[IC] HCL V: insert witty title here

[ShadowVentus]

@Tyki@Letter Bee@supertinyking@thewizardguy

Minato, holding on to his sword as his weapon of choice, follows after Gin, Osamu, and his group of allies through the portal. Upon exiting, he finds himself on yet another battlefield, except this one is much more severe. Demons were fighting one another, and there seemed to be quite a few other people imprisoned within cages made from shadows. At least, that's what he thought at first. Upon closer inspection, it seems that a few of them were empty, not harmed in the slightest. He would even see a severed pair of feet within one of them. He would have to wonder how that escape plan worked later. Upon gazing around the area, he happens to catch the eye of a familiar tactician. "Michael, is that you..?" Minato inquires, quite surprised to see a familiar face in such an outlandish place.
Upon hearing his name called, the tactician turns around to see Minato, a smile forming on his face as the memories of this comrade come rushing back. "It has been a rather long time, hasn't it? There are better places to sleep than within a seal, you know." He remarks. He then turns to look at the others that had appeared alongside him. The two that really stood out to him was a silver-haired man and whom he believed was Mewtwo, for he could sense their immense power from where he stood, it washing over him like a wave. "I believe you're the people I must thank for reuniting me with a strong ally. My name is Michael Narukami. Might I ask your names?" The tactician inquires, speaking to the group as a whole. Turning his back to the current threat in the room was a risky act, but Michael had come with a strategy, as always. As he was talking, he tune in to his draconic self, increasing the strength of his senses and forming a protective cover of scales along the back of his body, taking good care of his blind spots in case he were to be attacked.

[Letter Bee]

@Tyki@Letter Bee@supertinyking@thewizardguy

Minato, holding on to his sword as his weapon of choice, follows after Gin, Osamu, and his group of allies through the portal. Upon exiting, he finds himself on yet another battlefield, except this one is much more severe. Demons were fighting one another, and there seemed to be quite a few other people imprisoned within cages made from shadows. At least, that's what he thought at first. Upon closer inspection, it seems that a few of them were empty, not harmed in the slightest. He would even see a severed pair of feet within one of them. He would have to wonder how that escape plan worked later. Upon gazing around the area, he happens to catch the eye of a familiar tactician. "Michael, is that you..?" Minato inquires, quite surprised to see a familiar face in such an outlandish place.
Upon hearing his name called, the tactician turns around to see Minato, a smile forming on his face as the memories of this comrade come rushing back. "It has been a rather long time, hasn't it? There are better places to sleep than within a seal, you know." He remarks. He then turns to look at the others that had appeared alongside him. The two that really stood out to him was a silver-haired man and whom he believed was Mewtwo, for he could sense their immense power from where he stood, it washing over him like a wave. "I believe you're the people I must thank for reuniting me with a strong ally. My name is Michael Narukami. Might I ask your names?" The tactician inquires, speaking to the group as a whole. Turning his back to the current threat in the room was a risky act, but Michael had come with a strategy, as always. As he was talking, he tune in to his draconic self, increasing the strength of his senses and forming a protective cover of scales along the back of his body, taking good care of his blind spots in case he were to be attacked.

@ShadowVentus

"My name is Osamu Akiyama, of the Mon Alliance, and my friend here," Osamu gestured to the glowing golden bird accompanying him, "is Horus."

"And I am Takeru Takaishi," said Takeru, his tall and thin blond form still slightly rigid in suspicion.

"My name is Hikari Takaishi; I'm Takeru's wife," Hikari said. "Nice to meet you."

"Also, the Mon Alliance is a group of Pokemon, Digimon, and Shin Megami Tensei Demons formed against Multiversal threats."

[Tyki]

@ShadowVentus@Letter Bee@supertinyking@Thewizardguy

"yo, name's gin. We're here on a little field trip, mind giving these kids some help?" Gin comments, pointing towards the people he'd brought with him, noting the people still fighting in the background and simply going to them via delevering a flying kick to the side of the head to khaine, gin's natural strength causing him to lose his footing shortly before the redoubled and amplified force was applied to him, sending him flying a fair bit, the silver haired warrior simply asking "yo, you got any friends? i brought some kids here to die in battle.

