The Hunt Begins (Dark Data)

[Celestia]

This battle was not off to a good start. That they had found their quarry, and that was about all Celestia had gone positive since they entered the basement chamber. It was perhaps more accurate to say that their target had found them, and had made preparations.

First was the gas. What was initially thought to be simply a drainage grate suddenly released a foul-smelling chemical into the air, and it didn't take long for the primes to start feeling its effects. Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, increased perception of things as threatening, it had been a long time since Celestia had felt panic like this. Her history proved to be a mixed blessing, as on the one hoof she was experienced managing fear in a crisis situation, while on the other it had been some time since she'd had to deal with actual, personal panic.

Then Kanda went down. The attack came suddenly, from an enemy outside the coverage of Celestia's ball of light, and interrupting the exorcist mid sentence. For all his bravado, apparently Yu Kanda had been in worse shape than he either realized or admitted. And if he went down so easily, than the rest of them could- no! Celestia couldn't let herself think like that! They would have to settle the issue of what happened to Kanda later, but as callous as it seemed for the moment they couldn't focus on such things.

Such as whatever horrible creature was attacking them from the shadows. While Celestia could still tell friend from foe easily, the gas was agitating her mind, and the effects would undoubtedly only get worse as time went on. She grew increasingly focused on a single task. “Got to find him...” she mumbled, largely to herself, “...can't let this continue...” She ranged her light out ahead of her into the darkness, and followed behind it as quick as she dared, ears twitching and pilfered hammer at the ready.

[Ash Williams]

Coughing and wheezing came out of Ash's mouth as he staggered around the room to find a way out of this awful place. His eyes watered up from the gas making contact to his eyeballs. The evil dead slayer turned his head to the right after hearing someone fell to the floor hard. It was one his team mates he was getting along with well so far. Yu Kanda laid on the ground lifeless and wasn't breathing at all. This worried Ash so much about one of their powerful liberators could be dead. Ash grabbed Yu Kanda's body and turned him around to see if there was a way to still save him from death.

"S-shit! G-*cough* guys, Kanda is down! W-we n-*cough* need to s-save him!" Ash said loudly for everyone in the room to hear him over their coughing.

"C'mon Kanda *cough*, Don't die on me yet!" Ash continued trying to do CPR on him but it wasn't helping.

Celestia trotted and tried to follow the sound of Ash's voice through the thick gas but she was a lot slower than before due to the toxicity that filled them. The gas also made Ash's lungs wore out from all the coughing.

"Ash… It's *cough* too late, *cough* he's gone," Celestia responded and a little sorrow did fill her losing one of their anxious fighting teammates.

"GODDAMMIT!!!! WERE DROPPING LIKE FLIES HERE!!!!" Ash screamed trying to not cough as much as before but after yelling, he did a series of coughing from the noxious gas.

Celestia closed her eyes from Ash's harsh sounding words. She did too share the same emotion that the Darkshire defender was going through.

Revan could hear Ash's loud emotional words over his coughing while he leaned against the wall.

"SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!!!!" Ash screamed again, dropping Kanda's corpse and standing up with his shotgun now in his left hand that was aimed.

The evil dead slayer turned back and forth in a nervous manner while more sinister snickering was made by their captor. Suddenly, he couldn't stand up fully and got on his knees while the gas weighed heavily upon himself. This toxicity was sucking the life out of him than his thoughts started to think he could go out like his fighting buddy, Yu Kanda. Was this it? They came this far to die from this cheap cowardly move of locking up the liberators in a room and watching them die without laying a finger on them?

414 words on Word Doc.
RIP Yu Kanda

[Revan Noctis]

Revan could not believe it as he leaned down and and contemplated what to do, Yu Kanda was dead. He had little time to mourn his fellow swordsman however as he kept in mind how many Nebula had taken from him. He found himself beginning to feel nervousness and it took only around twenty seconds for him to realise he was hyperventilating. Something was in the room with them and he had no way of knowing what it was that they were about to challenge.

"We should leave." He said moving to where he thought the exit was only to find a wall.

"I guess we can't get out." He said out loud to himself as he turned his back to the wall and slumped down onto the ground in despair.

"I suppose all of this was for nothing, the others are all dead and were about to join them." He couldn't entirely think properly but he could see flashes and remember the names of those they had so far lost.

"It's simple, I must be the only one not working for Nebula left alive, why would Celestia join Nebula?." Questions of incoherent thoughts swarmed through his head mixed with a drumming in his mind that was fierce enough to keep him piled on the floor.

"I will kill them all and destroy Nebula!" He gripped his sword nursing it in his arms as thoughts of having to kill the others in the room crossed his mind. 

The room had been the perfect trap for them after all the casualties they had suffered at the hands of Nebula their morale was broken and thus their minds had become vulnerable to suggestion from their enemy. Revan held onto the memory and the idea of defeating Nebula but his mind much like the room he was in had lost vision and focus and yet Revan could sense how close their enemy truly was. Perhaps this would be where he died but he wasn't exactly ready to see Nebula hurt any others in this Omniverse, who knew maybe this threat could spread to other worlds. 

Forcing himself to his feet once more he did his best to calm himself, the pain and fear remained but a scrap of coherent thought returned to him but for a few moments as he moved his right wrist to cover his face as he looked onward through the gas unaware of how much time had passed.

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[Nebula]

“Ah, still keeping the reins taut on your sanity? It seems you Liberators are a bit hardier than I had anticipated.”

The trio stopped their commotion at once, each looking to the other in varying states of panic and surprise. Strangely, they had all heard the ominous mocking voice even over their echoing cries. No, that was not the case. They hadn’t heard a single word. The voice muttered its dark taunts from within their own skulls.

“Where...where are you?” Celestia demanded, casting her light wildly around the room. Despite her efforts, the magicked spotlight showed nothing but dusty stone and wisps of noxious fumes. Was he or she standing just beyond the edge of her spell, or was the voice a hallucination brought on by the gas?

“You heard it too?” Revan asked, keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword. He took some small amount of solace in knowing that at least he wasn’t the only one hearing voices. This did little to quell his hammering heartbeat and the river of sweat pouring from his brow, however.

“I think we’re all hearin’ it,” Ash muttered, his rage dropping to a simmer as he squinted into the darkness.

“Most of my previous adversaries have been driven to the brink of insanity after a few whiffs of my concoctions. On way or another you three seem to be fighting it off.” The voice paused, a small chuckle punctuating his remarks before continuing. “I’ll admit I’m intrigued. Perhaps I’ll give you a hint as to where you can find me.”

Just as the telepathic communication ceased, the trio of heroes heard an unmistakable grinding from behind the veil of darkness. Revan stood closest the source of the noise, guessing that the sound was most likely coming from a wall, judging by the height at which it seemed to hang. Could their foe have opened a passage out of this dungeon?

Ash glanced down at the body of his fallen comrade before grunting and gesturing past Revan. “That must be where that creepy voice wants us to head.” The alicorn nodded in response, aiming her arcane torch toward the source.

“Gah!”

The slayer and the Princess made it just a few steps before their swordsman comrade came barreling toward them, shoving them out of his path. “Duck!” he cried, falling to the floor as the others followed suit. Though he had managed to knock his companions out of harm’s way, he couldn’t stop the rain of foot-long syringes from magically redirecting in mid-air and dropping upon the group, needles burrowing in their flesh as the toxic contents were released.

“This should spur you on,” the familiar telepathic voice blared in the liberators minds. “Hurry along now, or you’ll die long before you even reach me. Here, let me get the door for you…”

A loud, groaning creak echoed through the chamber, followed by an equally clamorous clang. A few short seconds later, a deafening BOOM shook the room as the liberators rose shakily to their feet.

“Sounds like that grate just gave way,” Celestia muttered weakly, pulling inert needles from her flank. She could almost feel herself weakening as the vile concoction swam through her veins.

“Great,” Ash quipped, exhaling.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t get you two out of the way in time,” the cloaked swordsman said, stomping the large syringes into dust. “By the time I saw them coming, a few had already hit me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the chainsaw-wielding slayer responded. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. What matters is we need to get down that pit and kill that bastard before whatever he pumped into us takes full effect.”

“If only I could still fly in this dimension,” Celestia sighed, approaching the rim of the role. “I could have maybe carried you two down one at a time.”

“That’s nice of you to offer, Princess,” Ash said, shaking his head. “But it looks like we’ll have to find another way down.” He gazed into the gaping void, a flicker of hope lighting within his chest as he saw a long length of rusty chain dangling from a hole in the pit wall just a few feet beneath him. “There’s a chain here, maybe we can climb down?”

“There are a few more around the edge,” Revan noted, spying the lengths of rusty links dipping into the darkness every few feet or so. “I’m not eager to climb down into the darkness on a whim, but there aren’t any other options.”

“We’d better get going before this poison weakens us to the point where we can’t climb.”

Egads, you've been poisoned! ....again!

It will slowly, but steadily, work its way through your bodies, making you feel weaker as time goes on. This makes time doubly of the essence! Carry on, as you draw ever close to the final encounter.

You have one week, and one post up to 1200 words.

[Revan Noctis]

The room was still covered in darkness and the visible gas in the air made the situation they had found themselves in terrifying enough without that sinister voice echoing within. The mysterious Nebula leader had apparently expected them to be utterly broken mentally and had been impressed with their ability to hold themselves together. This monster had seen it fit to give them a fighting chance and had opened some sort of exit for them but Revan knew that their opponent had no honour and was seemingly only doing this for some form of twisted entertainment. 

Revan lunged forward as he realised that they had been led into another trap, more needles shot out stabbing into his body in the weaker parts where his steel armour failed to protect him. It hadn't helped that he was already feeling severely weakened and worn out from this entire ordeal but he quickly noticed that the sharp pain was nothing compared to the poison that began flowing through his veins.

Revan had grown tired of the cheap tricks that he had been subjected to since entering the room and after crushing most of the means of injection he held one last needle in his hand and studied it closely realising some of the poison was still inside. 

"Best I keep some just in case." He said putting it into his sheathe for safe holding.

The groups next challenge was revealed to be old chains that led down into a deep dark hole, he wondered if it was meant to symbolise some sort of entry into the underworld. 
He truly hated being forced to accept that this was the only way to find and slay Nebula once and for all but sure enough here they were about to climb down into what could very well lead to their deaths or perhaps something worse.

