Blood and the Moon: Part 1

Episode
[Open to a dark room, where an unseen person is speaking on the phone.]

[???]: “And you’re sure your “Zodiac Organization” has the money to pay for all this?”

The unseen figure stayed silent for a few moments as the person on the other end of the line replied.

[???]: “Alright. However, if there are any complications beyond what we’ve discussed, I will hold you responsible for them. The guild has wasted away enough as it is, and I don’t need any of its remaining members arrested.”

There were another few moments of silence.

[???]: “In that case, the deal is set. I will send the rest of my troops to the Earth base. I expect to see you there.”

The unseen figure put down the phone, getting up out of their chair and walking out of the room. After a few moments, a ghostly figure faded into view, wearing a purple Omnitrix symbol on its chest.

[Moranna/Briiz]: (Thinking)  'This seems to be my lucky day.' 

[Cut to the inside of Plumber Base UT1. Reaper is sharpening the blade of his scythe as Pyros and F3 seem to be arguing about pizza toppings. Herc and Nova are sitting together, talking about something.]

[Herc]: “And then, believe it or not, the moron calls the lead Zenturi a “little shit”, and proceeds to summon a god damn taco.”

[Nova]: “My dad did all that? But he’s so laid back!”

[Herc]: “Yeah, maybe nowadays. Back then, he would kick your ass and ask questions maybe. Likely while giving an over-the-top speech.”

[Nova]: “Wow.”

[Herc]: “I know, right?! It’s a wonder someone like that ended up even finding a date at some point, much less reproducing.”

[Nova]: “I think he probably matured a bit before meeting my mom, since she never really mentioned all this weird stuff you’re talking about.”

[Herc]: “I guess that makes sense. Come to think of it, who was your mother, anyway? Napoleon doesn’t really talk about her.”

[Nova]: “Kara Everett. She and dad met in college and hit it off instantly, from what I’ve heard. She ended up becoming friends with Theo’s parents once they met, so it was a pretty good situation all around.”

[Herc]: “Hm. Why isn’t she around nowadays? Did she leave?”

Nova’s expression fell, changing the tone of the conversation from relatively light to something more depressing.

[Nova]: (Quietly) “She...died when I was nine. Leukemia. They didn’t find it until it was already too late.”

[Herc]: “Oh.”

There were a few moments of awkward silence.

[Herc]: “...Sorry for bringing it up. It must be hard to talk about.”

[Nova]: “No, no, it’s okay. It would’ve come up at some point anyways.”

The base’s alert system suddenly began blaring, prompting everyone to gather around the computer console near Alpha.

[Pyros]: “What now?”

[F3]: “Is it space bugs? Please tell me it’s space bugs.”

[Alpha]: “Nothing like that, I’m afraid.”

[Reaper]: “More activity from the Zodiac Organization?”

[Alpha]: “Correct. After collecting footage of specific locations over the past few weeks, we’ve been able to pinpoint what appears to be an underground base near the outskirts of the city. It doesn’t appear on any records, and there aren’t any underground building permits filed for the area, which is what made it suspicious to us.”

[Herc]: “I’m guessing there’s more to it than that if you need us to do something about it.”

[Alpha]: (Nods) “The cameras we have focused on the location would go out every now and then, which was initially chocked up to an error during the installation process. However, an overhead drone was sent to investigate the area earlier today, and captured what appeared to be several troop-carrying stealth cruisers entering a cloaked hangar of some sort. As soon as it got within 100 meters of the hangar, however, the feed cut out.”

[Reaper]: “That could be a problem. If this has been going on for a while, there could be an entire militia in there we don’t know about.”

[Alpha]: “And as if that wasn’t enough to warrant investigation, the leader of the Zodiac Organization and his assistant were seen entering the area just now. Needless to say, investigation of this base is at an extremely high priority.”

[Herc]: “We’ll head out right away.”

[Alpha]: “Good. I would recommend avoiding combat as much as possible, just in case. We don’t know what’s down there.”

[Reaper]: “We’ll make sure to be careful. If anything goes wrong, we should be able to bail out.”

[Alpha]: “Noted.”

The team dispersed, each member hastily preparing for the upcoming mission.

[Cut to the dark European countryside of another timeline. The moon is full, shining down upon the landscape with an eerie yellow glow. After a few moments, Clockwork and Aeron emerge from a red portal, which closes behind them.]

[Aeron]: (Looking around) “Hey, this place has a pretty nice aesthetic. A bit in-your-face, though. What is this, Transylvania?”

[Clockwork]: “Yes.”

[Aeron]: (Turns to Clockwork) “What?”

[Clockwork]: “Yes, this is Transylvania.”

[Aeron]: (Grumbles) “Oh, for the love of...okay, two things: first, why are we in Transylvania?”

[Clockwork]: (Shrugs) “I wasn’t very picky about the entry point to this timeline, so we could have ended up anywhere on the European continent, really.”

[Aeron]: “Why are we still in Europe?!”

[Clockwork]: “Our location drifts around a bit during timeline jumping, but generally not by an entire continent or so unless I want it to. Only reason we ended up in Europe in the first place is because I was trying to get us away from where Theodore lived in America.”

[Aeron]: “Okay, that still sounds stupid, but whatever. Second question: you said this timeline was supposed to power me up or something to help fight off that pain in my ass. How we do that?”

[Clockwork]: “To be more specific, this timeline has a much higher natural connection to magic and mana than ours does. I figured we could have you learn some magic, or at the very lest, grab some enchantments to make you less vulnerable.”

[Aeron]: “Wouldn’t that take a while, though? I’m not keen on standing around until Theo gets here to kick my ass again.”

[Clockwork]: “If only you had an alien that could control time or something.”

[Aeron]: “Okay, first of all, shut up. You’re making me look bad.”

[Clockwork]: “You did not need my help with that, trust me.”

[Aeron]: (Ignoring Clockwork) “Second of all, where do we start?”

[Clockwork]: (Points behind Aeron) “Well, I’m willing to bet that ancient castle over there might have some old tomes or something.”

Aeron turned around to find an old stone castle sitting atop a nearby mountain. It appeared to be abandoned, with large vines growing all over the walls.

[Aeron]: “This is not helping the Scooby-Doo comparison.”

[Clockwork]: “Uncanny, isn’t it?”

[Aeron]: “I hate you so much right now.”

[Cut to the area seen on the Plumber’s security feed earlier. The sun is setting across the horizon as a white minivan with green accents skids across the road, swerving into a nearby parking lot and making a haphazard sideways slide into a parking spot. After a few moments, the van’s doors open up as Nova’s team exits the vehicle, with everyone except F3 looking rather dizzy.]

[Herc]: (Regaining his balance) “Where the hell did you learn to drive?!”

[F3]: “Dan’s Discount Driving Academy. The whole course only cost fifty dollars in cash!”

[Herc]: (Rolls his eyes) “Why am I not surprised?”

[Reaper]: “Let’s get moving. We don’t have any time to waste.”

The team began moving through the area, warily keeping an eye on their surroundings.

[F3]: “You know, we really need a name for this team.”

[Herc]: “Is that really your biggest concern at the moment?”

[Pyros]: “I think he’s got a point. But what would we name ourselves?”

[F3]: “How about “The F3 Squad”?”

[Everyone Else]: (Unanimously) “NO.”

[F3]: (Shrugs) “It was just a suggestion.”

[Nova]: “Well, since Alpha is the one in charge of dispatching us, maybe something like “Alpha Team”?”

[Pyros]: “That...doesn’t sound too bad, actually.”

[F3]: “I could live with it.”

[Reaper]: “I honestly don’t care what the name is.”

[Herc]: “If it gets this asinine conversation over with faster, I’m good with anything.”

[Nova]: “Alright, Alpha Team it is.”

They continued moving in silence, eventually reaching the cloaked hangar. F3 tapped on the invisible wall in front of them a couple times, causing a ripple effect in the cloaking field.

[F3]: “So...how do we get in?”

[Herc]: “There’s probably a keypad or something mounted on the outside of the building. We need to find that and-”

Herc was interrupted by the sound of clashing and tearing metal, followed by a loud thud. He turned to find that Reaper had carved out a chunk of the wall with his scythe.

[Herc]: “I take it we’re ditching the whole “stealth” thing.”

[Reaper]: “We’re on an unknown time limit with this. There’s a time for stealth, and a time for bludgeoning your way through anything in your path.”

[Nova]: “Besides, it doesn’t seem like any alarms went off or anything. We should be fine.”

[Herc]: (Sighs) “Whatever. What’s done is done, so let’s just get moving.”

The team walked in through the hole, disappearing into the cloaked building.

[Cut to Final Countdown emerging from a portal onto a path leading to the castle seen earlier. He presses down on the StarTrix symbol, reverting back to human and looking around.]

