Exalted Agent - Toolshed's POV:
'I have to do this.' I tell myself for the umpteenth time.
After getting yet another report about what he's doing... after waking up from yet another nightmare where he's the star of the show.
'I have to do this.'
Every time, my world would be burning. Every time, I would see my worst fears come to life.
The smell of bodies, both raw and cooked, would make my head ache.
But that wasn't nearly as bad as actually seeing the bodies all around me.
And that didn't hold a candle to seeing my best friend on my left with his lower half missing and my girlfriend to my right with more blood outside of her than inside of her.
Before it all... in the midst of the pool of blood surrounded by raging flames that silhouetted us... someone else stood among the aftermath.
Or rather... something.
Something I couldn't even begin to call human.
By no means did it feel like one.
I'd say it was alien, but that would be an insult to aliens. I'd say it was an unnatural beast, but that would be an insult to guys like Scuzzlebutt and ManBearPig.
Up on two legs, its body was a mix of muscly and spindly, a combination of brute strength and deadly agility. Its posture was slightly hunched so its head was leveled with its shoulders.
Anything else was tough to make out past the coat of various tendrils that warped around the monster's body, like a cape of snakes (I never really did get over that fear for mine either, making it that much worse), half of which had some amount of flesh snagged on the hooked, spiked tentacles.
They faced halfway from me, their gaze instead drawn by the wall of flame.. But it would soon slowly turn towards myself for the big reveal.
Originally, in nightmares like this, the monster would be myself. It would be my fears of losing control of Trapper Keeper and dooming my friends, my family, and my world as a result.
But now... now, before the nightmare ends, I see soulless black eyes with brimming purple pupils glowing back at me.
'I absolutely fucking have to do this.'
"Absolutely fucking NOT, Stanley!" My girlfriend shuts my plan down with no room for argument. "Have you forgotten about what happened to Kyle when he tried fighting that guy?
Dovah is obviously gonna crash that gathering, and even if the people there are smart enough to realize that too and set up an ambush, said ambush isn't going to do jack shit!"
I know she's right, but what other choice do I have?
"Wendy, Dovah will come here too eventually. I was the one who got him locked up; I was the one who got his best friend brainwashed and killed. If he's willing to completely annihilate the Time Patrol for what they did, just imagine what else he'll want to do with me after what he did with my Planetary Trapper Keeper.
I can't let him drag you and the rest of our world into this; what happened was my fuckup and I need to pay for it."
I can't let those nightmares come true.
Wendy breaks down at this. She sobs and begs me not to go and throw my life away like that, but again, what other choice do I have?
Dovah outplayed everyone; he had the Time Terrors and the rest of the criminal underworld throw their lives away so he could go off and become a physical god. Not even the Symbol of Freedom, Morgan Freeman, could stop him!
Before, I thought it was the Trapper Keeper that made him truly dangerous. Turns out it was the other way around; Dovah was the one who made the Trapper Keeper truly dangerous.
Even if I were to create Chroniton Blockers and cloaking technology a hundred times more advanced than what I have right now and use it to hide my entire timeline, that would only delay the inevitable. Better to have me alone die then have my entire timeline suffer at his hands.
My friends, my family, my home, everyone and everything else I care about...
I won't let that happen.
Fuck Future Cartman and the society he wanted to build; that shit isn't worth fighting for and it never was.
I'm not doing this for the Time Patrol either! It's no secret to anyone with half a brain and no mind control that the T.P. was shady on the sunniest of days.
I just wanted to save as many people as I could, just like I'm gonna do now.
(("I see you've made your choice, Stanley.")) I hear echo in my head, but that wasn't Trapper Keeper.
Timmy teleports in front of me as I'm about to leave. It's late at night and I was hoping that everyone else would be asleep by now.
I told them all that I planned on leaving a week from now so they wouldn't try to stop me as much today. Looks like Timmy didn't buy it.
"Are you gonna try and stop me?" I ask. "I left all you guys and my family notes and even had a will written out right before."
(("Yes, I saw that. Also, I doubt I could stop you even if I wanted to. No, I just wanted to give you one last present before you left. I don't have it with me though. If you would grab onto me so I may teleport you to where the gift is located, I would greatly appreciate it."))
