Geneforce, The Next Generation Episode 3: Dark Gaia and The Blood Red Moon

???: Well then, ain't you special. Me, I got thrown in here for nearly destroying a space station resort in order to kill my arch rival. Fight was pretty good though. He's the only human that's ever come close to beating me. by the way, the name's Mauser. Leader of the famous Mercenary family called the Sub-Machine Siblings. Maybe you heard of us?

Luu: *she aims for the Rayfall and shoots it right in the head* SIT IN THE DARK TILL YOU'RE SICK, YA BASTARDS!
Hanzo: *he appears next to Luu, blowing a Rayfall that got too close's head off.* You're too loud, Shorty.
Luu: SHORTY!?
Knives: SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!

"... Nope." Beal admitted. "Then again, for some reason I don't hear of a lot of stuff."

-----

In front of the party, a Rayfall had pinned down an Illusion who had been disarmed. One of the three had only a second to respond before the Rayfall pulled the trigger.

Hanzo: *he disappears and reappears behind the Rayfall and blows the Rayfall's head clean off. He keeps his laser trained on the illusion, however.
Knives: *he and Luu dash out to the entrance where Hanzo is and the three of them walk forward in a constant-moving circle so no matter what, they have their guns trained on both the Rayfalls and the Illusions.*
Knives: THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY, BUT I'M AFRAID WE MUST BE LEAVING. HAVE A NICE DAY! *when they are out so far that the Rayfalls and Illusions are both behind them, they turn and dash away.*

Mauser: Figures. You Phantasians live out in the middle of nowhere, so what would you know. As for me, their either gonna execute me or I'm gonna break out. Either way, I'm outta here. And if I do break out.....Little Wing's gonna pay for this. They were the ones who got me locked up. All I need is to find my siblings...
*one of the prisoners bashes his cell door*
Prisoner: HEY, ROBOT! SHUT YOUR MOUTH, WILL YA?! WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!

They somehow managed to stop the battle, with all the Rayfalls and Illusions staring at them. "... Since when were they involved?" one of them asked.

-----

Beal only facepalmed. This day was not a good day for him.

*The Mad Angel launches herself forward, a violet sphere of energy forming in her hands as she flew right into Hircine.* VIOLET SKIES! *As the sphere made contact, it exploded into an aurora borealis throughout the ice castle. Hircine slowly begins to fall to the ground.* Chew him up, dad!
Xanthos: *Slashes Hircine multiple times at high speeds while Hircine was in midair.* Chaos Lightning Lance! *Xanthos let off another strike, his arm covered in crackling lightning. Hircine is sent flying backwards, numb from the shock.*

Chronos: *He suddenly drops to the ground, clutching his head in pain.* What...? *He instantly scans the current timeline, and grins.* Nice job heroes... But the battle isn't quite over yet...

Mystess: I'LL TAKE HIM NEXT!! Long red claws of pure energy grow out of her fingers as she jumps up and stabs at Hircine multiple times. She throws him at Vein* GO.
Vein: *simply holds up two finger and flicks Hircine toward Wrave.* Your turn Dumbass...
Wrave: *He summons out Tempest and starts slashing at the enemy, driving him toward luna. With a final slash, it was her turn. No words were even needed for this*
Luna: *she holds a hand up in the air as a spear of light forms above her head. She launches it at Hircine as arcs of energy move from her body ant attack.*

Meanwhile, Rufus and Sleipnir attacked. Nobody saw anything, but Hircine was in a lot of pain. Horse and rider were juggling Hircine painfully as Sleipnir moved even faster than he could launch him. Finally, Rufus knocked him high into the air. "Now!" he shouted, standing on Sleipnir's saddle.

Sleipnir launched him into the air, and Rufus reached Hircine's level. "The storm approaches!" he shouted, spinning his lance above his head and building up power for a single, lethal strike. This was a perfect opportunity for the others to get in a hand for the final kill.

*Pennatus flies up and punches Hircine right in the face, using her abilities to increase her strength by several times. Being sure Hircine was still in Rufus' line of fire, Annex launched several madness missiles at Hircine to scramble his senses. Erythros just kicked him while he was down, not possessing any attacking superpowers of her own.*

Suurn: *He slowly stands, confused.* I'm free...? *He stares at his hands.* I'm free...