"Celestia are you able to climb down chains?" He asked unsure if the hooves of a magical pony would work.

"If not I guess we could try carrying you down." Revan didn't like the look of the chains that seemed they could break from their combined weights.

"Either way I volunteer to go down first, I think we're all aware there is no turning back now." Revan moved up to the opening and examined the chains and the abyss below.

Reaching out his arm and gripping the large dangling chain he could tell how cold it was having probably never seen sunlight and after giving it a few sharp yanks determined that it was acceptable to attempt climbing down.
Pulling it in and gripping it with both arms he prepared to wrap his legs around it and begin the descent. There was no way of knowing what they would find at the bottom but the Omniverse was counting on them getting through this whether they survived or not.

"Here I go I guess." He said allowing the chain to swing his body out into the room as he got his legs around it. 

"Seems to be holding for now." Revan inhaled nervously as he began his descent into the pitch black darkness below.

525 words

[Celestia]

That was twice now that the three survivors had been poisoned, in as many minutes.  If they weren't on the clock before, they certainly were now.  They'd weathered the paranoia-inducing gas well enough, so their opponent tried a more direct approach.  Celestia found it fortunate that their opponent was making himself easier to find, and only partially deliberately, but it might prove to not matter in the end, if they were to succumb to the poison now afflicting their bodies.
  
Celestia's companions expressed concern as to whether she could make it down the chains.  While it was true she wished her wings could keep her aloft in this plane, and it would make things easier, she could persevere.  Turning to her companions, she addressed their concerns.  “I appreciate the concern, but I can manage.  I won't slow us down.”  After watching Revan descend down the chains a ways, she added, “although, you're right in that I am likely to be the most clumsy during my descent.  I'll go second.”  She'd be the least useful while climbing, and at the same time would have the best chance of covering Ash when she did reach the lower level.

Celestia leapt at the chain, causing it to rattle and sway back and forth as she wrapped her limbs around it.  She slid down a short distance before she finally found her grip, using her wings to steady herself.  She might not be able to lift off the ground with them, but the gusts of air were still able to help her keep balanced when properly applied.  Not sure what she'd find at the bottom, or on the way, she readied her hammer in her telekinesis before she began to shimmy downwards.  The metal chafed, and the grip was awkward, but a little light scraping was a small price to pay for getting down relatively quickly.

When Celestia did finally reach the bottom she'd pause for a moment, and send her light back up.  It would help Ash get his bearings and start his own descent, and it was only once he'd made enough progress that she'd bring the light down and begin to observe their new surroundings.  Her expectation was that they would find a maze down below, and if their enemy's goal was to grind them down through poison and the passage of time, the correct route forward would be the most intuitive one, although she couldn't say what form that would take.

Celestia would keep her hammer at the ready while she looked around, for the other possibility that came to mind was an ambush.

454 words according to the word count

[Ash Williams]

Everyone except Ash has now descended to depths of this sinister basement of the castle. The evil dead slayer leaped from the edge and grabbed the rusty chain with his left including a strong grasp. At least Celestia provided a bright light source for him to see his surroundings easier. His chainsaw limb dangled from his right arm with the weight of the appliance being pulled by the zero gravity. Ash wraps most of his limbs around the chain except his weaponized one started to slide down slowly. It was tough for him to use one arm during the process and hope by the time he gets down that his Teammates will still be waiting for him.

After fifteen minutes, Ash finally caught with the duo and landed his feet on the ground when he was a couple feet off the ground. Suddenly, the toxicity from the poison gave an uneasy feeling in Ash but that didn't stop him. He sucked it up to take it in like a truly masculine man. Celestia shined the light for them to see only one way to go was a narrow hallway. She turned around to see Ash made it and can tell there was a pain expression in his eyes but could figure out that he was trying to deal with it.

Revan noticed too and the others thought they probably need to boost their speed up to find the nemesis that caused them to get poisoned. Without further ado, they proceed down the hallway in a fast pace. The deeper they moved into the hall, moans, and screams can be heard which gave a horror sense to them. Celestia gulped with doubt of anything good coming from the sounds but Ash and Revan were ready for anything else bad to happen.

The noises suddenly become louder as they get closer to the end of the hallway. Soon everyone started to feel the unforgiving effects of the poison. It wasn't severe yet but just gave discomfort and a sick feeling.

"Is everyone still doing fine from what happened to us back there?" Revan questioned while concerned for everyone's health.

"Still alive and kicking," Ash assured for Revan's concernment.

"I'll be fine Revan. I've been through worse before anything like this. What about you?" Celestia Responded while leading them with the light.

"I'm ok here, I'm kind of getting nausea but I can take it," Revan said as they made it to the end of the stone hall.

They now entered what appeared to be a big dungeon with locked cells on their left and right. Darkness settled upon this place and Celestia moved her light toward the cell with a curious mind of the noises coming from the cell. As the light moved closer, it slowly revealed the ones causing the ruckus. A shock went down Celestia's spine from the sight. The liberators noticed it was people of the Pale Moors that were locked up but some looked disfigured as if they've been consumed by a disease. They didn't appear to pose a threat but instead weighed down the liberators' feelings. Some hacked and coughed as if they were getting affected by the same substance the liberators inhaled earlier.

"What the hell…" Ash said with a soft surprised as the others were baffled too.

"This is just wicked," Celestia uttered under her breath while looking at the substantial number of people that were kept against their will.

Almost every cell had a living human present but some were slowly dying from terrible symptoms.

After standing there for a minute to understand what they were looking at, Revan came forth to say something.

"We can't just leave these poor people here. They need to be saved or else they'll die," Revan stated for Celestia and Ash to hear.

"I agree too but however though, it would be tough to get everyone out of here through the same way we came in from. Whoever locked up these innocents and experimented on them must be the same person who poisoned us," Celestia said feeling bad for these individuals.

"Remember guys, our time is shortening while we stand here. I say we should find the freak show that caused all this mess in the first place and liberate this verse from Nebula's filthy hands once and for all," Ash spoke with a reminder of their main mission if they want everyone to make it out in one piece.

They already had enough casualties on their hands while losing two fellow primes in the process and one fleeing due to being severely injured. There was now three of them and if they stay around in this Nebula space there was a huge percentage of the chance dying with failure to bring The Pale Moors a brighter future. Revan and Celestia came to an agreement on what Ash just said but after planning their next move, a sinister chuckle echoed throughout the dungeon.
Time was short and they must make hast completing the mission.

836 words on wordcounter.net

[Nebula]

“Seems like we’re getting close,” Ash commented, pausing to wait for the echo to die down before continuing. “We’d better hurry, no way of knowing how long we have until this poison takes full effect.”

“R-run…” a strained voice plead from the darkness.

“This man is awake!” Celestia exclaimed, quickly trotting over to the rusty iron gate of the nearest cell. “How can we free you?” she inquired, glancing around the seemingly empty cell.

“It’s t-too late for me,” the victim rasped, slowly shuffling forward into the light. He was a wretched sight, pale as fresh-fallen snow and gaunt to the point of alarm. What hair he had once had atop his head had all but fallen out, leaving only the occasional spiderweby white strand plastered to his sweaty face. His eyes were dark and sunken, bloodshot and squinty even in Celestia’s relatively dim light. “You m-must flee. The metal scientist...h-he is a madman!”

“That sounds accurate,” Revan quipped, feeling the dull ache of the poison coursing through his vessels. “We’ve come to put an end to his madness and save the Pale Moors.”

The words seemed, to the Liberators, to provoke the opposite reaction from the man than what they had expected: he shook his head quickly, his frail body nearly toppling over from the simple motion. “You cannot,” he uttered, panic causing his voice to crack. “Some have tried, they only b-become his next test subjects. They’re taken away, and then the screams come.” He inhaled sharply, hands visibly shaking. “The screams...they haunt me.”

“Yeah, well he’s already dosed us up with something so we don’t have a whole lot to lose,” Ash said, shrugging. “We’ve lost a few friends to these freaks already and I didn’t come all the way down this pit to just turn around.” The prisoner’s eyes widened in alarm, but the slayer quickly cut off his protesting. “We’ll handle it. Where can we find Ol’ Chuckles?”

The frail inmate seemed to deliberate with himself silently for a few moments before finally swallowing hard and meeting the gaze of his would-be rescuers. “J-just down that hallway. The door has a h-heavy lock on it, though. I d-don’t know where he keeps the key.”

“Luckily for us I have a master key,” Ash said, lifting his chainsaw limb high. “Let’s go.”

Leaving the prisoner and his less chatty cellmates behind, the trio of Liberators dashed to the end of the room and took the corner at a sprint, catching sight of a large wooden doorway at the end of the hall. The dying man’s words had stirred in them the strength to push forward, to bring Nebula’s forces to their knees. They fanned out into formation as they ran, Revan and Ash taking up the front, with the spellcasting alicorn ready at the rear.

They reached the door.

“You’ve finally arrived.”

Before they could make their dramatic entrance, the door sprang open before them, brilliant light spilling over the threshold. Despite the havoc it would wreak on their unadjusted eyes, the Liberators sprinted into the room, finding the door to somewhat predictably swing closed behind them.

“You’re damn right we have!” Ash snarled, blinking the spots out of his vision as his pupils adjusted. “Now get over here and I’ll repay you for what you did to Kanda!”

“Sorry, you’ll have to forgive me.” Nebula’s commander strode toward the Liberators, his robotic limbs gliding smoothly and silently as he crossed the polished metal floor. “I’m not very good with names. If I handed out name tags to every ant I squashed, I’d never get anything done. I suppose you mean the tall one with the sword?”

“We’re here to bring you to justice!” Celestia chimed in, ignoring his taunting jab. “You’ve done enough damage to the Pale Moors. We’ll stop you here, and take another link out of Nebula’s chain.”

“Peh,” the mechanized madman muttered, shaking his domed head as he slipped his hands into robotic ‘pockets’. “No, that won’t be happening. You’re far too important to my experiments.”

Revan furrowed his brow, beginning to channel a spell as his vision finally cleared. They had found themselves in a large laboratory, various scientific accoutrements and devices scattered throughout the room. The owner of these devices stood before them, looking to be of the same ilk as Judgeman, though notably much smaller. His frame seemed almost wiry in comparison, and his back was arched in such a way as one might see in an arthritic elder. For all the trouble he had caused them, he was not very imposing. “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” the swordsman said, hands wreathed in fire. “But you’ll be the one at our mercy.”

