Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...

Our numbers are down... and are enemies are many.

Dr. Malice is still confined, Portnoy is confined, Harold is injured and Unikeia and all her followers have turned on us out of fear.

Luckily Unikeia is mad with fear and isn't thinking so she's not using her powers... Just that strange knife of hers. All that's left of us trapped and under assault from Unikeia and her forces. Well, now... I suppose it's time to go out fighting... Final stand and all that... Open the door and try and take as many of them down with us as we can.

Or alternatively something completely crazy could happen. Like the door could suddenly burst open revealing Portnoy standing there with the unnamed Child clinging to him.

Portnoy: Reirr is currently at Gate 2... He won't be there long hurry.

Me: Portnoy what's going on?

Portnoy: No time for questions hurry.

Me: What are you doing?

Portnoy: Staying here to keep Unikeia and the others pacified.

Me: How-

Portnoy: Muffin! Shut the hell up and go fight Reirr!

Breaking Down

It's Muffin... Dr. Malice is... being confined at the moment. He tried to kill Harold yesterday... By confined I mean we have him extremely heavily drugged since otherwise it's pretty damn hard to confine something like him. When we stopped him the lower half of his face was just a mass of that black sludge and he was screaming about betrayal.

It seems he was convinced Harold and by extension Faceless are secretly working for Jack or The Ne Timu or... well he started saying something else but at this point he was knocked unconscious and whatever he was going to say was lost. It's hardly important though. The point is Paranoia and Fear and all the wonderful things that go with that are running rampant through the airport and the death toll is rising.

There's good news though... Oh yes there is some wonderful fucking news!

It's here.

Reirr... The Ne Timu of Bravery. A fucked up looking Knight monster. He's been spotted wandering around the airport now. Trails of his black sludge have appeared in the halls which corroborate these sightings. He's finally here. We're going to find him and end this before it gets any worse. 

The Litany against Fear

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

I have fond memories of Dune... Granted I never read the books... or seen the movies... Or really had any interaction with the series outside of having a father who was a huge fan of it and who used to quote the litany and constantly tell me things about the series... So I guess what I'm saying is I have fond memories of my father which I disguise as fond memories of a series I know pretty much nothing about...

Hell even that quote isn't from memory...

This is Dr. Malice btw... Nathan's relationship with his father ended with him joining The Archangel trying to kill Megan and Nathan eventually murdering him... So I'm pretty sure there are no fond memories there...

I'm rambling aren't I... The point is The Litany against Fear would be very useful right now as it appears to be running rampant.

The servants are panicking and killing each other. Unikeia has completely lost control and has been spotted at times reverting to her Unnamed Child form for an unknown reason. Whatever is causing this still hasn't arrived as far as we know and already it's tearing us apart.  That black sludge is becoming more apparent as well. Some people have black stains under their eyes or constantly have a couple of streaks of it dripping down...

A guard yesterday snapped and shot two others before he was eventually subdued and proceeded to kill himself by biting off his own tongue... Our group seems unaffected but it's hard to really tell. We stay together when possible now but Harold is often on his own somewhere, Faceless doesn't have eyes and Unikeia keeps Portnoy by her side and won't let us near him much anymore.

The only ones I'm sure of our myself, Nathan and Megan...

Actually Harold's behaviour is pretty strange... Why is he by himself so often? 

A... very interesting meeting.

It's Muffin. We arrived back at Unikeia's place to await whatever is coming. Dr. Malice is right. Unikeia and, as a result, most of her servants seem afraid. My guess one of the last two Ne Timu is mounting some sort of attack. There haven't been more incidents like the one Dr. Malice reported but we're pretty sure it may happen again. Attempts to question Unikeia have been fruitless. She seems to want to tell us but every time she starts to speak she seems to lose her nerve.

Regardless my post today isn't so much about that as about another strange meeting I've had today... It wasn't Jack this time it was... Well something that shouldn't have happened.

I was walking towards my designated room and as I reached for the door it suddenly opened inwards. The door opens outwards normally. I looked out into a vast empty city but not for long. My amazement at seeing The Empty City before me was overcome by my amazement at seeing myself standing in front of me. He seemed surprised to see me too. I stepped back to let him come out but he didn't.

Other Me: Can't set foot in this universe. Part of the agreement.

Me: What agreement.

O. Me: The Empty City wanted to show me this universe. It brought me here but said I couldn't set foot inside. Something about not being able to properly manifest here and if I stepped out I couldn't come back.

Me: Makes sense... The Fears are all dead here. So The Empty City is probably breaking all sorts of laws just showing up here at all.

O. Me: So this is the universe where we succeeded?

Me: Yep. We killed The Fears and doomed the universe.

O. Me: Shit really?

Me: Worse then that... We killed Megan...

O. Me: ... Tell me everything.

We spent the next few minutes telling each other what we know and what's been happening in our respective universes. Eventually he started fading.

O. Me: Thank you... I think I know how to fix things in my universe now... Good luck... I'm sorry.

Me: Me too...

