The Hunt Begins (Dark Data)

[Ash Williams]

"Shit shit shit shit shit!!!!" Ash thought while running and avoiding falling stone debris from above.

The earthly made monster roared about finding the liberators and still pursued them until the creature's goal was fulfilled or death. All the liberators made it to one room that had passageways that will probably lead to the Nebula leader. They all got confused which would be the best hallway to follow. A number of passageways were about the equal number of liberators there were. Everything around them still shook as the clumsy beast trying to find them. The roof above them came toppling down again from the beast finding its enemies.

There was no time for them to decide which way was the best to take. At the stressful moment, an idea popped into Ash's head and it was no time to argue about his plan.

"We need to split up! So, it would get confused which one of us to follow!" Ash yelled over the howling earth monster.

Revan didn't think it was a smart idea to split up but Kanda thought it would probably to help since no one could slow him down from finding their foe. The others were mixed about the idea too.

"If we do, then one of us-" Kanda shouted over the sounds of the beast but was cut off from a loud boom of the shotgun that the evil dead slayer held.

The shots were fired at the beast which made no effect since it was giant and had a strong layer of ground. Kanda figured the choice was made and nodded at Ash and ran into one of the passageways. The others thought it was an appropriate time to do so. Eyes of the beast followed the liberators that began to split up but focused back on Ash as he reloaded his weapon blasted another two shots at the earthly made giant.

"Hey, you big pile of shit! Your mom must've been so ugly, her genes passed down to you!" Ash taunted, successfully getting the creature's attention.

The monster roared loud at Ash's attitude and became angrier than before.

"Yeah that's right I'm talking to you! Come and get me, big boy!" Ash taunted the last time and holstered his shotgun. The Darkshire defender began running down the pathway he was going to take.

"Dammit! This was a bad Idea," Ash thought while running away.

His chainsaw arm attachment was weighing him down and letting the monster catch up to him. He detached the weapon and let go of it which dissipated into Omnilium. The metal hand replacement was summoned and Ash attached his right hand, making his arm feel light. He dashed through the hallways as the colossal beast tore the walls of the castle to catch the evil dead slayer.

Two darklings patrol the hallway and encountered one of the liberator's. They growled at Ash's presence but the prime completely ignored them and shoved them by the side.

"Excuse me, fellas!" Ash said while shoving them to the side and still running.

The two were about to start chasing him but were thrown to the side and crushed by the clumsy nature of the giant, wrecking the walls of the castle.

"want this madness to stop," thought Ash while running through the torch-lit hallway while the beast was on his trail.

He still hoped that he or the others will make it to the Judge before this verse was doomed.

[Nebula]

“Looks like the fiend has made its choice,” Revan yelled over the fading sound of the lumbering titan. The necromental’s gargantuan girth shook the very foundation of the building as it lumbered after the swordsman’s comrade. “But if we leave Ash behind he’s as good as dead.”

“The slayer can handle himself,” Kanda replied, gazing down the hallway at the distracted abomination and then back to the other Liberators. “He bought us this chance for a reason. We need to find Judge Man. If he dies, so will all of the Darklings here.”

Celestia looked much less sure of the decision, doing her best to avoid being flattened while they talked, large chunks of ceiling crashed beside her. “But we might need Ash to fight Judge Man, we didn’t do so well last time.” She paused glancing around the ruined entryway. “Where is Chara?”

“I assumed she was behind us,” Revan said, responding with a small shrug. “Maybe she fled back through the gate?”

A few moments of silence settled over the group as they mulled over their decision. Before they could come to a conclusion, an eerie groaning echoed through the castle. The group turned to spy another small squadron of rotting fiends shambling through the shattered wall, sights set on them.

Kanda readied his bow, his eyes trained on the shambling dead. "Nevermind the zombies," he commanded. "We can outrun them!"

They’d have choose, and quickly. Follow Ash or find the Judge?

And so it goes. What will you do now?

Everyone has one week and 1000 words.

[Marisa Kirisame]

This is ash Williams right now

As Ash Williams continued running he finally felt something in his hand. He opened it up to see a few computer chip's of different sizes and shapes with a small piece of paper from chara. He pocketed the items and continued to run for his life.

now this is chara purely

As Chara ran away from the scene she gasped for air as she held a wound on her side. She didn't think it was smart to go after Ash Williams to give him the chips but she was in no shape to use them; And her device had litearly been broken in the run as she fell on it by accident. She reached the court house in what seemed to be record time and jumped through reaching the  courthouse that was surprisingly empty. She opened her flip phone only for it to create a hologram of a screen. "Are you there Jackson? How is the soul research coming along?" A lizard monster walked into the hologram almost dropping a clipboard in the process.


"He- hello my queen yes we have been making breakthroughs with monster souls and will soon be able to face the normal human and win. With the ones that enter the borders of our lands we capture them and are extracting determination as we speak." She could hear in the background a man howl in pain. "Don't you think you could be a little ni-nicer to the humans that enter? I know you have had a rough time with them but shouldn't we be better than them? I also have perfected the determination shot giving monsters a slight amount of DT at first then we increase it to the point that they are some of the strongest creatures around."


She nodded clearly pleased with there progress in soul traits and the sorts. "How long till you get the specific traits infused into monsters?" Jackson clearly was worried on that point. "Well there is one problem to that plan. Monsters are not suppost to have specific soul traits who knows what would happen to the trait. It may weaken, it may make them go crazy that's why we want to try it with a weaker monster while your there." She nods a reasonable request.


"Alright ill be over there in a few hours." She limped away from Nebulas city in the pale moors slowly leaving her device she got from Doctor regal there to rot.

im out of there good luck and Now IC ash has the dark chips at his disposal. Give Judgeman and co. hell everyone. CHARA OUT! *mic drop*

[Revan Noctis]

The castle shook and rumbled as walls collapsed sending out massive tremors that kept Revan reminded that he was in unknown territory being chased by a creature that seemed to largely represent death itself. He had seen Celestia and Yu Kanda make off after their prey yet he chose to stay, Ash needed his help or he was going to end up dead long before the others found their target.

"Don't die before I get there!" He yelled out in a moment of concern as he took off sprinting down the long stone hallways toward the sound of destruction.

Darklings seemed to be largely fleeing from the approaching corpse titan but Revan was forced to stop to deal with a few every now and then that felt brave enough to challenge the cloaked warrior. Soon Revan found Ash ducking and weaving from the necromental that appeared more furious and eager to consume him more then before.

"Ash over here quick!" He yelled out as Ash took notice of him and after a quick glance began rushing toward his direction.

"This thing sure doesn't want to give up." Revan was still unsure if they could even beat Judgeman.

Now they just needed to catch up to the others and find the judge that for unknown reasons had left them at the courthouse. Revan did not fail to notice Ash holding the dark chips in his palm which made Revan reach only one conclusion, Chara was gone. 

"Celestia and Kanda have to be here somewhere!" He yelled continuing to keep his speed up to avoid the castle collapsing behind him, never before had he even considered the existence of such a large destructive creature.

A castle was usually built to withstand sieges, usually those sieges included specialised equipment built for allowing an invading force to take a castle for the purpose of destroying the defending army. This knowledge now felt useless as the existence of such large creatures meant that such large walls were now completely useless, even the darklings seemed to be surprised by this as they did their best to avoid being crushed by the collapsing massive stone walls. 

