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rainsonata · 4 years ago

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Doppelgänger 13/15

Chapter 13: Transformation

Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none Rating: T Word Count: 10,034

Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one’s reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.

Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves

AO3 Link I FF.NET Link

— [Chapter 01] [Chapter 02] [Chapter 03] [Chapter 04] [Chapter 05] [Chapter 06] [Chapter 07] [Chapter 08] [Chapter 09] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] —

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Class Notes:

Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen

Alternative Path: Rune Master, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter

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Herrscher

Immortal’s friends called it the Demon Realm. Demons referred to the region they have arrived at as Varnimyr, a land of darkness inhabited by the Dark Elves and demonic creatures. This Demon Realm was similar to the one Herrscher and Immortal’s friends came from. It was in the sword user’s interest to regroup with the rest of the El Search Party, or what was left of it, to acquire the Dark El. Herrscher no longer cared for the El, but it was important to Immortal.

Unlike Immortal’s friends, he wasn’t as concerned about the trivial details of concepts like timelines and dimensions. Herrscher went wherever Immortal went. Humans, elves, and demons were not aware that timelines and dimensions overlapped with each other. How could they be when most were more concerned about themselves?

“Why do we bother waiting for them?” Paradox was referring to their counterparts. In his child form, the time traveler groaned. “We can’t stay longer than we should.”

“When did you start to care about that? You made it very difficult to find you.” Offering his hand to Herrscher, the redhead felt how cold and lifeless the other being’s hands were, “Are you okay, Ain? I didn’t come too late, did I?”

Herrscher shook his head. Fighting Richter would not be an inconvenience, he wanted to tell Immortal. He would have been able to deflect his alternate’s attacks but accepted his friend’s concern.

Lying on the floor with his face half turned, Herrscher took Immortal’s hand without hesitation, noting how warm they were in contrast to his. He too used to possess the same warmth humans had. Without attachments to the Goddess, he was beyond redemption, yet Immortal allowed him to stay by the swordsman’s side.

“You weren’t supposed to find me,” Paradox sneered.

If looks could kill, Immortal would have been six feet under from the glares Paradox was sending to the multiweapon user. Herrscher couldn't understand why Immortal placed trust in him (“A bad decision, really.” Paradox quipped. Herrscher agreed.). Appearing when opportunities of scourging the El arose, Paradox’s appearances were sporadic with no apparent objective in mind. His unorthodox fighting style made him a formidable ally, but only when their objectives happened to align.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Herrscher let a breeze cool down his core from its excessive use. Dimension traveling was more of Metamorphy’s area of practice than his, which was manipulating and traveling in between the void of the abyss. Not that Immortal understood that no matter how many times he explained it.

“Finding you was such a hassle,” Immortal complained. “Do you know how many dimensions it took to get here? Did you know there’s a dimension where people pay millions of ED to watch girls like Aisha sing?”

“Why should I care?” Paradox deadpanned.

“There was a dimension where we were all maids,” Immortal ignored the snide question. He grabbed Paradox by the shoulders and dropped his voice into a stage whisper, “You wore pigtails and said some very rude things to me.”

With little clues to where Paradox could have gone, it took Herrscher and Immortal several attempts to guess the correct coordinates. Herrscher was omniscient to what happened in the void, but not what happened to inhabitants in other dimensions. Immortal proclaimed he had a hunch for the fifth time before Metamorphy unceremoniously took over the team despite the younger man’s protesting. It appeared that Metamorphy did not place as much trust in their leader as Herrscher did, but he had to acknowledge that their method was not efficient in finding Paradox.

“Where are the other losers?” Paradox searched for the fourth member of their team.

“You mean our friends?” Immortal snickered when he caught the time traveler scowling. “Come on, did you think I would be that irresponsible to bring a bunch of people with me?”

“Why would that be a problem?” Furious Blade examined Paradox’s child form. He didn’t explicitly voice his thoughts, but his emotions were clear from the confusion in his knitted brows to the existence of the time traveler. “Tell me what happens if there are too many of us.”

“Having all of you here is making everything unstable,” Paradox said with a bored expression. “When there are too many of you, it overwhelms the dimension until it’s forced to reset itself by destroying everything inside it.”

“Which is funny because that means some of you will stop having noses and turn flat like a pancake,” Immortal laughed. “Then the sky turns upside down and you’re breathing underwater.”

“Not funny,” Paradox growled, displeased by Immortal’s side comment. “If I have to clean up another mess you made one more time, I’m leaving you here.”

“That’s cruel,” Immortal chuckled. “Anyway, it’s impossible to get everyone here.” He stopped smiling and leaned his head back. His eyes turned glassy and his voice became quieter, “I haven’t seen Elesis in weeks and I’m not sure where Lu and Ciel went.”

Herrscher exchanged a dark look to Paradox, who averted his gaze and feigned a yawn of disinterest. The time traveler’s face relaxed, but the rest of his body was tense and his shoulders rose to the mentions of Bloody Queen. Restless and unable to remain idle in the wake of the El’s instability, she disappeared one night with a cryptic note that spoke little of her whereabouts. Immortal shrugged it off as his sister leaving with good intentions, but Herrscher had come to understand that he was doing what humans called a facade. Their leader was pretending that he wasn’t bothered by his sister having gone missing.

Iblis and Anular’s presence was as erratic as Paradox, coming and going whenever Immortal and his friends were fighting bigger monsters and demons. Anular was nothing more than a shadow of his former self, silently following his master without raising his voice. He was what Herrscher was if he still had devotion for his creator. There was nothing but the void to answer his calls.

“Why did you look for me?” Paradox asked.

“Can’t a guy call his friend when he misses him?” Immortal feigned a hurt expression.

His eyes grew bigger in what he called ‘puppy eyes’. Herrscher didn’t see the resemblance because Immortal wasn’t a canine with ears and a tail. However, it was a human expression used when the late Sieghart wanted something from the person he was talking to.

“Spare me the excuses.” Paradox rolled his eyes.

“Fine, you’re no fun.” Immortal dropped the farce and snorted, “We tried to get back into the Demon Realm, but got lost because we don’t have the right coordinates. So we went to look for you since that’s your thing.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then we’ll be stuck here to annoy you until you help us,” Immortal said with a lazy grin.

Light flashed around Paradox. His limbs elongated into thin lanky appendages and his hair reached to his ankles. As an adult, he was almost a head taller than Immortal. He looked down at the redhead and crossed his arms as the two of them engaged in a staring contest.

“Tada~ Raven and I are finally here!” A small shadow appeared with one hand on their hip and flashing a victory pose. “Sorry to keep you waiting ♥.”

“There were more demons than we anticipated,” Nova Imperator apologized. Dressed in black and red, the former leader of the Black Crows carried a heavy blade over his shoulder with a Nasod arm. Towering over Metamorphy, he made quiet footsteps and always placed care in his words.

“I knew they didn’t come without you,” Paradox continued leering at their leader.

“Hey, don’t ignore a girl when she talks to you!” Metamorphy growled. Walking between the two men, she had to tilt her head back to glower at Paradox. She jabbed a glove finger into his chest where the glowing core was. “Do you know how long it took us to figure out which dimension you were in?”

“Yes, yes, Elbrat told me.” Paradox rolled his eyes again. “And I suppose you’re going to say I messed up this dimension too.”

“Yes, you did!” She waved her arm in reference to the corrupted sky, “Look at it, it’s tearing itself apart!”

Ms. Magical Girl was correct with the sky breaking up like the static of primitive human devices Immortal once found under wreckage in Altera. Deep shades of red and violet cracked beneath the sea of blue, giving a crackled effect from the shards created by Paradox portals. Herrscher had visited many dimensions, but seeing structures of the current one become undone reminded him of Henir.