He disappeared then... The door closed. I opened it outward went into my room. Oh to explain. While it is an airport Unikeia has modified it heavily. I believe my room was once part of a coffee shop... Anyway . I went inside thinking deeply about the conversation before falling asleep and dreaming about the universe I had just learned about... A universe where Megan was still alive and The Fears still had power... Compared to this one that seems like a paradise despite my other's problems...

Fear Goo...

Couldn't resist the horrible title.

It's Dr. Malice. Congrats to Muffin and the others for taking down Dreslith. Unfortunately we have another problem here and I think you guys should come back here right away.

Yesterday we were all in the throne room again Portnoy and I beside Unikeia. We were watching some of her servants perform circus tricks... That they couldn't do... She's a bit of a sadist and lkes watching them screw up and usually get hurt. Suddenly her laughter stopped and I looked at her. Her face was a blank but I could see something... It looked like the same Greyish Goo the Ghosts bled... It was dripping from her eyes. I turned to look at the performers and they were standing in place with the same dazed expression and goo coming from their eyes. Portnoy didn't seem to have it but everyone else did. I shook Unikeia and she snapped back to reality and wiped the goo from under her eyes then looked at it. I saw her eyes change momentarily... Reflecting an emotion I didn't expect to ever see... She looked afraid. She then quickly recovered wiped the goo off on a nearby servant and ordered the performers to stop just standing there and get back to performing. They all came out of their own reveries and returned to what they were doing. Unikeia continued looking worried whenever she thought I wasn't looking at her...

Something is coming here. Something dangerous enough to make even Unikeia worry.

The Fight with Madness Pt. 2

The inside of the Asylum was... a suitably epic locale for our final battle with Dreslith. We were standing on a dead planet. The ground cracking up and exploding around us as something... I don't know what it was... It looked like a giant mass of... Eldritch... stuff... slowly devoured the stars. Dreslith was standing facing away from us watching the creature. We knew it was Dreslith but it didn't look like him. Even facing away from us we could tell it looked like a human figure... A familiar human figure... It turned around showing me Vadim. It didn't speak. No monologue. No explanation of where we were or what was going on. It just stared at us. Harold raised his gun and instantly Dreslith's form shifted. It became a woman I didn't recognize. Harold did though and he dropped his gun. Faceless went forward to attack and Dreslith turned into a little boy. Faceless shook his head. "Already killed my son once. Won't stop me a second time." He drew his machete and charged and Dreslith shifted again becoming a woman. Faceless hesitated and the planet beneath his feet exploded he was thrown back and landed beside me. I broke out of my thoughts and charged. He turned back into Vadim. Vadim's dead I know that already I just quickened my pace. It switched to My mother and then my father. Didn't slow me at all. It switched to Megan and I let out a bitter laugh... But then it smiled...I hadn't seen her smile in such a long time... Not even just before Genome... Before all of this... It had been so long. I  stopped and fell to my knees. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder then I was tossed out of the way. Genome strode past me towards Dreslith. It switched to people from Megan's memories.

Genome: I don't know any of those people...

It switched to people I assume from Genome's past.

Genome: I don't remember anything from before I was a thoughtborn and I haven't met anyone I care about since.

Genome reached Dreslith and in desperation Dreslith made the planet explode beneath Genome like it had beneath Faceless. It didn't work. The shards of planet and molten lava from the core froze instantly into a block of ice and Genome just hopped up them to get higher and slammed her hand into Dreslith's face. There was a sound like glass breaking and the scenery around us shifted.

We were back on what I'm pretty sure was earth. It seemed like a vast wasteland. It didn't look like anywhere on earth normally but it still had The End in the sky and during The End's attack The entire world was a wasteland thanks to The Herald anyways. My attention was turned back to Dreslith when I heard Genome cry out in Megan's voice. I turned to see Dreslith holding her. Blood dripping down her body. For a second I feared the worst but I quickly remembered that Dreslith's hands drip blood and tears. Regardless I got to my feet and attacked. However, I stopped mid attack and began to think. "Why are we fighting Dreslith? Because Unikeia said too? Dreslith never harmed us until we went after him. He helped us save the universe during The Amalgam attack. Unikeia didn't help us at all. No... I'm not doing this for Unikeia! I'm doing this because Dreslith is a monster. He hurts innocent people. Like Gwen! What about The Fears though? What about The Fears?! You hated them for hurting innocent people... You tried to kill them all and now look. You were fighting alongside The Dying Man. All of your companions served them. The Fears weren't completely evil. Maybe The Ne Timu aren't either. Gwen- Seemed pretty happy when she died. Because she was deluded! So? They say Ignorance is bliss... Maybe the Ne Timu have a purpose... Maybe we aren't so bad." I did a double take and grinned. "You made a mistake. You said 'We'. You're in my thoughts, Dreslith? well here's a thought... Do you know why The Fears were better than you? They didn't make mistakes." I reset my attention Genome and rushed over. cracks began to appear in the earth but I avoided them and reached Dreslith. I knocked Genome from his hands then punched him in the... "face" again and followed up with numerous punches to every part of it's body I could find that was solid. It seemed mostly unphased but didn't try to defend itself so I assumed I was doing something to it. I heard my voice yelled and stopped diving out of the way as Harold fired a bullet into Dreslith's blood arm. Blood poured from the hole and he fell. Another bullet went into the tear arm and tears fell from his wounds like rain. What happened next was weird. He began to disappear and shrink. Like... Like he was draining out of the bullet wounds. The world around us seemed to freeze and as he disappeared he shattered and we were back in our hotel.We're staying here a few more nights to recover and then we're going after the next Ne Timu.