"...You realize how suspicious this sounds, right?"
(("Stanley, I understand what you're trying to do. I know that, simply put, either you die or we all die by Dovah's hands. Even if I did want to stop you, the only person who can match or surpass you in power is currently on life support and may never be able to use his powers again thanks to his sun stunt."))
Kyle still hasn't woken up since that day. The Exalted Agent, Princess Kenny, was nice enough to grab him and bring him back here after Dovah fucked off to go who knows where.
He thought up a new Ultimate and kept it from all of us; an Ultimate that basically killed him in exchange for nearly limitless amounts of power.
Dovah caught it with one hand and didn't budge an inch.
We couldn't even undo the damage with a timecore since that reverses time in the timeline a person is currently in; taking damage in Timeline A and then going to Timeline B to undo it wouldn't work since said damage never took place in the time stream of Timeline B, making reversing that timestream useless. Kenny didn't dare risk sticking around that timeline with Kyle after Dovah supposedly left in case he came back to finish the job.
My super best friend is already on the verge of death thanks to him; I won't let him hurt anyone else I care about!
(("Then there's the whole can of worms that's your self-worth."))
...Huh?
(("You've begun to hate yourself, Stanley. Being forced to cast aside some of your morals is making you believe yourself to be the very monsters you've been trying to stop. You aren't."))
"...And why is that?" I mutter, not bothering to deny it.
(("Because unlike them, you're clearly regretting it."))
That... huh. That's actually a good point.
(("If you're going to go through with this, then at least come to terms with the fact that none of us see you as useless or a monster like the Dark Angel and Fallen Dragonborn. You're an amazing hero and an even better friend; that much will never change. Now please, grab on."))
I end up grabbing Timmy's hand and he takes me to a room I never even knew existed; a room with a device I know all too well.
(("You remember the Goo Transfer Machine, don't you?"))
"Timmy..."
(("You've always been worried about losing control over your Trapper Keeper if you amass too much power too quickly. Well, since you're going on a suicide mission; might as well throw caution to the wind, am I right?"))
...He does have a point there.
It probably bumps up my chances of winning from .000000001% to .000000002%, but-
(("Conclusion: It is better than nothing.")) My Trapper Keeper finishes for me... with the slightest bit of eagerness in its robotic voice.
Its inner desires are already beginning to reemerge.
But I won't let them come out. Not now. Not before I finish what I started.
"So what, is the rest of the team behind that door, waiting to transfer their powers to me?"
(("Nope, we already have goo samples from everyone, remember? It was done in case of the unlikely event that we somehow lost our powers. Normally, you would have to be strapped in to receive the goo samples one at a time, but your Trapper Keeper can shorten the process immensely. It should also let you handle gaining the powers of so many others without physical rejection."))
"Right, there's only the mental problems and the likely change of my Trapper Keeper rebelling. I'm already seeing a couple red flags from my artificial partner."
(("I'm sure you'll keep yourself and your A.I. in check long enough to get a few good hits in. Remember, Stanley, you will always have our power and support to aid you no matter what."))
"Thanks, Timmy. I'll do my best."
I absorb all the goo and my power skyrockets. I've worked alongside these guys for decades so I know how their powers work as well; but I know that this will awaken a long-sealed desire in my Trapper Keeper as it too knows what their powers can do.
And it's gonna want more. Much more.
I need to go. I need to make this quick.
After one last goodbye and thank you, I have my Trapper Keeper create a time portal to the timeline where this multiversal meeting is taking place... and we get a ton of interference the second we try.
Looks like he's already over there. Fucking fabulous.
I order my Trapper Keeper to go whatever it needs to get past it, and after about thirty seconds of straining, it finally manages to open up a tiny crash in spacetime that I quickly squeeze through.
Just like I expected, this timeline is in absolute chaos.
Dozens of Lotgral march through any resistance on the ground, legions of smaller winged monstrosities swarm the skies, and the monster I created is soaring towards what looks to be the main citadel with a wave of black lighting and fire trailing behind him.
His power... his pressure is as terrifying as I remember it being back then, if not more so.
But I won't run away this time.
This time, I charged at Dovah full force.
And the latter is stopped dead in his tracks as he collides with my drill.
