Destiny

Portia rejoined Ashen, Mistress and Abby. Memories she couldn't quite place flowed into her mind and her mouth moved without giving her time to think. She told them that she had discovered from the false god the location where their targets would be holed up and that if they moved quickly they could catch them there.

With no reason not to believe her they moved out and Portia led them, without quite understanding why, to a wharf. Vague memories of a warehouse somewhere in the area led her further in until they were standing in the middle of a small offshoot leading between two warehouses. It was at this point the trap snapped closed. A voice that Portia hadn't noticed building in her head spoke suddenly with the roar of trumpets and she screamed in pain as The Liar forced herself back into control as at the same moment the loading doors of the two warehouses opened. One empty the other with Muffin standing in the way.  Dr. Malice, and Portnoy revealed themselves on the roofs both armed with guns aimed down at Ashen and his crew and finally Megan stepped into the exit behind them blocking off their retreat.

"What the hell is this Portia?!" Ashen roared with anger. The Liar smiled and turned to him.

"You know, Sergei... Originally Muffin intended for me to just kill all of you myself, but I refused. I reasoned that it just wouldn't be fair and I'd already taken so much from you that you deserved to have at least a chance at dying in combat so I convinced Muffin this was a better idea." The Liar informed him.

Faceless' eyes would have narrowed had he any as he responded. "You... You're The Liar aren't you!"

The Liar responded with a mocking curtsy. "Guilty as charged. I'd offer to let you surrender, but I know you wouldn't accept and even if you did it would merely be a trick so I'm afraid it's time you died and this time don't come back," Portnoy and Dr. Malice opened fire and Ashen turned and ran towards the empty open loading doors.

It was obviously a trap. He knew it was, but the cold little girl scared him, The Liar was too dangerous, The Muffin Man probably wouldn't be a problem, but with the bullets raining down he didn't fancy his chances to get past him in time and besides... He figured he knew who was waiting within.

As he dashed through the doors they began to close behind him, but Mistress' tendrils lashed out catching the door and letting her pass inside before they slammed leaving only Abby outside. Bullets tore into her as she simply stood there and then she began running. She ran straight for The Liar. As she ran her mouth moved garbled sounds emerging and slowly becoming more clear.

The Liar began to back away in surprise at this sudden charge but stopped as the first clear words escaped Abby's mouth. "I remember you..." A bullet tore Abby's arm from her shoulder, but she barely slowed down and hit The Liar with a tackle that sent them both to the ground. "I remember what you did to me... What you made me do. You're the one who killed me!" She screamed as her hand ripped free from it's binding to her chest and wrapped around The Liar's neck strangling her. "It hurts. Every second hurts and every memory hurts worse. It's agony! You did this to me and you're going to make it stop hurting!" The Liar looked up into the girl's eyes and reached up grabbing her head. There was a moment of stillness and then The Liar's hands dropped lifelessly to the ground as Abby slumped forward.

Muffin rushed towards them readying to attack Abby, but her head raised and turned to him. "Stop. It's me The Liar," She stood up and looked at May's still remaining arm, "She wanted this... She..." The Liar chuckled. "She actually let me in..." Muffin stared at her for a second then turned to the closed off warehouse.

"The woman got in as well... Should we go help?"

"No... This is probably better than he hoped and if we in any way mess up his fight he'll never forgive us."

Faceless and The Grinning Reaper stood just inside of the warehouse and faced the figure standing in the center. "Sergei..." Harold said as he nodded towards Faceless and then he turned his head to the Grinning Reaper, "... and you?"

The Grinning Reaper smiled behind her mask. "Forgot me, huh? My name is Clarissa Lerouge," she turned angling her scythe out in a battle stance taking in both Harold and Faceless, "but you'd both know me better as The Grinning Reaper,"

Faceless reacted with shock at The Grinning Reaper's aggressive act and pulled himself a way from her getting into his own battle stance. "The hell are you doing?"

