Abandon

Eniar turns to Jessie with a smile.

"I do not believe we have truly met. I would have noticed someone as lovely as yourself."
He bows lightly to her, then turns back to Chronos with an uncanny smile on his face and a hearty chuckle.

"Oh, no no no. I don't consider you as just some tool, not just a virus...Not anymore. I've moved on from that enterprise...In fact, I find it endearing that you've managed to make a name for yourself...But it's strange...I'd assume you would be angry that I am still alive...After all, it was through my virus that you have become what you are."

He puts his hands behind his back, with a sly smirk.
What in the hell is he planning...?

---

Lycoris is caught off guard by the sudden embrace and is a little bothered.

"H-hey...! Who said you can hug me...At least give me a heads up..."

She...sort of returns it, in the form of a soft pat on the back.
She's definitely not used to it.

Medi, however, hugs Rid tightly.

"It's okay...I'm sorry...about how I kept acting...It was...it was just too much for me...It's...it's hard to explain...But...I...I would never stop being friends with you..."

Eniar strains a smile despite his painful predicament.

"Kuhu...You...you think that I'm all to blame for your predicament...? That's sweet of you. But I'm...afraid most of this is on you.

I may be the one who created the virus...But you were the one who stole it, you were the one who created your entire being...You made your own enemies...and you alone broke the heart of the one you loved. Don't...don't think that you can use me...as a scapegoat for all of your own mistakes."

He seems completely unafraid. Was he not afraid of his captor, or the possibility of his death? Why does he have so much bravado? Was it hope? Was it something else?
It's not certain.

"Go on ahead...kill me. I've already realized that I have done irrevocable damage with my desires to destroy the horrorterrors. Millions of people among millions of timelines have suffered due to my own actions, including you and those you have created to ensure your own existence...

And I know that perhaps I would never be able to make up for it. But what would killing me achieve? Some...superficial satisfaction of destroying the source of your misfortunes? And then what? What would you do after then? You would still be empty, wouldn't you?"

---

Medi smiles.
"I could say the same thing...I'm so, so glad..."

Lycoris can't help but mumble about this affectionate display.

"I'm going to need a dentist's appointment from the amount of sweet this is."

"Yeah! "Fuck that noise!""

Jessie waves her arm suddenly, causing eniar to shoot off into the distance away from Chronos as he is accelerated to high speed suddenly.

"Seriously? Can we /not/ have any more death today? Can't we just talk things out like /civilized people/?"

She flips off her hood, rubbing the symbol on her forehead, as her fuzzy ears flick in irritation.

"Look. I know hes an asshat. But no one deserves to double die, which is what will happen if you do it /here/."

Jessie raises a hand, about to place a field of kinetic redirection in front of Chronos, but then... remembering how /easy/ it was for Chronos to just... lift her off the ground like that... she falters, and decides not to get in his way any more than she already did.

Besides, Eniar had been sent towards the others. They could totally handle it.



...Right?

Niki stops zoning out as a mirror man is flung across the area.
"...what's happening?! ->" she looks around, confused. Finally getting focused, a dark figure zooms past, pursuing the other.
"Aaaaaa! ->" Niki scrambles to hide behind Katie.

---

Charlotte has been watching the scene unfold. Despite beholding just how frightful and cruel Chronos can be, she seems enthralled by his promises.

And with the botched execution of his enemy turning quick into a chase, her friend seems lost on what they should do about it.
"What we should do? We gotta follow him! Didn't you hear what he said? He's gonna make sure our planet has a future! He's gonna make sure our people have a future! Now c'mon, Time ain't gonna wait for us!"

"Lies. Nothing but lies." Dylan stands nearby, having gone easily unnoticed until speaking up. "Do you really think a con man like that is gonna get your team's home field renovated? I've been duped by him before, and I'm not about to let him dupe again."

Charlotte is peeved by this hornless bitch and his blasphemous assertations.
"Get outta the way, kid. We've got better things to do than listen to you."

Charlotte begins walking right past the foolish boy in her way, beckoning Lambda to follow.

The serenity of the moment is shattered as Eniar goes hurtling by, Chronos soon chasing after.

Hypnos sees his target, finally.
It's practically his obligation to catch Chronos, considering that his restful brother is no longer among even the dead.
"I found him!"

"We saw him earlier, sleeping beauty." Alpha Seth mentions.

With Lycoris's departure, he wants to follow.
"Hold up, I'm going too!"
Hypnos prepares to dash off when Thoren grabs him by the back of the shirt.
"Let mom handle it first. If she needs backup, we'll be here."

"But he needs to be caught..." Hypnos whines as he's casually held up by the tallest seth in the group.

"Now isn't the time for fighting, it's a time for diplomacy and strategy. Lycoris holds an advantage over him due to the nature of their relationship." Thoren seems to be reading into whatever he can to get an accurate picture of the situation.
"Going with that, us seths are at an extreme disadvantage, considering he knows exactly how to manipulate and turn us against ourselves. Also, this version of him is far more powerful than the bitch that was thrown into the slammer."

"fucking homestuck trash..." Alpha Seth mumbles.

"You guys did what?" Hypnos asks. He's still being held up, though he's at least stopped struggling.

"It's a long story we don't have the time to tell. Weren't you at the trial though?" Alpha Seth asks.

"I was too busy chasing him with Thanatos to show up to a fucking court date. Can you set me down now?"

Thoren sets Hypnos back down.