[thewizardguy]

@Tyki@Supertinyking@Letter Bee@ShadowVentus@Teoinsanity

Gram rushed towards Khaine, but instead of attacking as Khaine had expected, he plunged his hand into the molten river below, aiming to save the wretch who had dared interfere. It seemed Gram truly cared more even for such a failure than for his own life. Or perhaps it was in the nature of mortals to act in such a foolish manner. For by letting his guard down, Gram had sealed both of their fates. Doom's suffering had merely been delayed. As Gram pulled the wretch from the fires and Doom swung at Khaine, Khaine made use of his vantage point to grab Gram by the back of the head, slamming him into the portal. While the molten metal might not burn Gram as it had Doom, the demonic nature of the place would inevitably damn him. The Blood of Baal carried within it the will of Baal, and the souls of a billion demons. Merely touching it brought agony to any mortal being, and extended exposure would warp almost all life into an extension of Baal's power. Another demons, built on the foundation of Gram's body.

Of course, before Gram could attempt his escape, another force intervened. Gin slammed into the side of Khaine's head, aiming a dropkick to interrupt the fight. However, the force of it was barely enough to make Khaine blink, and even redoubled through Vector manipulation the attack was nothing to the Dreadlord. As Gin cockily made his statement, however, Khaine found himself angered by the constant flow of fools interfering with his fight. This had begun as a duel, and yet somehow he couldn't go half a minute without another mindless moron jumping at his blade. "Wait your turn, mortal!" A swipe of Khaine's hand was aimed to send Gin slamming into the ground, although considering his human physiology, the blow was more likely to turn him into pudding if it landed.

[Tyki]

@thewizardguy

Khaine's hand rather suddenly finds itself learning flight as gin leans on his wooden sword, asking "did you not hear me or are you just an idiot?" rather nonchalantly as he looks khaine over

[supertinyking]

@Tyki @Letter Bee @Teoinsanity @Wraithblade6 @thewizardguy
Gram felt Khaine's grip, and had expected a sword though the back, but rather, was pushed forwards. He knew what Khaine's plan was, to have him drown in this sea of metal. However, Gram had another plan. As he fell, he flung Doom back up like a rocket, him most likely smashing into the roof above Khaine, painfully, but not causing any real damage. Gram however quickly struck molten metal, and seemed to sink down underneath it, his eyes widening as utter pain filled him....but this, was not the first time pain had enveloped the warrior before. Nor was it the first time he had been exposed to such influences, other great dark powers having tried to have their way with Gram's mind and soul.

This wouldn't be the first time they failed, either.

It took only a few moments, before from within the metal sea, a spot of darkness began to burn though, a bubble of liquid steel forming, only for Gram to emerge, rushing forwards, his arm enveloped in a dark aura. While the demonic powers that be failed to control him, they did do something far, far worse. They awoken a fury in Gram that only one other being had seen before.
"WARLOCK-PAUNNNNNCCCCHHHHH!" He roars, intending to catch Khaine off guard as he delt with Gin, and then intending to blow a hole clean though the dread lord's right shoulder. His objective? Sever the Dreadlord's arms, and....Dis-arm him, to stop the fight.

[supertinyking]

@Tyki
Somewhere, in another universe.
"FFFUUUUCCCCCCCCCC-" A voice would scream, before smashing into mercury, having had to make a crash landing after being booted there by one of Malakai's generals for being a pansy. Tiny, picking himself out of a sea of iron. "Fucking stupid ass blood metal using bitch ass...wait....mercury? Another normal solar system? Huh. I wonder what's here." Tiny says. "Never been to mercury..."
And as such, he begins to explore...

[Tyki]

@supertinyking

While most of the metal he'd found himself on was more or less molten and/or vapor so it was rather hard to breath in without HEAVY and instantaneous body modification, though after a while he could get to the dark side of mercury (as i beleive the rotation and revolution are geosyncronous, if not then they are in this universe) Where more and more of it's solid until he finds what looks to be a massive termite mound looking as though it'd been made for termites twice the size of the average human. If he were to start getting close to it, he'd become rather heavily watched though he'd never be able to tell where from and upon entering aforementioned termite mound, a voice would chime in in his head "what is your purpose here, creature?"

[supertinyking]

@Tyki
"Got punted here from another universe...exploring....nice mound ya got here...." Tiny replies, floating about. He then ducks under the ground, before appearing behind them. "Sup. Name's Tiny. Bounty hunter, weapon for hire. General pain in the ass for whoever I'm hired to annoy." He says, smirking a bit.

[Tyki]

@supertinyking

While that did take the better part of an hour, he's eventually found and dumped in the queen's chambers which appeared to be quite a bit more armored with actual scything arms tucked against her torso. "What is it you want, creature?" she asks evenly, her voice small and reminiscent of the sterotypical husky girl in glasses, the entire hive having been coated with a firm layer of frost the closer and closer he got to her, to the point where he was starting to deal with -60 and lower temperatures.