"There is going to be little left of this place once we're done." He said to Ash as they cut around a corner narrowly avoiding a group of six darklings, he didn't need to look back as he heard their screams indicating they were probably crushed moments after the quick turn.

Celestia and Yu Kanda could be seen across a large room or at least what was probably what was left of a bunch of smaller rooms that had now caved in. Bits of stone and rubble lay everywhere and dust had settled in the air making the air uncomfortable to breathe and making their vision unfocused. 

Zombies continued shambling around the large room as Revan swung his sword beheading one of the fiendish creatures. The castle was very quickly becoming little more then its own graveyard.

"You used to dealing with this?" He asked Ash realising the man was far more calm considering the hordes of undead and strange monsters they had encountered on their mission.

The large Necromental was still keeping up with them due to the fact they had little idea of their way around the strange castle and despite this the destruction of the castle had been beneficial to their cause, much of the darkling army had been crushed under their own walls and the Judge was bound to be close. The zombies were of little concern this was for sure but if they didn't kill the Judge soon they were going to end up possibly stuck here and Revan certainly despised the idea of spending much more time in this dreadful horrible place.

"The Judge must be close" Revan certainly wanted to destroy him and take down the rest of Nebula before this evil spreads further.

Linking up with the others on the other side of the room was important if they were going to face the Judge together but the walking corpses meant they were as of right then unreachable.
Revan ran out into the room turning left, he had to find another way to the other side of the room without going through the zombies, not to mention luring the necromental to them while they already were being chased by undead seemed rather unkind.

The door on the left was open as he and Ash entered not bothering to close it as more zombies shuffled through after them. The castle that had originally been lit up bring with torches was now falling into darkness as the flames of light faded and the air grew colder leaving only the sound and smell of rotting shambling dead in the air.

"If the other two do not find the judge soon we are dead." He said starting to feel like their attempt at outrunning the Necromental was futile.

"If it doesn't get us then those zombies eventually will." Revan couldn't believe such horrible things actually existed and it made him grip his blade tighter as he continued on down the shadowy dark hallway.

863 words

[Ash Williams]

The castle shook from the necromental roaring loudly as it tore its way through the castle for Ash and Revan. Still, the liberators ran as fast as they could through the corridors from the gigantic beast. Henchmen that served the judge would try to stop them but they would try to avoid them to get away from the beast as far as possible. The clumsily and violent nature of the necromental would take care of darklings of them getting trampled. After running for twelve minutes, they made a sudden stop at the edge of a dark pit. A wooden draw bridge was on the other side and was held up by chains. This was the only way to get around the pit.

Ash whipped his shotgun out of the holster and began reloading quickly while the beast was seconds away.  He aimed the weapon with both of his hands and fired at the two chains. The shots hit the target and caused the draw bridge to fall, making a path to cross the pit. Ash holstered his gun and sprinted across it before the Necromental could smash him. Revan followed Ash across the pit before the beast punched the area where Ash and Revan were standing at a minute ago. Still, the humongous earth-made monster pursued the evil dead slayer.

The liberators entered another corridor that was lit with torches. They saw that there were no darklings in their way and continued to their hearts out.

Why the hell is he here? He was going to be with the others to stop that judge. The thought ran through Ash's head as Revan caught up to him while the necromental was behind and destroying the castle to catch them.

Ash didn't bother stopping to say anything to his teammate since he didn't want to ruin the plan. Revan ran next to him with his robe fluttering by the speed they were going.

"What the hell are you doing? I thought I told you guys to go and find the judge, not play tag with the jolly green giant here!" yelled Ash over the destruction that the necromental was causing behind them.

He didn't say this before since all the action that happened around them when they met up.

"Well, I didn't want to leave anyone behind anymore! I'm getting fed up with something bad happening to one of us. First Sombra died, Chara becomes badly injured, now this!" yelled Revan while next to Ash.

"I've handled worse than this before, kid! Since you're here now, try to keep up with me so we can buy time for Celestia and Kanda!" explained Ash over the roaring necromnetal

Revan nodded in response and kept running along with Ash. The hallways in this castle felt endless making them feel as if they were in a dungeon. Suddenly, both primes ran into a fork in the road. Ash wasted no time thinking which path would be better to take. He signaled Revan to follow him down the right path instead of the left. Revan acknowledged and followed Ash without question.

They noticed that they were at the bottom floor of a tower. The stairs had some Darklings on patrol for any intruders. Everyone in the heard a loud thump against the tower from the necromental trying to find the liberators. The darklings were now on high alert but then noticed Ash and Revan running up the stairs. Both saw the darklings but try to not have fighting on their instead focus on survival and the necromental. Before the first group of darklings made their move, a giant fist broke through the wall and grabbed the group of henchmen thinking it was the liberators.

The primes stopped for a moment until the path was clear again. When the gigantic monster noticed it wasn't them, he threw the darklings to the side carelessly and groaned for the liberators. Ash and Revan ran up the stairwell of a twelve-story castle tower. The beast tried to follow them by peering in each window they pass. It readies a fist and tried to time the attack. Another group of Darklings blocked their path with weapons ready. Ash noticed the light coming in from the window was blocked by the giant's arm.

Revan had his sword unsheathed and ready to cut down their enemies but Ash put his arm in front of Revan's body, halting him. Ash moved back down the steps and made Revan to do the same. Darkling charged down the steps with vicious glowing eyes. The liberators got out of the way from the incoming fist that broke through the wall and part of the stairwell. This caused some of the Darkling to be grabbed or thrown off the stairs and land on the hard-stone ground which killed them.

The necromental looked in its hand again but was furious it wasn't the liberators and thrown the darklings to the side again, pitching a fit. It used it's other and hand clawed the stone wall where Ash and Revan were standing. The stone bricks fell apart from the giant's hand making another opening and spotting them. Both primes made no hesitations and jumped over the gap, barely making it.

They were now halfway to the top and there was no turning back. Darklings still tried to stop them from going up but were killed off by the necromental's clumsily or the liberators. Some got close enough to attack them but Revan would use his sword to fight them off and Ash used his boomstick or punch them with his steel artificial hand. The castle shook once more from the humongous frustrated roar caused by the giant earth-made monster.

949 words on Word Doc.

[Celestia]

It was with great reluctance that Celestia turned away from Ash. It would never sit well with her to abandon a companion, but...well even if it wasn't the only option, it was arguably the best one. Yu Kanda was right, that the judge was at the centre of all of this. If he could be dealt with permanently dealt with, the situation would be infinitely more manageable, if not resolved completely. She needed to make a hard choice. “We'll just need to have faith in our friend.” She spoke aloud, although the comment was directed at no one in particular. She was as much assuring herself as convincing anyone else. “He is capable, I am sure he can survive this too.” Her voice was more confident now. “We must take this chance to strike at the source!” She began to gallop down the hall and deeper into the castle, and Yu Kanda followed suit, keeping pace with her.

Revan turned back, and ran toward Ash. Maybe not the optimal choice, but one she could certainly understand. As they temporarily parted ways, Celestia called out, “Remember, it's strength can be turned to our advantage!” And then she was out of earshot, scrambling through the corridors once again.

