Roleplay:Another time, another place

This Roleplay is Closed, Sorry!

Overview

After an explosion caused by Masako's pocket watch, a portion of the Mythic Knights are sent to a destroyed version of Station Square. Unable to tell where exactly they are, The Mythic Knights are forced to search this desolate land, finding answers about Warlock, Aero, and the lives that perhaps they had each once lived in an alternate timeline.

Saren finishes The Deciever off, finally putting an end to everything that has happened.

Involved Chracters

Zero Evol (Neo)

Leah Dubio (Neo)

Paragon (Neo)

Aero Facade (Neo)

Silicon Evol (Neo)

The Reaper (Neo)

The Warlock (Neo)

(Alternate) Echo Tranquil (Neo)

(Alternate) Celia Tranquil (Neo)

(Alternate) ??? (Neo)

Lexi Acer (Zap)

Zak the Kirby (Zap)

(Alternate) Zak (Zap)

Part 1: Broken

(So not everyone is going to be here, you're welcome to pick who is here and who isnt'. Also just something to note, this timeline takes place in Tales of the Echo pre-reboot, (Chao-born Neo and other weird shit if you can't remember), obviously some characters were never introduced in that timeline, so your free to decide which of your characters existed or not. This does take place far into the future of that timeline, to put it into perspective, Neo would be in his 50's at this point in time and since this is a bad future, you can choose if your characters are alive or dead. -Neo)

As the dust cleared, Zero looked out into the world around him. It was night time, but otherwise they were in a perfect version of Station Square.

"W-where are we?" Paragon squeaked.

"I can't believe it..." Zero said. "We're in Station Square."

"Maybe..." Leah noted.

(This, uhh... wouldn't happen to exist because I kept bringing up the old timeline, does it? -MHS)

(I won't say you didn't have a hand in this. Initially this was gonna be in Season 3, but I think this is a good time to get some answers on Aero Facade, and it'll act as good prologue for season 3. You bringing it up gave me the idea to push it forward to now. Plus the next roleplay was going to be a bit boring anyway, this is a lot more interesting. -Neo)

Masako pants. The explosion caught her by surprise. Were they really in Station Square? No... this wasn't right. "Where... is everyone?"

"Maybe...we got separated...?" Zak answered, looking around.

"Does anyone recognize where we are exactly?" Leah asked.

Zero took a look around. "I mean...no, not really. I wouldn't say I know every corner of Station Square but...I don't really recognize this place..."

"i-I feel c-cold here..." Paragon shivered.

"What do you mean?" Zero asked. "It's pretty warm out. Feels like summer."

Masako put her hand to the ground. "Something about this seems off. I'm... I'm not even sure if this is the same Station Square that we know and love."

"What does that mean?" Zero asked.

"No, she might be right." Leah noted. "The leylines are completely different here." She looked to be dragging her finger along something in the distance. "I can't find Wayward Castle, and the Clock Tower is gone too."

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" A woman's voice rang out from behind the group. Standing behind them was a familiar yellow cat, wearing a long green dress. Two pistols were holstered on her waist, notably red and blue.

Zero's head felt like a spike had gone through it upon looking at her. "Wha...who...?"

Leah's head also began to throb with pain, so much so that she fell to her knees. "...Fate...?" She asked, a hint of a memory spewing forth in her head.

"Fate?" The woman asked. "No, my name is not Fate." She said. "I am the high queen of this territory. I am Queen Echo Tranquil." Upon getting closer to Zero, Echo seemed to stop. "You...why are you here? How are you here?" She looked over to Leah. "How are you here? You're supposed to be..." Her voice trailed off. 

"Tranquil...?" Leah asked.

"Echo...let me explain..." Zero tried to say.

"I will not listen to any of your words, Mad King!" Echo accused.

"Then...let me explain." Leah pleaded. "Just let us talk." Leah continued to tell Echo everything. Upon futher prodding by Echo, she began to explain the history of their world, of the Mythic Knights and what they were doing.

Echo seemed interested in what Leah had to say, and despite the strange differences between her and the Mythic version of Echo, she seemed trustworthy.

"So...you're all from an alternate timeline? Where you haven't fought Destruction yet?" Echo asked.

"Yes." Zero nodded. "Now if you don't mind, can we ask you some questions? We're just as confused here."

"I don't know how much I can explain..." Echo shrugged. "Your...'Mythic Knights' don't exist in this world, they never have. We were the Tranquil Family. We were very similiar, we fought evil and we gained an incredible amount of power. Nothing could have prepared us for Destruction. When he arose, we couldn't stop him and his army. He leveled the planet, killing millions in his wake. Only the strongest of people could survive in the world left by Destruction. The people who were left were herded into one of seven territories, each lead by one of the leaders of Destruction's army. Destruction killed every higher power, elemental spirits, spirits, all of the meta, everyone was dead. The highest power in our world was Destruction and if you weren't with him you were dead."

"That sounds horrid." Leah said.

"It was." Echo recalled. "Yet there was always still hope. Even though the Tranquil Family had been seperated, we thought on the same wavelength. Neo led a rebellion against those in power. He always had that heroic attitude with him. He ended up marrying Celia and they had a son, my husband. Zero met with other Black Blood users, and formed an eigth territory, the Black Blood Society. Together Neo and Zero led an attack to kill Destruction."

"And it worked?" Zero asked.

Echo gave a shrug. "It ended in a blood bath. Both Neo and a recently rescued Leah were killed. Zero had to fallback but...he was determined. Seeing the woman he loved die twice now made him go mad, and he gave up everything to kill Destruction, including killing thousands of the few survivors left in this world, most of which belonged to my territory. He killed Destruction but...once that had happened, he had nothing. He left his kingdom to his apprentice, FIrefly, who claimed the last name Evol, but she has her own problems to deal with. A man called the Reaper is the one actually in charge there, and he's trying to purify the world by killing all Black Blood users. With the world being Destroyed, and so many people dying, Black Blood Users make up the bulk of the remaining population, so this serves as a problem for everyone."