[Theo]: “...Well, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I still gotta wonder what’s up with the castle.”

After a few moments, he shrugged and began walking towards the castle.

[Theo]: “Knowing Aeron, he’s probably in there for the sheer over-the-top factor.”

As he approached the castle, he began noticing scuff marks and recently dug-up dirt lining the ground. Raising an eyebrow at this, he continued walking nonetheless. As he drew near to the courtyard, the ground around him suddenly started shaking.

[Theo]: “What the...Aeron doesn’t have an earth-controlling alien, does he?”

Theo’s question was soon answered by the true cause of the ground’s shaking swiftly revealing itself.

Said cause happened to be a horde of undead soldiers at varying levels of decay suddenly exploding out of the earth.

[Theo]: “...At this point, I really wish I was more surprised by this.”

[Cut to the Alpha Team sneaking through the inside of the cloaked hangar. Troop-carrying stealth cruisers fill the area, parked in a diagonal formation.]

[Pyros]: “Yo, uh, this might be a dumb question, but shouldn’t we ‘ave seen some guards or somethin’ by now?”

[Herc]: “That is kind of weird.”

[Reaper]: “Not necessarily. If their security measures are good enough, they’d likely avoid posting a regular guard to maximize manpower in other areas.”

[Herc]: “Of course, that brings up the question of what those security measures might be.”

[F3]: “Hey, I just thought of this, but what if they have hidden cameras in here?”

[Reaper]: (Pulls a small black box out of his cloak) “Fortunately, I thought of that possibility before we left, so I brought a signal jammer. If there are hidden feeds of any sort in the area, the only thing they’re seeing at the moment is static.”

They continued through the hangar until they reached what appeared to be an elevator. The doors to it were closed off, with a keypad on the wall nearby indicating that they needed a code to open it.

[Pyros]: “Yeah, I ain’t smart enough to figure out lock codes, so y’all’re gonna have to take care ‘a this one.”

[Nova]: “We might not have to figure anything out. I remember my dad using Swarm 1 to interface with the Plumber’s computer system while he was repairing it. Do you think Swarm 2 could do the same kind of thing?”

[Herc]: “Only one way to find out.”

Nova nodded and walked up to the keypad, placing her right hand over it. Golden nanobots attached themselves to the device, creating a small beeping sound. Seconds later, the doors to the elevator opened.

[Herc]: “Not bad.”

[Nova]: (Faking offense) “Not bad? I’d give that at least a “Pretty good”.”

[Herc]: “Well, we can’t have you getting too full of yourself.”

[Nova]: “Yeah, whatever.”

The team piled into the elevator, which turned out to be a surprisingly open space, likely used for transporting large cargo. There were only two levels present on the button pad, one for the main floor and one for the underground area. F3 pressed the bottom one and the elevator’s doors closed, shortly after which the elevator began to move downwards.

Very very slowly.

[Nova]: “Oh boy, this is gonna take a while.”

[Cut to Aeron and Clockwork emerging from another portal into the stone castle. They’ve emerged into what appears to be an expansive library, with stuffed shelves lining the walls all the way up to the ceiling high above. Small brackets stick out of the walls occasionally, indicating that there was once scaffolding to access the books up above.]

[Clockwork]: (Stares at the architecture) “Wow...this is actually pretty incredible. Do you have any idea how much work building this room probably took?”

[Aeron]: (Waving him off) “Yeah yeah yeah, that’s nice. Now let’s find a spell to blow things up or something.”

[Clockwork]: (Sighs) “Some people have no sense of grandeur.”

Clockwork dissipated, leaving Aeron alone in the library. He walked over to a nearby shelf and began going through the books lining it, tossing some of them aside as he deemed them unhelpful.

[???]: “Don’t you know it’s rude to snoop around other people’s possessions?”

Aeron jumped a bit and turned around to find a tall man clad in ornate golden and white clothing descending from the top part of the room, seemingly flying under his own power. His hair was a light blonde, and he wore a golden headband with a teal gemstone inset on the front of it. There was a strangely-shaped golden bracelet on his right wrist that was decorated with odd runes.

[Aeron]: “Uh...who are you supposed to be?”

[???]: “My name is Rozalio Gold. I am the owner of this castle and everything inside it. Which would include the ancient tomes you’re manhandling at the moment.”

[Aeron]: “Oh. I didn’t see any lights or anything, so I just assumed the place was abandoned.”

[Rozalio]: “I don’t need light to see. Wait here for a moment, please.”

Rozalio levitated up to the top of the room, grabbing a stone tablet off of one of the shelves before hovering back to the ground. Up close, it could be seen that the tablet had a circular rune carved into the top of it.

[Rozalio]: (Points to the main chunk of the tablet) “Place your hand here.”

[Aeron]: “...Seriously? How dumb do you think I am?”

[Rozalio]: “You wouldn’t like the answer to that.”

Aeron rolled his eyes at this, but after a few moments, he put his right hand on the tablet anyways.

[Aeron]: “If this is a trap, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

[Rozalio]: (Half-listening) “I’m sure you will.”

The rune at the top of the tablet suddenly lit up with a dim, blood-red glow. Gaining a somewhat disappointed look, Rozalio drew back the tablet, causing the glow to fade.

[Rozalio]: “Well, I suppose it was a long shot anyways. Back you go.”

Rozalio took a few moments to place the tablet back in its place, then levitated back down to Aeron.

[Rozalio]: “Now, I assume there’s a reason you’re looking through ancient tomes at a castle you believed to be abandoned?”

[Aeron]: “Yeah, I need to learn some magic to kill my annoying alternate counterpart.”

[Rozalio]: “...You’re very blunt about it.”

[Aeron]: (Turns back to looking through the books) “What’s the point in keeping it secret? He’s the only person I’m actually worried about beating me. I could kill you whenever I want. Probably will when I’m done looking through these, come to think of it.”

[Rozalio]: “By all means, you’re welcome to try.”

Aeron turned around to respond to this, but Rozalio had somehow already made his way over to a nearby shelf, going through a book written in a script Aeron didn’t recognize. Shrugging at this, Aeron turned back to the bookshelf he was going through. After a few moments, Clockwork summoned himself in a flash of red energy. If Rozalio even noticed this, he didn’t seem to react to it.

[Clockwork]: “Aeron, I don’t know about this. This guy seems awfully confident in himself.”

[Aeron]: “Tch, so what? I’ve killed lots of cocky people before.”

[Clockwork]: “True as that may be, I have a bad feeling about this one in particular.”

[Aeron]: (Rolls his eyes) “Ugh, fine. If it bothers you that much, just stop time so I can kill him whenever I get around to it without any issues.”

[Clockwork]: “That’s probably wise.”

Clockwork sent out a red wave of energy, causing the surrounding area to become grayed-out as time stopped around them. After a few more moments of browsing, Aeron finally picked out a book and began reading, with Clockwork looking on from over his shoulder. They quickly became engrossed in their reading, so much so that neither of them noticed Rozalio slowly turning his head to look at them, his eyes flashing a dangerous red.

[Cut back to Theo, who is currently surrounded by zombies and skeletons wearing armor and wielding swords and shields. One skeleton with a partially metal jaw is standing off to the side, casually watering some flowers.]

[Theo]: “Alrighty then, if all those horror movies are any indication, the best way to handle any situation is with the age-old solution of killing it with fire!”

Theo swiftly pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into Kugelblitz.

[Theo/Kugelblitz]: “Well, re-kill it with fire, in this case.”

The undead army paused for a moment in apparent surprise, then began lunging at Kugelblitz all at once (Save for the skeleton with the metal jaw, who was still busy watering the flowers).

Kugelblitz twirled around in a circle, unleashing a stream of flames as he did so and setting some of the nearby zombies on fire, but having little effect on the skeletons.

[Kugelblitz]: “Time to turn up the heat!”

Surrounding his fists with fire, Kugelblitz began punching wildly at the undead army, burning them as he bludgeoned them to pieces. No matter how many members of the undead horde he killed, however, more and more kept coming, forcing him to assume a more defensive strategy. Eventually, one of the skeletons broke through his defense and swung its broadsword at him, forcing him to dodge. Without much space to work with, the sword ended up slicing part of his chest, causing him to yell in pain.

[Kugelblitz]: “Alright ass-hole, no more mister nice alien!”

Kugelblitz suddenly created an explosion of fire, knocking away part of the undead horde surrounding him. His skin and fire became a fiery blue, with the flames emerging from his body increasing in size and intensity.

[Kugelblitz]: “Now you’ve got me really Fired Up!”

Kugelblitz began punching harder and faster than before, mowing through the approaching waves of the undead like a vengeful lawnmower that had been forcefully commandeered by Ghost Rider. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten that lots of fire plus limited fighting space equals way, way too much heat concentrated in a single area.