The corridors themselves had a sparse population of darklings. It seemed a little odd that the castle would have so few defenders, but then they had already seen that this realm had dangers other than masses of weaker minions. Undoubtedly the most dangerous defences would be those that were less obvious. From a practical standpoint however, the scattered enemies proved limited as obstacles. Celestia took down a few with carefully aimed jets of fire, but most she didn't even both to finish off. She bowled over several simply by bringing up her shield and charging through them. She and Yu Kanda had moved on ahead by the time they recovered. He was the more effective of the two of them in these tight corridors, cutting down several of the darklings in their way without ever breaking stride.

It was just as well that Celestia's available skills weren't suited for corridors, even as she ran her focus was elsewhere. Judgeman was easy enough to track to the fortress, but once inside he was on his home ground, and somewhere deep within the maze-like corridors. Presumably the judge would be in the most secure place, either to make his stand or protect something that was maintaining the corrupted space they were now in. But what would the most secure place be?

“The upper chambers!” Celestia called out to Yu Kanda as she ran. “Given that this plane denies us flight, the upper levels of the castle would both be more secure and give a vantage point. That is where our foe is most likely to be!” And if he could not be found there, the upper levels would give a better view of the rest of the castle, which would help them find any other hiding places. She turned on spotting a staircase, and moved toward and up it.

548 words

[Yu Kanda]

The unexpected duo started their way towards the upper floors, climbing the stair case. Not an easy task with the medieval structure shaking and slowly collapsing around them. Both primes struggled with keeping their balance. From a distance they could hear the sounds of battle, screams, shouts and shots fired. Brave souls laying their lives on the line to save the life of others.

The upper floor looked nearly identical to the lower ones. A depressing sight. From behind they heard a loud roar. It was combined with one of the strongest shakes they felt so far, almost as if the earth beneath their feet would tear open.

"Hold on!" Kanda shouted as he grabbed hold one of the iron torch-holders latched on the wall.
Celestia wasn't so lucky, her small body was thrown against the wall.

"You alright?" The exorcists asked calmly as he watched the pony get back up on her feet.

"I will be. Those stones will give you a mean headache alright."

And just like that the shaking, screaming and rumbling stopped. Something happened, good or bad was yet to be determined, but something  happened. 'Whatever those two did, it seems to have worked.' Kanda concluded with a certain sense of satisfaction. 'Now we can take care of the judge without any interference. With God as my witness, their sacrifice will not be in vain.' Kanda's experience with these kind of situations wasn't positive. Usually, when the storm of battle settles, it means lives were lost and the angels come to collect the souls that have been set free.

Only two primes left to take down the judge. The general's slowed down paced didn't go unnoticed by Celestia. However there was no reason to run anymore. Running would only provide opportunity for the enemy to ambush them. With the loss of three of their allies they would have to be smart. Kanda noticed his innocence bow started to take its toll on his body. He dismissed the weapon and rested his hand upon his sword, strapped to his side. Ever since he started this mission he noticed his second innocence synchronization has been giving him troubles. Perhaps for now he should refrain from using it unless absolutely necessary.

The aerie hallways created an unpleasant atmosphere. The cold breeze that found its way through the castle gave Kanda Goosebumps underneath his Black order uniform. The two were both quiet and on guard. The silence carried on for so long that it started to become uncomfortable.
"I sure hope those two are alright." Celestia obviously attempted to break the silence, hoping some small talk would break the tension. Her partner wasn't a fan, "Ssh! Stay quiet, who knows what is crawling here." Kanda snarled back.

'Just my luck.' Started going through Kanda's mind. 'We finally reach the root of the problem and I am stuck with this talking pet. Perhaps the judge is hungry and sees her as dinner, that would make for a good distraction as I relieve him from his head.'

Up ahead Kanda noticed a large door, covered in velvet red cushion. A few meters before the door, there was an intersection of hallways. From the pit of his stomach an ominous feeling emerged. Something was behind that door, and it wasn't good. The exorcist sensed an alarming evil presence behind it. Whether it was his innocence warning him or just common sense, it didn't matter. If this was their final destination, and the judge was hiding behind those doors, this thing could finally end.

The general prepared for the worst and unsheathed his sword. His movement changed ever so slightly as his footsteps no longer produced sound. Both hands were gripped tight around the katana's handle. The weapon itself pointed towards the floor. Behind him the pony did her utmost best to move as silent as Kanda. With her being in the air most of the time she never really needed to sneak around. Her lack of practice in the art of sneaking showed.

Kanda approached the intersection, with just one meter between him and the corner left he heard a sound behind him. The sound of a pony stumbling down, tripping over her own hooves.  Not only did it distract the swordsman, it also alarmed a ghoul which was just around the corner. The grunting creature came around the corner, arms stretched out, reaching for the exorcist.

To any lesser warrior this may have been a problem. But for an experienced combatant like Kanda the slow movements of the ghoul made it look like child splay. With a single fluent motion the swordsman guided the sharp edge of the sword passed the arms. The skin of the ghouls neck sliced open as the weapon separated head from limb. The lifeless body crumbled to the floor as its head rolled towards Celestia. The pony took a few steps back as she looked rather shocked at Kanda. The exorcist didn't show any sign of regret or any other emotion for that matter within his cold gaze.

 "Whatever is hiding behind that door, we take it down and we do it fast. We have to remember the mission and the lives that will be saved." The general spoke.
Celestia nodded firmly, "Let's do it!"

Both primes walked towards the door, ready for combat. With a strong kick Kanda forced open the door. It was time to end this once and for all.

906 words according to word.

[Nebula]

Ash and Revan hastened up the crumbling stone steps, panic rising in their throats as they continued to climb farther and farther from the relative safety of terra frima. Try as they might to keep their cool, something about hurrying to the top of a tower that seemed ready to collapse at any moment didn’t exactly breed serenity among them.

“What exactly are we going to do when we run out of stairs?” Ash yelled over a booming moan, shoving a roving ghoul out of the way as a familiar titanic fist crashed through the wall just feet behind him. “The buck stops somewhere!”

“I don’t know!” Revan yelled in reply, gazing back down the stairs with worry stitched in his brow. “How did it even get outside?”

“I imagine when you’re that big, you make you own doors,” Ash quipped, cocking a half-smirk as he kept his pace up the ruined stairs. How many stories had they climbed? The slayer’s legs felt like bricks of molten lead as his continued his ascent. If they stopped, they’d be dead.

Moments later, the duo found their answer. The hearts sank as a ruined wooden door came into view, Revan charging forward and throwing his shoulder into it. In a spray of splinters, the liberators found themselves at the top of the castle turret. Moonlight cast the landing with an eerie glow, the now-pouring rain beating down on the heads of Regal’s chosen.

“End of the line,” Ash muttered insolently, gripping his shotty. “What now?”

Revan exhaled as the tower shook violently, enormous earthen fingers appearing from beyond the battlements and taking hold. “We fight.”

“How are we going to fight something that punches through stone like papier-mâché?” Williams asked, firing a round into the behemoth’s ‘face’ as it raised itself to look upon them. Predictably, the shot elicited not even a flinch in response.

“That's it!” Revan cried, tumbling sideways to avoid a swipe from the titan. “We can’t make a dent in him, but this castle seems like it’s on its last legs. Aim for its handholds!”

A wide grin spread across the slayer’s face. “That’ll work!”