“That’s flattering, but not everything is my fault.” Paradox cackled, “I’m not the one bringing over extra people to break the dimension further.”

“So it’s my fault because he wouldn’t stop asking me where you went?” Metamorphy gestured to Immortal. “He kept saying ‘Add would help!’ and now you’re acting smart with me?”

“I’m already smart,” the man smirked.

Metamorphy screamed.

“Aisha, no!” Immortal fought to pull the staff away from Metamorphy. “You can’t hit our ride home!”

The magical girl held her staff high with both hands like a baseball bat, tilting it to one side and aiming for Paradox. She lost her balance and fell headfirst into the ground when Immortal wrestled to stop her.

“It’s always ‘Aisha, take us to Elrios’, ‘Aisha, we need to get to the Demon Realm’. We looked for this guy because you asked nicely,” Metamorphy sat up and dusted herself. “I’m the only one who can do that because this brat only shows up when he feels like it. Ain only does it when Elsword tells him to.”

“That’s why I need you to stop fighting long enough so we can get home.” Immortal let out an exasperated sigh, “I don’t need us to break another dimension.”

“Another?” Blade repeated.

“It must be confusing and overwhelming to see all of us,” Nova slapped his hand over Paradox’s shoulder. “Hope our lost cat didn’t give you trouble. How many of you are there?”

Paradox scowled; he shoved Nova’s hand aside and hissed in being compared to a small animal. Even in his adult form, he appeared shorter than his actual height with his head lowered and having a crouched back. His tails twitched and coiled against his thigh like an angry feline.

Unoffended by the time traveler’s rejection, Nova exchanged a sheepish smile to Blade’s wary one.

“Twenty-four. He kidnapped one of our friends,” Blade said without tact.

Herrscher heard footsteps from behind them. There were many of them. It sounded like there were at least half a dozen of them. A deep frown indented into Herrscher’s features, unable to recognize the sound of the strangers’ footsteps. They belonged to people he had not met before. They must be the people Daybreaker coaxed Richter into alerting about their presence.

“They’re here,” Herrscher said.

A man stormed into their circle with a wild look in his eyes, his face identical to Paradox’s. Having a set of Nasods circling around the scientist, Dominator walked around half-dressed with bed hair and his jacket sliding down one shoulder. The sleep-deprived scientist ignored Herrscher’s presence but gawked at Paradox, recognizing his own face in a mix of awe and disgust.

“There’s five of them now?” Dominator stopped to catch his breath.

“You’re already out of breath? You don’t look like you’re used to doing more than lifting a pen.” Empire observed Immortal’s friends bickering, “They all look and act so different.”

“We arrived as soon as we heard from Richter about new people coming,” Crusader was behind Dominator. “Has there been any conflict?”

“No,” Blade shook his head. “It looks like they’re here to take back Paradox. They came here with the help of their Aisha and Ain. Those two seem to have control over dimension and space.”

Eyes turned to Herrscher, who was standing as still as the dead trees the Dark Elves used to make their bows at the edge of Varnimyr. Not as talkative as his teammates, Herrscher was one to let others discuss what was needed to fulfill their needs. There was little to be added to the conversation when they could continue talking without him.

“You’re Ain?” Empire stared.

“Yes,” Herrscher said. “Is there something you want to address with me?”

“N-no,” she waved both hands and shook her head.

Queen’s alternate momentarily lost her composure and gawked at the celestial. Herrscher didn’t mind the stares, but the captain of the Velder Knights did. Forcing her eyes away, Empire turned her head and faked a cough. Her face tinged pink from the blood rushing up to her cheeks as she mumbled an apology for her rudeness. Herrscher never would have seen such a display of emotions from Immortal’s sister.

“Their team has three people with dimensional powers?” Dominator frowned.

“Other members of the party are on their way,” Ultimate reported. The Nasod queen of destruction gazed at Paradox’s adult form, analyzing the time traveler’s machines and processing the data from the rest of the third El Search Party. “Rena said it was urgent.”

“She makes it sound scarier than it actually is,” Crusader chuckled. “It’s like a giant union party. I didn’t think more people would show up.”

“Let’s hope there aren’t more,” Dominator had a dark expression. “According to Dynamo, we’re pushing this dimension at its limits.”

“Who’s fault was that?” Blade deadpanned.

“Are you placing the blame on me?” Dominator feigned a surprised gasp.

“Yes,” Ultimate and Blade said.

Worn down with heavy eyelids, the former mercenary rested his human arm over the base of his blade. He, the elf, and Ishmael’s idol were on watch and patrol when Herrscher found them by Immortal’s orders. Their whispers reached into the depths of the woods where Herrscher overheard their conversation. Relaxed and without concern for the dangerous world around them, Daybreaker and Richter’s conversion reminded Herrscher of a more innocent time. When Herrscher first met Twilight and was curious about her upbringing in an elven village, before he lost sight of the Goddess and could no longer hear her.

“Then who was the one who kidnapped Elbrat and made us go on this mad chase?” Dominator huffed.

“We can blame each other all day, but that’s beside the point.” Empire said, “Look, I know our actions have made us look bad.”

“Taking Elsword hostage increased our stay and the likelihood of the dimension becoming unstable,” Ultimate stated.

“Taking hostage?” Crusader laughed nervously, “Those are strong words, Ultimate.”

“I know,” she said.

“Yes, that.” Empire agreed, “but we cornered Paradox. My brother said he could control time and space. Can’t he return everyone back to their dimensions and reset everything? That should reverse the damage, right?”

“Can you do that?” Metamorphy looked at Paradox.

“If that was the case, then I wouldn’t be here,”the time traveler said.

There were two instances Paradox left an impression on Herrscher. When they first met, Paradox was known as Diabolic Esper and caused a wreckage in Hamel to rescue their leader. The second time was when Paradox returned from the Forgotten Elrian Sanctum, laughing and crying about how he couldn’t save Her. Despite having powers beyond human technology, Paradox rarely smiled.

“That brings us back to the drawing board,” Crusader groaned.

“I should have known at least one version of myself would actually attempt time travel after talking to the meathead.” Dominator paused, “Wait. Why are you smiling at me?”

“Did you enjoy my present?” Teeth exposed, Paradox bared a wide grin. “It was sad seeing you try so hard to jump dimensions.”

Dominator fumed.

“You made us enter the wrong dimension?” Blade asked.

“He made those coordinates, not me.” Paradox shrugged, “I just gave the device a power boost.”

“What were you doing in their dimension?” Nova asked.

Paradox giggled for an answer.

“If we don’t act quickly, things will get worse.” Empire looked to Metamorphy for answers, “Isn’t there something we can do? We told the El Masters we would retrieve the Dark El, but we also promised to protect the people that live here.”

“Protecting demons? How chivalrous and unlike you,” Metamorphy said with a coy smile. “There’s one person who might be able to fix your problem. Perhaps we can ask for his help, right, Add?”

Paradox hissed.

“Who is it?” Immortal asked.

“Why are you acting like you don’t know?” Metamorphy shook him by the shoulders, “You’re pretending to be funny, right?”

“Actually…” Immortal scratched the base of his neck with a sheepish laugh.

“Dimension has reached its capacity,” Ultimate interrupted the two. “We have fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds to evacuate and resolve the issue before this dimension disintegrates.”

“This can’t be good,” Nova sighed.

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Nova Imperator

Crimson bled into the deeper indigos, casting away the night and molten light peering past the dusted clouds. Wind picked up loose strands of Nova’s hastily done ponytail. Portals cracked split the skies into smaller fragments, crystals forming around the edges like the ones created by Paradox. Fireballs escaped from portals and crashed at their feet, sending seismic waves through the ground. An unsettling feeling rose from the pit of his stomach as the former mercenary shielded his eyes.