After only a few minutes of this, the StarTrix symbol began beeping, signaling that it was starting to overheat. Attempting to reach for the dial, Kugelblitz kept being interrupted by the constantly advancing army of the undead.

[Kugelblitz]: “You have got to be kidding me.”

[Cut to the Alpha Team waiting around in the elevator. Pyros is leaning against the wall, F3 has apparently fallen asleep standing up, Reaper is polishing the blade of his scythe, Herc is absentmindedly shifting his right arm into random shapes, and Nova is impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.]

[Nova]: “Can’t we just cut through the floor or something?”

[Herc]: “And face a fall of unknown height to an unknown destination? Frankly, I’d rather be bored than dead.”

[Nova]: “What if I used Silver Mt. Zion? She can fly and protect you guys from whatever’s down there.”

[Herc]: “Which would be all well and good if that form wasn’t too big for the elevator.”

[Nova]: “Oh.”

There were another few minutes of silence.

[Nova]: “But seriously, if something engaging doesn’t happen in like five minutes, I’m gonna lose it.”

Nova turned and pointed to Reaper.

[Nova]: “Yo, tall, dark, and spooky. You still haven’t told us about any of what your deal is. There’s gotta be some interesting stuff behind you.”

[Reaper]: “I suppose “interesting” is one way to put it. I don’t particularly care for living in the past, though. I’ve done a lot of things I regret.”

[Nova]: “Dammit, Reaper! That just made me even more curious!”

[Reaper]: (Shrugs) “If it’s any consolation, you could probably put together the pieces yourself with some extra information.”

[Nova]: “What extra information?!”

[Reaper]: “Try talking to-”

Reaper was suddenly interrupted by a loud thud from outside the elevator, indicating that something had fallen onto the top of it.

[F3]: (Snapping awake) “What’s going on?! Are we being attacked?!”

[Herc]: “I don’t know. Everybody, ready your weapons.”

Pyros created a small fireball in his left hand as F3 coated his fists in clouds of sleep dust. Reaper assumed a battle stance with his scythe, Herc shifted his right arm into a laser shotgun, and Nova used Swarm 1 to construct large dual gauntlets. After a tense few moments of staring at the ceiling, a short blade coated in Taydenite stabbed through the roof of the elevator, steadily carving out a circular shape.

Once the circle was complete, the loose slab of metal was kicked into the elevator, followed by a masked figure in purple clothing dropping to the floor and swiftly assuming a battle position, making a quick visual scan of the room. Upon seeing Nova, the figure paused and lowered its weapon in surprise, taking off its mask.

[Nova]: (Eyes widen) “Mrs. Logical?!”

[Moranna]: “Nova?! What are you doing here?!”

There were a few moments of awkward silence.

[F3]: “Well, I, for one, have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”

[Cut back to Aeron and Clockwork reading. The camera suddenly cuts to show the area behind them, revealing Rozalio approaching the two menacingly.]

[Aeron]: “Hey, Clockwork? You ever get the feeling you’re being watched?”

[Clockwork]: “Occasionally, I suppose. Why-”

Clockwork was interrupted by Rozalio’s left hand suddenly exploding through his head, shattering the glass and metal comprising his body with ease. Clockwork’s body dissipated, forcing time to resume flowing as normal. Aeron whipped around to find Rozalio brushing himself off.

[Aeron]: “Wh-what the hell?! How did you move in stopped time?!”

[Rozalio]: “That was a Chronosapien you summoned, correct?”

[Aeron]: “Yeah, but how do you-”

[Rozalio]: “Even in this realm, which I’m sure isn’t quite as technologically advanced as whichever realm you’re from, we hold some knowledge about the existence of extraterrestrial life and how they work. Take this, for example.”

Rozalio held up his right wrist, placing his golden bracelet on full display.

[Rozalio]: “This is the “World Brace”, an ancient artifact forged from the remains of a deceased Chronosapien. Combined with the forger’s own magic, the time energy created by the Chronosapien’s gear system was infused into the brace, allowing the wearer to manipulate time in much the same manner as they can, albeit to an admittedly less impressive extent. The only true downside is that wearing it ages the user about ten times faster than they would age naturally.”

[Aeron]: “But...you’re, like, in your late twenties! Are you actually like 2 years old or something?!”

[Rozalio]: “When I first wore the brace, I was in my early twenties, actually. Fortunately, I was able to find a way around the aging problem while I was still in my prime, relatively speaking.”

[Aeron]: “How long ago did you put it on?”

[Rozalio]: “Hard to say. It’s been a while. Around seven hundred years or so, I’d say.”

[Aeron]: (Eyes widen) “How the hell-”

[Rozalio]: “Hold that thought for a moment. I still need to attend to my hand.”

Aeron looked down at the hand Rozalio used to destroy Clockwork, finding it to be extensively cut up thanks to wounds caused by broken glass and metal. Rozalio lifted up his hand and seemed to meditate for a moment. Almost immediately afterward, the wounds on his hand closed up and healed without any indication that they had ever been there.

[Aeron]: “What the hell is going on?!”

[Rozalio]: “Even someone as dim as you should have figured this out by now, you know. If I must spell it out for you...”

Rozalio’s eyes glowed a bright blood red as he flashed a toothy grin, revealing long fangs in place of his canines.

[Rozalio]: “I’ve been a vampire for quite literally centuries, and against all odds, you’re still probably the most insufferable person I’ve ever encountered.”

[Cut back to Kugelblitz fighting off the skeletons and zombies, quickly creating a short explosion of fire to buy himself a couple seconds.]

[Kugelblitz]: “Activate STAR fo-”

He was cut off by one of the advancing skeletons bashing him in the gut with its shield, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could recover, the StarTrix timed out, reverting him to human. The skeleton raised its sword above his head and began to swing down towards him. Unable to dodge in time, Theo could do nothing but close his eyes and brace for impact.

Said impact never came.

After a few seconds, Theo opened his eyes, finding that the world around him had grayed out, time evidently having stopped moving.

[Theo]: “What the hell? Did Aeron do this?”

Carefully stepping out from under the sword, Theo began trying to figure out what was going on.

[Theo]: “No, that doesn’t make sense. If Aeron did this, why would I still be moving?”

[???]: “Excellent question! I guess it must run in your family!”

Theo whirled around to find an odd man wearing a striped red and orange suit sitting on a nearby stone wall. The man wore a top hat that matched his suit perfectly, some sort of metallic visor over his eyes, and held a wooden cane with a comically oversized crystal ball affixed to the end of it.

[Theo]: “Uh...who are you?”

[???]: “Why, I’m The Jester, of course! Were you expecting someone else?”

[Cut to the elevator, where Nova and Moranna are staring at each other in confusion.]

[Moranna]: “Does your father know you’re here?”

[Nova]: “Yeah. Well, not here exactly, but out doing this kinda stuff, yeah.”

[Moranna]: (Gestures to the rest of the Alpha Team) “And these are...?”

[Nova]: “A temporary Plumber team Alpha had me assemble. Long story.”

[F3]: “Wait, so, just to clarify, this person who ominously dropped in from the ceiling isn’t an enemy?”

[Nova]: “She’s Theo’s mom.”

[F3]: “Oh, okay. Not sure what I’m gonna do with all this sleep dust, then.”

There were a couple seconds of silence.

[F3]: (Shrugs) “Eh.”

With that, he punched himself in the face, knocking himself out almost instantly. Moranna stared at him in confusion.

[Moranna]: “...And these are the people you chose?”

[Herc]: “Don’t lump the rest of us in with that moron. My name’s Herculian, Herc for short. I worked with Napoleon when he was a teenager.”

[Moranna]: “Right, I remember him mentioning you occasionally.”

Moranna turned and gestured to Pyros and Reaper.

[Moranna]: “And you two are...?”

[Pyros]: “The name is Pyros. As you should be able to tell, fire is kinda my thing.”

[Reaper]: “Call me Reaper. We’ve met before, actually, but I doubt you’d remember me, seeing as how you never really saw my face.”

[Moranna]: (Raises an eyebrow) “Hm. Since you five are a Plumber team, I suppose you’re here investigating the Assassin’s Guild as well?”

[Nova]: “The what now?”

[Herc]: “We only got dispatched here because of suspicious activity from the Zodiac Organization.”

[Moranna]: “Can’t say I’ve heard of them. The Assassin’s Guild is who runs this place. I’ve been investigating them for years, and it seems like they’ve transferred all their remaining troops to this location for whatever reason.”

[Nova]: “Wait, for years? Why are these people so important to you?”