"Why don't you do something?" Zero questioned.

"My husband refuses to get involved." Echo answered.

"Right, Neo's son." Leah noted.

"Yeah..." Echo nodded. "Aero Tranquil but now he goes by a different name; Warlock."

(I... actually haven't figured out which of my characters from the old timeline are still alive. Two Masakos seem tempting, but at the same time it might be confusing... -MHS)

(A title may help with the confusion, as you will see with a few other characters that we have doubles of. Something to remember is that the future that Time Spinner showed Masako of the corrupted version of her, is this timeline, though it has been many years since that event happened. -Neo)

(So, you're saying this is the timeline where Masako becomes the Fallen Knight, but it hasn't happened yet?)

(As Time Spinner would say, 'there is a timeline where everything has already happened.' While it is very possible that this is where the Fallen Knight comes from, the Fallen Knight could also come from a different timeline that branches off this one. -Neo)

"Wait, so does that mean the Aero we kept running into is from this timeline?" Lexi asked.

Masako held her head. Right now, she was experiencing a lot of memories that didn't belong to her... yet they were clearer than ever before.

"No, you're thinking of Junior. The one who was in your timeline sounds like my son." Echo said.

"I don't understand, so Neo's kid became Warlock?" Zero asked.

"Well, that's the thing no one was expecting. Warlock was our biggest threat before Destruction. He was incredibly powerful, and we thought we had left him for dead, but when Destruction rose we learned the truth, someone else had taken up the mantle of Warlock. Zero had killed him, and after that, Aero took it. There must always be a Warlock. Someone always needs to be in control of that power. Aero decided it would be best to have it in the power of someone who can wield it perfectly fine, someone who cannot be corrupted."

"..." Masako gained a moment of clarity. "I... I remember killing Warlock myself, though. It was... right after they murdered Fate and so many others, I..." her train of thought was clouded again. "Does anyone here know what happened to Fate in our own timeline?"

"She's still alive, I believe." Zero said. "She hasn't done much since Echo and her first arrived in Station Square, at least if you don't count the Necromancer incident."

"The Fate in our world was a member of the Tranquil Family, and constantly went on missions with us before her death." Echo noted.

"I-I think something else is w-wrong..." Paragon muttered.

"I agree." Leah noted. "Masako seems to be gaining memories of herself from this timeline, yet it doesn't seem like the rest of us are capable of remembering anything from here."

"I don't remember anything here..." Zero noted.

"I-I don't either..." Paragon said.

"I'm sorry, you're name does not ring any bells." Echo told Paragon. "I don't know your fate here."

"Why would anyone remember me..." Paragon said with a sigh.

"Likewise there are other names you have mentioned that I don't recall. Delta, Knave, Kala, none of those are familiar." Echo told them.

"Wow. Alot of us were missing in this timeline." Lexi said to herself.

"Well, we don't know if they're missing per se." Zero told Lexi. "We just know that Echo doesn't know them."

The sound of a stick breaking echoed from the background. 

"We're not safe here..." Echo noted, pulling a dagger from her ankle. "Stay close, don't let them near you, pick off any that you can from a distance."

"What's going on?" Zero asked. "Who's attacking us?"

"Monsters created by Masako..." Echo said.

"When did Masako have time to make monsters? Better question, why is she making monsters?" Lexi asked.

Before Echo could answer that question one of the beasts jumped out at the knights. It looked like a horrid mutation of a pink bunny mobian. Her fur was matted and torn, in some places stained with blood and others with dirt. Her skin had lost all hydration in it, making it wrinkly and tough. Her fingers had been chewed, all of the skin and muscle was gone, leaving only sharpened bone. Her teeth were like razors, looking like someone had sharpened them with a stone. Masako would recognize this beast as being very similar to the one she had seen in the vision Time Spinner showed her.

The first word that came to mind might have been zombie, but these things were different. There was something about her that seemed alive, it wasn't clear what that was, but almost everyone could feel it, like this was still a person.

Zak held his sword out. "What...the heck...is that?"

Masako was paralyzed. Not by fear, but in sheer horror of what became of the rest of her race. How could... how could the Fallen Knight--her future self--simply stand by and let this happen, like nothing was wrong? How could she betray her race like this?

The former mobian gave a howl and charged forth at Echo. It hunched down to all four legs and sprinted very quickly at the group. Fortunately Echo was able to slice it's neck with her knife, killing the creature.

"We call them Ferals." Echo explained. "It's howl has probably attracted it's pack here, we should get going."

"We'll follow you." Zero nodded. "Hopefully, we don't run into any more of...them..."

True to her word, Echo lead the broken team of knights to a group of buildings surrounded by large stone walls. Upon seeing Echo, the gates opened allowing the team to head inside. A group of houses, maybe 15 or so, were all nestled safely inside. A multitude of different people could be seen, but they all wore the same hopeless expression. As the team approached a guarded home, Echo allowed them all inside.

"Why do they all seem so...hopeless?" Zero asked.

"Even in death, Destruction still won." Echo explained. "We live in a godless world now. Most people don't have the morale or faith to keep going anymore. Instead of rebuilding our future, we're hiding behind walls in small communities as we plot to kill our own. We're already on the brink of extinction, and things only seem to be getting worse."

An elderly woman sat in the corner of the living room, she had some gray fur and small eyes. Her fingers were expertly working through some machinery, making something that didn't seem to have any form quite yet.

"I'm home." Echo announced to her.