Empire drew her blade and stabbed it into the ground for stability. The captain knight held her ground with gritted teeth. She kneeled down and clamped her eyes shut from the brightness of

the fireballs. Crusader mouthed unheard words over the chaos, reaching out to check on his teammate.

Smoke and fire lingered in the air when the shaking stopped. The fireballs ceased but Nova knew that wasn’t the end of it. The earthquake opened to be brimming with agate and crystals from the Shadow Vein nearby. It wouldn’t be long before demons show up in the wake of the dimension’s demise.

“We need to evacuate everyone,” Nova shouted to his teammates over the chaos.

“There’s twenty-four of them and five of us,” Metamorphy did a quick headcount. “Three of us can take them to a safe place where time and space won’t be affected by all of us existing. This means…”

“Ten people for each of us,” Paradox said. “One of us will only have nine people including ourselves. You two already have the coordinates. I won’t waste time explaining something you two already know.”

For once, Herrscher and Metamorphy didn’t stop to argue the time traveler. Paradox wasn’t an easy person to work with, but was the most familiar with traveling between dimensions. Delaying their evacuation could spell the end for all of them.

“We’re going as smaller groups to find your friends,” Metamorphy explained to the strangers. “Once everyone in our groups are here, we’ll be taking you to a safe place. Why don’t you and Eve come with me?”

His concern mirrored Nova’s. A man who rarely raised his voice, Blade was more comfortable letting others talk while he processed their words. He wore a permanent frown and wasn’t quick to trust, putting thought before he spoke and asking questions before making final decisions.

Ultimate assessed the offer. Examining the new El Search Party with mild interest, Nova caught a faint smile at the edge of her lips. The simple gesture was a reminder that she was sentient and alive, a contrast from the Eve that went by the name Code: Sariel.

“I will join,” Ultimate said after an uncomfortable moment of silence. It was Moby who beeped, bouncing up and down midair in agreement to the Nasod Queen’s decision. “Do you want me to notify the two El Search Parties about the new arrangement?”

“That would be great!” Immortal beamed, “Add will tell you where to meet up and how to split the groups.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Paradox scowled, but pulled out a set of screens to type in the locations and details to send over to Ultimate. “Will this be enough?”

Ultimate didn’t answer immediately. A small ping caused her eyes to briefly light up as the Nasod queen scanned Paradox’s message. With a small nod, her lips quivered as she drafted a message to send to the two El Search parties. Remy beeped once as Ultimate promptly dispatched the memo.

“Thank you, Add.” Ultimate closed her eyes. “We will be meeting them in our respected groups.”

“Hey, you.” Paradox waved his arm over to Dominator. “Edgy brat and the mouse will be with us.”

“I’m edgy?” Immortal looked pleased at what was meant to be an insult.

“Why am I a mouse?” Crusader asked.

“I have a name!” Dominator exclaimed.

Nova had trust that Paradox would stop the group of four from sidetracking. The time traveler was more goal-oriented than Immortal, who sometimes liked to stop and smell the roses. Eye shadows formed under his eyes, likely from lack of sleep and from the amount of energy required in dimensional traveling. The excessive portals in the sky reminded Nova of the man’s antics. He was happy to see Paradox being cooperative with their plan of escape, although the time traveler often took their orders as mere suggestions.

“Is there something you wanted to say to me?” Paradox looked at Nova with suspicion. “Did the brat bring you here to convince me to stay with you losers?”

“Something like that,” Nova laughed. “Good to see we caught up to you before you left. Ain and I were starting to think we wouldn’t find you.”

“I doubt that,” Paradox said. “Am I really worth that effort?”

“Worth it or not, I’m happy to see you will be helping us in evacuating the people we have involved ourselves with.” Nova remarked.

“Yeah, I’m a wonderful person.” Paradox rolled his eyes. “That leaves you with the rest.”

“I’m fine having Ain and Elesis join me,” Nova looked to Herrscher and Empire. “Do you mind?”

Herrscher shook his head.

“We just met, but I will trust you because my teammates do.” Empire agreed.

Before they left, Nova and Immortal made sure they all had the details sent to them by Ultimate based on Paradox’s coordinates. There wasn’t much time before the worse was to come. With little else left to say, Nova made eye contact with the remaining members of the opposing party before parting ways. He had to hope that all of them would act fast enough to avoid premature death. It won’t be long before demons are triggered by the increase of energy coming from the portals.

They headed to the eastern side of the main camp. The sun was starting to sink lower into the horizon when they made their way over with time to spare. Herrscher moved silently beside Nova with no word coming from the abyssal being, a single eye glued to the ground. Empire was more apprehensive, dashing forward with an alert eye over her shoulder with one hand ready to pull out her claymore.

“We’re about five minutes away from our destination,” Nova announced. He slowed himself into a light jog to check the map again. This part of the Demon Realm was similar to the one he and his friends had visited in the past, albeit the falling sky and crumbling dimension.

“Did Paradox make your communicators too?” Empire asked. She showed interest in the devices he and Herrscher possessed.

Designed as an earpiece, each was individually designed to fit comfortably into their owners’ ears. Each device was pristine white with its edges bordered in thin lines of black and pink. Light glowed from its centered blue core marked by a gold trim. With the newest updates, it was able to pick up signals as long as each member was within a short radius.

“No,” Nova said. “Eve did.”

The ground shook. A group of Shadow Drillers emerged from the caverns of the Shadow Vein, scurrying out on their fours and shrieking. Dozens trampled over each other as they struggled to run away from the chaos of the shaking earth. One stepped over another’s tail and snarled. Their cries enraged the rest of the group. One of them made eye contact with Nova and charged.

“Not good,” Nova crossed his blade with a Shadow Driller skull bashing into the base.

“They think we’re the cause of this?” Empire whipped out her claymore. “They’re agitated!”

“Not my concern,” Herrscher said. Pulling his scythe from behind, he produced a white sharpened edge. Dark clouds formed as he suctioned the demons inward to immobilize the frenzied crowd. Black blood squirted out from where Herrscher marked them.

Nova wrestled for control of his blade from a trio of the shadow monsters lunging after his weapon. Flames burst from his Nasod arm to ward off the rest of the Shadow Drillers. Dashing inward, he coated his blade with fire. The demons cried from the intense heat and lashed back.

Red sparks flew from Empire’s blade. She threw herself to the side from a demon curling itself into a ball and rolling out to the red knight. It fired hardened spikes out from the sharp stubs on its body. Empire hissed in pain and let out a warrior cry. Her blade lit up red and gold as she spun around. Demon bodies were tossed into the air and Empire struck through their bodies before they could hit the floor.

Sweat collected at his forehead and energy concentrated from the core of his Nasod arm. Sparks flared from his fingertips. Heat rose and fanned the back of his hair. Flames ignited and burned the demons down, rising higher. Another source of fire exploded from the sides. That wasn’t his flame. A fire demon?

“Sword Fire!” A red-haired man stepped into the flames. He pulled out a great blade and swiped at the masses.

Red runes with the fire insignia became visible in the air. Nova and the demons looked up at the curiosity. The runes glowed a brilliant light before imploding onto their targets, setting the shadow monsters into ablaze. The demons scattered in the surprise ambush, bumping into one another in their attempt to escape.

“Supreme Punishment!” Two figures appeared together.

The enemy was cornered by larger demons summoned by blue flames. The Shadow Drillers and the Shadow Guards whimpered when they were tossed aside. Their eyes glowered at being outnumbered and sank back into the shadows.