"I remember who I am. I remember that you killed me and this just became the perfect time to get my vengeance against almost everyone I have a grudge against. I'll kill you and the doll and then I'll be free."

"Well then I guess this just became a free for all," Harold stated quietly as he drew out his pistols and aimed one at both of the other two.

The three stood with their weapons ready and their eyes trained on each other waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Harold started the fight firing at both of them with his guns. Faceless and Reaper dashed out of the way and towards each other. Faceless caught Reaper's scythe blade with the machete and guided it to the side before attempting to land a punch on her mid-section but a tendril erupted from her body and caught his hand attempting to crush it. Unfortunately this forced off his glove and her tendril retreated from the flame that erupted out from his hand. They then both jumped back dodging another pair of shots and more of Reaper's tendrils launched towards Harold who dived out of the way and began firing at the tentacles that re-angled to catch him.

Meanwhile Reaper and Faceless continued their side of the fight. The tendrils were an advantage Reaper hadn't had last time, but they were also a disadvantage. While they added an extra, highly versatile weapon to her arsenal they restricted her ability to fight with the scythe as she had to avoid hitting them. The scythe isn't a very wieldy weapon at the best of times even in hands as skilled with it as Reaper's. Faceless made good use of this staying near her tentacles and staving them off with fire to restrict her ability to hit him with the scythe. Even so he sustained more than a small number of cuts with the scythe each one eliciting bursts of flame from the tears in his outfit. He dodged out of the way of another scythe slash and had his attack with the machete deflected as the scythe spun around for another go. He was left vulnerable in this second and Reaper took full advantage and three tendrils stabbed into his chest as the scythe came around and hit him in the head. His head cracked to the side and the welding mask fell off. Fire erupted from his face burning Reaper who backed away from the sudden increase in fire and heat.

Faceless let out a cry of rage and pain and the coat burned away leaving him naked just fire in a human form. He rushed at Reaper and tackled her holding her down and lighting her aflame. Tentacles launched out from her body and the one's pursuing Harold arced back. They pierced Faceless all over his body as Reaper screamed in pain and Faceless' roar increased in pitch and fervor. Harold tried to take advantage of this moment and fired a few bullet's into Faceless' body, but Faceless didn't even seem to notice. Reaper's screams ceased as she was reduced to nothing but a charred corpse and then Faceless stood, the tentacles impaling him simply melting away as he turned to Harold.

Harold emptied his guns into Faceless' body and Faceless stumbled back a bit but then began to charge. His machete was melted away, but he didn't need a weapon now. Harold tossed away his pistols and drew out the rifle on his back and fired. The bullet seemed to hit something still solid within Faceless and he was thrown backwards. Harold aimed again and fired and this time blood spurted out of the bullet hole but immediately evaporated as it exited the body.

"I guess you're body's still in that inferno, Sergei. Your fire is weakening and my bullet's can reach the real you. You can still die!" Harold yelled as he sighted on Faceless' head. The inferno obscuring Faceless suddenly changed in appearance, wings of flame spreading outwards from his head and eyes like a hawk appearing where Faceless' eyes would have been. The firebird lifted away from faceless' body and then flung itself at Harold. Harold's eyes widened and he fired at it but the bullet just passed through. The bird hit him with such force it drove him against the wall and set him aflame. He screamed in terrified agony as the entire warehouse began to light. The fire spread from him through the area and within seconds the entire warehouse was aflame.

Outside the rest of the group watched in awe as the fire rose into the sky. The Liar blinked and then swallowed. "I guess that's it then..."

"All three of them are dead?" Muffin asked with a pained voice.

"I can't imagine anyone surviving that blaze," she responded.

Muffin bowed his head. "Poor Harold... Still we have a lot more to do and we don't have time to mourn anyone. Let's get going," Muffin stated and they left before emergency services began to arrive.