Frote: *On Phantasia, he blinks slowly, mind cleared of Mora's control. He reverted to his Shifter form, seeing Mobius' fragmented continents slowly slide back into place.* This must be the work of Balance...

Rorn: *She releases Dark Gaia completely, shapeshifting into an avian creature. She flapped her wings to prevent her from falling into Mobius' core below. The heat was already close to unbearable. She would go to the surface and rejoice with her people, freed from Mora's manipulation. For now, at least.*

Kleptomania: *right as Heake was about to fall into the heat, Kleptomania grabbed her and pulled her away from it, flying back up to the surface while holding her like a rescued damsel in distress.* You okay, Princess?

Raem: *he throws Ashbringer, which pins Hircine by one arm in the air.*
Neir: *he grabs Hircine by the left leg.*
Dansgold: *he shoots out an ice column which stabs Hircine by the arm opposite to the one Raem stabbed.*
Gashka: *he grabs Hircine by the right leg.*
Zazul: *he grabs Hircine's torso with a tractor beam from his eye. This was it, Hircine was ready to receive the final blow from Rufus.*

~Paradise~
Hermaceus Mora: *he is pacing angrily. A random Dremora walks up to him to comfort him, but he grabs the Dremora by the head and rips it in half.*
Molag Bal: *he speaks in a singsong voice* Someone's having moody time!~
Hermaceus Mora: SHUT UP! FIRST, I LOOSE THE SHIFTERS! WHAT NEXT!?
*a portal opens. In steps Sithis, fire erupting behind him as he walks into Paradise*
Meridia: Oh on....
Molag Bal: one of Father's favored ones....now we really are done for!
Sithis: *he looks up, angrily at his three younger siblings* WHY. IS. A BALANCE USER. ALIVE!?

~Mobius, the Battlefield~
Deshdae: *he walks over to Chronos and Rhea.* You are free, cousins. All of you. Now, the only question is what will you do? Last time we met, Abyssion was our leader. He did not listen to myself or Martel. But now, I will do what I should have done long ago. *he throws down his sword and extends a hand to Chronos* The world needs both of us. Let us not rule as Titan or God, but as a Pantheon of Both Worlds. Together, we can push back the threat that plagues both of our kind. Together, we can defeat the Daedra and create a future of love and peace. What say you, Chronos?
Nemesis: I think we should worry about that later...look. *standing over by a still-open Oblivion Gate is Saber.*
Saber: *he grins evilly and snaps his fingers. More gates open, along with 3 colossal gates and one gate the size of a mountain. Out from the normal ones, even more daedra than before pour out. The disorganized, beast-like daedra in front, with a large, 50 long, 500 across, line of Dremora with their sheilds primed and their swords, axes, and maces drawn. Behind them, Dremora with black cloaks and staffs ready spells and summon smaller demons to their sides. From the colossal gates, large, long crawler-like war machines thunder out along with more Daedra. Finally, from the supreme gate, a gigantic crab-like machine with 4 large pincers, 16 legs, and a giant glowing structure on its back thunders out. On its back, the heroes and villains that Meridia brought back are all standing ready for battle.*

Knives: *he, Luu, and Hanzo have been walking for a few more hours now. Finally, they collapse from exhaustion. When Knives wakes up, he's tied to a large stake in a cave. Luu and Hanzo are also tied to two other stakes. Knives hears hissing in the background and tenses. Out from the shadows come a group of Lamina.*

Alex: *he steps into the car and looks into his wife's eyes and then looks down at their son. He's a small, wolf-skunk hybird with a wolf's body and skunk pattern on his fur. He's peacefully napping in his mother's arms, his crying fit over.* This is our son....*tears actually form in Alex's good eye.*

"I'll see you in hell!" Rufus shouted, and finally thrust the spear with such force that not even black noise was more lethal.

As for Knives, one of the Lamias, the leader, hissed a little. "Well well well, what do we have here, girls?"