“Not likely,” came the reply. “I, Dr. Psyche, will have to teach you Liberators your place!” With a mad cackle, the doctor sprang backward with surprisingly agility, turning the pocket-like protrusions on his hips suddenly upward. In an instant they shone a vibrant red, unleashing twin blinding beams of red energy rocketing toward them a split second later.

Well done, well done, you've made it to the final encounter!

For reference, your new best friend is as follows: https://i.imgur.com/SS69dni.jpg

Dr. Psyche is an entire bag of nutjobs all formed up combining robot style into one, bigger, super nutjob. Best of luck dealing with him. He's got a lot of chemicals and poisons to make your life hell, and he's faster and tougher than he looks. This mechanized medical maleficar won't go down easily. Stay on your toes, though, this is the final hurdle!

You have ten days to write up to 1200 words. Go nuts.

[Revan Noctis]

Boots and hooves clanked upon a floor of smooth white ceramic tiles that appeared to have been uncleaned for yearS. For Revan advanced technology had been something entirely new on his entry into the Omniverse and he had already begun to attempt to harness its usefulness after seeing many others use it, this however was proof of the horrors that technology could allow. The room in many ways appeared more like a dungeon with few lights that shone overly bright while leaving the rest of the room with an appearance of being dark and unkept. 
Tanks of green gas shone a sinister glow over the room as the Nebula leader turned from a table with a dozen torturous instruments to face them.

Both Revan's body and armour had been through a lot and showed clear signs of having been damaged in the fighting, despite this ever since entering the Nebula verse much of the earlier pain had vanished but the poison flowing through him now reminded him that he was not in fact invincible and was weakening with every passing moment. Revan brushed his torn cape aside reaching for his sword that had been strapped to his back. Taking the syringe filled with the leftover poison he broke it open using it to coat his blade in his enemies own vile substance.

"I've been waiting too long for this." He said sinisterly tearing off a bit of loose cape and using it as a temporary lid for the last of the poison in the broken syringe and placing it down upon one of the many strange machines around him.

"I am going to destroy you." Revan moved his sword in front of him pointing it outward toward his foe ready for the fight that would decide once and for all if this had all been for nothing.

After a moments of more stalling by the machine doctor he spun backwards with a surprising back flip as he withdrew his twin beam cannon weapons at his side and fired upon the liberators. Revan and the others did their best to dodge the blasts with Revan rolling to the side before quickly moving to his feet to stand against this new enemy who was without a doubt full of many new tricks.

"Very persistent, you will be torn apart and your abilities will be used to increase the effectiveness of my ever growing army." The doctor intended to complete the final goal of Nebula at any cost.

Revan charged from the middle as Celestia went to the left and Ash to the right, it had been a tactic that Sombra had been apart of but of course the other pony was but a memory in their minds now. Revan's sword was brought down with great strength but the mad robot blocked the blow with its beam weapons, Psyche took a moment to let off a metallic laugh in his face before breaking the lock and using his weapon slammed the cloaked warrior across the face sending him falling backwards hitting the ground hard.

"Fools!" Psyche shouted separating his blasters and shooting both Ash and Celestia as they too were pushed back with Celestia having the added advantage of magical defences.

"Revan?" Celestia struggled to get out after seeing her brave friend be taken out with such ease.

"The last robot I put my boomstick to also thought I would lose." Ash despite having some of his hairs singed off rose up mostly unscathed. 

"Although with an S-Mart reject like you I'm sure you would to be shown what a real machine can do." Ash's chainsaw was ready to do some cutting.

"Your attempts at saving your ego are of no concern to me, in the end you will all merely be my subjects to do with as I please." The robot doctor failed to hide his annoyance at the continued resistance.

Revan's blood flowed out forming a puddle upon the floor but even so he let out a groan which was half from pain and half out of disgust at the floor he had been laying on. Pushing himself up off the ground he did his best to readjust to the red flashing lights of the beam weapons that were being fired around the room. Revan bent down and gripped his sword bringing it once more to use against his diabolical enemy.

The blade clanged against the heavy wrist armour the robot doctor was made of as Psyches body seemingly opened up vents releasing a cloud of smoke into the air allowing him to escape the groups combined wrath if only for a moment.

"I hope your alright enough to still fight." Celestia quickly said before wheezing and coughing from the smoke.

"I really want this guy dead." Said Ash mimicking Revan as both attempted to use their sleeves to block the smoke from their mouths.

"I haven't had this fun in a long time but I really must get back to my work." Psyche had magnetised his boots to the metallic ceiling and used this as a chance to drop down surprising the heroes below.

Celestia moved back blocking a red beam as Revan and Ash both went in for melee, blue shields appeared upon doctor Psyches wrists as he began blocking blows from both determined warriors. Despite being pushed back across the room the doctor felt that his victory was assured as he pushed back slamming both men in their jaws before bringing back up his blasters to fire off some more shots.

Revan was forced to block his eyes from the red beams as well as block as the dim lighting in the room seemed to play to the doctors advantage in combat as much as it did to satisfy his sick twisted hobbies. Celestia did her best to produce some light knowing it would help but the lights in the room being constantly damaged and spent spinning caused the room to become a source of blinding headaches for all.

"Perhaps you both wish a taste of ultimate power, very well allow me to indulge your desires." Doctor Psyche fired off a massive blast from both his weapons the beams combined into one larger form.

Both dodged out of the way with only their clothes being burnt but Revan was the quickest to regain his footing and taking the doctor by surprise brought his blade down upon the monsters left arm, though his sword did not have the desired effect of literally disarming his opponent some damage was obvious as sparks shot out from the wound and circuitry underneath was revealed. Before Revan could gain another strike the doctor again swept an arm to attempt to force back the cloaked warrior, Revan saw this coming and dived out of the way knowing that cracks in the doctors armour were starting to appear.

"Just wait till this baby saws you in half." Ash said considering how he was going to scrap the mushroom head in front of him.

"Nebula is invincible, Nebula is endless, a couple petty humans and an equine aren't going to change anything!" The doctor had become furious that the liberators had even managed to scratch him.

1200 words Countofwords.com

[Celestia]

Once more, it came down to the three primes against a single, capable opponent.  This Dr. Psyche appeared to be more wily than their previous such opponent the judge, and they had lost several comrades since their last such battle, but certain truths remained.  The greatest asset the trio had was their ability to work together.  If they could coordinate their attacks they keep their opponent, who was choosing to fight on his own, off balance and unable to focus his attacks on any one of them.  Naturally, Celestia didn't expect it to be that easy, but it made a good starting point for engaging an enemy she had otherwise not yet developed a strategy for.

Speaking of their foe, Celestia held back at first, covering Revan and Ash where she could, but focusing on studying their foe.  It was easy enough, when they were forced on the defensive for a moment as the 'doctor' fired red beams out of the protrusions on his hips.  Bringing up her shield to resist the attack anyways, Celestia had a chance to observe their foe in action.  By appearances he wasn't a very physically imposing foe.  However, given that Nebula was not one for diplomacy with Psyche being no exception, and the 'doctor' had summoned nothing to his aid, he must have a more subtle purpose in combat.  Though before she could say anything, Revan and Ash discovered this for themselves, when he created a smoke cloud to evade their attacks.

Celestia knew she couldn't spend any more time waiting.  She'd held up well enough so far, but they were on the clock, which she could tell by the faint burning feeling flowing through her veins.  Revan and Ash were already attacking their foe, and the alicorn resolved to assist them to the best of her ability.  She charged, but not straight toward Psyche.  Rather, she moved around the edge of the room, into a flanking position.  With her allies currently engaging their enemy up close, she couldn't risk trying to attack just yet, but she could clear the field some.  A few carefully placed rays from her horn burnt out several of the ceiling lights, leaving the room dimmer, but less distracting.

While Celestia was removing the added distraction, Ash and Revan continued their attack, forcing Psyche onto the defensive.  The nebula leader twisted out of the way of Ash's chainsaw as it swung through the air, only to be driven into a slash from Revan at his side.  The robot was flung through the air by the force of the blow, shedding pieces of himself around the room from the impact.

Only, after observing from outside the battle, Celestia could see that not all of those apparently random pieces of the mad doctor were what they seemed, and Psyche had rolled with the blow.  Celestia charged forward, calling out “It's a trap!” bringing up her shield as she galloped.  She was almost too late.  But her shout was enough to get her allies to pause, and even if she didn't have time to actually articulate what she was getting at, it did give her the opportunity she needed.

As Celestia brought her shield up she ran past her allies, to their confusion, and charged through a field of debris.  At first it seemed like nothing was happening, until she hit the first mine.  It exploded with a small *crack*, shooting a cloud of sickly green smoke into the air, and it was followed shortly by several more.  The explosions themselves were incidental, but the gas was not.  Fortunately, buring away the gas that touched it with a faint sizzling noise.  Unfortunately, the barrier could not hold indefinitely, and it cracked and gave out before she'd cleared the traps, causing her to run through a cloud of the green gas.

Celestia stumbled, coughing.  Her vision grew blurry, as she tried to keep upright, being only barely successful.  She belatedly realized that she'd draw away from her allies, and strayed into one of the darker sections of the room.  She heard the faint clanking of their foes footfalls approaching, undoubtedly to take down the now weakened prime, and remove her from the fight.  She could just barely make out glowing pieces of Psyche's chassis, accompanied by a faint, dark chuckling.

Celestia remembered, in that moment, how 'problem' was often a synonym for 'opportunity'.  She'd been holding something back before, saving it for an ideal moment.  Though she was weakened, there was now nothing between her and the 'doctor', and a general sense of his location would be enough.  Her eyes and horn glowed.  This didn't phase Psyche, but the sudden appearance of several glowing objects around him gave him pause.

Celestia let fly before her enemy could decide what to do about the development, driving him backwards with the repeated impacts.  With the 'doctor' driven backwards, she stumbled in the opposite direction, still coughing.  She hoped the distance would give her a chance to recover her senses.

847 words
Tier 1 super attack A Call Beyond used

[Ash Williams]

Ash whipped his shotgun out of his holster and fired two rounds off at Dr. Psyche. The pellets pelted the doctor but didn't damage his metallic body severely. A supercharged laser blast was the response that the robotic professor made at Ash. The evil dead slayer dodged the blast by a hair, feeling the intense heat warm his skin and clothes. He rolled behind a metallic surgical tool table and flipped it over to shield himself. All the tools fell off the table and hit the floor while the table was being flipped. The red rounded searing laser beam impacted Ash's shield object.