Dovah's POV:
"My name... is Dovah." I begin after emerging from the massive time portal I made.
My voice is not only being broadcasted into the heads of every person on this planet, but also to the livestream I'm having T.K. run on some of the enemy's cameras. I don't want anyone to miss this.
T.K. also took over their chronoton blocker the second we came here through the EOD, ensuring that the only portals that can be opened right now are the ones that I create. Nobody is leaving unless I say so.
"I speak to you all to announce that the Dark Angel, Rebecca McArthur, abdicated in my favor; I'm now the new emperor of Dark Embrace. I have also defeated both the Symbol of Freedom and the Fallen Dragonborn, and while I unfortunately don't have footage of the former like I do the latter, take his absence from what's about to occur as proof of that victory.
Now despite recently losing both their CEO and Symbol of Freedom, the Time Patrol still refuses to surrender if this current meetup is anything to go by. That being the case, I have come here today to, simply put, finish the fucking job."
I then extend my arms to my sides as the time portal behind me widens and thousands upon thousands of Fledglings emerge from the other side, screeching and dive-bombing towards any people they can see besides myself.
A few dozen Lotgral then emerge soon after and P.T.K. then warps in with endless amounts of Dragon Bots descending from the sky right after with an armada of dreadnaughts and other warships supporting them.
As for me, I simply stay in place and observe the patrollers' graveyard- I mean meeting point... no, wait, I meant graveyard and-
*BANG*
And immediately catch a giant green bullet that's like a foot tall and two feet long.
'Mother. Fuckers. They really tried to ambush me.' I mentally grumble, but then pause momentarily as something clicked in my mind. 'AGAIN!!! This is the SIXTH fucking time! What's their deal with this?
I don't even have the words at this point. T.K, what's a good word that crosses 'angry' with 'dumbfounded' and 'annoyed'?'
(("The word you're looking for is 'Irritated'. Also, if Future Cartman's memories are anything to go by, then this giant bullet is ammo for the 'God-killer Gun' project he's been working on in secret.
It appears to really be composed of the flesh, blood, and energy of several known lesser deities like Cthulhu and Shub-Niggurath. However, even if it was somehow able to pierce through our defenses and remove our head from our shoulders, I doubt it would kill us."))
'Future Cartman let the Time Patrol keep one of his secret weapons? Maybe this was meant to deceive the patrol into thinking he wasn't working on anything else behind the scenes? Compared to some of his other projects, this one does seem rather tame despite the deadliness of it.' I ponder to myself.
'But even so, if this is meant to be the Time Patrol's secret weapon, then shouldn't they have brought it out as a last resort of something?'
(("What exactly do you think this is?")) I meant like a last last resort. Like on your absolute last legs with the background music reaching its climax and just as all hope seems lost.
(("Just because you are in the world of a cartoon show in your original world doesn't mean-")) I take a look at the bullet still spinning like a beyblade while in the palm of my hand and grin as I completely stop its remaining momentum.
This probably could have killed the changeling using a copy of my body, but when it comes to 'me' me, the new me, this thing can't even scratch my skin.
And with Dovahkiin dealt with, there's no need to worry about this body failing anymore.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me six times, I'm a fucking idiot.
Only this tactic of theirs actually only worked just once (thanks again, Toolshit) with Nagitana and that Jimmy patroller dying during their attempts and the Seraphim and Young Freeman's attempts being me planning for them to do that (with the former also dying during his attempt).
Forget six times, this bullshit won't even work twice.
Time to prove it.
"I believe this belongs to you." I point out before imbuing the bullet with a bit of my own energy (T.K. already finished analyzing its complexion), and chucking it back at the nearest large ship that isn't either free-falling out of the sky or being crushed like a coke can by the Lotgral.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
The bullet splits the ship directly in two and I wait patiently to see if these guys have any more they would like to fire. Nothing happens after a few minutes so either that bullet was their only one or they're saving the others for the last last moment.
I could just have T.K. telepathically read everyone's minds, but I see no reason to spoil the surprise. It's not like they can harm me as the previous bullet showed.
(("I read all their minds regardless since someone was getting cocky again. They have no bullets left.")) Would it kill you to let me have some excitement?