The pair moved in unison, splitting apart as the colossus’ fist slammed into the center of the landing. They circled around as it withdrew, hugging the battlements for what little shelter they provided. They were sitting ducks up at the top of the tower, and in plain sight of something large enough to stomp a building flat. They’d only have once chance.

A pause.

An unearthly groan escaped the beast’s ‘mouth’ as it raised a fist high into the air once more, casting a shadow over the pair.

“NOW!”

Buckshot and hellfire slammed into the fiend’s earthen hand, the combined stress of the liberators’ assault and of the titan’s grip causing the stone to shatter. The tower quaked as if it were a stubborn stallion bucking its colossal rider, finally shuddering as the earthen behemoth lost his grip, tumbling backward off of the tower. A few seconds later a deafening BOOM echoed through the area, the force of the fallen giant’s landing causing the tower to sway precariously.

“She’s not going to hold for much longer!” Ash cried, making a break for the doorway. “Run!”

- - -

Elsewhere, the alicorn and the exorcist forced the ornate doors of the castle’s sanctuary open, stepping forward into a lavish library. Wall-to-wall book stacks reached high overhead toward a vaulted ceiling, rows of tightly-packed bookcases crammed with various tomes surrounding an expansive central area. The liberators readied their weapons as a familiar face strode into view from behind a bookcase.

“My, my. A retrial?”

You are nearing the final obstacle. Don't give up!

For the group intent on finishing off Judgeman, he is still heavily injured but has caught a second wind, so to speak, and has recovered very slightly. He's still in pretty rough shape, though, so knock him out of the park.

Everyone has one week to make one post, up to 1500 words to deal with their respective situations. Best of luck!

[Revan Noctis]

The sky poured as water washed over the now badly damaged castle that was now beginning to flood in many parts as undead continued to swarm inward. The massive Necromental collapsed due to having lost its grip on the tallest tower sending it falling to the wet smushed ground below. Revan's robes became moist as his hands gripped the wet ledge of the tall tower. Loosening his grip he allowed himself to slide down the stone structure allowing his boots to land heavily upon the firm stone roof beneath him.
He knew that he needed to move quick or he'd end up buried in the huge amount of rubble quickly building up.

Zombies by the dozen had begun following them from below, many slipped and fell a number even falling off the castle roof completely but still they spread out covering their options of escape. He thought perhaps he was going to need to fight his way out but with the castle once more shaking and beginning to collapse from its own plummeting weight it became clear quickly that the undead were going to be buried in the collapse to come. Revan knew the others were going to need him to help take on the Judge. The castle tower further shook as Revan sped up knowing every second was precious.

The damage to the castles structure had amassed considerable damage from the fierce battles and chases that had taken place within its walls. The tower they were now upon had most recently begun to collapse and Revan knew it would only be a short time before the entire tower came tumbling down. With the creature for the moment seemingly dealt with their next clear goal would be to hunt down the Judge. Hopefully the others would be ok before they caught back up.

Ash yelled out that the tower would soon collapse and he realised it as well that getting off was of the utmost importance if they wanted to avoid going down with it. His sword was sheathed a sword he ran for dear life down the side of the remaining slippery tower. Stone debris crumbled falling in on itself causing the tower to finally give way as it quickly became little more then a massive pile of stone. The entire tower was going to bring down the rest of the castle with it and there was nothing either he or Ash could do to stop it.

Revan leapt from the bottom of the tower to the rest of the castle roof but the clump of stone fell and under the weight of gravity tumbled through the roof into the rest of the castle creating a new ever expanding hole in what was at once a well constructed fortified location. Having apparently lost more supports below the roof further gave way as more holes in the stone beneath him appeared. Running to get away from the collapsing structure proved pointless as he jumped over another hole barely able to reach the other side, falling in he was only just able to grip the stones still stable on the opposite side. For a long moment he was simply hanging off the edge trying to not fall into the large hole formed beneath him.

A few moments of trying to get himself up and the rest of the structure above him collapsed downward perhaps sealing his fate once and for all as he had stones rain down upon him in his vulnerable position. The stones that were his only one remaining support also gave way as he was plunged into the dark void below. Doing his best to survive the fall he went down as he found himself falling into a library, his body tumbled through a tall wooden bookcase scattering an array of books in every direction. He was heavily dazed but looking up from his position on the floor he found himself looking at Yu Kanda, Celestia and his current nemesis the Judge.

666 words

[Celestia]

Celestia was tired. She was no stranger to stressful situations, but the nature of the ones she had faced was very different from that which she was facing now. Politics required a very different set of skills than extended combat, and her relative lack of recent experience combined with the time the group had spent in constant danger was starting to wear on her. Hence her most recent errors.

But if there was one thing Celestia could do, it was persevere through exhaustion. They were sure to be near the end of this operation, she would persevere! By now they all needed some time to rest and recover, but none could just yet. She and Yu Kanda were at the final challenge, just in the room ahead, or at least she hoped. Although even this close to the end, they would need to remain alert, who knew what surprises lay in store for them in the citadel.

Celestia's guess proved correct, they found the castle's sanctum on the upper levels, and it took the shape of a large, and well-stocked library. It was pristine, at odds with the rest of the demi-plane. She was a little curious what books such a creature might have, half expecting many of them to be blank. In other circumstances she would have wanted to check, to see what knowledge a creature such as the judge might store.

Celestia's curiosity was set aside when the judge himself appeared, striding out from behind one of the shelves. All notion of curiosity was set aside. Their foe was ahead of them, and there was only one thing left to do. “No holding back,” Celestia said, as much to herself as to her companion. She doubted that Yu Kanda even heard her, already charging toward the judge as he was. No matter, she would have needed the words more than the exorcist anyways. Moment's later she followed suit, although not straight toward the judge. The bookcases were narrow enough that trying to charge between would as likely cause her to get entangled with her ally as get into any useful position. So instead, she galloped toward the gap between shelves in the side of the room.

The library wasn't so large that it took long to traverse. Celestia turned down a row of shelves as a the sounds of battle grew louder, to see Yu Kanda's sword strikes being barely deflected by the judge's conjured books. Celestia held still, and her horn and eyes began to glow. Small, glowing orbs began to wink into existence in the air around her. Ahead, in the centre of the room, the judge conjured a pillar lighting that erupted from the ground. Yu Kanda noticed at the last second, dashing backwards. The judge used the newly created distance to conjure his whip once again.

Now that the two were separated, Celestia could attack with impunity, and she let fly. The small 'stars' streaked down the hall in a short volley, which the judge saw coming but too late. A few snuck past the book he tried to conjure, and the impacts threw off his focus, leaving the successive bolts to knock the book aside and detonate on his torso. He was driven backwards, the impacts driving him into a nearby shelf, causing several books to fall.

And then a body fell through the roof. A moment's scrutiny revealed it to be Revan's. She couldn't do much for him in their current state, but she could at least provide cover for him to get back on his feet. Still keeping her eyes on the judge, she called out, “Revan! Are you alright?”  It would of course be hard to get through such a fall completely unscathed, but whether or he could still fight or was in need of help would be very significant information.

Of course, Revan had stayed behind to help Ash deal with the creature. If the former was here, it meant this was about to get very complicated.