Ash put his back against the table and reloaded his shotgun while waiting for the attack to end but started to feel the intense heat again. Suddenly, he realized the metal behind started to glow bright orange and continued to glow even more by seconds while the laser touched the table. He had no choice but to make move so he wouldn't have turned into cooked ham. Ash rolled again away from the table before it got destroyed by the laser. He stood up and fired off his shots at the Dr. Psyche but still didn't do severe damage.

Dr. Psyche detached its hands from the laser holsters and leaped forward toward his next opponent to face which was Ash Williams. The robotic doctor landed in front of Ash which sort of shook the ground underneath them. This made Ash holster his shotgun and focus more on using his prosthetic chainsaw. He made the first swing but was met a brutal punch to the face from doctor. His vision spun from getting hit by a robot for the first time. Dizziness filled his head, making Ash go cross-eyed for a second.

While being stunned, Dr. Psyche's right-hand fingers transformed into syringes that were filled with green substances. The doctor grabbed Ash by the left shoulder and pulled him close to insert the syringes into him. With the needles very close to his body, Dr. Psyche gets interrupted with a fire blast that was made by Revan. He came forth again with a charging movement while his sword was held high. Dr. Psyche turned toward Revan with a chuckle of insanity. Revan boiled in rage while he made his strike against the doctor.

Unfortunately, Revan was stopped by Psyche's powerful robotic arm grabbing the hand that held the sword. His hand started to slowly be twisted by the robot which made Revan scream in pain from his hand being turned into an inhumanly way. Before the doctor could break Revan's hand, Ash got back to his sense and tried to make another attack but Dr. Psyche also grabbed his chainsaw with its free hand. The chainsaw blade was stopped by the pressure of Psyche's grasp.

A flare was fired off from Celestia across the room to hit the robotic professor. When Dr. Psyche noticed Celestia's attack, it slammed Revan and Ash against each other than dodged the attack with swiftness. The princess alicorn kept launching flares at Dr. Psyche but the robot nemesis kept dodging at impressive speeds. Trying to keep up with the doctor worn Celestia's by every second she used it. When the flares stopped coming, Dr. Psyche shoved its hands in the laser holsters and fired away at Celestia. This made the alicorn make a quick dash to dodge the incoming intense combined laser beam.
Meanwhile, Revan and Ash got back to their senses and joined the fight again. Both merged their firepower upon the doctor from behind with shotgun pellets and fireballs. This did catch Dr. Psyche off guard and the attacks were successful. It didn't take long for the doctor to retreat with upper-hand swiftness. Soon getting away from a distance, Dr. Psyche transformed its hand into a syringe gun and began spraying in the direction were the liberators stood. All of them ran for cover to avoid the filled syringes.

Revan ran to get behind a big oxygen machine while Ash and Celestia flipped over another table to get behind. Unfortunately, Ash got hit by a syringe in his left leg which injected the mysterious green liquid inside of him. This worried him immensely, seeing the syringe sticking out of the leg. He pulled the syringe needle out which caused pain in that leg. Panic slowly spread through him more than before when they inhaled the gas.

Celestia was concerned about the substance Ash was injected but as Ash seen Celestia's face filled with concernment.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ash said before Celestia could say anything but still she didn't want to lose another friend on this mission.

While waiting for the incoming syringes to stop firing, they get ready to attack when the opportunity comes.

795 words on Word Doc.

Ash Williams Used: Chainsaw Hand, Double Barrel Shotgun

Revan Noctis Used: Long Sword, Fireblast

Celestia Used: Flare

[Nebula]

Ash and Celestia braced against the overturned exam table as a staccato storm of airborne medical instruments clanged against the makeshift barricade. The heroes were careful to watch for any needle that might perforate their defense, though nothing of the sort came to pass. Hope held their hearts high as they pondered the notion that they were wearing the mad machine down. They themselves were running on fumes by this point in their adventure, but as a team it seemed they might stand a chance against Nebula’s commander. Moments later the erratic barrage seemed to slow, the room falling silent as the last syringe clattered to the laboratory floor. The princess and the slayer each slowly craned their necks around their respective side of the table, eyes scanning for their target and their comrade. Neither person presented themselves.

“Great, so now where did the good Doctor go?” Ash asked, popping open his boomstick and stuffing a pair of shells into the breach. “You think Revan finished him off?”

Celestia opened her lips to answer but was silenced by a shrill cackle that echoed through the room. The pair quickly glanced upward toward the ceiling, spying Psyche again charging across the room's polished ceiling with the aid of magnetism. The liberators braced once more against their steel shield and took aim as he closed in, pausing for a moment as they took notice of their foe’s state. His multiple wounds had not seemed to slow him significantly, but a noticeable amount of dark liquid--perhaps the robotic equivalent of blood—was streaming from his injuries, drizzling down onto the floor below as he ran.

“He looks wounded,” the alicorn spoke hopefully, readying her spellcraft. After all of the opponents they had engaged thus far, she was not about to drop her guard even though he looked worse for wear. “Revan!” She cried, keeping her eyes locked on the incoming threat. “See if you can knock him off of the ceiling!”

At the other end of the room, the swordsman heard the sovereign’s cry. He rolled from behind the oxygen tank and took off at a run toward their location, his tattered cloak flying free behind him as he readied a spell. If his aim was true, he was sure he could put a few dents in the metal plating. With enough luck, he hoped this would be enough to rattle the commander free. A smirk played at the corner of his lips as he saw the cybernetic scientist stumble before slowing his charge as gravity threatened to reclaim him. Taking the chance he had been given, Revan let fly a fire blast before sprinting forward and following the trail of dark droplets with renewed vigor. It would be child’s play to simply drive his blade through the wounded doctor’s chassis as he clattered to the floor.

Screee!

Before Revan could claim his victory, blistering pain grasped his ankle as what felt like dozens of tiny knives ripped into his flesh. He stumbled as he ran, slowing to a jog as he examined the source of his suffering. It was then that he took notice of the droplets he had been following; they were now decidedly larger, nearly the size of his hand. And they were moving.

“What the hell?!” The mage cried, stopping short and quickly rolling up his pant leg. A trio of amorphous blobs were stuck fast to the flesh of his ankle, their movements delivering searing agony as they crept up his leg at a glacial pace. His breath caught in his throat as each of the blobs suddenly opened a single yellow unblinking eye the size of a silver dollar, rusty red 'pupils' aimed at his own. Before he could ponder the nature of the threat his instincts took over, frantically brushing off the tiny beasts with a cloak-wrapped hand and staggering away from the oily devils. “Darklings?” he stammered, eyeing the moving puddles at his feet. Though the skin on his leg now felt like parboiled meat, the pain had lessened somewhat with the removal of the threat. The fresh hole in his cloak and the acrid smell of dissolved cloth told him that whatever the doctor had spawned, they were much more dangerous than they looked.

“Let’s even the odds!” Psyche called from overhead, drawing the attention of the liberators. A shrill cackle escaped his mouthless visage as his knee joints locked, anchoring him firmly to the laboratory ceiling. His torso began to rotate, slowly at first, before disappearing in a blur of red and chrome as he came to resemble an enormous sprinkler nozzle. His foes quickly dove for cover as a fine mist of caustic ink began to drizzle over them. “Burn under Nebula’s reign!”

Once more, with feeling! You have one week, and 1500 words. Go nuts.

[Celestia]

The 'good doctor' had yet a few more tricks in store for the primes, although Celestia could hardly called it surprise.  In fact she expected him to still have a few they hadn't seen yet, although she doubted there would be time to see them.  With the state all the combatants seemed to be in, she expected the battle to be over soon, one way or another.

Psych seemed to have the have the upper hoof at the moment.  Celestia was expecting something new, but she hadn't expected him to turn himself into an acid fountain.  It was a frustratingly pervasive attack, forcing the primes to dive into cover just to keep themselves away from it's sting.  And even that seemed like it could only last so long, as motes of the caustic liquid slipped around their impromptu barricade.  It wasn't a perfect seal, even if the debris itself was proving surprisingly hardy.

Celestia wished observe her opponent, and thus be able to work out his current weaknesses with her own eyes, but she would have to make do, and quickly.  Psych had at least made one weakness readily apparent, in having to attach himself to the ceiling so thoroughly he clearly couldn't move while he was keeping the group suppressed.  If the primes could only get close to him, he would be essentially at their mercy, for a time.  If only they could get close...

“Well, anyone got any ideas about Dr. Sprinkler over there?”  Ash's voice brought her back out of her thoughts.  He fidgeted where he was crouched, though whether that was due to the frustration of being pinned or to dodge a particularly large glob of toxic goo that had congealed and dripped down wasn't quite clear.

It was enough to drag Celestia out of her thoughts.  “I have an idea, but...”

Ash replied almost immediately.  “Well we aren't doing much else at the moment!”

Celestia frowned.  She didn't like the plan, but she couldn't fault the logic.  She picked up a selection of scattered tools with her telekinesis, and flung them in the direction of their foe.  The improvised attack was too unfocused to cause him much harm, but the obstructions and the irregularity of it was enough to slow down the spray for a time.

It was enough to create the opening the alicorn needed.  With a grunt of effort along with her magic, she lifted up the largest of the tables they were hiding behind and, straining, began to push it forward at an angle that would deflect most of the droplets.  “I can get us close,” Celestia said between panting breaths, “at which point you'll need to put a stop to this!”


As a final touch her shield flared to life again.  It wouldn't hold for very long, but it would grant them some extra protection while it did, and she'd have had to bring it down anyways for their next attack.

[Revan Noctis]

The laboratory lay in ruins as acid droplets dripped from the ceilings and walls, everything in its path was being eroded leaving a strong smell of burning metal and plastics that had become a part of the room. Revan had found shelter behind a seperate smaller metallic table to shield himself from the acid storm. His robes and armour had taken so much damage they had become nearly useless in guarding his vulnerable mortal flesh from the dangers of Nebula. A number of small black creatures had bitten into his body leaving gruesome marks that made him wonder if victory at this point was even a possibility. 