“How anticlimactic,” Timoria yawned and pointed to the brawler on her right. “It’s his fault we showed up late. You were the last to wake up.”

“How is it my fault?” Bringer twitched, “You took forever to pack when the elf woke you up first!”

“Lu, it’s too early to argue over something so trivial.” Abysser sighed, “Can’t you take this argument later when we’re evacuated?”

“Sorry to keep you guys waiting!” Rune grinned, “Hope we weren’t being an inconvenience!”

“Is everyone all right?” Daybreaker rushed over to inspect the burns on Nova’s arm. “You should get that checked! You’re losing blood!”

“I’ll heal him,” Bluhen said with an easy smile.

“The dimension will collapse soon,” Herrscher started.

“We are not leaving,” Daybreaker snapped.

Her pale face illuminated under the moon to show the shadow under her eyes. She glared at Herrscher as if challenging the abyssal being to ignore her. Herrscher had a cool expression and lowered his scythe. Nova mouthed a thanks for Herrscher to see. This Rena wasn’t Twilight, but her words still had bite if tempered enough.

In contrast to Herrscher, Bluhen was if someone took the abyssal dweller’s color scheme and saturated it by several shades. Bluhen’s face was framed by bright green eyes and gray feathered hair. Carrying a mischievous smile, there was no weight in his steps as he blasted away the remaining demons before hopping over to Empire with his hands behind his back.

Taking the former mercenary’s injured arm, Bluhen produced a water bottle to clean his wound. Angry red flashed across Nova’s skin. The familiar pain hissed through his pores as Bluhen applied pressure into his wound. Dense light sang through his skin and Nova felt a jolt of energy travel through his body. When he opened his eyes, the wound had closed and appeared to be a few days old. Bluhen didn’t break a sweat. Impressed by the healing magic, Nova commended the priest and thanked him with a curt nod.

“You’re lucky there’s a healer,” Bringer said.

Nova looked up from where he sat to see a set of narrowed eyes. The brawler crossed his arms with a haughty look on his face. This was Add? Lacking the black sclera, Bringer made himself appear bigger by standing with a straight back and had more color in his complexion than Paradox.

“You don’t need to make everything sound like a vague threat,” Empire facepalmed.

“No, he’s right.” Bluhen agreed. “They would have lost the fight because they were outnumbered and outpowered.”

Bringer gawked at the priest, surprised by Bluhen’s response but said nothing. He blinked a lot and coughed to cover his embarrassment. Placing a hand over his mouth, Nova could see Bluhen fighting back a smile.

“Of course, I’m right.” Bringer boasted.

“It’s good to see you had no trouble finding us,” Nova said. He hid his bemusement in the silent exchange between the two. “We’ll be leaving once my friend completes the preparations.”

Bluhen lifted Nova’s arm up, applying pressure again to the previously injured joints to check for broken bones he may have missed. Pleased with the results, he offered Nova an elixir often used for soldiers suffering heavy blood loss. Judging by the panicked look in Empire’s face and Daybreaker’s reaction, his injuries must have been concerning for the group to halt everything. Nova accepted the elixir, popped open the flask, and chugged it in one gulp. He focused on the bitter taste from the berries used to make it.

“He drank it all?” Rune’s jaw dropped.

Herrscher floated over to Nova, ignoring the stares from the strangers as he pulled out his scythe. People stepped back, raising their weapons before Nova shook his head and waved his Nasod arm.

“He’s going to open a rift for us,” Nova explained. “I’ll stay at the end to make sure everyone makes it to the other side. There isn’t much time before it closes, so we’ll have to be quick.”

Bluhen’s eyes fell over to Herrscher with interest. The priest had his hands clasped together as he carefully studied the celestial. It was a shame their stay was temporary. None of the differences will matter at the end of the day unless Metamorphy was willing to do more interdimensional traveling.

“Richtie told me about you,” Bluhen said without looking up. He saw Herrscher’s confusion and explained, “The one who tried to kill you.”

“Celestials don’t die,” Herrscher said. “I’m not as human as you.”

“Then why do you help them?” Bluhen asked.

“Elsword told me to.”

“I see.” Bluhen’s pleasant smile wavered, visibly disturbed by Herrscher’s indifference. More questions threatened to roll off his tongue, but instead turned to Nova, “Everything is healed. Don’t strain that arm for at least a few days.”

“Thank you,” Daybreaker said. “Will this world be destroyed?”

“I don’t know,” Nova admitted. “But we’ll do everything we can to make sure everyone makes it out of this.”

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Daybreaker crossed her legs and ran a finger over her bow. The resemblance between her and Twilight was strong in the way she looked past Nova’s relaxed smile.

Swinging his scythe to the side, Herrscher dragged the sharp blade from across. Green light shone as he ripped into the hems of space to cut open a thin line. Pulling back, Herrscher forced a portal open to reveal a dark void looming back at the abyssal being. The opening was big enough for a person to walk through.

“The portal won’t remain open for long. ” Herrscher said. “Elsword, you should go first.”

“Go ahead,” Empire nodded to Rune. “We’ll be right behind you.”

Everyone gathered and filed into a line with Rune at the front. Winking to his teammates, Rune turned around to walk through the portal. In a flash, the redhead had disappeared before being followed by his sister and the rest behind them. Nova was left with Herrscher maintaining the portal. The celestial remained still.

“Do you think there really is a way to undo this mess?” Nova surveyed the damage caused by Paradox.

Herrscher replied, “That is not my concern.”

“I would be surprised if it was,” Nova chuckled. “We should join them before they worry about us.”

Herrscher nodded.

Walking past the lines that blurred between different dimensions, Nova’s vision went black. His surroundings vanished as he was joined by Herrscher beside him. They had to hope that their teammates were as lucky as them in escorting the other El Search Parties. It wouldn’t be long before they learned if their plan was a success.

----------------------------

Mad Paradox

Being the generous person he was, Paradox agreed to go with the edgy brat’s plan. What else was there to do with a dimension threatening to burst open from the insides? Not that it was his intention. If he wanted to wreck a dimension, there were more efficient (and better) ways to do it.

There was no benefit out of destroying the current one where Knight and his… friends resided in because they probably wouldn’t even notice until it was too late. What was the fun in that? Watching Knight squirm from demons was enough entertainment for the time traveler, but alas, that came to an early end. He wasn’t going to pit himself against a mob of adventurers over one boy.

A loud crack snapped from behind Paradox. Gravity pulled him in and the man fell through the portal he had created, landing neatly on his twos and balancing on Dynamo to support his weight. The screams of full-grown men followed coming from Immortal, Crusader, and Dominator crashing at his feet.

“Your cannon is on my foot!” Immortal shouted.

“I’m sorry!” Crusader pulled the oversized weapon away from the researcher.

“Both of you are too heavy!” Dominator complained.

How could those three make so much noise when they were the only ones here? Paradox hopped off Dynamo to watch the three idiots fumble around. Crushed by Crusader and Immortal, Dominator came out at the bottom of the pile. He waved one arm to grab onto Crusader’s cannon and glare at the blond. The guardian of Hamel scratched the back of his neck with a feeble smile.

Immortal sat on top of the two with one leg over the other. He screamed when Dominator sat up and had Dynamo nudge the sword user away. Waving his arms around, Immortal hopped around before falling over Crusader. Both men howled in pain because one jabbed an armored elbow into the other’s stomach.

“If you’re done, would you like to stand up so I don’t look like a fool when the other brats are here?” Paradox drawled.

“Why couldn’t you just portal us then go back to rescue the others?” Crusader asked. Pulling one knee up, he got up on his feet with his Destroyer over one shoulder.

“I’m not doing more work than I need to,” Paradox scoffed.