[Moranna]: “I have...unfinished business with them. Business that’s gone far too long without resolution. I had hoped I could take them down while their troops were gathered all in one place, preferably without killing anyone. If worse came to worse, I did have a backup plan that would involve burying them alive, but with you five here, that’s not really an option.”

[Herc]: “”Unfinished business” sounds like an understatement here.”

[Moranna]: “It is, but I’m not about to spill everything about my past to four strangers and my son’s friend.”

[Reaper]: “I can relate.”

[Moranna]: (Pauses for a moment, then turns to face Nova) “...Come to think of it, Theodore said he was out and about with you. I find that hard to believe at the moment, seeing as he’s nowhere in sight.”

[Nova]: (Nervously) “Uh...would you believe he decided to walk home?”

[Moranna]: (Eyes narrow) “Frankly, no. Where. Is. Theodore?”

[Cut back to Theo and The Jester. Theo is staring at The Jester with a confused expression.]

[Theo]: “I...what?”

[Jester]: “Well, you probably weren’t expecting Kroz, I can guess that much. The guy’s so gung-ho about the whole “rebuilding his civilization” thing that he didn’t even show up to help when the universe was ending! How rude can you be?!”

[Theo]: “Uh-”

[Jester]: “Honestly, I feel like a lot of people should’ve helped out a bit more during that whole thing, but whatever. What were we talking about again?”

[Theo]: “...I have no idea.”

[Jester]: “I could’ve sworn I came here for a reason...” (Spots the undead army behind Theo and snaps his fingers) “Oh, right! You were about to get gored by a sword!”

[Theo]: “Yeah. Uh, thanks for the save, I guess?”

[Jester]: “Eh, it’s no big deal. I had to bail your father out way more than this when he was your age. Impressive, considering you kinda have the disadvantage of actually permanently dying if your head asplodes.”

[Theo]: “Actually, I have regenerative nanobots that would-”

[Jester]: “Kick in about five seconds after your brain doesn’t exist no more. You’d just be a weird headless zombie. With an Omnitrix.”

[Theo]: “...Oh.”

There were a few moments of awkward silence.

[Theo]: “Wait, didn’t you mention my dad? Do you know him?”

[Jester]: “Know him? Kid, he’s the one who inspired me to make this body in the first place!”

[Theo]: “Hm. Adding that onto the list of things he never told me about...”

[Jester]: “Yeah, I admit, even speaking as an insanity demon, I think that whole situation is nuts.”

[Theo]: “Speaking as a what now?”

[Jester]: (Ignores Theo and pulls an envelope out of one of his coat pockets) “Give this letter to your old man when you get the chance, will ya? I think it’ll help a bit.”

The Jester handed the letter to Theo, who placed it in one of his shorts pockets.

[Theo]: “I have so many questions right now.”

[Jester]: “Which you can ask your father when you have the time. Right now, I don’t really get to spend that much time chatting with people before the big guy upstairs starts getting cranky with me, so I just need to do this real quick.”

[Theo]: “Do wha-”

The Jester teleported over to Theo and grabbed the StarTrix dial, twisting it as if he was entering the code on a combination lock. After a few seconds, the dial clicked and rose into active position.

[Jester]: “When you’re ready, just press that down and you should be good to go. Ta-ta for now, but I hope to see you again soon!”

With that, The Jester vanished, causing time to resume flowing as normal. After looking around confusedly for a few seconds, the undead horde caught sight of Theo and began advancing towards him again.

[Theo]: “Oh for the love of...alright, here goes nothing, I guess.”

Theo slammed down on the raised StarTrix dial. Almost immediately, he felt his body being flooded with energy from the StarTrix.

[Theo]: “What the hell?!”

Theo’s body began glowing with an aura of golden light, with the purple streak in his hair and his purple eyes suddenly turning to a brilliant gold. After taking a moment to examine himself, he turned towards the advancing undead army, cracking his knuckles.

[Theo]: “Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to get a Human STAR form anytime soon, but hey, why not?”

The nearest zombie suddenly lunged at him, its arms reaching for his head. Instinctively directing extra solar energy to his right arm, his fist began glowing with sunlight, prompting him to counter the zombie’s attack with a swift blow to its jaw. The zombie’s head flew off and landed somewhere behind it, shortly followed by the zombie’s body going limp and collapsing onto the ground.

[Theo]: (Grins) “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

[Cut to Aeron staring at Rozalio in dumbfounded confusion. After a few moments, he snaps out of it and quickly jumps back a few feet.]

[Aeron]: “Overtide!”

A purple and blue humanoid alien made of water and ice exploded into existence in a burst of red energy. It swiftly created a ring of running water to surround the area a few feet around Aeron.

[Aeron]: “Ha! Vampires can’t cross running water!”

[Rozalio]: “Perhaps not. However...”

Rozalio suddenly blinked into existence right in front of Aeron, bypassing the water barrier.

[Rozalio]: “Water doesn’t flow in stopped time!”

Before he could react, Rozalio grabbed a hold of Aeron’s hoodie and lifted him up into the air by the neck. His expression turned to one of anger, showing the first emotion he had displayed since Aeron had entered the castle.

[Rozalio]: (Angrily) “Oh, ye black-hearted filth that would seek to destroy me in my own home for the sake of killing another, may you never feel the warmth of the sun again!”

[Aeron]: “What are you-”

Aeron was interrupted by Rozalio plunging his hand into his chest, then throwing him out the nearest window. His body crashed through the stone ceiling of a hallway below, creating a person-sized hole in the rock. Rozalio looked down at the damage and sighed, turned away from the window.

[Rozalio]: (Mildly annoyed) “Yet another thing for me to fix. This place truly does seem abandoned.”

[Cut back to the elevator, where Nova is nervously explaining Theo’s current situation to a stone-faced Moranna.]

[Nova]: “So, basically, I don’t really know exactly where he is at the moment, but he’s probably fine.”

[Moranna]: “...My son has been chasing an extremely dangerous psychopath across the multiverse for the couple of weeks or so, and I knew nothing about it?”

[Nova]: “Well, uh...”

[Moranna]: “And apparently just about everybody else except Isaac, including your father, knew about this?”

[Nova]: “Uh...yes?”

There were a few tense moments of silence.

[Moranna]: “...Isaac and I are going to be having a very long talk with that boy when he gets home.”

[Nova]: “Right uh, okay, that’s great for you and all, so...are we good? Is this all wrapped up for now? Can we move on?”

Moranna stared silently at Nova for a few moments.

[Nova]: (Desperately) “Seriously, please! You are ridiculously intimidating for a middle-aged woman!”

Before Moranna could reply, the elevator suddenly stopped moving.

[Nova]: (Runs over to the doors) “Oh thank god, finally! Whatever’s out there has to be less frightening than in here!”

The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing an extremely large room reminiscent of a warehouse with an entire army of aliens in assassin uniforms aiming guns at the elevator.

[Nova]: “Oh, what the hell?! How did you people know we were coming?!”

[Nearby Assassin]: (Points to the elevator panel) “You left the emergency brake on! How could we not have heard you coming?!”

Nova peeked back inside at the elevator’s button panel, finding a small, red lever painted with the letters “EB” flipped down.

[Nova]: (Eye twitching) “...You’re telling me. We spent. An hour. In an elevator. Because we left the emergency brake on?”

[Nearby Assassin]: “That’s about the gist of it, yeah.”

Nova took a moment to sigh in frustration, then summoned dual arm cannon constructs.

[Nova]: (Snapping) “You people have approximately five seconds to surrender before I start kicking your collective ass five ways to Sunday!”

[Nearby Assassin]: (Laughs) “You’re not in any position to start making offers, kid!”

[Nova]: “Says who?!”

[Nearby Assassin]: “Says the army of people that didn’t leave the elevator’s emergency brake on while they used it.”

[Nova]: “...Two things. First, granted, that’s a fair point.”

Before he could respond, the speaking assassin was suddenly shot across the room by a blast of energy from one of Nova’s cannons.

[Nova]: “Second, I don’t give a crap because I’m pissed as hell!”

[Cut to Theo punching his way through the horde of undead. His fists are glowing intensely with sunlight, and he actually seems to be making a dent in the horde’s numbers. After clearing out a thin patch, he pauses to smash his fists together, his body filling with adrenaline.]

[Theo]: “What are you waiting for, you rotting bastards?! Come at me!”

A nearby zombie lunged at him with its sword, but instead of dodging, Theo simply grabbed onto the sword and used it to transfer solar energy into the zombie’s arm, causing it to boil and explode. Snapping the sword in half over his leg, he noticed that grabbing the sword had given him a cut wound on his right hand. The blood flowing out glowed with golden energy, heat radiating from it like a concentrated point of light.

[Theo]: “Huh. Neat.”