He stabbed his sword into the ground next to him executing one of the surviving creatures that had attempted to reach him. Celestia and Ash had been forced to take cover together behind one of the other tables though they were slightly more further away from the spray of acidic death coming from the ceiling.
Time and time again this terrible evil living machine had attempted to slay them with cheap but horrible tricks, Revan desired ending the things existence and freeing all those he had seen trapped down here but was unsure how to go about doing that now. Looking over his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Celestia and Ash pushing their table forward using it as mobile cover to reach the twirling fountain.

“Better than sitting here waiting to die I suppose.” He said to himself tugging the embedded blade out of the dead creature.

Pushing the table forward with as much strength as he could muster under such dire circumstances he found his cover screeching along the ground. More of the small creatures also shielded by his table began crawling after him attempting to reach his legs which motivated him to push harder. Ceasing for a moment he drew his sword up and feebly waved it at the creatures who seemed intelligent enough to attempt to dodge its swing but some were still cleaved in half. He knew if he allowed them the opportunity they would eat him alive.

Time was most assuredly close to running out as the smooth metal of the table began to appear as if something was eating through it from the other side. Holes began to form and he knew soon there would be no cover at all and that he would be exposed completely to the pain of the acid spraying over his weakened body.
Droplets of acid began seeping through the holes and one drop reached his shoulder burning through and stinging him badly. Another few holes began allowing acid through and its spray reached some of the creatures at his feet practically searing holes through their strange bodies leaving them as merely more carcasses on the cold floor.

He fumbled for a moment and sheathing his sword brought up his palm checking to make sure it was covered in bits of robe. A well placed shot or two was perhaps all he was left with the opportunity for as he prepared one of his fire balls and hoped to make it as accurate a shot as his pained arm would allow.
Tensing for a moment at the realisation the pain he was about to endure before finally while trying to shield his head by poking it only slightly above his cover. His palm was open and his arm extended, as quickly as he could while his hood still offered some protection fired off the fire blast as it flew forth managing to hit the doctor.
Revan ducked his head quickly as acid landed upon his left cheek and forehead burning the skin it landed on causing him to struggle to hold back a pained groan. 

The doctor paused spinning for a moment as he realised he had been struck by a ball of flames.
It was preposterous, totally absurd that these fools thought they could beat him now especially as his poison still ravaged them internally. Something as pathetic as simple fire was no match for his genius intellect.

“It is true that you have all persisted well and while I would have enjoyed having remains to study it is for the best that you accept your fates as pools of decaying filth.” The doctors words seemed just as venomous as the rest of his attempts to stop them.

Once again the sprinkler spun as more acid was spewed throughout the room. Revan had perhaps given his allies a bit more time but it did not change how useless he now felt as he knew shortly he would be killed by the spray of acid. Shuffling a bit he attempted to move as acid began to form pools on either side of him and he’d swore that he could feel the acid chewing into his back as well, he wouldn’t just die cowering behind this table.

He twisted and began to once more push his table forward, the pain was almost entirely unbearable as acid began leaking onto his hands that were still covered in bits of tattered robe, the metal over his chest offered little remaining protection as acid found its way onto his chest and soon enough the pain felt like he was holding his body to a flame. He told himself to hold on a few more moments longer and apart of what kept him longer as tears formed in his eyes was merely a desire to send his blade right through the doctors body, only during his fight at Darkshire had he felt such disgust and anger at an enemy, perhaps that’s what his mind needed to keep going or perhaps it would just be a way of accepting defeat but at least he’d die with a flame in his soul.

Entering the Omniverse had opened his eyes to a whole realm of possibilities but also pain. It was hard to tell but he hoped he had pushed far enough, the former table now useless had become lighter after the majority of metal had deformed. On the bright side since entering the Omniverse he had seen and been apart of things people from his own world had only ever dreamed of doing. Whether merely dreams or vicious horrible nightmares he found one thing in particular to be certain, he had become a hero.

Gripping his sword tightly in his hand with belief that he had a duty to perform he gripped the top of the table and threw his legs over it as the rest of his body went with it. Immediately pelted by a fierce storm of acid that threatened to erode his frail mortal form he brought up his hand aiming it at his hated foe and fired off a fire ball as it collided with the doctor.

“Fool.” The only word the doctor felt was necessary, beginning to transform once more back into his humanoid shape the doctor felt like finishing the robed warrior in a far more satisfying and personal way.

Revan fired off another fireball at the machine as it too scorched his foes metal plating. 
Psyche dropped down to the floor on his legs, Psyche activated a small energy knife as Revan brought up his sword and the two weapons clashed together. Revan could barely stand any longer as his metallic foe immediately gained the upper hand with ease, Revan’s body too damaged to continue the fight as the doctor grabbed his arm and twisted it causing him to lose his grip on his blade as he fell to his knees.

“Now you see absolutely nothing will stop my plans or the plans of Nebula! The doctor was highly damaged himself and appeared to be limping.

“With your ends know that Nebula will rule over every castle in Camelot, will govern every street of Coruscant, will patrol every sea of the Vasty Deep and will most assuredly proclaim ownership of the Oververse, Omni himself will bow before us as gods! The crazed robot doctors voice travelled throughout the underground of the Nebula Verse.

“I think that were all sick and tired of you talking by now you worthless machine.” Revan replied with his own fiery words.

The doctor brought up the energy knife in his hand and wasting no more time used his robotic strength to jam it right into Revan’s chest. Revan’s body slumped in the doctors grip for a few moments before allowing the image of his victory to be seen by the other two before he merely threw the supposed corpse of the robed warrior onto the floor next to him.

“Who desires next to feel their mortal existence fade?” The doctor asked followed with a horrifying sadistic electronic cackle.

Revan severely wounded lay upon the floor his head spinning and his body in fierce pain, he didn’t consider himself one to give up so easily. He hoped he could find the strength in the next few moments to jam his own blade into the doctors body.

1500 Words according to Easywordcount.com

[Ash Williams]

"Hey, Tinman! What about you worried about the man who's your daddy here!" yelled Ash across the room getting their nemesis's attention.

Celestia ran over to Revan to aid him after getting tossed aside from Dr. Psyche. The doctor chuckled at the sight of Ash who stood confidently with his shotgun aimed in one hand and his chainsaw limb raised.

"You really aren't concerned what I just injected you with. I will give you credit human, you do show no fear unlike my other subjects I worked when I became their worst nightmares," Dr. Psyche said shoving his robotic hands in the laser holsters and began charging his next attack.

Ash suddenly dashed to avoid the deadly heavily charged laser beam. The doctor follows Ash with his laser beam all over the room until his weapon was almost completely drained with energy. After Dr. Psyche finished his attack, he started making his way toward the evil dead slayer while taking his time. Ash reloaded his shotgun while taking cover behind a chemical countertop. The Darkshire defender made his next move getting out of cover and fired off his two shots at the robotic mad scientist. A countering movement was made by Dr. Psyche by jumping off the ground with a great height then dropped down to land on Ash's spot.

He stepped back quickly to avoid being crushed by the metallic body of the doctor. Ash holstered his gun and revved his chainsaw loudly.

His chainsaw swung with great force, but Dr. Psyche ducked under to evade the attack. While ducked, the robot drew his energy knife and did a quick stab on Ash's leg. The great burning pain was felt in Ash's leg making him want to fall but stood his ground. Blood began to pour out of the deep wound. Ash followed up with another swing but grazed the doctor a bit with sparks flying with the fast-rotating blade making contact with the metallic surface. Black oil began to slowly spill out the cut opened shoulder. The doctor ignored the cut he just received and swung his knife swiftly at his foe.

Ash used his chainsaw to deflect some of the attacks from Dr. Psyche. He noticed in the background that Celestia was still trying to take care of Revan which was fine for him since he didn't want to lose another party member. His focus moved back to the Nebula leader in front of him that was trying to kill him. They moved back and forth in the room trading attacks. Sweat glistened on Ash's forehead from how fast he's been moving to defend against from many stabs.

"Impressive Liberator, you've actually done better than your other ally, but could you handle my potent chemical that I just made recently. The symptoms should be kicking in right about now just from how much your body has been active. Making easier to flow through your entire body system." Dr. Psyche stated standing still waiting to see what will happen to Ash next.

Ash's vision suddenly started warping with psychedelic colors filling anything in the room.

"W-whoa. I feel like I'm on an acid trip," Ash ushered from the chemicals kicking in.

"Let me ask you something liberator, do you feel better?" Dr. Psyche questioned with a maniacal laughter while Ash swayed side to side as it looks like he's drunk.

"This is some heavy stuff dude," Ash said in a very high state with everyone in the room start shapeshifting into weird humanoids and animals.

Nobody couldn't see what Ash was seeing but suddenly he blacks out from the fight. After a couple of seconds of shutting his eyes, he awoke in the middle of an autumn forest. Some trees lost their leaves while others were changing colors. Ash looked down at his leg and seen there was no stab wound. Confusion filled his head how he got here in the first place. The evil dead slayer walked deeper into the forest to find a way out of here. The air was cool enough to feel like fall while dead leaves covered the ground everywhere. It was the late afternoon with the sun slowly setting as of right now while Ash hiked through the forest.

After walking what it felt for a long time, Ash eventually ended up finding something. An old small cabin sat in the middle of the woods which looked like no one hasn't lived there for a while. After seeing the cabin, memories flood his mind from that night what happened to him and his girlfriend. He could remember every second of that incident from killing his own possessed girl to being caught in that wormhole they created to banish evil. Ash immediately wanted to leave this place, but the sun started to set, and he could hear something moving through the woods.

The wind blew gently through the trees with gust sound calling out his name.

"Oh no, the Omniverse is way better than this place," Ash said walking away from the cabin but came face to the evil that he accidentally unleashed that night.

Suddenly, Ash started hightailing to the cabin for a shelter from the evil, but that source of evil followed him quickly toward cabin violently. He couldn't outrun that evil spirit with his heavy chainsaw limb attached to him. The evil through him across the cabin and out into the forest again but didn't stop there. Ash flew through the forest screaming for mercy and hit multiple tree branches in the process. He was airborne for about five minutes until that evil spirit slammed him hard into the forest floor. The evil dead slayer laid on the ground for a minute feeling pain throughout his body.