The woman looked up, now that the team could see her eyes, it was clear that the woman was blind. "Hi darling, how are you?"

"We found some people." Echo announced to her. "I want you to meet them." She gestured to Leah first.

"Oh...um...Hi, my name is Leah Dubio..." Leah said.

The woman let out an audible gasp, dropping her tools. "L-Leah...?" She stuck her hand out to the girl, feeling her face. "Oh my gods...it really is you!" She pulled Leah in for a great big hug, holding her like her life depended on it.

"This is my mother-in-law." Echo explained. "Celia Tranquil."

"Echo, did something happen to your Leah?" Lexi asked.

"She's dead." Echo explained. "In fact, almost every member of the Tranquil Family is dead."

"..." Masako dared not say anything. Somewhere, somehow... she had a hand in creating this nightmare. And eventually, she would be the only Mobian left in this world.

Someone walked into the living room. It was a large, blue, round figure with multiple bandages on his head, and had one eye open as the other seemed to be scratched out, having some claw marks on it. "Hey, is Echo back ye-" he asked rubbing his eye, but stopped the second he saw the group.

"Yeah, I'm back." Echo told Zak. "Listen, we've got a lot to talk about..." Echo proceeded to explain the situation to the group, explaining everything about what Zero had told her.

"Is...is Neo with you?" Celia asked.

"No, he's not..." Leah noted.

Celia gave a sad look to the floor.

"So...they're us from another timeline..." Zak said, looking at his past self and young Lexi. He then patted Lexi and his young self. "That's good." He said in a slightly depressed tone.

"There's an awful lot of noise down here... what's going on?" A blue-furred hedgehog strode into the room, a pair of revolvers at her hips. There was an eyepatch over her left eye, and burn scars across that side of her face. Her eyes instantly panned to Masako, and she instinctively reached for one of her guns. "...You."

Masako didn't even attempt to react to Monica. She felt horrible.

"Monica, hold on, that's not the Masako that we knew." Echo started quickly. "As far as I can tell, she's not going to become the one we know either."

"You sure?" Future Zak questioned, "because we thought that about our Masako and look where that got us."

"I'm not taking any chances." Monica drew one of her revolvers, took aim at Masako and pulled back the hammer.

"No. We don't kill anyone who doesn't deserve it." Natalie tossed Orochi at Monica's arm, causing the chain to wrap around it and restrain her. This Natalie didn't seem to have any injuries, thanks to her healing factor.

"Let's all just take a minute to calm down!" Echo ordered everyone.

"So...what do we do now?" Paragon asked.

"I...don't know." Echo said. "We don't really have anything here that can help you."

"If there was a machine that could transport you through dimensions, I would have known about it by now." Celia noted.

"So we're stuck here..." Zero noted. "For who knows how long..."

"With Time Spinner dead here and missing in action in our time, I don't think we can count on them..." Leah said.

"Excuse us," Zero said quickly. "But...could we have a moment to ourselves? This is all just...so much..."

"Of course, I'll take you all somewhere." Echo said, leading the team through the house into a graveyard outside. "No one should bother you here." She said, and quickly turned to leave, like she didn't want to be here.

The graveyard was certainly a...graveyard. Really, there was nothing truly of note here, all of the names on the graves were pretty worn, none of which really sparking any familiararity, aside from a slightly larger one which read 'Neo Tranquil'.

"S-so, what was that about?" Paragon asked Zero.

"Something doesn't really add up with what they're telling us." Zero said. "I think, as a smaller group, we need to talk about something that we haven't ever really dealt with before. We have a traitor, and this world is telling us who it is."

"What?" Leah asked.

"Okay, I've been thinking about it for a while." Zero noted. "So, we were first warned about a traitor in our ranks before we even formed the Mythic Knights. That on it's own has been really suspicious, but I think I understand everything more. Everytime we have been warned about the traitor, they have had some connection to Aero Facade, who has traveled from this timeline to ours."

"We know Aero is the son of Warlock in this timeline, so, thinking there is a connection between him and the Warlock in our timeline is a possibility." Leah said.

"So, what if Aero knew there was a traitor, but he didn't know when?" Zero said. "So he starts trying to give us warnings by tipping off our enemies, who taunt us by telling us that. Initially that could have been a huge number of people."

"Apollo was our traitor though." Leah said.

"Except that we have got warnings while in Otogi, which means it can't be Apollo." Zero told them.

"Why doens't he just tell us? Or better yet, why doesn't he just take care of them himself." Leah asked.

"I think that's what all of this is. He's trying to let us know without verbally telling us who it is. Think about what Echo said, 'There must always be a Warlock.' but the timeline she gave us doesn't hold up. So far there have only been two Warlocks, the first one, and Neo's son. But the first Warlock was killed long before Neo's son was born. Which means there must have been a second Warlock in between that time." Zero told them. "I think, whoever our traitor is, is that second Warlock."

"I get it.' Leah noted. "When someone becomes the Warlock, that's who they become, they lose their name for that title. So, Echo wouldn't know who the Second Warlock originally is. So, if your idea is correct, whoever the second Warlock is, is our traitor."

"There's more." Zero said. "I think, whoever the second Warlock is here, is our Warlock in our time. Which means, our traitor is Warlock."

"Oh, that puts a lot of suspicion on me..." Paragon groaned.

"I think your okay." Zero told Paragon. "It seems that some semblence of our personality is the same in both timelines. Echo is leading, Celia still tinkers, that kind of thing. Either your sense of right and wrong or your um...ineptitude would have carried over. Plus your a Shard of Light, and Destruction probably would have just killed you already."

"...Th-thank you...!" Paragon said, a pathetic looking grin on his face as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Don't cry Paragon." Zero told him.

"So, the traitor would be someone who would different in this timeline than the one in ours." Zak stated.