A set of eyes landed on Paradox. Their gaze fixed onto the back of his head as he gingerly flicked a piece of dirt off his plugsuit. He knew whose eyes they were. Who else would it be? Paradox had lost track of the number of times this similar scenario had occurred, too many times for it to bother him. He was reluctant to admit that he missed the novelty of discovering alternate dimensions when the other El Search Parties marveled over their counterparts.

Grumbling to himself about being dogpiled by heavy people, Dominator was busy patting the dust off his clothes. He Dynamo was a set of magenta-colored cubes, blinking light as they floated beside the scientist. Looking at Dominator was blinding. Dressed in a white suit with lilac and gold accents, his appearance and behavior was exactly how Paradox remembered. How could someone wear so much white?

“Can I help you?” Paradox tried not to laugh when their eyes met.

The time traveler recognized the stare he was receiving from Dominator. It was the analytical gaze, fighting to make use of every bit of knowledge the researcher had about Nasods and time travel to understand Paradox’s existence. He knew a part of his shoulder chipped every few minutes or so. Not even the heaviest jacket could hide that because it also disappeared with the rest of his body if he wasn’t paying attention.

“Does it exhaust your energy to maintain two forms?” Dominator asked.

Of course Dominator would want to know. Paradox wasn’t fazed by the intrusive question, tucking his limbs inward and gloved hands over his knees while sitting on Dynamo. Crusader and Immortal exchanged questioning looks to each other, debating to themselves whether or not to join. The guardian of Hamel chose to sit on the ground while Immortal leaned back against one of his swords planted in the rough terrain. Dominator remained standing, ignoring Dynamo nudging the scientist to sit down.

“No,” Paradox laughed. This Dominator was faster about asking personal questions than the last one. “I simply choose to be one form more than the other.”

It was easier to conserve energy by investing in one form than the other. He often opted for the child form for its utility but preferred his adult form when given the chance.

“And this is all done with Nasods?” Dominator asked.

“This is beyond technology and science,” Paradox said. “Having second thoughts about time traveling, Domi?”

“Domi?” Crusader covered his mouth mid-yawn.

“No,” Dominator stiffened. Good, then Dominator must have done the calculations to realize that genuine time traveling to their past wasn’t possible. The scientist crossed his arms and looked over to Dynamo in deep thought. “That’s not my current goal.”

At least one of them was the sensible one with realistic goals.

“Why would you waste your time dealing with us?” Dominator asked.

“Would you prefer to stay and become an inverted donut?” Paradox drawled. “It’ll be over before you can even think about it, but fun to watch.”

“A donut?” Crusader squeaked.

“An inverted one,” Immortal said unhelpfully.

Paradox grinned.

Making the El Search Party squirm never became old, unless it was the transformation path. Then it became a hassle because none of them took Paradox seriously or laughed with him. He fought the urge to roll his eyes about his teammates, or whatever they were. Teammates was a loose interpretation of his relationship with the people he sometimes chose to involve himself with when wandering through time and space was getting dull.

Dominator was less affected by Paradox’s threat and rubbed his chin, likely musing over his words and rendering its meaning. The scientist was never one to take words at the surface level. None of the Adds did, but Dominator liked to tread over his thoughts and actions before settling on one.

“You’ve gone through many timelines to be familiar with what happens when you mess with time and space,” Dominator stated.

Perceptive as always, Paradox rested his head back. He couldn’t expect less from his counterpart’s intuitive eye.

“Then it shouldn’t be a surprise that you’re not the first Dominator I’ve met.” Paradox winked, “Did you say hi to Doom Doom for me?”

A small noise of discontent came from Dominator. ‘Cat’ came to mind when Dominator tucked his arms over his lap and mumbled something about a meathead. Dominator waved away Dynamo bouncing against the side of the scientist’s head.

“How did you know about that nickname?” Crusader asked.

“As I said, this is not the first time I’ve met you.” Paradox said.

Observant, but still reactive to the unknown. It was too easy to spook his alternate, Paradox giggled. He knew it was easy to scare Crusader too if he was in the mood to test how jittery the guardian of Hamel was. Better not push them to the edge so early when the rest of the party hasn’t arrived yet. They were waiting for six more before departing to the next world.

“How did you learn to control portals?” Crusader asked.

Paradox continued smiling, showing his sharp teeth for an answer. The question in itself didn’t bother him, but the number of times and how it was a different person from each dimension asking the question did. He lost track of how many times a person asked the big old question as if he was obligated to retell them his sob story. It reopened old wounds to form new ones on his visible failures to save Mother. They didn’t need to know about her or why he was partially stuck with the form of a child.

Immortal forced a laugh. The sword wielder raised one arm and smacked Crusader’s back with enough force to make the blond straighten his posture.

“No need to fuss about the details,” the sword wielder beamed. “You can forget about us once this is sorted out!”

“How can we forget about you and the other people we’ve met?” Crusader said, “Everyone is so different from their other selves, but it helps cover all our weaknesses in the things we usually can’t do. I know it’s best that we all return to where we came from, but I think it would help if we were to learn from each other before we leave.”

“That’s for the man to decide,” Immortal shrugged. “As you may know, we’re not meant to be together without threatening our worlds.”

“Are you talking about Paradox?” Crusader was confused.

His question was thankfully interrupted by the sound of a woman screaming. Good, no more questions from the brats! Crusader was almost as bad as Dominator about asking questions and Immortal was no help warding them off his back. Continuing to lean back in a pose he claimed was ‘cool’ and feigning an innocent smile made it clear that Immortal was enjoying seeing the time traveler gain the spotlight.

Immortal and Crusader rushed over to see a young woman at the bottom of a steep hill. She was lying on the floor with her legs comically sticking up in the air. Her white gown hung her body like tissue paper and her face was bruised by her poor landing.

“Are you okay?” Flame frantically went over to check on Apsara. There were five other strangers with the Flame Lord with different reactions to their fallen teammate.

“I warned her about the hill and she still fell,” Oz sighed.

“Is this the feeling humans call disappointed?” Esencia asked.

“That’s a strong word to use,” Crusader sweatdropped.

“Can you feel your fingers?” Anemos asked.

“I can feel them fine!” Apsara sat up and pouted. Her eyes lightened up when she saw Crusader, “Chung! Are these the people who will be helping us?”

“You mean Paradox and Immortal?” Crusader asked. “I think so. We can leave once everyone is here, right?”

This wasn’t a party of adventurers, it was a mob. There were still a lot of people even after splitting them into three groups. It wasn’t there was a fourth person who could consistently transport multiple people to another dimension.

“Thank you for helping us,” Rage said. He was a masculine man, whose armor barely covered his body and was recognized by the grotesque Nasod arm. The arm was a living organism that breathed in unison with its host.

“Sure,” Paradox said. His muscles tensed in response to the El Search Party’s gratitude and reliance on him.

“What took you so long?” Dominator asked.

“We got lost,” Oz said. “Even with Escencia, it isn’t an easy map to read when the landmass is shifting.”

“That’s because of all you extras,” Paradox snarked.

“Which will be fixed soon,” Immortal added while glaring at him.

“How can you say that with so much confidence?” Anemos asked. “Will this plan restore what has been lost?”

“There’s no need to fight,” Apsara protested. “They’re offering to help us. Isn’t that enough? I’m sure more will be explained once we’re in a safer place.”

“Since we are the cause of the world becoming unstable, removing ourselves would be the first step to repairing the damage.” Escencia said, “There’s no need in delaying our departure.”

“Then a neutral zone where all of us can exist is the best place to be?” Flame asks.

“Try not to throw us to the side or upside down this time,” Dominator waved his hand. “Some of us get motion sick.”