Underneath him, the earth began to crack all around his body for about a couple of seconds. He realized that the dirt started to feel warm and too hot for the normal temperature. Suddenly, the ground gave in then swallowed Ash into what seemed to be hell. He was freefalling into this hellish dimension with demonic entities surrounding him and tortured to poor trapped souls of Satan's home. Ash screamed while falling toward his fate which was a deadly spiked floor with corpses pierced through the spikes.

Meanwhile back to reality, Ash stood there drugged out while Dr. Psyche appreciated his victorious moment. Celestia was aiding Revan from his brutal wounds he received minutes ago.

"You're in a very bad shape, don't be too hard on yourself," Celestia stated while Revan used her main body as a resting spot to help get himself on his feet.

"I have no choice Celestia, I rather die to attempt to destroy that fiend rather than letting him strike me down then probably use me as one of his vile experiments," Revan responded, finally standing back up with his sword in one hand while his other pressed from Celestia.

They locked their eyes on the scene of the drug-induced Ash and Dr. Psyche. The doctor slashed Ash across his stomach to cause blood pouring out. From the attack, Ash Williams fell to the ground in shock then squirmed around in pain. Screaming was coming from his mouth from the pain and drug side effects making him think he's trapped in hell defenseless. Before Dr. Psyche was going to drive his energy knife into Ash's skull, Celestia a thin ray of heat at Dr. Psyche catching him off guard. He turned around to see the other two Liberators standing there ready for another round.

"You foul primes just don't know when to give up. This time, I'll make sure all of you will die for good and save your remains for my next experiments." Dr. Psyche growled in his heartless robotic voice then charged forth at Celestia and Revan.

Back to Ash's mind, he ran through the catacombs of hell to find a way out while demons were hunting him down. He ended up in a dead end and was cornered by the hellish creatures. Their eyes were blood red and sinister expressions filled their faces. They slowly move toward the trapped human who was weaponless. Ash digs around his pockets to find his orb of omnilium but found nothing to defend himself with.
Something clicked in his head instead and that was realizing everything was made up of from his drugged imagination.

"You guys are just baloney!" Ash yelled at the approaching demons which they shriek in pain as they dissolved into nothing.

Ash's face was filled with relief and a cocky smile as everything around him disappeared. He thinks of his happy place as he closed his eyes shut than open them to realize he was on a beach in Jacksonville, Florida. The evil dead slayer sat in a beach chair with a can of beer in his hands and wore a vacation Hawaiian shirt. Ash drank his beer as he enjoyed his happy place while in the meantime Celestia and Revan took on Dr. Psyche.

1500 words exact on Wordcounter.net

[Nebula]

With their chainsaw-wielding companion temporarily out of commission, the remainder of the Liberators were left to stare down Psyche as he approached. A tinny cackle echoed off of the acid-scorched floor as he closed the gap, savoring each second as he slowly bore down on his beleaguered opponents. “There’s no need to struggle any longer,” the doctor advised, his manic tone belying his seemingly calming words. “Nebula will save you from this pain.”

“Tell that to Kanda,” Revan spat, heart hammering arrhythmically as rage spurred his fatigued limbs. He raised his blade, the silvery steel pockmarked with dried blood and oil. “If you’re looking for converts, you’re talking to the wrong people.”

“Shame,” Dr. Psyche said, shaking his head. “Still, I’m sure I can find some use for you three.” The air around the mechanized madman began to roil as he finished his taunt, a pair of foot-long syringes flickering into existence at his sides.

The alicorn and the mage quickly worked their respective spellcraft, each knowing full-well that they lacked the energy to flee from the menacing needles for long. Magic met medicine between the trio in a spray of glass and fire as the attacks met, causing a thick plume of violet smoke to billow over the battleground from the point of contact.

“More cat and mouse?” Psyche sneered, striding confidently into the caustic cloud as he scanned for the pair. The fumes provided a convenient cover for his enemies to escape and provide cover for a counter, but he was more than ready for such wiles. The mechanized medicine man waited for the blips on his HUD to begin scampering away, readying another pair of needles at his side, angling outward in anticipation of a pincer-style ambush. “Come out, come out...” He stopped in his tracks as the indicators on his radar suddenly began to move...toward him. His sensors registered a steep uptick in ambient temperature before the sound of hooves on steel met his ears.

“NOW!” Celestia cried out, stumbling forward and kicking up her back legs as her Sunwall began to fade. Her rider was catapulted forward through the purple smog, landing heavily mere inches from the surprised doctor. Revan’s blade made quick work of the hovering pair of needles before tearing a wide slash across Psyche’s chestplate.

Nebula’s commander cried out in anguished rage as he stumbled backward to avoid another slash from the robed swordsman. “Insects!” he cried, quickly stuffing his hands into his pockets and unleashing twin beams of scarlet plasma wildly in the direction of the offending Liberators. “You think you’re worthy of Nebula’s power?!”

The smoke finally began to clear as the doctor’s lasers tore through the hazy air, leaving wide, erratic scorch marks across the battle-scarred walls. He broke into raucous laughter as his sensors registered the pair of liberators fleeing, moving toward the door of the laboratory. The doctor paused his assault for a moment at the sight; they would find no escape from him. Servos whirred as he stood tall, his robotic joints locking and rooting him in place as he pulled the laser emitters from his waist and brought them together before him. With a satisfying click, the twin weapons united, a single mote of energy already swelling within the unified barrel.

“Goodbye, Liberators.” Heat poured from the muzzle as the energy orb swelled to the size of a beach ball. He would only need a single shot. “Hopefully enough of your singed corpses will remain for the autopsy.” He finally caught sight of the pair standing resolute out in the open, directly in front of what would be the laser’s path. “I appreciate your cooperation,” Psyche sneered, leveling the cannon. As he took aim, a familiar noise gave him pause.

A chainsaw.

The doctor’s torso quickly spun about the waist, his mechanized limbs hurriedly unlocking in a desperate attempt to move his anchored body as he scanned his surroundings, prepped cannon ready to fire. Before he could take aim and fire the payload, the voice of Ash Williams met his ears.

“How about a little off the top?”

The deafening screech of gnashing saw teeth on metal echoed through the lab as Ash gripped the guide bar of his weaponized limb with his free hand and bore down. Seconds later he felt resistance disappear as the blade separated the doctor’s cranium from his body.

“Ash!” Revan called out, rushing toward the slayer with his equine companion in tow. “Is he dead?”

Ash smiled placidly as he killed the motor and staggered forward to meet them. “Decapitating is the only way I know to make sure something is DEFINITELY dead,” he replied, kicking the doctor’s lifeless head aside. “Are you two alright?”

“Not really,” Celestia replied, smiling sheepishly. “But I’m glad it’s all o-”

“OVER?” a chillingly familiar voice inquired.

The Liberator’s turned in unison toward the discarded head of Dr. Psyche, now floating a few inches from the lab floor, eyes blinking rhythmically. “Shit,” Ash muttered, pulling his shotgun free from its holster. “That usually always works.”

“THIS IS NOT OVER,” Psyche’s disembodied head cried out, breaking into manic laughter. With impressive speed, the commander’s noggin took off into the air, shooting toward the back of the lab.

“Get ready,” Revan commanded, sword at the ready. “Whatever he’s doing, it’s not good.”

No sooner had the swordsman issued his warning than the lab shook as if rocked by an earthquake. Moments later the doctor emerged from the depths of the lab in a form unfamiliar. Reborn.

“’Not good’ is an understatement,” Ash replied.

Dr. Psyche has pulled out all the stops, and transformed into his 'evolved' form, the Mad Nautilus: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mega...0730202413

He is much, much more durable and resilient in this form, though as a consequence much slower. The many tentacles and tendrils he has serve as powerful bludgeons, and can fire bursts of energy as well as blasts of chemicals of all sorts. The massive, white 'horn' emerging over his head is capable of discharging a massively powerful laser, after a substantial charge time.

At this point, Dr. Psyche will be attempting to bring his castle down on top of you. He's confident he could survive the collapse, but doesn't much care what happens to you. You can choose to stay and fight to try and finish him off, or flee to more open ground to avoid getting crushed. Either way, it won't be easy with the crazed, transformed doctor after you.

You all have two weeks, and one post each, up to 1500 words, to contend with this new development.

You're in the literal home stretch now. Have fun.

[Celestia]

Somehow, the situation seemed to only get worse.  They were all certain that Psych had been dealt a fatal blow, ending the battle for good, when he had been decapitated.  The expectation would have been reasonable.  Than again, hardly anything about the Omniverse was reasonable by any traditional standpoint.  It would have been nice to rely on even basic things, such as loss of critical parts downing their enemy, but Celestia supposed they would just have to adapt.

The primes may have been stunned, but Psych wasted no time.  He splayed his new tentacles upwards and outwards, tearing out chunks of the ceiling and flinging them toward the primes.  Though the 'doctor's current limbs lacked the dexterity for accurate throwing, the debris was large enough that even a vaguely aimed throw could still seriously hurt.  The primes scattered, to avoid leaving an easy target.

As she kept moving, taking the occasional pot-shot to keep their enemy looking multiple directions, Celestia had to wonder at the shift in attitudes.  While not particularly stable before, Psych had seemed clever in his own way, and demonstrated a purpose to his actions.  Why would he suddenly become so haphazard?

The answer came to her when she was nearly hit by a bit of flying debris, putting up a shield at the last second.  The shield shattered after the impact, but Celestia was already on the move.  However, that piece hadn't come from ahead, but from above.  She looked up.  A chunk of the ceiling was missing, and cracks were spreading from that point and others.

Psych took notice, and having caught her pausing to observe, landed a bright red beam into her chest.  Celestia was sent tumbling to the floor.  “FOOLISH, LOOKING AWAY FROM ME,” the 'doctor' boomed.  As she struggled to stand to her feet, another tendril hummed and glowed, preparing a followup shot-

Two shots rang out from Ash's shotgun.  The tendril was batted to the side, and the follow up beam went wide.

As Psych turned to face Ash, Revan ran in and helped Celestia struggle to her hooves.  “Are you alright?” he asked, as he pulled her to the other side of the room.

Celestia was fading.  The various cumulative tolls of the battle and the journey to get there were weighing on her.  She could still fight however, and so she would until the battle was over, one way or the other.

She didn't have time to give Revan a full update however.  Even before she was fully upright, she cried out, “The ceiling!”  She gave her allies a moment to look, they wouldn't have more than that with the mollusk after them anyways.  It was quicker than trying to put it into words.  “We have to get out before he brings it down on top of us!”

