The Last Poster Wins! [V9]

[Sir Sivelos]

*SIVELOS uses level 9999 ANTENERGY PULSE! A wave of pure anti-energy flows into the HELMSMAN, severely cutting his maximum energy pool! The sudden shift in energy tuckers him out, causing him to have to recharge.*

*APOPH uses level 9999 TESSERACT! Bending the flow of time around the HELMSMAN, dimensional fabric is snapped like a glowstick, causing an explosion that breaches the boundaries of time itself! Multiple hits at once!*

*MR. ICE has recovered from his own BLAST BURN, and fires many sharpened ICICLE SPEARS at the HELMSMAN!*

*Of course, this all happens if he isn't already dead.*

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Got it thanks for clearly that up tazz!

*candyman uses his magical powers to mess up time and it is stuck going between the present and the past. This slows THE HELMSMAN down considerably and then Candyman attacks him using firestorm!

*THE HELMSMAN tries to use SIVELOS as a bodyshield...*

*SIVELOS gets out of the blade lock to avoid being hit by Brandon's FIRESTORM!*

*...But fails, causing him to jump up to get out of the way...*

*casts Gravity Explosion; a sudden shift in gravity will cause the Helmsman to be floored regardless how fast he is*

*casts Nightmare Cage around the Firestorm and Helmsman*

*...Which causes him to become floored, taking the last bit of damage needed. The NIGHTMARE CAGE is overkill.*

*He's unable to move, but the FIRESTORM doesn't seem to finish him off at all...He's alive, but unable to defend himself. Justice moves in with his weapon at the ready.*

Justice: You pests. You irritate me. You're unreasonable, true, and very powerful, but more importantly you just keep coming back. Nah. F*** that, you're beyond it.

*His ax coats itself in ARBITARIAN energies, which will naturally annihilate THE HELMSMAN.*

*Rebecca teleports in between them.*

Rebecca: Wait! Maybe we could capture and get Lillith to convince him to our-

Justice: Bulls**t. In any case, those guys are unreasonable. How would we even start?

Rebecca: How do we know he's not unreasonable?

Justice:...This is going to go on forever isn't it? Alright, Sivelos, you're usually smart about this. Do I kill this thorn in our sides off for real, or are we going to give him a shot, as Rebecca suggests...I say no.

Rebecca: I say yes.

*OMINOUS is still unconscious, and overheating at that.*

*SIVELOS'es last post doesn't go through.*

*Do you SLAY THE HELMSMAN for good or do you TRY TO REFORM HIM?*

[Sir Sivelos]

Uh… UH… UH… Well, we can incapacitate him and send him over to Lillith… If that fails, I have the Chalice of Charisma…

BUT, if we don't 'slaughter the RaGNaK to the last man,' we probably won't receive full payment, and it'd be hard to kill somebody who joins our side…

Hm… This certainly is a tough one. His illusionary powers would certainly help us, but the RaGNaK would probably have methods of taking down one of their own in case they turned on them… Also, if we do try to reform him, there's a chance he may come back to kill us, as slim as it may be… And even if it a 0.1x10^-99 chance, I don't want to take that.

Too many negative repercussions! SLAUGHTER HIM! *SIVELOS gives a thumbs-down signal, similar to Roman Officials watching Gladiator matches.*

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Uh… UH… UH… Well, we can incapacitate him and send him over to Lillith… If that fails, I have the Chalice of Charisma…

BUT, if we don't 'slaughter the RaGNaK to the last man,' we probably won't receive full payment, and it'd be hard to kill somebody who joins our side…

Hm… This certainly is a tough one. His illusionary powers would certainly help us, but the RaGNaK would probably have methods of taking down one of their own in case they turned on them… Also, if we do try to reform him, there's a chance he may come back to kill us, as slim as it may be… And even if it a 0.1x10^-99 chance, I don't want to take that.

Too many negative repercussions! SLAUGHTER HIM! *SIVELOS gives a thumbs-down signal, similar to Roman Officials watching Gladiator matches.*

*JUSTICE doesn't wait-he brings the Ax down upon THE HELMSMAN without waiting, cleanly beheading him. THe energy fizzled out towards the end, but you figure that, since dying here is permanent anyways, that it was just excessive.*

???: YES!!!!!!!!!