Paradox made a note to absolutely open a portal flipped upside down. His smile made Dominator turn paler than he already was. The scientist sweated when Paradox opened his mouth to show pointed teeth. Black saliva dripped from his mouth and cackled when Dominator screamed.

“Enough, already!” Immortal lost his patience and snapped, “Quit fooling around!”

Sticking out his tongue, Paradox manipulated Dynamo to give a few twirls before opening a series of portals. They merged into a bigger portal. Its outer edge was formed by time crystals channeled by El resonance. Pink sparks flew dangerously from them, but it wouldn’t be a problem as long as Paradox was still here to control it.

Turning to grin at the bewildered adventurers, Paradox laughed. No one could understand time and space travel, not even him. Maybe Immortal’s insane plan would work, but he wasn’t one to hold his breath. After all, repairing dimensions was a messy business even Paradox had little experience in. However, Paradox wasn’t going to be the one fixing the mess. That was someone else’s problem.

As each group member exited into the portal, Paradox closed his eyes. The sky was a ruinous red. Dust and ash from shaken earth were still coming down. It wouldn’t be long before this dimension would see its demise unless that someone could fix it. Well, that wasn’t his problem. The last to leave, Paradox leaped onto Dynamo and flew through the portal, following the screams made by the rest of the El Search Party.

----------------------------

Metamorphy

No amount of glitter and magic was going to resolve Metamorphy’s problem sitting opposite to each other and avoiding eye contact. Knight and Aether arrived at their meeting spot in a shouting match before Furious Blade had to separate them, still shouting to each other as Metamorphy begged them to calm down. Code: Ultimate’s glassy eyes reflected when the queen of destruction said the new members were not part of their original party.

No matter, that didn’t change the original plan in gathering everyone to fix Paradox’s latest fuck up. Or at the very least mitigate whatever damage was done to the current world to prevent its complete collapse. There was still time.

The tension in the air was palpable between Knight and Aether. Covered in a thin sheen of dried sweat, Knight had his hands curled into fists over his lap in a quiet fume. Aether was less secretive about it and had her arms crossed, turning her head away from the redhead with a small huff. Her counterpart was cruel in giving Knight the cold shoulders, but Metamorphy also didn’t know what could have caused Aether to give the redhead that type of treatment.

“Are there more coming?” Blade asked.

“We’re still waiting on five people,” Metamorphy said.

The magical girl checked the message sent by Ultimate and forwarded to dozens of other people. As expected from Seraph’s alternate, it was succinct with a set of precise directions and a map leading to the meeting location. They were to meet north of the camping site, still within the range of the canyons surrounding the Shadow Vein. She was expecting the El Search Party to arrive as a group, but Knight said something about Chevalier still packing for the trip. Metamorphy recently received two messages that Herrscher and Paradox had gathered their groups to leave. She didn’t expect her group to be the last one!

Man, this blows. Metamorphy blew a stray strand of hair hanging over her eyes. Watching herself pretend Knight wasn’t sitting across from her was painful. Placing one finger under her chin and tilting her head to the side in thought, Metamorphy frowned. It looked like it was time for her to interfere before one of them did something stupid out of spite.

“Hey, do you have any questions you want to ask before we leave?” Metamorphy asked in the most cheerful tone she could without twitching her eyelids. She leaned against Aether and forced a smile, “I’m sure you must have a lot of questions about where we’re going!”

“I would if someone would stop hesitating every time we’re trying to save ourselves.” Aether purposely gave a side-eye to Knight with venom in her voice.

“It’s not always about us,” Knight lost his temper. “We’re going to leave behind the people we said we were going to help!”

“You can’t help people if you’re dead,” Aether said.

“We’ll figure out how to save both of us without abandoning them,” he argued.

“Like you did when you committed suicide by sacrificing yourself to the El?” She snarked.

“Is this what it’s about?” Knight growled, “I wasn’t trying to kill myself! It was either me or Elesis. I only wanted to save her and everyone else!”

“That’s so heroic of you,” Metamorphy feigned a swoon and batted her eyelashes. She tried not to laugh at Knight’s blank look and stiffened posture. The boy was clearly unused to that sort of response. “Giving yourself away because you see little value in yourself over that of something bigger than you.”

Metamorphy beamed when she felt two pairs of eyes glaring at her and did a little curtsy with her skirt. She knew she had hit a sore spot because Knight clawed his hands over his armor with extra fervor and gritted his teeth. The magical girl could see the wheels turning of Knight fighting back the temptation to snap at a stranger that shared his teammate’s face.

“Is that what you think he did?” Aether was the first to speak. Good, her attention was directed to someone else than the person she was taking her anger out on for the last twenty minutes. She was looking at Metamorphy as if she was seeing a ghost.

“Did I get the details right?” Metamorphy asked with an innocent smile. She switched to a darker expression and lowered her intonation into a more sober one, “All Elswords share the same brain cell. Every one of them will do some variation of the same event. Yours isn’t any different than ours.”

“What did your Elsword do?” The Eve called Ultimate asked. Her cold exterior was veiled by concern and curiosity, traits Metamorphy hasn’t seen on Seraph in years. It was saddening to see that most Eves retained their emotions except for the one Metamorphy grew up with.

“Gave himself away to the El to save his sister,” Metamorphy said. “His sister was saved, but he wasn’t. We were lucky to find his body and pull him back before the El permanently consumed him. The El extended his powers over the Dark El and made him stronger. ”

“But his sister isn’t here?” Blade noted the use of past tense.

“No one has seen her in weeks,” Metamorphy showed her discomfort. Immortal put on a happy face, but she knew it was all a farce. Pulling the team together was his last attempt to find a purpose in retrieving the El as a guise to relocate Bloody Queen. “We came here looking for Paradox because Immortal wanted everyone together to fight against the new enemy. It didn’t occur to us that there would be more of you.”

Knight was silent. All of his anger disappeared in place with a solemn smile. He was sympathizing with Immortal, nodding in understanding despite little else being said about the sword user. Metamorphy didn’t have to say more.

No matter the size of the enemy or new cause, all Elswords saw the importance of gathering as many allies as possible. It made hiding from enemies difficult because of the sheer size of their group, but it gave them an advantage in number. However, with Queen missing in addition to Paradox and the demons appearing sporadically, their current team was standing at eight permanent team members. She knew it broke Immortal’s heart to see it remain relatively small for an adventurer party in comparison to the other paths.

“No one would be angry at you for leaving,” Metamorphy looked at Knight with a kind expression. “You did what you could to help them. They would have liked you to take care of yourself too.”

“That’s what Elesis told me too,” Knight said. “I feel like leaving is letting them know I failed.”

“Failing in what?” Ultimate asked.

“Helping them from the source of their home being destroyed,” Knight explained. “Someone out there is going to use the Dark El for selfish reasons.”

“As to be expected,” Blade said. “When something of great power exists, there will always be people seeking for it as they did with the El. I haven’t met these people you speak of, but they have made it to this point on their own before you step foot here. Like you and your friends, they will find a way to make it through today.”

“Are you saying there might be another way to save the El other than the Dark El?” Knight said.

“I don’t know,” Blade admitted. Dressed in white, his Nasod arm was structured with balance and weight in mind. His face wasn’t framed in as many scars as Nova’s. “I do believe that you don’t need to sacrifice a part of yourself to help others. No war was won by a single person. It takes a group of dedicated people to make the changes that matter the most to people.”

“Do you value yourself so lowly?” Aether asked. “Is it because of something we did or say to you? I just wanted you to know that you’re so important to the team. Without you, I don’t think we would have gotten to Velder, let alone to the Demon Realm. Our team would have fallen apart before that.”