(("Yes, yes it would.")) T.K. deadpans as more portals open up... huh?
They're getting past their own blocker that easily? I know the thing was weak and easy to hack into, but-
(("This was a trap as we both assumed it to be. Remember the 'Final War' from MHA?"))
'...You have got to be kidding me right now. THAT'S the plan they went with?!?' I mentally facepalm.
(("Well the bullet was meant to kill you right off the bat, or at the very least, damage and distract you enough to where you couldn't stop it. They would then spring the underground cages they set up which would contain most of your army long enough to shove them through several well-placed time portals where the rest of this makeshift army is waiting for their part of the ambush."))
'What about P.T.K. then?!'
(("They were gonna try and fend it off here until the other groups finished their missions. After that, they would group up with everything they have left and attempt to destroy it permanently; same goes for you if you were still alive by then.
They have several people with ability-canceling powers and automatic heavy debuffs prepared in your battlefield as well like a Youth Pastor Craig and a Dragonslayer Red, not like such things would have worked against the current us."))
So they would engage P.T.K. and I, two beings that can constantly absorb things to grow stronger, with overwhelming numbers.
That is both desperate and dumb. It also won't work... like, at all.
For starters, the ability-canceling abilities I know of only work on magic or biological abilities. Trapper Keepers are mechanical so those are useless against me and P.T.K. They'd have better luck hacking T.K, something that's already less likely than most adults in South Park simultaneously developing functioning brains.
But even if they somehow did work on technology, it still wouldn't do jack shit. We became completely immune to pretty much every kind of debuff out there thanks to our little visit to Phone Destroyer with our latest ascension ensuring that was the case.
(A/N: Chp 139 "Phone Destroyer vs Power Leveler")
And even if NONE OF THAT worked somehow, I still have my trusty Super Deflect x Status Reflect combo ready to automatically reflect any of those pecky debuffs back on their casters if necessary. I could even redirect their debuffs to others if I wanted to by adding in Impact Redirect to the mix!
So yeah, their copyrighted Anti-AFO plan isn't going to work on me.
'For Freeman's sake... does my face look like a fucked-up scrotum to them?' I internally rant.
Sometimes, you just can't tell if the Time Patrol was just this stupid or if there were some deeper plans in all of this... well, it's not like those 'deeper plans' would affect me much either. If they could only run from the Calamity Comet even when they had Young Freeman, then they certainly aren't gonna do shit to me the way I am now!
'You know what? Fine. So I may have based my Fallen Dragonborn persona around potato-face a little, sue me! There aren't many other villain boogeyman that can give and take countless powers who I can use for inspiration, okay? I even did that a little when presenting myself to these guys as just Dovah before!
But if they think I'm gonna make the same fucking mistakes as that fucking clown lord of a LARPer, then they have another thing coming!' I internally rant.
(("Agreed. I also took control over their cages. Same with the city over there that was meant to function as both a coffin for you and an ambush point for several remaining Exalted Agents. As for the new time portals, I opened those up myself. Use your telekinesis combo to drag them back over here; let's give them a taste of how terrifying we've become while shattering their hopes and dreams at the same time."))
'Sounds good to me.' I grin and do what my partner suggested.
Sure enough, thousands upon thousands of people come flying in uncontrollably through these new time portals, completely caught off guard by their oh-so-perfect plan being turned against them.
In fact... let's see how they like being separated, caged up, and thrown into fucking meat grinders waiting to tear them apart!
And I have just the new Ultimate to make that happen!
'They're all bundling themselves up for me too; attempting to group up and turn this absolute slaughter into a bit less of a slaughter through good old fashioned teamwork!' I realize with glee while outstretching my hand.
With all the abilities I got during Project Ascension, I was able to come up with a few more Ultimates for myself. This is one of them.
Ultimate: Dragon's Lair.
All the structure-summoning abilities I have from towers and totems in Phone Destroyer to the turret and other mechanical weapon-summoning abilities of Tupperware, Gadgeteer class New Kid, and so on in TFBW as well as other constructs like the Chaos Turrets to traps like the Chompers from Phone Destroyer and Boom-Boom Buddies in TFBW to drones like the Airborne Annihilator Ultimate in TFBW and the drones in Phone Destroyer and many, many more mechanical constructs and weapons are summoned form a massive, sturdy, armed to the teeth fortress spanning dozens of square miles.