*That sounded suspiciously like IMAGE. But that couldn't have been IMAGE, that sounded WAAAAAAY too pleased.*

**...Sir?**

*In any case, the only obstacle left between you and the rest of the members of the RaGNaK is-*

**Sir. The corpse...**

*What about the cor-oh.*

*Uh...WHAT?!*

*...Er...Um...Well, this is...Yep.*

*You have NOT beheaded THE HELMSMAN. You were not even FIGHTING THE HELMSMAN at all, or even a member of the RaGNaK. Nope.*

*By the power of extremely deep illusion, you have clearly slain THE BLACK.*

Justice:...What the...NO! -explicit material redacted-

Rebecca: I, I don't know what to say!!! This, this can't be happening!

*The other illusions in the room dissipate, revealing how much of your fight WAS illusory. For starters, there was never a wall, merely an extremely convincing barrier of ARBITARIAN energies that would have likely produced the same effect. The platform never split-the RaGNaK were merely on the other side, watching. KARMA is hugging FREEDOM, who is going on and screaming about the Ultimate order and playing you all like pawns; KRATHLOS and REVENANKH are both giving themselves confident nods; THE HELMSMAN, the REAL HELMSMAN, is utterly silent still, but clearly the perputrator of such high-power illusions; and IMAGE, for a first, is grinning a smile that would be sooner associated with serial killers than actual happiness.*

Image: Hah! It's over! We've won!

Justice: What the -you don't want to hear this stuff- did you actually DO?!

Image: Honestly, rather simple: I let the most destructive beings in existence, with the capacity to kill anything, and tricked them into killing the keystone of all existence with a high-grade illusion. Attacking The Black, OR you idiots, was effectively death no matter how I diced it, as you're too persistent and the adventage was with you...So why not pit the two against each other? Truth be told, I expected The Black to win, but it appears your inability to recognize something as far, far more dangerous than yourselves immediately has prevailed in the only good way it ever has?

*JUSTICE charges forward and is immediately stopped by a barrier, a force field generator separating both halves of the field. It's extremely powerful. An ELDER SOUL might be able to penetrate it, but too bad you don't have any...Well, any living, anyways.*

Image: The power of heroes to trump all adversaries...Turned against the very wielders! Hah! Ah, truly a great way to end you. The best part was, all it took was some holding back! Our friend and Helmsman here simply allowed the Black to remove her previous Illusion and feign weakness, when in all reality, her illusion-based abilities were proven superior the instant he dispelled them! Ah, you have to love it when a well-thought plan goes through so flawlessly.

*THE HELMSMAN looks at IMAGE like he had just done something rather stupid, but he hasn't taken note. IMAGE just referred to THE HELMSMAN as a girl...Which kind of defies the previous canon, but considering what was just said of her, it was probably an illusion.*

*...For an Armageddon that's supposed to happen IMMEDIATELY upon The Black's Death, it SURE IS taking some time...Maybe it doesn't happen all at once? You might not be able to see it here, in addition. You don't know.*

*As it's the only thing you can interact with...After the beheading and the removal of the illusion, The Black's corpse sports an obvious golden key hanging around his former neck, with a note attached to it. Perhaps he was meaning to give it to you at the end of this?*

[Ganyu]

Maybe we should have thoroughly considered reforming before execution...

Oh well, someone take the key and get us out.

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Image: Did you really think I'd leave it up to chance? I would have just shot him dead if you wouldn't have, it wasn't like I couldn't see you!

*You take the key. On it is a note that simply reads, "Reminder to give AntIvOId key to backroom for reward." He assumed that the fight would turn out in his favor. It's useless in escaping this place, presumably, as this PROBABLY isn't the backroom, it's probably connected to the teleporter. You're not on the right side to use it, the barrier blocks you. On the other side of the note is a black card, similar to the one depicting Nidhogg and the number 4. This one depicts The Black and is number 13.*

*This is a disaster...It's taking really long to set in, though...*

*...Puzzlingly long.*

[Bulbasaur]

Bulbasaur: Wow, battles in this world sure are long.

[Sir Sivelos]

*SIVELOS closes the eyes of the Black.* Good night, sweet prince.

*He stands up and sighs. He looks at Image, then back to Justice.* …Pf… Heheheh… *SIVELOS cracks a sly grin. What, is he losing his mind?*

[Bulbasaur]

Bulbasaur: Something up, Sivelos?