Hircine: *his eyes widen behind the skull on his face and he lets out a deathly rattle. His body glows red and disappears into red glowing dust. The dust swirls and Hircine is standing on a ledge near the heroes, the lower half of his body a wisp of red dust with the upper half transparent.* Well done, heroes. You have defeated me. *he holds out his hand and a vest made from grey wolf fur floats to Rufus. The vest feels light as silk and gives off a magical feeling.* The Savior's hide is yours. Do with it however you wish. However, if you mean to destroy it, you better find a way before you die. Otherwise, it will find its way back to me. As I said, destroy a Daedric Artifact, and you destroy the Prince the artifact belonged to. The Savior's Hide is mine. Just know this, mortals. I am thankful for all of you giving me the hunt of my life as a huntsman. But, as a Daedric Prince, I will not suffer this defeat. Mark my words, should the Hide come back into my possession, I will have my revenge. Not on you, but your families and descendents. Just keep in mind, young hunters. The true hunt.....never ends. *with that, he disappears. A red portal opens where Hircine was defeated.
Raem: This must be it, the portal home!

*the second Lamina slithers up to Knives and licks her lips*
Lamina2: Looks like a man, girls. Ooooo...and a strong one at that!
*the third one slithers up to Luu and Hanzo*
Lamina3: Aw, look! He brought his little pets...how cute!
Knives: Ladies, please, I'm sure a group of beautiful creatures such as yourselves can work something out with a man like me.

"Hey, Raem." Rufus stopped him.

He held out the Savior's Hide. "... I'm not sure I have much use for this. You want it?"

----

"Oh, you can?" the leader leaned in close to Knives. "What've you got to offer?"

*The Mad Angel snaps her fingers and reverts to Iodes, who is now in control of her body. She stares at her hands and smiles, mentally thanking her brother for his support. Iodes stares into the portal, hoping the insanity of the past few days would finally be over.*
Xanthos: *Deactivates his super form, and muses over Hircine's parting words.*

Heake: I should be now... *She wipes sweat from her brow.* Dark Gaia has been freed from Mora's control. Now, we must confront him. *She thinks back to the crying she heard before, almost like a baby's cry. Was it possible...? Several miles away, she could faintly make out the three gigantic gates, with several powerful creatures coming out of it.* Those gates are Daedric. I can feel it. If its a two-way teleportation gate, we could probably find Mora on the other side.

Chronos: ... *He isn't really paying attention to the growing opposing forces, instead looking around for Beowulf. He'd be useful for what Chronos had in mind.*
*Near Chronos, a large fissure opens up, lava spewing from its depths. Steam slowly rises out of it, Raze standing next to him on a rising column of rock.*
Steam: ~The Final Battle draws near.~ *He stares at the foes Meridia has amassed and narrows his eyes.*

Luna: *she reverts back, frost whirling around her lightly. She looks to Mystess who also reverted back but was acting oddly* Myst... you alright?
Mystess: *she looks around, a headache forming.* Huh? *her eyes rest on the portal* Is that the way home?
Luna: Hope so...
Wrave: *winds die down as he gose back to his original form.* Whew... that was pretty epic!
Vein: . . . . Useless fight...

~Mystess's Mind~
Beserker: Heheh... not bad out there!
Mystess: go away... I dont want to deal with you....
Beserker: Silly girl... I will never go away. You should know that.
Mystess: I could just lock you away in my mind like i've done before.
Beserker: Oh? I hope you realize that once the seal is broken, it can never be fixed.
Mystess: JUST SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED YOU!!!
Beserker: heeheeheee..... We'll see mystess. We'll see....

Beowulf: *he wanders around, now the size of a full grown wolf even though he was only a pup. * . . . . Where to go... I have no one... nowhere...