Theo swiftly whirled around and squeezed his wound in the direction of an approaching zombie, sending droplets of boiling blood directly into its eyes. Dropping its uniquely large sword as it stumbled around, unable to see, Theo was able to slide under it and grab the sword, smashing it into dozens of metal shards.

[Theo]: “Time to blow some minds!”

He threw the metal shards up into the air, charging his fists with energy as he did so. As the shards hit the peak of their arc, he jumped into the air and began punching them in every direction, filling them with impressive amounts of light energy as he did so.

The shards soared through the air at angles that sent them flying directly into the heads of multiple zombies, transferring their energy into their target’s skulls and causing their heads to explode. Theo hit the ground rolling, jumping to his feet with a punch that sent a skeleton’s head flying. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the skeleton’s sword and softened it with heat, bending it into a boomerang shape and infusing it with more solar energy.

Twirling around a few times to build up centrifugal force, Theo threw the boomerang into the undead surrounding him, causing it to slice through an incredible amount of targets before finally circling around back to him.

[Theo]: (Catches the sword boomerang) “Hell yeah! I could keep this up all night!”

Before he could continue fighting, the StarTrix suddenly beeped and faded to blue, signaling that it had finished its cooldown cycle. The energy coursing through his body began to fade, leaving him feeling somewhat fatigued.

[Theo]: “On second though, maybe I’ll just turn into something to finish this.”

Theo pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into Broken Dream Boulevard, summoning a series of large vines to rip through the remaining undead’s bodies and tear them to pieces. Looking around to make sure there weren’t any left, he spotted the metal-jawed skeleton from before, still watering the flowers.

[BDB]: “Yo. You aren’t planning on attacking me, right?”

[Skeleton]: “Undead Ed don’t care. I’m just here to garden. ‘Sides, even if I wanted to, you just cleared out those guys almost as fast as my ex-wife could clear out the kitchen!”

As Undead Ed laughed at his own corny joke, Broken Dream Boulevard just rolled his eyes and kept walking up the path to the castle.

[Cut to the underground base, where all hell has broken loose. The Alpha Team is taking cover from a hail of gunfire behind Herc and Nova’s shields while Moranna is activating the AemuTrix.]

[Pyros]: “Ya know, we could really use that Praesigner or whatever right about now!”

[Herc]: “Praesignis!”

[Nova]: “Right now, it’s either the shield or getting gunned down pretty much instantly. I don’t really have a lot of options at the moment!”

[Moranna]: “I might be able to take care of that.”

Moranna pressed a button on the AemuTrix’s holographical interface, transforming into Briiz.

[Herc]: “Okay, how many people on this stupid planet can transform?!”

[Nova]: “More than you’d think.”

Briiz flew into the air, drawing some of the gunfire to her. The shots passed through her ethereal body with no effect, hitting the ceiling behind her. She raised her arms, summoning a wind into the area that swiftly turned into a full-on tornado, sending anyone and anything not bolted to the ground flying around the room. Nova expanded her shield construct to cover the rest of the team, sheltering them from the harsh winds.

[Pyros]: “Holy hell! That’s what I call crowd control!”

[Herc]: “I think I’d appreciate it more if there wasn’t a chance of blowing us away with everybody else!”

[Nova]: “Well, you just take what you can get, I guess.”

Outside of the shield dome, Briiz was continuing the onslaught of wind. After a few moments, a door on the upper level of the area opened, followed by Orion stepping out of the room as the figure from the beginning of the episode stood in the doorway. Orion was seemingly unaffected by the winds, standing normally as if nothing was happening.

[Orion]: “I don’t see how this is my problem.”

[???]: “And it’s just a coincidence that our base is discovered for the first time since it’s been on this planet shortly after you show up?! Must I remind you that I said I would hold you personally responsible for any unexpected complications?!”

[Orion]: “That’s still fairly unreasonable, but fine. Give me a moment.”

Orion grabbed a hold of the metal railing lining the scaffolding he was standing on and snapped off a chunk, effortlessly straightening it out with his bare hands.

[???]: “What are you doing?!”

[Orion]: “Quiet. You’ll see in a moment.”

Orion carefully eyed Briiz for a few moments, then suddenly threw the metal bar towards her like a javelin. Traveling through the air with enough force that it was only slightly affected by the wind, the bar reached Briiz in less than five seconds, impaling her directly through the center of the AemuTrix symbol. Though Briiz was unharmed, the AemuTrix sparked and buzzed, suddenly deactivating and reverting Moranna back to human in midair. She fell to earth with a thud, the metal bar still impaled through her chest.

[Cut to Theo running through the stone castle, following the tracker on the Star Driver Gauntlet. After a few moments, he turns the corner into a long stone hallway, spotting Aeron lying near the end of it, seemingly unconscious.]

[Theo]: “...Okay, I was not expecting that.”

He looked around for a few moments, trying to spot anything that might seem out of place.

[Theo]: “Hm. Still not entirely convinced this isn’t a trap. Rolling Stone!”

Rolling Stone appeared in a flash of blue energy, landing on the ground with a heavy thud. It made its way over to Aeron, kneeling down over him and tapping him a couple times.

[Theo]: “Huh. I guess he’s really-”

Theo was interrupted by Aeron suddenly snapping awake and punching Rolling Stone away. The force of the blow chipped off a small part of Rolling Stone’s head, which was unexpectedly mirrored by a small cut appearing on Theo’s face.

[Theo]: “What the hell?!”

Theo deactivated the StarTrix, recalling Rolling Stone. Aeron slowly got to his feet, laughing maniacally the entire time.

[Aeron]: “And here I thought I was gonna die from that! I guess his little spiel about sunlight makes a bit more sense now, though!”

[Theo]: “What the hell is going on?! How did you transfer Rolling Stone’s injury to my face?!”

[Aeron]: (Stops laughing and looks at Theo) “Huh? I had nothing to do with that. I was laughing because of something else.”

[Theo]: “Which would be?”

[Aeron]: (Chuckles) “You know, for someone who’s able to track me down so well, you sure aren’t very good at picking up on context clues.”

[Theo]: “What are you talking about?”

Aeron’s eyes glowed a bright red as he flashed a toothy grin, revealing long fangs in place of his canines.

[Aeron]: “I’m a vampire now, bitch!”

[Theo]: (Stares in disbelief) “...You have got to be kidding me.”

[Cut back to the underground base, where Orion is staring down across the room.]

[Orion]: “I think that should take care of it.”

He turned around to find the figure in the doorway staring at him in shock.

[Orion]: “Are we going to finish the negotiations or not?”

[???]: “Yes, yes, right away!”

The figure quickly scrambled out of the doorway. Orion sighed and shook his head before re-entering the room, closing the door behind him.

Back under the shield construct, the Alpha Team had noticed that the wind had suddenly stopped.

[F3]: “Uh...you think it’s safe to go out there now?”

[Herc]: “Worth a look.”

Nova dissipated the shield dome, breathing a sigh of relief. Said relief was short-lived, however, as the team found the army of assassins recovering from the attack, with varying levels of consciousness.

[Pyros]: “Oh, come on! That didn’t knock you guys out?!”

[Nearby Assassin]: “We’re highly trained assassins with cybernetic implants. What makes you think a little wind would incapacitate us?”

[Nova]: “Wait a second, where’s Mrs. Logical?”

She quickly scanned the area, spotting Moranna slowly getting up on the other side of the room. This was somewhat hampered by the fact that she had a metal bar sticking through her chest. The AemuTrix symbol was shattered, and a group of recovering assassins began to surround her.

[Nova]: (Eyes widened) “Pyros! Go see if you can help her with the whole “metal bar in the chest” thing!”

[Pyros]: “On it!”

Pyros began running towards Moranna, but was cut off by several assassins surrounding him.

[Assassin 1]: “You’re not going anywhere!”

[Pyros]: “Alright, see, that might sound like a legit threat to me if y’all weren’t standing in my blast zone.”

[Assassin 1]: “Your what?”

[Pyros]: “Lemme put it this way...”

Pyros suddenly created an explosion of flames, burning the assassins surrounding him and sending them flying.

[Pyros]: “Close quarters with a fire-controlling pyromaniac is not a good idea!”

Meanwhile, Moranna had managed to stand up, but was currently surrounded by a good number of assassins.

[Assassin 2]: “And just where do you think you’re going?”

[Assassin 3]: “In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve got a metal bar through your chest. I’m no biology expert, but I think that’s usually an issue for humans.”

[Moranna]: “...You’re right...for normal humans, this would be a big problem.”

Moranna suddenly grabbed the metal bar and slid it out of her chest, slamming it over the head of the nearest assassin. Blood spurted from the wound for a few moments before suddenly coagulating and stopping the flow.

[Moranna]: (Angrily) “But thanks to you bastards, I’m not a normal human!”