“I know,” Knight said. “I didn’t say anything before, but I’m scared. What if all of this was for nothing? We help the demons, but then there’s no Dark El. Or the Henir cultists found it first. So many things can go wrong…”

Aether let out a soft laugh. Quiet and melodic, it bounced off the canyon walls surrounding the outside of Shadow Vein. Knight looked up from his lap, confused by her reaction and looking over to Metamorphy for a hint. The magical girl shrugged.

“We place so much weight on you,” Aether said with a sad smile. “You didn’t have to take the lead, but you always did. With enthusiasm, but then that went away because of all the danger we were always in.”

“Raven or Elesis should have been the leader,” Knight said. “They have more experience than me. What would a kid like me know?”

“At eighteen years old, you are no longer a child.” Ultimate said, “but I agree that your current arrangement is not productive for the party. It would be more effective and efficient if you were to make more decisions as a group rather than rely on one person.”

“Is that something your team does?” Knight asks. “Rune told me about it and I thought it was strange how different even our teams operate.”

Is that how it worked for these two parties? Metamorphy was interested in hearing more. Every El Search Party had a different setup. Some relied on a single person as their leader, often Elsword unless he was killed or the responsibility was handed over to another person, usually Raven or Elesis. She once met a party led by Ciel. It was… strange and more often involved searching for ingredients for new recipes. Other parties made decisions as a group or focused on a few key members to make important decisions.

“You don’t have to choose the path others did before you,” Blade said. “I think you of all people know that the most. Choose what works for you so you don’t overwork yourself.”

“I want to help everyone,” Knight said. “But that isn’t possible, is it?”

“We’ll help you,” Aether went over to sit next to Knight, leaning against the knight with a bright smile. “Once we’re back together with the others, we can start making decisions as a team.”

“Thanks, Aisha.” Knight smiled back, “You’re not so bad when you’re nice.”

Aether twitched and threw her staff at the red-haired knight. Folding her arms across her chest, the mage spun around and scowled. So much for a short moment of peace, Metamorphy laughed.

“Since when wasn’t I nice?” Aether asked.

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” He held up both hands, “I didn’t mean it like that! I mean you’re cool, uh, thoughtful!”

“I suppose I’ll take that as a compliment,” Aether picked up her staff and pouted.

“You’re expecting a lot of him to take a hint,” Metamorphy winked at her counterpart. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“Know what?” Knight asked.

“Thought so,” Metamorphy smirked. She cupped Knight’s face in between her gloved hands and gushed, “You’re so cute not knowing anything.”

“Hey!” Aether protested.

Knight’s face turned into the same color as his hair.

Metamorphy dropped her hands and jokingly stuck out her tongue to her counterpart. She could see why Paradox was inclined to stay with the two groups. They were so much fun to talk to! She couldn’t wait to tell her teammates about the new people she had met.

“They’re here,” Ultimate said. Pointing through her line of vision were five silhouettes framed by dark shadows cast by the sun against the granite floor.

A woman in a black cocktail dress walked beside a man wearing white armor and a blue scarf. Devi was chuckling at something said by Phantom, who was pointing to Metamorphy and making gestures to himself. The cyan colored eyes and hair gave away Richter’s identity in how he kept looking back at the two demons walking behind him.

Hulling heavy bags were Chevalier and Ishtar. Their eyes shone like stars, lost in their own separate conversation. Metamorphy overheard mentions of food and exotic spices from a faraway land. It was strange to see the demons be talkative over the dreaded silence she more frequently witnessed between Anular and Iblis.

“There you are!” Metamorphy ran up to them with open arms, “Now we’re ready to take off!”

“Where are we going?” Richter asked.

“Will there be demons?” Devi smirked.

“No demons,” Metamorphy shook her head. “I think you’ve all been to this place. Henir's Time and Space?”

“I see.” Phantom said, “It’s a neutral space because Glave made it so that there can be multiple copies of the same person.”

“You think Glave can fix this?” Chevalier asked.

“He certainly has the abilities to suggest he can,” Ishtar remarked.

“After telling us about the corrupted monsters, Glave must have seen some kind of use in us,” Blade said. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask him for help.”

“Exactly!” Metamophy said, “Besides, I think there’s a way to reset this dimension so that any of the damage done right now will never happen.”

“How?” Aether asked.

Metamorphy looked at the nine people entrusted in her hands, knowing fully well that Immortal trusted her in taking them to safety. It was a lot to ask, but she wasn’t ready to give up on these people just yet. Despite the number of dimensions she had visited, she never stayed long enough to see the fates of their denizens. She wanted to see the future of the lively people she had barely talked to.

“Why, I’m glad you asked!” Metamorphy heard herself speak. She clasped her hands together with a cheerful smile, “It means we’re going to let this dimension collapse on itself!”

----------------------------

Author Notes: When I first drafted the outline for this fic, I imagined it to end by chapter 8. I started this fanfic out of the wish to see all the paths interact in some shape or form. It means a lot to me to see that many people want the same. Everyone’s feedback was encouraging and it helped me keep going. I’m not sure when the next update will occur because of work, but I plan on continuing with the story until the very end. Sorry for the long chapter.

#elsword #eltag #elsword fanfiction #doppelganger #mywriting #my writing #Elboy #Rena (Elsword)#Aisha (Elsword)#Raven (Elsword)#Eve (Elsword)#Chung (Elsword)#Ara (Elsword)#Elesis (Elsword)#Add (Elsword)#Lu (Elsword)#Ciel (Elsword)#Ain (Elsword)

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cabinboy100 · 7 years ago

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BABY DRIVER: Screening #2 brain dump…

This post is gonna be a spoiler-tastic collection of notes, thoughts, Edgar/Easter eggs, and crazy talk on elements of Edgar Wright's BABY DRIVER after a second screening tonight.

(You can review my post-screening-1 ramble here.)

About names and casting…

Buddy—Jason Van Horn.

I couldn't hold onto his last name after my first screening, just vaguely recalled it being Van Winklevossy, y'know? Something that fit Bats's educated guess from an uneducated man. But this time, I remembered, and hours later, I get it! I think? Jason VAN HORN! =)

Darling—Monica Costello.

In the car after taking care of the Butcher & friends, the crew press each other about their names and Buddy explains that they only know each other by nicknames, aka "monickers." With punny timing, Darling then reveals that her real name is Monica. We find out her last name is Costello from a breaking news bulletin later. My mind always jumps to Abbott-and- but I don't think that applies here. =)

Griff—short for Griffin.

We never get his real name, but that doesn't matter so much here. We do get Griffin, as in the legendary eagle-lion mashup beast, depending on the culture and time in which you ask, supposedly supernaturally wise and partial to gold treasure and testing humans with riddles.

Frack, am I confusing them w/sphinxes? Hrm…I'm gonna go with it, just to get my thoughts down.

After the first heist, Griff takes it on himself to find out what makes Baby tick, believing his quiet and aloofness to be signs that he considers himself better than the rest of the crew. He explains to Baby—You can't do crime without being a little criminal…One day, you're gonna get blood on your hands.

I wish I could remember more/all of what he says to Baby, but I'd bet all of it is and/or comes true.

Even if the name isn't a perfect connect, he still plays a Cassandra-like Wrightian soothsayer in the shape of a bank robber.

Doc.

I don't think we get any clue as to his altar ego, if he has one. All we know is he's a heist mastermind with impressive resources and a line on people with nasal troubles. We do see him sharing drinks w/Big Boi and Killer Mike at Bacchanalia, tho. ENT to hip-hop stars who was once in love, too? =)

Bats—Leon.

The batty lion. That works. I think we must've gotten his last name in that breaking news report, too, but I missed it. Nuts.

Eddie No-Nose—formerly Eddie the Nose.

