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.