[Assassin 3]: “What the he-”

He was suddenly cut off by Moranna catching a hold of his uniform with the end of the metal bar and tossing him into some of the approaching assassins.

[Moranna]: “I didn’t even meet another human until I was sixteen years old!”

She swiftly swiped the legs out from under the nearest assassins and used the metal bar knock away a few more, not letting up her attack even as she was speaking.

[Moranna]: “I didn’t know anything about Earth or humanity! I didn’t even get to know my own family!”

She kept attacking with the metal bar, each carefully-executed movement knocking out another assassin around her.

[Moranna]: “This organization wanted the perfect human assassin, and they got one!”

With that, she smashed the metal bar across the head of the last assassin near her, knocking them out. Breathing heavily, she tossed away the now thoroughly bent metal bar, staring down at the unconscious forms surrounding her with disdain.

[Moranna]: “Now you can choke on it.”

[Cut back to Theo and Aeron facing off.]

[Theo]: “So, what, you’re actually a legit vampire now?”

[Aeron]: (Smugly) “As far as I can tell, yeah.”

[Theo]: “Then all you really accomplished was making my job easier!”

Theo swiftly pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into All☆Star, flying across the room to one of the large glass windows and slowly beginning to absorb moonlight.

[All☆Star]: “I may not be able to get very much power from this, but I don’t think I’m really going to need that much anyways!”

[Aeron]: “What makes you think I’m just going to let you charge up like that?!”

Aeron lunged at All☆Star with inhuman speed, punching a hole directly through his torso and shattering the window behind him before he could react. All☆Star’s eyes glazed over and he fell backwards through the open hole. Satisfied with this, Aeron walked away from the window.

[Aeron]: “This is amazing! Who cares if I can’t go out into sunlight anymore? I can do whatever the hell I want during the night!”

Aeron began laughing, thinking of all he could accomplish with his new powers.

[Aeron]: “And to think I wouldn’t have come to this timeline if that moron hadn’t started chasing me around in the first place! Irony is truly a wonderful thing!”

Aeron began to walk back down the hallway, but was interrupted by a rainbow-colored beam of sparkling light suddenly flying past his head.

[Aeron]: “What the hell?!”

The light swerved around in midair and shot towards Aeron again, forcing him to duck out of the way.

[Aeron]: “The hell kind of light is this? Is it targeting me?!”

Aeron’s question was swiftly answered by the light redirecting itself towards him once again. Tired of dodging, Aeron simply broke off a chunk of rock from the stone floor and held it up in front of him.

The light hit the rock and blew it apart, barely fazing Aeron. After a few moments, what appeared to be a blue, gangly version of All☆Star flew into the hallway through the broken window.

[???]: “You’re really too quick to assume you can look away from a target.”

[Aeron]: “Is that so? And what are you supposed to be?”

[???]: “Meet All☆Star Requiem. This form will be your sparring partner throughout the relatively short rest of your life.”

[Aeron]: “Oh, this is too good. Some rainbow-spewing zombie is going to defeat me?”

[ASR]: “That’s the gist of it, yes.”

Aeron chuckled for a couple moments before shooting All☆Star Requiem a sharp glare.

[Aeron]: “Try me.”

[Cut to the underground base, where Alpha Team is fighting off the remaining assassins as Moranna is making her way to the room on the upper level.]

[F3]: “Hey, I think I know how to take these guys down all at once!”

[Herc]: (Smacking away an assassin with his shield) “Does it involve sleep dust?”

[F3]: “And lots of it!”

Herc sighed and motioned for the team to reconvene near the elevator. They did so as quickly as possible, with Herc and Nova setting up shields to cover them.

[Herc]: “Alright, what’s this big idea?”

[F3]: “Look, my sleep dust doesn’t have much range. I can shoot it a few meters, more if I bunch it up and lob it, but it’s still sort of inconvenient.”

[Reaper]: “If you could get to the point, please.”

[F3]: (Points to Herc and Nova) “How good are you two at making fans?”

[Nova]: “...I think I’m liking this plan already.”

[Cut to All☆Star Requiem and Aeron facing off. ASR is shooting multiple rainbow beams at Aeron, who is doing his best to dodge out of the way.]

[ASR]: “You can’t keep this up forever!”

[Aeron]: “Fortunately, I don’t have to! Black Hole Sun!”

Black Hole Sun appeared in a flash of red energy and created a field of darkness around himself and Aeron, absorbing the rainbow beams into his body.

[Black Hole Sun]: “You certainly took your time summoning me.”

[Aeron]: “With any luck, I’ll be able to turn that into a habit. Take care of this idiot, would ya?”

[Black Hole Sun]: “Which one?”

[Aeron]: “I swear to god Ego, I am not in the mood!”

[Black Hole Sun]: “Calling me by my own name. You must really be pissed.”

[Aeron]: “Shut up and kill him!”

Black Hole Sun turned and flew over to All☆Star Requiem, grabbing a hold of his neck and attempting to absorb his thermal energy.

This did not work.

[ASR]: “Hard to take what isn’t there in the first place, isn’t it?!”

All☆Star Requiem kneed Black Hole Sun in the gut, grabbing his face before he could recover.

[ASR]: “Neat trick, though. I think I’ll try!”

All☆Star Requiem began absorbing Black Hole Sun’s thermal energy, quickly freezing him over. Frost began to form on his body as the air surrounding him cooled.

[ASR]: “Hey, Aeron! Catch!”

All☆Star Requiem tossed the frozen Black Hole Sun at Aeron, who casually swatted him out of the way, shattering his body in the process.

[Aeron]: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my aliens are rather disposable compared to yours.”

[ASR]: “I have, and it’s a royal pain in the ass!”

[Aeron]: “Not my problem. Clockwork!”

Clockwork appeared in a burst of red energy, swiftly stopping time around Aeron.

[Clockwork]: “What’s wrong? Can’t take him?”

[Aeron]: “I don’t really know at this point. I just became a vampire like ten minutes ago though, so I’d rather not take any chances.”

[Clockwork]: “Hm. Onto the next timeline?”

[Aeron]: “You know it.”

Clockwork sighed and opened up a portal beneath him and Aeron, closing it behind them as they dropped through. Time resumed, leaving a very irritated All☆Star Requiem alone in the castle halls.

[ASR]: “What the-god dammit! Not again!”

All☆Star Requiem reached for the StarTrix symbol, but paused upon hearing a set of footsteps walking down the hall behind him.

[ASR]: (Thinking) ‘I swear to god, if this is another vampire or something, I am going to kick someone’s ass.’

[Cut to the room where Orion and the unnamed figure are sitting, discussing the final terms of their deal. All of a sudden, the door to the room slams open, revealing a very irate Moranna.]

[???]: “What the hell?! Who are you?!”

[Moranna]: “Moranna Ceres. You’re the current leader of the guild, I presume?”

[???]: “Wait a moment...Ceres...I recognize that name.” (Thinks for a few moments) “Hold on! You’re that human brat that left the guild and got the founder and everyone on the Earth and Selus strike forces found and arrested! It’s because of you that the guild’s been wasting away!”

[Moranna]: “And I plan to put it out of its misery once and for all!”

[???]: “Orion, do something about this!”

[Orion]: “As I recall, it was I that hired you and your forces as a private army.”

[???]: “But you-”

[Orion]: “Have absolutely nothing to do with this. This seems like unresolved inner conflict, so I believe the burden of handling it falls onto your shoulders. Besides...”

Orion walked over to the room’s window and looked out over the base, the bottom half of which was currently filled with sleep dust being blown into the room from the elevator.

[Orion]: “It appears as if your forces are out for the count anyways. Consider our deal off.”

[???]: “You can’t just-”

[Orion]: “Yes, I can. I’ve wasted enough time here already.” (Pulls out a small communicator) “Ophiuchus, bring me out.”

Orion suddenly vanished from the room, having presumably been teleported away by Ophiuchus. Moranna wasted no time in drawing her blade and cornering the figure, who drew out a taydenite-coated sword in response.

[Moranna]: (Scoffs) “Now I remember you. You’re Baxtrius, the second in command. Bang-up job you’ve been doing as the actual leader.”

[Baxtrius]: “I don’t need to take criticism from some backstabbing waif!”

[Moranna]: “You always did have a massive ego. Too bad you can’t back it up.”

[Baxtrius]: (Seething) “Why, you little...I’ll kill you for that!”

Baxtrius lunged at Moranna, wildly swinging her sword at her. Moranna calmly countered with her blade, fending off each strike. On the last swing, Moranna slid underneath the sword and behind Baxtrius, placing a small device of some sort on her gun.

[Moranna]: “You get worked up too easily.”

[Baxtrius]: (Whirls around) “I’ll show you worked up!”