Heh. That's a No-Nose no-no, page 1.

J.D.

I didn't catch any hint as to his real name. Maybe it's a filmmaking reference, like R2-D2? But specific to something or someone disposable? Or maybe a clue as to his fate, when or if he's ever discovered, post-sunset, he'd surely be tagged as a John Doe, right?

The Butcher—never get his name, but the actor? OMG! STILL ALIVE! =)

Crazy amazing casting and a damn impressive delivery of a pig-themed bad cop sales pitch! Perhaps PHANTOM holds a special place in Wright's heart? I know it does in mine. Or perhaps it's the man's extensive and inspiring oeuvre as a whole. In any case, a joyous experience seeing him in the BABY DRIVER world.

And the rest…

Now, whatever I can recall that I want to not forget, roughly in the order of appearance in the film…

The graffiti behind Baby is definitely updated between his trip to Octane and back to the Healey building. Maybe in more than one place, but I'm only sure about the "RIGHT" + "Shake Shake" art. On the way to Octane, along with Baby's "Harlem Shuffle" track syncing with graffiti and posted words in the environment, we see Baby match poses with wall art of a guy looking up to the sky and play "air horn" in front of show window featuring a trumpet. On his way back, a sandwich board doomsayer tells him that he must save himself from sin, and when crossing the street, a police car just passes him by before turning on its siren.

I wonder…Could the lyrics to "Harlem Shuffle" be a map to one of the getaway scenes? Or the acts and plot of the entire film…?

Hrm…Maybe…? Certainly can't put it past Professor Wright =)

When Baby flips thru channels at home w/Joe early on, there's a series of channel audio bits that felt a lot like SHAUN OF THE DEAD. The MONSTERS, INC bit that Baby uses on Doc—"You and I are a team. Nothing is more important than our friendship."—is part of it. At the end, we see coverage of a bullfight, a matador stepping around a skewered but undefeated bull. We hear, and see via cc—"The bull still stands." In the moment, that seems to be comment on Baby's sticking with his one-more-job-and-I'm-done plan, despite Joe's objection.

However, before we cut to the next scene, the announcer continues, talking about how the matador, having failed to finish the bull from horseback, must now try his luck on foot, which is kind of what happens to Baby after the Post Office robbery and also in his finale duel with Buddy in the parking garage. Post-Post Office, after skewering Bats, Baby (and Buddy and Darling) have to abandon their steed and escape on foot.

Later, when it's down to Baby and Deb vs. Buddy, they start car-v-car (the red Charger and the police cruiser), but Baby tells Debra they have to get out of the car so that he can end this, and although he does that just to get into a different car, the final confrontation has all of the players on their feet. Well, y'know, until they're not any more.

I think the second time we see Baby or Joe channel-hopping at home, Noel Fielding appears on screen for a few seconds. On my first screening, I thought it was a clip from THE MIGHTY BOOSH, but now I realize that it's from the video for Mint Royale's "Blue Song," which Wright directed and was sort of an early short form riff of his BABY DRIVER concept. A wheelman waiting on his crew to the sound—and duration—of a favorite song of the right length.

Debora vs. her sister Mary for songs with their names.

Bo's Diner decor/wall art—Route 66, couple in a convertible. Same as one of the postcards Deb sends Baby in jail.

Where is Bo's Diner? If ever in the area, gotta go—gotta go!

Laundromat decor/wall art—rockets and space.

Was the decor in the dinner and 'mat redone for the movie, or left as found?

The senior waitress says that Baby's been coming there since before she started. She thinks/heard that his mom used to work there. Lucky for Baby Deb thinks that more sweet than creepy. =)

BABY: I have different iPods for different days, different moods…

Bo's Diner number—555-1270. I think that was it. December 1970? Does that line up with a significant birthday or cinematic event?

There's a beautiful pair of shots one after the other when Baby, at home, calls Debora at Bo's. He's framed in a doorway of a darkened room, Joe in the lit living room behind him, with most of the dark on screen to the right. Then we see Deb, framed by the dark foreground of part of the kitchen, or maybe a supply/pantry area, to the left, with the light of the diner behind her. There's a palpable sense of their connection thru that phone line that crosses a darkness between them.

Or something. =)

Baby notices JD's "HAT" neck tattoo. JD explains that it used to read "HATE" but he had it "fixed" to be more marketable to prospective employers. After all…

JD: Who doesn't like hats?

Baby invites Debora to "Buck & Ella" (I think w/his earbuds in and sight reading from the side, he doesn’t perfectly catch “Bacchanalia” =) for the finest wining and dining of all the wine and dine in town.

Deb and Baby make music with their glasses at Buck & Ella. The whole non-verbal carousel cam montage of their date there is in wonderful sync to the music. LA LA LAND, eat your hat. =)

DOC: Take the buds out, shades off. Take the nephew, it'll be less suspicious.

I remember thinking that this seems like a way for Doc to set Baby up for capture later, getting his uncovered face caught on camera. A contingency plan to keep Doc under his thumb? Or put him away after this job?

NEPHEW SAM: You have a mint that says "Sam?"

When Baby and Sam deliver their reconnaissance report, I think Doc says, "Chips off the old block." A hint of actual fatherly affection? A Fagin-like show of pride? A clue to his brother's identity? Something else?

POSTAL WORKER: Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can't have a rainbow without a little rain.

This after saying she's working "9 to 5, just like Dolly."

It's a sweet connect to the rain that falls the next day, the day of the Post Office heist, and the rainbow that appears five years later when Deb picks up Miles on his release from prison, ready to drive west on 20 in a car they can't afford with a plan they don't have.

I guess that's romantic? Sounds like a lot of stress to me. =)

Whenever someone slams a door or trunk, we hear Baby's tinnitus ringing. Always a flashback to the accident?

BATS: You don't need a score for a score!

And he talks about Hex Songs…

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" "End of the Road" "Hotel California"

BATS: An educated guess from an uneducated man.

Bats at Bo's "reading" Buddy and Darling. They rob banks to support doing drugs. Bats does drugs to support robbing banks. They're on vacation; he's at work.

The bill at Bo's for four Cokes, aka three Cokes and one Coca: $5.70. Baby leaves a 20 and a note: Road trip 2am.

When Baby and Deb are on the run after shooting Buddy at Bo's, Baby steps into a phone booth in a bit of empty lot to call Doc, who is not helpful. The booth has graffiti on its clear walls of tentacles reaching up from the ground—a visual representation of the realization of Griff's prophecy? This is just before they—Bonnie and Clyde? More like Bonnie and Bonnie—acquire the red Charger from the vaping punks. One of them asks Baby to leave him his phone but since it's playing the music, Baby says—Nope. =)

BABY: Fuck you, Buddy.

Paraphrasing Elvis? FYB vs TCB? =)

I didn't mention it in my previous ramble, but Baby definitely vibes Elvis at least as much as Han throughout the movie, and earlier, actually. When lip syncing to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Bellbottoms" in the opening heist, he's definitely channeling Elvis for me.

Caught in the credits this time that WALTER HILL is the ASL interpreter for Joe in the courtroom at Baby's trial. Only heard, not seen. Cinema-cool… =)

Also, Baby's prisoner number is 28071978—the release date of Walter Hill's THE DRIVER! =)

WHO gives Baby his mail in jail? Not credited (in order of appearance, he should've been last, and the judge was last). Whoever it is has a very unique look, and a distinctive voice. Guess I'll just have to see it again!

Keep on keepin' on~

#BABY DRIVER #Edgar Wright #spoilers #brain dump #crazy talk #Baby #Buddy #Darling #Bats #Doc #Griff #Debora #Walter Hill #easter egg #easter eggs #details #notes #Edgar eggs

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