"Well, I'm unsue if the Tranquil Family had a traitor,. My guess is that whoever our traitor is, is one of the people Echo doesn't recognize from our team." Zero said.

"Well, that certainly narrows down our choices..." Leah said. "That basically limits our options to Knave or Delta."

"W-well if it helps...I noticed something..." Paragon sniffed. "Oh, but...it's probably not right..."

"What'd you find?" Zero asked.

"Well, the generals of Destruction's a-army...they're were s-seven of them, and that sounds l-like the Shards of Darkness." Paragon said quickly.

"That is ture..." Zero said. "So...Delta is the Warlock?"

"Let's all remember that this is just a theory." Leah reminded everyone. "But...that does explain a lot of things. Emperor mentioned that he has never seen Warlock's face so the only thing he could go off of is body type, Delta is young enough that her frame is between masculine and feminine so in a set of armor with a mask, she could easily pass as a man or a woman. By fighting alongside us and using her screen, she has been learning all of our strengths and weaknesses too..."

"O-oh...and she can change her voice too..." Paragon added. "I-I heard her sh-showing Echo t-today..."

Masako would know that whoever the traitor is, would have to have a big connection with her, as seen in the vision from Time Spinner. Delta, holding the sword of vegence, would have that.

(Remind me when or what that was? I sorta... forgot. -MHS)

(Vision -Neo)

Masako's mind was in a very vulnerable state. Delta was perfectly capable of being Warlock, and all evidence pointed to her. So why did something feel missing? Aero and The Fallen Knight both knew exactly who it was, but what reason did they have to keep their silence?

"I need... to think..." Masako stood up and started walking.

"Yeah, sure. Go right ahead," Monica sneered.

"It's still just a theory though." Zero said. "Let's not throw Delta completely under the bus just yet."

"I think what's most important right now is finding a way back home." Leah told them. "Can anybody think of some place we could go?"

"Even if we could, would it matter?" Zero asked. "Destruction wiped everything out. unless our Time Spinner, or the Fallen Knight show up, we don't have much to rely on."

"W-well, that's not entirely true..." Paragon suggested. "Echo said that y-y-you were still around..."

"I don't know if we can trust me..." Zero noted. "Echo seemed ready to kill me when she thought I was the...what'd she call me? the 'Mad King'?"

"Yeah. She said you basically went crazy after that whole thing happened." Lexi recalled.

"And what do you plan to do? Break bread with the man who helped bring our race to the brink of extinction?" Monica scoffed.

"Do we have a choice?" Zero asked. "If not the Mad King, then who can help us? It doesn't seem like anyone here can."

"Not to mention we don't have a complete list of who's alive or not." Zak sighed.

"Well, why don't you go grab Masako then? Maybe she's remembered something else," Natalie said.

"I-I got it..." Paragon walked toward where Masako was headed. "H-hey, h-h-have you remembered anything...?" He asked.

Masako let out a frustrated sigh. "No, I haven't... after Fate died in this timeline, everything is sort of a blur. What about the others? How are they doing?"

"W-well...not that well..." Paragon started. "They think we sh-should go see Mad King Zero..." Paragon paused for a second. "Are you still s-struggling with D-D-Delta?"

"There has to be something missing here, something that none of us are seeing..." Masako insisted. "But I suppose it's not my decision." She gets up from her seat.

"Masako..." Paragon put his hand on Masako's shoulder for a second, then quickly started messing with his glove. "I-I...don't really know if Delta is the traitor or n-not...but, maybe we should give her the b-benefit of the doubt? I-I can't think of anything w-we might have missed, b-but whatever w-we decide w-we should do to D-Delta, we should make sure Delta is the traitor before we do anything. I-Innocent until proven guilty." He looked back at his sword. "But...I don't know w-who it c-could be then...Zero's theory m-makes sense..."

Zak sighed. "Either way, we won't be able to find anything else out until we get back to our timeline. And our hands are tied when finding someone who could help."

"Stay safe, Paragon. These are some rough waters ahead of us, and it's only going to get worse before it gets better." Masako goes to rejoin the group.

"So, is that our only option?" Leah asked.

"I think it is..." Zero noted. "We'll need to see the Mad King."

Part 2: Don't fear the Reaper

Although Echo was clearly against the idea, she did give directions for the Mythic Knights to find the Black Blood Society. Accompanying them, were a few guards, but the most notable guard happened to be Echo's husband himself, Aero Tranquil Senior, or Warlock, as he preferred to go by. He himself didn't have much in the way of answers, and he seemed very quiet. "My wife was not lying to you." Warlock told Zero after some questioning. "Neither of us were there to witness Warlock's death. The first time he was killed, my father and Masako were the ones to do it. There may have been a second Warlock, and your theory does prove sound on that idea, but neither of us were there for that either, nor did we even know of his existence. We found the mask in Station Square, and to prevent others from wearing it, I decided to take it."

"And then you became Warlock?" Leah asked. "Why not just stay as Aero Tranquil?"

Warlock looked down and said something eerily familiar. "The moment you lose sight of yourself. The moment that all you are is a title, that's the moment you are no longer yourself. That is the moment you fall into something that you never expected. This world didn't need an Aero Tranquil, but it did need a Warlock. Losing yourself like that, it can make a villain into a hero faster than you know."

"That's....pretty deep." Lexi said, vaguely remembering another time she heard some say that.

"Since my father's death, Echo has taken over as the leader, but it wasn't always like that. As you know, Zero survived the first battle against Destruction and went mad after losing. Shortly after that, he went on a crusade killing everyone in his path, and that included most of our people. If I had to guess, there's about 5000 people left alive on this planet, and only 80 continue to live in our territory. Zero's people a little different from us, you should know, we're not exactly on good terms with Silicon and her people, but hopefully she'll help you in honor of Zero."

