvax lashes at Team Dragoon, trying to loosen their grip. Srish quickly finishes what he was doing and fires a blast into the void, causing it to close. The armor emerges unharmed.
Elite Srish: Yes!
Voidspawn Charvax: Screw you, this was my trump card! I don’t have fifteen forms hidden away to use like Armageddon!
Elite Srish: Thanks for confirming!
Srish blasts him, but once again it does nothing.
Elite Srish: I’m close! Alan, send me Distractor, I have a idea!
Escour tries to jump Alan to cut the plan off, but he’s too late. Srish combines Quake power with Rhythm power, giving his Rhythm shots some aftereffects, and fires at Charvax once more, this time causing him to be paralyzed.
Elite Srish: There we go! With the Void Close command, i can close all voids you have, including the one you are, though yours kept reopening so i had to use Quake to help.
Charvax: You… fools…
Charvax’s chest bursts open as an eldritch being attempts to crawl out. Its claws swipe at Team Dragoon, nearly hitting them even at a distance.
Elite Srish: Why does Void Close lead to demon beast?
Team Dragoon use a Quad Blast to push the beast back into Charvax, causing his Voidspawn form to overload and finally run out.
Charvax: You nearly let out Efu mụrụ. They would have killed us all.
Elite Srish: You, were the one, using a form, that could risk that!
Charvax: No, I made a deal with Efu mụrụ. It gives me power and I give it a vessel. It was trying to leave because it was being forced out.
Elite Alan: His point still stands, now don't make us repeat that.
Alan uses Lightning claws and blasts him in the leg. Charvax goes down, but is still raving.
Charvax: You will suffer horrendous defeat. If not at my hand, then at a foe greater than me. You can’t beat the odds forever.
Charvax begins to flicker and fade.
Charvax: I do apologize, Escour, but this is where our association ends. Good luck on all future endeavours, if you have any once Team Dragoon is finished with you.
Charvax turns to Trip, and his grin grows.
Charvax: I’ll be seeing you, vermin. I wish you all the worst in life. I suspect our time of reckoning will be soon.
With that, Charvax vanishes, taking the temple with him. Escour and all of his stuff is left behind.
Escour: Did he forget... bah! I had a spare for this situation anyways!
Elite Alan: The heck are you referring to?
Escour pulls out a small metal ball with a winding key in it's top. For Team Dragoon, everything about it screams "bomb!"
Escour: Have you perhaps heard of anything about a dimension being destroyed? From Fital perhaps?
Elite Alan and Silence: What part did you play in that?
Escour: That was a proof of concept. Proof that weaponizing infinity is worth it! It also leaves a wonderful byproduct Puppet Armor introduced to Dria. I give you the Infinity Bomb!
Trip steps out, having approached Team Dragoon after the temple vanished.
Trip: It looks… explosive? I’m assuming you already have it primed because otherwise we would just snatch it.
Escour: Hmph.
Escour turns and starts winding, giving the impression he had not armed it. By the third rotation of the winding key, he was shot out of the sky, causing him to drop the Infinity Bomb, which was now armed and ticking once every second. Team Dragoon grabbed the bomb as Escour grabbed Puppet Armor's leftover armor and warped out. Alan looked for a deactivation button or anything, before Dria took it and wound the key again, causing a chime to play that definitely sounded like time being added to the sequence. In the Dimensional Hub, Escour took note of this.
Escour: Perhaps i should have removed the sounds like i did the external timer. Eh, i can do that for any new ones i make. Besides, it can't be disarmed in this state. No one would risk disarming a bomb that small when the consequences are universe ending! They'll be forever stuck with the task of winding it!
At the same time, Dria was winding the key constantly.
Elite Dria: We're gonna need to do something with this!
Elite Srish: We should get the Dimensional Defenders, they can isolate it somewhere uninhabited!
Trip: Good luck you lot.
Team Dragoon waved goodbye, and Alan passed Trip the Chaos Emeralds.
Elite Alan: It was refreshing not having to use these. Keep them on hand for Charvax's inevitable return.
The group then left the dimension quickly.
Elite Alan: Alright, where's the communicator they made for us?
Elite Silence: I have it, remember?
Silence used the communicator to call the Dimensional Defenders.
Dimensional Defender: Team Dragoon? Isn't the next crisis still a month or so out?
Elite Alan: Yes, this is different. We found out who destroyed that dimension. It was Escour, and he did it using a kind of bomb he called the Infinity Bomb. We have a live one with us. Dria's been keeping the timer extended, but it needs to be disarmed.
Dimensional Defender: Noted, we'll alert everyone.
Elite Silence: Thank you.
With that settled, Team Dragoon flew through the Dimensional Hub to the Dimensional Defenders base, where immediately after arrival, the Demons and Glitchians at the entrance cleared out as what could be assumed to be a specialist ran over.
Demon Specialist: I've heard the news. That's the bomb i presume? We'll see if we can disarm it in a pocket dimension.
Elite Dria: Make sure to keep winding it until then.
The specialist takes the bomb and heads off into the base, while Team Dragoon head back home.
Elite Alan: Well that was refreshing.
Elite Dria: Never change Alan.
Srish: Are you ever going to revert?
Alan: Right, now we can.
Dria and Silence revert with Alan.
Silence: Come on, let's go home and rest.
Team Dragoon, finally done, head home.
Later, in a Pocket Dimension...
Several multidimensional explosive specialists were almost finished disarming the bomb.
Glitchian Specialist: Now! Use the Kalied Energy!
A Purified Glitchian among them sent in a spark of Kalied Energy, which after a quick flash, dissipated the Mare Energy safely. With the disarmed yet whole bomb in hand, the specialists sent for someone to reverse engineer it, for quicker future disarming and perhaps even using it for good. They just needed a better energy...
The End...