Celestia started to move, but Revan held fast.  “We're not the only ones here,” he said simply.  It was enough.  Celestia looked the way they had come into the room, knowing exactly who he was talking about.  “We can't just leave them behind!”

Celestia's lips formed a thin line.  She never wanted to leave anyone behind, but she had to consider the realities of the situation.  They were a small team, smaller still after everyone they'd lost getting here.   Their goal was the strategic removal of a threat, which should save many more lives in the long run, and they had neither the time nor the material needed to ensure the current victims escaped.  She had reluctantly but willingly set aside the fate of the captives, knowing there were others that needed them as well.

And yet, now that she faced with the decision head on, she couldn't bring herself to say 'no'.  It would be difficult, and it might put the mission at risk, but the victims deserved the chance.  “Okay, get as many out as you can, Ash and I will cover you.  You'll need to find a way to carry the ones who can't walk.”  She didn't wait for a reply, even something that small would take time that they probably could not afford.

Ash had been doing an admirable job of fending off Psych's attacks, but this was not a foe to be fought on one's own.  Celestia rejoined the fight, announcing her presence with a ray of heat impacting the 'doctor's rear hull.  The damage to his shell would be limited, but it would signal that a threat had emerged behind him.  He curled a few tentacles around, firing a pair of beams in response, but his target was still moving.

“Ash!” she called out.  “We need to keep his attention-”

Psych interrupted.  “WELL, IF YOU WANT IT SO BADLY...”  He spun, tentacles flailed through the air, gouging out trenches in the ceiling before slamming down on either side of Celestia.  This time, she knew where the true attack would come from, and raised a shield in preparation, but the force of impact  from the falling chunks of ceiling still knocked her into the wall.

The preparation had kept her upright however, and she noticed that Psych's efforts had more than just remove pieces of the ceiling, they created a hole.  There was a chamber above the current one.  Celestia charged forward, but instead of attacking her foe directly, she lept upwards, using the fallen debris as stepping stones.  Her wings might not let her fly in this plane, but they could still guide her jumps.  She fled into the upper chamber, and thus away from the trapped victims, in the hopes that Psych would follow after her.  She fired another beam at him, to try to ensure that this would happen.

[Ash Williams]

Ash saw Celestia making her way into the hole of the roof and the mad nautilus looked angrily at the alicorn. The monstrous transformed doctor waved its own tentacles at Celestia trying to grab her but was shot by Ash with his boomstick. From the attack, the beast moved its tentacle backward in a pain reaction and had eyes on Ash. Celestia's actions confused Ash where she was heading to but his train of thought got interrupted by the mad nautilus coming for him. This thing was bigger than the doctor's previous form and tougher. The mad nautilus began making its next move by firing energy blasted at the evil dead slayer. Ash ran back to find cover to protect himself from the attacks. He did a baseball slid behind a flipped metal table that was battle-worn from earlier and hoped that this will be strong enough for a shield.

After receiving blasts of energy, the table fell apart which made Ash stand up and make his next move. He reloaded his shotgun quickly and fired two more shots at the horrid nautilus. The shots pierced the robotic body but weren't effective from how far the pellets spread. Dr. Psyche lashed out his tentacles toward Ash to tangle him up. Ash put his gun back in the holster with quick reflex, so he can be able to yank the starter cord to activate his Chainsaw's motor. With a quick yank, the motor roared with exhaust fumes puffing out.

Ash grabbed a hold of the guide bar and started furiously swing his chainsaw back and forth to swat the incoming tentacles. By the overwhelming numbers of tentacles, the evil dead slayer eventually was tangled up and brought closer to one of the sharped-end tentacular body part. Ash struggled to get out of the doctor's grasp but was losing energy how overwhelming it was. The sharpened tentacle moved closer and closer to Ash's forehead even about merely a couple inches away from the skin. He shut his tightly and was prepared to die in a way he didn't think he would go out but was suddenly put down by the doctor, screeching in pain.

Celestia came back for Ash and stood atop one of the fallen debris after firing a strong meteor attack to get the doctor's attention. It worked well, and the mad nautilus spun around in annoyance from Celestia coming back.

"RUN!!!!" screamed Celestia down at Ash which helped to get his attention.

He remembered her going upward into that hole and then he connected the dots why she was going that way. Ash got up quickly and gave it his all to sprint toward the debris she was at. The doctor moved toward her, but Ash ran by the robotic transformed beast and headed toward Celestia. Dr. Psyche doubled his speed and trailed behind Ash. Celestia began making her way back in the hole and so does Ash. They made it to the next floor which appeared to be a storage area of the doctor's chemicals. Everything was stored in glass tanks which the chemicals glowed brightly making the room less darkened.
"YOU CAN NOT ESCAPE YOUR TERROR, PESTS," Dr. Pscyhe roared for the two liberators which he thought they were trying to escape.

The body of the mad nautilus slumped down a bit then shot upwards in a powerful force breaking through the stone ceiling without a problem. After that action, their surrounding shook from the less minded jump. Dr. Psyche planted itself on the ground in front of them and more bludgeons extended out from the end of its tentacles.

"WERE JUST GETTING STARTED," Dr. Psyche boomed with such powerful words that could make any weak secondary shake in their boots.

"We'll see about that," Ash said whipping out his boomstick and stood next to Celestia.

He reloaded his shotgun and aimed it single handily toward the made nautilus. Two shots were fired upon the doctor as the robotic monster moved closer to them. Dr. Psyche unleashed chemical blasts upon them with no mercy. Ash and Celestia went for cover behind wooden crates that help other possessions of the doctor. While they had their backs against a crate, Ash reloaded his shotgun with 12-gauge rounds. After creating a series of blasts, the doctor began charging his horn with energy to create a massive laser. The liberators realized he stopped his attacks and began switching to the offense side of the battle. Celestia fired off a fast-thin ray of heat at the doctor while Ash charged forward. He holstered his shotgun and focused on his chainsaw instead as he came closer.

Damage inflicted the doctor from Celestia's attack but was about finished with his dead laser. When Ash was just a couple feet away from Dr. Psyche, he leaped forward with Chainsaw hand raised above his head to strike downward. The laser was discharged and headed straight for Celestia in an intimidating way. It traveled at a lightning speed which made Celestia reacted bringing up a sun wall to protect her. The heated projectile hit the barrier and made it burst into pieces and knocked Celestia back from the force of the impact. After firing the laser, the doctor squirmed in pain when Ash landed on his body with a chainsaw sawing into its body. Sparks were made as the rotating chain blade met the metallic surface. He attempted to disable the energy cannons, but tentacles came at him in a defensive way to get Ash off the doctor.

Ash realized the incoming tentacles and while his Chainsaw wedged mid-way of sawing the triple cannon, he reached for his shotgun that was in his holster behind him. Before the tentacles could grab him from both sides, he fired off quickly on both sides of him and damaged the tentacles immensely. The doctor growled angerly at Ash who rode on top of him. Ash continued to try to saw while holding his boomstick. Celestia galloped to run around the doctor and kept firing off her ranged attacks. Of course, Dr. Psyche hadn't forgotten about her and fended itself off with the remaining tentacles. She couldn't keep up with her attacks anymore on the doctor because of the surrounding tentacles. Meanwhile, on Ash's part, he eventually got finished by sawing off one of its triple cannons.

"ENOUGH." Dr. Psyche boomed while jumping off the ground and creating a hard landing that shook the ground and caused Ash to fall off.

"ALL OF YOU ARE FILLED WITH TOMFOOLERY AND YOU WILL DIE ONCE I SEND THIS CASTLE CRASHING DOWN ON YOU FILTHY LIBERATORS. GLORY TO NEBULA AND MAY OUR DARKNESS SPREAD THROUGH THE REST OF THE OMNIVERSE!" Dr. Psyche cried out then began charging his horn.

Celestia worried for Revan hoping he would evacuate everyone he can soon enough since it appeared their distraction might not last long. The mad nautilus began charging its single large horn while Ash and Celestia came back for another round. Celestia became ready to summon a sunwall in case Dr. Psyche finished charging. Its horn glowed brightly and ready to discharge the deadly force. The mad nautilus releases the laser beam, but it wasn't aimed at the liberators. Instead, the laser hit a stone wall behind them and caused a massive hole to be made. Dr. Psyche focused to unleash its firepower upon the supports that were holding this dungeon up.

The doctor didn't completely ignore the liberators and used its tentacles to defend itself from the hard-headed primes. Piece by piece the room was falling apart all around them. The two get knocked back a couple yards away from the flailing tentacles. Ash and Celestia moved back to get behind cover since the mad nautilus stopped focusing on destroying the castle for a bit then launched a series of energy blasts at the two from one of the cannons that were still functional.

They had their backs against a wooden crate waiting for the firepower to stop.

"We can't stick around here too long or we'll both become pancakes when this place comes down to us," Ash stated with his chainsaw hand resting in his lap.

"I know, we can't just flee the place like were retreating. If we do so, he might realize that Revan wasn't present in the fight and go after him with the other defenseless prisoners," Celestia replied looking back at Ash while resting.

They think for a moment until one of them blurted out an idea.

"How about this, let's focus our attacks on him and lure him into the castle then we try to find a way outside. Once when were outside, we should be safe from the castle falling apart on us and by the time we get the enemy out of the castle, Revan should have evacuated everyone he could safely," Celestia proposed with hope.

1,479 words on Wordcounter.net

[Revan Noctis]

Beaten, battered, torn and bruised, Revan was all of these things yet moved from the laboratory into the dark recesses of the dungeon of failed experiments. Revan hated having left Ash and Celestia behind but it was doubtful the people here had families elsewhere that missed them.

“Why have you returned?” Asked a voice from the first cell he moved up to.

“I’m here to release you all but I’m going to need all of you to cooperate.” He moved towards an old wall where a rusted lever was aimed toward the ground.

Turning the rusted lever slowly as to avoid risk of breaking it caused sounds from components unseen as the prison cells rose to the ceiling pulled by old chains. Revan watched as the incarcerated that could shambled out of their cells, avoiding the need to stare at some of the more gruesome results of some tests Revan made sure that his hope that they had enough muscle were true.

“Assist me in carrying the ones who cannot walk and let’s get to the exit.” Revan himself found a bearded man with one leg that he balanced on his shoulder.