Dansgold: C'mon, Kiddies. the fight aint over yet. remember what Hircine said to Vein? The gods are on Mobius fighting the Daedra. We need to get down there as well.
Raem: But we just defeated Hircine! Surely that counts for something!
*suddenly, an Oblivion gate opens near the heroes. out steps Sithis, who looks around the battlefield, finally setting his eyes on the heroes.*
Sithis: So, you are the maggots who defeated my younger brother? I must say, while I'm not surprised I find myself........disappointed. Hircine was always cocky, but he must have really gone off the deep end of arrogance if he allowed beings like you to defeat him. Now....show me how strong you really are. If I think you worthy, I will allow you to go and I will heal you for the battle back on your precious Mobius.
Efreet: *he and Sobek rise from Raem's shadow and take one look at Sithis. Efreet's eyes widen and Sobek leaps out of fear.* Y-you!
Sobek: Sithis....Daedric Prince of Genocide.
Raem: Talk to me, Efreet. How bad is this guy anyway?
Efreet: Bad. VERY BAD. He was one of the three Favored Sons of Chaos. Those three rule over the Daedric Princes. Sithis here could bury Hircine with ease.
Sithis: Interesting. A Celesio-Sapian hybrid becoming a summoner. Such a thing is unheard of. Wait...*he looks at Mystess, Iodes, and Neir* Most of you here are hybrids.....unacceptable. It is unacceptable that Hircine was defeated by scum that is lower than dirt. I won't even bother using 5% of my power on you. How about 2%? *he reaches back and take the giant metal ring off his back. He then breaks one part and molds the ring into an arch-shape. after he does, red energy streaks between each end of the arch and forms a saw-like energy blade that streches the same way as the arch. he grabs one of the two handles formed on the ends of the arch and points it like a sword at the group.* Ring of Woe, First Form. Hell's Arch.

Nemesis: It seems we're gonna keep fighting the Daedra one army at a time, eh?
Lennox: Whats wrong, Nemesis? Is the god of war getting cold feet?
Nemesis: I'm bare foot because I'm a humanoid wolf. I'm supposed to have cold feet! But I'm more depressed by this because I'm going to get Daedra blood all over my new armor. Do you know how hard it is to get Daedra blood off armor?!
Spirit: Both of you can it. We got more fighting to do.
Deshdae: Correct, my son. But we can't do it alone. *he looks to the titans.* Will you fight with us, cousins?

Kleptomania: *he and Heake land right on the edge of the chasm.* Okay, now that Mora is out of the channel, take back control of your people. I'll call in Keshin from all over the world. If our armies join forces, we can win this.

Knives: Well, I can offer you ladies one hell of a good time.
Luu: *she blushes brightly with jealousy.* AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?
Hanzo: Quiet, shorty. Let the man work.
Luu: *she glares angrily at Hanzo again.* SHORTY!? If I get out of this, Hanzo, I'll rip your arms off, I swear!

"Oh, for the love of..." Rufus cursed, facepalming. "Is everyone out to kill us?"

Sleipnir didn't even bother with words. He leapt at Sithis, instantly creating a sonic boom. Getting kicked by an Arion was painful enough. Getting hit by a six-legged Arion was even more painful. Because Sleipnir didn't offer any warning, Sithis had next to no time to react, and that spear of his was pointed right at his chest.

-----

Luu only felt the cold touch of a knife's blade against her throat. The leader was certainly prepared to delete the Melpomene.

Sithis: *he made no attempt to block. He simply turned his head as he was kicked. However, he stopped at a certain point with the hoof still on his face. He looks at Slepnir and grabs the spear by the point.* Is this the best a pure human has to offer? *he breaks the spear's point clean off with his bare hand.* Pathetic. *he throws the spear aside and simply shoves Slepnir with an open hand, sending Slepnir flying into a cliff wall.*

... except the spear immediately regenerated as it clattered away. Sleipnir, on the other hand, seemed to bounce right off the cliff wall. He wasn't even a blur. "Enough!" Rufus shouted as Sleipnir attempted to attack again.

The horse ground to a halt, a fair distance from Sithis. The spear floated away towards Rufus' hand, which he took. Rufus resorted to reasoning. "Look, I never wanted to be dragged into this mess." Rufus explained. "I just wanted to find out exactly what happened to my father after the Day of Saber's Edge, and follow in his footsteps. Is it that hard to be left alone?"

Sleipnir looked at Rufus, with a hint of surprise, then remembered exactly what he was talking about. "... Do you know the name of Dr. Miroslav Cherubim?" Rufus asked, continuing.

Sithis: Hmmm....the name is familiar. But I can't quite place the face. I grow tired of this. *he holds out his hand and green energy covers the heroes, healing all wounds* I'm curious to see how you all fare against the Daedra on Mobius.