Baxtrius pulled out a heat grenade and lobbed it at Moranna, who swiftly rolled out of the way as it hit the ground and exploded.

[Baxtrius]: “You think you can just break in here and take me down on your own?! Who’s the one with the ego here?!”

[Moranna]: “I admittedly didn’t imagine things going exactly like this. But that’s the thing about humans...”

Moranna suddenly grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it over her knee, throwing the splintered shards of wood at Baxtrius, who was forced to dodge out of the way.

[Moranna]: “We’re fairly adaptable.”

As Baxtrius was dodging, Moranna figured out where her next step would land and quickly tossed a chunk of wood under her, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Before she could recover, Moranna had already tossed aside her sword and grabbed her by the neck of her uniform, lifting her into the air.

[Baxtrius]: (Angrily) “Wh-why are you doing all this?! Why couldn’t you just leave us alone?!”

[Moranna]: “This organization abducted me and transformed me into an emotionless killing machine. I was lucky enough to find people that helped me build a normal life, but I wanted to make sure you could never do that to another person ever again.”

Moranna tossed Baxtrius to the floor, turning away and walking to the door.

[Moranna]: “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn yourself in. If not...you’ll be receiving another visit.”

Baxtrius shook in barely-contained rage as Moranna walked away, her eyes twitching wildly.

[Baxtrius]: (Thinking) '' ‘You think you can turn your back on me without killing me?! I don’t know if you’re arrogant or just plain stupid, but either way, you’re going to regret that!’ ''

Baxtrius silently rose to her feet and pulled out her gun, aiming it directly at the back of Moranna’s head and quickly pulling the trigger.

Nothing happened.

[Moranna]: “...You would’ve been better off just waiting for the Plumbers.”

[Baxtrius]: “Wh-what?!”

The remaining heat grenades in Baxtrius’s utility belt suddenly began beeping.

[Baxtrius]: “What did you do?!”

[Moranna]: “While you were swiping at me earlier, I placed a signal transfer bug on your gun, disabling it and setting the trigger to activate your heat grenades. If you weren’t this worked up, you probably would’ve noticed.”

[Baxtrius]: “I-impossible! Where did you get that kind of technology?!”

[Moranna]: “Let’s just say I know a guy who’s good with tech.”

Baxtrius tried lunging at Moranna, who simply kicked her back and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

[Baxtrius]: “NO! DAMN YO-”

Baxtrius was cut off by the heat grenades exploding, instantaneously burning her in a fiery inferno. Moranna sighed in frustration and made her way over to the scaffolding’s railing, looking down over the room. The sleep dust had settled, leaving the remaining assassins knocked out.

[Moranna]: “If I never have to deal with this damned guild again, it’ll still be too soon.”

[Cut back to the castle’s stone hallway, where All☆Star Requiem is carefully listening to the footsteps approaching.]

[???]: “And who are you supposed to be?”

All☆Star Requiem whipped around and created a ray of light from his hand, holding it out in front of himself. Standing directly in the beam of light was Rozalio, who was squinting with an annoyed expression on his face.

[Rozalio]: “If you could stop shining that directly in my face, please, I would be ever so appreciative.”

[ASR]: (Lowers arm) “Oh, sorry, my bad. Thought you might’ve been a vampire or something.”

[Rozalio]: “I am a vampire.”

[ASR]: “What?”

It was then that All☆Star Requiem noticed Rozalio’s skin sparkling with light for a moment before the effect wore off.

[ASR]: “I have several questions.”

[Rozalio]: “It’s a light refraction spell that transfers light over my skin to various “spark points” where it can safely dissipate. It took me years to perfect, but I’d say it’s perfectly worth it.”

Rozalio began walking away, prompting Theo to transform back into human and begin following him.

[Theo]: “Hold on, so you’re actually a vampire? Do you know how Aeron got turned into one?”

[Rozalio]: “I assume you’re talking about the pale-skinned boy with a less than impressive head on his shoulders.”

[Theo]: “Right. I’ve been chasing him all over the multiverse, and this new development really isn’t going to help the situation.”

[Rozalio]: “In that case, I must apologize. I turned him into a vampire without realizing the difficulties it might impose on others.”

[Theo]: “Wait, you’re the one who turned him into-” (Sighs) “Well, that’s just great. Is there any way to undo that?”

[Rozalio]: “No.”

[Theo]: “Shit.”

[Rozalio]: “However, I may be able to help you in a different manner.”

[Theo]: “What do you mean?”

[Rozalio]: “Follow me, please.”

Rozalio and Theo walked through the castle’s halls for a few minutes, eventually arriving in Rozalio’s study. Rozalio walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a few books, placing his hand inside the hole they left. After a few moments, there was a small click, and the shelf next to it swung open, revealing a small room.

[Theo]: “That doesn’t seem like the best security system.”

[Rozalio]: “It only opens for me. Besides, even if it opened for everyone, my usual security system of zombies and skeletons should keep any snooping troublemakers out. How did you get past those, anyways?”

[Theo]: “Those were your security system? I, uh...mighta punched them all to death. My bad.”

[Rozalio]: “No big loss. I can simply reconstitute their bodies. Again. In any case...”

Rozalio entered the small room behind the shelves, emerging from it a moment later, carrying a small, ornate fob watch.

[Rozalio]: “Out of all the artifacts I’ve discovered over the years, this one may just be the most precious, even more so than my World Brace.”

Rozalio flipped open the watch, revealing the clock face inside to be written in strange, otherworldly symbols, while the clock hands seemed to be moving counterclockwise.

[Theo]: “What is it?”

[Rozalio]: “This is the Celestial Clock. I had to search all over the planet for centuries to finally track it down, but it was more than worth it in my eyes.”

[Theo]: “Why? What does it do?”

[Rozalio]: “This watch is rumored to have been created by a member of an extraterrestrial race known as “Celestialsapiens”. I’m still deciphering the full extent of its history and functionality, but I was able to glean at least two things for certain from the hieroglyphs covering the ruins I found it in. First, it was created to somehow counter some sort of inter-dimensional timeline-destroying being, though I’m not sure what that might be. Second, this number right here” (points to a small, glowing rune in the bottom left of the clock face) “goes down every time this “entity”, so to speak, destroys a timeline. Beyond those two facts, most of the glyphs were too worn to read.”

[Theo]: “What does this thing have to do with Aeron?”

[Rozalio]: “I managed to figure out one of its more unique abilities on my own. All you have to do is hold onto it and press the button on the top, and it will show you visions of your future. For example, when I first found it, it showed me discovering a new thunder spell somewhere down the line. Of course, with the knowledge I gained from that, I was able to discover the spell earlier, creating an odd sort of time loop. I suppose creating those is another one of its functions.”

[Theo]: “So you want me to look into my own future and see if that helps me catch Aeron?”

[Rozalio]: “Correct.”

[Theo]: “Well, it’s better than nothing.”

Rozalio handed the Celestial Clock to Theo, who gripped it tightly in his right hand. Taking a deep breath, he pressed down on the button on top of the watch.

Nothing happened.

[Theo]: “Uh...am I doing this right?”

[Rozalio]: “I believe so, but I admit, I’m not even close to fully figuring this thing out. Try again.”

Theo shrugged and pressed down on the button again. Almost immediately, he became surrounded by pitch-black darkness and complete silence. It was as if the universe itself had vanished.

[Theo]: “Uh...hello?”

After a few moments of receiving no reply, Theo turned around, only to find a tall figure in intimidating black armor staring down at him wordlessly.

[Theo]: “Who are you?”

The dark figure stared at him in silence for a few moments before suddenly turning and beginning to walk away. Theo attempted to reach towards it, but was interrupted by the ground unexpectedly falling out from beneath him.

[Theo]: “What the hell?!”

Theo suddenly hit the ground with a large thud. Groaning in pain, he slowly pulled himself to his feet and looked around, finding himself in what appeared to be a door-less room in a spacious library of some sort.

Said library was absolutely covered in blood and gore. Theo looked down to find his hands covered in blood, presumably from pushing himself off the ground.

[Theo]: “...This is going to be one of those days, isn’t it?”

After walking around the room a few times to see if there was anything there, Theo simply stood in place for a few moments, utterly confused. All of a sudden, the unmistakable sound of bones snapping came from across the room, prompting him to whirl around and see what was going on.

Across the room from him was what appeared to be Bomb 2 Hell, covered in blood and viciously smashing apart the charred skeletal remains of what had clearly once been a person. After a few moments, Bomb 2 Hell suddenly stopped assaulting the remains and turned its head to stare at Theo. There was a tense period of silence as the two stared wordlessly at each other.

[Theo]: (Thinking)  ‘Is that...me?’ 

Theo’s reflection on the situation was swiftly interrupted by Bomb 2 Hell suddenly charging at him. Its movements were unnerving, resembling those of a wounded animal more than those of a sentient being.