704 words, and Celestia used A Call Beyond (tier 1 super attack)

[Ash Williams]

Lightning crackled in the sky when the rain came. With each lightning strike, the castle would light up with white flashes. Ash also became soaked from the steady rain that started. The tower quaked under their boots as it sways back and forth after the giant fell. Ash almost fell from how violent the tower shook. At least, they were sort of relief with the colossal monster being defeated. The evil dead slayer thought it would take more than just suppressive fire to knock down the monster. Stones from the tower began to fall out of place and ran down upon the castle underneath. He holstered his double-barrel shotgun so he wouldn't lose the weapon from the massive quake.

Ash yelled about the situation and they went back inside the tower. There was only one way down this tower and that was the spiral stairs. The staircase was starting to crumble apart from the shakiness. The relief that they had was gone instantly from the grim sight of their way down. Not only the stairs they had to worry about but the monstrosities of Nebula didn't care about the tower falling apart. Only one thing was on their mind, kill the liberators. Revan soon took off on his own way down the tower. Ash figured that his partner's mindset was to get off this tower without any major injuries as possible while avoiding obstacles.

How Revan moved was something that Ash couldn't follow along swiftly. Zombies try to climb the staircase to reach the evil dead slayer but some fell off from the steps falling apart underneath them or the harsh movements that the tower was making. Ash heard the stones starting to collapse even more than a minute ago. This made his mind rushed to see what would be an uncomplicated way to get down. He took a stepped forward on the stairs but they also begin to crumble when he put what on the cracked steps. The Darkshire defender was forced to step back so he wouldn't fall to his death.

Now, the tower was twenty seconds away from collapsing. Adrenaline was rushing through his body with ideas. Ash rushed back outside to see if there was another way down. Surely enough there was no ladders or rope to use. This was making Ash pull his hair out from how much stress was piling on him. The time was up and the tower creaked and stopped shaking for the moment. The tower began to lean one side instead of standing up straight.

There was no time anymore he needed to get down now.

"Fuck it…" Ash said softly to himself then ran toward the edge seeing part of the towers was still smooth to slide down on.

A deep breath came in through his nose and out his mouth. Before the tower fell anymore, he jumped over the edge and began surfing down the side of the tower while it tipped over. Ash slid down on his butt and tried to avoid any holes. When he got closer toward the roof of the castle, the evil dead slayer was ready to jump off before he was taken by the tower. He jumped off the surface as the tower fully collapsed on to a part of the castle. Ash hit the solid surface on his stomach in a stance like a cartoon character would.

A groan came out of his mouth after lying there for a second, feeling pain. He got up on his hands and knees, feeling the cool water underneath them. Ash got up slowly for a moment to recover from the fall. His neck popped by him after standing up on his feet. The evil dead slayer noticed a hole was made in the roof not too far away from him. Ash walked up to this hole and noticed Revan made it. His companion laid on the floor and made a mess. This caused Ash to smirk at the site he was still alive and kicking. To not attempt breaking any bones, Ash sat on the edge of the hole and slid off to not hit the ground too hard.

He landed next to Revan and Celestia who helped him up. Celestia was relieved to see Ash back in the fight. Ash noticed that they all meet up and found the Judge. This made things even more exciting for Ash since he was ready to teach a lesson or two at their nemesis. He detached his steel hand and replaced it with his chainsaw hand. The cord got yanked twice to cause the motor to start running and spewing out smoke.

The Judge recovered from Celestia's powerful attack and ready to take them on again.

789 words on Word Doc.

[Nebula]

“I’ll admit, I did not have an appeal on the docket,” Judgeman scoffed, staring down his beleaguered foes. Though the audacity of these liberators to continue to oppose Nebula’s absolute rule incensed him, he had to admit that on some level he was enjoying it. The law existed to keep cretins like them in-line, and he stood as that law’s resolute guardian. They’d need more than cheap theatrics to overturn his verdict.

“We don’t come on your terms,” Kanda sneered, katana held at-the-ready. “Nebula’s rule is a false law, and your opinion is null.”

The adamant arbiter shook his head slowly, unclenching his fist as the handle of his whip materialized within his metallic palm. “Plea however you like, it matters not.” He brought the whip up with a flourish, dark flames snaking from the handle and snapping at the air. “I uphold my ruling; you will be remanded to your graves.”

All at once the liberators charged, a chaotic clash of various weaponry and sorcery coalescing. Judgeman found himself set upon from all sides, feeling the flames bite at his metal hide as he brandished his flaming whip in an attempt to keep the chainsaw and katana wielders at bay. With a grunt he brought his fist down upon the library’s worn felt carpeting, a plume of tattered pages springing up to obscure him. As the parchment began to settle, the liberators found themselves staring at naught but a messy arrangement of paper.

“He’s above us!” Celestia called out, spinning on the spot to take aim at the magistrate standing atop a nearby bookcase. She quickly channeled a fireball, letting loose the blast just as a meter-wide book appeared between the two, taking the blast to its cover before slamming down upon the alicorn. She righted herself a moment later, shaking off the singed remains of the tome as her opponent leapt from atop his perch. His sights were set on Ash.

The slayer watched as Judgeman barreled toward him, whirling his whip overhead before bringing it down with a savage thrash. He brought his chainsaw limb up defensively as he made to dodge, the elemental lash winding itself around the gardening tool despite the myriad of gnashing teeth. Ash felt a sharp tug on his arm before a set of boots planted themselves on his chest, the Judge falling heavily upon him.

“Ash!” Revan cried out, drawing his sword and dashing forward in a brazen act of courage. If the two could fell a colossal rotting titan just minutes prior, he’d be damned if he allowed Ash to be squashed by the arbiter.

Between the barrage of sword strikes and the continued struggling of the pinned slayer, Judgeman was sent staggering backward. The sudden assault caused him to lose his grip, dropping his whip as Ash’s chainsaw revved against its grasp, gray smoke pouring from its engine. As his cloaked companion continued to force Judgeman onto the defensive, Ash momentarily silenced his saw and pulled the whip free as he got to his feet. He smirked as he brandished the menacing tool. “Groovy.”

“ENOUGH!” Judgeman hollered for what felt like the umpteenth time. He balled his hands into fists, taking aim at Revan’s sword hand with one and his stomach with the other. The cloaked swordsman’s eyes widened, deftly twisting his torso in an attempt to avoid the blow. The last-minute dodge had earned him only a sliver of mercy; Judgeman’s first blow went wide of its target, his second nailed the man in the ribs. With a pained grunt Revan was sent tumbling backward, crashing through a reading table near the center of the room.

“You won’t be the one to decide what is enough,” Kanda quipped, seizing the brief window to let loose his own barrage of sword strikes. His blade glowed with otherworldly light, tearing narrow slashes across Judgeman’s armored chest in a spray of sparks. Seconds later a swarm of abyssal creatures began crawling up the Judge's chest, tearing at his metal hide. Kanda smirked as he saw what he thought resembled panic in the Darkling commander’s eyes, though the smile faded as a pair of books suddenly appeared at either side of him, slamming together a second later, sandwiching the exorcist between them.

“No,” Judgeman boomed darkly, banishing the illusions. “Mine is the only decision in my courtroom. I am law.”

This is the final clash against Judgeman. He's on his last legs, and only pride is keeping him going. Take him down with extreme prejudice!

Everyone has one week, and one post each, up to 1000 words, to finish him off. Godspeed.