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

Bulbasaur: Wow, battles in this world sure are long.

*And this was one of the average-length ones.*

*SIVELOS closes the eyes of the Black.* Good night, sweet prince.

*He stands up and sighs. He looks at Image, then back to Justice.* …Pf… Heheheh… *SIVELOS cracks a sly grin. What, is he losing his mind?*

*The Black was wearing a mask. You haven't seen him unmasked, so your attempts unmask him. He is a caucasian male 'human' with a moustache split down the middle and a goatee.*

Image:...It should be happening now...It should have already happened...Did...Was it a ruse?

*...This Narrator is of a firm opinion that IMAGE did it wrong.*

*Speaking of doing, the portal behind you opens, but not to a friendly face-BLOODHOUND, tattered in blood that clearly isn't his.*

Bloodhound: You already did it?

*Behind him is a pile of corpses, burning with ARBITARIAN ENERGY, ensuring their demise...Atop them are ones you recognize well: END KING, HIS CARETAKERS, DARK MIND, GALLIGATH,HALF OF TAZZ'S DARK AURA COPIES, ETNA-TAZZ, LILLITH-TAZZ, MERMAID-TAZZ and FLONNE-TAZZ have all been slain FOR GOOD, annihilated permanently by the power of an energy commonly referred to as THE NAMELESS AURA! LIGHT CHAOS, CARCINO, JEREMY, NIGHTMARE, STORM, VELVETINE, SITA-TAZZ, JIRACHI-TAZZ (who, even in this situation, is still aboard the ship), and RIN-TAZZ are all alive, but beaten to bloody piles and left unconscious-bar the two ELDER SOULS, who are back aboard your ship. You have NO IDEA where MACHOKARP is, but you figure his contract is up so he felt that now was the time to leave. There doesn't seem to be much backup-BLOODHOUND must have done all of that alone!*

Bloodhound:...If he's dead, why hasn't it happened yet?! If you've gone and-

Image: HELMSMAN! Are they deceiving us?!

*THE HELMSMAN shakes his head no. You cannot possibly be deceiving them.*

Bloodhound: IF YOU WENT AND DESTROYED HIS SOUL, WHY ISN'T IT HAPPENING?!

Image:...

Bloodhound:...

Justice: Did the energies fizzle out on my Ax...Luckiest break of my life.

(Did you REALLY think that it would be THAT easy, Image? Hell no.)

*...I hate it when he hides the cards from me like this.*

*It APPEARS that THE BLACK has not been destroyed properly-just killing him doesn't seem to do it. Then again, this was subtly implied before during his text signaling the start of the waves ("Destroy" instead of just "Kill"), so his soul still lingers, Like THE BRONZE ELDER SOUL's did before he got a new body. The soul is likely just as immune to the NAMELESS SUBSTANCE as the body was, so THE BLACK'S SOUL could be ANYWHERE. Very close, Image, but NO CIGAR!*

Image:...

...

...

...

...

...HELMSMAN!

*The portal closes again, and BLOODHOUND attempts to go through the barrier to rejoin his copatriots as THE HELMSMAN crosses through the portal. However, REBECCA clings to BLOODHOUND's leg as he does so.*

BLOODHOUND: What-

Rebecca: Nice Try!

*With a jab of her spear at BLOODHOUND's body, she goes for nothing but a side cut, which pops back up INSIDE the barrier, causing it to shatter like glass!*

Image: NO!

*IMAGE steps on the teleporter, as does every other member of the RaGNaK-BLOODHOUND shakes off REBECCA to do so properly. The HELMSMAN comes back as soon as everyone's on the other side.*

THE HELMSMAN:...

JUSTICE: Not so hot that your illusions got busted, huh?

*With that, THE HELMSMAN snaps her fingers and destroys all the AEGISes. In addition, her NO CHANCE ability prevents ENDURE from bothering her, or any other protective effects. YOU WILL BE ONE-SHOT BY HER IF SHE LANDS HER BACKSTAB!*

*TIME TO START A REAL FIGHT!!*

*THE HELMSMAN OF THE RAGNAK VERSUS THE ANTIVOID!!! LADIES AND MENTLEGEN, ACTION!!!!!!!!!*