I even included some abstract abilities in this new Ultimate like the stage-summoning ability Michael Jackson has for some extra pizzazz (and all the pyrotechnics and smoke machines and other potentially dangerous stuff that come bundled with it).
This behemoth of an Ultimate can be customized as I wish with T.K. calculating the most effective layout based on the amount of summons going into it and what enemies it's meant to enclose. It also personally (in a manner of speaking) runs the entire thing afterwards so no pecky technopaths and hackers can take control of it after it's summoned.
And as if that wasn't scary enough already, I can also combine this Ultimate with Divine Summon and have the Dragon's Lair include a network of bunkers and pillboxes garrisoned by my summons.
(("We'll be doing that from now on. We have more than enough energy to spam these upgraded Ultimates now.")) If you say so.
Oh, and all of that is combined with a few perpetuity abilities I picked up during Project Ascension to ensure that any temporary summons (such as Tupperware's turrets) become permanent. No constructs will be automatically disappearing or breaking down after a few turns.
This Ultimate can be considered as the backbone to the creation of my numbered Dragon Lairs, meaning the Eye of Dovah, the Mob Farms, Soulcage, Revenant, and so on. Add my godly creation abilities (thanks again, Cthulhu and Chimera God) and my numerous, ever-increasing number of Mob Farms to the mix and you get a continuous stream of top of the line resources while Imaginationland handles the production of any weaker resources I need.
My recent, specialized mob farms are just the icing on the cake. These are the mob farms where more powerful entities are continuously duplicated via Gizmo Ike's ability and harvested for resources.
Entities like Satan, Cthulhu, the Canadian Devil, Death, Christian Chimera God, ManBearPig, Tooth Decay, Mecha Streisand, Queen Spider, Geldon, Shub Niggurath, the Pilgrim King/God, and so on.
Mythical Beasts. Lesser Gods. Eldritch Deities. The guys whose power can make entire worlds or even dimensions tremble. These are the guys I'm forcefully controlling, duplicating, and slaughtering en masse with it all being done automatically.
Naturally, I have my most powerful Mother Clone Blobs running those mob farms as well as numerous Ultimate-Ends and other defenses on standby in those particular Dragon Lairs just in case something goes horribly wrong.
It's risky despite all my precautions, I know, but the materials I get from those farms make it so, so worth it. I don't just mean weapons and items such as the Canadian Devil's Trident, Death's Scythe, the Pilgrim King/God's Scepter (as well as the Indian King and his scepter from that same episode), or Mecha Streisand's Diamond of Pantheos; even the flesh and blood of these guys can be extremely useful if you know what you're doing.
How else would I be able to pump out Lotgral so quickly?
As for duplicating the Lotgral themselves, I'm not ready to risk such a thing yet. Maybe in the future when I'm more confident in my power and contingencies for if a malfunction/outbreak occurs, but not now.
Nevertheless, my current methods for farming resources are enough. I bled Dark Embrace dry in preparation for Project Ascension; that includes what they managed to steal from the Time Patrol during the Multiversal Insurrections. Luckily for me, my ever-increasing number of Mob Farms, creation abilities, secret mining/harvesting dedicated Dragon Lairs and drones, and Imaginationland, among other methods, have finally begun to turn a profit.
Dragon Lairs are not fucking cheap to make. Neither are Ultimate-Ends, Lotgral, and armies/armadas that can steamroll through entire timelines. My regular list of expenses would probably give even Future Cartman a heart attack. Good thing I've become such an expert at cheating the system, otherwise I would've had to declare bankruptcy ages ago.
But going back to the Dragon's Lair Ultimate, several more of these death mazes (these ones all being paired with Divine Summon with the original one getting a Divine Summon bonus too) soon form around the other batches of Time Patrollers and their supporters with the Lotgral and Fledglings handling anyone these traps missed.
You'd think that the level of carnage would be worse on the outside than on the inside since the fucking Lotgral are on the outside, but the inside of these summoned dungeons were filled to the brim with horrifying, trauma-inducing massacres. The scene could be compared to the Fields of Flanders during the first World War.