[Celestia]

The judge was already beaten, he just wasn't ready to admit it yet.  His armour was mangled, he was losing more and more of his weaponry to the team of primes as time went on, and now he was losing control of his mind or his powers, Celestia wasn't quite sure which it was that caused those illusions.  However, that wasn't to say the danger had past.  A cornered beast was often the most dangerous, and there was no telling what the judge would do when he felt truly desperate, or if he concluded that he could no longer come out victorious.

The best course of action would be to end the fight as quickly as possible.  Celestia wasn't quite willing to tire herself out completely, as she wasn't sure Judgeman's defeat would be the end of the immediate danger either, but the situation did favour aggressive action.  In her case this meant applying as much pressure as possible to the already beleaguered judge, while keeping out of the way for her harder-hitting but shorter-ranged allies to strike.

It wasn't a particularly complex approach.  She ran to the side, moving around and between the bookshelves to keep Judgeman between her and her attacking allies.  Whenever he would raise his fists to defend himself or launch a counterattack, she fired a ray of heat towards him, aiming toward his arms or head.  Not all of her attacks landed, particularly after this long in combat, but they served their purpose of destroying the judge's focus.

When the judge finally worked out what was happening, he moved to attack Celestia herself, and defeat the source of the distraction.  Celestia was prepared for the large book that appeared above her and came slamming down.  The shield she conjured just in time, shattered under the impact, but bore the brunt of it.  She was not prepared for the two-fisted strike the judge delivered as an immediate follow-up.

Celestia was sent reeling for a moment, but had a ready response.  What was formerly the judge's gavel, which she had been holding in reserve, she now brought forward in her telekinesis.  The resulting impact knocked the judge backwards.  Celestia took the time that created to back off and catch her breath, leaving the momentarily stunned judge at the mercy of her companions.

398 words

[Ash Williams]

While the judge was stunned, Ash grabbed his shotgun out of the holster and twirled it before aiming with one hand at their foe. One shot fired off with a loud boom and pierced the Judge's buddy. Ash pulled the trigger for the final shot and pellets explode out of the gun toward the Nebula leader. The judge summoned giant book to shield him from the shotgun round but his view was obscured to keep an eye on Ash. After his shield disappeared, he looked around for his opponent but realized he wasn't standing where he was at a couple seconds ago.

Before the judge could turn to his right, he heard the chainsaw roared next to him which sort of startled him from the unexpected cacophonous noise close to his ear. Ash raised his chainsaw with both hands high into the air and began sawing against the judge's armor. He was starting to make a dent into his body momentary but the evil dead slayer was shoved away harshly by the strong judge. Ash hits his back against book shelf causing books to fall off from the force of the impact. The Nebula leader used his telekinesis power to make the bulky wooden bookshelf lean on top of Ash but the liberator stood tall held the book strongly with every muscle in his body.

Books rain down upon him from falling off the shelves. Sweat started dripping from Ash's forehead and he gritted his teeth from the pressure of the bookshelf. The supernatural power grew stronger as the judge concentrated to crush Ash. Grunts were coming out of Ash's mouth to fight against the immense weight. It was hard for the Darkshire defender to use his hands against the book shelf since a chainsaw was one of them Suddenly, a fire blast exploded on impact against the judge. He got burnt from the intense heat that the fire ball was made of. The shelf started to lighten up from the telekinesis losing grip. Ash begin making the book shelf start to rise slowly.

Revan was the one who launched the fire ball and successfully grabbed the judge's attention. He and Yu Kanda began making attacks on the judge to damage his body and spirit. Unfortunately, Ash couldn't have stood up further to lift the massive book shelf off him but Celestia helped him with her telekinesis. The book shelf was hefted off the Darkshire defender and put back against the wall. His teammate walked over to him while he took a breather.

"Are you alright?" Celestia questioned, concerned about Ash's health

"Yeah…yeah. I'm fine, princess. Thanks." Ash responded while bending over with his hand and chainsaw on his knees still panting.

"Good, this fight will be over soon. If we all attack together, he won't last long" Celestia stated with a confident expression.

She galloped away and toward the messy fight while Ash started to regain a good posture. The darkshire defender yanked the starter cord from the chainsaw, making the motor rev up again. From the noise that his artificial weaponized limb made, the other liberators could tell that Ash was about to join in on the action. He ran toward the group while his left hand clutched the grip of the chainsaw tightly. Celestia hovered in the air and was high off the ground. She had an unobstructed view to aim for the Judge while Yu Kanda and Revan duked him out.

She fired a thin ray of heat at the Darkling leader, having hope to damage their foe even more. Judgeman had two large books to shield his both sides from the two liberators that clashed against them. As he heard the sizzling hot ray that was fired, he teleported to dodge the incoming attack. Yu Kanda and Revan stood back a second to watch for their surroundings where the darkling commander would appear. When Ash was running toward the fight, he saw the scene unfold with the judge teleporting.

His mind raced with possibilities he would appear at. Judgeman wouldn't appear where Celestia was at since she was airborne. Ash knew that Judgeman would be smarter than appearing behind one of the primes he was fighting with since Revan or Yu Kanda could do a strong surprise attack. It all came down to himself which made the Darkshire defender prepared for Judgeman's ambush. Right when Ash turned around to anticipate the judge's appearance, he teleported in front of him with a fist ready to punch Ash's face. The evil dead slayer went into a defensive stance and ducked to avoid his bulking fist. Ash swiped his chainsaw and sawed the surface of the judgeman's right leg, causing him agitating pain.

The Darkling commander raised his left foot and slammed it down with full force to crush part of Ash's body. He pinned down Ash's left shoulder and arm which caused him to hit face first into the solid ground with a grunt. Judgeman smooshed his foot on top of the evil dead slayer and stood with self-assurance.

"Foolish criminals, the hour of judgment is at hand! Your verse will be cleansed with darkness and soon the Omniverse! The failures that all of you have caused on your journey will be your downfall!" Judgeman boomed with authority and was ready to execute with extreme prejudice.

The liberators had enough from the judge's mouth and began giving all they got against their enemy. Giant books were kept on being summoned to block attacks but would wear quickly from the quick attacks they were making. Ash was still pinned to the floor while his friends try to save him and the Pale Moors.

945 words on Word Doc.

[Revan Noctis]

Revan had been hurt rather badly from his fall from the roof and it hadn't helped he'd also slammed through one of the bookcases before falling flat on the floor. As his vision stopped spinning he found himself in what appeared to be a library with which contained his companions and of course the much hated judge that stood before him.

Finding his sword on the floor in the scattered debris of wood, stone and books he gripped it firmly, quickly rising to his feet he could tell the next battle was already starting. The judges time was now going to come to an end. Large heavy books were once more flung in Revan's direction as he slashed at them, shredded paper flew in every direction as he made his way towards the fierce Nebula champion. 

"You have no respect for knowledge." He said before finally arriving at the Judges position, he saw Ash pinned against the ground which was unacceptable.

His sword swiped down as the judge stretched out a hand to block his attacker but Revan had been too quick and his blade had formed a deep cut in the already battle worn armour of the judge. The Judge seemed to roar in pain, anger and annoyance as he swung his arm sending Revan flying back once more but this time he landed on his feet, the judge was severely weakened and had lost much of the strength necessary to hold off the team sent to bring him to justice.