Theo took this as his cue to get the hell out of there.

As he ran to the opposite side of the room, a door suddenly appeared where there had been none before. Deciding not to question this sudden development, Theo flung the door open and began running through a long hallway lined with shelves of books. Bomb 2 Hell was slowly gaining on him, and it seemed that no matter how fast Theo ran, Bomb 2 Hell would eventually overtake him

As the feral alien was about to grab onto Theo, the floor fell out from under him again, sending him falling through seemingly infinite blackness. After a few moments of this, Theo’s eyes suddenly snapped back open in the real world, the shock of the experience sending him tripping backwards. He lost his grip on the Celestial Watch, allowing it to fall to the floor.

[Rozalio]: (Eyes wide) “What happened? What did you see?”

[Theo]: (Pulling himself up off the ground and grabbing the Celestial Clock) “I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t really want to know. Thanks for trying to help, but I think I should probably just leave.”

Theo handed the Celestial Clock to Rozalio and turned to walk out of the room.

[Rozalio]: “...I see. Two last things before you go.”

Rozalio walked up next to Theo and held the Celestial Clock up in front of them, pointing to the clock hands.

[Rozalio]: “First, something odd happened to the Celestial Clock around twenty-five years ago. One day, out of the blue, the clock hands simply stopped moving. I was never able to figure out why, but the hands only began moving again a few months ago.”

[Theo]: “Do you think it means something?”

[Rozalio]: “There’s definitely a meaning behind it, but I don’t know what it is. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you to keep an eye out for any temporal anomalies that might be related to this. We don’t want to take any chances.”

[Theo]: “Fair enough. I’ll come back here and let you know if I find anything.”

[Rozalio]: “Thank you. As for the second thing...”

Rozalio hovered out of the room, returning a few minutes later with the stone tablet he had used with Aeron earlier.

[Theo]: “What’s that?”

[Rozalio]: “This is the Measuring Stone. By placing your hand on the main part of the tablet, the Stone can show your overall magic type and potential. For example, when I place my hand on it...”

Rozalio placed his right hand on the tablet, causing the rune at the top to light up with an intense yellow glow.

[Rozalio]: “The yellow color indicates that my strongest field of magic is electricity magic, and the bright glow indicates that I have immense potential as a magic user, most of which I have fulfilled already.”

[Theo]: “And you want to see what this thing reads for me?”

[Rozalio]: (Nods) “I’ve been looking for someone to apprentice in the field of magic for a while now. Preferably someone that could conceivably learn what I have to teach within their own natural lifespan.”

[Theo]: “I guess I’ll give it a go, but I wouldn’t expect too much if I were you.”

[Rozalio]: “You never know.”

Theo placed his right hand on the tablet. Almost immediately, the rune on top lit up with a white light, shining almost as brightly as it did for Rozalio, who grinned as Theo pulled his hand back in surprise.

[Rozalio]: “Well, it appears you have some immense potential in the field of celestial magic. I’m impressed.”

[Theo]: “That’s kinda...weird. I’ve never felt particularly tuned in to mana or magic or whatever.”

[Rozalio]: “The capability to use magic doesn’t come from being “naturally tuned into it”, though that may help. It comes from being able to adapt and grow your inner life force to be at one with the forces you attempt to control.”

[Theo]: “...Well, I guess the adaptability part makes this a bit more sensible.”

[Rozalio]: “Good to hear. So, would you be interested in learning magic from me?”

[Theo]: “Would it help me take down Aeron?”

[Rozalio]: “Celestial magic is incredibly useful against creatures of the night, such as vampires, so I would say “yes” to that inquiry.”

[Theo]: “In that case, hell yeah. Not now, though. It’s been a long day, and I really should get home.”

[Rozalio]: “Understandable.”

Theo pulled up the StarTrix and transformed into Final Countdown.

[Rozalio]: “Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever got your name, or vice versa. My name is Rozalio Gold.”

[Final Countdown]: “Oh, yeah, I totally spaced it on that one. Anyways, I’m Theodore Logical. Nice to meet you.”

[Rozalio]: “Same to you.”

Final Countdown nodded and exited the room via a portal that closed up behind him. After staring at empty space for a few moments, Rozalio turned and casually placed the Celestial Clock in its proper place.

[Rozalio]: “This has certainly been an eventful day.”

[Cut to the surface above the guild’s base, where a full Plumber unit has shown up to arrest the remaining guild members. Moranna is standing off to the side as the Alpha Team is speaking with the Plumbers. After a while, everyone in the base is cleared out and arrested, prompting the Plumbers to take their leave. While the rest of the Alpha Team is talking amongst themselves, Nova walks over to Moranna.]

[Nova]: “You doing okay? You still haven’t gotten anything done about that chest wound.”

[Moranna]: (Nods) “It’ll heal within a couple days. I suppose that’s something I have to thank the guild for.”

[Nova]: “Oh. Neat.”

[Moranna]: “That’s one way to put it.”

[Nova]: “Say, what are you gonna do about the AemuTrix? Are you going to see if Xr. Nullamor can fix it?”

[Moranna]: “No need. It’s taken me over twenty five years of investigation and intervention, but I think I’m finally done with this chapter of my life.”

[Nova]: “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Do you need a ride home?”

[Moranna]: “Who’s driving?”

Nova gestured to F3, who was currently struggling to get the minivan’s side door open.

[Moranna]: “...I think I’ll just have Isaac teleport me home. Assuming he still remembers he has the Kanipoto transformation, that is.”

[Nova]: “Okay. See you later!”

Nova ran over to the rest of the Alpha Team, swiftly grabbing the minivan’s side door and sliding it open herself before climbing in, much to F3’s surprise. Moranna watched the van drive out of the area with a slightly bemused expression. After a few moments, she picked up her cell phone and called Isaac.

[Moranna]: “Hi, Isaac? Two things. First, could you pick me up real quick? I’ll explain when you get here.” (Waits a few moments for him to reply) “Okay. Second...we are going to have a very long talk with Theodore when he gets home.”

[Cut to Theo walking up to his house later at night.]

[Theo]: “Ugh. As if I didn’t have enough stuff to worry about, Aeron’s a vampire now and my “future” looks bat-shit insane. I just hope nothing else will pop up any time soo-”

Theo opened the front door and cut himself off while speaking, finding his parents waiting for him in the hallway with very cross expressions. After a few moments of awkward silence, Theo slowly began backing out the door.

[Isaac]: (Firmly) “Get back in here, young man. We have a lot to talk about.”

[Theo]: (Sighs) “Well, crap.”

[Cut to a dark room in an unknown location. A figure cloaked in darkness is staring at a crystal ball in apparent confusion, tapping their head in thought.]

[???]: “...Interesting. I’m not sure who this “Jester” is, but it appears as if he’s thrown a bit of a wrench into things. Whether he realized it or not, his tampering with the StarTrix has activated the nanomachines’ fail-safe. This could prove...problematic.”

After a few moments, the figure chuckled to itself.

[???]: “Then again, if his performance against the undead was any indication, he should survive as long as I need him to just fine. Failing that...”

The figure snapped its fingers, causing the crystal ball to evaporate away into bluish smoke.

[???]: (Grins) “The Jester isn’t the only reality warper capable of interfering.”

Major Events

 * Details about Nova's mother are revealed.
 * Nova's Plumber Team officially deem themselves the "Alpha Team"
 * Rozalio Gold and Undead Ed make their Star Spirit debuts.
 * Moranna is revealed to have been investigating the Assassin's Guild.
 * The Assassin's Guild appears for the first time since Rebooted and is fully disbanded.
 * The Jester makes his Star Spirit debut.
 * Theo's Human STAR form is unlocked
 * The StarTrix Requiem's nanomachines have their "failsafe" activated.
 * Aeron is turned into a vampire.
 * The AemuTrix is destroyed.
 * All☆Star Requiem makes his debut.
 * Isaac and Moranna find out about Theo hopping timelines.
 * Theo agrees to learn magic from Rozalio Gold.

Protagonists

 * Theodore Logical
 * Nova Eldridge
 * Herc
 * F3
 * Pyros
 * Reaper
 * Moranna Ceres

Antagonists

 * Aeron
 * Ego
 * Undead Army
 * Assassin's Guild (Disbanded)
 * Baxtrius (Debut; Death)

Neutral

 * Rozalio Gold

Minor

 * Alpha
 * Undead Ed
 * Orion

By Theo

 * Final Countdown (x2)
 * Kugelblitz
 * Broken Dream Boulevard
 * Rolling Stone
 * All☆Star
 * All☆Star Requiem

By Aeron

 * Clockwork (x2)
 * Overtide
 * Black Hole Sun

By Moranna

 * Briiz