My control combined with T.K's analysis is on full display right now and it's absolutely terrifying. The bunkers, pillboxes, and so on were placed perfectly with mechanical precision and details that made any deviations from T.K's hastily but very effective plans be counted in millimeters.
Every open space was a trap, designed so that several defensive positions could fire at the attackers from almost every direction at once. As for taking down said defensive positions, unless you were capable of beating up ManBearPig in a fist fight, you weren't gonna have any luck on that end.
And as for the option of carving open the bunkers and pillboxes, well, this new Ultimate of mine happens to include a few Earth-alteration abilities which were used to create corridors that doubled as worse death traps than the surface installations.
Oh, and with their own Chronoton Blocker still being (forcefully) kept on, there was no warping away via time portals as an option now; not after T.K. closed all the open ones for good. Unless they could teleport without the aid of technology, they were completely stuck because why the fuck would I create an exit to these places.
Now as for the people who are inside buildings that aren't my own, I'll just have the Lotgral flatten them. Besides the fucking city-sized building that I'm assuming is these people's headquarters, they should have no issues grounding those structures into scrap metal with their own little traps now being disabled.
Same goes for all the dreadnoughts and other large ships flying around, but the Dragon Bots and Fledglings are already doing a good enough job handling those.
This isn't the Final War from My Hero Academia... this is the Doomsday War from Dream SMP, and I'm Technoblade, Dream, and Philza all wrapped up into one unbeatable package.
'Heh... The winds of change are blowing in my favor. Everything I worked for is starting to come together.'
I blast off towards their headquarters with a trail of black and purple fire and lightning being made as I soar through the sky. Their headquarters is in sight and I prepare to use another new Ultimate of mine to finish them off as I approach...
But one person still stands in my way.
*CLANG*
His oversized drill shatters upon contact and he's blasted back from the collision with my body alone, but he still stands strong despite the rippling shockwaves and the blood spurting out of his forehead.
Come one, come all! Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and witness the Multiversal Clown Organization's latest attraction: The Burnout Protagonist!
'T.K, make sure nobody interferes please. This latest event isn't audience-interactive.'
"Oh. Hello, Stanley. Wasn't expecting to see you again for a while." I nonchalantly comment.
"I'm done letting others suffer for my mistakes, Dovah." He replies calmly.