They had proven themselves a formidable team, against all odds they had forced their way through Nebula's defences and now they were extremely close to ending Nebula's threat to the rest of the Omniverse. Revan hacked and slashed at the faltering Judge who seemed hard pressed keeping any of his well time down strikes from hitting their marks.

He finally brought his sword to his waist and thrust forward in a vicious stab, his blade cut through the remaining outer shell of the Judge piercing his internal components before exiting out of the Judges back. Revan then tore the blade out violently feeling like he had grown tired of being thrown around like a shot from a catapult. The judge fell to his knees and immediately grasped his wound finding the primes stabbing to have been disastrous for much of his circuitry. 

Revan knew the Judge was done, soon with the defeat of their enemy Nebula would fall it was only necessary now to finish whatever he truly was off and see to it that victory was theres. Bringing his sword up he was ready to land the final blow but the Judge had other plans as he jabbed his shoulder into Ash before slamming a fist into Revan's face.

"Even if I am to fall none of you criminals are going to escape here alive!" The Judge was loyal to the cause of Nebula to the end.

"You must all be destroyed by the will of the law!" The Judge let loose a torrent of books as he seemed to taunt them one final time.

524 words

[Nebula]

What was happening?

Innumerable wounds marred the magistrate’s form as he stood shakily before the liberators, vision blurring. Though they themselves were looking quite worse for wear as well, still they bore down upon him with idiotic zeal. The myriad injuries he had sustained were catching up with him fast, slowing his reaction time and weakening his blows. Panic and rage mixed in equal portions within his circuitry, desperately summoning up what remained of his energy reserves. If it was the last thing he did, he would bring ruin upon the liberators with the full might of Nebula.

Pages whirled at the Judge’s feet as he took off at a sloppy sprint toward the cloaked swordsman, the very Prime who had plied him with his most recent wound. His foe made to dodge as the raging arbiter bore down on him, though he was too late. In an uncharacteristic show of carelessness he fell upon the swordsman, cocking back and throwing fist after fist into the man’s face even as he felt the familiar bite  of steel piercing his midsection. Thick, viscious sludge pooled on the man’s robes as Judge Man’s blows rained down, each with noticeably lessened ferocity.

The regal alicorn charged forward at once, letting loose an agonizing stream of heat into the magistrate’s neck. She stood her ground and focused as the Judge’s metallic nape began to melt, eliciting a roar of ire-tinged agony from Nebula’s commander. He rolled sideways onto the scorched carpet to elude the attack, propping himself up on an elbow to throw up a book shield between the two. No sooner had he split his attention between the swordsman and the winged unicorn than he realized his folly. The shing of a katana drawn from its sheath rang out just behind his head an instant before a long gash split open along his flank, a second strike hitting home not a second later.

“NO!” Judge Man cried out, eyes widening in panic. He looked quickly to his side, taking up the whip he had recently lost. Desperate, he tossed out a feverish lash at the exorcist’s ankles and pulled tight, toppling the man before another blow could fall. Emboldened by this small victory, the commander tugged with all of his remaining might and flung the navy-haired man across the library. “This...isn’t over!”

“Kinda think it is,” a mocking voice came in reply.  

Judge Man turned in slow motion, catching sight of the jeering face of the remaining liberator. The bloodstained battler threw his ‘arm’ out in a dramatic fashion, the motorized saw whirring to life. An instant later the slayer dashed toward the downed arbiter, bracing his weaponized prosthetic for what was to come. The judge closed his eyes tightly, willing  himself across the room. If he could escape for but a few moments, surely he could bring an end to this battle.

“Stay put,” the robed swordsman commanded, raining fireball after fireball upon the Judge. The horned pegasus soon joined him, the combined agony driving away whatever remained of his concentration.

“You can’t-”

The words caught in the Judge’s throat as the gnashing teeth of a chainsaw blade tore into his throat.

Judgeman is defeated! There only remains the final guardian of this nebula space, the darkloid in charge. He lurks in a laboratory, under the castle. Find a way down to confront and put an end to him, and finish this mission off, once and for all!

Everyone has until Thursday, August 10th, at 11:59 PM EST to make one post continuing your efforts. There is no word limit this round.

[Ash Williams]

Ash stood on top of the deceased judge who was laying there lifelessly. Sparks popped out of the sawed throat with electricity crackling from within the robotic body. The motor of the chainsaw was deactivated and the room went silent for a moment. Finally, the liberators successfully defeated the darkling commander. For a second, the evil dead slayer thought that the mission was over and it was time to go home.

"And that's how we get things done around here," Ash responded with a witty attitude after the fight.

The Darkshire defender looked back and saw his ally crashed into a bookshelf causing all kinds of books litter the floor around him. Kanda rested his back against the wooden structure while sitting on the ground with his legs out. Ash walked over to him and notice Yu Kanda gathered back his senses after the heavy blow. His partner reached out to him with his left hand to help him up. Kanda accepted the offer and grabbed Ash's hand tightly and was pulled back up.

Good feelings filled the exorcist, witnessing the defeated scene of their nemesis.

"It sucks that you missed out on the action of defeating Mr. bookworm," Ash said while walking with Kanda.

"At least we neutralized the threat," Kanda responded next to Ash.

Revan examined Judgman's corpse making sure he was surely dead while Celestia trotted around the library grabbed one book at a time off shelves with her telekinesis and analyzed any data about Nebula. After skim reading a book for anything important, she decided she'll read one more. When she moved the next book, it would only come halfway out but made a distinct click noise that everyone heard in the room. The bookshelf started to open similarly as a door, revealing a secret room. The three male liberators had their heads turned at Celestia to see what she has caused.

A stairwell was at the entrance of the secret room which led the way lower into the castle's basement. Their risk gauntlet devices went off about their next objective with a message.

DESTROY THE GUARDIAN

"Well, I guess we gotta go hunting for more big game," Ash announced looking back up at the others.

"This secret room I discovered could lead to whoever this guardian is," Celestia stated to the others.

They all agreed it could be worth checking out since the guardian must be something bigger to be kept safely for Nebula's activity to pursue.

412 words on Word Doc.

[Revan Noctis]

The fight with the false warrior of justice had drawn to a close as his remains lay collapsed on the ground before them. He cautiously over the broken form of their enemy examining it for any continued signs of life.

"Shame, I could have done with some more answers." Revan wondered what the judges past had entailed.

The library that the Judge had fled to was smashed and books had been flung in every direction, Revan assumed the books scattered around were little more than propaganda for Nebula. Celestia however began moving to search through them seeking information, perhaps more answers still remained in the room to be found.

The judge had proven to be a most interesting opponent and had shown him that threats in this world came in all shapes, sizes and egos.
Surely now regardless of what they found they woukd be finished and would be able to return and leave this horrible place behind.

The curiosity of Celestia quickly revealed a secret entrance that led down a deep dark staircase, it reminded him somewhat of their last adventure in the deep that could have ended more calmly. It seemed leaving was not meant to be. A supposed guardian awaited them ahead in the darkness.

"Another one?" He asked wondering just how many champions Nebula had amassed.

"Maybe we should have brought reinforcements." He said nevertheless stepping forward to join Celestia in examining their new entryway.

"Must go down through all the castles floors, best we all mind our steps. Revan was forced to sheathe his sword as the stairway was too narrow.