"How many Black Blood users are there?" Zero asked.

"Right now? About 3000. Most of which reside in the Black Blood Society. They're the strongest people on this planet now. Because of how Black Blood can be manipulated, not even the Ferals cause them any trouble." Warlock explained.

"But some of them did die out, right? How? And how did Zero managed to fight against the demons and killed Destruction?" Leah asked.

"Well, Black Blood is...powerful. It's capable of withstanding almost any weapon damage and can be manipulated to become stronger than concrete. But, it has a weakness. There was a material discovered called Celestial Steel. It's a powerful metal that can be forged into anything. What makes it so special is that it disrupts the molecules of Black Blood, making it work virtually like regular blood. Zero's army held weapons and armor made of the stuff, but after Destruction's death, most of it turned to dust. We're not sure why. The only thing left was a greatsword used by the Mad King himself, Broken Promise. The blade that not only took Destruction's life, but took my father's life as well, and countless others."

"Who's this Silicon?" Zak asked.

"Silicon is the person currently leading the Black Blood Society. Not long after Destruction's death, Zero decided he didn't want to lead his people anymore, so he passed it off to Silicon, his apprentice. She was apart of the last order, a group of the most elite Black Blood users, and the ones who directly took on Destruction." Warlock explained.

"That does bring up some questions though... what blade did I start using? It looked different than mine, you don't suppose it's...?" Masako asks.

"Broken Promise? You never did. Shortly after his death, you began to use the Blade of Screams. From what I'm told, it was the weapon used by the first Warlock." Warlock explained. "You used it after the Mad King shattered your original sword."

"But I don't get something. You said that your people aren't on good terms with Black Blood users. But that was because your Zero went mad. If Silicon is leading it, why are your groups still on bad terms?" Lexi asked.

"People tend to hold grudges. When over 75% of your population, your friends, your family, are killed by a mad man, you demand justice. Even if Zero was the one who did, we're still hurt, and we haven't even gotten so much as an apology since Silicon became leader." Warlock noted.

The group approached a border that was like night and day. While Echo's territory looked like a destroyed wasteland, the Black Blood Society looked like home. The city, which shined in the distance, looked almost like a tame Reale City. There were trees with orange falling leaves, and grass which shined with morning dew. Those with magical prowress could sense some sort of barrier between the two areas, which seemed to be keeping something out, probably the Ferals.

"This is as far as we'll go." Warlock told them, handing Zero a black coat. "Keep the hood up on that thing until you meet Silicon. There's an outer portion of the town called the Sanguine District. Go there and talk to the...well...I guess you could call him the Mayor. He'll be able to get Silicon to you. Just tell him that Warlock sent you, and he'll call her."

"Thank you Warlock." Leah told him.

"Don't thank me." Warlock turned his guards around. "You're walking straigt into hell."

Warlock sent the knights on the right path, as the approached a small village-like area, with wooden buildings all surrounding a stone plaza. It looked like it would be a charming place to live, if it wasn't for the people currently invading. Standing in the center of the village was a man dressed in complete white armor, with a white hood over his head. He held a scythe with some sort of pure silver blade, which currently had been curved around the head of some offical looking man, probably the mayor.

"Please...! Don't do this!" The Mayor cried.

"You know your crimes." The man in white told him, and beheaded the mayor. "Bring them all out, they all must be executed!"

More people in white started dragging families out into the plaza. Men, Women, Children, all of them were forced outside for an execution. Some of the people screamed, or whimpered, but most of them said the same thing. "It's the Reaper."

There was roughly 15 people in white, all of them carrying silver weapons like the Reaper. They looked to be incredibly powerful, possibly being even more powerful than the Mythic Knights. of course if nothing was done, those people would die.

"Zero, if we were to do something, we could be able to take down those armor guys, right?" Lexi whispered to Zero.

Zero was unresponsive, his eyes were glued to the scythe in a mix of horror and anger. Clearly it was having some sort of affect on him, but what exactly it was doing, and why it was doing it were unknown.

"Zero? Zero!" Lexi whispered. "What do we do?"

"I...Uh..." Leah stuttered.

Someone came flying out of the group of knights towards the group of white-clad mobians. It wasn't Zero, nor was it Leah. It was one of the least expected people to run in.

It was Paragon.

Despite his heart beating at a very alarming rate, and every bit of logic he had told him this was an awful idea. But there was no way, in good conscience that Paragon could let these people get hurt. These people might not have been part of Zero's army. But most importantly, there were kids there. All lined up to be executed. A very early memory echoed through Paragon's mind. He had to do something.

"Leave them alone!" Paragon cried out desperately, shoving one of the warriors back, causing him to nearly stagger into the Reaper, who had to side step to avoid getting hit, and lift his scythe away from the people in the process.

This however led to all 15 warriors and the Reaper turning there attentions toward Paragon. The cowardly knight gave a sheepish look at them, and reached for his sword but fumbled, somehow getting the hilt caught on something, preventing it from unsheathing correctly.

(Okay one, I'm sorry that I keep forgetting that this exists. Two, Masako was asking about her own usage of Black Blood in the future. Sorry, maybe I should've specified that, it was probably really late at night or something. -MHS)

(I was pretty tired when I replied, so it might have been my fault. You'll be able to ask some more questions from a few others here soon, one in particular can recall everything for you. -Neo)

"That damn fool is going to get himself killed out there... on my mark!" Masako plants her foot firmly on the ground then dashes forward.

"Then who's going to save you?!" Natalie calls out.

Several of the white-clad warriors unsheathed their weapons and moved closer to Paragon until a huge shape burst out from the crowd, his large silver sword cutting through 14 of the warriors, killing them all in the process. The last one was kicked to ground, where the figure raised his weapon and thrust it down through the back of the last warrior, sending black blood spurting over the ground.