"Your mistakes? Jeez, you Stan Marshes really do believe the whole world revolves around you, don't you?" I chuckle. "You don't even crack the top 3 of my personal shitlist!
No, I don't blame you or any other people either. I blame systems... and I suggest you pray that the people won't take this systemic failure out on each other.
You, Stanley, you failed yet again on behalf of your precious 'hero' society. Back then, before you nearly beat me to death and threw me in prison, I was the final warning for you and your fellow patrollers to get your collective shit together... but alas, like all challenges to the status quo, you snuffed it out without a moment's thought." I inform him as my power and killing intent start to rise.
"And now, you have willingly placed yourselves at my mercy! Which I now have v̷̡̖͓̈́͝é̵̛͙̞ͅr̸͎̖̈́͑̉͘y̴̥̓͒͛ ̴̙̂̇͒ͅl̸̦̰̍̔i̷̩̯̗̙̎ţ̷̜̟͘t̷̨͓̐̈́l̸̠̙̰̓e̷̹̥̊̈́̉̊͜ ̸̬̓̅̇o̸̱̭̺͖͛̈́̚f̴̙̝̗̦̈́̾͂̚.̵̗̮̓͛̍
C̶̖̃̆̿͝a̷̳̻͔̭͎͆͑n̸̦͍̹͈̫͗̄̈́͝ ̷͖̻͒͑͘ͅy̴̩̯͔͆̾̉ô̸̼͛̿̕͝u̶͙̫̜̰͆̅ ̷̡̭̙̱͛͑͝f̷̡̝̊̂ȩ̵̨͍͌͒ę̶̥͎̹͌l̴͕̇̏̇̿̀ ̶̺̳̠͉̌́ţ̶̛͓͉̈́̑̆̚ͅȟ̷̪̳̗̤̓̅̿ȋ̴͖̞̇̎̽́s̶̪͕̼̱̫̑͌ ̸̯̼̗̈̅̀͠ͅp̶̨̺̯̟͗͆̊͊o̴͇̫͙̠̳͋́͘w̶͓͙̣̾͛̚e̶̠̺͊̚͝r̵̛̲̫̙̰̳̎̓͛?̷͚̜͊̾͌̆ ̴̨̣́Ì̵͚̼̫͆̕ͅt̶̨̲̫͖̪̔ ̵̛̘͈̂ͅͅȉ̴̡̊̇̎͝s̶͙̀̏͜͠͝ ̶̨̛͂̎̔b̶͓͊͋̈̑̌ŭ̸͎̲̪̞͚̓͋͝t̷͉̒̀͠ ̷̮͙̇̈͜ã̶͖͍ ̷̯̘̝̥̽̒̅̃t̵̢̮̅̎̇a̶̼̥̾ͅș̴̨̱̼̠̐̎̎͛t̴̛̲̣̖̄̽̅̉ḙ̵͖͍̅͘ ̷̛͇̮̣̗̲͂ȯ̷̡̝̫̘f̴̛̼̳̘̋́̂͑ ̸̞̇̄͒t̸̟̠̽́̽̚h̷̩̞̪̓̓̈͊e̴̡̡͈̿̒ ̸͎͉̣͛d̷͉̫̜͎̾į̴̡̞͉̥̇̒͘͝v̷̫͇̬͑̍͑̏͑i̴̛͕͆̔́͒ṋ̴̦̹̜͗ę̸̞̜͔́̎ ̷̹̺̍̏͜ͅr̵̲̓̾͆͐̚ḙ̴͚͉̻͌ͅẗ̸̰̘̰́̇ȑ̷̨̛̜̭í̶̖̯̹̟̓͘b̶̺̗͓̗̪̈́̈̄ũ̸͍̯͔̤̞̽͐̇t̶̩̿͒i̷̡̻͓͌͊̍o̴̼̖͇͊ń̸̝̠̬̯̃̒̋ ̴̜̙͖̈́̃c̷̬̟͍͔̺̅͌̿̇͋o̷̢̧͕̱̮̎m̴̘͐̍̐i̷̦̠͕̲͂̓̑ṋ̵̜̥̳̻̈́͂̔̾̚g̷̻͖̺͌̾͝ ̷̢̟̇̊̔͗͘y̷͇͙͑͝ỏ̶̝͝ṳ̶̪͚̌̇̏̚͝ř̶̞̜͍̼̘̈́̑ ̶̛̼̲̐͛̃͘w̶͇͙̱̞̞͛̈́͛ä̵͖ỳ̵̝.̴̪̙̘͓̈́ ̵̬̩̟̄͋P̶̱̲̖̊̈́̾̂͜͜͝r̴̰̞̮͉̈ŏ̴́̈́̇̚͜m̵͇͗̍͒̽i̸̍̈́͒̃͜ǹ̴͓̒̆é̴͇̖͈̇̔̈́̇ͅn̸̮̺̮̈c̸͉̃͑͝e̸̩̪̩̋́.̸̯̙͑͂.̶̰̻͂ͅ.̸̙̻̥̌̀̕ ̸̛͈̣̋̃͐̍B̴̢̞̮͕̯̌̆̏ử̷̻̼̺̃r̸̮͍̋͒n̴̠̠͋͌͗̂̎.̴̗̟̙̞͇͛̒͐͋̕"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Well, that was anti-clima... huh?
"Dire Shroud and Kite Shield mixed with Insulin Shock, Psychic Shield, Blocked, and Shining Hate Finger. Plus the power armor based on Tupperware's Tupper Mech I had built just for you." I hear from the cloud of smoke with an armored middle finger soon becoming visible.
I didn't put much power into that, but based on our previous fight, it still should've been enough to obliterate him ten times over.
With the pressure and killing intent I was giving off being higher than my grand re-debut where I fought Young Freeman, I assumed that he would spend his last few moments frozen in fear as a tsunami of dark flames overtook him, completely obliterating his body and soul.
The gap between us is so wide that it isn't even funny and the gap between our Trapper Keepers is even wider. T.K. is evolving as fast as I am with his protocols and firewalls shrugging off any hacking or technopathic attack out there with zero difficulty and counter attacking with a similar amount of difficulty; he's also not being the artificial equivalent of heavily sedated due to his partner's paranoia.