Motion

The door to the fridge flung open and Muffin, forgetting about the slight gap between the bottom of the fridge and the floor, stepped out, tripped and landed face first on the ground. The empty city stood behind him framed in the doorway and showed no sign of mirth at this slapstick performance. It merely spoke quietly. "Remember the plan." and then the door closed leaving Muffin face down on the kitchen floor. A light flashed on and Megan looked down on him.

"You really should sleep in the living room with the others. The carpets are much more comfortable than the kitchen tiles." she stated causing Muffin to respond with an incredibly succinct gesture of annoyance. However his thoughts suddenly flashed up a memory.

"In that world... You were dead," he exclaimed standing up in a single movement and hugging her tightly.

Megan hugged him back, "Bad dream?"

"Nightmare. Help me wake the others we have to have a meeting," he responded letting go of her with a slight amount of hesitation.

"Why?" she asked even as she moved past him to follow his orders.

"I know how to get us through this." he answered with a smile.

It didn't take long to rouse the others and Muffin quickly informed them of what he had learned (Which can be found here) and after revealing his plan which I will not reveal as of yet for dramatic purposes he informed them that the only preparation left was to deal with Faceless and the others. As part of this plan The Liar would have to leave again going undercover as she used to in the body and mind of her victim and allow Portia to rejoin Faceless' ranks. As the sun dawned she set out and the rest began to prepare for an ambush.

Portia wandered back in a daze. She remembered killing The Traitorous god and then nothing... Her memory was a blur. Her most recent memory was just suddenly being conscious in the forest where she had fought the god and an urge to go back to her team. There were concerns as she headed back. Certain thoughts kept trying to surface in her mind but she could never fully grasp them and she felt wrong. Alarm bells triggering but then immediately being calmed by what almost felt like another voice in her head. Everything felt wrong and her head hurt but she couldn't remember why. She just knew she needed to get back to her team.

Revelations

Sleeping arrangements were strange that night. There was only one bed and Megan was sleeping in it. The Liar was on watch somewhere upstairs at a window, Portnoy had managed to snag the couch and everyone else slept uncomfortably on the floor of the living room. It wasn't a problem though. Dr. Malice hardly cared and Harold and Muffin were used to sleeping in much less comfort if they ever got to sleep.

A sound awoke Muffin and he sat up. There was a strange light coming from the kitchen. He looked around at the others and counted they were all lying down. Perhaps it was Megan. He warily entered the kitchen and saw the fridge door was open but no one was there. He rolled his eyes annoyed at whoever had left it open before realizing the light coming from the fridge was a deep red and thus not at all normal. He ran through a quick checklist of the fears trying to think of anyone that might use his fridge, but couldn't really think of one. He approached the fridge and peeked inside. Before him was a sprawling city. His eyes widened and he swore. "You have got to be fucking kidding me... In my fridge? The Empty City in my fridge? Are you serious?" he asked in irritation and the answer came.

"Dead serious," a voice said as a figure began to appear in the doorway. It was an androgynous just barely human looking figure. It had no eyes or features. It was a human if you had just the basic outline of a human.

Muffin looked at it for a few seconds then began to close the fridge door and the voice spoke quickly. "I can help you beat the fears," it said.

"You are a fear. Go away."

"You don't understand. You don't know what I do. I exist connected to every universe even those I'm not actually a part of I am aware of even if I disconnect myself as I did with this one during The Amalgam attack I still know what goes on and I want to inform you of some very important things you need to know."

"Whatever keep talking but it better be good..."

"Or else what?"

"If you're going to be sassy I'll just close the door."

"Fine. Look, The Amalgam attacked your universe and you guys fought it off and stopped your own plan from making things worse but because of that plan you're now a threat to The Fears and they want to eliminate you before you either try again or tell others how to do it-"

"I already know all this-"

"-Look shut up and be patient. God do you have any idea how infuriating you are-"

"-No how infuriating am I?"

"Enough to infuriate a god like being who is literally just a sentient landscape. Now shut up and let me help you!"

"Alright fine..."

"Right... So you know all that what you don't know is that you only succeeded at both those things in this universe. In the first and second universe you didn't. In the first Megan was crazy and you didn't realize she was one of the ones needed to fight the amalgam and by the time you realized it it was too late."