"Leave." He told the Reaper in a low gravely voice.

"Leave now?" The Reaper asked. "You're death is coming to you soon, no matter how much of a god they believe you to be, you can't escape death."

"Leave!" He shouted at the Reaper again, who scowled at the man and faded into a white smoke.

The figure turned to the Mythic Knights, being wrapped in dark grey rags, it was impossible ot tell anything about him exactly, but Paragon and Masako being so close to him could tell one thing about him. He had grey eyes.

"Who...is that?" Zak asked.

He continued to stare down at the knights for a very long time. Not saying anything or moving, simply standing there. "This is not a safe place for you. Why are you here?"

"Well, we were gonna come here to see the mayor so he could help us see someone. But, the mayor's kinda dead..." Lexi answered.

The man simply stood there, without anyway to see his face, it proved difficult to tell what emotion he was feeling. "You..." He made note of Lexi. "Your heart is burning..."

"H-hey!" Paragon said. 'W-we need to f-f-find Silicon?"

"Silicon..." The man's voice trailed off. "She will take note of the things you have done here and come to you."

"My heart's burning...?" Lexi said to herself.

"How long will it be until she gets here?" Zak asked.

The figure seemed to ignore Zak completely, continuing to look at Lexi. "The empty princess worships a false throne." He takes a few steps closer to Lexi, just being near him is physically painful, like being close to a fire. "The living spirit will light the way, but only a burning heart can save her."

"We asked you a question!" Leah tried to tell him.

The figure looked over. "You accept a fate that is not your own, mage. Your people crumble as you play hero."

"M-my...people...?" Leah asked, genuinely curious as to who he meant her people were.

The figure took little interest in Leah, and continued to stare at Lexi, he outstretched one of his arms, showing the boney mass to Lexi as he reached for the side of her face. Judging from the height, it was clear that this man was another mobian, but his arms had no fur at all, as if it had all been burned off.

(I... don't really know what to do here, sorry. ~MHS)

"I have some questions of my own, too... I just hope Silicon can answer them," Masako said.

"That's pretty optimistic, all things considered," Natalie replied.

"Uh, guy? Could you not try to touch my face?" Lexi said, creeped out about what the figure was trying to do.

"She will be here soon." The figure said, pulling his hand back. His body began to turn into smoke, and he disappeared almost as quickly as he appeared.

A few minutes had gone by, with many citizens talking with the Mythic Knights about the situation at present. From what they could gather, there was an organization that the Reaper was apart of, who for some unknown reason wanted to kill every Black Blood User there was. He had been a trivial threat before this, holding secret meetings and leaving messages for others, but soon after that he started attacking the outer villages of the territories, killing everyone within the villages, leaving no survivors.

Of special note, Masako would have noticed a strange building in the village. It was a large building, almost the size of a barn, but with no windows, and doors with air-tight seals, preventing any air from coming in or out. It should be noted that the crowd was facing away from her, there was no one to see her around the building, but these people were very kind, perhaps it would be rude to invade their privacy?

(Tales Decision for Masako: Look into the Strange Building, or leave it be?)

Meanwhile, the rest of the cast were soon joined by a very offical looking woman, in a dark blue robe. She had grey eyes, purple fur, and looked to be roughly 20 years old.

Accompanying her was an all too familiar sight. the mask-wearing Aero Facade, or as you knew him now; Aero Tranquil Junior.

"Judging by the fact that you're outsiders, I'm going to assume you had something to do with all of this." The woman said. "I am Silicon Evol, I am the leader of the Black Blood Society."

"Yes, we were hoping-" Leah started, but Silicon did not seem interested.

"You." Silicon pointed to Lexi. "Why is your blood not active?"

"Uh..active?" Lexi repeated, a bit confused.

"Yes, active." Silicon told Lexi. "You have Black Blood, yet it is not active yet, making it no different from...less valued blood." She took a very strange looking dagger out from her belt. "Let me-"

"Your grace." Aero told Silicon. "They are not from here."

"Clearly so." Silicon told him. "But I am not going to look at this abomination any differently simply because they are from a different territory."

"If you would take note of the Black Blood user they have with them, you would notice who they are." Aero said.

Silicon looked up at Zero and narrowed her eyes. "You are here." She said simply.

"He is not exactly who you think he is." Aero told Silicon.

"We need to talk to you about something." Zero said to her. "In privacy, of course."

Silicon glared at the group, "Fine." She said. "Come with me."

Masako notices the building. It piques her curiosity once, but she shakes her head. It was none of her business, and people were expecting her.

Then again, people are only nice when they have something to hide. She pulls apart from the group to investigate.

Due to the appearence of Silicon, none of the villagers even took notice of Masako's leave. Upon getting closer to the building, Masako could notice that the door was just slightly cracked, and a horrid smell wafted from the inside of the build. Something between rotting meat and mold. Looking inside Masako would see that this building was a church. Several pews were lined up in neat rows, all ready to gaze upon the podium. In front of the podium was a large open area. Currently occupying that area were several chunks of meat, spoiled, and turned green and grey, with fuzz starting to grow over it. Who knows how long it's been sitting there. Judging from the shape and cut, Masako could probably deduce that the meat belongs to some type of farm animal. Pork or Steak, possibly? Behind the podium a large replica scythe was crossed with a replica two-handed sword, Above it was a painting, and it was clear that a slightly older Zero was the one depicted in it.

Of course, there were other paintings as well, on the left side was a painting of an older Leah's body, horribly mutilated, with clothes torn, bones that looked shattered, an an eye that had been scooped out, leaving only a yellow pus that seemed to be oozing out. In fact, if it wasn't for the hair and the face, it would just look like a pile of mush.