He allowed himself a small sigh as he took his first steps down the steps shrouded in darkness. He immediately felt a bit more cheerful however as Celestia produced light with her magic to make the journey slightly less dangerous.
The grey stairway was cold, dark and the walls were too narrow to feel comfortable. The bright glow of Celestia's magic once more was his guiding light as he ventured into unknown depths filled with unknown secrets.

"Next time we fight evil somewhere with sunshine." He joked nervously as he carefully moved down the stone stairwell.

It was even darker deeper within the narrow stairway and it seemed like dust and cobwebs had formed almost everywhere leaving their path looking like it had been forgotten about for years. Revan had the urge to leave his left hand on his sword but there would be little warning if they were attacked.

"Everybody stay close, no telling what's down here." He just hoped no more nightmarish creatures were waiting in the shadows for them.

440 words

[Celestia]

It was done. The judge was bested, and the fight was over. In the ensuing quiet, as the dust settled, Celestia took a moment to collect her thoughts.

Now that she had a moment to examine, however, she realized that perhaps the battle wasn't as over as she first thought. Celestia couldn't be sure how much her allies could sense, and it was a question that would be best saved for a later time regardless, she could tell that the judge's defeat had changed little. Though she was no expert in these in particular, the ambient, swirling energies which permeated this plane continued on as they always had, as far as we could tell. In the aftermath of the fight there was a moment of stillness in the library, but it was limited to that.

They'd defeated the only obvious enemy, however, which left Celestia at least feeling a little uncertain. If the judge had not been the source, what was? She couldn't tell. Having learned of the the threat of Nebula only recently, she had no idea how it was organized, or what its weaknesses might be. Fortunately, their latest battle happened to to place in a room full of knowledge, that was largely intact. Strictly speaking, it might not contain the information they need, which might be inherently understood by their foe and thus have no need to be recorded, but it was a place to start.

Celestia didn't find what she was looking for per se, but she did uncover something important all the same. One of the books, rather than coming out of the shelf as it properly, remained attached while sliding forward with a loud click. Moments later, the bookshelf itself slid open, revealing a dark, winding staircase beyond. As if to answer the unspoken question, the liberator aides flashed a message describing their task.

It didn't take long for the group to agree what their next course of action would be. “We don't need to spend any more time here, then,” Celestia said. She conjured a small, floating ball of warm light, and walked toward the entrance to the tunnel. The tunnel turned out to be just wide enough for two people walking side by side, which proved fortunate when Yu Kanda pushed ahead of her. It meant that the light her magic produced could still illuminate the area in front of him, allowing the group to see forward.

It took some time to make it through the winding, meandering staircase, the group remaining tensely silent for most of the journey. None of them were sure what to expect from the tunnel, and thus were anxiously observing for any sort of trap or ambush.

Eventually, they reached what seemed to be the bottom. The staircase leveled off, and the tunnel widened out into a larger room, which was still unlit as of yet. Celestia sent her conjured light outwards, to get a better look at the room they now found themselves in.

524 words according to the word counter

[Nebula]

The liberators stepped cautiously through the doorway, casting glances warily into the darkness. They had found their way down the passageway Judge Man had been guarding, but it had almost seemed too easy. Celestia’s light granted them a few meters of visibility, though the room seemed to be larger than she could reasonably illuminate. Her compatriots followed behind her as they crept forward, every barely-audible noise drawing their attention.

“This room is huge,” Celestia commented, straining her eyes in hopes of making out anything through from beyond the shadows.

“Yeah,” Ash muttered, changing out his chainsaw limb for his metal gauntlet. His other hand held his sawed-off steady, daring whatever was hiding within the umber to step forward.

“Maybe we should follow the wall,” Revan suggested in a whisper, casting a glance over his shoulder. He could no longer make out the door behind him. “They say when you enter a labyrinth, follow the walls. It seems like reasonable advice to follow here as well.”

Before any could offer reply, the clip-clop of Celestia’s hooves suddenly shifted to a metallic clang-clang. The group stopped immediately, eyes jumping to the Princess’ feet. Through the dim light they observed that the dirty stone floor had abruptly given way to a that of reinforced metal grating, the thick iron bars caked in years of rust.

“Some kind of grate,” Celestia muttered, tapping at the sturdy metal experimentally. “I wonder what’s down there...”

The group need not have wondered for long, for a moment later a heavy clang echoed through the room, coming from the direction through which they had entered. The same thought shot through each of their minds in an instant. Locked in.

“Weapons at the ready,” Kanda commanded, drawing his katana and glancing around. The others quickly drew their own weaponry, each probing futilely unto the darkness for any hint of what was to come.

Hiiiisssss...

“Did you hear something?” Ash whispered, glancing at the grating beneath his feet.

“No,” Kanda muttered, now holding his sword aloft. “Now, where are they…?”

“I think I heard-,” Revan stopped mid-sentence, breaking into a coughing fit. He glanced down, a sharp tang striking his nostrils as his eyes began to water. “I think, cough, there’s some kind of, cough gas down there!”

One by one the liberators caught a whiff of the same foul stench, their lungs soon seizing within their chests as they stumbled forward off of the grate to escape the fumes. They now stood in a ring around the pit, delicate wisps of light blue smoke billowing through the grating. At first it hadn’t even been noticeable, but in the moment they had taken to clear their lungs and return to the stone floor, the gas had poured through with increased fervor, rising like thick smoke from a dying bonfire.

“They’re gassing us!” Ash cried out, breaking the silence in a surprisingly loud yelp. Celestia stood nearest him, noting an uncharacteristic panic in his eyes. Sweat was beading on his brow as if he were standing in a sauna rather than a chilly basement. “We have… to get out of here!” the slayer called out through wracking coughs.

It wasn’t long before the other liberators felt panic rising in their throats as their vision began to blur. Each looked upon the other with increasing worry, inching away from one another with fear in their eyes. Something wasn’t right.

“Why...why is my heart hammering in my chest?!” Kanda demanded, taking rapid breaths. “Which of you is doing this?!” The exorcist turned to flee into the darkness, stopping abruptly as his eyes widened in shock. “What is thi-”

The ailing liberators made their way uneasily toward Kanda’s body laying slumped upon the basement floor. In his chest was what resembled a physician’s needle in all ways save size. At nearly a foot long, the instrument could easily have punched clean through its target’s chest. Instead, it now stuck half-way, the rubber plunger depressing slowly of its own accord as Yu Kanda spasmed in silent agony. Seconds later, he fell still.

The liberators glanced at one another, fear and suspicion etched in their faces.

“So, you’ve found my little hideway, hmm?”

The remaining trio glanced around as the voice wormed its way into their ears. A foreign tone, dripping with amused malice.

“I think you’ll find my gas quite EXCITING,” the disembodied voice said, followed by a manic cackle.  

"Exciting?!" Celestia exclaimed, hyperventilating. "What are you doing to us?!" She stole a glance at Kanda, her heart sinking as he continued to lay limp upon the stone.

“Maybe you’re a little upset about your swordsman friend?” the voice mocked, jeering. “Why don’t you try and find me, hmmm? Watch your step, if you don’t want to wind up like your friend there. I’m a messy boy, always leaving my toys laying around...”

Yu Kanda has died.

The chamber you're in has been flooded with a gas that makes everyone effected by it extremely paranoid and panicky.

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