"Wait Megan was crazy?"

"Yes in that universe The Shadow of Anarchy was not removed from her till much later and it permanently messed with her head. In this universe you sided with the Nightlanders and got it out almost immediately. In the other universe it took decades to find her again and her mind was irretrievably damaged."

"Wow other universe me is a dumbass"

"Agreed."

"Hey!"

"In that universe however as the Amalgam were destroying everything a new universe was created somehow. I am unsure how and in that universe your history with megan was the same as it is here. She was her normal quiet but confident self and helped you defeat the amalgam but you didn't manage to stop your plan and The Fears were all killed."

"It worked?"

"Yes but not how you imagined it..."

"Oh? What happened?"

"This is the point of my visit. This is where I show instead of tell. Let me bring you to that other universe so you can tell yourself exactly what happened."

"Why should I trust you?"

"It's because of me that The Amalgam came here and it's because of me that all of this happened. I can only make it right by helping you. You fixed my mistake and it's only right I repay you by saving you from the consequences."

"That's an honorable sentiment from a murderous eldritch location."

"Well I was human once."

"Wait what?"

"Come with me and that too will become clear."

Muffin hesitated, but eventually he stepped through into the fridge and The Door shut quietly behind him


Elsewhere Mistress stood in her room placing batteries into the scythe and sighing as they failed to work. Too long had it been powered by Ashen's hands. The mechanism was fried. It was just as well. It's unique nest killing property would no longer be effective against her current prey and the normal scythe would work just fine on any other foes. Her memories had returned. Not the moment she had grasped the scythe but in a short period of time afterward. She was too take orders from the man who killed her. There was no way. She would kill him and then she would kill the doll and maybe then she'd do what the fears asked and kill the rest. First though she would get her vengeance. She froze a feeling passing through her. She turned and he was there. The Slender Man stood watching her. Her resolve momentarily broke. "I... I... I won't work with him... He killed me... I can't..." Something passed over her. "I won't. He killed me and why should I listen to you. You let me die! You let me go to that terrible place to be used by Him for all eternity..." Something seemed to break in her and she was crying black oily tears beneath her mask. "When I betrayed Him for you you promised me you would never let him get me. That I would never be sent to him. That I would never end up like my brothers but you lied! I ended up there anyways and you did nothing to stop it! I don't work for you anymore and I won't work for the man who murdered me. I'll kill him I'll kill all of them but not for you! Not for them. I'll kill them for myself and then I'll leave. I won't work for any of you. I... I won't fight against you," her voice grew timid again, "It would be suicide to fight you," Her stance again grew more confident though as she finished her speech, "I won't fight you but I won't be controlled anymore!" She finished her speech and stood facing him her eyes clouded with tears and her body trembling. He merely watched her for a few moments and then disappeared. She fell to her knees and gripped the scythe tightly to herself taking off the mask to wipe away her tears.

Regroup

Muffin's band fled the park as quickly as they could to regroup at Muffin and Megan's home but it wasn't fast enough. The Wooden Girl had been keeping tabs on Harold and during the fight she had moved a number of puppets under the command of a doll to the area. The band ran straight into an ambush.

The dolls slipped into view as the band reached the street on which Muffin and Megan's house stood and The Band faced down the barrel end of a firing squad. The Band looked upon certain death and calculated their odds. The gunfire would kill Muffin and portnoy definitely, would probably kill Harold, would be unlikely to kill Megan and would merely destroy Dr. Malice's current form. Two of them would probably survive but that wasn't good enough. Each desperately thought up a plan as at the same moment someone else walked into the street behind the puppet firing squad. "If you enjoy life stay perfectly still," a female voice spoke and then a mist began to envelope the street. A normal army would have begun firing blindly and probably many of our heroes still would have been killed but an army of puppets only fires when ordered to and the puppeteer hesitated.