On the opposite side of that was another familiar face. The face of Time Spinner. He too was broken, his arms missing, and his glasses broken, with the glass taken from it clearly shoved down his throat.

The Pocket Watch crackled with power, showing Masako a scene from the past. Zero and Time Spinner stood over the dead body of Leah, who was still reletively intact aside from a stab to the stomach. Zero was seething in anger. Stomping back and forth, dragging his sword with him.

"We don't have time for this!" Time Spinner told Zero. "We need to do what she wanted, we need to kill him now!"

"Don't you dare talk about what she would have wanted!" Zero dropped his sword and leapt onto Time Spinner, smashing his fists over Time Spinner's face and body, and proceeded to turn Time Spinner into what the painting showed.

Finally, Zero stood up, picking up his sword, and dragged it forward away from the mess. As he left, a group of new people approached the bodies, and leading them was Silicon. After that, the vision vanished, leaving Masako back in the church. 

Masako holds her head. "I've seen things that I shouldn't have..." 

Then was the matter of returning to the group. She tried to fashion together a makeshift cloak to hide amongst the people. "A little moldy, but it'll do." 

With the cloak on, Masako could easily escape the church, with the knowledge that these people seem to worship Zero as some sort of god. (We'll talk about this info a little later. -Neo)

Part 3: A deal

(So, Masako currently has what we're going to call a 'Free-form Tales Decision'. In this case, Masako has a piece of information that no other member of the cast knows about, that is; the worshipping of Zero. Masako is free to share this information at any time. However different characters will have different reactions to this, which could change how this story is going to play out. You may share it with the rest of the knights in secret, but then it becomes common knowledge among the knights who use it as they please. -Neo)

Silicon led the knights through the city alongside Aero. The city itself looked very alive, almost like a city from back home, aside from a looming sense of dread. Along they way, Silicon passed by a strange looking temple, similiar to temples that monks would stay at. There was also barracks-like building where several soldiers were training, forming their Black Blood into weapons of all kinds. Lastly, as Silicon neared her office, the group passed through an open forum, where several well-dressed mobians had gathered around and were talking to one another.

Finally, Silicon had led the Knights into a large building, protected by several soldiers, and took the Knights into her personal office, a grand circle, with paintings of flowers lining the walls. Silicon took her dagger and slammed it into her well made desk. "What the hell are you doing here?"

It took some time, but with Aero's help, the Knights were able to explain everything to Silicon. "So, you've come to us in hopes that we have a way to take you home?"

"Yes." Zero told her.

"Well, you do happen to be in luck." Silicon motioned to Aero.

"I carry with me the Paladin Device." Aero told them. "A machine created to capture and use the powers of fallen Heroes from long ago, which includes the Meta; Time Spinner. I can open a portal for you to return home."

"However," Silicon quickly added. "This is not going to be something we'll let you do. While you're here, you might as well be useful. Recently a friend of mine was murdered, and I want you all to look into his death and find his murderer."

"We're not detectives." Zero told her. "We're fighters."

"That's exactly why I'm sending you all." Silicon told him. "If he was murdered, the culprit is clearly Reaper, the only one with a weapon that can cut through Black Blood. Where he is hiding is the question, and I believe that someone might be helping him. Your goal is to kill the one responsible for my friend's death. After that, I order Aero to open the portal for you."

"This sounds rather vague... don't you have a name for us, at least?" Natalie questioned.

Silicon rolled her eyes at Natalie.

"His name is Visor Sanguine." Aero quickly told them. "He was a member of The Black Rose, an elite group of Black Blood Users chosen by Zero Evol during the war. These people were Zero's elite squadron, and fought beside him during his crusade to kill Destruction. As you can imagine, these people are all very powerful, so learning that one of them was murdered has caused quite a stir. It would make a lot of people relieved to know that Visor's murderer is behind bars."

"Of course, we will be providing an autopsy report to you detailing his death." Silicon told them flatly. "And if it would make you feel better, Aero may even accompany you."

"Okay, do you at least have some sort of information on where the person who might be helping the Reaper is?" Lexi asked.

"If we had that information, why would we be asking you?" Silicon asked.

"We will be investigating specific locations, and see if our informants have any information for us." Aero told them quickly. "With luck, we'll have enough clues to figure out who Reaper is, find his lair and take him down. With him gone, The Black Blood Society can continue it's work."

"Right... actually, I had a question," Masako spoke. "When did I start using Black Blood in this timeline?"

"You?" Silicon asked. "I suppose it wasn't long after Destruction rose for the first time. The Fallen Knight had disappeared for quite a while, and when she reappeared again, we had Ferals. Most of the other territories curse your counterpart's existance."

"Um, how do people typically "activate" their Black Blood?" Lexi asked.

"Well, remember back when we fought Queen and what happened with Zero then?" Masako responded.

"In most cases, you simply bring a person to a point near death." Silicon explained. "As long as no vital organs are damaged, the person will call their demon forth."

"But there are other ways?" Zero asked.

"They are few and far between but yes." Silicon continued. "Very few people can make them, but there are 10's bloods, basically a normal person who is temporarily given Black Blood by a powerful user. A person could make a deal with a demon, granting them Black Blood but this results in very weak power. You also have false Black Blood users, people who have tried to craft something similar to Black Blood."

"Like Era's Dark Poison..." Zero noted.

"The last way," Silicon said. "Is Kinetic Exploitation."

"Kinetic Exploitation?" Leah asked. "I've never heard of that."

"I have..." Paragon said. "Kinetic Exploitation is when people try to force a form of kinesis on kids..."