Battle with Madness.

Dreslith's grew tired of running.

We were still searching when suddenly the sky changed. The clouds changed to a sickly green and the sky was a mirror. All of us who had been there at the coming of The End winced at the memory and averted our eyes. In front of us now was a large imposing building. 20 foot high walls of stone, a solid, black, iron gate with a tormented face on it. Beyond the wall the structure was more like a castle than anything. Towers jutted up from it at odd angles, one had a clock face on it but no numbers... At least not numbers we'd recognize. One was open topped and showed to all the world a grim reminder of what awaited... For all that looking at it it was obvious what this building was and it's even more painful to realize how close it is to our own versions. It was an insane asylum. The old kind. Built more like prisons and run more like torture chambers then places of healing.

We approached and the front door opened. Gwen walked out.

Gwen: Why do you fight us? You've seen the truth. You were with us. Join us again. Become free with us.

Her gaze turned from me to the rest of the group

Gwen: This offer extends to all of you. You are trapped in a lie. We can free you. We can free everyone.

She pulled a stack of purple masks out of the air and one mask exactly like the one I had had.

Gwen: Put these on and you'll know the truth.

Me: We already know the truth, Gwen. You serve a monster. There is no truth just more lies crafted by a horrible creature. You've seen it. I know you have. Remember it. Tell me does that thing look like Truth to you?

Gwen seemed to hesitate momentarily then responded.

Gwen: The Truth may be ugly while a lie may be beautiful...

I sighed. I didn't want to have to kill her... I didn't really want to have to kill anyone anymore... The purple masks are too far gone but I knew she could still be reasoned with. It didn't seem like it was going to be easy though.

I tried to speak again but she spoke first cutting me off.

Gwen: Stop. No more words. I had hoped to help you return to enlightenment but I feel it will not happen. I shall show you the truth by freeing you. When I follow you into the real world then we can speak again and perhaps then, with nothing standing between us, we can be what we were for a short time... (I... I'll explain at... some point in time... Eventually... A beautiful lie...)

Me: I don't want to kill you Gwen.

Gwen: You won't be killing me.

At that she attacked. I should probably explain how she fights. I don't know exactly how it works in the real world but here in Dreslith's world it makes a bit more sense. Her arms act like blades. She attacks with essentially karate chops that can cut through flesh like a sword. It makes things a bit weird for me as I'm not sure whether to respect her for using her hands in combat or whether that counts as hiding behind a weapon.

She slashed at me and I jumped back. We fanned out around her and Harold fired at her from her right. Her right hand flashed up and deflected the bullets then she rushed at him and started attacking wildy. He proceeded to block with his guns and deliver a kick to her gut. She staggered back and Faceless launched forward slashing at her but she recovered and grabbed his wrist flipping him over her shoulder. Genome attacked then and the freezing touch of her attacks pushed Gwen onto the defensive as Harold began firing again. Gwen managed to dodge Genome's attacks and deflect the bullets but she couldn't attack back. Faceless recovered and released the birds. They swarmed her but she was still managing to fend off all of her attackers. Her movements were faster and far more powerful than they should of been. Undoubtedly a side effect of our battle ground. I dived into the fight and as she deflected one of Harold's bullets I slammed into her from the side knocking her over. She landed and rolled back to her feet but she only managed to rise in time to get a fist to the face. I didn't let up hitting her with everything I got... I didn't want to kill her but if I had to I wanted it to be over fast. All my hits were too the face... I like to think I wasn't attacking her I was attacking the mask. Eventually the mask shattered. There was a moment... Something I can't explain... What was revealed behind the mask wasn't a face... It was... The opposite of a face? I don't know... There was a burst of energy and her mask reappeared completely purple and she rushed at me again. I tried to b lock her but she ducked under my punch grabbed my arm at the elbow and pulled me forward as her knee connected with my gut. The rest of my friends and Genome rushed to help but the ground began to shake and shards of earth flung up on all sides of us. I fell to my knees and she kicked me in the face knocking me onto my back. She was on me before I could get up. Her hands splayed wide came down on my face and it felt like my head was in a press. The weight of her hand slowly crushing my skull. In desperation I reached up and grabbed her throat. I could feel blood trickling from my ears as I squeezed with all my strength. The crack echoed in my head for what felt like hours. I pushed her now limp and normal weight hand off of me and looked down at her body. Her mask fell off and disappeared. She was still alive... Or it was an echo or something. She smiled at me and though her lips didn't move I heard her voice.

Gwen: I'll wait for you in the real world...

She disappeared then... Like her body was just disintegrated.

It took me a few minutes to break free of the little cage she had created around us but once I was free we all headed inside.

I'll cut the post in half here.