[Letter Bee]

Hopefully, while Khaine reacted to Gin's impertinence, Osamu would face Takeru, Hikari, Patamon, Gatomon, Horus, Mewtwo, and Minato, then say:

"Okay...Mewtwo, can you contact some of the Mon Alliance's forces to come here? I believe we've just found a key stronghold of the enemy."

<Doesn't that go against the silver-haired guy's goal of 'strengthening' you?> the Psychic Pokemon asked.

"To be fair," said Takeru, "we did not ask to come here."

"Brother must be worried..." Hikari said.

"And, here's the thing," spoke Osamu, "we got basically kidnapped. On a whim. And I'm angry about it."

<Fine,> said Mewtwo, <I'll send a telepathic message.> The Psychic Pokemon then gazed up at the sky, and Osamu can feel the slight vibrations of power as he talked to people through worlds.

Meowth, meanwhile, was surprised that Osamu just appeared in this world, but the Cat Pokemon loped over to the motely group anyway...

[supertinyking]

@Letter Bee
"Y-you will bring..no forces...here..." A voice chirps out, as what looks to be a humanoid grasshopper in a shredding martial arts gi walks forwards, using his blade as a cane. Over his body, seems to be lines of dried honey. "If you beleive us your enemies...I won't...allow you to hurt my people..." He grumbles, seeming to be in exceptional pain. He steadies himself, and readies his blade, taking a stance, before out stretching one arm, and doing the bring it gesture. Ya know, curling your fingers back.

[Letter Bee]

@Letter Bee
"Y-you will bring..no forces...here..." A voice chirps out, as what looks to be a humanoid grasshopper in a shredding martial arts gi walks forwards, using his blade as a cane. Over his body, seems to be lines of dried honey. "If you beleive us your enemies...I won't...allow you to hurt my people..." He grumbles, seeming to be in exceptional pain. He steadies himself, and readies his blade, taking a stance, before out stretching one arm, and doing the bring it gesture. Ya know, curling your fingers back.

@supertinyking

"Ah, forgive me, but isn't this world a stronghold of King Malakai, our enemy?" said Osamu.

"You know, the one who makes weapons out of Orphans' souls?" Takeru asked his own question.

[supertinyking]

@CreedTheChimera

Darkness looms over a kingdom hidden in the far reaches of Issac's world. A place hidden from the other species for eons, a lost garden of the pillars, the gods of this universe....and in this spot, for the last two years, a master of the dark art has been working her vile magics, twisting life into death, and death, into life...A tornado, a swirling vortex of not air, but the energies of life itself swirls, souls of the damned and pious both trapped as they are forced into a mold, a cast, melted and distorted down, into pure anima, a liquid version of that which brings life to living beings, that which makes them, them. She had done this many times, and never had it worked quite like this time....a pure red, waxy liquid settles into a stone. A powerful tool, one which maybe could of caused the end of the world itself, if it fell into the wrong hands....

She moved over to the jar, filled with blood, bits of shattered bone, and pulped organ. A grizzly thing, but it was all that remained of him....that cruel monster had destroyed him..obliterated him....but she would rebuild him..he'd be back...and she'd have him again, to hold...to be there when she needed him...and she'd be there, for when he, needed her.
Carrying over the cast of anima, she opened the jar, and poured forth the liquid of life itself. For a moment, nothing happened.....the chunks of bone and meat just floated higher, being lighter than the thick viscous goo...but...suddenly, there was an explosion. Not of force, not of flame, but of magic, and life....All around the garden, plants shot up, flowers rapidly bloomed....and from where once a jar of rotten bloody chunks once was, now stood a revived hero of old....

Kevin Clive lived again, brought back by a power most foul, fueled by a love most pure.

[supertinyking]

@Letter Bee
The bug man seems surprised. "No, no! This is the great hive, home to my people. We're seeking to destroy that filth....that guy, over there..." Issac stars, before thumbing at Khaine. "Just randomly showed up, and started fighting. Talking about honor like he knew anything about it...."

[Letter Bee]

@Letter Bee
The bug man seems surprised. "No, no! This is the great hive, home to my people. We're seeking to destroy that filth....that guy, over there..." Issac stars, before thumbing at Khaine. "Just randomly showed up, and started fighting. Talking about honor like he knew anything about it...."

@supertinyking

"Oh," said Osamu. "So, can we still bring an army here, if it's to destroy that guy?"