"As you're aware." Zero explained further. "Every mobian is born with a natural form of kinesis. This is naturally determined by our D.N.A, similar to other traits like fur color and eye color, we get our kinesis from our parents. Kinetic Exploitation is when two mobians attempt to conceive a child with a special form of kinesis. Sometimes you get people like Ages, with two different forms of kinesis that they can use, in his case Psychokinesis and Aerokinesis. Other times, and more rarely, you get people like Trinity, who has one form of kinesis that is the combination of two elements."

"Natural Black Blood users gain their Black Blood from our demonic counterparts, who awaken when we do, such as Shiva, my demon." Silicon said.

"Or Crowley." Zero added.

"However, a natural born Black Blood user does not have to rely on a demon to help them with their power. They utilize their natural born talents as a mobian. It's far more unstable and harder to control, but theoretically, it is the only way to create a Black Blood user more powerful than a King or Queen's Blood." Silicon finished.

"Where we come from, Kinetic Exploitation is highly illegal." Zero said. "The United Federation outlawed it due to it being linked with Child Abuse. Of course, because it is a natural occurrence, it's difficult to police it. Most of the time it's hidden behind some form of marriage, which blurs the lines even further than before. So though it is illegal, very few people are caught."

"Where I come from, it's not illegal..." Paragon told them.

"Speaking of, where did you come from, Paragon?" Zak asked.

"I'm from...Soleanna." Paragon said, though he did not seem very fond of Soleanna.

"In any case," Silicon started. "Do we have an agreement?"

(Before we move on to the next roleplay, does anyone have any lingering questions for Silicon? We are likely to not see her again until the very end. I apologize for all the exposition, this may or may not be a location that we will visit in a future season. Though most of the given information is important for Masako and Lexi in Season 3 -Neo)

Paralogue 4: Heart

The world around Saren had changed, as a very dim light returned, he found himself in what seemed to be Station Square, but different. The buildings were tilted the further they went to the horizon, as if they had been built in a bowl, the buildings looked to be made out of organic material, with flayed flesh, bones, bits of organs, and fur all being used on the buildings. The sky was black, with no sort of light able to shine down aside from the purple, shattered moon.

Saren would recognize the area he was in as the town square, with the ever familiar clock tower looming in the center that was also Lightstone's base. It wasn't a long walk to Tranquil Manor, nor the apartments that Zero lived in. On the square also happened to be a bar that Saren frequented while here. The pavement below that once was concrete now seemed to be made of bone. The strangest part about this area was the sound. There was nothing. No sound, no reverb, no atmosphere, no cars in the background, or the chatter of people talking to one another, it was silent. Even taking a step onto the ground, trying to be as loud as possible, resulted in nothing.

This place clearly wasn't Station Square, but by looking around there was so much careful detail put into it, that it could be taken as the same city. Station Square, but destroyed. In fact that was exactly what this was. This was Station Square in a world in which Destruction wins. This is the horror of the future, a world where there is no one alive.

(Deciet 1:24 - 5:29 )

"Did you think I wouldn't know what you were trying to do?" The Deceiver's voice rung out to Saren, as he stood behind the Lynx. "I'll admit, you certainly are more clever than I thought, but none of that will help you here. This is my world now, the world that I lead. Here, I am your God, and you are nothing but a man, and what is a man to a god? You're going to die here Saren, I'll make sure of that." With that, the Deciever swund a Zweihandler out at Saren.

Saren jumped backwards to avoid the zweihander. "Hah! What's a god to a nonbeliever!"

The Deceiver charged Saren, swinging at the ground beneath his feet to create a cloud of dust around him. He didn't say a word, but he seemed to have some plan in mind for the Lynx once he created the cloud.

Saren knew this possible trick, so he made an effort to stroll outside kf the cloud.

As he did so, several white figures stood outside the smoke waiting for him, none of them had any faces or recognizable features, they were just figures, and they all rushed towards Saren. There was a flash of something, Fey, maybe? And Saren found himself in a pure white room.

(Describe a moment when Saren felt some sort of bond with Neo and Trinity. These could be seperate moments, one with Neo and one with Trinity, or they could be the same moment. This could be a moment that happened in a roleplay, or this could be a moment that happened off screen. You're free to use my characters in any way that you see fit for this. -Neo)

Saren actually smiled, two flashbacks popping into his mind.. Neo's concern for him when it came to his impending death. The very same moment that resulted in him thinking of her as his truest best friend as she had actually showed concern beyond the typical teammate thing that the mythic knights had going for.

The other was with Trinity, now he hadnt had much luck interacting with her but one time at a bar in station square they had a drinking contest.. The competition was fierce yet friendly but the notable thing about it was him losing.. 

That smile of his turn down faced slightly. "Heh.. I really screwed up with her as of late.."

The white shattered around him, placing Saren back in the destroyed world. Both Neo's Bravery and Trinity's Integrity returned, allowing him to strike harder and faster now.

The Deceiver practically threw his blade at Saren, aiming to take out one of Saren's legs.

Saren attempted to jump over the blade and lunge at the Deceiver with grim intent.

The Deceiver quickly moved out of the way, warping the earth around Saren to attempt to crush him.

Saren just booked it, attempting to vault over the rising earth with his weapon before attempting an overhead drop kick if his vaukt succeeded.

Saren's kick was met with the flat part of the Deceiver's blade, there was a very quick flash again of something, and Saren was flooded with memories.

(Same as above, have Saren think of two memories this time involving Zero and Leah. -Neo)

Saren didn't really have any memories of Zero and Leah, aside from a really funny Drunk moment where he mistook Zero for a girl and started flirting with him, this probably resulting in Leah getting some chuckles in

Saren felt the return of Zero's Determination and Leah's Wisdom as he fought against the Deceiver once more. The Deceiver pushed his blade out, trying to throw Saren onto his back.