"Are you sure we should sit here and do nothing while the actually reasonable backwards man with a gun is left to fucking die? Don't we owe him for saving our asses when those shitty arm monsters were attacking?" Rid asks Thoren.
"That's another good reason there. Can't we go?" Hypnos chimes in.

"No."
At this point, Thoren is mostly just stalling so Lycoris can make her statements without violent interruption from either side.
Some amount of worry can be felt from Alpha Seth, regarding their recently discovered mother figure. Thoren tries to suppress it, though he clearly has his concerns as well.

---

Chronos soon lands near Eniar's spot on the ground and prepares to strike with his currently fingerless appendages.
"YΘU DIE NΘW!"

A thrusting strike is made.

Instead of hitting Eniar, it has been parried by... Raphael?

The skeleton stares intensely at the wrathful former mentor before him.

"NOBODY HURTS THIS MAN. NOT EVEN YOU."

The tall dark figure with the uncannily similar skull withdraws his arm as he stares back.

"THIS IS NΘT YΘUR QU▲RREL. GET ΘUT ΘF MY W▲Y ΘR I WILL CRUSH YΘUR BΘNES TΘ DUST."

"YOU'RE WRONG. THIS IS MY FIGHT. I OWE THIS MAN FOR HIS SERVICES TOWARDS ME AND MY MEN. AND YOU? YOU'RE THE ONE IN THE WRONG HERE."

"HΘW CUTE. YΘU THINK ΘNE F▲VΘR IS WΘRTH THIS M▲N'S LIFE BEING SP▲RED, EVEN ▲FTER C▲USING THIS ENTIRE STΘRY TΘ TR▲NSPIRE IN SUCH ▲ TR▲GIC M▲NNER."

"YOURE JUST MAKING SHIT UP. HE DIDNT CAUSE EVERYTHING. IF HE DID, WHY THE FUCK DIDNT THE SCOURGE SINGLE HIM OUT?"

That's actually, a really good question.

A moment goes by. Chronos doesn't have the time for small details like this. He tries to simply swat the younger skeletal version of himself.
Raphael is sent flying, but two more seths take his place.

It's... Catscratch and another?
He appears to be a standard beta seth with fatal clawmarks across his chest, seen through his ripped and tattered shirt. The other appears to be a completely pristine version of catscratch. Does he even have an alias?

"You know, when my timeline got doomed, I realized something. I was free. I was free from our fucked up destiny and free from your demands." The unnamed beta explains.

"None of us ever wanted to become you. We followed the path we were given with the only other choice being death." Catscratch continues.

"BΘYS. DΘN'T YΘU SEE YΘU ▲RE PREVENTING ΘUR VICTΘRY ▲G▲INST THE MΘNSTER TH▲T CRE▲TED TH▲T VILE VIRUS?"

"You're the only monster here. You shouldn't even exist, but you refused to fade into obscurity."

"You refused every chance you got to escape from the tragedy that was written! All because you wanted power."

"TΘ S▲Y EITHER ΘF YΘU WΘULDNT H▲VE DESIRED PΘWER INSTE▲D ΘF DE▲TH IS L▲UGH▲BLE. YΘU TRY TΘ T▲KE THE HIGH RΘ▲D IN THIS, BUT YΘU ▲RE ΘNLY DIGGING YΘUR ΘWN GR▲VES. YΘU W▲NTED TΘ LIVE JUST ▲S MUCH ▲S I DID."

The two beta seths look at eachother, and in their momentary distraction, Chronos stabs straight through both of them at once, donetiering them immediately.

Without forms to protect them, they hide away, behind Raphael, who has gotten back up to resume protecting Eniar.
He's got a short walk to be of use, but Chronos waits for no man.
He tries once again to strike at Eniar, and time and tine again a seth stands in the way, taking the blow.

Soon enough, Raphael has returned to his post, but this time, with the backing of all the seth souls that had stood in Chronos's way just moments ago.

"PERHAPS WE DID, BUT IN DEATH, WE SAW THE ERRORS OF OUR WAYS. EVEN THOREN, YOUR CLOSEST LINK, WAS WEIGHED DOWN BY THE REGRET OF OUR DECISIONS. BUT YOU? YOU DON'T EVEN TRY TO CHANGE."

"GET ΘUT ΘF MY W▲Y!" Chronos snaps, then trying to pull Raphael away from where he stands.

He does not budge.

All the seths with him have fortified Raphael's form to the point of space immunity.

"NO."
Raphael, and all the seths with him punch Chronos in the face, knocking him down to the ground.

Chronos screams and throws a tantrum, pushing everyone that could be pushed away from him with his space powers.

Except Raphael.

"LOOK AT YOURSELF, CHRONOS. YOU'RE PATHETIC. IN YOUR LUST FOR POWER, YOU WENT BLIND. IT WAS NO VIRUS THAT CAUSED THIS. IT WAS THE FATAL FLAW WE ALL SHARE. THE FEAR OF EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY. YOU RETREATED IN AND LOCKED EVERYONE OUT, AND IN DOING SO, YOU SEALED YOUR OWN FATE. YOU TRADED SOMETHING VITAL FOR THE POWER YOU HOLD, AND IN REFUSING TO GIVE IT UP, YOU HAVE CRAFTED YOUR OWN PRISON."

at this point, Raphael can see Lycoris approaching.

"YOUR DAUGHTER IS COMING."