~Phantasia~
*a warp appears and floating there is Meridia. She is floating above a vast ocean*
Meridia: Now, to find this "Leviathan".....*she smiles humorously and bends over a bit with her hands together and her body shaking as she pictures the Seraphic Beasts* These Seraphic Beasts sound really strong! I'm glad Sithis sent me to take care of it! After all, Prometheus Seraphim and Sithis are old acquaintances.....*she pictures a tall, handsome man with blue hair and a dolphin tail for legs in blue armor holding her like a damsel in distress while leaning in to kiss her* I bet Leviathan is one of those handsome humanoid SABERs! Something called Seraphic would have to be gorgeous! Maybe if they're all guys, I can have my own three-man harem when this is all over! Three gorgeous guys with animistic qualities that increase their primal appeal! *she shivers and lets out a heart-shaped breath cloud* I can't wait! *she taps on the water* OH LEVIATHAN! COME OUT TO PLAY! Come to me you handsome devil!

"... Well, if they come knocking on Phantasia's door, they'll get a taste of me." Rufus said, slowly stepping back into the portal leading home.

Sleipnir gave Sithis a death glare before joining his commander, the Ascendance patch unequipping itself and returning Sleipnir to his original four-legged form. Through the portal, Sleipnir could be heard complaining, "Aw man, I liked having six legs!"

Commander and SABER found themselves deposited in their home, which was admittedly rather dusty. Coughing, Rufus waved away some of the cobwebs. "We got some cleaning to do." he admitted, while Sleipnir pouted.

As for Leviathan? She didn't appear. Meridia could, however, feel tremors. Slight, but there. She didn't know that something was stomping towards her. And it wasn't a turtle.

Meridia: *she looks in the direction of the stomping* Hmmmm? Whats that? *she squints into the distance*

Soon, a giant, dinosaur-like SABER came into Meridia's view. Behemoth, the first of the Seraphic Beasts. Behemoth truly had no idea what subtlety was, although it's hard to blame the giant SABER. And he was approaching Meridia, though by the way Behemoth kept looking around, he didn't know exactly where she was.

-----

"Phew!"

Rufus fell over onto his bed, tired out from cleaning the house. Most of the dust had been vacuumed away with the help of most of his SABERs, and he had taken it upon himself to clean the toilet. "I'm tired." Sleipnir admitted, laying his long face down on the bed.

"I never knew you to be this tired, Sleipnir," a feminine voice commented, different from Lightning's cold voice and Eurydice's gentle voice. This one sounded academic.

"After a big fight like that?" Sleipnir retorted.

At Rufus' bedroom door, Guinevere was standing there, holding a broom with magic. The Unicorn had less endurance than the Arion but was clearly less tired. "Yep." Guinevere replied with a nod, adjusting the glasses Rufus had bought for her.

Meridia: Hmmm? Is this one of the Seraphic Beasts? *she holds out her hand and feels Behemoth's energy* Yep. This is one of them. Grrrr.....damn Sithis for getting my hopes up! *she stands straight up and brings her hands down in an aggravated fashion* WHY COULDN'T YOU BE A HANDSOME MAN-SABER! *she then gets a better looks at Behemoth* Well, even if you aren't a man, at least you're cuter than any pet I could want! *she floats over and stands on Behemoth's nose* Hello, cutie!~ I'm Meridia, a Daedric Princess! Wanna come help me out?

"Cutie? Did you call me cute?!" Behemoth replied, clearly taking offense to his pride.

He quickly let this one slide, though. "So you're the one Seraphim sent me to meet?"

-----

Downstairs, Ryuusei was still cleaning up some of the dishes, silently. "Do you need help?" Eurydice asked, approaching the Pleiades.

"Um... no thank you." Ryuusei stuttered a little. He was among the newest of Rufus' SABERs, and still felt uncomfortable around them. Especially around Eurydice, who was the one that purified him of his Nova code with Rufus' help... and a very large crack in his skull during the process.

"Are you sure?" Eurydice asked. "That looks like a lot of work to do alone..."

"... I'm sorry, I'm just not used to even having conversations." Ryuusei admitted.

Meridia: *she winks, letting out a spinning star and gives him the two-fingered peace sign* Yep! My brother Sithis said I'm supposed to collect all three of you and that you three would lead the Daedra army here on Phantasia with backup from Seraphim's personal army. *she floats up to Behemoth's head and lands on the very top. She then begins scratching him on the top of the head behind the eye.* I was hoping you guys would be handsome humanoids, but I can deal with having large beasts helping me! After all, Behemoth's a good boy! Yush he is! *she keeps scratching and she leaves a small kiss on the top of his head*