The mist circled around people in a way that almost seemed like an animal searching through a crowd for the smell of it's owner. The street was silent and tense as the mist wove it's way around the scared figures trapped within and then the mist seemed to find what it was looking for. The mist cleared almost instantly from around our heroes and instead pooled around the puppet firing squad and it's leader. The doll watched the mist fearfully and in that moment he made a mistake.

He gave the order to fire and the moment he and his soldiers began to move the mist sprang. It forced itself into bodies through the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and pores and then those afflicted began to fall apart. It was decay, rapid and unmerciful. Their bodies degenerating almost instantly until they had decayed down to nothing but skeletons. The mist then left their skeletons and returned to the woman standing at the end of the street. "You can move again now," The Liar informed them as our heroes looked upon her with surprise.

Shortly after the band entered their temporary residence and first Harold relayed his story (Leaving out Jack's words) and the Liar relayed hers informing them of how she had been on the run from Portia and then taken her body and about the powers she had gained from adventures in another universe she can no longer remember. Dr. Malice then informed everyone of his own story. How after he had been killed by Mistress and Echo he had been stuck in his body but had managed to transfer himself to Echo's headphones which were apparently bluetooth capable and also filled with Choir. He had been stuck fighting against The Choir inside of The Headphones until Echo had attempted to use them in the battle opening a connection Dr. Malice had taken to enter the boy's body proper where he had made the discovery that Echo was Marcinius Trowess. The name meant nothing to the rest of the group and so Dr. Malice further explained. Revealing that Marcinius had been a student of his who had run afoul of the choir and come under their control and how eventually he himself had been forced to kill him. Twice now as he stated with a pained expression.

Harold confirmed this by informing them that Ashen was The Faceless Bastard and that he surmised the others they had faced were likely also dead people that the fears brought back in order to kill them. Portnoy became sullen upon hearing this and turned to The Liar.

"You said her name was Portia right?"

"Yes it was,"

"Then it was her," he responded with a sad sigh and at last informed the rest of them of his own history with The Fears (Which can be found here). Dr. Malice explained that Deadman (He helpfully provided names for their enemies based on Echo's memories) was probably Jayson. Portnoy explained that he knew he had a cousin Jayson but Jayson had gone on the run before his mother's death and so when he went to live with his aunt and uncle he never got to meet his cousin. Harold said Abby was probably a Proxy he had once met named May. None of them had any clue who Crucible or mistress were. They also figured that now Echo and Portia were no longer threats, Crucible seemed to be dead or gone and Muffin was pretty sure that Deadman or not he had crushed his skull hard enough that it would not be a problem in the future.

"So we know who our enemies are now and it can be assumed they know us since Faceless apparently recognized Portnoy... We're going to have to deal with them but not just them. The Fears are still after us themselves and we need to find a way to stop them or at least a way to survive," Muffin explained.

"Right... You got a plan?"

"... No"

Meanwhile Ashen awoke in the park the sound of sirens approaching. He glanced around taking stock. Deadman was dead, Echo was gone, Crucible seemed to have defla- He stopped. His memories swam into focus and he cursed loudly. They had brought Faceless back to fight... They brought The Grinning Reaper and May back as well and they had brought back him? They brought back him and let him loose? They... They couldn't of been that stupid could they? He rushed over to the deflated suit and began tearing it open looking for any signs that something solid had been within. There was none. It was as he feared. The Fears had set loose Harold, Servant of the brute. More memories flooded back. The Fears... Right. He had served The Convocation but they served him as well. He spoke to the phoenix within him. "We're going back to the old deal. You just tell me what you want and I decide how it goes down, understood?" There was no response, but he chose to accept his ability to continue living a yes. He picked up the scythe and woke up Mistress and Abby. He handed Mistress the scythe. "This belonged to you anyway. Toss away those stupid claws and use it." She stared at him uncomprehendingly but took it and then he turned to Abby. "May..." he paused. "Good to see you again" he said finally and then turned and began to leave the two women following him solemly.

They were gone by the time the police arrived.