“We must hurry.” He said leading a charge of frightened and wounded citizens.

To Revan’s regret they did not get far before the skittering metallic legs were heard coming down the stone corridor. In the dark it was difficult to see but upon the sound of screams of the people around him he moved the man on his shoulder to someone else and charged forward raising his blade. Rushing and pushing the crowd out of the way he made his way to the front where he was immediately pounced upon by a mechanical spider as large as his head, the landed on his chest and two jagged blades made to slightly resemble fangs were propelled into his chest causing him to cry out in pain. 

One of the escaped prisoners kicked the spider as hard as he could and sent the spider flying back into a black moving encroaching swarm. Revan was never one to waste time as he shot a fire ball into the crowd revealing just how many they truly had. Revan got up quickly and prepared his sword for battle.

“You must find another way up, do whatever you need to do.” Revan remained as the escaped prisoners shuffled off to find another escape passage.

Revan watched as the spiders vast numbers swarmed towards him, he hated fighting such small foes with his sword and so switched out for his bow and started firing into the crowd. A spider was pierced to the ground with an arrow and was immediately disabled while another target survived attempting to use its legs to tug the arrow up enough that it could remain mobile.

“We have found another passageway!” The voice of one of the faster prisoners had called out to him from in the darkness.

Revan was in full retreat as his pulse raced as he moved as fast as he could towards the much preferred exit.
Sure enough a secret passageway had been found hidden behind an old rusted metal door that had seemingly been sealed shut at some earlier time.

“Go,” He shouted as he lowered his head to crouch into the small passageway.

The castle was shaking as the repercussions of the battle below took its toll on the remainder of the stone structured integrity, Revan had little time to wait if he wanted to escape a premature burial. He needed to go back tl find the others but right now he needed to take it steady. Revan watched as the prisoner had looked at him with sympathy before accepting his command.

The lone prisoner rushed through the tunnel into the pitch black void as he slowed unable to keep up from the poison and damage his body had taken. Revan noticed the spiders strangely had not made it into the tunnel but he had in fact left a trail of blood and bloody fingerprints behind. Fearing for what would happen if he couldn’t escape his mind began panicking once again though he soon noticed bloody handprints up ahead that were not his own, with no sign of the prisoners nearby he stopped a moment to catch his breath.

His breathing was deep as he realised little air was getting into the small cramped escape tunnel.
Revan rested for a few long moments as a tapping sound like perhaps someone crawling in the tunnel with him was heard.

“Celestia, Ash is that you?” He called out into the darkness though receiving no reply.

Though a slight struggle he raised his sword once more preparing himself to run further into the tunnel. The noises became clearly mechanical but sounded larger than the spiders had. Revan braced himself for tight quarters fighting as the sound finally came to a stop in the shadows in front of him.

Revan terrified stared into the darkness for any sign of moving but there was none, he took a step forward before letting out his long breath and gripping his sword tighter. A large black clawed hand burst out of the darkness and wrapped itself around his sword tugging him towards the darkness. Revan let out a burst of fire which along with causing the mechanical abomination to let go allowed Revan a glimpse of what he was up against.

A large golden machine on three tri pod legs and four clawed hands stood before him ready to rip him apart, 
The man body of the machine was merely glass holding inside a human skeleton which was missing its legs.
Revan pulled his sword back instinctively slamming it into the glass hoping the glass would shatter but it seemed to anger the machination sending Revan once more into a retreat as the terrifying undead filled machine charged after him through the cramped metal tunnel.

Revan fought off the creatures claws as it forced him further through the tunnel until he fell backward out the other end of the tunnel onto stone floor once more. The machine wrappped its claws on the edges of the metal opening and began crawling out. Revan was grabbed and pulled up by a couple of the prisoners who to Revan’s relief had avoided the creature now chasing him.

“I know you’re tough and all but now might be a good time to let it go.” Said one of the men hoping to convince the hooded warrior to retreat.

Revan hated to retreat but in this case he considered it necessary, however he was not about to leave his allies behind either. Quickly placing his arms on the men’s shoulders he chose his expression to talk for him as he sent them off before charging down the hallway looking for some means to get back to help the other liberators escape the castle. He hoped Ash and Celestia were moving fast enough as he felt more shockwaves coming from below. With the floor continuing to cave in it was clear more exits from the basement were opening up and he hoped his friends would pop up as soon as possible.

1194 words

[Nebula]

While Revan handled the exodus of Psyche’s ‘patients’, Ash and Celestia struggled to contend with the recently-buffed doctor. Any semblance of the Darkling commander’s calculating antics had been spirited away upon shifting to the Mad Nautilus. Contrary to the hopes of the Liberators, this made the mechanized madman much more erratic and dangerous.

“This is your end!” the distorted screams of the augmented automaton boomed in the confines of the small storage room as tentacles lashed out at the slayer and the Princess. They found themselves steadily being backed into a corner as they scrambled to dodge the laser blasts and plumes of toxic smog venting from his ‘shell’.

“It’s no use,” Celestia choked out, heaving heavy breaths from her strong equine lungs. “We were barely handling him when he was just a crazy old robot.”

“Yeah,” Ash replied, tumbling backward sloppily to avoid being bludgeoned by the fat end of a tentacle. “I know what you mean. We’ve barely had a minute to rest since we started.”

“Less incessant jabbering!” Psyche screeched, his front-facing spike beginning to thrum with energy once more as he took aim at the large crate behind which his foes had sheltered. “DIE!”

Celestia threw up a hasty Sunwall as the duo scrambled to find another cover, though the spell seemed to be less effective on this cast. It splintered and shattered in a shower of sparks almost immediately on contact with Psyche’s assault, the force tossing the two painfully into the opposite wall. How much did they have left in them?

“I think we need to just get the hell out of here and find Revan,” Ash muttered with pained urgency. From the sound of it, the impact of the blast had knocked the wind out of him. “We’re both running on fumes here and this guy seems thrilled to just bring down the house on us.”

“You think the prisoners are safe?” Celestia implored, pointing her horn toward the approaching bulk of their foe and firing off a spell with whatever power she could muster. “If so, I agree.”

“Hell if I know,” the chainsaw-wielder replied. “We’ll just have to help him if not. We’re running out of options.”

“Worthless FILTH!” the Nautilus raged, again causing the castle to quake as he lurched toward his enemies. “You cannot hope to escape my wrath! You brought this on yourselves in opposing Nebula!”

“Now!”

On Ash’s mark, he and the princess darted from behind their cover and made for the large entryway that Psyche had created. No sooner had they ran out into the open than the transformed doctor released a spray of caustic slime from the tip of one of his many tentacles, causing the duo to cry out through gritted teeth as they ran frantically through the excruciating mist. With all the speed granted to them by sheer desperation, the duo managed to leap through the opening and find themselves back in the remnants of Psyche’s lab. Unfortunately for the Liberators they were not granted a single second of respite, as not a moment later, the madman himself came barreling through a new second doorway, slamming his armored bulk through the brickwork and making chase with sinister glee. A symphony of shattering glass told Ash and Celestia that the doctor’s hasty exit had likely been through a wall of crates, releasing the contents of his bottled substances to pour freely from the opening like a putrid waterfall and cover Psyche’s carapace with a sickly sheen.

“I’ll lay down some covering fire, just head toward the cells!” Celestia took aim as she issued her command, plying the doctor with a few noticeably small meteors. She hoped that her weakened spellwork could keep her pursuer at bay, at least long enough to get them some breathing room.

“GAH!” Psyche cried out, stopping suddenly to flail a now flaming tentacle. Despite the alicorn’s ebbing witchcraft, it seemed to be somehow strengthened. “CRETINS!” the frothing madman screeched, tearing forward once more with renewed vigor. “You will be eradicated!”

Celestia rounded on the spot and galloped toward her companion. “Ash! I think I have an idea of how we can put this villain down for good. Or, at least even the odds significantly.”

“You’ve got my attention,” the slayer responded, glancing warily over his shoulder at the still-aflame Nautilus as he stuffed a pair of shells into the breach of his boomstick.

“Whatever he crashed through and drenched the lab floor in seems to be flammable,” the Princess quickly explained. “My meteor set his whole limb on fire. I think maybe we can use his own power against him.”

A smile crossed Ash’s lips. “I like your style. I know just the thing that could ruin this freak’s day.” Gesturing toward the far end of the room, the Evil Dead  slayer lead the pair deeper into the lab, Psyche hot on their tails.

“Draw his attention!” Celestia advised, eyes scanning the lab for a proper vantage point. If their plan was to work, they’d need to time it just right, lest they find themselves entombed.

“Being bait is something of a specialty of mine,” Ash quipped, sprinting forward as he fired buckshot blindly behind him. “Come and get me, poindexter!”

The equine princess leapt nimbly to the side as the fuming Nautilus charged toward his new target, spewing a constant slew of insults and guttural cries. She watched as the chainsaw-wielder sprinted full-tilt into the corner of the room, diving behind a rack of gas storage tanks. Perfect.

“FOOLS!” Psyche taunted, crawling toward Ash’s makeshift bunker until the tip of his laser-horn was a mere few meters from the man. “You cannot run now!”

Before the doctor could begin to charge his cannon, Ash’s hand appeared from behind the rack, flinging an unused shotgun shell toward the pulsing appendage. Psyche barely seemed to notice the cartridge; that was, until an expertly aimed ray of heat from somewhere behind him caused it to explode violently, setting Psyche’s carapace ablaze.

An agonizing scream echoed through the lab as the flames raced across the chemical-drenched surface, entirely engulfing the doctor in a coat of immolation. Tentacles lashed out at random as Ash ducked and dived past, only narrowly avoiding capture before meeting Celestia. “Do it now!” he cried, turning toward the door.

With a nod the princess held her horn high and charged a Meteor spell, pouring the rest of her energy into the blast. A second later she let the modest spell fly, immediately afterward turning to sprint after Ash as the ball of magical plasma impacted the nearest gas tank, causing it to detonate in a violent explosion. The liberators found themselves flung through the doorway of the lab as Psyche roared in anguish and the floor beneath their feet began to quake.

“RUN!”

Congratulations! You've managed to escape the lab of the insane doctor. Now you just need to get out of the rest of the castle while it's falling to pieces around you. Make a run for it, and escape the collapsing structure! One post from each of you, up to 800 words total. You have one week.