[CreedTheChimera]

@supertinyking

They say that when one dies, their life flashes before their eyes. Their entire existence plays out in their heads, for them to remember, either in regret or contentment. Kevin experienced something completely different. His death scene stretched on into eternity. Standing there, bewitched by his own mind, remembering what could have been as he was dealt a killing blow. His mind stuck on an image of him living a normal, happy life with a normal, happy family. Maybe the Omegan thought it would be peaceful, but to him he was stuck staring at hell. He would have never wanted that. He loved the life he had made for himself, and this perversion, this 'what could have been' just ticked him off, but it really didn't matter now. He had done what he could, and it hadn't been enough, and now he would remain this way, frozen in time...

Until, rather suddenly, he felt life's warm embrace envelope him. He was no longer on a planet of ice, now somewhere new. He surveyed his surroundings, his brain processing the fact that he wasn't dead as a door nail anymore. He looked at his hands, opening and closing them, shifting from one foot to the other. After a time without body or form, this experience was strange and familiar to him at the same time. He reached up and felt his mask. Even that had been returned to him. He pulled it off, revealing his face, the same as it ever was. He felt his cheeks, his chin, his nose, his mouth, everything. "What... How..." The wizard was speechless, feeling as if he'd just been asleep for a very long time. "I'm... not dead?" This question, completely rhetorical, was already confirmed to him. He was indeed alive... somehow. He looked around, before looking at Minx. "Minx? Is that really you? In front of me? Alive?" He really was having a hard time processing the whole 'not dead' thing. Understandable, as this was his first experience with death and revival. Err, at least, of himself.

[supertinyking]

@Letter Bee
"No. We have enemies that would far outweigh your army...and further, it might cause new wars...please, don't. The other species are bigots, and untrusting. Your army coming may make them think we're summoning demons, or extra-planar monsters, and it may invoke a way...." Issac says. "Cancel your order...or I will make you..." He says, getting a bit hostile.

[Letter Bee]

@Letter Bee
"No. We have enemies that would far outweigh your army...and further, it might cause new wars...please, don't. The other species are bigots, and untrusting. Your army coming may make them think we're summoning demons, or extra-planar monsters, and it may invoke a way...." Issac says. "Cancel your order...or I will make you..." He says, getting a bit hostile.

@supertinyking

"Fine, fine!" said Osamu, who turned to Mewtwo, only for the Psychic Pokemon to say:

<Order pre-emptively canceled already.>

[thewizardguy]

@Letter Bee@supertinyking@Tyki@Teoinsanity

There were too many enemies, and too much happening at once. Gin's kendo sword slammed into the wrist of his right hand, although it was unable to do much damage to the armour. At the same time Doom's spines began to push through the armour of his left hand, and he was forced to toss the little hothead across the room. What had begun as a duel was now an official clusterf*ck, with the prospect of even more enemies only fueling Khaine's sudden haste to dispatch those he now had. This was only worsened when the metal river below his feet exploded upwards to reveal a shouting Gram, an empowered punch slamming into Khaine's shoulder and pushing through the Darksteel plate to create a hole the size of a tennis ball. Had Khaine's anatomy been mortal, his shoulder joint would have been shattered, as well as several important parts of his sternum, and the muscles in his arm would've been torn beyond natural repair. Of course, Khaine was a Son of Baal, and such injuries were but a trifle to him. More importantly though, this showed that Gram was able to pierce the blacksteel plate, something that immediately made him the greatest threat in the room.

"Enough of this!" Shaking off Gin, Khaine's body contracted around Gram's hand, as the Tarkatten's other arm was grabbed by Khaine. There was an inevitable moment of surprise, as Khaine showed none of the expected signs of pain, and in fact seemed to have retained full use of the arm. Abusing this to the fullest, Khaine raised a clawed foot and kicked Gram in the face before he could pull away from the Dreadlord's grasp. The force of impact sent him flying towards the wall, but before he landed Khaine had another surprise in mind. "This ends now, for all of you!" With a gesture Khaine once more called on the World Forge, and a lance appeared from the ground. But instead of in front of Khaine, it had been called up at some distance. Gram found himself less than half a second from impacting with the lance, the force of which would almost certainly impale him.

Not waiting to see the effect the attack would have on the Tarkatten, Khaine called forth two cleaver-like blades. He whipped the first in a downward arc at Gin, his wrist twisting in a way no mortal creature could mimic. Even as Gin no doubt dodged or deflected this attack Khaine swung the second blade upwards to meet with Doom's inevitable assault, knowing the hotheaded creature would immediately attempt another charge after being cast off. Should Gram instead be the first to charge, it would merely make his task all the easier. "I will face all of you, and I will prove your failures. All who stand between me and my victim will fall to my blade!"