But now... well, it looks like I wasn't the only one preparing.
A series of abilities from Kenny, Kyle, Scott, Timmy, Wendy, Craig, and Tolkien's superhero alter-egos in that order. Once again, I find myself fighting the Freedom Pals.
"I see someone decided to stop half-assing it with Trapper Keeper." I comment as Stan (who is now covered head to toe in a snazzy set of black and blue power armor) makes a beeline towards me.
I respond in kind, but get sent slightly off course by a large bolt of purple lightning that strikes me right in the back. A gust of wind combined with some telekinesis throws me further off course.
"Just like last time, you began the fight with one of your Ultimates..." He points out before teleporting.
'T.K, where did he-'
"And just like last time, it being ineffective threw you off just long enough to give me an opening. Omega Crash Extra x Sugar Rush!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
One of Super Craig's abilities combined with one of Captain Diabetes' abilities. It seems that he got all the powers of his fellow Freedom Pals.
(("And not just any regular old version of the Freedom Pals either if Stan's own capabilities as well as the slight backstory he gave during our first fight are any indicator."))
"I wanted a chance to fight one last time, so I came up with this suit to give me a little boost. As for the extra powers, consider them a parting gift from my friends."
Sharp metal claws then emerge from the gauntlets he's wearing. So even his Cartman decided to help out?
Jimmy too if the sudden speed boost is anything to go by.
"I'll use these gifts bestowed on me to take you down once and for all!"
"Spoken like a true protagonist, but in this story, the villain isn't required to lose."
"We'll see about that!"
A Dark Whisper from Mysterion pulls me towards him with an Icicle Strike from Wonder Tweek slamming into me on the way to an Omega Palm Push from Super Craig. These little combos are cool and all, but when compared to me.
"Super Deflect x Status Reflect. Then Royal Fisting and Dragon Force Punch with Strength Enhancer times 9 and Speed Enhancer times 7."
He comes up far too short.
The sudden burst of damage plus the redirected 'Chilled' effect from Tweek's move keeps Stan still long enough for me to hit him with my own small combo.
He goes flying into the small city that doubles as a command center and triples as a massive (completely disabled) trap and crashes through several buildings.
But he's still standing.
"Really? That's all the big bad Demon Lord has to offer? How did Young Freeman ever lose to you?" He mocks while the injuries on his chest and head begin to patch up through Tweek's Soothing Showers ability, Kyle's Jetstream ability, and his own modified Revitotron 9000 ability.
"Trying to draw my attention are you? Buying time so the others can escape? Sorry, but I activated my own blocker after seeing how useless your allies' was.
Soul Slash and Pentakill plus Milky Discharge, Berry Blast, and Dragon Dance. Also Psychic Scream, Chaos Blast, Single-Origin Overdose, and Wrath of Kite since you're sooooo adamant about using abilities from the Freedom Pals."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
A chunk of the city is blown to bits and Stan is once again hurled through several buildings with bits of his armor and body breaking off as he careens out of the sky.
The other remaining Exalted have long since left, attempting to free the others from my Dragon Lairs, but the Lotgral won't let them anywhere near those tombs.
It's just us two fighting here.
That, and...
"...It's all sloppily put together."
"Not because of your stirring, Stan. Don't give yourself too much credit now. I have no reason to limit my attacks; I'm not taking prisoners and any of my guys that get caught in the crossfire can be easily replaced through pumping out more from one of my factories or labs.
I could kill you with a thought if I wanted, but I'm in no hurry, so I'm just gonna keep disassembling you until I get bored."
"Heh, sure you will." He smiles despite his right arm now being completely mangled. "Ready for another round?"
"Still so desperate to cling to the spotlight. But look at me; I'm no better. We both want to be on center stage... look what that's cost us."
"If you don't like it, then you're free to walk away at any time."
I know that; I made my stance on that clear back during the speech I gave to that pathetic cosplaying elf.
(A/N: Chp 100 "Alternate Stick of Truth Part 4 - May the Best Race (Humans) Win")
Just like I said back then... I'm ready for all the bullshit that comes with being the main protagonist in this story.